AMG Funds IV

AMG FUNDS IV

AMG RIVER ROAD DIVIDEND ALL CAP VALUE FUND

CLASS N: ARDEX

CLASS I: ARIDX

CLASS Z: ARZDX

AMG RIVER ROAD FOCUSED ABSOLUTE VALUE FUND

CLASS N: ARRFX

CLASS I: AFAVX

CLASS Z: ARRZX

AMG RIVER ROAD INTERNATIONAL VALUE EQUITY FUND

CLASS N: ARLSX

CLASS I: ALSIX

CLASS Z: ARLZX

AMG RIVER ROAD MID CAP VALUE FUND

CLASS N: CHTTX

CLASS I: ABMIX

CLASS Z: ABIZX

AMG RIVER ROAD SMALL-MID CAP VALUE FUND

CLASS N: ARSMX

CLASS I: ARIMX

CLASS Z: ARSZX

AMG RIVER ROAD SMALL CAP VALUE FUND

CLASS N: ARSVX

CLASS I: ARSIX

CLASS Z: ARZMX

 

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

DATED March 1, 2023

You can obtain a free copy of the prospectus for each of AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value Fund, AMG River Road Focused Absolute Value Fund, AMG River Road International Value Equity Fund, AMG River Road Mid Cap Value Fund, AMG River Road Small-Mid Cap Value Fund and AMG River Road Small Cap Value Fund (each a “Fund,” and collectively the “Funds”), dated March 1, 2023, as supplemented from time to time (the “Prospectus”), by calling the Funds at (800) 548-4539 or by visiting the Funds’ website at www.amgfunds.com. The Funds’ Prospectus provides basic information about investing in the Funds.

This Statement of Additional Information is not a Prospectus. It contains additional information regarding the activities and operations of the Funds. It should be read in conjunction with the Funds’ Prospectus.


The Funds’ audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 and the related Notes to the Financial Statements for the Funds, as well as the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm from each Fund’s Annual Report for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 are incorporated by reference into this Statement of Additional Information (meaning such documents are legally a part of this Statement of Additional Information) and are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Funds’ Annual and Semi-Annual Reports are available without charge, upon request, by calling the Funds at (800) 548-4539 or by visiting the Funds’ website at www.amgfunds.com or the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov.

 

SAI100-0323


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

     Page  

GENERAL INFORMATION

     1  

ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT POLICIES

     2  

TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS

     63  

CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES

     75  

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUNDS

     83  

BROKERAGE ALLOCATION AND OTHER PRACTICES

     103  

PURCHASE, REDEMPTION AND PRICING OF SHARES

     106  

CERTAIN U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX MATTERS

     111  

OTHER INFORMATION

     127  

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     131  

APPENDIX A DESCRIPTION OF BOND RATINGS ASSIGNED BY S&P GLOBAL RATINGS AND MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE, INC.

     A-1  

APPENDIX B RIVER ROAD ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC PROXY VOTING POLICY

     B-1  

 

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GENERAL INFORMATION

This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) relates to AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value Fund (the “All Cap Value Fund”), AMG River Road Focused Absolute Value Fund (the “Focused Absolute Value Fund”), AMG River Road International Value Equity Fund (formerly AMG River Road Long-Short Fund) (the “International Value Equity Fund”), AMG River Road Mid Cap Value Fund (formerly AMG Managers Fairpointe Mid Cap Fund) (the “Mid Cap Value Fund”), AMG River Road Small-Mid Cap Value Fund (the “Small-Mid Cap Value Fund”) and AMG River Road Small Cap Value Fund (the “Small Cap Value Fund”) (each a “Fund,” and collectively the “Funds”). Each Fund is a series of shares of beneficial interest of AMG Funds IV, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Trust”), and part of the AMG Funds Family of Funds, a fund complex comprised of 45 different funds, each having distinct investment management objectives, strategies, risks, and policies (the “AMG Fund Complex”). The Trust was organized on September 10, 1993.

Each Fund has established three classes of shares: Class N, Class I and Class Z.

Effective as of October 1, 2016, Aston Funds changed its name to AMG Funds IV.

Effective as of October 1, 2016, each Fund’s name changed as follows:

 

Former Name

  

Name as of October 1, 2016

ASTON/River Road Dividend All Cap Value Fund    AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value Fund
ASTON/River Road Focused Absolute Value Fund    AMG River Road Focused Absolute Value Fund
ASTON/Fairpointe Mid Cap Fund    AMG Managers Fairpointe Mid Cap Fund
ASTON/River Road Long-Short Fund    AMG River Road Long-Short Fund
ASTON/River Road Select Value Fund    AMG River Road Select Value Fund
ASTON/River Road Small Cap Value Fund    AMG River Road Small Cap Value Fund

Also effective as of October 1, 2016, Aston Asset Management, LLC (“Aston”), the former investment adviser to the Funds and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (“AMG”), merged with and into AMG Funds LLC (the “Investment Manager”), with the Investment Manager becoming the investment manager to the Funds.

Effective as of June 30, 2017, AMG River Road Select Value Fund changed its name to AMG River Road Small-Mid Cap Value Fund.

Effective as of March 19, 2021, AMG Managers Fairpointe Mid Cap Fund changed its name to AMG River Road Mid Cap Value Fund.

Effective as of August 16, 2021, AMG River Road Long-Short Fund changed its name to AMG River Road International Value Equity Fund.

This SAI describes the financial history, management and operation of the Funds, as well as each Fund’s investment objective(s) and policies. It should be read in conjunction with each Fund’s current prospectus, dated March 1, 2023, as supplemented from time to time (the “Prospectus”). The Trust’s executive office is located at 680 Washington Boulevard, Suite 500, Stamford, Connecticut 06901.

 

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The Investment Manager, a subsidiary of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (“AMG”), serves as investment manager to the Funds and is responsible for each Fund’s overall administration. It selects and recommends, subject to the approval of the Trust’s Board of Trustees (the “Trustees”), an independent asset manager, or a team of independent asset managers (the “Subadviser” or “Subadvisers”) to manage each Fund’s investment portfolio. The Investment Manager also monitors the performance, security holdings and investment strategies of the Subadviser and researches any potential new Subadvisers for the Funds. See “Management of the Funds” for more information.

Investments in the Funds are not:

 

   

Deposits or obligations of any bank;

 

   

Guaranteed or endorsed by any bank; or

 

   

Federally insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other federal agency.

ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT POLICIES

The following is additional information regarding the investment policies used by each Fund in an attempt to achieve its investment objective(s) as stated in its Prospectus. The Trust is an open-end management investment company. Each Fund, other than AMG River Road Focused Absolute Value Fund, is a diversified series of the Trust. AMG River Road Focused Absolute Value Fund is a non-diversified series of the Trust.

The following is information regarding the types of securities and instruments that may be purchased by the Funds (unless otherwise noted) to the extent such investments are permitted by applicable law. The information below does not describe every type of investment, technique or risk to which each Fund may be exposed. Each Fund reserves the right, without notice, to make any investment, or use any investment technique, except to the extent that such activity would require a shareholder vote, as discussed below under “Fundamental Investment Restrictions.”

The Board may, in the future, authorize a Fund to invest in securities other than those listed here and in the Fund’s Prospectus, provided that such investment would be consistent with the Fund’s investment objective(s) and that it would not violate any fundamental investment policies or restrictions applicable to the Fund.

Any restriction on investments or use of assets, including, but not limited to, market capitalization, geographic, rating and/or any other percentage restrictions, set forth in this SAI or the Funds’ Prospectus shall be measured only at the time of investment, and any subsequent change, whether in the value, market capitalization, rating, percentage held or otherwise, will not constitute a violation of the restriction, except as stated below.

Investment Techniques and Associated Risks

(1) Asset-Backed Securities

Asset-backed securities directly or indirectly represent a participation interest in, or are secured by and are payable from, a stream of payments generated from particular assets, such as automobile and credit card receivables and home equity loans or other asset-backed securities collateralized by those assets. Asset-backed securities provide periodic payments that generally consist of both principal and interest payments that must be guaranteed by a letter of credit from an unaffiliated bank for a specified amount and time.

 

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Asset-backed securities are subject to certain risks. These risks generally arise out of the security interest in the assets collateralizing the security. For example, credit card receivables are generally unsecured and the debtors are entitled to a number of protections from the state and through federal consumer laws, many of which give the debtor the right to offset certain amounts of credit card debts thereby reducing the amounts due. In general, these types of loans have a shorter life than mortgage loans and are less likely to have substantial prepayments, although in a period of declining interest rates, pre-payments on asset-backed securities may increase and a Fund may be unable to reinvest those prepaid amounts in investments providing the same rate of interest as the pre-paid obligations. Asset-backed securities also involve the risk that borrowers may default on the obligations backing them and that the values of and interest earned on such investments will decline as a result. Loans made to lower quality borrowers, including those of sub-prime quality, involve a higher risk of default. Therefore, the values of asset-backed securities backed by lower quality loans, including those of sub-prime quality, may suffer significantly greater declines in value due to defaults, payment delays or a perceived increased risk of default, especially during periods when economic conditions worsen.

During periods of deteriorating economic conditions, such as recessions or periods of rising unemployment, delinquencies and losses generally increase, sometimes dramatically, with respect to securitizations involving loans, sales contracts, receivables and other obligations underlying asset-backed securities.

The Funds also invest in mortgage-backed securities, which are asset-backed securities associated with mortgage loans. Mortgage-backed securities and the risks associated with them are discussed under “Mortgage Related Securities” below.

(2) Below Investment Grade Securities

In General. Certain Funds may invest in below investment grade securities, subject to any limitations set forth in the Funds’ Prospectus and this SAI. Below investment grade securities (also referred to as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”) are securities rated below BBB by S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) or Baa by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), securities comparably rated by another Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (“NRSRO”), or unrated securities of equivalent quality. See Appendix A for further discussion regarding securities ratings. Below investment grade securities are deemed by the rating agencies to be predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal and may involve major risk or exposure to adverse conditions. Below investment grade securities, while generally offering higher yields than investment grade securities with similar maturities, involve greater risks, including the possibility of default or bankruptcy. The special risk considerations in connection with investments in these securities are discussed below.

Below investment grade securities generally offer a higher yield than that available from higher-rated issues with similar maturities, as compensation for holding a security that is subject to greater risk. Lower-rated securities involve higher risks in that they are especially subject to (1) adverse changes in general economic conditions and in the industries in which the issuers are engaged, (2) adverse changes in the financial condition of the issuers, (3) price fluctuation in response to changes in interest rates and (4) limited liquidity and secondary market support.

Effect of Interest Rates and Economic Changes. All interest-bearing securities typically experience appreciation when interest rates decline and depreciation when interest rates rise. The market values of below investment grade securities tend to reflect individual corporate developments to a greater extent than do higher rated securities, which react primarily to fluctuations in the general level of interest rates. Below investment grade securities also tend to be more sensitive to economic conditions than are higher-rated securities. As a result, they generally involve more credit risks than securities in the higher-

 

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rated categories. During an economic downturn or a sustained period of rising interest rates, highly leveraged issuers of below investment grade securities may experience financial stress which may adversely affect their ability to service their debt obligations, meet projected business goals, and obtain additional financing. Periods of economic uncertainty and changes would also generally result in increased volatility in the market prices of these securities and thus in a Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”).

Payment Expectations. Below investment grade securities may contain redemption, call or prepayment provisions which permit the issuer of such securities to, at its discretion, redeem the securities. During periods of falling interest rates, issuers of these securities are likely to redeem or prepay the securities and refinance them with debt securities with a lower interest rate. To the extent an issuer is able to refinance the securities, or otherwise redeem them, a Fund may have to replace the securities with a lower yielding security, which would result in a lower return.

