Pioneer
Short Term Income Fund
Prospectus | December 31,
2024
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Class
A Shares |
Class
C Shares |
Class
C2 Shares |
Class
K Shares |
Class
Y Shares |
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STABX |
PSHCX |
STIIX |
STIKX |
PSHYX |
Contents
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Neither the
Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities agency has approved
or disapproved the fund's shares or determined whether this prospectus is
accurate or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a
crime.
Amundi Asset Management
US, Inc. (the “Adviser”), the fund’s investment adviser, is currently an
indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Amundi. On July 9, 2024, Amundi announced
that it had entered into a definitive agreement with Victory Capital Holdings,
Inc. (“Victory Capital”) to combine the Adviser with Victory Capital, and for
Amundi to become a strategic shareholder of Victory Capital (the “Transaction”).
Victory Capital is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. The closing of the
Transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other conditions.
There is no assurance that the Transaction will close.
The closing of the
Transaction would cause the fund’s current investment advisory agreement with
the Adviser to terminate. Under the terms of the Transaction, the fund’s Board
of Trustees will be asked to approve a reorganization of the fund into a
corresponding, newly established Victory Fund advised by Victory Capital
Management Inc., an affiliate of Victory Capital. The proposed reorganization of
the fund would be sought in connection with the closing of the Transaction. If
approved by the Board, the proposal to reorganize the fund will be submitted to
the shareholders of the fund for their approval. There is no assurance that the
Board or the shareholders of the fund will approve the proposal to reorganize
the fund.
An
investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Contact
your investment professional to discuss how the fund may fit into your
portfolio.
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Class
A |
Class
C |
Class
C2 |
Class
K |
Class
Y |
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Maximum
sales charge (load) when you buy
shares
(as a percentage of offering price) |
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Maximum
deferred sales charge (load) (as a
percentage
of offering price or the amount you
receive
when you sell shares, whichever is less) |
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Class
A |
Class
C |
Class
C2 |
Class
K |
Class
Y |
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Management
Fees |
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Distribution
and Service (12b-1) Fees |
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Other
Expenses |
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Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
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Less:
Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement1 |
- |
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Net
Expenses1 |
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1
Fund
summary
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Class
A |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Class
C |
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Class
C2 |
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Class
K |
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Class
Y |
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2
3
Fund
summary
4
5
Fund
summary
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7
Fund
summary
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9
Fund
summary
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Fund
summary
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Fund
summary
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15
Fund
summary
Please
note that there are many other factors that could adversely affect your
investment and that could prevent the fund from achieving its
goals.
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17
Fund
summary
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1
Year |
5
Years |
10
Years |
Since
Inception |
Inception
Date |
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Class
A |
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Return
before taxes |
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Return
after taxes on distributions |
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Return
after taxes on distributions and
sale
of shares |
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Class
C |
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Class
C2 |
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Class
K |
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Class
Y |
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Bloomberg
U.S. Aggregate Bond Index
(reflects
no deduction for fees,
expenses
or taxes) |
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Bloomberg
One- to Three-Year
Government/Credit
Index (reflects no
deduction
for fees, expenses or taxes) |
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Management
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Investment
adviser |
Amundi
Asset Management US, Inc. (“Amundi
US”) |
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Portfolio
management |
Noah
Funderburk, Senior Vice President and
Director
of Securitized Credit of Amundi US
(portfolio
manager of the fund since 2018); and
Nicolas
Pauwels, Vice President and Deputy
Director
of Securitized Credit of Amundi US
(portfolio
manager of the fund since
2018) |
18
Purchase
and sale of fund shares
You may
purchase, exchange or sell (redeem) shares each day the New York Stock Exchange
is open through your financial intermediary or, for accounts held directly with
the fund, by contacting the fund in writing or by telephone: Pioneer Funds, P.O.
Box 534427, Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4427, tel. 1-800-225-6292.
Your
initial investment for Class A, Class C or Class C2 shares must be at least
$1,000. Additional investments must be at least $100 for Class A shares and $500
for Class C and Class C2 shares. Generally, the initial investment for Class K
or Class Y shares must be at least $5 million. This amount may be invested in
one or more of the Pioneer mutual funds that currently offer Class K or Class Y
shares, as applicable. There is no minimum additional investment amount for
Class K or Class Y shares.
Tax
information
The fund
intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or capital
gains.
Payments
to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries
If you
purchase the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such
as a bank), the fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the
sale of fund shares and related services. These payments create a conflict of
interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your
salesperson or investment professional to recommend the fund over another
investment. Ask your salesperson or investment professional or visit your
financial intermediary’s website for more information.
19
More
on the fund’s investment objective and strategies
Investment
objective
A high
level of current income to the extent consistent with a relatively high level of
stability of principal.
The fund’s
investment objective may be changed without shareholder approval. The fund will
provide at least 30 days’ written notice prior to implementing any change to its
investment objective.
Principal
investment strategies
The fund
invests primarily in:
•
Debt
securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or
instrumentalities
•
Investment
grade debt securities, including convertible debt, of U.S. and non-U.S.
corporate and other issuers and commercial paper
•
Mortgage-related
securities, including “sub-prime” mortgages, and asset-backed securities of U.S.
and non-U.S. issuers
•
Short-term
money market instruments of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers
Normally,
at least 80% of the fund's net assets (plus the amount of borrowings, if any,
for investment purposes) are invested in debt securities that are rated
investment grade at the time of purchase or cash and cash equivalents. Cash and
cash equivalents include cash balances, accrued interest and receivables for
items such as the proceeds, not yet received, from the sale of the fund’s
portfolio investments. The fund may invest in debt securities of issuers in any
industry or market sector. Derivative instruments that provide exposure to
investment grade debt securities or have similar economic characteristics may be
used to satisfy the fund’s 80% policy.
The fund
may invest in floating rate loans, subordinated debt securities and
insurance-linked securities. The fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in
below investment grade debt securities (known as “junk bonds”) including
securities that are in default. The fund may invest in debt securities rated “D”
or better, or comparable unrated securities. Debt securities rated “D” are in
default.
The fund
will normally maintain a dollar-weighted average portfolio maturity of no more
than 3 years. The maturity of a fixed income security is a measure of the time
remaining until final payment on the security is due. The fund's investments may
have fixed or variable principal payments and all types of interest rate payment
and reset terms, including fixed rate, adjustable rate, floating rate, inverse
floating rate, zero coupon, contingent, deferred, payment in kind and auction
rate features.
20
The fund
may invest up to 20% of its total assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers,
including up to 5% of its total assets in debt securities of emerging market
issuers. Non-U.S. issuers are issuers that are organized and have their
principal offices outside of the United States. Non-U.S. securities may be
issued by non-U.S. governments, banks or corporations and certain supranational
organizations, such as the World Bank and the European Union. The fund does not
count securities of Canadian issuers against the limit on investment in
securities of non-U.S. issuers. In the case of mortgage-backed and asset-backed
securities that are issued by special purpose vehicles backed by a pool of
financial assets, the fund will consider the location of the underlying assets
for this purpose.
The fund
may invest a substantial portion of its assets in asset-backed securities and
mortgage-related securities, including credit risk transfer securities, and
commercial mortgage-backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations
(CMOs) and other mortgage-related securities issued by private issuers. The
fund's investments in mortgage-related securities may include instruments, the
underlying assets of which allow for balloon payments (where a substantial
portion of a mortgage loan balance is paid at maturity, which can shorten the
average life of the mortgage-backed instrument) or negative amortization
payments (where as a result of a payment cap, payments on a mortgage loan are
less than the amount of principal and interest owed, with excess amounts added
to the outstanding principal balance, which can extend the average life of the
mortgage-backed instrument).
Amundi
Asset Management US, Inc. (“Amundi US“ or the “adviser”), the fund’s investment
adviser, considers both broad economic and issuer specific factors in selecting
investments. In assessing the appropriate maturity, credit quality and sector
weighting of the fund's portfolio, the adviser considers a variety of factors
that are expected to influence economic activity and interest rates.
Amundi US
selects individual securities to buy and sell based upon such factors as a
security’s yield, liquidity and rating, an assessment of credit quality, and
sector and issuer diversification.
The
adviser integrates environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG)
considerations into its investment research process by evaluating the business
models and practices of issuers and their ESG-related risks. The adviser
believes ESG analysis is a meaningful facet of fundamental research, the process
of evaluating an issuer based on its financial position, business operations,
competitive standing and management. This process considers ESG information,
where available, in assessing an investment’s performance potential. The adviser
generally considers ESG information in the context of an issuer’s respective
sector or industry. The adviser may consider ESG ratings provided by third
parties or internal sources, as
21
More
on the fund’s investment objective and strategies
well as
issuer disclosures and public information, in evaluating issuers. ESG
considerations are not a primary focus of the fund, and the weight given by the
adviser to ESG considerations in making investment decisions will vary and, for
any specific decision, they may be given little or no weight.
Notwithstanding
the foregoing, the adviser generally will not invest fund assets in companies
engaged in (i) the production, sale or storage of chemical, biological and
depleted uranium weapons, or (ii) the production, sale, storage of, or providing
services for, antipersonnel mines and cluster bombs prohibited by the Ottawa and
Oslo treaties.
The fund’s
investment strategies and policies may be changed from time to time without
shareholder approval, unless specifically stated otherwise in this prospectus or
in the statement of additional information.
Investment
grade securities
A debt
security is considered investment grade if it is:
•
Rated BBB
or higher at the time of purchase by Standard & Poor’s Financial Services
LLC;
•
Rated the
equivalent rating by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization;
or
•
Determined
to be of equivalent credit quality by Amundi US.
Securities
in the lowest category of investment grade (i.e., BBB) are considered to have
speculative characteristics. An investor can still lose significant amounts when
investing in investment grade securities.
Below
investment grade securities (“junk bonds”)
The fund
may invest in debt securities rated below investment grade or, if unrated, of
equivalent quality as determined by Amundi US. A debt security is below
investment grade if it is rated BB or lower by Standard & Poor’s Financial
Services LLC or the equivalent rating by another nationally recognized
statistical rating organization or determined to be of equivalent credit quality
by Amundi US. Debt securities rated below investment grade are commonly referred
to as “junk bonds”
and are
considered speculative. Below investment grade debt securities involve greater
risk of loss, are subject to greater price volatility and are less liquid,
especially during periods of economic uncertainty or change, than higher quality
debt securities. Below investment grade securities also may be more difficult to
value.
22
Debt
rating considerations
For
purposes of the fund's credit quality policies, if a security receives different
ratings from nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, the fund
will use the rating chosen by the portfolio manager as most representative of
the security’s credit quality. The ratings of nationally recognized statistical
rating organizations represent their opinions as to the quality of the
securities that they undertake to rate and may not accurately describe the risks
of the securities. A rating organization may have a conflict of interest with
respect to a security for which it assigns a quality rating. In addition, there
may be a delay between a change in the credit quality of a security or other
asset and a change in the quality rating assigned to the security or other asset
by a rating organization. If a rating organization changes the quality rating
assigned to one or more of the fund’s securities, Amundi US will consider if any
action is appropriate in light of the fund's investment objective and policies.
These ratings are used as criteria for the selection of portfolio securities, in
addition to Amundi US’s own assessment of the credit quality of potential
investments.
U.S.
government securities
The fund
may invest in U.S. government securities. U.S. government securities are
obligations of, or guaranteed by, the U.S. government, its agencies or
government-sponsored entities. U.S. government securities include obligations:
directly issued by or supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S.
government, like Treasury bills, notes and bonds and Government National
Mortgage Association (GNMA) certificates; supported by the right of the issuer
to borrow from the U.S. Treasury, like those of the Federal Home Loan Banks
(FHLBs); supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. government to
purchase the agency’s securities, like those of the Federal National Mortgage
Association (FNMA); or supported only by the credit of the issuer itself, like
the Tennessee Valley Authority. U.S. government securities include issues by
non-governmental entities (like financial institutions) that carry direct
guarantees from U.S. government agencies. U.S. government securities include
zero coupon securities that make payments of interest and principal only upon
maturity and which therefore tend to be subject to greater volatility than
interest-bearing securities with comparable maturities.
Although
the U.S. government guarantees principal and interest payments on securities
issued by the U.S. government and some of its agencies, such as securities
issued by the GNMA, this guarantee does not apply to losses resulting from
declines in the market value of these securities. Some of the U.S. government
securities that the fund may hold are not guaranteed or backed by the full faith
and credit of the U.S. government, such as those issued by FNMA and the Federal
Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC).
23
More
on the fund’s investment objective and strategies
Mortgage-backed
securities
The fund
may invest in mortgage-backed securities. Mortgage-backed securities may be
issued by private issuers, by government-sponsored entities, such as FNMA or
FHLMC, or by agencies of the U.S. government, such as GNMA. Mortgage-backed
securities represent direct or indirect participation in, or are collateralized
by and payable from, mortgage loans secured by real property. The fund's
investments in mortgage-related securities may include mortgage derivatives and
structured securities.
The fund
may invest in collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs). A CMO is a
mortgage-backed bond that is issued in multiple classes, each with a specified
fixed or floating interest rate and a final scheduled distribution date. The
holder of an interest in a CMO is entitled to receive specified cash flows from
a pool of underlying mortgages or other mortgage-backed securities. Depending
upon the class of CMO purchased, the holder may be entitled to payment before
the cash flow from the pool is used to pay holders of other classes of the CMO
or, alternatively, the holder may be paid only to the extent that there is cash
remaining after the cash flow has been used to pay other classes. A subordinated
interest may serve as a credit support for the senior securities purchased by
other investors.
The fund may invest in
commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”). CMBS are subject to the risks
generally associated with mortgage-backed securities. CMBS may not be backed by
the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and are subject to risk of
default on the underlying mortgages. CMBS issued by non-government entities may
offer higher yields than those issued by government entities, but also may be
subject to greater volatility than government issues. CMBS react differently to
changes in interest rates than other bonds and the prices of CMBS may reflect
adverse economic and market conditions. Small movements in interest rates (both
increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of CMBS.
The commercial mortgages underlying certain commercial mortgage-backed
securities generally allow all or a substantial portion of the loan balance to
be paid at maturity, commonly known as a balloon
payment.
The fund
may invest in credit risk transfer securities. Credit risk transfer securities
are a type of mortgage-related security that transfers the credit risk related
to certain types of mortgage-backed securities to the owner of the credit risk
transfer security. Credit risk transfer securities are commonly issued by
government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), such as FNMA or FHLMC, but may also be
issued by private entities such as banks or other financial institutions. Credit
risk transfer securities issued by GSEs are unguaranteed and unsecured fixed or
floating rate general obligations and are typically issued at par and have
stated final maturities. In addition, GSE-issued credit risk transfer securities
are structured so that: (i) interest is paid directly by the issuing GSE; and
(ii) principal is paid by the issuing GSE in
24
accordance
with the principal payments and default performance of a pool of residential
mortgage loans acquired by the GSE. In this regard, holders of GSE credit risk
transfer securities receive compensation for providing credit protection to the
GSE and, when a specified level of losses on the underlying mortgage loans
occurs, the principal balance and certain payments owed to the holders of such
GSE credit risk transfer securities may be reduced.
In the
event that a government-sponsored enterprise fails to pay principal or interest
on its credit risk transfer securities or goes through a bankruptcy, insolvency
or similar proceeding, holders of such credit risk transfer securities have no
direct recourse to the underlying mortgage loans and will generally receive
recovery on par with other unsecured note holders in such a scenario. The risks
associated with an investment in credit risk transfer securities are different
than the risks associated with an investment in mortgage-backed securities
issued by FNMA and FHLMC, or other government-sponsored enterprise or issued by
a private issuer, because some or all of the mortgage default or credit risk
associated with the underlying mortgage loans is transferred to investors. As a
result, investors in these securities could lose some or all of their investment
in these securities if the underlying mortgage loans default.
Asset-backed
securities
The fund
may invest in asset-backed securities. Asset-backed securities represent
participations in, or are secured by and payable from, assets such as
installment sales or loan contracts, leases, credit card receivables and other
categories of receivables. The fund's investments in asset-backed securities may
include derivative and structured securities.
The fund
may invest in asset-backed securities issued by special entities, such as
trusts, that are backed by a pool of financial assets. The fund may invest in
collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), which include collateralized bond
obligations (CBOs), collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and other similarly
structured securities. A CDO is a trust backed by a pool of fixed income
securities. The trust typically is split into two or more portions, called
tranches, which vary in credit quality, yield, credit support and right to
repayment of principal and interest. Lower tranches pay higher interest rates
but represent lower degrees of credit quality and are more sensitive to the rate
of defaults in the pool of obligations. Certain CDOs may use derivatives, such
as credit default swaps, to create synthetic exposure to assets rather than
holding such assets directly.
25
More
on the fund’s investment objective and strategies
Subordinated
securities
The fund
may invest in securities that are subordinated or “junior” to more senior
securities of the issuer. The investor in a subordinated security of an issuer
is entitled to payment after other holders of debt in that issuer.
Non-U.S.
investments
The fund
may invest in securities of non-U.S. issuers, including securities of emerging
markets issuers. Non-U.S. issuers are issuers that are organized and have their
principal offices outside of the United States. Non-U.S. securities may be
issued by non-U.S. governments, banks or corporations, or private issuers, and
certain supranational organizations, such as the World Bank and the European
Union. The fund considers emerging market issuers to include issuers organized
under the laws of an emerging market country, issuers with a principal office in
an emerging market country, issuers that derive at least 50% of their gross
revenues or profits from goods or services produced in emerging market countries
or sales made in emerging market countries, or issuers that have at least 50% of
their assets in emerging market countries. Emerging markets generally will
include, but not be limited to, countries included in the Morgan Stanley Capital
International (MSCI) Emerging + Frontier Markets Index.
Floating
rate investments
Floating
rate investments are securities and other instruments with interest rates that
adjust or “float” periodically based on a specified interest rate or other
reference and include floating rate loans, repurchase agreements, money market
securities and shares of money market and short-term bond funds.
Floating
rate loans
Floating rate loans are
provided by banks and other financial institutions to large corporate customers
in connection with recapitalizations, acquisitions, and refinancings. These
loans are generally acquired as a participation interest in, or assignment of,
loans originated by a lender or other financial institution. These loans are
rated below investment grade. The rates of interest on the loans typically
adjust periodically by reference to a base lending rate, such as the Secured
Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), a designated U.S. bank’s prime or base rate or
the overnight federal funds rate, plus a premium. Some loans reset on set dates,
typically every 30 to 90 days, but not to exceed one year. Other loans reset
periodically when the underlying rate resets.
26
In most
instances, the fund’s investments in floating rate loans hold a senior position
in the capital structure of the borrower. Having a senior position means that,
if the borrower becomes insolvent, senior debtholders, like the fund, will be
paid before subordinated debtholders and stockholders of the borrower. Senior
loans typically are secured by specific collateral.
Floating
rate loans typically are structured and administered by a financial institution
that acts as an agent for the holders of the loan. Loans can be acquired
directly through the agent, by assignment from another holder of the loan, or as
a participation interest in the loan. When the fund is a direct investor in a
loan, the fund may have the ability to influence the terms of the loan, although
the fund does not act as the sole negotiator or originator of the loan.
Participation interests are fractional interests in a loan issued by a lender or
other financial institution. When the fund invests in a loan participation, the
fund does not have a direct claim against the borrower and must rely upon an
intermediate participant to enforce any rights against the
borrower.
Insurance-linked
securities
The fund
may invest in insurance-linked securities (ILS). The fund could lose a portion
or all of the principal it has invested in an ILS, and the right to additional
interest or dividend payments with respect to the security, upon the occurrence
of one or more trigger events, as defined within the terms of an
insurance-linked security. Trigger events, generally, are hurricanes,
earthquakes, or other natural events of a specific size or magnitude that occur
in a designated geographic region during a specified time period, and/or that
involve losses or other metrics that exceed a specific amount. There is no way
to accurately predict whether a trigger event will occur, and accordingly, ILS
carry significant risk. The fund is entitled to receive principal and interest
and/or dividend payments so long as no trigger event occurs of the description
and magnitude specified by the instrument. In addition to the specified trigger
events, ILS may expose the fund to other risks, including but not limited to
issuer (credit) default, adverse regulatory or jurisdictional interpretations
and adverse tax consequences.
The fund’s
investments in ILS may include event-linked bonds. ILS also may include
securities issued by special purpose vehicles (“SPVs”) or similar instruments
structured to comprise a portion of a reinsurer’s catastrophe-oriented business,
known as quota share instruments (sometimes referred to as reinsurance
sidecars), or to provide reinsurance relating to specific risks to insurance or
reinsurance companies through a collateralized instrument, known as
collateralized reinsurance. Structured reinsurance investments also may include
industry loss warranties (“ILWs”). A traditional ILW takes the form of a
bilateral reinsurance contract, but
27
More
on the fund’s investment objective and strategies
there are
also products that take the form of derivatives, collateralized structures, or
exchange-traded instruments. The fund may invest in interests in pooled entities
that invest primarily in ILS.
Where the
ILS are based on the performance of underlying reinsurance contracts, the fund
has limited transparency into the individual underlying contracts, and therefore
must rely upon the risk assessment and sound underwriting practices of the
insurer and/or reinsurer. Accordingly, it may be more difficult for Amundi US to
fully evaluate the underlying risk profile of the fund’s structured reinsurance
investments, and therefore the fund’s assets are placed at greater risk of loss
than if Amundi US had more complete information. Structured reinsurance
instruments generally will be considered illiquid securities by the
fund.
Zero
coupon securities
The fund
may invest in zero coupon securities. Zero coupon securities are debt
instruments that do not pay interest during the life of the security but are
issued at a discount from the amount the investor will receive when the issuer
repays the amount borrowed (the face value). The discount approximates the total
amount of interest that would be paid at an assumed interest rate.
Derivatives
The fund
may, but is not required to, use futures and options on securities, indices and
currencies, forward foreign currency exchange contracts, swaps and other
derivatives. The fund also may enter into credit default swaps, which can be
used to acquire or to transfer the credit risk of a security or index of
securities without buying or selling the security or securities comprising the
relevant index. A derivative is a security or instrument whose value is
determined by reference to the value or the change in value of one or more
securities, currencies, indices or other financial instruments. The fund may use
derivatives for a variety of purposes, including:
•
In an
attempt to hedge against adverse changes in the market prices of securities,
interest rates or currency exchange rates
•
As a
substitute for purchasing or selling securities
•
To attempt
to increase the fund’s return as a non-hedging strategy that may be considered
speculative
•
To manage
portfolio characteristics (for example, the duration or credit quality of the
fund's portfolio)
•
As a cash
flow management technique
The fund
may choose not to make use of derivatives for a variety of reasons, and any use
may be limited by applicable law and regulations.