Credit Ratings. Credit ratings issued by credit-rating agencies are designed to evaluate the safety of principal and interest payments of rated securities. They do not, however, evaluate the market value risk of lower-quality securities and, therefore, may not fully reflect the risks of an investment. In addition, credit rating agencies may or may not make timely changes in a rating to reflect changes in the economy or in the condition of the issuer that affect the market value of the security. With regard to an investment in below investment grade securities, the achievement of a Fund’s investment objective(s) may be more dependent on the Subadviser’s own credit analysis than is the case for higher rated securities. Although the Subadviser considers security ratings when making investment decisions, it does not rely solely on the ratings assigned by the rating services. Rather, the Subadviser performs research and independently assesses the value of particular securities relative to the market. The Subadviser’s analysis may include consideration of the issuer’s experience and managerial strength, changing financial condition, borrowing requirements or debt maturity schedules, and the issuer’s responsiveness to changes in business conditions and interest rates. It also considers relative values based on anticipated cash flow, interest or dividend coverage, asset coverage and earnings prospects.

The Subadviser buys and sells debt securities principally in response to its evaluation of an issuer’s continuing ability to meet its obligations, the availability of better investment opportunities, and its assessment of changes in business conditions and interest rates.

Liquidity and Valuation. Below investment grade securities may lack an established retail secondary market, and to the extent a secondary trading market does exist, it may be less liquid than the secondary market for higher rated securities. The lack of a liquid secondary market may negatively impact a Fund’s ability to dispose of particular securities. The lack of a liquid secondary market for certain securities may also make it more difficult for a Fund to obtain accurate market quotations for purposes of valuing the Fund’s portfolio. In addition, adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether or not based on fundamental analysis, may decrease the values and liquidity of below investment grade securities, especially in a thinly traded market.

Because of the many risks involved in investing in below investment grade securities, the success of such investments is dependent upon the credit analysis of the Subadviser. Although the market for below investment grade securities is not new, and the market has previously weathered economic downturns, the past performance of the market for such securities may not be an accurate indication of its performance during future economic downturns or periods of rising interest rates. Differing yields on debt securities of the same maturity are a function of several factors, including the relative financial strength of the issuers.

 

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(3) Borrowing

Under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), a Fund may borrow from any bank, provided that immediately after any such borrowing there is an asset coverage of at least 300% for all borrowings by the Fund and provided further, that in the event that such asset coverage shall at any time fall below 300%, the Fund shall, within three days (not including Sundays and holidays) thereafter or such longer period as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) may prescribe by rules and regulations, reduce the amount of its borrowings to such an extent that the asset coverage of such borrowings shall be at least 300%. In addition, each of the International Value Equity Fund and the Mid Cap Value Fund may borrow up to 33 1/3% of its total assets through an interfund lending program with other eligible funds in the AMG Fund Complex (as further described below). The 1940 Act also permits an open-end investment company to borrow money from a bank or other person provided that such loan is for temporary purposes only and is in an amount not exceeding 5% of the value of the investment company’s total assets at the time when the loan is made. A loan is presumed to be for temporary purposes if it is repaid within sixty days and is not extended or renewed. Typically, a Fund may pledge up to 33 1/3% of its total assets to secure these borrowings. The Trust, on behalf of the International Value Equity Fund and the Mid Cap Value Fund, has entered into a master interfund lending agreement that would allow each such Fund to borrow, for temporary purposes only, from other eligible funds in the AMG Fund Complex, subject to each such Fund’s fundamental investment restrictions and provided such borrowings do not exceed the amount permitted by Section 18 of the 1940 Act, and the rules and regulations thereunder, as modified by the below mentioned and any other applicable exemptive order or other relief. Please see “Interfund Lending” below for more information. If a Fund’s asset coverage for borrowings falls below 300%, the Fund will take prompt action to reduce its borrowings even though it may be disadvantageous at that time from an investment point of view. A Fund will incur costs when it borrows, including payment of interest and any fee necessary to maintain a line of credit, and may be required to maintain a minimum average balance. If a Fund is permitted to borrow money to take advantage of investment opportunities, if the income and appreciation on assets acquired with such borrowed funds exceed their borrowing cost, a Fund’s investment performance will increase, whereas if the income and appreciation on assets acquired with borrowed funds are less than their borrowing costs, investment performance will decrease. In addition, if a Fund borrows to invest in securities, any investment gains made on the securities in excess of the costs of the borrowing, and any gain or loss on hedging, will cause the NAV of the shares to rise faster than would otherwise be the case. On the other hand, if the investment performance of the additional securities purchased fails to cover their cost (including any interest paid on the money borrowed) to the Fund, the NAV of the Fund’s shares will decrease faster than would otherwise be the case. This speculative characteristic is known as “leverage.”

(4) Cash Equivalents

The Funds may invest in cash equivalents to the extent that such investments are consistent with the Funds’ investment objectives, policies and restrictions, and as discussed in the Funds’ Prospectus and this SAI. A description of the various types of cash equivalents that may be purchased by certain Funds appears below.

Bank Obligations. Certain Funds may purchase obligations of domestic and foreign banks and foreign branches of domestic banks. Banks are subject to extensive governmental regulations. These regulations place limitations on the amounts and types of loans and other financial commitments which may be made by the bank and the interest rates and fees which may be charged on these loans and commitments. The profitability of the banking industry depends on the availability and costs of capital funds for the purpose of financing loans under prevailing money market conditions. General economic conditions also play a key role in the operations of the banking industry. Exposure to credit losses arising from potential financial difficulties of borrowers may affect the ability of the bank to meet its obligations under a letter of credit.

 

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Bankers Acceptances. Bankers acceptances are short-term credit instruments used to finance the import, export, transfer or storage of goods. These instruments become “accepted” when a bank guarantees their payment upon maturity. Eurodollar bankers acceptances are bankers acceptances denominated in U.S. dollars and are “accepted” by foreign branches of major U.S. commercial banks.

Certificates of Deposit. Certificates of deposit are issued against money deposited into a bank (including eligible foreign branches of U.S. banks) or a savings and loan association (“S&L”) for a definite period of time. They earn a specified rate of return and are normally negotiable.

Repurchase Agreements. In a repurchase agreement, a Fund buys a security from a bank or a broker-dealer that has agreed to repurchase the same security at a mutually agreed-upon date and price. The resale price normally reflects the purchase price plus a mutually agreed-upon interest rate. This interest rate is effective for the period of time a Fund is invested in the agreement and is not related to the coupon rate on the underlying security. Repurchase agreements are subject to certain risks that may adversely affect the Funds. If a seller defaults, a Fund may incur a loss if the value of the collateral securing the repurchase agreement declines and may incur disposition costs in connection with liquidating the collateral. In addition, if bankruptcy proceedings are commenced with respect to a seller of the security, a Fund’s ability to dispose of the collateral may be delayed or limited. Generally, the period of these repurchase agreements will be short.

The financial institutions with which a Fund may enter into repurchase agreements are banks and non-bank dealers of U.S. government securities that are listed on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s list of reporting dealers and banks, if such banks and non-bank dealers are deemed creditworthy by the Investment Manager or Subadviser. The Investment Manager or Subadviser will continue to monitor the creditworthiness of the seller under a repurchase agreement and will require the seller to maintain during the term of the agreement the value of the securities subject to the agreement at not less than the repurchase price.

In certain instances, a Fund may engage in repurchase agreement transactions that are novated to the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (“FICC”). FICC acts as the common counterparty to all repurchase transactions that enter its netting system and guarantees that participants will receive their cash or securities collateral (as applicable) back at the close of the repurchase transaction. While this guarantee is intended to mitigate counterparty/credit risk that exists in the case of a bilateral repurchase transaction, a Fund is exposed to risk of delays or losses in the event of a bankruptcy or other default or nonperformance by the FICC or the FICC sponsoring member through which the Fund acts in connection with such transactions.

Short-Term Corporate Debt Securities. Short-term corporate debt securities include bills, notes, debentures, money market instruments and similar instruments and securities, and are generally used by corporations and other issuers to borrow money from investors for such purposes as working capital or capital expenditures. The issuer pays the investor a variable or fixed rate of interest and normally must repay the amount borrowed on or before maturity. The investment return of corporate debt securities reflects interest earnings and changes in the market value of the security. The market value of a corporate debt obligation may be expected to rise and fall inversely with interest rates generally. In addition to interest rate risk, corporate debt securities also involve the risk that the issuers of the securities may not be able to meet their obligations on interest or principal payments at the time called for by an instrument. The rate of return or return of principal on some debt obligations may be linked or indexed to the level of exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and a foreign currency or currencies.

 

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Time Deposits. Time deposits in banks or S&Ls are generally similar to certificates of deposit, but are uncertificated.

(5) Commercial Paper

Commercial paper refers to promissory notes that represent an unsecured debt of a corporation or finance company. They have a maturity of up to nine (9) months. Eurodollar commercial paper refers to promissory notes payable in U.S. dollars by European issuers.

(6) Commodities Exposure

Certain Funds may obtain exposure to commodities indirectly by investing in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that invest in securities of companies engaged in the production and distribution of commodities and commodity-related products, exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”) that are linked to the returns of one or more commodity indices that reflect the potential return on leveraged and unleveraged investments in futures contracts of physical commodities, plus interest that could be earned on cash collateral, and minus the issuer’s fee (see “Exchange-Traded Notes” below), and such other instruments as deemed appropriate from time to time. A Fund may be exposed to a wide variety of commodity sectors, including, without limitation, agriculture, livestock, base/industrial metals, oil, energy and precious metals.

Exposure to commodities may result in losses for a Fund. Commodity prices, and the value of stocks of companies exposed to commodities, can be extremely volatile and are affected by a wide range of factors, including market movements, supply and demand imbalances, inflationary trends or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs and international economic, political and regulatory developments. The energy sector can be significantly affected by changes in the prices and supplies of oil and other energy fuels, energy conservation, the success of exploration projects, and tax and other government regulations, policies of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (“OPEC”) and relationships among OPEC members and between OPEC and oil importing nations. The metals sector can be affected by sharp price volatility over short periods caused by global economic, financial and political factors, resource availability, government regulation, economic cycles, changes in inflation or expectations about inflation in various countries, interest rates, currency fluctuations, metal sales by governments, central banks or international agencies, investment speculation and fluctuations in industrial and commercial supply and demand. Increased demand for commodities by emerging market countries may result in shortages and cause prices to rise, potentially resulting in speculative investments in commodities. In addition, with respect to a Fund’s exposure to commodities indirectly through companies in the commodities sector and ETNs, there are additional risks to the Fund as there is no guarantee that those companies’ investments and business strategies relating to commodities will be successful, and the value of the Fund’s investments in ETFs or other instruments exposed to companies in the commodities sector, and the value of the companies themselves, may fluctuate more than the value of the relevant underlying commodity or commodities or commodity index.

See “Exchange-Traded Notes” below for specific risks relating to a Fund’s investments in exchange-traded notes that are linked to the returns of one or more commodity indices.

(7) Contingent Convertible Securities

Contingent convertible securities (“CoCos”) are hybrid bonds typically issued by banks. When the issuer’s capital ratio falls below a specified trigger level, or in a regulator’s discretion depending on the regulator’s judgment about the issuer’s solvency prospects, a CoCo may be written down, written off or converted into an equity security. Due to the contingent write-down, write-off and conversion feature,

 

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CoCos may have substantially greater risk than other securities in times of financial stress. If the trigger level is breached, the issuer’s decision to write down, write off or convert a CoCo may be outside a Fund’s control. Any such action could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s returns, and the Fund may suffer a complete loss on an investment in CoCos with no chance of recovery even if the issuer remains in existence.

(8) Corporate and Other Debt Securities

Certain Funds, subject to their applicable investment policies, may invest in corporate debt securities issued by U.S. and foreign companies, banks and other corporate entities.

Corporate debt securities include bills, notes, debentures, money market instruments and similar instruments and securities, and are generally used by corporations and other issuers to borrow money from investors for such purposes as working capital or capital expenditures. The issuer pays the investor a variable or fixed rate of interest and normally must repay the amount borrowed on or before maturity. The investment return of corporate debt securities reflects interest earnings and changes in the market value of the security. The market value of a corporate debt obligation may be expected to rise and fall inversely with interest rates generally. In addition to interest rate risk, corporate debt securities also involve the risk that the issuers of the securities may not be able to meet their obligations on interest or principal payments at the time called for by an instrument. The rate of return or return of principal on some debt obligations may be linked or indexed to the level of exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and a foreign currency or currencies.

(9) Derivative Instruments

The following describes certain derivative instruments and products in which certain Funds may invest and risks associated therewith. The use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. Derivatives are subject to a number of risks, such as liquidity risk, correlation risk, market risk, credit risk, leveraging risk, counterparty risk, tax risk and management risk, as well as risks arising from changes in applicable requirements.

A Fund might not employ any of the strategies described below or be permitted by applicable law to do so, and no assurance can be given that any strategy used will succeed. Also, suitable derivative and/or hedging transactions may not be available in all circumstances and there can be no assurance that a Fund will be able to identify or employ a desirable derivative and/or hedging transaction at any time or from time to time or that any such transactions will be successful.

Futures Contracts and Options on Futures Contracts. To the extent permitted by applicable law or regulation, a Fund may purchase and sell futures contracts, including futures contracts on global equity and fixed-income securities, interest rate futures contracts, foreign currency futures contracts and futures contracts on security indices (including broad-based security indices), for any purpose. A Fund may invest in foreign currency futures contracts and options thereon (“options on futures”) that are traded on a U.S. or foreign exchange, board of trade, or similar entity, or quoted on an automated quotation system as an adjunct to their securities activities. A Fund may purchase and sell futures contracts on various securities indices (“Index Futures”), including indices of U.S. government securities, foreign government securities, equity securities or fixed-income securities, and related options. Through the use of Index Futures and related options, a Fund may create economic exposure in its portfolio to long and short positions in the global (U.S. and non-U.S.) equity, bond and currency markets without incurring the substantial brokerage costs which may be associated with investment in the securities of multiple issuers. A Fund may enter into futures contracts for the purchase or sale of fixed-income securities, equity securities or foreign currencies, and may also use options on securities or currency futures contracts.

 

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A futures contract provides for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified quantity of a financial instrument, foreign currency or the cash value of an index at a specified price and time. An Index Future is an agreement pursuant to which two parties agree to take or make delivery of an amount of cash equal to the difference between the value of a securities index (“Index”) at the close of the last trading day of the contract and the price at which the index contract was originally written. Although the value of an Index might be a function of the value of certain specified securities, no physical delivery of these securities is made. A unit is the value of the relevant Index from time to time. Entering into a contract to buy units is commonly referred to as buying or purchasing a contract or holding a long position in an Index. Index Futures contracts can be traded through major commodity brokers. As described below, a Fund will be required to segregate initial margin in the name of the futures broker upon entering into an Index Future. Variation margin will be paid to and received from the broker on a daily basis as the contracts are marked to market, as a settlement between the Fund and the broker of the amount one would owe the other if the futures contract expired. For example, when a Fund has purchased an Index Future and the price of the relevant Index has risen, that position will have increased in value and a Fund will receive from the broker a variation margin payment equal to that increase in value. Conversely, when a Fund has purchased an Index Future and the price of the relevant Index has declined, the position would be less valuable and a Fund would be required to make a variation margin payment to the broker.

A Fund will ordinarily be able to close open positions on the futures exchanges on which Index Futures are traded at any time up to and including the expiration day. All positions which remain open at the close of the last business day of the contract’s life are required to settle on the next business day (based upon the value of the relevant Index on the expiration day), with settlement made with the appropriate clearing house. However, there can be no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for any particular futures contract at any specific time. Thus, it may not be possible to close a futures position, and the Fund would be obligated to meet margin requirements (as discussed below) until the position is closed. Additional or different margin requirements as well as settlement procedures may be applicable to foreign stock Index Futures at the time a Fund purchases such instruments. Positions in Index Futures may be closed out by a Fund only on the futures exchanges upon which the Index Futures are then traded.

The following example illustrates generally the manner in which Index Futures operate. The S&P 100 Index is composed of 100 selected common stocks, most of which are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). The S&P 100 Index assigns relative weightings to the common stocks included in the Index, and the Index fluctuates with changes in the market values of those common stocks. In the case of the S&P 100 Index, contracts are to buy or sell 100 units. Thus, if the value of the S&P 100 Index were $180, one contract would be worth $18,000 (100 units x $180). The Index Future specifies that no delivery of the actual stocks making up the Index will take place. Instead, settlement in cash must occur upon the termination of the contract, with the settlement being the difference between the contract price and the actual level of the Index at the expiration of the contract. For example, if a Fund enters into a futures contract to buy 100 units of the S&P 100 Index at a specified future date at a contract price of $180 and the S&P 100 Index value is $184 on that future date, the Fund will gain $400 (100 units x gain of $4). If a Fund enters into a futures contract to sell 100 units of the Index at a specified future date at a contract price of $180 and the S&P 100 Index value is $182 on that future date, the Fund will lose $200 (100 units x loss of $2). Any transaction costs must also be included in these calculations.

A public market exists in futures contracts covering a number of Indices as well as financial instruments and foreign currencies, including but not limited to: the S&P 500; the S&P Midcap 400; the Nikkei 225; the NYSE Composite; U.S. Treasury bonds; U.S. Treasury notes; Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”) Certificates; three-month U.S. Treasury bills; 90-day commercial paper; bank certificates of deposit; Eurodollar certificates of deposit; the Australian dollar; the Canadian dollar; the British pound; the Japanese yen; the Swiss franc; the Mexican peso; and certain multinational currencies, such as the euro. It is expected that other futures contracts in which a Fund may invest will be developed and traded in the future.

 

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A Fund may purchase and write call and put options on futures. Options on futures possess many of the same characteristics as options on securities and indices (discussed below). An option on a futures contract gives the holder the right, in return for the premium paid, to assume a long position (call) or short position (put) in a futures contract at a specified exercise price and time(s) during the period of the option. Upon exercise of a call option, the holder acquires a long position in the futures contract and the writer is assigned the opposite short position. In the case of a put option, the holder acquires a short position and the writer is assigned the opposite long position. A call option is “in the money” if the value of the futures contract that is the subject of the option exceeds the exercise price. A put option is “in the money” if the exercise price exceeds the value of the futures contract that is the subject of the option.

When a Fund purchases or sells a futures contract, the Fund is required to deposit with its futures commission merchant an amount of margin set by the clearing house on which the contract is cleared and the Fund’s futures commission merchant. This amount may be modified by the exchange or the futures commission merchant during the term of the contract. Margin requirements on foreign exchanges may be different than U.S. exchanges. The initial margin is in the nature of a performance bond or good faith deposit on the futures contract which is returned to the Fund upon termination of the contract, assuming all contractual obligations have been satisfied. A Fund may earn interest income on its initial margin deposits. A futures contract held by a Fund is valued daily at the official settlement price of the exchange on which it is traded. Each day a Fund pays or receives cash, called “variation margin,” equal to the daily change in value of the futures contract. This process is known as “marking to market” and is generally considered a settlement between the Fund and the exchange of the amount one would owe the other if the futures contract expired. If a Fund has insufficient cash to meet daily variation margin requirements, it might need to sell securities at a time when such sales are disadvantageous. In computing daily NAV, a Fund will mark to market its open futures positions.

A Fund is also required to deposit and maintain margin with respect to put and call options on futures contracts written by it. Such margin deposits will vary depending on the nature of the underlying futures contract (and the related initial margin requirements), the current market value of the option, and other futures positions held by a Fund.

Although some futures contracts call for making or taking delivery of the underlying securities, generally these obligations are closed out prior to delivery by offsetting purchases or sales of matching futures contracts (i.e., with the same exchange, underlying security or index, and delivery month). If an offsetting purchase price is less than the original sale price, a Fund realizes a capital gain, or if it is more, the Fund realizes a capital loss. Conversely, if an offsetting sale price is more than the original purchase price, a Fund realizes a capital gain, or if it is less, the Fund realizes a capital loss. Any transaction costs must also be included in these calculations. Positions in futures and options on futures may be closed only on an exchange or board of trade that provides a secondary market. However, there can be no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for a particular contract at a particular time. In such event, it may not be possible to close a futures contract or options position, and the Fund would be obligated to meet margin requirements until the position is closed. The inability to close options and futures positions also could have an adverse impact on a Fund’s ability to effectively hedge.

Interest Rate Futures Contracts. An interest rate futures contract is an obligation traded on an exchange or board of trade that requires the purchaser to accept delivery, and the seller to make delivery, of a specified quantity of the underlying financial instrument, such as U.S. Treasury bills and bonds, in a stated delivery month at a price fixed in the contract. Interest rate futures contracts may be purchased on debt securities such as U.S. Treasury bills and bonds, Eurodollar instruments, U.S. Treasury Notes and interest rate swaps.

 

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Certain Funds may purchase and sell interest rate futures as a hedge against changes in interest rates that would adversely impact the value of debt instruments and other interest rate sensitive securities being held or to be purchased by a Fund. A Fund might employ a hedging strategy whereby it would purchase an interest rate futures contract when it intends to invest in long-term debt securities but wishes to defer their purchase until it can orderly invest in such securities or because short-term yields are higher than long-term yields. Such a purchase would be intended to enable the Fund to earn the income on a short-term security while at the same time minimizing the effect of all or part of an increase in the market price of the long-term debt security which the Fund intends to purchase in the future. A rise in the price of the long-term debt security prior to its purchase either would be offset by an increase in the value of the futures contract purchased by the Fund or avoided by taking delivery of the debt securities under the futures contract.

A Fund may sell an interest rate futures contract in order to continue to receive the income from a long-term debt security, while endeavoring to avoid part or all of the decline in market value of that security which would accompany an increase in interest rates. If interest rates rise, a decline in the value of the debt security held by the Fund would be substantially offset by the ability of the Fund to repurchase at a lower price the interest rate futures contract previously sold. While the Fund could sell the long-term debt security and invest in a short-term security, this would ordinarily cause the Fund to give up income on its investment since long-term rates normally exceed short-term rates.

Limitations on Use of Futures and Options on Futures. A Fund may only enter into futures contracts or options on futures which are standardized and traded on a U.S. or foreign exchange, board of trade, or similar entity, or quoted on an automated quotation system, or in the case of options on futures, for which an established over-the-counter (“OTC”) option market exists. A Fund may utilize futures contracts and related options for any purpose, including for investment purposes and for “bona fide hedging” purposes (as such term is defined in applicable regulations of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”)), for example, to hedge against changes in interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates or securities prices. For instance, a Fund may invest to a significant degree in Index Futures on stock indices and related options (including those which may trade outside of the United States) as an alternative to purchasing individual stocks in order to adjust their exposure to a particular market.

        

Risks Associated with Futures and Options on Futures. There are several risks associated with the use of futures contracts and options on futures as hedging techniques. A purchase or sale of a futures contract may result in losses in excess of the amount invested in the futures contract. Some of the risk may be caused by an imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the futures contract and the price of the security or other investment being hedged. The hedge will not be fully effective where there is such imperfect correlation. Also, an incorrect correlation could result in a loss on both the hedged securities in a Fund and the hedging vehicle, so that the portfolio return might have been greater had hedging not been attempted. For example, if the price of the futures contract moves more than the price of the hedged security, a Fund would experience either a loss or gain on the future which is not completely offset by movements in the price of the hedged securities. In addition, there are significant differences between the securities and futures markets that could result in an imperfect correlation between the markets, causing a given hedge not to achieve its objectives. The degree of imperfection of correlation depends on circumstances such as variations in speculative market demand for futures and options on futures on securities, including technical influences in futures trading and options on futures, and differences between the financial instruments being hedged and the instruments underlying the standard contracts available for trading in such respects as interest rate levels, maturities, and

 

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creditworthiness of issuers. To compensate for imperfect correlations, a Fund may purchase or sell futures contracts in a greater dollar amount than the hedged securities if the volatility of the hedged securities is historically greater than the volatility of the futures contracts. Conversely, a Fund may purchase or sell fewer contracts if the volatility of the price of the hedged securities is historically less than that of the futures contracts. The risk of imperfect correlation generally tends to diminish as the maturity date of the futures contract approaches. A decision as to whether, when and how to hedge involves the exercise of skill and judgment, and even a well-conceived hedge may be unsuccessful to some degree because of market behavior or unexpected interest rate trends. Also, suitable hedging transactions may not be available in all circumstances.