28
Inverse
floating rate obligations
The fund
may invest in inverse floating rate obligations (a type of derivative
instrument). The interest rate on inverse floating rate obligations will
generally decrease as short-term interest rates increase, and increase as
short-term rates decrease. Due to their leveraged structure, the sensitivity of
the market value of an inverse floating rate obligation to changes in interest
rates is generally greater than a comparable long-term bond issued by the same
issuer and with similar credit quality, redemption and maturity provisions.
Inverse floating rate obligations may be volatile and involve leverage
risk.
Cash
management and temporary investments
Normally,
the fund invests substantially all of its assets to meet its investment
objective. The fund may invest the remainder of its assets in money market
funds, securities with remaining maturities of less than one year or cash
equivalents, including overnight repurchase agreements, or may hold cash. For
temporary defensive purposes, including during periods of unusual cash flows,
the fund may depart from its principal investment strategies and invest part or
all of its assets in these securities or may hold cash. The fund may adopt a
defensive strategy when the adviser believes securities in which the fund
normally invests have special or unusual risks or are less attractive due to
adverse market, economic, political or other conditions. During such periods, it
may be more difficult for the fund to achieve its investment
objective.
Additional
investment strategies and related risks
In
addition to the principal investment strategies and related risks discussed in
this prospectus, the fund may also use other techniques, including the following
non-principal investment strategies and related risks.
Repurchase
agreements
In a
repurchase agreement, the fund purchases securities from a broker/dealer or a
bank, called the counterparty, upon the agreement of the counterparty to
repurchase the securities from the fund at a later date, and at a specified
price. The repurchase price is generally higher than the purchase price paid by
the fund, with the difference being income to the fund. The securities purchased
serve as the fund's collateral for the obligation of the counterparty to
repurchase the securities. If the counterparty does not repurchase the
securities, the fund is entitled to sell the securities, but the fund may not be
able to sell them for the price at which they were purchased, thus causing a
loss. Additionally, if the counterparty becomes insolvent, there is some risk
that the fund will not have a right to the securities, or the immediate right to
sell the securities.
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on the fund’s investment objective and strategies
Reverse
repurchase agreements and borrowing
The fund
may enter into reverse repurchase agreements pursuant to which the fund
transfers securities to a counterparty in return for cash, and the fund agrees
to repurchase the securities at a later date and for a higher price. Reverse
repurchase agreements are treated as borrowings by the fund, are a form of
leverage and may make the value of an investment in the fund more volatile and
increase the risks of investing in the fund. The fund also may borrow money from
banks or other lenders for temporary purposes. The fund may borrow up to
33 1∕3% of its
total assets. Entering into reverse repurchase agreements and other borrowing
transactions may cause the fund to liquidate positions when it may not be
advantageous to do so in order to satisfy its obligations.
Short-term
trading
The fund
usually does not trade for short-term profits. The fund will sell an investment,
however, even if it has only been held for a short time, if it no longer meets
the fund's investment criteria. If the fund does a lot of trading, it may incur
additional operating expenses, which would reduce performance, and could cause
shareowners to incur a higher level of taxable income or capital
gains.
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on the risks of investing in the fund
Principal
investment risks
You could
lose money on your investment in the fund. As with any mutual fund, there is no
guarantee that the fund will achieve its objective.
Market
risk. The
market prices of securities or other assets held by the fund may go up or down,
sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions, such as
real or perceived adverse economic, political, or regulatory conditions,
political instability, recessions, inflation, changes in interest or currency
rates, lack of liquidity in the bond markets, the spread of infectious illness
or other public health issues, weather or climate events, armed conflict, market
disruptions caused by tariffs, trade disputes, sanctions or other government
actions, or other factors or adverse investor sentiment. If the market prices of
the fund's securities and assets fall, the value of your investment will go
down. A change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer
or market may adversely impact securities markets as a whole.
Changes in
market conditions may not have the same impact on all types of securities. The
value of securities may also fall due to specific conditions that affect a
particular sector of the securities market or a particular issuer. In the past
decade, financial markets throughout the world have experienced increased
volatility, depressed valuations, decreased liquidity and heightened
uncertainty. Governmental and non-governmental issuers have defaulted on, or
been forced to restructure, their debts. These conditions may continue, recur,
worsen or spread. Events that have contributed to these market conditions
include, but are not limited to, major cybersecurity events; geopolitical events
(including wars, terror attacks and economic sanctions); measures to address
budget deficits; downgrading of sovereign debt; changes in oil and commodity
prices; dramatic changes in currency exchange rates; global pandemics; and
public sentiment. The long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its
subsequent variants on economies, markets, industries and individual issuers,
are not known. Some sectors of the economy and individual issuers have
experienced or may experience particularly large losses. Periods of extreme
volatility in the financial markets, reduced liquidity of many instruments,
increased government debt, inflation, and disruptions to supply chains, consumer
demand and employee availability, may continue for some time.
Raising the ceiling on
U.S. government debt has become increasingly politicized. Any failure to
increase the total amount that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow could
lead to a default on U.S. government obligations, with unpredictable
consequences for economies and markets in the U.S. and elsewhere. Inflation and
interest rates may increase. These circumstances could adversely affect the
value and liquidity of the fund's investments, impair the fund's ability to
satisfy redemption
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on the risks of investing in the fund
requests,
and negatively impact the fund's performance. In addition, inflation, rising
interest rates, global supply chain disruptions and other market events could
adversely affect the companies or issuers in which the fund invests. Following
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian securities lost all, or nearly all, their
market value. Other securities or markets could be similarly affected by past or
future political, geopolitical or other events or conditions.
Governments
and central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, have taken extraordinary
and unprecedented actions to support local and global economies and the
financial markets. These actions have resulted in significant expansion of
public debt, including in the U.S. The consequences of high public debt,
including its future impact on the economy and securities markets, may not be
known for some time. U.S. Federal Reserve or other U.S. or non-U.S. governmental
or central bank actions, including increases or decreases in interest rates, or
contrary actions by different governments, could negatively affect financial
markets generally, increase market volatility and reduce the value and liquidity
of securities in which the fund invests. Policy and legislative changes in the
U.S. and in other countries are affecting many aspects of financial regulation,
and these and other events affecting global markets, such as the United
Kingdom’s exit from the European Union (or Brexit), potential trade imbalances
with China or other countries, or sanctions or other government actions against
Russia, other nations or individuals or companies (or their countermeasures),
may contribute to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the financial
markets. The impact of these changes on the markets, and the implications for
market participants, may not be fully known for some time.
The U.S.
and other countries are periodically involved in disputes over trade and other
matters, which may result in tariffs, investment restrictions and adverse
impacts on affected companies and securities. For example, the U.S. has imposed
tariffs and other trade barriers on Chinese exports, has restricted sales of
certain categories of goods to China, and has established barriers to
investments in China. Trade disputes may adversely affect the economies of the
U.S. and its trading partners, as well as companies directly or indirectly
affected and financial markets generally. The U.S. government has prohibited
U.S. persons, such as the fund, from investing in Chinese companies designated
as related to the Chinese military. These and possible future restrictions could
limit the fund's opportunities for investment and require the sale of securities
at a loss or make them illiquid. Moreover, the Chinese government is involved in
a longstanding dispute with Taiwan that has included threats of invasion. If the
political climate between the U.S. and China does not improve or continues to
deteriorate, if China were to attempt unification
32
of Taiwan
by force, or if other geopolitical conflicts develop or get worse, economies,
markets and individual securities may be severely affected both regionally and
globally, and the value of the fund's assets may go down.
Economies and financial
markets throughout the world are increasingly interconnected. Economic,
financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, armed conflict
such as between Russia and Ukraine or in the Middle East, terrorism, natural
disasters, infectious illness or public health issues, cybersecurity events,
supply chain disruptions, sanctions against Russia, other nations or individuals
or companies and possible countermeasures, and other circumstances in one
country or region, could have profound impacts on other countries or regions and
on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the fund invests in
securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries
or regions directly affected, the value and liquidity of the fund’s investments
may be negatively affected. The fund may experience a substantial or complete
loss on any security or derivative position.
Until recently, a commonly
used reference rate for floating rate securities was LIBOR (London Interbank
Offered Rate). ICE Benchmark Administration, the administrator of LIBOR, has
ceased publication of most LIBOR settings on a representative basis. Actions by
regulators have resulted in the establishment of alternative reference rates to
LIBOR in most major currencies. In the U.S., a common benchmark replacement is
based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) published by the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York, including certain spread adjustments and benchmark
replacement conforming changes, although other benchmark replacements (with or
without spread adjustments) may be used in certain transactions. The impact of
the transition from LIBOR on the fund’s transactions and financial markets
generally cannot yet be determined. The transition away from LIBOR may lead to
increased volatility and illiquidity in markets for instruments that have relied
on LIBOR and may adversely affect the fund’s performance.
Interest
rate risk. The
market prices of the fund’s fixed income securities may fluctuate significantly
when interest rates change. When interest rates rise, the value of fixed income
securities and therefore the value of your investment in the fund, generally
falls. For example, if interest rates increase by 1%, the value of a fund’s
portfolio with a portfolio duration of ten years would be expected to decrease
by 10%, all other things being equal.
A general rise in interest
rates could adversely affect the price and liquidity of fixed income securities
and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. A change in
interest rates will not have the same impact on all fixed income securities.
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on the risks of investing in the fund
Generally,
the longer the maturity or duration of a fixed income security, the greater the
impact of a rise in interest rates on the security’s value. The maturity of a
security may be significantly longer than its effective duration. A security’s
maturity and other features may be more relevant than its effective duration in
determining the security’s sensitivity to other factors affecting the issuer or
markets generally, such as changes in credit quality or in the yield premium
that the market may establish for certain types of securities (sometimes called
“credit spread”). In general, the longer its maturity the more a security may be
susceptible to these factors. When the credit spread for a fixed income security
goes up or “widens,” the value of the security will generally go down.
Calculations of duration and maturity may be based on estimates and may not
reliably predict a security’s price sensitivity to changes in interest rates.
Moreover, securities can change in value in response to other factors, such as
credit risk. In addition, different interest rate measures (such as short- and
long-term interest rates and U.S. and foreign interest rates), or interest rates
on different types of securities or securities of different issuers, may not
necessarily change in the same amount or in the same direction. When interest
rates go down, the income received by the fund, and the fund’s yield, may
decline. Also, when interest rates decline, investments made by the fund may pay
a lower interest rate, which would reduce the income received and distributed by
the fund.
Certain
fixed income securities pay interest at variable or floating rates. Variable
rate securities tend to reset at specified intervals, while floating rate
securities may reset whenever there is a change in a specified index rate. In
most cases, these reset provisions reduce the impact of changes in market
interest rates on the value of the security. However, some securities do not
track the underlying index directly, but reset based on formulas that may
produce a leveraging effect; others may also provide for interest payments that
vary inversely with market rates. The market prices of these securities may
fluctuate significantly when interest rates change. Yield generated by the fund
may decline due to a decrease in market interest rates.
The values
of securities with floating interest rates generally are less sensitive to
interest rate changes but may decline in value if their interest rates do not
rise as much, or as quickly, as prevailing interest rates. In addition, rising
interest rates can also lead to increased default rates, as issuers of floating
rate securities find themselves faced with higher payments. Further, in the case
of some instruments, if the underlying reference interest rate does not move by
at least a prescribed increment, no adjustment will occur in the floating rate
instrument’s interest rate. This means that, when prevailing interest rates
increase, a corresponding increase in the instrument’s interest rate may not
result and the instrument may decline in value. Similarly, certain floating rate
obligations have an interest rate floor feature, which prevents the interest
rate payable by the security from dropping below a
34
specified
level as compared to a reference interest rate. Such a floor protects the fund
from losses resulting from a decrease in the reference interest rate below the
specified level. However, if the reference interest rate is below the floor,
there will be a lag between a rise in the reference interest rate and a rise in
the interest rate payable by the obligation, and the fund may not benefit from
increasing interest rates for a significant amount of time. Unlike fixed rate
securities, floating rate securities generally will not increase in value if
interest rates decline. Changes in interest rates also will affect the amount of
interest income the fund earns on its floating rate investments. Unlike fixed
rate securities, when prevailing interest rates decrease, the interest rate
payable on floating rate investments will decrease.
The
interest rates of some floating rate obligations adjust only periodically.
Between the times that interest rates on floating rate obligations adjust, the
interest rate on those obligations may not correlate to prevailing rates, which
will affect the value of the loans and may cause the net asset values of the
fund’s shares to fluctuate.
Credit
risk. If an
obligor (such as the issuer itself or a party offering credit enhancement) for a
security held by the fund fails to pay, otherwise defaults, is perceived to be
less creditworthy, becomes insolvent or files for bankruptcy, a security’s
credit rating is downgraded or the credit quality or value of an underlying
asset declines, the value of your investment could decline. Changes in actual or
perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. If the fund enters into financial
contracts (such as certain derivatives, repurchase agreements, reverse
repurchase agreements, and when-issued, delayed delivery and forward commitment
transactions), the fund will be subject to the credit risk presented by the
counterparty. In addition, the fund may incur expenses and suffer delays in an
effort to protect the fund's interests or to enforce its rights. A security may
change in price for a variety of reasons. For example, floating rate securities
may have final maturities of ten or more years, but their effective durations
will tend to be very short. If there is an adverse credit event, or a perceived
change in the issuer’s creditworthiness, these securities could experience a far
greater negative price movement than would be predicted by the change in the
security’s yield in relation to their effective duration. The fund evaluates the
credit quality of issuers and counterparties prior to investing in securities.
Credit risk is broadly gauged by the credit ratings of the securities in which
the fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the companies
issuing them and are not guarantees as to quality. Securities rated in the
lowest category of investment grade (Baa/BBB) may possess certain speculative
characteristics.
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on the risks of investing in the fund
Prepayment
or call risk. Many
fixed income securities give the issuer the option to prepay or call the
security prior to its maturity date. Issuers often exercise this right when
interest rates fall. Accordingly, if the fund holds a fixed income security that
can be prepaid or called prior to its maturity date, it will not benefit fully
from the increase in value that other fixed income securities generally
experience when interest rates fall. Upon prepayment of the security, the fund
also would be forced to reinvest the proceeds at then current yields, which
would be lower than the yield of the security that was prepaid or called. In
addition, if the fund purchases a fixed income security at a premium (at a price
that exceeds its stated par or principal value), the fund may lose the amount of
the premium paid in the event of prepayment.
Extension
risk. During
periods of rising interest rates, the average life of certain types of
securities may be extended because of slower than expected principal payments.
This may lock in a below market interest rate, increase the security's duration
and reduce the value of the security.
To the
extent the fund invests significantly in mortgage-related and asset-backed
securities, its exposure to extension risks may be greater than if it invested
in other fixed income securities.
Liquidity
risk. Liquidity
risk is the risk that particular investments, or investments generally, may be
or become impossible or difficult to purchase or sell. Although most of the
fund's securities and other investments must be liquid at the time of
investment, securities and other investments may become illiquid after purchase
by the fund, particularly during periods of market turmoil or due to adverse
changes in the conditions of a particular issuer. Liquidity and value of
investments can deteriorate rapidly. Markets may become illiquid when, for
instance, there are few, if any, interested buyers and sellers or when dealers
are unwilling to make a market for certain securities or when dealer
market-making capacity is otherwise reduced. During times of market turmoil,
there have been, and may be, no buyers for securities in entire asset classes,
including U.S. Treasury securities. A lack of liquidity or other adverse credit
market conditions may affect the fund's ability to sell the securities in which
it invests or to find and purchase suitable investments. When the fund holds
illiquid investments, the fund may be harder to value, especially in changing
markets. If the fund is forced to sell or unwind an illiquid investment to meet
redemption requests or for other cash needs, or to try to limit losses, the fund
may suffer a substantial loss or may not be able to sell at all. The fund may
experience heavy redemptions that could cause the fund to liquidate its assets
at inopportune times or at a loss or depressed value, which could cause the
value of your investment to decline. In addition, when there is illiquidity in
the market for certain securities and other investments, the fund, due to
limitations on investments in illiquid
36
securities,
may be unable to achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain sector.
Further, certain securities, once sold, may not settle for an extended period
(for example, several weeks or even longer). The fund will not receive its sales
proceeds until that time, which may constrain the fund’s ability to meet its
obligations (including obligations to redeeming shareholders). Liquidity risk
may be magnified in an environment of rising interest rates or widening credit
spreads in which investor redemptions from fixed income mutual funds may be
higher than normal. If an auction fails for an auction rate security, there may
be no secondary market for the security and the fund may be forced to hold the
security until the security is refinanced by the issuer or a secondary market
develops. To the extent the fund holds a material percentage of the outstanding
debt securities of an issuer, this practice may impact adversely the liquidity
and market value of those investments.
Portfolio
selection risk. The
adviser’s judgment about the quality, relative yield, relative value or market
trends affecting a particular sector or region, market segment, security,
industry or about interest rates or other market factors may prove to be
incorrect or may not produce the desired results, or there may be imperfections,
errors or limitations in the models, tools and information used by the
adviser.
ESG
risk. The
fund’s adviser may consider ESG information in its investment research process.
This may mean forgoing some investment opportunities available to funds that do
not consider ESG information. In considering ESG information, the adviser may
use third party ESG ratings information that it believes to be reliable, but
such information may not be accurate or complete, or may be biased. ESG
considerations are not a primary focus of the fund, and the weight given by the
adviser to ESG considerations in making investment decisions will vary and, for
any specific decision, they may be given little or no weight.
U.S.
Treasury obligations risk. The
market value of direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury may vary due to changes
in interest rates. In addition, changes to the financial condition or credit
rating of the U.S. government may cause the value of the fund’s investments in
obligations issued by the U.S. Treasury to decline.
U.S.
government agency obligations risk. The fund
invests in obligations issued by agencies and instrumentalities of the U.S.
government. Government-sponsored entities such as FNMA, FHLMC and the FHLBs,
although chartered or sponsored by Congress, are not funded by congressional
appropriations and the debt and mortgage-backed securities issued by them are
neither guaranteed nor issued by the U.S. government. The maximum potential
liability of the issuers of some U.S. government obligations may greatly exceed
their current resources, including any legal right to support from the U.S.
government. Such debt and
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on the risks of investing in the fund
mortgage-backed
securities are subject to the risk of default on the payment of interest and/or
principal, similar to debt of private issuers. Although the U.S. government has
provided financial support to FNMA and FHLMC in the past, there can be no
assurance that it will support these or other government-sponsored entities in
the future.
Mortgage-related
and asset-backed securities risk. The
repayment of certain mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities depends
primarily on the cash collections received from the issuer’s underlying asset
portfolio and, in certain cases, the issuer’s ability to issue replacement
securities. As a result, there could be losses to the fund in the event of
credit or market value deterioration in the issuer’s underlying portfolio,
mismatches in the timing of the cash flows of the underlying asset interests and
the repayment obligations of maturing securities, or the issuer’s inability to
issue new or replacement securities. Mortgage-backed securities tend to be more
sensitive to changes in interest rates than other types of debt securities.
These securities are also subject to interest rate, prepayment and extension
risks. Upon the occurrence of certain triggering events or defaults, the
investors in a security held by the fund may become the holders of underlying
assets at a time when those assets may be difficult to sell or may be sold only
at a loss. In the event of a default, the value of the underlying collateral may
be insufficient to pay certain expenses, such as litigation and foreclosure
expenses, and inadequate to pay any principal or unpaid interest. The risk of
default is generally higher in the case of mortgage-backed investments offered
by private issuers and those that include so-called “sub-prime”
mortgages.
Privately issued mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities are not traded on
an exchange and may have a limited market. Without an active trading market,
these securities may be particularly difficult to value given the complexities
in valuing the underlying collateral.
Certain
mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities may pay principal only at maturity
or may represent only the right to receive payments of principal or interest on
the underlying obligations, but not both. The value of these types of
instruments may change more than the value of debt securities that pay both
principal and interest during periods of changing interest rates. Principal only
instruments generally increase in value if interest rates decline, but are also
subject to the risk of prepayment. Interest only instruments generally increase
in value in a rising interest rate environment when fewer of the underlying
obligations are prepaid. Interest only instruments could lose their entire value
in a declining interest rate environment if the underlying obligations are
prepaid.
38
Unlike
mortgage-related securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its
agencies and instrumentalities, mortgage-related securities issued by private
issuers do not have a government or government-sponsored entity guarantee (but
may have other credit enhancement), and may, and frequently do, have less
favorable collateral, credit risk or other characteristics. The fund may invest
in other mortgage-related securities, including mortgage derivatives and
structured securities. These securities typically are not secured by real
property. Because these securities have embedded leverage features, small
changes in interest or prepayment rates may cause large and sudden price
movements. These securities also can become illiquid and difficult to value in
volatile or declining markets. Privately issued mortgage-related securities are
also not subject to the same underwriting requirements for the underlying
mortgages that are applicable to those mortgage-related securities that have a
government or government-sponsored entity guarantee. Privately issued
mortgage-related securities are not traded on an exchange and there may be a
limited market for the securities, especially when there is a perceived weakness
in the mortgage and real estate market sectors. Without an active trading
market, mortgage-related securities held in the fund’s portfolio may be
particularly difficult to value because of the complexities involved in
assessing the value of the underlying mortgage loans.
Mortgage-backed
securities are particularly susceptible to prepayment and extension risks,
because prepayments on the underlying mortgages tend to increase when interest
rates fall and decrease when interest rates rise. Prepayments may also occur on
a scheduled basis or due to foreclosure. When market interest rates increase,
mortgage refinancings and prepayments slow, which lengthens the effective
duration of these securities. As a result, the negative effect of the interest
rate increase on the market value of mortgage-backed securities is usually more
pronounced than it is for other types of fixed income securities, potentially
increasing the volatility of the fund. Conversely, when market interest rates
decline, while the value of mortgage-backed securities may increase, the rates
of prepayment of the underlying mortgages tend to increase, which shortens the
effective duration of these securities. Mortgage-backed securities are also
subject to the risk that the underlying borrowers will be unable to meet their
obligations.