Additionally, the price of Index Futures may not correlate perfectly with movement in the relevant index due to certain market distortions. First, all participants in the futures market are subject to margin deposit and maintenance requirements. Rather than meeting additional margin deposit requirements, investors may close futures contracts through offsetting transactions which could distort the normal relationship between the index and futures markets. Second, the deposit requirements in the futures market are less onerous than margin requirements in the securities market, and as a result, the futures market may attract more speculators than does the securities market. Increased participation by speculators in the futures market may also cause temporary price distortions. In addition, trading hours for foreign stock Index Futures may not correspond perfectly to hours of trading on the foreign exchange to which a particular foreign stock Index Future relates. This may result in a disparity between the price of Index Futures and the value of the relevant index due to the lack of continuous arbitrage between the Index Futures price and the value of the underlying index.

Futures exchanges may limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in certain futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount that the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of the current trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a futures contract subject to the limit, no more trades may be made on that day at a price beyond that limit. The daily limit governs only price movements during a particular trading day and therefore does not limit potential losses because the limit may work to prevent the liquidation of unfavorable positions. For example, futures prices have occasionally moved to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of positions and subjecting some holders of futures contracts to substantial losses.

There can be no assurance that a liquid market will exist at a time when a Fund seeks to close out a futures or a futures option position. If a Fund were unable to liquidate a futures contract or an option on a futures position due to the absence of a liquid secondary market, the imposition of price limits or otherwise, it could incur substantial losses. A Fund would continue to be subject to market risk with respect to the position. Also, except in the case of purchased options, a Fund would continue to be required to make daily variation margin payments and might be required to maintain a position being hedged by the future or option or to maintain cash or securities in a segregated account. In addition, many of the contracts discussed above are relatively new instruments without a significant trading history. As a result, there can be no assurance that an active secondary market will develop or continue to exist. In addition, a Fund’s futures broker may limit a Fund’s ability to invest in certain futures contracts. Such restrictions may adversely affect a Fund’s performance and its ability to achieve its investment objective.

Utilization of futures transactions by a Fund involves the risk of loss by a Fund of margin deposits in the event of bankruptcy of a broker or clearing house with whom a Fund has an open position in a futures contract or related option. See “Derivatives Counterparty Risk” and “Risks of Government Regulation of Derivatives” below.

 

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Forward Currency Contracts. A Fund may enter into forward currency contracts for any purpose, including to attempt to hedge currency exposure or to enhance return. A forward currency contract is an obligation to purchase or sell a currency against another currency at a future date and price as agreed-upon by the parties. A Fund may either accept or make delivery of the currency at the maturity of the forward contract or, prior to maturity, enter into a closing transaction involving the purchase or sale of an offsetting contract. Secondary markets generally do not exist for forward currency contracts, with the result that closing transactions generally can be made for forward currency contracts only by negotiating directly with the counterparty. Thus, there can be no assurance that a Fund will be able to close out a forward currency contract at a favorable price prior to maturity.

A Fund may engage in forward currency transactions in anticipation of, or to attempt to protect itself against, fluctuations in exchange rates. A Fund might sell a particular currency forward, for example, when it wanted to hold bonds denominated in that currency but anticipated, and sought to be protected against, a decline in the currency against the U.S. dollar. Similarly, a Fund might purchase a currency forward to “lock in” the dollar price of securities denominated in that currency which it anticipated purchasing. See “Risks of Government Regulation of Derivatives” below.

Forward currency contracts are not traded on regulated exchanges. When a Fund enters into a forward currency contract, it incurs the risk of default by the counterparty to the transaction. See “Derivatives Counterparty Risk” below.

Options. A Fund may purchase and sell both put options and call options on a variety of underlying securities and instruments, including, but not limited to, specific securities, securities indices, futures contracts and foreign currencies. A call option gives the purchaser the right to buy, and obligates the writer to sell, the underlying security or instrument at the agreed-upon price during the option period. A put option gives the purchaser the right to sell, and obligates the writer to buy, the underlying security or instrument at the agreed-upon price during the option period. Purchasers of options pay an amount, known as a premium, to the option writer in exchange for the right under the option contract.

A Fund can use both European-style and American-style options. A European-style option is only exercisable at a specified time and date. This is in contrast to American-style options, which are exercisable at any time prior to the expiration date of the option.

A Fund may purchase call options for any purpose. For example, a call option may be purchased by a Fund as a long hedge. Call options also may be used as a means of participating in an anticipated price increase of a security or instrument on a more limited risk basis than would be possible if the security or instrument itself were purchased. In the event of a decline in the price of the underlying security or instrument, use of this strategy would serve to limit a Fund’s potential loss to the option premium paid; conversely, if the market price of the underlying security or instrument increases above the exercise price and the Fund either sells or exercises the option, any profit realized would be reduced by the premium. Any transaction costs must also be included in these calculations.

A Fund may purchase put options for any purpose. For example, a put option may be purchased by a Fund as a short hedge. The put option enables a Fund to sell the underlying security or instrument at the predetermined exercise price; thus the potential for loss to a Fund below the exercise price is limited to the option premium paid. If the market price of the underlying security or instrument is lower than the exercise price of the put option, any profit a Fund realizes on the sale of the security or instrument would be reduced by the premium paid for the put option less any amount for which the put option may be sold.

A Fund may write call or put options for any purpose. For example, writing put or call options can enable a Fund to enhance income or yield by reason of the premiums paid by the purchasers of such options. However, a Fund may also suffer a loss as a result of writing options. For example, if the market price of the security or instrument underlying a put option declines to less than the exercise price of the option, minus the premium received, a Fund would suffer a loss.

 

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Writing call options can serve as a limited short hedge, because declines in the value of the hedged security or instrument would be offset to the extent of the premium received for writing the option. However, when securities prices increase, a Fund is exposed to an increased risk of loss, because if the price of the underlying security or instrument exceeds the option’s exercise price, the Fund will suffer a loss equal to the amount by which the market price exceeds the exercise price at the time the call option is exercised, minus the premium received. If the call option is an OTC option, any securities or other assets used as cover may be considered illiquid.

Writing put options can serve as a limited long hedge because declines in the value of the hedged investment would be offset to the extent of the premium received for writing the option. However, if the underlying security or instrument depreciates to a price lower than the exercise price of the put option, it can be expected that the put option will be exercised and a Fund will be obligated to purchase the underlying security or instrument at more than its market value. If the put option is an OTC option, any securities or other assets used as cover may be considered illiquid.

The value of an option position will be affected by, among other things, the current market value of the underlying security or instrument, the time remaining until expiration, the relationship of the exercise price to the market price of the underlying security or instrument, the historical price volatility of the underlying security or instrument and general market conditions.

A Fund may effectively terminate its right or obligation under an option by entering into a closing transaction. For example, a Fund may terminate its obligation under a call or put option that it had written by purchasing an identical call or put option; this is known as a closing purchase transaction. Conversely, a Fund may terminate a position in a put or call option it had purchased by writing an identical put or call option; this is known as a closing sale transaction. Closing transactions permit a Fund to realize profits or limit losses on an option position prior to its exercise or expiration.

Risks of Options. Options offer large amounts of leverage, which will result in a Fund’s NAV being more sensitive to changes in the value of the related instrument. A Fund may purchase or write both exchange-traded and OTC options. Exchange-traded options in the United States are issued by a clearing organization affiliated with the exchange on which the option is listed that, in effect, guarantees completion of every exchange-traded option transaction. In contrast, OTC options are contracts between a Fund and its counterparty (usually a securities dealer or a bank) with no clearing organization guarantee. Thus, when a Fund purchases an OTC option, it relies on the counterparty from whom it purchased the option to make or take delivery of the underlying investment upon exercise of the option. Failure by the counterparty to do so would result in the loss of any premium paid by a Fund as well as the loss of any expected benefit of the transaction.

A Fund’s ability to establish and close out positions in exchange-listed options depends on the existence of a liquid market. However, there can be no assurance that such a market will exist at any particular time. Closing transactions can be made for OTC options only by negotiating directly with the counterparty, or by a transaction in the secondary market if any such market exists. There can be no assurance that a Fund will in fact be able to close out an OTC option position at a favorable price prior to expiration. In the event of insolvency of the counterparty, a Fund might be unable to close out an OTC option position at any time prior to its expiration, if at all.

If a Fund were unable to effect a closing transaction for an option it had purchased, due to the absence of a counterparty or secondary market, the imposition of price limits or otherwise, it would have to exercise the option to realize any profit. The inability to enter into a closing purchase transaction for a covered call option written by a Fund could cause material losses because the Fund would be unable to sell the investment used as cover for the written option until the option expires or is exercised.

 

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Options have varying expiration dates. The exercise price of the options may be below, equal to or above the current market value of the underlying security or instrument. Options purchased by a Fund that expire unexercised have no value, and the Fund will realize a loss in the amount of the premium paid and any transaction costs. If an option written by a Fund expires unexercised, the Fund realizes a gain equal to the premium received at the time the option was written. Transaction costs must be included in these calculations.

Additional risks related to options are discussed below (“Risks of Government Regulation of Derivatives,” “Risks Related to OTC Options” and “Derivatives Counterparty Risk”).

Options on Indices. To the extent permitted by applicable law or regulation, the Funds may invest in options on indices, including broad-based security indices. Puts and calls on indices are similar to puts and calls on other investments except that all settlements are in cash and gain or loss depends on changes in the index in question rather than on price movements in individual securities, futures contracts or other investments. When a Fund writes a call on an index, it receives a premium and agrees that, prior to the expiration date, the purchaser of the call, upon exercise of the call, will receive from the Fund an amount of cash if the closing level of the index upon which the call is based is greater than the exercise price of the call. The amount of cash is equal to the difference between the closing price of the index and the exercise price of the call times a specified multiple (“multiplier”), which determines the total dollar value for each point of such difference. When a Fund buys a call on an index, it pays a premium and has the same rights as to such call as are indicated above. When a Fund buys a put on an index, it pays a premium and has the right, prior to the expiration date, to require the seller of the put, upon the Fund’s exercise of the put, to deliver to the Fund an amount of cash if the closing level of the index upon which the put is based is less than the exercise price of the put, which amount of cash is determined by the multiplier, as described above for calls. When a Fund writes a put on an index, it receives a premium and the purchaser of the put has the right, prior to the expiration date, to require the Fund to deliver to it an amount of cash equal to the difference between the closing level of the index and exercise price times the multiplier if the closing level is less than the exercise price.

Risks of Options on Indices. The risks of investments in options on indices may be greater than options on securities, futures contracts or other investments. Because index options are settled in cash, when a Fund writes a call on an index it cannot provide in advance for its potential settlement obligations by acquiring and holding the underlying index. A Fund can offset some of the risk of writing a call index option by holding a diversified portfolio of securities or instruments similar to those on which the underlying index is based. However, a Fund cannot, as a practical matter, acquire and hold a portfolio containing exactly the same securities or instruments as those that underlie the index and, as a result, the Fund bears a risk that the value of the securities or instruments held will vary from the value of the index.

Even if a Fund could assemble a portfolio that exactly reproduced the composition of the underlying index, it still would not be fully covered from a risk standpoint because of the “timing risk” inherent in writing index options. When an index option is exercised, the amount of cash that the holder is entitled to receive is determined by the difference between the exercise price and the closing index level on the date when the option is exercised. As with other kinds of options, a Fund as the call writer will not learn of the assignment until the next business day at the earliest. The time lag between exercise and notice of assignment poses no risk for the writer of a covered call on a specific underlying security or instrument, such as common stock, because there the writer’s obligation is to deliver the underlying security or instrument, not to pay its value as of a fixed time in the past. So long as the writer already owns the underlying security or instrument, it can satisfy its settlement obligations by simply delivering

 

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it, and the risk that its value may have declined since the exercise date is borne by the exercising holder. In contrast, even if the writer of an index call holds investments that exactly match the composition of the underlying index, it will not be able to satisfy its assignment obligations by delivering those investments against payment of the exercise price. Instead, it will be required to pay cash in an amount based on the closing index value on the exercise date. By the time it learns that it has been assigned, the index may have declined, with a corresponding decline in the value of its portfolio. This “timing risk” is an inherent limitation on the ability of index call writers to cover their risk exposure by holding security or instrument positions.

If a Fund has purchased an index option and exercises it before the closing index value for that day is available, it runs the risk that the level of the underlying index may subsequently change. If such a change causes the exercised option to fall out-of-the-money, the Fund will be required to pay the difference between the closing index value and the exercise price of the option (times the applicable multiplier) to the assigned writer.

Risks Related to OTC Options. Unlike exchange-traded options, which are standardized with respect to the underlying instrument, expiration date, contract size, and strike price, the terms of OTC options (options not traded on exchanges) generally are established through negotiation with the other party to the option contract. While this type of arrangement allows a Fund great flexibility to tailor the option to its needs, OTC options generally involve greater risk than exchange-traded options, which are guaranteed by the clearing organization of the exchanges where they are traded. In addition, OTC options are generally considered illiquid by the SEC.

Foreign Currency Options. A Fund may use currency options, for example, to cross-hedge or to increase total return when the Subadviser anticipates that the currency will appreciate or depreciate in value. A Fund may additionally buy or sell put and call options on foreign currencies as a hedge against changes in the value of the U.S. dollar (or another currency) in relation to a foreign currency in which the Fund’s securities may be denominated. A put option on a foreign currency gives the purchaser of the option the right to sell a foreign currency at the exercise price until the option expires. A call option on a foreign currency gives the purchaser of the option the right to purchase the currency at the exercise price until the option expires. A Fund might purchase a currency put option, for example, to attempt to protect itself during the contract period against a decline in the dollar value of a currency in which it holds or anticipates holding securities. If the currency’s value should decline against the dollar, the loss in currency value should be offset, in whole or in part, by an increase in the value of the put. If the value of the currency instead should rise against the dollar, any gain to a Fund would be reduced by the premium paid for the put option. Any transaction costs must also be included in these calculations. A currency call option might be purchased, for example, in anticipation of, or to attempt to protect against, a rise in the value against the dollar of a currency in which the Fund anticipates purchasing securities.

A Fund may buy or sell put and call options on foreign currencies either on exchanges or in the OTC market. Currency options traded on U.S. or other exchanges may be subject to position limits which may limit the ability of a Fund to reduce foreign currency risk using such options. Listed options are third party contracts (i.e., performance of the obligations of the purchaser and seller is guaranteed by the exchange or clearing corporation), and have standardized strike prices and expiration dates. OTC options differ from listed options in that they are bilateral contracts with strike prices, expiration dates and other terms negotiated between buyer and seller, and generally do not have as much market liquidity as exchange-traded options. Under definitions adopted by the CFTC and SEC, many foreign currency options are considered swaps for certain purposes, including determination of whether such instruments need to be exchange-traded and centrally cleared, as discussed further in “Risks of Government Regulation of Derivatives” below.

 

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Additional Risks of Futures Contracts, Options on Futures Contracts, Options on Securities and Forward Currency Exchange Contracts and Options thereon. Options on securities, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, and options on currencies may be traded on foreign exchanges. Such transactions may not be regulated as effectively as similar transactions in the United States, may not involve a clearing mechanism and related guarantees and are subject to the risk of governmental actions affecting trading in, or the prices of, foreign securities. Some foreign exchanges may be principal markets so that no common clearing facility exists and a Fund may look only to the broker with whom a position is held for performance of the contract. The value of such positions also could be adversely affected by (i) other complex foreign political, legal and economic factors, (ii) lesser availability than in the United States of data on which to make trading decisions, (iii) delays in a Fund’s ability to act upon economic events occurring in foreign markets during non-business hours in the United States, (iv) the imposition of different exercise and settlement terms and procedures and margin requirements than in the United States and (v) lesser trading volume. In addition, unless a Fund hedges against fluctuations in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which trading is done on foreign exchanges, any profits that the Fund might realize in trading could be eliminated by adverse changes in the exchange rate, or the Fund could incur losses as a result of those changes.

The value of some derivative instruments in which a Fund may invest may be particularly sensitive to changes in prevailing interest rates, and, like the other investments of a Fund, the ability of a Fund to successfully utilize these instruments may depend in part upon the ability of the Subadviser to forecast interest rates and other economic factors correctly. If the Subadviser incorrectly forecasts such factors and has taken positions in derivative instruments contrary to prevailing market trends, a Fund could be exposed to risk of loss. In addition, a Fund’s use of such instruments may cause a Fund to realize higher amounts of short-term capital gains (generally taxed to shareholders at ordinary income tax rates) than if the Fund had not used such instruments.

Certain of a Fund’s investments in derivative instruments may produce a difference between its book income and its taxable income. If such a difference arises, and a Fund’s book income is less than its taxable income, the Fund could be required to make distributions exceeding book income to qualify as a regulated investment company that is accorded special tax treatment and to avoid an entity-level tax. A Fund may be required to accrue and distribute imputed income from certain derivative investments on a current basis, even though the Fund does not receive the income currently. A Fund may have to sell other investments to obtain cash needed to make income distributions, which may reduce the Fund’s assets, increase its expense ratio and decrease its rate of return. For U.S. federal income tax information regarding derivative instruments, see “Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Matters” below.

Swap Agreements. To the extent permitted by applicable law or regulation, a Fund may engage in swap transactions, including, but not limited to swap transactions on interest rates, security indices (including broad-based security indices), specific securities and currency exchange rates.

A Fund may enter into swap transactions for any legal purpose consistent with its investment objective(s) and policies, such as attempting to obtain or preserve a particular return or spread at a lower cost than obtaining a return or spread through purchases and/or sales of instruments in other markets, to protect against currency fluctuations, as a duration management technique, to protect against any increase in the price of securities a Fund anticipates purchasing at a later date, or to gain exposure to certain markets in a more cost-efficient manner.

 

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Swap agreements include two-party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors for periods ranging from a few weeks to a number of years. Swap agreements are individually negotiated and structured to include exposure to a variety of types of investments or market factors. In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined investments or instruments, which may be adjusted for an interest factor. The gross returns to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties are calculated with respect to a “notional amount,” such as the return on or increase in value of a particular dollar amount invested at a particular interest rate, or in a “basket” of securities representing a particular index. The “notional amount” of a swap transaction is the agreed upon basis for calculating the payments that the parties have agreed to exchange.

Most swap agreements entered into by the Funds calculate the obligations of the parties to the agreement on a “net basis.” Consequently, a Fund’s current obligations (or rights) under a swap agreement will generally be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement based on the relative values of the positions held by each party to the agreement (the “net amount”). A Fund will not enter into a swap agreement with any single party that is engaged in a securities related business if the net amount owed or to be received under existing contracts with that party, along with investments in other securities issued by such counterparty, would exceed 5% of the Fund’s assets.

Whether a Fund’s use of swap agreements will be successful in furthering its investment objective(s) will depend on many factors, including the Subadviser’s ability to predict correctly whether certain types of investments are likely to produce greater returns than other investments. Certain restrictions imposed on the Funds by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), may limit the Funds’ ability to use swap agreements.

Because swap agreements are two-party contracts that may be subject to contractual restrictions on transferability and termination and because they may have terms of greater than seven calendar days, swap agreements may be considered to be illiquid. If a swap is not liquid, it may not be possible to initiate a transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses, and a Fund’s obligation under such agreement, together with other illiquid assets and securities, will not exceed 15% of a Fund’s net assets.

Moreover, a Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. A Fund will enter into swap agreements only with counterparties that meet certain standards of creditworthiness. Transactions in some types of swaps (including certain interest rate swaps and credit default swaps) are required to be centrally cleared and a Fund may also elect to choose other transactions that are available for clearing. In a transaction involving those swaps, a Fund’s counterparty is a clearing house rather than the original counterparty to the derivatives transaction (i.e., a bank or broker), so the Fund is subject to the credit risk of the clearing house and the member of the clearing house (“clearing member”) through which it holds its cleared position, rather than the credit risk of its original counterparty to the derivative transaction. See also “Derivatives Counterparty Risk” and “Risks of Government Regulation of Derivatives” below.

Many OTC derivatives are complex and their valuation often requires modeling and judgment, which increases the risk of mispricing or incorrect valuation. The pricing models used may not produce valuations that are consistent with the values a Fund realizes when it closes or sells an OTC derivative. Valuation risk is more pronounced when a Fund enters into OTC derivatives with specialized terms because the market value of those derivatives in some cases is determined in part by reference to similar derivatives with more standardized terms. Incorrect valuations may result in increased cash payment requirements to counterparties, undercollateralization and/or errors in calculation of a Fund’s NAV.

A Fund may enter into interest rate and currency swap transactions and purchase or sell interest rate and currency caps and floors. A Fund will usually enter into interest rate swaps on a net basis (i.e. the two payment streams are netted out, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments).

 

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Derivatives Counterparty Risk. A Fund will be subject to credit risk with respect to the counterparties to derivative contracts. There can be no assurance that a counterparty will be able or willing to meet its obligations. Events that affect the ability of a Fund’s counterparties to comply with the terms of the derivative contracts may have an adverse effect on the Fund. If the counterparty defaults, the Fund will have contractual remedies, but there can be no assurance that the Fund will succeed in enforcing contractual remedies. Counterparty risk still exists even if a counterparty’s obligations are secured by collateral because a Fund’s interest in collateral may not be perfected or additional collateral may not be promptly posted as required. Counterparty risk also may be more pronounced if a counterparty’s obligations exceed the amount of collateral held by a Fund, if any, a Fund is unable to exercise its interest in collateral upon default by the counterparty, or the termination value of the instrument varies significantly from the marked-to-market value of the instrument. If a counterparty becomes insolvent, a Fund may experience significant delays in obtaining any recovery under the derivative contract in a bankruptcy or other reorganization proceeding or may obtain a limited or no recovery of amounts due to it under the derivative contract.

Transactions in certain types of derivatives including futures and options on futures as well as some types of swaps are required to be centrally cleared. In a transaction involving such derivatives, a Fund’s counterparty is a clearing house so the Fund is subject to the credit risk of the clearing house and the member of the clearing house (the “clearing member”) through which it holds its position. Credit risk of market participants with respect to such derivatives is concentrated in a few clearing houses, and it is not clear how an insolvency proceeding of a clearing house would be conducted and what impact an insolvency of a clearing house would have on the financial system. A clearing member is generally obligated to segregate all funds received from customers with respect to cleared derivatives transactions from the clearing member’s proprietary assets. However, all funds and other property received by a clearing broker from its customers are generally held by the clearing member on a commingled basis in an omnibus account, and the clearing member may invest those funds in certain instruments permitted under the applicable regulations. The assets of a Fund might not be fully protected in the event of the bankruptcy of the Fund’s clearing member, because the Fund would be limited to recovering only a pro rata share of all available funds segregated on behalf of the clearing broker’s customers for a relevant account class. In addition, if a clearing member does not comply with applicable regulations or its agreement with a Fund, or in the event of fraud or misappropriation of customer assets by a clearing member, the Fund could have only an unsecured creditor claim in an insolvency of the clearing member with respect to the margin held by the clearing member.