At times,
some of the mortgage-backed securities in which the fund may invest will have
higher than market interest rates and therefore will be purchased at a premium
above their par value. Prepayments may cause losses on securities purchased at a
premium.
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on the risks of investing in the fund
The value
of mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities may be affected by changes in
credit quality or value of the mortgage loans or other assets that support the
securities. In addition, for mortgage-backed securities, when market conditions
result in an increase in the default rates on the underlying mortgages and the
foreclosure values of the underlying real estate are below the outstanding
amount of the underlying mortgages, collection of the full amount of accrued
interest and principal on these investments may be less likely. 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.
The fund
may invest in CMOs. Principal prepayments on the underlying mortgage loans may
cause a CMO to be retired substantially earlier than its stated maturity or
final distribution date. If there are defaults on the underlying mortgage loans,
the fund will be less likely to receive payments of principal and interest, and
will be more likely to suffer a loss. This risk may be increased to the extent
the underlying mortgages include sub-prime mortgages. As market conditions
change, and particularly during periods of rapid or unanticipated changes in
market interest rates, the attractiveness of a CMO class and the ability of the
structure to provide the anticipated investment characteristics may be
significantly reduced. Such changes can result in volatility in the market
value, and in some instances reduced liquidity, of a CMO class.
The fund
may invest in credit risk transfer (“CRT”) securities. CRT securities are
unguaranteed and unsecured fixed income securities issued by
government-sponsored or private entities that transfer the credit risk related
to certain types of mortgage-backed securities to the holder of the CRT
security. In the event of an issuer default, the holder of a CRT security has no
direct recourse to the underlying mortgage loans. In addition, if the underlying
mortgage loans default, the principal of the holders of the CRT security is used
to pay back holders of the mortgage-backed securities. As a result, all or part
of the mortgage default or credit risk associated with the underlying mortgage
loans is transferred to the fund. Therefore, the fund could lose all or part of
its investments in credit risk transfer securities in the event of default by
the underlying mortgage loans.
The fund
may invest in commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”). CMBS are subject
to the risks generally associated with mortgage-backed securities. CMBS may not
be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and are subject to
risk of default on the underlying mortgages. CMBS issued by non-government
entities may offer higher yields than those issued by government
40
entities,
but also may be subject to greater volatility than government issues. CMBS react
differently to changes in interest rates than other bonds and the prices of CMBS
may reflect adverse economic and market conditions. Small movements in interest
rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the
value of CMBS.
Asset-backed
securities are structured like mortgage-backed securities and are subject to
many of the same risks. The ability of an issuer of asset-backed securities to
enforce its security interest in the underlying assets or to otherwise recover
from the underlying obligor may be limited. Certain asset-backed securities
present a heightened level of risk because, in the event of default, the
liquidation value of the underlying assets may be inadequate to pay any unpaid
principal or interest.
Risks
of investing in collateralized debt obligations.
Investment in a collateralized debt obligation (CDO) is subject to the credit,
subordination, interest rate, valuation, prepayment, extension and other risks
of the obligations underlying the CDO and the tranche of the CDO in which the
fund invests. CDOs are subject to liquidity risk. CDOs carry additional risks
including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from
collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments;
(ii) the risk that the collateral may default or decline in value or be
downgraded, if rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization;
(iii) the fund may invest in tranches of CDOs that are subordinate to other
tranches; (iv) the structure and complexity of the transaction and the legal
documents could lead to disputes among investors regarding the characterization
of proceeds; (v) the investment return achieved by the fund could be
significantly different than those predicted by financial models; (vi) the lack
of a readily available secondary market for CDOs; (vii) the risk of forced “fire
sale” liquidation due to technical defaults such as coverage test failures; and
(viii) the CDO's manager may perform poorly. In addition, investments in CDOs
may be characterized by the fund as illiquid securities. CDOs may be highly
leveraged (which could make them highly volatile). Synthetic CDOs are also
subject to the risks of investing in derivatives, such as credit default swaps,
and leverage risk. The fund may invest in or be exposed to CDOs that are
sometimes referred to as “covenant-lite” obligations, which generally are debt
obligations that lack financial maintenance covenants or possess fewer or
contingent financial maintenance covenants and other financial protections for
lenders and investors. These “covenant-lite” obligations typically are
particularly subject to the risks associated with investments in loans as
described in this prospectus.
Risks
of instruments that allow for balloon payments or negative amortization
payments. Certain
debt instruments allow for balloon payments or negative amortization payments.
Such instruments permit the borrower to
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on the risks of investing in the fund
avoid
paying currently a portion of the interest accruing on the instrument. While
these features make the debt instrument more affordable to the borrower in the
near term, they increase the risk that the borrower will be unable to make the
resulting higher payment or payments that become due at the maturity of the
loan.
High
yield or “junk” bond risk. Debt
securities that are below investment grade, called “junk bonds,” are
speculative, have a higher risk of default or are already in default, tend to be
less liquid and are more difficult to value than higher grade securities and may
involve major risk of exposure to adverse conditions and negative sentiments.
These securities have a higher risk of issuer default because, among other
reasons, issuers of junk bonds often have more debt in relation to total
capitalization than issuers of investment grade securities. Junk bonds tend to
be volatile and more susceptible to adverse events and negative sentiments.
These risks are more pronounced for securities that are already in default. The
fund may not receive interest payments on defaulted securities and may incur
costs to protect its investment. In addition, defaulted securities involve the
substantial risk that principal will not be repaid. Changes in economic
conditions or developments regarding the individual issuer are more likely to
cause price volatility and weaken the capacity of such securities to make
principal and interest payments than is the case for higher grade debt
securities. The value of lower-quality debt securities often changes in response
to company, political, or economic developments and can decline significantly
over short as well as long periods of time or during periods of general or
regional economic difficulty. Junk bonds may also be less liquid than
higher-rated securities, which means that the fund may have difficulty selling
them at times, and it may have to apply a greater degree of judgment in
establishing a price for purposes of valuing fund shares. Junk bonds generally
are issued by less creditworthy issuers. Issuers of junk bonds may have a larger
amount of outstanding debt securities relative to their assets than issuers of
investment grade bonds. In the event of an issuer’s bankruptcy, claims of other
creditors may have priority over the claims of junk bond holders, leaving few or
no assets available to repay junk bond holders. The fund may incur expenses to
the extent necessary to seek recovery upon default or to negotiate new terms
with a defaulting issuer. Junk bonds frequently have redemption features that
permit an issuer to repurchase the security from the fund before it matures. If
the issuer redeems junk bonds, the fund may have to invest the proceeds in bonds
with lower yields and may lose income.
Risks
of investing in loans. Floating
rate loans and similar investments may be illiquid or less liquid than other
investments and difficult to value. The value of collateral, if any, securing a
floating rate loan can decline or may be insufficient to meet the issuer’s
obligations or may be difficult to liquidate. In the event of a default, the
fund may have difficulty collecting on any collateral and would not have the
42
ability to
collect on any collateral for an uncollateralized loan. Further, the fund’s
access to collateral, if any, may be limited by bankruptcy law. Market
quotations for these securities may be volatile and/or subject to large spreads
between bid and ask prices. No active trading market may exist for many floating
rate loans, and many loans are subject to restrictions on resale. Any secondary
market may be subject to irregular trading activity and extended trade
settlement periods. In particular, loans may take longer than seven days to
settle, potentially leading to the sale proceeds of loans not being available to
meet redemption requests for a substantial period of time after the sale of the
loans. To the extent that sale proceeds of loans are not available, the fund may
sell securities that have shorter settlement periods or may access other sources
of liquidity to meet redemption requests. During periods of heightened
redemption activity or distressed market conditions, the fund may seek to obtain
expedited trade settlement, which will generally incur additional costs
(although expedited trade settlement will not always be available). If the fund
invests in loans that contain fewer or less restrictive constraints on the
borrower than certain other types of loans (“covenant-lite” loans), it may have
fewer rights against the borrowers of such loans, including fewer protections
against the possibility of default and fewer remedies in the event of default.
An economic downturn generally leads to a higher non-payment rate, and a loan
may lose significant value before a default occurs. There is less readily
available, reliable information about most floating rate loans than is the case
for many other types of securities. Normally, Amundi US will seek to avoid
receiving material, non-public information about the issuer of a loan either
held by, or considered for investment by, the fund, and this decision could
place it at a disadvantage, relative to other loan investors, in assessing a
loan or the loan’s issuer, and adversely affect the fund’s investment
performance. Because affiliates of Amundi US may participate in the primary and
secondary market for senior loans, limitations under applicable law may restrict
the fund’s ability to participate in structuring a senior loan or to acquire
some senior loans, or affect the timing or price of such acquisition. Loans may
not be considered “securities,” and purchasers, such as the fund, therefore may
not be entitled to rely on the anti-fraud protections afforded by federal
securities laws.
Risks
of investing in insurance-linked securities. The fund
could lose a portion or all of the principal it has invested in an
insurance-linked security, and the right to additional interest and/or dividend
payments with respect to the security, upon the occurrence of one or more
trigger events, as defined within the terms of an insurance-linked security.
Trigger events may include natural or other perils of a specific size or
magnitude that occur in a designated geographic region during a specified time
period, and/or that involve losses or other metrics that exceed a
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on the risks of investing in the fund
specific
amount. Natural perils include disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes,
windstorms, fires, floods and other weather-related occurrences, as well as
mortality or longevity events. Non-natural perils include disasters resulting
from human-related activity such as commercial and industrial accidents or
business interruptions. Major natural disasters (such as in the cases of Super
Typhoon Goni in the Philippines in 2020, monsoon flooding in China in 2020,
Hurricane Irma in Florida and the Caribbean in 2017, Super Storm Sandy in 2012,
and Hurricane Ian in Florida in 2022) or commercial and industrial accidents
(such as aviation disasters and oil spills) can result in significant losses,
and investors in ILS with exposure to such natural or other disasters may also
experience substantial losses. If the likelihood and severity of natural and
other large disasters increase, the risk of significant losses to reinsurers may
increase. Typically, one significant triggering event (even in a major
metropolitan area) will not result in financial failure to a reinsurer. However,
a series of major triggering events could cause the failure of a reinsurer.
Similarly, to the extent the fund invests in ILS for which a triggering event
occurs, losses associated with such event will result in losses to the fund and
a series of major triggering events affecting a large portion of the ILS held by
the fund will result in substantial losses to the fund. The fund may also invest
in insurance-linked securities that are subject to “indemnity triggers.” An
indemnity trigger is a trigger based on the actual losses of the ceding sponsor
(i.e., the party seeking reinsurance). Insurance-linked securities subject to
indemnity triggers are often regarded as being subject to potential moral
hazard, since such insurance-linked securities are triggered by actual losses of
the ceding sponsor and the ceding sponsor may have an incentive to take actions
and/or risks that would have an adverse effect on the fund. For example, a
ceding sponsor might inflate its total claims paid above the ILS trigger level,
in order to share its losses with investors in the ILS. Thus, bonds with
indemnity triggers may be subject to moral hazard, because the trigger depends
on the ceding sponsor to properly identify and calculate losses that do and do
not apply in determining whether the trigger amount has been reached. In short,
“moral hazard” refers to this potential for the sponsor to influence bond
performance, as payouts are based on the individual policy claims against the
sponsor and the way the sponsor settles those claims. There is no way to
accurately predict whether a trigger event will occur and, accordingly,
insurance-linked securities carry significant risk. In addition to the specified
trigger events, insurance-linked securities may expose the fund to other risks,
including but not limited to issuer (credit) default, adverse regulatory or
jurisdictional interpretations and adverse tax consequences. Insurance-linked
securities are also subject to the risk that the model used to calculate the
probability of a trigger event was not accurate and underestimated the
likelihood of a trigger event. Insurance-linked securities may provide for
extensions of maturity in order to process and audit loss claims in those cases
44
when a
trigger event has, or possibly has, occurred. Certain insurance-linked
securities may have limited liquidity, or may be illiquid. Upon the occurrence
or possible occurrence of a trigger event, and until the completion of the
processing and auditing of applicable loss claims, the fund's investment in an
insurance-linked security may be priced using fair value methods. Lack of a
liquid market may impose the risk of higher transaction costs and the
possibility that the fund may be forced to liquidate positions when it would not
be advantageous to do so. Certain insurance-linked securities represent
interests in baskets of underlying reinsurance contracts. The fund has limited
transparency into the individual contracts underlying such securities and
therefore must rely on the risk assessment and sound underwriting practices of
the insurer and/or reinsurer. Certain insurance-linked securities may be
difficult to value.
Risks
of subordinated securities. A holder
of securities that are subordinated or “junior” to more senior securities of an
issuer is entitled to payment after holders of more senior securities of the
issuer. Subordinated securities are more likely to suffer a credit loss than
non-subordinated securities of the same issuer, any loss incurred by the
subordinated securities is likely to be proportionately greater, and any
recovery of interest or principal may take more time. If there is a default,
bankruptcy or liquidation of the issuer, most subordinated securities are paid
only if sufficient assets remain after payment of the issuer’s non-subordinated
securities. As a result, even a perceived decline in creditworthiness of the
issuer is likely to have a greater impact on subordinated securities than more
senior securities.
Risks
of zero coupon bonds, payment in kind, deferred and contingent payment
securities. Zero
coupon bonds (which do not pay interest until maturity) and payment in kind
securities (which pay interest in the form of additional securities) may be more
speculative and may fluctuate more in value than securities which pay income
periodically and in cash. Payment in kind securities are usually less volatile
than zero coupon bonds, but more volatile than cash pay securities. These
securities are more likely to respond to changes in interest rates than
interest-bearing securities having similar maturities and credit quality. The
higher interest rates of payment in kind securities reflect the payment deferral
and increased credit risk associated with these instruments, and payment in kind
instruments generally represent a significantly higher credit risk than coupon
bonds. These securities are more sensitive to the credit quality of the
underlying issuer. Payment in kind securities may be difficult to value because
their continuing accruals require continuing judgments about the collectability
of the deferred payments and the value of any associated collateral. Deferred
interest securities are obligations that generally provide for a period of delay
before the regular payment of interest begins and are issued at a significant
discount from face value. The interest rate on
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on the risks of investing in the fund
contingent
payment securities is determined by the outcome of an event, such as the
performance of a financial index. If the financial index does not increase by a
prescribed amount, the fund may receive no interest.
Unlike
bonds that pay interest throughout the period to maturity, the fund generally
will realize no cash until maturity and, if the issuer defaults, the fund may
obtain no return at all on its investment. In addition, although the fund
receives no periodic cash payments on such securities, the fund is deemed for
tax purposes to receive income from such securities, which applicable tax rules
require the fund to distribute to shareholders. Such distributions may be
taxable when distributed to shareholders and, in addition, could reduce the
fund’s reserve position and require the fund to sell securities and incur a gain
or loss at a time it may not otherwise want in order to provide the cash
necessary for these distributions.
Risks
of non-U.S. investments. Investing
in non-U.S. issuers, or in U.S. issuers that have significant exposure to
foreign markets, may involve unique risks compared to investing in securities of
U.S. issuers. These risks are more pronounced for issuers in emerging markets or
to the extent that the fund invests significantly in one region or country.
These risks may include:
•
Less information about
non-U.S. issuers or markets may be available due to less rigorous disclosure or
accounting standards and auditing and financial recordkeeping requirements, or
regulatory practices
•
Many
non-U.S. markets are smaller, less liquid and more volatile. In a changing
market, the adviser may not be able to sell the fund's securities at times, in
amounts and at prices it considers reasonable
•
Adverse
effect of currency exchange rates or controls on the value of the fund's
investments, or its ability to convert non-U.S. currencies to U.S.
dollars
•
The
economies of non-U.S. countries may grow at slower rates than expected or may
experience a downturn or recession
•
Economic, political,
regulatory and social developments such as unfavorable or unsuccessful
government actions, reduction of government or central bank support, terrorism,
armed conflicts and other geopolitical events, and the impact of tariffs and
other restrictions on trade or economic sanctions, nationalization or
expropriation of assets, arbitrary application of laws and regulations, or lack
of rule of law, may adversely affect the securities markets
•
There may be significant
obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or
litigation against issuers located in or operating in certain foreign markets,
particularly emerging market countries, and shareholders may have limited legal
remedies. It may be difficult for the fund to pursue claims or enforce judgments
against a foreign bank, depository or issuer of a security, or any of their
agents, in the courts of a foreign country
46
•
The value
of the fund’s foreign investments may also be affected by foreign tax laws,
special U.S. tax considerations and restrictions on receiving the investment
proceeds from a foreign country. Withholding and other non-U.S. taxes may
decrease the fund's return. The value of the fund’s foreign investments also may
be affected by U.S. tax considerations and restrictions in receiving investment
proceeds from a foreign country
•
Some
markets in which the fund may invest are located in parts of the world that have
historically been prone to natural disasters that could result in a significant
adverse impact on the economies of those countries and investments made in those
countries
•
It is
often more expensive for the fund to buy, sell and hold securities in certain
foreign markets than in the U.S.
•
A
governmental entity may delay, or refuse or be unable to pay, interest or
principal on its sovereign debt due to cash flow problems, insufficient foreign
currency reserves, political considerations, the relative size of the
governmental entity’s debt position in relation to the economy or the failure to
put in place economic reforms
•
Investing
in depositary receipts is subject to many of the same risks as investing
directly in non-U.S. issuers. Depositary receipts may involve higher expenses
and may trade at a discount (or premium) to the underlying security. In
addition, depositary receipts may not pass through voting and other shareholder
rights, and may be less liquid than the underlying securities listed on an
exchange
•
A number
of countries in the European Union (EU) have experienced, and may continue to
experience, severe economic and financial difficulties. Additional EU member
countries may also fall subject to such difficulties. A number of countries in
Europe have suffered terror attacks, and additional attacks may occur in the
future. In addition, the United Kingdom has withdrawn from the EU (commonly
known as “Brexit”). The range and potential implications of possible political,
regulatory, economic, and market outcomes of Brexit cannot be fully known but
could be significant, potentially resulting in increased volatility, illiquidity
and potentially lower economic growth in the affected markets, which will
adversely affect the fund’s investments, particularly in euro-denominated
securities and derivative contracts, securities of issuers located in the EU or
with significant exposure to EU issuers or countries
•
China and
other developing market countries may be subject to considerable degrees of
economic, political and social instability. Markets in China and other Asian
countries are relatively new and undeveloped. China’s economic health is largely
dependent upon exports, and may be dependent upon the economies of other Asian
countries. Investments in Chinese and other Asian issuers could be adversely
affected by changes in government policies, or trade or political disputes
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More
on the risks of investing in the fund
with major trading
partners, including the U.S. China’s growing trade surplus with the U.S. has
given rise to trade disputes and the imposition of tariffs. The U.S. has also
restricted the sale of certain goods to China. In addition, the U.S. government
has imposed restrictions on U.S. investor participation in certain Chinese
investments. These matters could adversely affect China’s economy. China's
central government exercises significant control over China's economy and may
intervene in the financial markets, such as by imposing trading restrictions,
and investments in Chinese issuers could be adversely affected by changes in
government policies. The Chinese economy could be adversely affected by supply
chain disruptions. An economic slowdown in China could adversely affect
economies of other emerging market countries that trade with China, as well as
companies operating in those countries. Economies of Asian countries and Asian
issuers could be adversely affected by regional security threats. In addition,
China's long-running conflict over Taiwan's sovereignty, border disputes with
many neighbors and historically strained relations with other Asian countries
could result in military conflict that could adversely impact the economies of
China and other Asian countries, disrupt supply chains, and severely affect
global economies and markets
•
The Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board, which regulates auditors of U.S. public companies,
may, from time to time, be unable to inspect audit work papers in certain
foreign or emerging market countries. Investors in foreign countries often have
limited rights and few practical remedies to pursue shareholder claims,
including class actions or fraud claims, and the ability of the Securities and
Exchange Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice and other authorities to
bring and enforce actions against foreign issuers or foreign persons is
limited
•
If one or
more stockholders of a supranational entity such as the World Bank fail to make
necessary additional capital contributions, the entity may be unable to pay
interest or repay principal on its debt securities
•
Sanctions
or other government actions against certain countries could negatively impact
the fund’s investments in securities that have exposure to those
countries
•
Russia launched a
large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. In response to the
military action by Russia, various countries, including the U.S., the United
Kingdom, and European Union, issued broad-ranging economic sanctions against
Russia and Belarus and certain companies and individuals. Russia has taken
retaliatory actions, including preventing repatriation of capital by U.S. and
other investors. Since then, Russian securities lost all, or nearly all, their
market value, and many other issuers, securities and markets have been adversely
affected. The ongoing conflict has resulted in significant market disruptions,
including in certain markets, industries and sectors, such as the oil and
natural gas markets, and negatively affected global supply chains, food
48
supplies,
inflation and global growth. The U.S. and other countries may impose sanctions
on other countries, companies and individuals in light of Russia’s military
invasion. The extent and duration of the military action or future escalation of
such hostilities, the extent and impact of existing and future sanctions, market
disruptions and volatility, and the result of any diplomatic negotiations cannot
be predicted. These and any related events could have a significant impact on
the value and liquidity of certain fund investments, on fund performance and the
value of an investment in the fund
•
Circumstances
that impact one country could have profound impacts on other countries and on
global economies or markets
•
Emerging
market economies tend to be less diversified than those of more developed
countries. They typically have fewer medical and economic resources than more
developed countries and thus they may be less able to control or mitigate the
effects of a pandemic
Currency
risk. Because
the fund may invest in non-U.S. currencies, securities denominated in non-U.S.
currencies, and other currency-related investments, the fund is subject to
currency risk, meaning that the fund could experience losses based on changes in
the exchange rate between non-U.S. currencies and the U.S. dollar or as a result
of currency conversion costs. Currency exchange rates can be volatile, and are
affected by factors such as general economic conditions, the actions of the U.S.
and foreign governments or central banks, the imposition of currency controls
and speculation.
Risks
of convertible securities.
Convertible securities generally offer lower interest or dividend yields than
non-convertible securities of similar quality. As with all fixed income
securities, the market values of convertible securities tend to decline as
interest rates increase and, conversely, to increase as interest rates decline.