Risks of Government Regulation of Derivatives. It is possible that government regulation of various types of derivative instruments, including futures and swap agreements, may limit or prevent a Fund from using such instruments as a part of its investment strategy, and could ultimately prevent a Fund from being able to achieve its investment objective(s). Rules and regulations could, among other things, restrict a Fund’s ability to engage in, or increase the cost to a Fund of derivatives transactions, for example, by making some types of derivatives no longer available to the Fund, increasing margin or capital requirements, or otherwise limiting liquidity or increasing transaction costs. It is impossible to predict fully the effects of legislation and regulation in this area, but the effects could be substantial and adverse.

The CFTC has adopted regulations that subject registered investment companies and their investment advisers to regulation by the CFTC if the registered investment company invests more than a prescribed level of its liquidation value in futures, options on futures or commodities, swaps, or other financial instruments regulated under the Commodity Exchange Act (“commodity interests”), or if a registered investment company markets itself as providing investment exposure to such instruments. As of the date of this SAI, the Funds are operated by a person, the Investment Manager, who has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act

 

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(the “CEA”) pursuant to Rule 4.5 thereunder (the “exclusion”) promulgated by the CFTC (with respect to the Funds). Accordingly, the Investment Manager (with respect to the Funds) is not subject to registration or regulation as a “commodity pool operator” under the CEA. To remain eligible for the exclusion, each of the Funds will be limited in its ability to use any commodity interests and in the manner in which it holds out its use of such commodity interests. In the event that a Fund’s investments in commodity interests are not within the thresholds set forth in the exclusion, the Investment Manager may be required to register as a “commodity pool operator” and/or “commodity trading advisor” with the CFTC with respect to that Fund. The Investment Manager’s eligibility to claim the exclusion with respect to a Fund will be based upon, among other things, the level and scope of a Fund’s investment in commodity interests, the purposes of such investments and the manner in which the Fund holds out its use of commodity interests. Each Fund’s ability to invest in commodity interests (including, but not limited to, futures and swaps on broad-based securities indexes and interest rates) is limited by the Investment Manager’s intention to operate the Fund in a manner that would permit the Investment Manager to continue to claim the exclusion under Rule 4.5, which may adversely affect the Fund’s total return. In the event the Investment Manager becomes unable to rely on the exclusion in Rule 4.5 and is required to register with the CFTC as a commodity pool operator with respect to a Fund, the Fund’s expenses may increase, adversely affecting the Fund’s total return.

The futures markets are subject to comprehensive statutes, regulations, and margin requirements. The CFTC and the exchanges are authorized to take extraordinary actions in the event of a market emergency, including, for example, the implementation of higher margin requirements, the establishment of daily price limits and the suspension of trading.

The CFTC and U.S. futures exchanges have established (and continue to evaluate and monitor) speculative position limits, referred to as “position limits,” on the maximum net long or net short positions which any person may hold or control in particular options and futures contracts. In addition, federal position limits apply to swaps that are economically equivalent to futures contracts that are subject to CFTC-set speculative limits. All positions owned or controlled by the same person or entity, even if in different accounts, must be aggregated for purposes of complying with speculative limits. Thus, even if a Fund does not intend to exceed applicable position limits, it is possible that positions of different clients managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates may be aggregated for this purpose. Although it is possible that the trading decisions of the Investment Manager (acting in its capacity as investment manager of a Fund) may have to be modified and that positions held by a Fund may have to be liquidated in order to avoid exceeding such limits, the Investment Manager (acting in its capacity as investment manager of a Fund) believes that this is unlikely. The modification of investment decisions or the elimination of open positions, if it occurs, may adversely affect the profitability of a Fund. A violation of position limits could also lead to regulatory action materially adverse to a Fund’s investment strategy.

The regulation of swaps and futures transactions in the U.S., the European Union (“EU”), the United Kingdom (the “UK”) and other jurisdictions is a rapidly changing area of law and is subject to modification by government and judicial action. Recent legislative and regulatory reforms, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), have resulted in new regulation of derivatives, including clearing, margin, reporting, recordkeeping and registration requirements for certain types of swaps contracts and other derivatives. Because these requirements are relatively new and evolving, and certain of the rules are not yet final, their ultimate impact remains unclear. Such regulations could, among other things, restrict a Fund’s ability to engage in swap transactions (for example, by making certain types of swap transactions no longer available to the Fund) and/or increase the costs of such swap transactions (for example, by increasing margin or capital requirements), and the Fund may as a result be unable to execute its investment strategies in a manner the Subadviser might otherwise choose. There is a possibility of future regulatory changes altering, perhaps to a material extent, the nature of an investment in a Fund or the ability of a Fund to continue to

 

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implement its investment strategies. Rules adopted under the Dodd-Frank Act require certain OTC derivatives, including certain interest rate swaps and certain credit default swaps (and potentially other types of OTC derivatives in the future), to be executed on a regulated market and cleared through a central counterparty, which may result in increased margin requirements and costs for the Funds. See “Additional Risk Factors in Cleared Derivatives Transactions” below. It is also unclear how the regulatory changes will affect counterparty risk.

Additionally, U.S. regulators, the EU, the UK, and certain other jurisdictions have adopted minimum margin and capital requirements for uncleared OTC derivatives transactions. These rules impose minimum margin requirements on derivatives transactions between a Fund and its swap counterparties. They impose regulatory requirements on the timing of transferring margin. The Funds are already subject to variation margin requirements under such rules and may in the future become subject to initial margin requirements under such rules. Such requirements could increase the amount of margin a Fund needs to provide in connection with uncleared derivatives transactions and, therefore, make such transactions more expensive.

Also, as noted above, in the event of a counterparty’s (or its affiliate’s) insolvency, a Fund’s ability to exercise remedies, such as the termination of transactions, netting of obligations and realization on collateral, could be stayed or eliminated. Relatively new special resolution regimes adopted in the United States, the EU, the UK and various other jurisdictions provide government authorities with broad authority to intervene when a financial institution is experiencing financial difficulty and may prohibit a Fund from exercising termination rights based on the financial institution’s insolvency. In particular, in the EU and the UK, governmental authorities could reduce, eliminate or convert to equity the liabilities to the Funds of a counterparty experiencing financial difficulties (sometimes referred to as a “bail in”).

Rule 18f-4 under the 1940 Act (“Rule 18f-4”) governs registered investment companies’ use of derivatives and certain financing transactions (e.g., reverse repurchase agreements). Among other things, Rule 18f-4 limits derivatives exposure through one of two value-at-risk tests, requires funds to adopt and implement a derivatives risk management program (including the appointment of a derivatives risk manager and the implementation of certain testing requirements), and subjects funds to certain reporting requirements in respect of derivatives. Limited derivatives users (as determined by Rule 18f-4) are not, however, subject to the full requirements under the rule. In connection with the adoption of Rule 18f-4, the SEC also eliminated the asset segregation framework for covering certain derivatives instruments and certain financing transactions arising from the SEC’s Release 10666 and ensuing staff guidance. Compliance with the new rule by the Funds could, among other things, make derivatives more costly, limit their availability or utility, or otherwise adversely affect their performance. The new rule may limit each Fund’s ability to use derivatives as part of its investment strategy.

Additional Risk Factors in Cleared Derivatives Transactions. Transactions in some types of swaps (including interest rate swaps and credit default swaps on North American and European indices) are required to be centrally cleared, and additional types of swaps may be required to be centrally cleared in the future. In a transaction involving those swaps (“cleared derivatives”), a Fund’s counterparty is a clearing house, rather than a bank or broker. Since the Funds are not members of clearing houses and only clearing members can participate directly in the clearing house, the Funds will hold cleared derivatives through accounts at clearing members. In cleared derivatives transactions, a Fund will make payments (including margin payments) to and receive payments from a clearing house through its accounts at clearing members. Clearing members guarantee performance of their clients’ obligations to the clearing house.

 

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In some ways, cleared derivative arrangements are less favorable to funds than bilateral arrangements. For example, a Fund may be required to provide more margin for cleared derivatives transactions than for bilateral derivatives transactions. Also, in contrast to a bilateral derivatives transaction, following a period of notice to a Fund, a clearing member generally can require termination of an existing cleared derivatives transaction at any time or an increase in margin requirements above the margin that the clearing member required at the beginning of a transaction. Clearing houses also have broad rights to increase margin requirements for existing transactions or to terminate those transactions at any time. Any increase in margin requirements or termination of existing cleared derivatives transactions by the clearing member or the clearing house could interfere with the ability of a Fund to pursue its investment strategy. Further, any increase in margin requirements by a clearing member could expose a Fund to greater credit risk to its clearing member, because margin for cleared derivatives transactions in excess of a clearing house’s margin requirements typically is held by the clearing member. Also, a Fund is subject to risk if it enters into a derivatives transaction that is required to be cleared (or that the Investment Manager or Subadviser expects to be cleared), and no clearing member is willing or able to clear the transaction on the Fund’s behalf. In those cases, the transaction might have to be terminated, and a Fund could lose some or all of the benefit of the transaction, including loss of an increase in the value of the transaction and/or loss of hedging protection. In addition, the documentation governing the relationship between the Fund and clearing members is drafted by the clearing members and generally is less favorable to the Fund than typical bilateral derivatives documentation. For example, documentation relating to cleared derivatives generally includes a one-way indemnity by the Fund in favor of the clearing member for losses the clearing member incurs as the Fund’s clearing member and typically does not provide the Fund any remedies if the clearing member defaults or becomes insolvent. While futures contracts entail similar risks, the risks likely are more pronounced for cleared swaps due to their more limited liquidity and market history.

Some types of cleared derivatives are required to be executed on an exchange or on a swap execution facility. A swap execution facility is a trading platform where multiple market participants can execute derivatives by accepting bids and offers made by multiple other participants in the platform. While this execution requirement is designed to increase transparency and liquidity in the cleared derivatives market, trading on a swap execution facility can create additional costs and risks for a Fund. For example, swap execution facilities typically charge fees, and if a Fund executes derivatives on a swap execution facility through a broker intermediary, the intermediary may impose fees as well. Also, a Fund may be required to indemnify a swap execution facility, or a broker intermediary who executes cleared derivatives on a swap execution facility on the Fund’s behalf, against any losses or costs that may be incurred as a result of the Fund’s transactions on the swap execution facility. If a Fund wishes to execute a package of transactions that include a swap that is required to be executed on a swap execution facility as well as other transactions (for example, a transaction that includes both a security and an interest rate swap that hedges interest rate exposure with respect to such security), it is possible the Fund could not execute all components of the package on the swap execution facility. In that case, the Fund would need to trade certain components of the package on the swap execution facility and other components of the package in another manner, which could subject the Fund to the risk that certain of the components of the package would be executed successfully and others would not, or that the components would be executed at different times, leaving the Fund with an unhedged position for a period of time.

        

(10) Emerging Market Securities

Investments in securities in emerging market countries may be considered to be speculative and may have additional risks from those associated with investing in the securities of U.S. issuers. There may be limited information available to investors that is publicly available, and generally emerging market issuers are not subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial standards and requirements like those required by U.S. issuers.

 

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Investors should be aware that the value of a Fund’s investments in emerging markets securities may be adversely affected by changes in the political, economic or social conditions, embargoes, economic sanctions, expropriation, nationalization, limitation on the removal of funds or assets, controls, tax regulations and other restrictions in emerging market countries. These risks may be more severe than those experienced in non-emerging market countries. Emerging market securities trade with less frequency and volume than domestic securities and, therefore, may have greater price volatility and lack liquidity. Furthermore, there is often no legal structure governing private or foreign investment or private property in some emerging market countries. This may adversely affect a Fund’s operations and the ability to obtain a judgment against an issuer in an emerging market country.