However, when the market price of the common stock underlying a convertible
security approaches or exceeds the conversion price, the convertible security
tends to reflect the market price of the underlying common stock. As the market
price of the underlying common stock declines, the convertible security tends to
trade increasingly on a yield basis and thus may not decline in price to the
same extent as the underlying common stock. Convertible securities rank senior
to common stocks in an issuer's capital structure and consequently entail less
risk than the issuer's common stock. The value of a synthetic convertible
security will respond differently to market fluctuations than a traditional
convertible security because a synthetic convertible security is composed of two
or more separate securities or instruments, each with its own market value. If
the value of the underlying common stock or the level of the index involved in
the convertible component falls below the exercise price of the warrant or
option, the warrant or option may lose all value.
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More
on the risks of investing in the fund
Derivatives
risk. Using
swaps and other derivatives exposes the fund to special risks and costs and may
result in losses to the fund, even when used for hedging purposes. Using
derivatives can increase losses and reduce opportunities for gain when market
prices, interest rates or currencies, or the derivative instruments themselves,
behave in a way not anticipated by the fund, especially in abnormal market
conditions. Using derivatives can have a leveraging effect (which may increase
investment losses) and increase the fund’s volatility, which is the degree to
which the fund’s share price may fluctuate within a short time period. Certain
derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the
fund’s initial investment. Derivatives are generally subject to the risks
applicable to the assets, rates, indices or other indicators underlying the
derivative. If changes in a derivative’s value do not correspond to changes in
the value of the fund’s other investments or do not correlate well with the
underlying assets, rate or index, the fund may not fully benefit from, or could
lose money on, or could experience unusually high expenses as a result of, the
derivative position. The other parties to certain derivative transactions
present the same types of credit risk as issuers of fixed income securities.
Derivatives also tend to involve greater liquidity risk and they may be
difficult to value. The fund may be unable to terminate or sell its derivative
positions. In fact, many over-the-counter derivatives will not have liquidity
beyond the counterparty to the instrument. The fund also may have to sell assets
at inopportune times to satisfy its obligations. Use of derivatives or similar
instruments may have different tax consequences for the fund than an investment
in the underlying security, and those differences may affect the amount, timing
and character of income distributed to shareholders. The fund’s use of
derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders. Risks
associated with the use of derivatives are magnified to the extent that an
increased portion of the fund’s assets are committed to derivatives in general
or are invested in just one or a few types of derivatives.
Investments
by the fund in structured securities, a type of derivative, raise certain tax,
legal, regulatory and accounting issues that may not be presented by direct
investments in securities. These issues could be resolved in a manner that could
hurt the performance of the fund.
The U.S.
government and foreign governments have adopted and implemented or are in the
process of adopting and implementing regulations governing derivatives markets,
including mandatory clearing of certain derivatives, margin and reporting
requirements. The ultimate impact of the regulations remains unclear. Additional
regulation of derivatives may make derivatives more costly, limit their
availability or utility, otherwise adversely affect their performance or disrupt
markets. The
50
fund may
be exposed to additional risks as a result of the additional regulations. The
extent and impact of the regulations are not yet fully known and may not be for
some time.
The fund
will be required to maintain its positions with a clearing organization through
one or more clearing brokers. The clearing organization will require the fund to
post margin and the broker may require the fund to post additional margin to
secure the fund’s obligations. The amount of margin required may change from
time to time. In addition, cleared transactions may be more expensive to
maintain than over-the-counter transactions and may require the fund to deposit
larger amounts of margin. The fund may not be able to recover margin amounts if
the broker has financial difficulties. Also, the broker may require the fund to
terminate a derivatives position under certain circumstances. This may cause the
fund to lose money. The fund's ability to use certain derivative instruments
currently is limited by Commodity Futures Trading Commission
rules.
Credit
default swap risk. Credit
default swap contracts, a type of derivative instrument, involve heightened
risks and may result in losses to the fund. Credit default swaps may in some
cases be illiquid and difficult to value, and they increase credit risk since
the fund has exposure to both the issuer of the referenced obligation and the
counterparty to the credit default swap. If the fund buys a credit default swap,
it will be subject to the risk that the credit default swap may expire
worthless, as the credit default swap would only generate income in the event of
a default on the underlying debt security or other specified event. As a buyer,
the fund would also be subject to credit risk relating to the seller’s payment
of its obligations in the event of a default (or similar event). If the fund
sells a credit default swap, it will be exposed to the credit risk of the issuer
of the obligation to which the credit default swap relates. As a seller, the
fund would also be subject to leverage risk, because it would be liable for the
full notional amount of the swap in the event of default (or similar event).
Swaps may be difficult to unwind or terminate. Certain index-based credit
default swaps are structured in tranches, whereby junior tranches assume greater
default risk than senior tranches. The absence of a central exchange or market
for swap transactions may lead, in some instances, to difficulties in trading
and valuation, especially in the event of market disruptions. Relatively recent
legislation requires certain swaps to be executed through a centralized exchange
or regulated facility and be cleared through a regulated clearinghouse. Although
this clearing mechanism is generally expected to reduce counterparty credit
risk, it may disrupt or limit the swap market and may not result in swaps being
easier to trade or value. As swaps become more standardized, the fund may not be
able to enter into swaps that meet its investment needs. The fund also may not
be able to
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on the risks of investing in the fund
find a
clearinghouse willing to accept the swaps for clearing. In a cleared swap, a
central clearing organization will be the counterparty to the transaction. The
fund will assume the risk that the clearinghouse may be unable to perform its
obligations.
Structured
securities risk. The
structured securities in which the fund invests are a type of derivative
instrument. The payment and credit qualities of these instruments derive from
the underlying assets and the terms of the particular security, and they may
behave in ways not anticipated by the fund. Some of these instruments may have
the effect of increasing the fund’s exposure to interest rate, market or credit
risk, even if they are not primarily intended for these purposes. Distributions
from collateral securities may not be adequate to make interest or other
payments, and the quality of the collateral may decline in value or default.
Investments in structured securities raise certain tax, legal, regulatory and
accounting issues that may not be presented by direct investments in the
underlying assets. These issues could be resolved in a manner that could hurt
the performance of the fund. Certain structured securities are thinly traded or
have limited trading markets. The structured securities may be subordinate to
other classes.
Risks
of investing in inverse floating rate obligations. The
interest rate on inverse floating rate obligations will generally decrease as
short-term interest rates increase, and increase as short-term rates decrease.
Due to their leveraged structure, the sensitivity of the market value of an
inverse floating rate obligation to changes in interest rates is generally
greater than a comparable long-term bond issued by the same issuer and with
similar credit quality, redemption and maturity provisions. Inverse floating
rate obligations may be volatile and involve leverage risk.
Forward
foreign currency transactions risk. To the
extent that the fund enters into forward foreign currency transactions, it may
not fully benefit from or may lose money on the transactions if changes in
currency rates do not occur as anticipated or do not correspond accurately to
changes in the value of the fund's holdings, or if the counterparty defaults.
Such transactions may also prevent the fund from realizing profits on favorable
movements in exchange rates. Risk of counterparty default is greater for
counterparties located in emerging markets. The fund's ability to use forward
foreign currency transactions successfully depends on a number of factors,
including the forward foreign currency transactions being available at prices
that are not too costly, the availability of liquid markets, and Amundi US’s
judgment regarding the direction of changes in currency exchange
rates.
Leveraging
risk. The value
of your investment may be more volatile and other risks tend to be compounded if
the fund borrows or uses derivatives or other investments, such as ETFs, that
have embedded leverage. Leverage generally magnifies the effect of any increase
or decrease in the value of the fund's underlying
52
assets and
creates a risk of loss of value on a larger pool of assets than the fund would
otherwise have, potentially resulting in the loss of all assets. Engaging in
such transactions may cause the fund to liquidate positions when it may not be
advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations. New derivatives regulations
require the fund, to the extent it uses derivatives to a material extent, to,
among other things, comply with certain overall limits on leverage. These
regulations may limit the ability of the fund to pursue its investment
strategies and may not be effective to mitigate the fund's risk of loss from
derivatives.
Repurchase
agreement risk. In the
event that the other party to a repurchase agreement defaults on its
obligations, the fund 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. In addition, if the fund 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.
Market
segment risk. To the
extent the fund emphasizes, from time to time, investments in a market segment,
the fund will be subject to a greater degree to the risks particular to that
segment, and may experience greater market fluctuation, than a fund without the
same focus.
Valuation
risk. Many
factors may influence the price at which the fund could sell any particular
portfolio investment. The sales price may well differ - higher or lower - from
the fund’s valuation of the investment, and such differences could be
significant, particularly for illiquid securities and securities that trade in
thin markets and/or markets that experience extreme volatility. These
differences may increase significantly and affect fund investments more broadly
during periods of market volatility. Nearly all of the fund's investments are
valued using fair value methodologies. Investors who purchase or redeem fund
shares may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds,
than they would have received if the securities had not been fair-valued or if a
different valuation methodology had been used. Fixed income securities are
typically valued using fair value methodologies. The value of foreign
securities, certain fixed income securities and currencies, as applicable, may
be materially affected by events after the close of the markets on which they
are traded, but before the fund determines its net asset value. The ability to
value the fund’s investments may also be impacted by technological issues and/or
errors by pricing services or other third party service
providers.
Redemption
risk. The fund
may experience periods of heavy redemptions that could cause the fund to
liquidate its assets at inopportune times or at a loss or depressed value, or
accelerate taxable gains or transaction costs, particularly during
53
More
on the risks of investing in the fund
periods of
declining or illiquid markets. Redemption risk is greater to the extent that the
fund has investors with large shareholdings, short investment horizons, or
unpredictable cash flow needs. In addition, redemption risk is heightened during
periods of overall market turmoil. The redemption by one or more large
shareholders of their holdings in the fund could hurt performance and/or cause
the remaining shareholders in the fund to lose money. If one decision maker has
control of fund shares owned by separate fund shareholders, including clients or
affiliates of the fund’s adviser, redemptions by these shareholders may further
increase the fund’s redemption risk. If the fund is forced to liquidate its
assets under unfavorable conditions or at inopportune times, the value of your
investment could decline.
Cybersecurity
risk.
Cybersecurity failures by and breaches of the fund’s adviser, transfer agent,
distributor, custodian, fund accounting agent or other service providers may
disrupt fund operations, interfere with the fund’s ability to calculate its NAV,
prevent fund shareholders from purchasing, redeeming or exchanging shares or
receiving distributions or receiving timely information regarding the fund or
their investment in the fund, cause loss of or unauthorized access to private
shareholder information, and result in financial losses to the fund and its
shareholders, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, or additional
compliance costs. Substantial costs may be incurred in order to prevent any
cyber incidents in the future. The fund and its shareholders could be negatively
impacted as a result. New ways to carry out cyber attacks continue to develop.
Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been identified or
prepared for, or that an attack may not be detected, which puts limitations on
the fund's ability to plan for or respond to a cyber attack.
Cash
management risk. The value
of the investments held by the fund for cash management or temporary defensive
purposes may be affected by market risks, changing interest rates and by changes
in credit ratings of the investments. To the extent that the fund has any
uninvested cash, the fund would be subject to credit risk with respect to the
depository institution holding the cash. If the fund holds cash uninvested, the
fund will not earn income on the cash and the fund’s yield will go down. During
such periods, it may be more difficult for the fund to achieve its investment
objective.
Expense
risk. Your
actual costs of investing in the fund may be higher than the expenses shown in
“Annual fund operating expenses” for a variety of reasons. For example, expense
ratios may be higher than those shown if overall net assets decrease. Net assets
are more likely to decrease and fund expense ratios are more likely to increase
when markets are volatile.
54
To learn
more about the fund's investments and risks, you should obtain and read the
statement of additional information. Please note that there are many other
factors that could adversely affect your investment and that could prevent the
fund from achieving its goals.
Disclosure
of portfolio holdings
The fund's
policies and procedures with respect to disclosure of the fund's securities are
described in the statement of additional information.
55
Management
Investment
adviser
Amundi
Asset Management US, Inc. (“Amundi US”), the fund’s investment adviser, selects
the fund’s investments and oversees the fund’s operations.
Amundi US is an indirect,
wholly owned subsidiary of Amundi and Amundi’s wholly owned subsidiary, Amundi
Holdings US, Inc. Amundi, one of the world’s largest asset managers, is
headquartered in Paris, France. As of September 30, 2024, Amundi had more than
$2.4 trillion in assets under management worldwide. As of September 30, 2024,
Amundi US (and its U.S. affiliates) had over $114 billion in assets under
management.
Amundi
US’s main office is at 60 State Street, Boston, Massachusetts
02109.
The firm’s
U.S. mutual fund investment history includes creating in 1928 one of the first
mutual funds.
Amundi US
has received an order from the Securities and Exchange Commission that permits
Amundi US, subject to the approval of the fund's Board of Trustees, to hire and
terminate a subadviser that is not affiliated with Amundi US (an “unaffiliated
subadviser”) or to materially modify an existing subadvisory contract with an
unaffiliated subadviser for the fund without shareholder approval. Amundi US
retains the ultimate responsibility to oversee and recommend the hiring,
termination and replacement of any unaffiliated subadviser.
Portfolio
management
Day-to-day
management of the fund’s portfolio is the responsibility of Noah Funderburk and
Nicolas Pauwels. Mr. Funderburk and Mr. Pauwels are supported by the Amundi US
fixed income team. Members of this team manage other Pioneer funds investing
primarily in fixed income securities. The portfolio managers and the team may
also draw upon the research and investment management expertise of the global
research teams, which provide fundamental and quantitative research on
securities and include members from one or more of Amundi US’s
affiliates.
Mr.
Funderburk, a Senior Vice President and Director of Securitized Credit of Amundi
US, joined Amundi US in 2008 and has served as a portfolio manager of the fund
since 2018.
Mr.
Pauwels, a Vice President and Deputy Director of Securitized Credit of Amundi
US, joined Amundi US in 2006 and has served as a portfolio manager of the fund
since 2018.
56
The fund’s
statement of additional information provides additional information about the
portfolio managers’ compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio
managers, and the portfolio managers’ ownership of shares of the
fund.
Management
fee
The fund
pays Amundi US a fee for managing the fund and to cover the cost of providing
certain services to the fund.
Amundi
US's annual fee is equal to 0.35% of the fund's average daily net assets up to
$1 billion and 0.30% of the fund's average daily net assets over $1 billion. The
fee is accrued daily and paid monthly.
For the fiscal year ended
August 31, 2024, the fund paid management fees (excluding waivers and/or
assumption of expenses) equivalent to 0.35% of the fund's average daily net
assets.
A discussion regarding the
basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the management contract is
available in the fund's report
filed on Form
N-CSR for the period ended February 29, 2024.
Distributor
Amundi
Distributor US, Inc. is the fund's distributor. The fund compensates the
distributor for its services. The distributor is an affiliate of Amundi
US.
57
Pricing
of shares
Net
asset value
The fund's
net asset value is the value of its securities plus any other assets minus its
accrued operating expenses and other liabilities. The fund calculates a net
asset value for each class of shares every day the New York Stock Exchange is
open as of the close of regular trading (normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time). On
days when the New York Stock Exchange is closed for trading, including certain
holidays listed in the statement of additional information, a net asset value is
not calculated. The fund’s most recent net asset value is available on the
fund’s website, amundi.com/us.
Debt securities and
certain derivative instruments are generally valued using the prices supplied by
independent third party pricing services. A pricing service may use market
prices or quotations from one or more brokers or other sources, a pricing
matrix, or other fair value methods or techniques to provide an estimated value
of the security or instrument. A pricing matrix is a means of valuing a debt
security on the basis of current market prices for other debt securities,
historical trading patterns in the market for fixed income securities and/or
other factors. Non-U.S. debt securities that are listed on an exchange will be
valued at the bid price obtained from an independent third party pricing
service.
Senior
loans are valued at the mean between the last available bid and asked prices for
one or more brokers or dealers as obtained from an independent third party
pricing service. If no reliable prices are available from either the primary or
an alternative pricing service, broker quotes will be solicited. Event-linked
bonds are valued at the bid price obtained from an independent third party
pricing service. Other insurance-linked securities may be valued at the bid
price obtained from an independent third party pricing service, or through a
third party using a pricing matrix, insurance industry valuation models, or
other fair value methods or techniques to provide an estimated value of the
instrument.
Equity securities and
certain derivative instruments that are traded on an exchange are generally
valued using the last sale price on the principal exchange on which they are
traded. Equity securities that are not traded on the date of valuation, or
securities for which no last sale prices are available, are valued at the mean
between the last bid and asked prices or, if both last bid and asked prices are
not available, at the last quoted bid price. Last sale, bid and asked prices are
provided by independent third party pricing services. In the case of equity
securities not traded on an exchange, prices are typically determined by
independent third party pricing services using a variety of techniques and
methods. Amundi US, the fund's valuation designee, may use a fair value model
developed by an independent pricing service to value non-U.S. equity
securities.
58
To the
extent that the fund invests in shares of other funds that are not traded on an
exchange, such shares of other funds are valued at their net asset values as
provided by those funds. The prospectuses for those funds explain the
circumstances under which those funds will use fair value pricing methods and
the effects of using fair value pricing methods.
The
valuations of securities traded in non-U.S. markets and certain fixed income
securities will generally be determined as of the earlier closing time of the
markets on which they primarily trade. When the fund holds securities or other
assets that are denominated in a foreign currency, the fund will normally use
the currency exchange rates as of 3:00 p.m. (Eastern time). Non-U.S. markets are
open for trading on weekends and other days when the fund does not price its
shares. Therefore, the value of the fund’s shares may change on days when you
will not be able to purchase or redeem fund shares.
Amundi US
has been designated as the fund's valuation designee, with responsibility for
fair valuation subject to oversight by the fund's Board of Trustees. When
independent third party pricing services are unable to supply prices for an
investment, or when prices or market quotations are considered by Amundi US to
be unreliable, the value of that security may be determined using quotations
from one or more broker-dealers. When such prices or quotations are not
available, or when they are considered by Amundi US to be unreliable, Amundi US
uses other fair value methods to value the fund’s securities. Amundi US also may
use fair value methods if it is determined that a significant event has occurred
between the time at which a price is determined and the time at which the fund’s
net asset value is calculated. Because the fund may invest in securities rated
below investment grade – some of which may be thinly traded and for which prices
may not be readily available or may be unreliable – Amundi US may use fair value
methods more frequently with respect to the fund’s investments than funds that
primarily invest in securities that are more widely traded. Valuing securities
using fair value methods may cause the net asset value of the fund’s shares to
differ from the net asset value that would be calculated only using market
prices.
The prices
used by Amundi US to value the fund’s securities may differ from the amounts
that would be realized if these securities were sold, and these differences may
be significant, particularly for securities that trade in relatively thin
markets and/or markets that experience extreme volatility.
59
Choosing
a class of shares
The fund
offers five classes of shares through this prospectus. Each class has different
eligibility requirements, sales charges and expenses, allowing you to choose the
class that best meets your needs.
Factors
you should consider include:
•
The
eligibility requirements that apply to purchases of a particular share
class
•
The
expenses paid by each class
•
The
initial sales charges and contingent deferred sales charges (CDSCs), if any,
applicable to each class
•
Whether
you qualify for any reduction or waiver of sales charges
•
How long
you expect to own the shares
•
Any
services you may receive from a financial intermediary
When
choosing between Class A, Class C or Class C2 shares, you should be aware that,
generally speaking, the longer your investment horizon, the more likely it will
be that Class C and Class C2 shares will not be as advantageous as Class A
shares. The annual distribution and service fees on Class C and Class C2 shares
will cost you more than the distribution and service fees you would have paid
for purchases of Class A shares. Class A shares and Class C shares are not
subject to an initial sales charge; however, Class C2 shares are subject to a 1%
contingent deferred sales charge. Class C2 shares generally are available only
through certain broker-dealers where Class C shares of the fund are not
available.
If you are
eligible to purchase Class K or Class Y shares, you should be aware that Class K
and Class Y shares are not subject to an initial sales charge, CDSC or
distribution and service fees and generally have lower annual expenses than
Class A, Class C or Class C2 shares. However, if you invest in Class K shares or
Class Y shares through an investment professional or financial intermediary,
that investment professional or financial intermediary may charge you a
commission in an amount determined and separately disclosed to you by that
investment professional or financial intermediary.
Your
investment professional can help you determine which class meets your goals.
Your investment professional or financial intermediary may receive different
compensation depending upon which class you choose, and may impose its own
investment fees and practices for purchasing and selling fund shares, which are
not described in this prospectus or in the statement of additional information.
Consult your investment professional or financial intermediary about the
availability of fund shares, the investment professional or financial
intermediary’s practices, and other information.
60
Please
note that the fund does not charge any initial sales charge, CDSC or other
asset-based fee for sales or distribution of Class K shares or Class Y shares.
However, if you invest in Class K shares or Class Y shares through an investment
professional or financial intermediary, that investment professional or
financial intermediary may charge you a commission in an amount determined and
separately disclosed to you by that investment professional or financial
intermediary.
Because
the fund is not party to any commission arrangement between you and your
investment professional or financial intermediary, any purchases and redemptions
of Class K shares or Class Y shares will be made by the fund at the applicable
net asset value (before imposition of the sales commission). Any commissions
charged by an investment professional or financial intermediary are not
reflected in the fees and expenses listed in the fee table or expense example in
this prospectus nor are they reflected in the performance in the bar chart and
table in this prospectus because these commissions are not charged by the
fund.
For
information on the fund’s expenses, please see “Fund
Summary.”
The
availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts may depend on whether
you purchase and sell your shares directly from the fund or through a financial
intermediary. Specific intermediaries may have different policies and procedures
regarding the availability of front-end sales charge waivers or contingent
deferred (back-end) sales charge (CDSC) waivers, which are discussed under
“Intermediary defined sales charge waiver policies.” In all instances, it is
your responsibility to notify the fund or your financial intermediary at the
time of purchase of any relationship or other facts qualifying you for sales
charge waivers or discounts. For waivers and discounts not available through a
particular intermediary, you will have to purchase fund shares directly from the
fund or through another intermediary to receive these waivers or discounts.
Please see the “Intermediary defined sales charge waiver policies” section to
determine any sales charge discounts and waivers that may be available to you
through your financial intermediary.
Class
A shares
•
No initial
or contingent deferred sales charge.
•
Distribution
and service fees of 0.20% of average daily net assets.
Class
C shares
•
No
contingent deferred sales charge.
•
Distribution
and service fees of 0.50% of average daily net assets.
•
Maximum
purchase amount (per transaction) of $499,999.
61
Choosing
a class of shares
•
Class C
shares automatically convert to Class A shares after 8 years.
Class
C2 shares
•
A 1%
contingent deferred sales charge is assessed if you sell your shares within one
year of purchase. Your investment firm may receive a commission from the
distributor at the time of your purchase of up to 1%.
•
Distribution
and service fees of 0.50% of average daily net assets.
•
Maximum
purchase amount (per transaction) of $499,999.
•
Class C2
shares automatically convert to Class A shares after 8 years.
Class
K shares
•
No initial
or contingent deferred sales charge. However, if you invest in Class K shares
through an investment professional or financial intermediary, that investment
professional or financial intermediary may charge you a commission in an amount
determined and separately disclosed to you by that investment professional or
financial intermediary.
•
Initial
investments by discretionary accounts and direct investors are subject to a $5
million investment minimum, which may be waived in some
circumstances.
•
There is
no investment minimum for other eligible investors.
Class
Y shares
•
No initial
or contingent deferred sales charge. However, if you invest in Class Y shares
through an investment professional or financial intermediary, that investment
professional or financial intermediary may charge you a commission in an amount
determined and separately disclosed to you by that investment professional or
financial intermediary.
•
Initial
investments are subject to a $5 million investment minimum, which may be waived
in some circumstances.
Share
class eligibility
Class
C2 shares
Class C2
shares are available for purchase only through certain broker-dealers where
Class C shares of the fund are not available.
Class
K shares
Class K
shares are available to certain discretionary accounts at Amundi US or its
affiliates, certain direct investors, other funds in the Pioneer Funds mutual
fund complex, and certain tax-deferred retirement plans (including 401(k) plans,
62
employer-sponsored
403(b) plans, 457 plans, health savings accounts, profit sharing and money
purchase pension plans, defined benefit plans and non-qualified deferred
compensation plans) held in plan level or omnibus accounts.
Direct
investors may be individuals, institutions, trusts, foundations and other
institutional investors.
Class K
shares are also available to certain mutual fund programs. See “Minimum
investment amounts - Waivers of the minimum investment amount for Class
K.”
Automatic
conversion of Class C and Class C2 shares
Class C
shares and Class C2 shares automatically convert to Class A shares after 8
years. Conversions occur during the month of or following the 8th
anniversary of the share purchase date. The automatic conversion is based on the
relative net asset values of the two share classes without the imposition of a
sales charge or fee. Generally, in order for your Class C shares or Class C2
shares to be eligible for automatic conversion to Class A shares, the fund or
the financial intermediary through which you purchased your shares must have
records which confirm that your Class C shares or Class C2 shares have been held
for 8 years. Class C shares or Class C2 shares held through group retirement
plan recordkeeping platforms of certain financial intermediaries that hold such
shares in an omnibus account and do not track participant level share lot aging
to facilitate such a conversion are not eligible for automatic conversion to
Class A shares. Specific intermediaries may have different policies and
procedures regarding the conversion of Class C shares and Class C2 shares to
Class A shares.
63
Distribution
and service arrangements
Distribution
plan
The fund
has adopted a distribution plan for Class A, Class C and Class C2 shares in
accordance with Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Under the
plan, the fund pays distribution and service fees to the distributor. Because
these fees are an ongoing expense of the fund, over time they increase the cost
of your investment and your shares may cost more than shares that are subject to
other types of sales charges.
Additional
payments to financial intermediaries
Your
financial intermediary may receive compensation from the fund, Amundi US or its
affiliates for the sale of fund shares and related services. Compensation may
include sales commissions and distribution and service (Rule 12b-1) fees, as
well as compensation for administrative services and transaction
processing.
Amundi US
or its affiliates may make additional payments to your financial intermediary.
These payments may provide your financial intermediary with an incentive to
favor the Pioneer funds over other mutual funds or assist the distributor in its
efforts to promote the sale of the fund’s shares. Financial intermediaries
include broker-dealers, banks (including bank trust departments), registered
investment advisers, financial planners, retirement plan administrators and
other types of intermediaries.
Amundi US
or its affiliates make these additional payments (sometimes referred to as
“revenue sharing”) to financial intermediaries out of its own assets, which may
include profits derived from services provided to the fund, or from the
retention of a portion of sales charges or distribution and service fees. Amundi
US may base these payments on a variety of criteria, including the amount of
sales or assets of the Pioneer funds attributable to the financial intermediary
or as a per transaction fee.
Not all
financial intermediaries receive additional compensation and the amount of
compensation paid varies for each financial intermediary. In certain cases,
these payments may be significant. Amundi US determines which firms to support
and the extent of the payments it is willing to make, generally choosing firms
that have a strong capability to effectively distribute shares of the Pioneer
funds and that are willing to cooperate with Amundi US’s promotional efforts.
Amundi US also may compensate financial intermediaries (in addition to amounts
that may be paid by the fund) for providing certain administrative services and
transaction processing services.
Amundi US
may benefit from revenue sharing if the intermediary features the Pioneer funds
in its sales system (such as by placing certain Pioneer funds on its preferred
fund list or giving access on a preferential basis to members of the financial
64
intermediary’s
sales force or management). In addition, the financial intermediary may agree to
participate in the distributor’s marketing efforts (such as by helping to
facilitate or provide financial assistance for conferences, seminars or other
programs at which Amundi US personnel may make presentations on the Pioneer
funds to the intermediary’s sales force). To the extent intermediaries sell more
shares of the Pioneer funds or retain shares of the Pioneer funds in their
clients’ accounts, Amundi US receives greater management and other fees due to
the increase in the Pioneer funds’ assets. The intermediary may earn a profit on
these payments if the amount of the payment to the intermediary exceeds the
intermediary’s costs.
The
compensation that Amundi US pays to financial intermediaries is discussed in
more detail in the fund’s statement of additional information. Your intermediary
may charge you additional fees or commissions other than those disclosed in this
prospectus. Intermediaries may categorize and disclose these arrangements
differently than in the discussion above and in the statement of additional
information. You can ask your financial intermediary about any payments it
receives from Amundi US or the Pioneer funds, as well as about fees and/or
commissions it charges.
Amundi US
and its affiliates may have other relationships with your financial intermediary
relating to the provision of services to the Pioneer funds, such as providing
omnibus account services or effecting portfolio transactions for the Pioneer
funds. If your intermediary provides these services, Amundi US or the Pioneer
funds may compensate the intermediary for these services. In addition, your
intermediary may have other relationships with Amundi US or its affiliates that
are not related to the Pioneer funds.
65
Sales
charges
Class
A shares
You may
purchase Class A shares at net asset value without paying an initial sales
charge or a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC). However, if you invest in
Class A shares through an investment professional or financial intermediary,
that investment professional or financial intermediary may charge you a
commission in an amount determined and separately disclosed to you by that
investment professional or financial intermediary.
Class
C shares
You
purchase Class C shares at net asset value without paying an initial sales
charge or a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC). However, if you invest in
Class C shares through an investment professional or financial intermediary,
that investment professional or financial intermediary may charge you a
commission in an amount determined and separately disclosed to you by that
investment professional or financial intermediary.
Class
C2 shares
You
purchase Class C2 shares at net asset value per share without paying an initial
sales charge. For Class C2 shares, if you sell your shares within one year of
purchase, upon redemption you will pay the distributor a contingent deferred
sales charge of 1% of the current market value or the original cost of the
shares you are selling, whichever is less.
Paying
the contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC)
Several
rules apply for calculating CDSCs so that you pay the lowest possible
CDSC.
•
The CDSC
is calculated on the current market value or the original cost of the shares you
are selling, whichever is less
•
You do not
pay a CDSC on reinvested dividends or distributions
•
If you
sell only some of your shares, the transfer agent will first sell your shares
that are not subject to any CDSC and then the shares that you have owned the
longest
•
CDSCs are
not imposed when Class C2 shares are exchanged for Class C2 shares of another
Pioneer fund (or for Class C shares of funds that do not offer Class C2 shares),
but the new shares will remain subject to the CDSC based on the original
purchase date of the exchanged shares. The transfer agent processes exchanges in
proportion to your shares subject to a CDSC, not subject to a CDSC, and
purchased through reinvestment of dividends and distributions.
•
You may
qualify for a waiver of the CDSC normally charged. See “Waiver or reduction of
contingent deferred sales charges”
66
Waiver
or reduction of contingent deferred sales charges
It is your
responsibility to confirm that your investment professional has notified the
distributor of your eligibility for a reduced sales charge at the time of sale.
If you or your investment professional do not notify the distributor of your
eligibility, you will risk losing the benefits of a reduced sales
charge.
The
distributor may waive or reduce the CDSC for Class C2 shares if:
•
The
distribution results from the death of all registered account owners or a
participant in an employer-sponsored plan. For UGMAs, UTMAs and trust accounts,
the waiver applies only upon the death of all beneficial owners;
•
You become
disabled (within the meaning of Section 72 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”)) after the purchase of the shares being
sold. For UGMAs, UTMAs and trust accounts, the waiver only applies upon the
disability of all beneficial owners;
•
The
distribution is made in connection with limited automatic redemptions as
described in “Systematic withdrawal plans” (limited in any year to 10% of the
value of the account in the fund at the time the withdrawal plan is
established);
•
The
distribution is from any type of IRA, 403(b) or employer-sponsored plan
described under Section 401(a) or 457 of the Internal Revenue Code and, in
connection with the distribution, one of the following applies:
−
It is part
of a series of substantially equal periodic payments made over the life
expectancy of the participant or the joint life expectancy of the participant
and his or her beneficiary (limited in any year to 10% of the value of the
participant's account at the time the distribution amount is
established);
−
It is a
required minimum distribution due to the attainment of age 70½, in which case
the distribution amount may exceed 10% (based solely on total plan assets held
in Pioneer mutual funds);
−
It is
rolled over to or reinvested in another fund in the Pioneer Funds mutual fund
complex in the same class of shares, which will be subject to the CDSC of the
shares originally held; or
−
It is in
the form of a loan to a participant in a plan that permits loans (each repayment
applied to the purchase of shares will be subject to a CDSC as though a new
purchase);
•
The
distribution is to a participant in an employer-sponsored retirement plan
described under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code or to a participant
in an employer-sponsored 403(b) plan or employer-sponsored 457 plan if (i) your
employer has made special arrangements for your plan to operate as a group
through a single broker, dealer or financial intermediary and (ii) all
participants in the plan who purchase shares of a Pioneer mutual fund do so
through a single broker, dealer or other financial intermediary designated by
your employer and is or is in connection with:
67
Sales
charges
−
A return
of excess employee deferrals or contributions;
−
A
qualifying hardship distribution as described in the Internal Revenue
Code;
−
Due to
retirement or termination of employment;
−
From a
qualified defined contribution plan and represents a participant's directed
transfer, provided that this privilege has been preauthorized through a prior
agreement with the distributor regarding participant directed
transfers;
•
The
distribution is made pursuant to the fund's right to liquidate or involuntarily
redeem shares in a shareholder's account;
•
The
distribution is made to pay an account's advisory or custodial fees;
or
•
The
distributor does not pay the selling broker a commission normally paid at the
time of the sale.
Please see
the fund's statement of additional information for more information regarding
reduced sales charges and breakpoints.
The
availability of certain sales charge waivers and discounts may depend on whether
you purchase your shares directly from the fund or through a financial
intermediary. Please see the “Intermediary defined sales charge waiver
policies”
section
for more information.
Class
K shares
Class K
shares are purchased at net asset value with no initial sales charge and no CDSC
when redeemed. However, if you invest in Class K shares through an investment
professional or financial intermediary, that investment professional or
financial intermediary may charge you a commission in an amount determined and
separately disclosed to you by that investment professional or financial
intermediary.
Class
Y shares
Class Y
shares are purchased at net asset value with no initial sales charge and no CDSC
when redeemed. However, if you invest in Class Y shares through an investment
professional or financial intermediary, that investment professional or
financial intermediary may charge you a commission in an amount determined and
separately disclosed to you by that investment professional or financial
intermediary.
68
Buying,
exchanging and selling shares
Opening
your account
You may
open an account by completing an account application and sending it to the fund
by mail or by fax. Please call the fund to obtain an account application.
Certain types of accounts, such as retirement accounts, have separate
applications.
Use your
account application to select options and privileges for your account. You can
change your selections at any time by sending a completed account options form
to the fund. You may be required to obtain a signature guarantee to make certain
changes to an existing account.
Call or
write to the fund for account applications, account options forms and other
account information:
Pioneer
Funds
P.O. Box 534427
Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4427
Telephone 1-800-225-6292
P.O. Box 534427
Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4427
Telephone 1-800-225-6292
Please
note that there may be a delay in receipt by the fund’s transfer agent of
applications submitted by regular mail to a post office address.
Each fund
is generally available for purchase in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam,
American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Except to the extent otherwise
permitted by the funds’ distributor, the funds will only accept accounts from
U.S. citizens with a U.S. address (including an APO or FPO address) or resident
aliens with a U.S. address (including an APO or FPO address) and a U.S. taxpayer
identification number.
Identity
verification
To help
the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities,
federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify and record
information that identifies each person who opens an account. When you open an
account, you will need to supply your name, address, date of birth, and other
information that will allow the fund to identify you.
The fund
may close your account if we cannot adequately verify your identity. The
redemption price will be the net asset value on the date of
redemption.
Investing
through financial intermediaries and retirement plans
If you
invest in the fund through your financial intermediary or through a retirement
plan, the options and services available to you may be different from those
discussed in this prospectus. Shareholders investing through financial
intermediaries, programs sponsored by financial intermediaries and retirement
plans may only purchase funds and classes of shares that are available. When you
invest through an account
69
Buying,
exchanging and selling shares
that is
not in your name, you generally may buy and sell shares and complete other
transactions only through the account. Ask your investment professional or
financial intermediary for more information.
Additional
conditions may apply to your investment in the fund, and the investment
professional or intermediary may charge you a transaction-based, administrative
or other fee for its services. These conditions and fees are in addition to
those imposed by the fund and its affiliates. You should ask your investment
professional or financial intermediary about its services and any applicable
fees.
Share
prices for transactions
If you
place an order to purchase, exchange or sell shares that is received in good
order by the fund’s transfer agent or an authorized agent by the close of
regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (usually 4:00 p.m. Eastern time),
the share price for your transaction will be based on the net asset value
determined as of the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange on
that day (plus or minus any applicable sales charges). If your order is received
by the fund’s transfer agent or an authorized agent after the close of regular
trading on the New York Stock Exchange, or your order is not in good order, the
share price will be based on the net asset value next determined after your
order is received in good order by the fund or authorized agent. The authorized
agent is responsible for transmitting your order to the fund in a timely
manner.
Good
order means that:
•
You have
provided adequate instructions
•
There are
no outstanding claims against your account
•
There are
no transaction limitations on your account
•
Your
request includes a signature guarantee if you:
−
Are selling over $250,000
or exchanging over $500,000 worth of shares
−
Changed
your account registration or address within the last 30 days
−
Instruct
the transfer agent to mail the check to an address different from the one on
your account
−
Want the
check paid to someone other than the account’s record owner(s)
−
Are
transferring the sale proceeds to a Pioneer mutual fund account with a different
registration
Transaction
limitations
Your
transactions are subject to certain limitations, including the limitation on the
purchase of the fund’s shares within 30 calendar days of a redemption. See
“Excessive trading.”
70
Buying
You may
buy fund shares from any financial intermediary that has a sales agreement or
other arrangement with the distributor.
You can
buy shares at net asset value per share plus any applicable sales charge. The
distributor may reject any order until it has confirmed the order in writing and
received payment. Normally, your financial intermediary will send your purchase
request to the fund's transfer agent. Consult
your investment professional for more information. Your
investment firm receives a commission from the distributor, and may receive
additional compensation from Amundi US, for your purchase of fund
shares.
Minimum
investment amounts
Class
A, Class C and Class C2 shares
Your
initial investment must be at least $1,000. Additional investments must be at
least $100 for Class A shares and $500 for Class C and Class C2
shares.
You may
qualify for lower initial or subsequent investment minimums if you are
establishing an automatic investment plan or placing your trade through your
investment firm. The fund may waive the initial or subsequent investment
minimums. Minimum investment amounts may be waived for, among other things,
share purchases made through certain mutual fund programs (e.g., asset based fee
program accounts) sponsored by qualified intermediaries, such as broker-dealers
and investment advisers, that have entered into an agreement with Amundi
US.
Class
K shares
Initial
investments by discretionary accounts and direct investors in Class K shares
must be at least $5 million. There is no investment minimum for other eligible
investors. This amount may be invested in one or more of the Pioneer mutual
funds that currently offer Class K shares. There is no minimum additional
investment amount. The fund may waive the initial investment amount, if
applicable.
Waivers
of the minimum investment amount for Class K
The fund
will accept an initial investment of less than $5 million if:
(a)
The
investment is made by a retirement plan that is an eligible investor in Class K
shares; or
(b)
The
investment is made by another fund in the Pioneer Funds mutual fund complex;
or
71
Buying,
exchanging and selling shares
(c)
The
investment is made through certain mutual fund programs sponsored by qualified
intermediaries, such as broker-dealers and investment advisers. In each case,
the intermediary has an arrangement with Amundi US to include Class K shares of
the Pioneer mutual funds in their program. In one model, the intermediary
provides investors participating in the program with additional services,
including advisory, asset allocation, recordkeeping or other services, as a
combined service offering. In another model, a brokerage firm may provide
transactional services in accordance with a commission schedule set by the
firm.
You should ask your investment firm if it offers and you are eligible to participate in such a mutual fund program and whether participation in the program is consistent with your investment goals. The intermediaries sponsoring or participating in these mutual fund programs also may offer their clients other classes of shares of the funds, and investors may receive different levels of services or pay different fees depending upon the class of shares included in the program. Investors should consider carefully any separate transaction and other fees charged by these programs in connection with investing in each available share class before selecting a share class.
You should ask your investment firm if it offers and you are eligible to participate in such a mutual fund program and whether participation in the program is consistent with your investment goals. The intermediaries sponsoring or participating in these mutual fund programs also may offer their clients other classes of shares of the funds, and investors may receive different levels of services or pay different fees depending upon the class of shares included in the program. Investors should consider carefully any separate transaction and other fees charged by these programs in connection with investing in each available share class before selecting a share class.
The fund
reserves the right to waive the initial investment minimum in other
circumstances.
Class
Y shares
Your
initial investment in Class Y shares must be at least $5 million. This amount
may be invested in one or more of the Pioneer mutual funds that currently offer
Class Y shares. There is no minimum additional investment amount. The fund may
waive the initial investment amount.
Waivers
of the minimum investment amount for Class Y
The fund
will accept an initial investment of less than $5 million if:
(a)
The
investment is made by a trust company or bank trust department which is
initially investing at least $1 million in any of the Pioneer mutual funds and,
at the time of the purchase, such assets are held in a fiduciary, advisory,
custodial or similar capacity over which the trust company or bank trust
department has full or shared investment discretion; or
(b)
The
investment is at least $1 million in any of the Pioneer mutual funds and the
purchaser is an insurance company separate account; or
(c)
The
account is not represented by a broker-dealer and the investment is made by (1)
an ERISA-qualified retirement plan that meets the requirements of Section 401 of
the Internal Revenue Code, (2) an employer-sponsored retirement
72
plan that
meets the requirements of Sections 403 or 457 of the Internal Revenue Code, (3)
a private foundation that meets the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code or (4) an endowment or other organization that meets the
requirements of Section 509(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code; or
(d)
The
investment is made by an employer-sponsored retirement plan established for the
benefit of (1) employees of Amundi US or its affiliates, or (2)
employees
or the
affiliates of broker-dealers who have a Class Y shares sales agreement with the
distributor; or
(e)
The
investment is made through certain mutual fund programs sponsored by qualified
intermediaries, such as broker-dealers and investment advisers. In each case,
the intermediary has an arrangement with Amundi US to include Class Y shares of
the Pioneer mutual funds in its program. In one model, the intermediary provides
investors participating in the program with additional services, including
advisory, asset allocation, recordkeeping or other services, as a combined
service offering. In another model, a brokerage firm may provide transactional
services in accordance with a commission schedule set by the firm.
You should
ask your investment firm if it offers and you are eligible to participate in
such a mutual fund program and whether participation in the program is
consistent with your investment goals. The intermediaries sponsoring or
participating in these mutual fund programs also may offer their clients other
classes of shares of the funds, and investors may receive different levels of
services or pay different fees depending upon the class of shares included in
the program. Investors should consider carefully any separate transaction and
other fees charged by these programs in connection with investing in each
available share class before selecting a share class; or
(f)
The
investment is made by another fund in the Pioneer Funds mutual fund
complex.
The fund
reserves the right to waive the initial investment minimum in other
circumstances.
Maximum
purchase amounts
Purchases
of fund shares are limited to $499,999 for Class C and Class C2 shares. This
limit is applied on a per transaction basis. Class A, Class K and Class Y shares
are not subject to a maximum purchase amount.
73
Buying,
exchanging and selling shares
Retirement
plan accounts
You can
purchase fund shares through tax-deferred retirement plans for individuals,
businesses and tax-exempt organizations.
Your
initial investment for most types of retirement plan accounts must be at least
$1,000. Additional investments for most types of retirement plans must be at
least $100.
You may
not use the account application accompanying this prospectus to establish an
Amundi US retirement plan. You can obtain retirement plan applications from your
investment firm or by calling the Retirement Plans Department at
1-800-622-0176.
How
to buy shares
Through
your investment firm
Normally,
your investment firm will send your purchase request to the fund’s distributor
and/or transfer agent. Consult
your investment professional for more information. Your
investment firm receives a commission from the distributor, and may receive
additional compensation from Amundi US, for your purchase of fund
shares.
By
phone or online
You
can use the telephone or online purchase privilege if you have
an existing non-retirement account. Certain IRAs can use the telephone purchase
privilege. If your account is eligible, you can purchase additional fund shares
by phone or online if:
•
You
established your bank account of record at least 30 days ago
•
Your bank
information has not changed for at least 30 days
•
You are
not purchasing more than $100,000 worth of shares per account per
day
•
You can
provide the proper account identification information
When you
request a telephone or online purchase, the fund’s transfer agent will
electronically debit the amount of the purchase from your bank account of
record. The fund’s transfer agent will purchase fund shares for the amount of
the debit at the offering price determined after the fund’s transfer agent
receives your telephone or online purchase instruction and good funds. It
usually takes three business days for the fund’s transfer agent to receive
notification from your bank that good funds are available in the amount of your
investment.