The risks outlined above are often more pronounced in “frontier markets” in which a Fund may invest. Frontier markets are those emerging markets that are considered to be among the smallest, least mature and least liquid, and as a result, the risks of investing in emerging markets are magnified in frontier markets. This magnification of risks is the result of a number of factors, including: government ownership or control of parts of the private sector and of certain companies; trade barriers; exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which frontier market countries trade; less uniformity in accounting and reporting requirements; unreliable securities valuation; greater risk associated with custody of securities; and the relatively new and unsettled securities laws in many frontier market countries. In addition, the markets of frontier countries typically have low trading volumes, leading to a greater potential for extreme price volatility and illiquidity. This volatility may be further increased by the actions of a few major investors. For example, a substantial increase or decrease in cash flows of institutional investors investing in these markets could significantly affect local securities prices and, therefore, the NAV of a Fund. All of these factors make investing in frontier market countries significantly riskier than investing in other countries, including more developed and traditional emerging market countries, and any one of them could cause the NAV of a Fund’s shares to decline.

Greater China. AMG River Road International Value Equity Fund. The Fund may purchase or obtain investment exposure to renminbi-denominated securities traded on exchanges located in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), such as equity securities traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (“China A-Shares”), through a variety of mutual market access programs (collectively, “China Connect”) that enable foreign investment in PRC exchange-traded securities via investments made in Hong Kong or other locations that may in the future have China Connect programs with the PRC. Examples of China Connect programs include the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect Program. The Fund may also invest indirectly in China A-Shares through China A Shares Access Products (“CAAPs”), such as participatory notes, and/or through collective investment schemes directly investing in China A-Shares through qualified foreign institutional investors (“QFIIs”) or Renminbi QFIIs (“RQFIIs”). The Fund may also invest in other investments including “H shares” of companies incorporated in Mainland China and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and other foreign exchanges. Trades do not cross between the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and a separate broker is assigned for each exchange. If a Fund rebalances across both exchanges, the Fund must trade out of stocks listed on one exchange with a broker and trade into stocks on the other exchange with a separate broker. As a result, the Fund may incur additional fees.

Investments in Chinese securities are subject to various risks. In particular, the PRC exchanges have lower trading volumes, the market capitalizations of companies listed on these exchanges are generally smaller, the securities listed on these exchanges are less liquid and may experience materially greater volatility, and government supervision and regulation of the PRC securities markets are less developed than in the United States and other developed markets. The PRC government continues to exercise significant control over the PRC’s economy, and any changes to existing policies and new

 

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reform-oriented policies and measures, which are often unprecedented or experimental, could negatively impact the Fund’s investments in Chinese securities. The PRC government has frequently and significantly intervened in domestic securities markets, in particular the markets for China A-Shares, and may do so in the future. These interventions may be introduced suddenly and in response to market conditions. Measures have included price supports, bans on short selling and limits and bans on selling securities in general. These measures may not have the desired effect and may have a negative impact on the Fund’s PRC investments. As a result of these measures, from time to time, the Fund may not be able to sell securities of PRC companies at the desired time or price, and quoted prices for securities of PRC companies may not reflect actual market prices. The PRC government has also implemented, and may implement in the future, various measures to control inflation, which if unsuccessful, may negatively impact the PRC economy. The PRC legal system is still developing, and laws, regulations (including those allowing QFIIs to invest in China A-Shares), government policies and the political and economic climate in the PRC may change with little or no advance notice. Any such change could adversely affect market conditions. The QFII rules provide the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange of China wide discretion to interpret them, leaving a considerable amount of uncertainty. The application of the tax laws and regulations of the PRC to income, including capital gains, derived from certain investments of the Fund remains unclear, and may well continue to evolve, possibly with retroactive effect. Any taxes imposed on the investments of the Fund pursuant to such laws and regulations will reduce the Fund’s overall returns. Some PRC companies may have less-established shareholder governance and disclosure standards. Accounting, auditing, financial and other reporting standards, practices and disclosure requirements applicable to PRC companies are different, sometimes in fundamental ways, from those applicable to companies in the United States and other developed markets.

The Fund may gain investment exposure to certain Chinese companies through variable interest entity (“VIE”) structures. A VIE structure enables foreign investors, such as the Fund, to obtain investment exposure to a Chinese company in situations in which the Chinese government has limited or prohibited non-Chinese ownership of such company. In order to facilitate foreign investment in these businesses, many Chinese companies have created VIEs to facilitate indirect foreign ownership. In such an arrangement, a China-based company typically establishes an offshore shell company in another jurisdiction, such as the Cayman Islands. That shell company enters into service and other contracts with the China-based company, then issues shares on a non-Chinese exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange or the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Foreign investors hold stock in the VIE shell company rather than directly in the China-based company. This arrangement allows U.S. investors to obtain economic exposure to the China-based company indirectly through the contractual VIE structure rather than directly through formal equity ownership structure. The contractual arrangements in place with the China-based company provide limited ability for the VIE to exercise control over the China-based company and the China-based company’s actions may negatively impact the investment value of the VIE. Control over a VIE may also be jeopardized if a natural person who holds the equity interest in the VIE breaches the terms of the contractual arrangements, is subject to legal proceedings, or if any physical instruments such as chops and seals are used without authorization.

VIEs are a common industry practice and well known to officials and regulators in China; however, until recently, VIEs are not formally recognized under Chinese law. However, in late 2021, the Chinese government signaled its interest in implementing filing requirement rules that would both affirm the legality of VIE structures and regulate them. How these filing requirements will operate in practice, and what will be required for approval, remains unclear. While there is optimism that these actions will reduce uncertainty over Chinese actions on VIEs, there is also caution given how unresolved the process is. Until these rules are finalized, and potentially afterwards depending on how they are implemented, there remains significant uncertainty associated with VIE investments. If the Chinese government were to determine that the contractual arrangements establishing the VIE structure did not comply with Chinese

 

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law or regulations, the Chinese operating company could be subject to penalties, revocation of its business and operating license, or forfeiture of ownership interests. Recently, the government of China provided new guidance to and placed restrictions on China-based companies raising capital offshore, including through VIE structures. Investors face uncertainty about future actions by the government of China that could significantly affect a Chinese company’s financial performance and the enforceability of the VIE shell company’s contractual arrangements. Under extreme circumstances, China might prohibit the existence of VIEs, or limit a VIE’s ability to pass through economic and governance rights to foreign individuals and entities. If the Chinese government takes action affecting VIEs, the market value of the Fund’s associated portfolio holdings would likely suffer significant, detrimental, and possibly permanent consequences, which could result in substantial investment losses.

In addition, Chinese companies, including Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges, are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries. As a result, information about the Chinese securities and VIEs in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. As with other Chinese companies with securities listed on U.S. exchanges, U.S. listed VIEs and ADRs may be delisted if they do not meet U.S. accounting standards and auditor oversight requirements. De-listing would significantly decrease the liquidity and value of the securities, decrease the ability of the Fund to transact in such securities and may increase the cost of the Fund if required to seek other markets in which to transact in such securities. There also may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against Chinese companies, and shareholders may have limited legal remedies.

China Stock Connect Programs. The risks noted here are in addition to the risks described above. There are significant risks inherent in investing in China A-Shares through China Connect. The China Connect programs are relatively new. There can be no assurance that China Connect programs will not be discontinued without advance notice or that future developments will not restrict or adversely affect the Fund’s investments or returns through China Connect. The less developed state of PRC’s investment and banking systems with respect to foreign investment subjects the settlement, clearing, and registration of China A-Shares transactions to heightened risks. China Connect program restrictions could also limit the ability of the Fund to sell its China A-Shares in a timely manner, or to sell them at all. For instance, China Connect programs involving Hong Kong can only operate when both PRC and Hong Kong markets are open for trading and when banking services are available in both markets on the corresponding settlement days. As such, if Hong Kong markets are closed but China Connect Securities are trading in the PRC, or where China Connect programs are closed for extended periods of time because of subsequent Hong Kong and PRC holidays (or for other reasons), the Fund may not be able to dispose of its China A-Shares when it wants to in a timely manner, which could adversely affect the Fund’s performance or ability to meet its investment objective. The Fund’s investments in China A-Shares may only be traded through the relevant China Connect program and are not otherwise transferable.

Investments in eligible China A-Shares through China Connect programs are subject to trading, clearance and settlement procedures that could increase the risk of loss to the Fund and/or affect the Fund’s ability to effectively pursue its investment strategy, such as the prohibition on same day (turnaround) trading through China Connect programs. If an account buys China A-Shares on day “T,” the investor will only be able to sell the securities on or after day T+1. China A-Shares currently eligible for trading under a China Connect program may also lose such designation. Further, all China A-Shares trades must be settled in renminbi (“RMB”), which requires the Fund to have timely access to a reliable supply of RMB in Hong Kong, which cannot be assured.

 

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China Connect is subject to certain restrictions that create additional operational risks. Settlement of China A-Shares occurs on T+0, which could subject the Fund to additional risk of failed trades, errors, or penalties. Under certain arrangements, investment in China A-Shares through China Connect is available only through a single broker that is an affiliate of the Fund’s sub-custodian, which means that the Fund cannot trade through another broker even if it believes it could achieve better quality of execution by doing so. Additionally, China Connect is subject to daily quota limits on purchases of China A-Shares. Once the daily quota is reached, orders to purchase additional China A-Shares through China Connect will be rejected. Investment quotas are subject to change, and although the current quotas do not place limits on sales of China A-Shares through China Connect programs, there can be no guarantee that capital controls would not be implemented that could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to remove money out of China and use it for other purposes, including to meet redemptions.

China A-Shares purchased through a China Connect program are held through a nominee structure by a Hong Kong-based depository as nominee (the “Nominee”) on behalf of investors. Thus, the Fund’s investments will be registered on the books of the PRC clearinghouse in the name of a Hong Kong clearinghouse, and on the books of a Hong Kong clearinghouse in the name of the Fund’s Hong Kong sub-custodian, and may not be clearly designated as belonging to the Fund. The precise nature and rights of the Fund as the beneficial owner of China A-Shares through the Nominee is not well defined under PRC law and it is not yet clear how such rights will be recognized or enforced under PRC law. If PRC law does not fully recognize the Fund as the beneficial owner of its China A-Shares, this may limit the ability of the Subadviser to effectively manage the Fund. The use of the nominee system also exposes the Fund to the credit risk of its sub-custodian and the depository intermediaries, and to greater risk of expropriation. Different fees, costs and taxes are imposed on foreign investors acquiring China A-Shares through China Connect programs, and these fees, costs and taxes may be higher than comparable fees, costs and taxes imposed on owners of other securities providing similar investment exposure. Furthermore, the securities regimes and legal systems of the PRC and Hong Kong differ significantly from each other and issues may arise based on these differences. Loss of Hong Kong independence or legal distinctiveness, for example, related to the Hong Kong protests that started in 2019, could undermine significant benefits of the China Connect programs. Political, regulatory and diplomatic events, such as the U.S.-China “trade war” that intensified in 2018, could have an adverse effect on the Chinese or Hong Kong economies and on investments made through China Connect programs, and thus could adversely impact funds investing through China Connect programs.

PRC Tax Risk. The Fund’s investments in China A-Shares will be subject to PRC tax rules, the application of many of many of which is uncertain. PRC taxes that may apply to the Fund’s investments include withholding taxes on dividends and interest earned by the Fund, withholding taxes on capital gains, corporate income tax, value added tax and stamp tax.

The PRC generally imposes withholding income tax at a rate of 10% on dividends, royalties, interest, and capital gains originating in the PRC and paid to a company that is not a resident of the PRC for tax purposes and that has no permanent establishment in the PRC. The withholding is in general made by the relevant PRC tax resident company making such payments. The State Administration of Taxation has confirmed the application to QFIIs and RQFIIs of the withholding income tax on dividends, premiums and interest. In the event the relevant PRC tax resident company fails to withhold the relevant PRC withholding income tax or otherwise fails to pay the relevant withholding income tax to the PRC tax authorities, the appropriate PRC tax authorities may, at their sole discretion, impose tax obligations on the Fund.