74
In
writing, by mail
You can
purchase fund shares for an existing fund account by mailing
a check to the fund. Make
your check payable to the fund. Neither initial nor subsequent investments
should be made by third party check, travelers check, or credit card check. Your
check must be in U.S. dollars and drawn on a U.S. bank. Include in your purchase
request the fund’s name, the account number and the name or names in the account
registration. Please note that there may be a delay in receipt by the fund’s
transfer agent of purchase orders submitted by regular mail to a post office
address.
By
wire (Class K or Class Y shares only)
If you
have an existing (Class K or Class Y shares only) account, you may wire funds to
purchase shares. Note, however, that:
•
BNY Mellon
must receive your wire no later than 11:00 a.m. Eastern time on the business day
after the fund receives your request to purchase shares
•
If BNY
Mellon does not receive your wire by 11:00 a.m. Eastern time on the next
business day, your transaction will be canceled at your expense and
risk
•
Wire
transfers normally take two or more hours to complete and a fee may be charged
by the sending bank
•
Wire
transfers may be restricted on holidays and at certain other times
Instruct
your bank to wire funds to:
|
Receiving
Bank: |
BNY
Mellon, NA
ABA
Routing No. 011001234
BNY
Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc. as agent
FBO
Amundi
US Funds Consolidated Account
Account
727296 |
|
For
further credit to: |
Shareholder
Name
Existing
Pioneer Account No.
Short
Term Income Fund |
The fund’s
transfer agent must receive your account application before you send your
initial check or federal funds wire. In addition, you must provide a bank wire
address of record when you establish your account.
Exchanging
You may,
under certain circumstances, exchange your shares for shares of the same class
of another Pioneer mutual fund. Class C2 shares also may be exchanged for Class
C shares of funds that do not offer Class C2 shares.
75
Buying,
exchanging and selling shares
Your
exchange request must be for at least $1,000. The fund allows you to exchange
your shares at net asset value without charging you either an initial or
contingent deferred sales charge at the time of the exchange. Shares you acquire
as part of an exchange will continue to be subject to any contingent deferred
sales charge that applies to the shares you originally purchased. When you
ultimately sell your shares, the date of your original purchase will determine
your contingent deferred sales charge.
Before you
request an exchange, consider each fund’s investment objective and policies as
described in the fund’s prospectus. You generally will have to pay income taxes
on an exchange.
Same-fund
exchange privilege
Certain
shareholders may be eligible to exchange their shares for shares of another
class. If eligible, no sales charges or other charges will apply to any such
exchange. Generally, shareholders will not recognize a gain or loss for federal
income tax purposes upon such an exchange. Investors should contact their
financial intermediary to learn more about the details of this
privilege.
How
to exchange shares
Through
your investment firm
Normally,
your investment firm will send your exchange request to the fund’s transfer
agent. Consult
your investment professional for more information about exchanging your
shares.
By
phone or online
After you
establish an eligible fund account, you
can exchange fund shares by phone or online if:
•
You are
exchanging into an existing account or using the exchange to establish a new
account, provided the new account has a registration identical to the original
account
•
The fund
into which you are exchanging offers the same class of shares
•
You are
not exchanging more than $500,000 worth of shares per account per
day
•
You can
provide the proper account identification information
In
writing, by mail or by fax
You can
exchange fund shares by mailing
or faxing a letter of instruction to the fund. You can
exchange fund shares directly through the fund only if your account is
registered in your name. However, you may not fax an exchange request for more
than $500,000. Include in your letter:
76
•
The name
and signature of all registered owners
•
A
signature guarantee for each registered owner if the amount of the exchange is
more than $500,000
•
The name
of the fund out of which you are exchanging and the name of the fund into which
you are exchanging
•
The class
of shares you are exchanging
•
The dollar
amount or number of shares you are exchanging
Please
note that there may be a delay in receipt by the fund’s transfer agent of
exchange requests submitted by regular mail to a post office
address.
Selling
Your
shares will be sold at the share price (net asset value less any applicable
sales charge) next calculated after the fund or its authorized agent, such as a
broker-dealer, receives your request in good order. If a signature guarantee is
required, you must submit your request in writing.
If the
shares you are selling are subject to a deferred sales charge, it will be
deducted from the sale proceeds. The fund generally will send your sale proceeds
by check, bank wire or electronic funds transfer. Your redemption proceeds
normally will be sent within 1 business day after your request is received in
good order, but in any event within 7 days, regardless of the method the fund
uses to make such payment. If you recently sent a check to purchase the shares
being sold, the fund may delay payment of the sale proceeds until your check has
cleared. This may take up to 10 calendar days from the purchase
date.
Your
redemption proceeds may be delayed, or your right to receive redemption proceeds
suspended, if the New York Stock Exchange is closed (other than on weekends or
holidays) or trading is restricted, if the Securities and Exchange Commission
determines an emergency or other circumstances exist that make it impracticable
for the fund to sell or value its portfolio securities, or otherwise as
permitted by the rules of or by the order of the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
If you are
selling shares from a non-retirement account or certain IRAs, you may use any of
the methods described below. If you are selling shares from a retirement account
other than an IRA, you must make your request in writing.
You
generally will have to pay income taxes on a sale.
77
Buying,
exchanging and selling shares
If you
must use a written request to exchange or sell your shares and your account is
registered in the name of a corporation or other fiduciary you must include the
name of an authorized person and a certified copy of a current corporate
resolution, certificate of incumbency or similar legal document showing that the
named individual is authorized to act on behalf of the record owner.
Under
normal circumstances, the fund expects to meet redemption requests by using cash
or cash equivalents in its portfolio and/or selling portfolio assets to generate
cash. Under stressed or abnormal market conditions or circumstances, including
circumstances adversely affecting the liquidity of the fund’s investments, the
fund may be more likely to be forced to sell portfolio assets to meet
redemptions than under normal market circumstances. Under such circumstances,
the fund could be forced to liquidate assets at inopportune times or at a loss
or depressed value. The fund also may pay redemption proceeds using cash
obtained through a committed, unsecured revolving credit facility, or an
interfund lending facility, if available, and other borrowing arrangements that
may be available from time to time.
The fund
reserves the right to redeem in kind, that is, to pay all or a portion of your
redemption proceeds by giving you securities. If the fund redeems in kind, it
generally will deliver to you a proportionate share of the portfolio securities
owned by the fund. Securities you receive this way may increase or decrease in
value while you hold them and you may incur brokerage and transaction charges
and tax liability when you convert the securities to cash. The fund may redeem
in kind at a shareholder’s request or if, for example, the fund reasonably
believes that a cash redemption may have a substantial impact on the fund and
its remaining shareholders.
During
periods of deteriorating or stressed market conditions, when an increased
portion of the fund’s portfolio may be comprised of less-liquid investments, or
during extraordinary or emergency circumstances, the fund may be more likely to
pay redemption proceeds with cash obtained through short-term borrowing
arrangements (if available) or by giving you securities.
How
to sell shares
Through
your investment firm
Normally,
your investment firm will send your request to sell shares to the fund’s
transfer agent. Please note that your investment firm may have its own earlier
deadlines for the receipt of a request to sell shares. Consult
your investment professional for more information. The fund
has authorized the distributor to act as its agent in the repurchase of fund
shares from qualified investment firms. The fund reserves the right to terminate
this procedure at any time.
78
By
phone or online
If you have an
eligible non-retirement account, you may sell up to $250,000
per
account per day by phone or online. You may sell fund shares
held in a retirement plan account by phone only if your account is an eligible
IRA (tax penalties may apply). You may not sell your shares by phone or online
if you have changed your address (for checks) or your bank information (for
wires and transfers) in the last 30 days.
You may
receive your sale proceeds:
•
By check,
provided the check is made payable exactly as your account is
registered
•
By bank
wire or by electronic funds transfer, provided the sale proceeds are being sent
to your bank address of record
For Class Y shares,
shareholders may sell up to $5 million per account per day if the proceeds are
directed to your bank account of record ($250,000 per account per day if the
proceeds are not directed to your bank account of record).
In
writing, by mail or by fax
You can
sell some or all of your fund shares by writing
directly to the fund
only if
your account is registered in your name. Include in your request your name, the
fund’s name, your fund account number, the class of shares to be sold, the
dollar amount or number of shares to be sold and any other applicable
requirements as described below. The fund’s transfer agent will send the sale
proceeds to your address of record unless you provide other instructions. Your
request must be signed by all registered owners and be in good
order.
The fund’s
transfer agent will not process your request until it is received in good
order.
You may sell up to
$250,000 per account per day by fax.
Please
note that there may be a delay in receipt by the fund’s transfer agent of
redemption requests submitted by regular mail to a post office
address.
How
to contact us
By
phone
For
information or to request a telephone transaction between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00
p.m. (Eastern time) by speaking with a shareholder services
representative call
1-800-225-6292
representative call
1-800-225-6292
To request
a transaction using FactFoneSM
call
1-800-225-4321
1-800-225-4321
79
Buying,
exchanging and selling shares
By
mail
Send your
written instructions to:
Pioneer Funds
P.O. Box 534427
Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4427
Pioneer Funds
P.O. Box 534427
Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4427
Amundi
US website
amundi.com/us
By
fax
Fax your
exchange and sale requests to:
1-800-225-4240
1-800-225-4240
80
Account
options
See the
account application form for more details on each of the following services or
call the fund for details and availability.
Telephone
transaction privileges
If your
account is registered in your name, you can buy, exchange or sell fund shares by
telephone. If you do not want your account to have telephone transaction
privileges, you must indicate that choice on your account application or by
writing to the fund.
When you
request a telephone transaction the fund’s transfer agent will try to confirm
that the request is genuine. The transfer agent records the call, requires the
caller to provide validating information for the account and sends you a written
confirmation. The fund may implement other confirmation procedures from time to
time. Different procedures may apply if you have a non-U.S. account or if your
account is registered in the name of an institution, broker-dealer or other
third party. If the fund’s confirmation procedures are followed, neither the
fund nor its agents will bear any liability for these
transactions.
Online
transaction privileges
If your
account is registered in your name, you may be able to buy, exchange or sell
fund shares online. Your investment firm may also be able to buy, exchange or
sell your fund shares online.
To
establish online transaction privileges:
•
For new
accounts, complete the online section of the account application
•
For
existing accounts, complete an account options form, write to the
fund or complete the online authorization screen at amundi.com/us
fund or complete the online authorization screen at amundi.com/us
To use
online transactions, you must read and agree to the terms of an online
transaction agreement available on the Amundi US website. When you or your
investment firm requests an online transaction, the fund’s transfer agent
electronically records the transaction, requires an authorizing password and
sends a written confirmation. The fund may implement other procedures from time
to time. Different procedures may apply if you have a non-U.S. account or if
your account is registered in the name of an institution, broker-dealer or other
third party. You may not be able to use the online transaction privilege for
certain types of accounts, including most retirement accounts.
81
Account
options
Periodic
investments
You can
make periodic investments in the fund by setting up monthly bank drafts,
government allotments, payroll deductions, or an Automatic Investment Plan.
Periodic investments may be made only through U.S. banks. You may use a periodic
investment plan to establish a Class A share account with a small initial
investment. If you have a Class C or Class C2 share account and your balance is
at least $1,000, you may establish a periodic investment plan.
Automatic
Investment Plan (AIP)
If you
establish an Automatic Investment Plan with Amundi US, the fund’s transfer agent
will make a periodic investment in fund shares by means of a preauthorized
electronic funds transfer from your bank account. Your plan investments are
voluntary. You may discontinue your plan at any time or change the plan’s dollar
amount, frequency or investment date by calling or writing to the fund’s
transfer agent. You should allow up to 30 days for the fund’s transfer agent to
establish your plan.
Automatic
exchanges
You can
automatically exchange your fund shares for shares of the same class of another
fund in the Pioneer Funds mutual fund complex. The automatic exchange will begin
on the day you select when you complete the appropriate section of your account
application or an account options form. In order to establish automatic
exchange:
•
You must
select exchanges on a monthly or quarterly basis
•
Both the
originating and receiving accounts must have identical registrations
•
The
originating account must have a minimum balance of $5,000
You may
have to pay income taxes on an exchange.
Distribution
options
The fund
offers three distribution options. Any fund shares you buy by reinvesting
distributions will be priced at the applicable net asset value per
share.
(1)
Unless you
indicate another option on your account application, any dividends and capital
gain distributions paid to you by the fund will automatically be invested in
additional fund shares.
(2)
You may
elect to have the amount of any dividends paid to you in cash and any capital
gain distributions reinvested in additional shares.
(3)
You may
elect to have the full amount of any dividends and/or capital gain distributions
paid to you in cash.
82
Options
(2) and (3) are not available to retirement plan accounts or accounts with a
current value of less than $500. When electing a cash distribution option, you
may only select one destination for the cash distribution portion (i.e., bank
account or directed to another mutual fund). The other distribution portion must
be reinvested into your current mutual fund account or follow the same cash
election.
If you are
under 59½, taxes and tax penalties may apply.
If your
distribution check is returned to the fund’s transfer agent or you do not cash
the check for six months or more, the fund’s transfer agent may reinvest the
amount of the check in your account and automatically change the distribution
option on your account to option (1) until you request a different option in
writing. If the amount of a distribution check would be less than $25, the fund
may reinvest the amount in additional shares of the fund instead of sending a
check. Additional shares of the fund will be purchased at the then-current net
asset value.
Directed
dividends
You can
invest the dividends paid by one of your Pioneer mutual fund accounts in a
second Pioneer mutual fund account. The value of your second account must be at
least $1,000. You may direct the investment of any amount of dividends. There
are no fees or charges for directed dividends.
Systematic
withdrawal plans
When you
establish a systematic withdrawal plan for your account, the transfer agent will
sell the number of fund shares you specify on a periodic basis and the proceeds
will be paid to you or to any person you select. You must obtain a signature
guarantee to direct payments to another person after you have established your
systematic withdrawal plan. Payments can be made either by check or by
electronic transfer to a U.S. bank account you designate.
To
establish a systematic withdrawal plan:
•
Your
account must have a total value of at least $10,000 when you establish your
plan
•
You may
not request a periodic withdrawal of more than 10% of the value of any Class C
or Class C2 share account (valued at the time the plan is
implemented)
These
requirements do not apply to scheduled (Internal Revenue Code Section 72(t)
election) or mandatory (required minimum distribution) withdrawals from IRAs and
certain retirement plans.
83
Account
options
Systematic
sales of fund shares may be taxable transactions for you. While you are making
systematic withdrawals from your account, you may pay unnecessary initial sales
charges on additional purchases of Class A shares or contingent deferred sales
charges.
Direct
deposit
If you
elect to take dividends or dividends and capital gain distributions in cash, or
if you establish a systematic withdrawal plan, you may choose to have those cash
payments deposited directly into your savings, checking or NOW bank
account.
Voluntary
tax withholding
You may
have the fund’s transfer agent withhold 28% of the dividends and capital gain
distributions paid from your fund account (before any reinvestment) and forward
the amount withheld to the Internal Revenue Service as a credit against your
federal income taxes. Voluntary tax withholding is not available for retirement
plan accounts or for accounts subject to backup withholding.
84
Shareholder
services and policies
Excessive
trading
Frequent
trading into and out of the fund can disrupt portfolio management strategies,
harm fund performance by forcing the fund to hold excess cash or to liquidate
certain portfolio securities prematurely and increase expenses for all
investors, including long-term investors who do not generate these costs. An
investor may use short-term trading as a strategy, for example, if the investor
believes that the valuation of the fund’s portfolio securities for purposes of
calculating its net asset value does not fully reflect the then-current fair
market value of those holdings. The fund discourages, and does not take any
intentional action to accommodate, excessive and short-term trading practices,
such as market timing. Although there is no generally applied standard in the
marketplace as to what level of trading activity is excessive, we may consider
trading in the fund’s shares to be excessive for a variety of reasons, such as
if:
•
You sell
shares within 30 days after the shares were purchased;
•
You make
two or more purchases and redemptions within a short period of time;
•
You enter
into a series of transactions that indicate a timing pattern or strategy;
or
•
We
reasonably believe that you have engaged in such practices in connection with
other mutual funds.
The fund’s
Board of Trustees has adopted policies and procedures with respect to frequent
purchases and redemptions of fund shares by fund investors. Pursuant to these
policies and procedures, we monitor selected trades on a daily basis in an
effort to detect excessive short-term trading. If we determine that an investor
or a client of a broker or other intermediary has engaged in excessive
short-term trading that we believe may be harmful to the fund, we will ask the
investor, broker or other intermediary to cease such activity and we will refuse
to process purchase orders (including purchases by exchange) of such investor,
broker, other intermediary or accounts that we believe are under their control.
In determining whether to take such actions, we seek to act in a manner that is
consistent with the best interests of the fund’s shareholders.
While we
use our reasonable efforts to detect excessive trading activity, there can be no
assurance that our efforts will be successful or that market timers will not
employ tactics designed to evade detection. If we are not successful, your
return from an investment in the fund may be adversely affected. Frequently,
fund shares are held through omnibus accounts maintained by financial
intermediaries such as brokers and retirement plan administrators, where the
holdings of multiple shareholders, such as all the clients of a particular
broker or other intermediary, are aggregated. Our ability to monitor trading
practices by investors purchasing shares through omnibus accounts may be limited
and dependent upon the cooperation of the broker or other intermediary in taking
steps to limit this type of activity.
85
Shareholder
services and policies
The fund
may reject a purchase or exchange order before its acceptance or the issuance of
shares. The fund may also restrict additional purchases or exchanges in an
account. Each of these steps may be taken for any transaction, for any reason,
without prior notice, including transactions that the fund believes are
requested on behalf of market timers. The fund reserves the right to reject any
purchase or exchange request by any investor or financial institution if the
fund believes that any combination of trading activity in the account or related
accounts is potentially disruptive to the fund. A prospective investor whose
purchase or exchange order is rejected will not achieve the investment results,
whether gain or loss, that would have been realized if the order had been
accepted and an investment made in the fund. A fund and its shareholders do not
incur any gain or loss as a result of a rejected order. The fund may impose
further restrictions on trading activities by market timers in the
future.
To limit
the negative effects of excessive trading on the fund, the fund has adopted the
following restriction on investor transactions. If an investor redeems $5,000 or
more (including redemptions that are a part of an exchange transaction) from the
fund, that investor shall be prevented (or “blocked”) from purchasing shares of
the fund (including purchases that are a part of an exchange transaction) for 30
calendar days after the redemption. This policy does not apply to systematic
purchase or withdrawal plan transactions, transactions made through
employer-sponsored retirement plans described under Section 401(a), 403(b) or
457 of the Internal Revenue Code or employee benefit plans, scheduled (Internal
Revenue Code Section 72(t) election) or mandatory (required minimum
distribution) withdrawals from IRAs, rebalancing transactions made through
certain asset allocation or “wrap”
programs,
transactions by insurance company separate accounts or transactions by other
funds that invest in the fund. This policy does not apply to purchase or
redemption transactions of less than $5,000 or to Pioneer U.S. Government Money
Market Fund or Pioneer Multi-Asset Ultrashort Income Fund.
We rely on
financial intermediaries that maintain omnibus accounts to apply to their
customers either the fund’s policy described above or their own policies or
restrictions designed to limit excessive trading of fund shares. However, we do
not impose this policy at the omnibus account level.
Purchases
pursuant to the reinstatement privilege (for Class A shares) are subject to this
policy.
86
Purchases
in kind
You may
use securities you own to purchase shares of the fund provided that Amundi US,
in its sole discretion, determines that the securities are consistent with the
fund's objective and policies and their acquisition is in the best interests of
the fund. If the fund accepts your securities, they will be valued for purposes
of determining the number of fund shares to be issued to you in the same way the
fund will value the securities for purposes of determining its net asset value.
For federal income tax purposes, you may be taxed in the same manner as if you
sold the securities that you use to purchase fund shares for cash in an amount
equal to the value of the fund shares that you purchase. Your broker may also
impose a fee in connection with processing your purchase of fund shares with
securities.
Reinstatement
privilege (Class A shares)
If you
recently sold all or part of your Class A shares, you may be able to reinvest
all or part of your sale proceeds without a sales charge in Class A shares of
any Pioneer mutual fund. To qualify for reinstatement:
•
You must
send a written request to the fund no more than 90 days after selling your
shares and
•
The
registration of the account in which you reinvest your sale proceeds must be
identical to the registration of the account from which you sold your
shares.
Purchases
pursuant to the reinstatement privilege are subject to limitations on investor
transactions, including the limitation on the purchase of the fund’s shares
within 30 calendar days of redemption. See “Excessive trading.”
When you
elect reinstatement, you are subject to the provisions outlined in the selected
fund’s prospectus, including the fund’s minimum investment requirement. Your
sale proceeds will be reinvested in shares of the fund at the Class A net asset
value per share determined after the fund receives your written request for
reinstatement. You may realize a gain or loss for federal income tax purposes as
a result of your sale of fund shares, and special tax rules may apply if you
elect reinstatement. Consult your tax adviser for more
information.
Amundi
US website
amundi.com/us
amundi.com/us
The
website includes a full selection of information on mutual fund investing. You
can also use the website to get:
•
Your
current account information
•
Prices,
returns and yields of all publicly available Pioneer mutual funds
•
Prospectuses,
statements of additional information and shareowner reports for all the Pioneer
mutual funds
87
Shareholder
services and policies
•
A copy of
Amundi US’s privacy notice
If you or
your investment firm authorized your account for the online transaction
privilege, you may buy, exchange and sell shares online.
FactFoneSM
1-800-225-4321
You can
use FactFoneSM
to:
•
Obtain
current information on your Pioneer mutual fund accounts
•
Inquire
about the prices of all publicly available Pioneer mutual funds
•
Make
computer-assisted telephone purchases, exchanges and redemptions for your fund
accounts
•
Request
account statements
If you
plan to use FactFoneSM to make
telephone purchases and redemptions, first you must activate your personal
identification number and establish your bank account of record. If your account
is registered in the name of a broker-dealer or other third party, you may not
be able to use FactFoneSM
to obtain
account information.
Household
delivery of fund documents
With your
consent, Amundi US may send a single proxy statement, prospectus and shareowner
report to your residence for you and any other member of your household who has
an account with the fund. If you wish to revoke your consent to this practice,
you may do so by notifying Amundi US, by phone or in writing (see “How to
contact us”). Amundi US will begin mailing separate proxy statements,
prospectuses and shareowner reports to you within 30 days after receiving your
notice.
Confirmation
statements
The fund’s
transfer agent maintains an account for each investment firm or individual
shareowner and records all account transactions. You will be sent confirmation
statements showing the details of your transactions as they occur, except
automatic investment plan transactions, which are confirmed quarterly. If you
have more than one Pioneer mutual fund account registered in your name, the
Pioneer combined account statement will be mailed to you each
quarter.
Tax
information
Early each
year, the fund will mail you information about the tax status of the dividends
and distributions paid to you by the fund.
88
Tax
information for IRA rollovers
In January
(or by the applicable Internal Revenue Service deadline) following the year in
which you take a reportable distribution, the fund’s transfer agent will mail
you a tax form reflecting the total amount(s) of distribution(s) received by the
end of January.
Privacy
The fund
has a policy designed to protect the privacy of your personal information. A
copy of Amundi US’s privacy notice was given to you at the time you opened your
account. The fund will send you a copy of the privacy notice each year. You may
also obtain the privacy notice by calling the fund or through Amundi US’s
website.
Signature
guarantees and other requirements
You are
required to obtain a signature guarantee when:
•
Requesting
certain types of exchanges or sales of fund shares
•
Requesting
certain types of changes for your existing account
You can
obtain a signature guarantee from most broker-dealers, banks, credit unions (if
authorized under state law) and federal savings and loan associations. You
cannot obtain a signature guarantee from a notary public.
The
Pioneer funds generally accept only medallion signature guarantees. A medallion
signature guarantee may be obtained from a domestic bank or trust company,
broker, dealer, clearing agency, savings association, or other financial
institution that is participating in a medallion program recognized by the
Securities Transfer Association. Signature guarantees from financial
institutions that are not participating in one of these programs are not
accepted as medallion signature guarantees. The fund may accept other forms of
guarantee from financial intermediaries in limited circumstances.
Fiduciaries
and corporations are required to submit additional documents to sell fund
shares.
Minimum
account size
The fund
requires that you maintain a minimum account value of $500. If you hold less
than $500 in your account, the fund reserves the right to notify you that it
intends to sell your shares and close your account. You will be given 60 days
from the date of the notice to make additional investments to avoid having your
shares sold. This policy does not apply to certain qualified retirement plan
accounts.
89
Shareholder
services and policies
Telephone
and website access
You may
have difficulty contacting the fund by telephone or accessing amundi.com/us
during times of market volatility or disruption in telephone or Internet
service. On New York Stock Exchange holidays or on days when the exchange closes
early, Amundi US will adjust the hours for the telephone center and for online
transaction processing accordingly. If you are unable to access amundi.com/us or
reach the fund by telephone, you should communicate with the fund in
writing.
Share
certificates
The fund
does not offer share certificates. Shares are electronically
recorded.
Other
policies
The fund
and the distributor reserve the right to:
•
reject any
purchase or exchange order for any reason, without prior notice
•
charge a
fee for exchanges or to modify, limit or suspend the exchange privilege at any
time without notice. The fund will provide 60 days’ notice of material
amendments to or termination of the exchange privilege
•
revise,
suspend, limit or terminate the account options or services available to
shareowners at any time, except as required by the rules of the Securities and
Exchange Commission
The fund
reserves the right to:
•
charge
transfer, shareholder servicing or similar agent fees, such as an account
maintenance fee for small balance accounts, directly to accounts upon at least
30 days’ notice. The fund may do this by deducting the fee from your
distribution of dividends and/or by redeeming fund shares to the extent
necessary to cover the fee
•
close your
account after a period of inactivity, as determined by state law, and transfer
your shares to the appropriate state
90
Dividends,
capital gains and taxes
Dividends
and capital gains
The fund
declares dividends daily. The daily dividends consist of substantially all of
the fund's net income (excluding any net short- and long-term capital gains).
You begin to earn dividends on the first business day following receipt of
payment for shares. You continue to earn dividends up to and including the date
of sale. Dividends are normally paid on the last business day of each
month.
The fund
generally pays any distribution of net short- and long-term capital gains in
November. The fund may also pay dividends and capital gain distributions at
other times if necessary for the fund to avoid U.S. federal income or excise
tax. If you invest in the fund shortly before a distribution described in this
paragraph, generally you will pay a higher price per share and, unless you are
exempt from tax, you will pay taxes on the amount of the distribution whether
you reinvest the distribution in additional shares or receive it as
cash.
Taxes
You will
normally have to pay federal income taxes, and any state or local taxes, on the
dividends and other distributions you receive from the fund, whether you take
the distributions in cash or reinvest them in additional shares. For U.S.
federal income tax purposes, distributions from the fund's net capital gains (if
any) are considered long-term capital gains and are generally taxable to
noncorporate shareholders at reduced rates. Distributions from the fund’s net
short-term capital gains are generally taxable as ordinary income. Other
dividends are generally taxable as ordinary income. Since the fund's income is
derived primarily from sources that do not pay dividends, it is not expected
that a substantial portion of the dividends paid by the fund will qualify either
for the dividends-received deduction for corporations or for any favorable U.S.
federal income tax rate available to noncorporate shareholders on “qualified
dividend income.”
The fund
will report to shareholders annually the U.S. federal income tax status of all
fund distributions.
If the
fund declares a dividend in October, November or December, payable to
shareholders of record in such a month, and pays it in January of the following
year, you will be taxed on the dividend as if you received it in the year in
which it was declared.
Sales and
exchanges generally will be taxable transactions to shareowners. When you sell
or exchange fund shares you will generally recognize a capital gain or capital
loss in an amount equal to the difference between the net amount of sale
proceeds (or, in the case of an exchange, the fair market value of the shares)
that you receive and your tax basis for the shares that you sell or
exchange.
91
Dividends,
capital gains and taxes
A 3.8%
Medicare contribution tax generally applies to all or a portion of the net
investment income of a shareholder who is an individual and not a nonresident
alien for federal income tax purposes and who has adjusted gross income (subject
to certain adjustments) that exceeds a threshold amount. This 3.8% tax also
applies to all or a portion of the undistributed net investment income of
certain shareholders that are estates and trusts. For these purposes, dividends,
interest and certain capital gains are generally taken into account in computing
a shareholder’s net investment income.
You must
provide your social security number or other taxpayer identification number to
the fund along with the certifications required by the Internal Revenue Service
when you open an account. If you do not or if it is otherwise legally required
to do so, the fund will apply “backup withholding” tax on your dividends and
other distributions, sale proceeds and any other payments to you that are
subject to backup withholding. The backup withholding rate is currently
24%.
Shareholders
that are exempt from U.S. federal income tax, such as retirement plans that are
qualified under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code, generally are not
subject to U.S. federal income tax on fund dividends or other distributions or
on sales or exchanges of fund shares. However, in the case of fund shares held
through a nonqualified deferred compensation plan, fund dividends and other
distributions received by the plan and sales and exchanges of fund shares by the
plan generally will be taxable to the employer sponsoring such plan in
accordance with U.S. federal income tax laws that are generally applicable to
shareholders receiving such dividends and other distributions from regulated
investment companies such as the fund, or effecting such sales or
exchanges.
Plan
participants whose retirement plan invests in the fund generally are not subject
to federal income tax on fund dividends or other distributions received by the
plan or on sales or exchanges of fund shares by the plan. However, distributions
to plan participants from a retirement plan generally are taxable to plan
participants as ordinary income.
Distributions
derived from interest on U.S. government obligations (but generally not
distributions of gain from the sale of such obligations) may be exempt from
certain state and local taxes.
You should
ask your tax adviser about any federal, state, local and foreign tax
considerations relating to an investment in the fund. You may also consult the
fund's statement of additional information for a more detailed discussion of the
U.S. federal income tax considerations that may affect the fund and its
shareowners.
92
Financial
highlights
The
financial highlights table helps you understand the fund's financial performance
for the past five years.
Certain
information reflects financial results for a single fund share. The total
returns in the table represent the rate that you would have earned or lost on an
investment in Class A, Class C, Class C2, Class K and Class Y shares of the fund
(assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions).
The information below for
the fiscal year ended August 31, 2024 has been audited by Deloitte & Touche
LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report is included
in the fund’s financial statements. The information for the prior fiscal years
was audited by a different independent registered public accounting firm. The
fund’s financial statements are incorporated by reference in the statement of
additional information and are available upon request.
93
Financial
highlights
Pioneer
Short Term Income Fund
|
|
Year
Ended
8/31/24 |
Year
Ended
8/31/23 |
Year
Ended
8/31/22 |
Year
Ended
8/31/21 |
Year
Ended
8/31/20 |
|
Class
A |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
asset value, beginning of period |
$8.71 |
$8.85 |
$9.39 |
$9.21 |
$9.52 |
|
Increase
(decrease) from investment operations: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income (loss) (a) |
$0.46 |
$0.39 |
$0.18 |
$0.19 |
$0.23 |
|
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments |
0.22 |
(0.12) |
(0.52) |
0.20 |
(0.29) |
|
Net
increase (decrease) from investment operations |
$0.68 |
$0.27 |
$(0.34) |
$0.39 |
$(0.06) |
|
Distributions
to shareholders: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income |
$(0.48) |
$(0.41) |
$(0.20) |
$(0.21) |
$(0.25) |
|
Total
distributions |
$(0.48) |
$(0.41) |
$(0.20) |
$(0.21) |
$(0.25) |
|
Net
increase (decrease) in net asset value |
$0.20 |
$(0.14) |
$(0.54) |
$0.18 |
$(0.31) |
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
$8.91 |
$8.71 |
$8.85 |
$9.39 |
$9.21 |
|
Total
return (b) |
8.03% |
3.17% |
(3.65)% |
4.25% |
(0.61)% |
|
Ratio
of net expenses to average net assets |
0.83% |
0.83% |
0.83% |
0.81% |
0.82% |
|
Ratio
of net investment income (loss) to average net
assets |
5.30% |
4.46% |
1.97% |
1.98% |
2.44% |
|
Portfolio
turnover rate |
40% |
54% |
68% |
43% |
113% |
|
Net
assets, end of period (in thousands) |
$137,942 |
$96,545 |
$124,028 |
$144,818 |
$146,659 |
|
Ratios
with no waiver of fees and assumption of expenses by the
Adviser
and no reduction for fees paid indirectly: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
expenses to average net assets |
0.93% |
0.97% |
0.97% |
0.85% |
0.85% |
|
Net
investment income (loss) to average net assets |
5.20% |
4.32% |
1.83% |
1.94% |
2.41% |
|
(a) |
The
per-share data presented above is based on the average shares outstanding
for the period presented. |
|
(b) |
Assumes
initial investment at net asset value at the beginning of each period,
reinvestment of all distributions and the complete redemption of the
investment
at net asset value at the end of each
period. |
94
Pioneer
Short Term Income Fund
|
|
Year
Ended
8/31/24 |
Year
Ended
8/31/23 |
Year
Ended
8/31/22 |
Year
Ended
8/31/21 |
Year
Ended
8/31/20 |
|
Class
C |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
asset value, beginning of period |
$8.73 |
$8.87 |
$9.41 |
$9.23 |
$9.52 |
|
Increase
(decrease) from investment operations: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income (loss) (a) |
$0.45 |
$0.37 |
$0.16 |
$0.17 |
$0.20 |
|
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments |
0.21 |
(0.11) |
(0.52) |
0.20 |
(0.26) |
|
Net
increase (decrease) from investment operations |
$0.66 |
$0.26 |
$(0.36) |
$0.37 |
$(0.06) |
|
Distributions
to shareholders: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income |
$(0.47) |
$(0.40) |
$(0.18) |
$(0.19) |
$(0.23) |
|
Total
distributions |
$(0.47) |
$(0.40) |
$(0.18) |
$(0.19) |
$(0.23) |
|
Net
increase (decrease) in net asset value |
$0.19 |
$(0.14) |
$(0.54) |
$0.18 |
$(0.29) |
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
$8.92 |
$8.73 |
$8.87 |
$9.41 |
$9.23 |
|
Total
return (b) |
7.73% |
2.99% |
(3.85)% |
4.04% |
(0.62)% |
|
Ratio
of net expenses to average net assets |
1.03% |
1.01% |
1.03% |
1.03% |
1.04% |
|
Ratio
of net investment income (loss) to average net
assets |
5.11% |
4.29% |
1.74% |
1.77% |
2.22% |
|
Portfolio
turnover rate |
40% |
54% |
68% |
43% |
113% |
|
Net
assets, end of period (in thousands) |
$11,992 |
$9,211 |
$12,069 |
$18,885 |
$31,557 |
|
Ratios
with no waiver of fees and assumption of expenses by the Adviser
and no
reduction for fees paid indirectly: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
expenses to average net assets |
1.03% |
1.06% |
1.04% |
1.07% |
1.06% |
|
Net
investment income (loss) to average net assets |
5.11% |
4.24% |
1.73% |
1.73% |
2.20% |
|
(a) |
The
per-share data presented above is based on the average shares outstanding
for the period presented. |
|
(b) |
Assumes
initial investment at net asset value at the beginning of each period,
reinvestment of all distributions and the complete redemption of the
investment
at net asset value at the end of each
period. |
95
Financial
highlights
Pioneer
Short Term Income Fund
|
|
Year
Ended
8/31/24 |
Year
Ended
8/31/23 |
Year
Ended
8/31/22 |
Year
Ended
8/31/21 |
Year
Ended
8/31/20 |
|
Class
C2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
asset value, beginning of period |
$8.74 |
$8.88 |
$9.42 |
$9.24 |
$9.52 |
|
Increase
(decrease) from investment operations: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income (loss) (a) |
$0.45 |
$0.38 |
$0.16 |
$0.17 |
$0.20 |
|
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments |
0.20 |
(0.12) |
(0.51) |
0.20 |
(0.25) |
|
Net
increase (decrease) from investment operations |
$0.65 |
$0.26 |
$(0.35) |
$0.37 |
$(0.05) |
|
Distributions
to shareholders: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income |
$(0.47) |
$(0.40) |
$(0.19) |
$(0.19) |
$(0.23) |
|
Total
distributions |
$(0.47) |
$(0.40) |
$(0.19) |
$(0.19) |
$(0.23) |
|
Net
increase (decrease) in net asset value |
$0.18 |
$(0.14) |
$(0.54) |
$0.18 |
$(0.28) |
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
$8.92 |
$8.74 |
$8.88 |
$9.42 |
$9.24 |
|
Total
return (b) |
7.62% |
3.01% |
(3.80)% |
4.04% |
(0.52)% |
|
Ratio
of net expenses to average net assets |
0.99% |
0.97% |
1.00% |
1.01% |
1.03% |
|
Ratio
of net investment income (loss) to average net
assets |
5.15% |
4.33% |
1.78% |
1.78% |
2.20% |
|
Portfolio
turnover rate |
40% |
54% |
68% |
43% |
113% |
|
Net
assets, end of period (in thousands) |
$1,379 |
$1,189 |
$1,228 |
$1,855 |
$1,436 |
|
Ratios
with no waiver of fees and assumption of expenses by the Adviser and no
reduction
for fees paid indirectly: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
expenses to average net assets |
0.99% |
1.03% |
1.01% |
1.05% |
1.05% |
|
Net
investment income (loss) to average net assets |
5.15% |
4.27% |
1.77% |
1.74% |
2.18% |
|
(a) |
The
per-share data presented above is based on the average shares outstanding
for the period presented. |
|
(b) |
Assumes
initial investment at net asset value at the beginning of each period,
reinvestment of all distributions, the complete redemption of the
investment
at net asset value at the end of each period and no sales charges. Total
return would be reduced if sales charges were taken into
account. |
96
Pioneer
Short Term Income Fund
|
|
Year
Ended
8/31/24 |
Year
Ended
8/31/23 |
Year
Ended
8/31/22 |
Year
Ended
8/31/21 |
Year
Ended
8/31/20 |
|
Class
K |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
asset value, beginning of period |
$8.77 |
$8.91 |
$9.45 |
$9.27 |
$9.54 |
|
Increase
(decrease) from investment operations: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income (loss) (a) |
$0.50 |
$0.45 |
$0.22 |
$0.22 |
$0.27 |
|
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments |
0.20 |
(0.14) |
(0.52) |
0.20 |
(0.26) |
|
Net
increase (decrease) from investment operations |
$0.70 |
$0.31 |
$(0.30) |
$0.42 |
$0.01 |
|
Distributions
to shareholders: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income |
$(0.51) |
$(0.45) |
$(0.24) |
$(0.24) |
$(0.28) |
|
Total
distributions |
$(0.51) |
$(0.45) |
$(0.24) |
$(0.24) |
$(0.28) |
|
Net
increase (decrease) in net asset value |
$0.19 |
$(0.14) |
$(0.54) |
$0.18 |
$(0.27) |
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
$8.96 |
$8.77 |
$8.91 |
$9.45 |
$9.27 |
|
Total
return (b) |
8.30% |
3.56% |
(3.26)% |
4.62% |
0.16% |
|
Ratio
of net expenses to average net assets |
0.46% |
0.45% |
0.46% |
0.46% |
0.46% |
|
Ratio
of net investment income (loss) to average net
assets |
5.68% |
5.13% |
2.36% |
2.36% |
2.86% |
|
Portfolio
turnover rate |
40% |
54% |
68% |
43% |
113% |
|
Net
assets, end of period (in thousands) |
$24,266 |
$23,424 |
$1,001 |
$661 |
$3,408 |
|
Ratios
with no waiver of fees and assumption of expenses by the Adviser and
no
reduction for fees paid indirectly: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
expenses to average net assets |
0.46% |
0.50% |
0.49% |
0.51% |
0.47% |
|
Net
investment income (loss) to average net assets |
5.68% |
5.08% |
2.33% |
2.31% |
2.85% |
|
(a) |
The
per-share data presented above is based on the average shares outstanding
for the period presented. |
|
(b) |
Assumes
initial investment at net asset value at the beginning of each period,
reinvestment of all distributions and the complete redemption of the
investment
at net asset value at the end of each
period. |
97
Financial
highlights
Pioneer
Short Term Income Fund
|
|
Year
Ended
8/31/24 |
Year
Ended
8/31/23 |
Year
Ended
8/31/22 |
Year
Ended
8/31/21 |
Year
Ended
8/31/20 |
|
Class
Y |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
asset value, beginning of period |
$8.73 |
$8.87 |
$9.41 |
$9.23 |
$9.51 |
|
Increase
(decrease) from investment operations: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income (loss) (a) |
$0.50 |
$0.43 |
$0.21 |
$0.22 |
$0.26 |
|
Net
realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments |
0.20 |
(0.13) |
(0.52) |
0.20 |
(0.26) |
|
Net
increase (decrease) from investment operations |
$0.70 |
$0.30 |
$(0.31) |
$0.42 |
$(0.00)(b) |
|
Distributions
to shareholders: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
investment income |
$(0.51) |
$(0.44) |
$(0.23) |
$(0.24) |
$(0.28) |
|
Total
distributions |
$(0.51) |
$(0.44) |
$(0.23) |
$(0.24) |
$(0.28) |
|
Net
increase (decrease) in net asset value |
$0.19 |
$(0.14) |
$(0.54) |
$0.18 |
$(0.28) |
|
Net
asset value, end of period |
$8.92 |
$8.73 |
$8.87 |
$9.41 |
$9.23 |
|
Total
return (c) |
8.30% |
3.55% |
(3.29)% |
4.63% |
0.05% |
|
Ratio
of net expenses to average net assets |
0.46% |
0.46% |
0.46% |
0.46% |
0.46% |
|
Ratio
of net investment income (loss) to average net
assets |
5.68% |
4.87% |
2.34% |
2.33% |
2.80% |
|
Portfolio
turnover rate |
40% |
54% |
68% |
43% |
113% |
|
Net
assets, end of period (in thousands) |
$787,627 |
$284,372 |
$270,281 |
$274,235 |
$286,499 |
|
Ratios
with no waiver of fees and assumption of expenses by the
Adviser
and no reduction for fees paid indirectly: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
expenses to average net assets |
0.55% |
0.59% |
0.57% |
0.60% |
0.59% |
|
Net
investment income (loss) to average net assets |
5.59% |
4.74% |
2.23% |
2.19% |
2.67% |
|
(a) |
The
per-share data presented above is based on the average shares outstanding
for the period presented. |
|
(b) |
Amount
rounds to less than $0.01 or $(0.01) per share. |
|
(c) |
Assumes
initial investment at net asset value at the beginning of each period,
reinvestment of all distributions and the complete redemption of the
investment
at net asset value at the end of each
period. |
98
Intermediary
defined sales charge waiver policies
The
information below has been provided by the named financial intermediaries.
Please contact the applicable financial intermediary with any questions
regarding how it applies the policies described below and for assistance in
determining whether you may qualify for a particular sales charge waiver or
discount.
Ameriprise
Financial
Front-end sales
charge reductions on Class A shares purchased through
Ameriprise
Financial
Shareholders purchasing
Class A shares of the fund through an Ameriprise Financial platform or account
are eligible only for the following sales charge reductions, which may differ
from those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI. Such shareholders
can reduce their initial sales charge on the purchase of Class A shares as
follows:
•
Transaction
size breakpoints, as described in this
prospectus or the SAI.
•
Rights
of accumulation (ROA), as described in this
prospectus or the SAI.
•
Letter
of intent, as
described in this prospectus or the SAI.
Front-end
sales
charge
waivers
on
Class A shares purchased through Ameriprise Financial
Shareholders purchasing
Class A shares of the fund through an Ameriprise Financial platform or account
are eligible only for the following sales charge waivers, which may differ from
those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI. Such shareholders may
purchase Class A shares at NAV without payment of a sales charge as
follows:
•
shares purchased by
employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans,
employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans
and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored
retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs.
•
shares purchased through
reinvestment of capital gains and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares
of the same fund (but not any other fund within the same fund
family).
•
shares exchanged from
Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the seven-year
anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere
provides for a waiver with respect to such shares
following a
shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such
shorter period. To the extent that this prospectus elsewhere provides for a
waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that
waiver will also apply to such
exchanges.
99
Intermediary
defined sales charge waiver policies
•
shares purchased by
employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial or its
affiliates and their immediate family members.
•
shares purchased by or
through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings
Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that
are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor
and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father,
grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s
lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson,
granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered
family member who is a lineal descendant.
•
shares purchased from the
proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (1) the repurchase
occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase
occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end
or deferred sales load (i.e., Rights of Reinstatement).
CDSC waivers on
Class A and C shares purchased through Ameriprise Financial
Fund shares purchased
through an Ameriprise Financial platform or account are eligible only for the
following CDSC waivers, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this
prospectus or the SAI:
•
redemptions due to death
or disability of the shareholder
•
shares sold as part of a
systematic withdrawal plan as described in this prospectus or the
SAI
•
redemptions made in
connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account
•
shares purchased through a
Right of Reinstatement (as defined above)
•
redemptions made as part
of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to
the Internal Revenue Code
Edward
D. Jones & Co., L.P. (“Edward Jones”)
Policies
Regarding Transactions Through Edward Jones
The
following information has been provided by Edward Jones:
Effective on or after
September 3, 2024, the following information supersedes prior information with
respect to transactions and positions held in fund shares through an Edward
Jones system. Clients of Edward Jones (also referred to as “shareholders”)
purchasing fund shares on the Edward Jones commission and fee-based platforms
are eligible only for the following sales charge discounts (also referred to as
“breakpoints”) and waivers, which can differ from discounts and
100
waivers described
elsewhere in the mutual fund prospectus or statement of additional information
(“SAI”) or through another broker-dealer. In all instances, it is the
shareholder's responsibility to inform Edward Jones at the time of purchase of
any relationship, holdings of Pioneer Funds, or other facts qualifying the
purchaser for discounts or waivers. Edward Jones can ask for documentation of
such circumstance. Shareholders should contact Edward Jones if they have
questions regarding their eligibility for these discounts and
waivers.
Breakpoints
•
Breakpoint
pricing, otherwise known as volume pricing, at dollar thresholds as described in
the prospectus.
Rights
of Accumulation (“ROA”)
•
The
applicable sales charge on a purchase of Class A shares is determined by taking
into account all share classes (except certain money market funds and any assets
held in group retirement plans) of Pioneer Funds held by the shareholder or in
an account grouped by Edward Jones with other accounts for the purpose of
providing certain pricing considerations (“pricing groups”). If grouping assets
as a shareholder, this includes all share classes held on the Edward Jones
platform and/or held on another platform. The inclusion of eligible fund family
assets in the ROA calculation is dependent on the shareholder notifying Edward
Jones of such assets at the time of calculation. Money market funds are included
only if such shares were sold with a sales charge at the time of purchase or
acquired in exchange for shares purchased with a sales charge.
•
The
employer maintaining a SEP IRA plan and/or SIMPLE IRA plan may elect to
establish or change ROA for the IRA accounts associated with the plan to a
plan-level grouping as opposed to including all share classes at a shareholder
or pricing group level.
•
ROA is
determined by calculating the higher of cost minus redemptions or market value
(current shares x NAV).
Letter
of Intent (“LOI”)
•
Through a
LOI, shareholders can receive the sales charge and breakpoint discounts for
purchases shareholders intend to make over a 13-month period from the date
Edward Jones receives the LOI. The LOI is determined by calculating the higher
of cost or market value of qualifying holdings at LOI initiation in combination
with the value that the shareholder intends to buy over a 13-month period to
calculate the front-end sales charge and any breakpoint discounts. Each purchase
the shareholder makes during that 13-month period will receive the sales charge
and breakpoint discount that applies to the total amount. The inclusion of
eligible fund family assets in the LOI calculation is dependent on the
shareholder notifying
101
Intermediary
defined sales charge waiver policies
Edward
Jones of such assets at the time of calculation. Purchases made before the LOI
is received by Edward Jones are not adjusted under the LOI and will not reduce
the sales charge previously paid. Sales charges will be adjusted if LOI is not
met.
•
If the
employer maintaining a SEP IRA plan and/or SIMPLE IRA plan has elected to
establish or change ROA for the IRA accounts associated with the plan to a
plan-level grouping, LOIs will also be at the plan-level and may only be
established by the employer.
Sales
Charge Waivers
Sales
charges are waived for the following shareholders and in the following
situations:
•
Associates of Edward Jones
and its affiliates and other accounts in the same pricing group (as determined
by Edward Jones under its policies and procedures) as the associate. This waiver
will continue for the remainder of the associate's life if the associate retires
from Edward Jones in good standing and remains in good standing pursuant to
Edward Jones' policies and procedures.
•
Shares
purchased in an Edward Jones fee-based program.
•
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend
reinvestment.
•
Shares purchased from the
proceeds of redeemed shares of the same fund family so long as the following
conditions are met: the proceeds are from the sale of shares within 60 days of
the purchase, the sale and purchase are made from a share class that charges a
front load and one of the following (“Right of
Reinstatement”):
−
The
redemption and repurchase occur in the same account.
−
The
redemption proceeds are used to process an: IRA contribution, excess
contributions, conversion, recharacterizing of contributions, or distribution,
and the repurchase is done in an account within the same Edward Jones grouping
for ROA.
The Right of Reinstatement
excludes systematic or automatic transactions including, but not limited to,
purchases made through payroll deductions, liquidations to cover account fees,
and reinvestments from non-mutual fund products.
•
Shares
exchanged into Class A shares from another share class so long as the exchange
is into the same fund and was initiated at the discretion of Edward Jones.
Edward Jones is responsible for any remaining CDSC due to the fund company, if
applicable. Any future purchases are subject to the applicable sales charge as
disclosed in the prospectus.
•
Exchanges
from Class C shares to Class A shares of the same fund, generally, in the
84th month
following the anniversary of the purchase date or earlier at the discretion of
Edward Jones.
102
•
Purchases
of Class 529-A shares through a rollover from either another education savings
plan or a security used for qualified distributions.
•
Purchases of Class 529-A
shares made for recontribution of refunded amounts.
103
Intermediary
defined sales charge waiver policies
Contingent
Deferred Sales Charge (“CDSC”) Waivers
If the
shareholder purchases shares that are subject to a CDSC and those shares are
redeemed before the CDSC is expired, the shareholder is responsible to pay the
CDSC except in the following conditions:
•
The death
or disability of the shareholder.
•
Systematic
withdrawals with up to 10% per year of the account value.
•
Return of
excess contributions from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA).
•
Shares
redeemed as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement
accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches
qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations.
•
Shares
redeemed to pay Edward Jones fees or costs in such cases where the transaction
is initiated by Edward Jones.
•
Shares
exchanged in an Edward Jones fee-based program.
•
Shares
acquired through NAV reinstatement.
•
Shares
redeemed at the discretion of Edward Jones for Minimum Balances, as described
below.
Other
Important Information Regarding Transactions Through Edward Jones
Minimum
Purchase Amounts
•
Initial
purchase minimum: $250
•
Subsequent
purchase minimum: none
Minimum
Balances
•
Edward
Jones has the right to redeem at its discretion fund holdings with a balance of
$250 or less. The following are examples of accounts that are not included in
this policy:
−
A
fee-based account held on an Edward Jones platform
−
A 529
account held on an Edward Jones platform
−
An account
with an active systematic investment plan or LOI
Exchanging
Share Classes
•
At any
time it deems necessary, Edward Jones has the authority to exchange at NAV a
shareholder's holdings in a fund to Class A shares of the same
fund.
Janney
Montgomery Scott
Effective
May 1, 2020, if you purchase fund shares through a Janney Montgomery Scott LLC
(“Janney”) brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following load
waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred sales charge
(“CDSC”), or back-end sales charge, waivers) and discounts, which may differ
from those disclosed elsewhere in this fund’s prospectus or statement of
104
additional
information.
Front-end
sales charge* waivers on Class A shares available at Janney
•
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend
reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund
within the fund family).
•
Shares
purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its
affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney.
•
Shares
purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided
(1) the repurchase occurs within ninety (90) days following the redemption, (2)
the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares
were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., right of
reinstatement).
•
Employer-sponsored
retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b)
plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit
plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do
not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans.
•
Shares
acquired through a right of reinstatement.
•
Class C
shares that are no longer subject to a contingent deferred sales charge and are
converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney’s policies and
procedures.
CDSC
waivers on Class A and C shares available at Janney
•
Shares
sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder.
•
Shares
sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the fund’s
prospectus.
•
Shares
purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA
account.
•
Shares
sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts
if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches
qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations
•
Shares
sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by
Janney.
•
Shares
acquired through a right of reinstatement.
•
Shares
exchanged into the same share class of a different fund.
Front-end
sales charge* discounts available at Janney: breakpoints, rights of
accumulation, and/or letters of intent
•
Breakpoints
as described in the fund’s prospectus.
•
Rights of
accumulation (“ROA”), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will
be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of fund family
assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Janney.
105
Intermediary
defined sales charge waiver policies
Eligible
fund family assets not held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation
only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such
assets.
•
Letters of
intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases
within a fund family, over a 13-month time period. Eligible fund family assets
not held at Janney Montgomery Scott may be included in the calculation of
letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor
about such assets.
*Also
referred to as an “initial sales charge.”
J.P.
Morgan Securities LLC
Effective September 29,
2023, if you purchase or hold fund shares through an applicable J.P. Morgan
Securities LLC brokerage account, you will be eligible for the following sales
charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred sales
charge (“CDSC”), or back-end sales charge, waivers), share class conversion
policy and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this
fund’s prospectus or statement of additional
information.
Front-end
sales charge waivers on Class A shares available at J.P. Morgan Securities
LLC
•
Shares
exchanged from Class C (i.e. level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a
CDSC and are exchanged into Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to J.P.
Morgan Securities LLC’s share class exchange policy.
•
Qualified
employer-sponsored defined contribution and defined benefit retirement plans,
nonqualified deferred compensation plans, other employee benefit plans and
trusts used to fund those plans. For purposes of this provision, such plans do
not include SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, SAR-SEPs or 501(c)(3) accounts.
•
Shares of
funds purchased through J.P. Morgan Securities LLC Self-Directed Investing
accounts.
•
Shares
purchased through rights of reinstatement.
•
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend
reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund
within the fund family).
•
Shares
purchased by employees and registered representatives of J.P. Morgan Securities
LLC or its affiliates and their spouse or financial dependent as defined by J.P.
Morgan Securities LLC.
Class
C to Class A share conversion
•
A
shareholder in the fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted to
106
Class A
shares (or the appropriate share class) of the same fund if the shares are no
longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is consistent with J.P. Morgan
Securities LLC’s policies and procedures.
CDSC
waivers on Class A and C shares available at J.P. Morgan Securities
LLC
•
Shares
sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder.
•
Shares
sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the fund’s
prospectus.
•
Shares
purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA
account.
•
Shares
sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts
pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code.
•
Shares
acquired through a right of reinstatement.
Front-end
load discounts available at J.P. Morgan Securities LLC: breakpoints, rights of
accumulation & letters of intent
•
Breakpoints
as described in the prospectus.
•
Rights of
Accumulation (“ROA”) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as
described in the fund’s prospectus will be automatically calculated based on the
aggregated holding of fund family assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s
household at J.P. Morgan Securities LLC. Eligible fund family assets not held at
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (including 529 program holdings, where applicable)
may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies their
financial advisor about such assets.
•
Letters of
Intent (“LOI”) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated
purchases within a fund family, through J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, over a
13-month period of time (if applicable).
Merrill
Lynch
Purchases
or sales of front-end (i.e. Class A) or level-load (i.e. Class C) mutual fund
shares through a Merrill platform or account will be eligible only for the
following sales load waivers (front-end, contingent deferred, or back-end
waivers) and discounts, which differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this
Fund’s prospectus. Purchasers will have to buy mutual fund shares directly from
the mutual fund company or through another intermediary to be eligible for
waivers or discounts not listed below.
It is the
client’s responsibility to notify Merrill at the time of purchase or sale of any
relationship or other facts that qualify the transaction for a waiver or
discount. A Merrill representative may ask for reasonable documentation of such
facts and Merrill may condition the granting of a waiver or discount on the
timely receipt of
107
Intermediary
defined sales charge waiver policies
such
documentation.
Additional
information on waivers and discounts is available in the Merrill Sales Load
Waiver and Discounts Supplement (the “Merrill SLWD Supplement”) and in the
Mutual Fund Investing at Merrill pamphlet at ml.com/funds. Clients are
encouraged to review these documents and speak with their financial advisor to
determine whether a transaction is eligible for a waiver or
discount.
Front-End
Load Waivers Available at Merrill
•
Shares of
mutual funds available for purchase by employer-sponsored retirement, deferred
compensation, and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and
trusts used to fund those plans provided the shares are not held in a
commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the
plan. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not
include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans
•
Shares
purchased through a Merrill investment advisory program
•
Brokerage
class shares exchanged from advisory class shares due to the holdings moving
from a Merrill investment advisory program to a Merrill brokerage
account
•
Shares
purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform
•
Shares
purchased through the systematic reinvestment of capital gains distributions and
dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same mutual fund in the same
account
•
Shares
exchanged from level-load shares to front-end load shares of the same mutual
fund in accordance with the description in the Merrill SLWD
Supplement
•
Shares
purchased by eligible employees of Merrill or its affiliates and their family
members who purchase shares in accounts within the employee’s Merrill Household
(as defined in the Merrill SLWD Supplement)
•
Shares
purchased by eligible persons associated with the fund as defined in this
prospectus (e.g. the fund’s officers or trustees)
•
Shares
purchased from the proceeds of a mutual fund redemption in front-end load shares
provided (1) the repurchase is in a mutual fund within the same fund family; (2)
the repurchase occurs within 90 calendar days from the redemption trade date,
and (3) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account (known as Rights
of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and
withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay
Merrill’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for Rights of
Reinstatement
Contingent
Deferred Sales Charge (“CDSC”) Waivers on Front-End, Back-End and Level Load
Shares Available at Merrill
•
Shares
sold due to the client’s death or disability (as defined by Internal Revenue
108
Code
Section 22(e)(3))
•
Shares
sold pursuant to a systematic withdrawal program subject to Merrill’s maximum
systematic withdrawal limits as described in the Merrill SLWD
Supplement
•
Shares
sold due to return of excess contributions from an IRA account
•
Shares
sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts
due to the investor reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS
regulation
•
Front-end
or level-load shares held in commission-based, non-taxable retirement brokerage
accounts (e.g. traditional, Roth, rollover, SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or
Keogh plans) that are transferred to fee-based accounts or platforms and
exchanged for a lower cost share class of the same mutual fund
Front-End
Load Discounts Available at Merrill: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation and
Letters of Intent
•
Breakpoint
discounts, as described in this prospectus, where the sales load is at or below
the maximum sales load that Merrill permits to be assessed to a front-end load
purchase, as described in the Merrill SLWD Supplement
•
Rights of
Accumulation (ROA), as described in the Merrill SLWD Supplement, which entitle
clients to breakpoint discounts based on the aggregated holdings of mutual fund
family assets held in accounts in their Merrill Household
•
Letters of
Intent (LOI), which allow for breakpoint discounts on eligible new purchases
based on anticipated future eligible purchases within a fund family at Merrill,
in accounts within your Merrill Household, as further described in the Merrill
SLWD Supplement
Morgan
Stanley
Effective
July 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing fund shares through a Morgan Stanley
Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the
following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which
may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in this
fund’s prospectus or statement of additional information.
Front-end
Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares available at Morgan Stanley Wealth
Management
•
Employer-sponsored
retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b)
plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit
plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do
not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans
•
Morgan
Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s
account linking rules
109
Intermediary
defined sales charge waiver policies
•
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when
purchasing shares of the same fund
•
Shares
purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account
•
Class C
(i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a contingent deferred
sales charge and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class conversion program
•
Shares
purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided
(1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the
redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were
subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge.
Oppenheimer
& Co. Inc. (“OPCO”)
Shareholders
purchasing fund shares through an OPCO platform or account are eligible only for
the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent
deferred or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from
those disclosed elsewhere in this fund’s prospectus or statement of additional
information.
Front-end
Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares available at OPCO
•
Employer-sponsored
retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health
savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares
are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the
benefit of the plan
•
Shares
purchased by or through a 529 Plan
•
Shares
purchased through an OPCO affiliated investment advisory program
•
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend
reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund
within the fund family)
•
Shares
purchased form the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided
(1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the
redemption and purchase occur in the same amount, and (3) redeemed shares were
subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of
Restatement).
•
A
shareholder in the fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net
asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the fund if
the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with
the policies and procedures of OPCO
•
Employees
and registered representatives of OPCO or its affiliates and their family
members
•
Directors
or Trustees of the fund, and employees of the fund’s investment adviser or any
of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus
110
CDSC
Waivers on A, B and C Shares available at OPCO
•
Death or
disability of the shareholder
•
Shares
sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the fund’s
prospectus
•
Return of
excess contributions from an IRA Account
•
Shares
sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts
due to the shareholder reaching age 70½ as described in the
prospectus
•
Shares
sold to pay OPCO fees but only if the transaction is initiated by
OPCO
•
Shares
acquired through a right of reinstatement
Front-end
load Discounts Available at OPCO: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation &
Letters of Intent
•
Breakpoints
as described in this prospectus.
•
Rights of
Accumulation (ROA), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will be
automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of fund family assets
held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at OPCO. Eligible fund family
assets not held at OPCO may be included in the ROA calculation only if the
shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such
assets
Raymond
James
Raymond
James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., and each
entity’s affiliates (“Raymond James”)
Effective
March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing fund shares through a Raymond James
platform or account, or through an introducing broker-dealer or independent
registered investment adviser for which Raymond James provides trade execution,
clearance, and/or custody services, will be eligible only for the following load
waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end,
sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed
elsewhere in this fund’s prospectus or SAI.
Front-end
sales load waivers on Class A shares available at Raymond James
•
Shares
purchased in an investment advisory program.
•
Shares
purchased within the same fund family through a systematic reinvestment of
capital gains and dividend distributions.
•
Employees
and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their
family members as designated by Raymond James.
•
Shares
purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided
(1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the
redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were
subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as rights of
reinstatement).
111
Intermediary
defined sales charge waiver policies
•
A
shareholder in the fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net
asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the fund if
the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with
the policies and procedures of Raymond James.
CDSC
Waivers on Class A and Class C shares available at Raymond James
•
Death or
disability of the shareholder.
•
Shares
sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the fund’s
prospectus.
•
Return of
excess contributions from an IRA Account.
•
Shares
sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts
due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS
regulations as described in the fund’s prospectus.
•
Shares
sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by
Raymond James.
•
Shares
acquired through a right of reinstatement.
Front-end
load discounts available at Raymond James: breakpoints, rights of accumulation
and/or letters of intent
•
Breakpoints
as described in this prospectus.
•
Rights of
accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be
automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of fund family assets
held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible
fund family assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation
of rights of accumulation calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or
her financial advisor about such assets.
•
Letters of
intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases
within a fund family, over a 13-month time period. Eligible fund family assets
not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of
intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such
assets.
Robert
W. Baird & Co. (“Baird”):
Effective
June 15, 2020, shareholders purchasing fund shares through a Baird platform or
account will only be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front-end
sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from
those disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus or the SAI.
Front-End
Sales Charge Waivers on Investors A shares Available at Baird
•
Shares
purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend
reinvestment when purchasing share of the same fund
112
•
Share
purchase by employees and registers representatives of Baird or its affiliate
and their family members as designated by Baird
•
Shares
purchased using the proceeds of redemptions from a Pioneer Fund, provided (1)
the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the
redemption and purchase occur in the same accounts, and (3) redeemed shares were
subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of
reinstatement)
•
A
shareholder in the funds Investor C Shares will have their share converted at
net asset value to Investor A shares of the same fund if the shares are no
longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and
procedures of Baird
•
Employer-sponsored
retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at
Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans,
profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For
purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include
SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs
CDSC
Waivers on Investor A and C shares Available at Baird
•
Shares
sold due to death or disability of the shareholder
•
Shares
sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the fund’s
prospectus
•
Shares
bought due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA Account
•
Shares
sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts
due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable Internal
Revenue Service regulations as described in the fund’s prospectus
•
Shares
sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by
Baird
•
Shares
acquired through a right of reinstatement
Front-End
Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of
Accumulations
•
Breakpoints
as described in this prospectus
•
Rights of
accumulations which entitles shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be
automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of Pioneer assets held
by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible Pioneer assets
not held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation
only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such
assets
•
Letters of
Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of
Pioneer through Baird, over a 13-month period of time
113
Intermediary
defined sales charge waiver policies
Waivers
Specific to Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (“Stifel”)
Effective
July 1, 2020, shareholders purchasing fund shares through a Stifel platform or
account or who own shares for which Stifel or an affiliate is the broker-dealer
of record are eligible for the following additional sales charge
waiver.
Front-end
Sales Load Waiver on Class A Shares
•
Class C
shares that have been held for more than seven (7) years will be converted to
Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Stifel’s policies and
procedures
All other
sales charge waivers and reductions described elsewhere in the fund’s prospectus
or statement of additional information still apply.
114
Pioneer
Short Term Income Fund
You
can obtain more free information about the
fund from your investment firm or by writing to Pioneer Funds, 60 State Street,
Boston, Massachusetts 02109. You may also call 1-800-225-6292 for more
information about the fund, to request copies of the fund’s statement of
additional information and shareowner reports, and to make other
inquiries.
Visit
our website
amundi.com/us
The fund makes
available the statement of additional information and shareowner reports, free
of charge, on the fund’s website at amundi.com/us. You also may find other
information and updates about Amundi US and the fund, including fund performance
information and the fund’s most recent net asset value, on the fund’s
website.
Shareowner
reports
Annual and semiannual reports
to shareowners, Form N-CSR and quarterly reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, provide additional information about the fund's
investments. The annual report discusses market conditions and investment
strategies that significantly affected the fund's performance during its last
fiscal year. In Form N-CSR, you will find the fund's annual and semi-annual
financial
statements.
Statement
of additional information
The statement
of additional information provides more detailed information about the
fund.
The statement of additional
information, dated December 31, 2024, as may be amended from time to time, and
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is incorporated by reference
into this prospectus.
The fund's
shareowner reports, prospectus and statement of additional information are
available on the Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR database on the
Commission's Internet site at https://www.sec.gov. Copies of this information
may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the
following e-mail address: [email protected].
(Investment
Company Act file no. 811-21558)
 |
|
|
Amundi
Distributor US, Inc.
60
State Street
Boston,
MA 02109
amundi.com/us |
20195-20-1224
©2024 Amundi Distributor
US, Inc.
Member
SIPC |