The PRC tax authorities issued a notice on November 14, 2014 (“Notice 79”) stating that QFIIs and RQFIIs (without an establishment or place of business in the PRC or without income that is effectively connected with such an establishment or place) are temporarily exempt from corporate income tax on gains derived from the trading of PRC equity investments, including China A-Shares, effective from November 17, 2014. Another notice (“Notice 81”), issued on the same day by the PRC tax authorities, states that the capital gain from disposal of China A-Shares by foreign investor enterprises via the China Connect program are temporarily exempt from income tax withholding. Notice 81 also states that the dividends derived from China A-Shares by foreign investor enterprises are subject to 10% withholding income tax.

 

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There is no indication of how long these temporary exemptions will remain in effect and the Fund may be subject to addition PRC income taxes in the future. If, in the future, the PRC begins applying tax rules regarding the taxation of income from China A-Shares investment to QFIIs and RQFIIs or investments through the China Connect program or begins collecting capital gains taxes on such investments, the Fund could be subject to withholding income tax liability to the extent that any presumptive liability cannot be reduced or eliminated by applicable tax treaties. The negative impact of any such tax liability on the Fund’s return could be substantial.

If the Fund were considered to be a tax resident of the PRC, it would be subject to PRC corporate income tax at the rate of 25% on its worldwide taxable income. If the Fund were considered to be a non-resident enterprise with an “establishment” in the PRC, it would be subject to PRC corporate income tax of 25% on the profits attributable to the establishment. The Fund does not expect to be treated as a tax resident of the PRC and or as having an establishment in the PRC. It is possible, however, that the PRC could disagree with that conclusion or that changes in PRC tax law could affect the PRC income tax status of the Fund.

Existing guidance provides a temporary value added tax exemption for QFIIs and RQFIIs in respect of their gains derived from the trading of PRC securities. Since there is no indication how long the temporary exemption will remain in effect, the Fund may be subject to such value added taxes (and applicable surtaxes), which may be imposed in the form of a withholding tax, in the future. Stamp duty under the PRC laws generally applies to the execution and receipt of taxable documents, which include contracts for the sale of China A-Shares traded on PRC stock exchanges.

The PRC rules for taxation of RQFIIs, QFIIs and the China Connect program are evolving and certain of the tax regulations to be issued by the PRC tax authorities to clarify the subject matter may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders. The applicability of reduced treaty rates of withholding in the case of an RQFII acting for a foreign investor such as the Fund is also uncertain. The imposition of any such taxes, including retroactively, could have a significant adverse effect on the Fund’s returns. The taxation of RQFIIs, QFIIs and China Connect transactions may differ from, or be applied in a manner inconsistent with the practices described in this prospectus. The value of the Fund’s investments in the PRC and the amount of its income and gains could be adversely affected by an increase in tax rates or change in PRC tax laws.

Any PRC tax liability incurred by a swap counterparty may be passed on to the Fund. When the Fund sells a swap on China A-Shares, the sale price due to the Fund may be reduced by the RQFII’s tax liability.

The above information is only a summary of the potential PRC tax consequences that may affect the Fund and its investors either directly or indirectly and is not intended to be taken as a definitive, authoritative or comprehensive statement of PRC tax law applicable to the Fund. Consult your personal tax advisor about the potential tax consequences of an investment in the Fund under all applicable tax laws.

 

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(11) Equity Investments

Certain Funds may invest in equity securities subject to any restrictions set forth in the Funds’ Prospectus and this SAI. These securities may include securities listed on any domestic or foreign securities exchange and securities traded in the OTC market. More information on the various types of equity investments in which certain Funds may invest appears below.

Common Stock. Common stocks are securities that represent a unit of ownership in a corporation. A Fund’s transactions in common stock represent “long” transactions where the Fund owns the securities being sold, or will own the securities being purchased. Prices of common stocks will rise and fall due to a variety of factors, which include changing economic, political or market conditions that affect particular industries or companies.

Large-capitalization companies tend to compete in mature product markets and do not typically experience the level of sustained growth of smaller companies and companies competing in less mature product markets. Also, large-capitalization companies may be unable to respond as quickly as smaller companies to competitive challenges or changes in business, product, financial, or other market conditions.

The Small Cap Value Fund may invest to a significant extent in small-capitalization companies, the Mid Cap Value Fund may invest to a significant extent in mid-capitalization companies and the Small-Mid Cap Value Fund may invest to a significant extent in small- and mid-capitalization companies.

The stocks of small- and mid-capitalization companies involve more risk than the stocks of larger, more established companies because they often have greater price volatility, lower trading volume, and less liquidity. These companies tend to have smaller revenues, narrower product lines, less management depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer financial resources, and less competitive strength than larger companies.

Convertible Securities. A convertible security is a bond, debenture, note, preferred stock or other security that may be converted into or exchanged for a prescribed amount of common stock of the same or a different issuer within a particular period of time at a specified price or formula. A convertible security entitles the holder to receive interest paid or accrued on debt or the dividend paid on preferred stock until the convertible security matures or is redeemed, converted or exchanged. Before conversion, convertible securities ordinarily provide a stable stream of income with generally higher yields than those of common stocks of the same or similar issuers, but lower than the yield on non-convertible debt. Convertible securities are usually subordinated to comparable tier non-convertible securities but rank senior to common stock in a corporation’s capital structure.

The value of a convertible security is a function of (1) its yield in comparison with the yields of other securities of comparable maturity and quality that do not have a conversion privilege and (2) its worth, at market value, if converted into the underlying common stock. Convertible securities are typically issued by smaller capitalized companies, whose stock prices may be volatile. The price of a convertible security often reflects such variations in the price of the underlying common stock in a way that non-convertible debt does not. A convertible security may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a price established in the convertible security’s governing instrument, which could have an adverse effect on a Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective(s).

Depositary Receipts. Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”) are negotiable certificates held in the bank of one country representing a specific number of shares of a stock traded on an exchange of another country. American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) are negotiable receipts issued by a United States bank or trust company, trade in U.S. markets and evidence ownership of securities in a foreign company which have been deposited with such bank or trust’s office or agent in a foreign country. European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”) are European receipts evidencing a similar arrangement. Non-Voting Depositary Receipts (“NVDRs”) are trading instruments issued by the Thai NVDR Company Limited, a subsidiary wholly owned by The Stock Exchange of Thailand (the “SET”), intended to stimulate trading activity in

 

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the Thai stock market. NVDRs are automatically regarded as listed securities in the SET. Generally, ADRs, in registered form, are designed for use in the U.S. securities markets and EDRs, in bearer form, are designed for use in European securities markets. GDRs are receipts that may trade in U.S. or non-U.S. markets. Positions in GDRs, ADRs and EDRs are not necessarily denominated in the same currency as the common stocks into which they may be converted. With respect to investments in NVDRs, investors will receive all financial benefits, e.g., dividends and right issues, as if they had invested in a company’s ordinary shares, except that NVDR holders do not have the voting rights associated with the shares.

Investing in depositary receipts presents risks not present to the same degree as investing in domestic securities even though a Fund will purchase, sell and be paid dividends on depositary receipts in U.S. dollars. These risks include fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which are affected by international balances of payments and other economic and financial conditions; government intervention; speculation; and other factors. With respect to certain foreign countries, there is the possibility of expropriation or nationalization of assets, confiscatory taxation and political, social and economic instability. A Fund may be required to pay foreign withholding or other taxes on certain of its depositary receipts. A Fund may not be eligible to elect or may not elect to permit United States shareholders to claim a credit or deduction for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent of any foreign income taxes paid by the Fund. In such case, the foreign taxes paid or withheld will nonetheless reduce the Fund’s taxable income. See “Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Matters” below. Unsponsored depositary receipts are offered by companies which are not prepared to meet either the reporting or accounting standards of the United States. While readily exchangeable with stock in local markets, unsponsored depositary receipts may be less liquid than sponsored depositary receipts. Additionally, there generally is less publicly available information with respect to unsponsored depositary receipts.

Initial Public Offerings (“IPOs”). Certain Funds may purchase securities in IPOs. These securities are subject to many of the same risks as investing in companies with smaller market capitalizations. Securities issued in IPOs have no trading history, and information about the companies may be available for very limited periods. The prices of securities sold in IPOs may be highly volatile. At any particular time or from time to time, a Fund may not be able to invest in securities issued in IPOs, or invest to the extent desired, because, for example, only a small portion, if any, of the securities being offered in an IPO may be made available to the Fund. In addition, under certain market conditions, a relatively small number of companies may issue securities in IPOs. Similarly, as the number of funds to which IPO securities are allocated increases, the number of securities issued to any one fund may decrease. The investment performance of a Fund during periods when it is unable to invest significantly or at all in IPOs may be lower than during periods when the Fund is able to do so. In addition, as a Fund increases in size, the impact of IPOs on the Fund’s performance will generally decrease.

Preferred Stock. Preferred stock pays dividends at a specified rate and generally has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of the issuer’s assets but is junior to the debt securities of the issuer in those same respects. Unlike interest payments on debt securities, dividends on preferred stock are generally payable at the discretion of the issuer’s board of directors, and shareholders may suffer a loss of value if dividends are not paid. Preferred shareholders generally have no legal recourse against the issuer if dividends are not paid. The market prices of preferred stocks are subject to changes in interest rates and are more sensitive to changes in the issuer’s creditworthiness than are the prices of debt securities. Under ordinary circumstances, preferred stock does not carry voting rights. Prices of preferred stocks may rise and fall rapidly and unpredictably due to a variety of factors, which include changing economic, political or market conditions that affect particular industries or companies. Preferred stocks of smaller companies may be more vulnerable to adverse developments than those of larger companies.

 

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Secondary Offerings. A Fund may invest in secondary offerings. A secondary offering is a registered offering of a large block of a security that has been previously issued to the public. A secondary offering can occur when an investor sells to the public a large block of stock or other securities it has been holding in its portfolio. In a sale of this kind, all of the profits go to the seller rather than the issuer. Secondary offerings can also originate when the issuer issues new shares of its stock over and above those sold in its IPO, usually in order to raise additional capital. However, because an increase in the number of shares devalues those that have already been issued, many companies make a secondary offering only if their stock prices are high or they are in need of capital. Secondary offerings may have a magnified impact on the performance of a Fund with a small asset base. Secondary offering shares frequently are volatile in price. Therefore, a Fund may hold secondary offering shares for a very short period of time. This may increase the portfolio turnover rate of a Fund and may lead to increased expenses for the Fund, such as commissions and transaction costs. In addition, secondary offering shares can experience an immediate drop in value if the demand for the securities does not continue to support the offering price.

(12) Eurodollar and Yankeedollar Obligations

Eurodollar obligations are U.S. dollar obligations issued outside the United States by domestic or foreign entities. Yankeedollar obligations are U.S. dollar obligations issued inside the United States by foreign entities.

(13) Exchange-Traded Notes (“ETNs”)

ETNs are senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt securities issued by a financial institution, listed on an exchange and traded in the secondary market. They are designed to provide investors with a way to access the returns of specific benchmark indices. ETNs are not equities or index funds, but they do share several characteristics with such investments. For example, like equities, they trade on an exchange and can be shorted. Like an index fund, they are linked to the return of a benchmark index. Unlike regular bonds, there are no periodic interest payments, and principal is not protected. An investor could lose some of or the entire amount invested. The price in the secondary market is determined by supply and demand, the current performance of the index, and the credit rating of the ETN issuer. At maturity, the issuer pays a return linked to the performance of the market index, such as a commodity index, to which the ETN is linked, minus the issuer’s fee. ETNs are subject to the risk of a breakdown in the futures markets they use.

A Fund may invest in one or more ETNs linked to commodity indices as a means to obtain commodity exposure. See “Commodities Exposure” above. ETNs held by a Fund are typically linked to the performance of a commodities index that reflects the potential return on leveraged and unleveraged investments in futures contracts of physical commodities, plus interest that could be earned on cash collateral, and minus the issuer’s fee.

Each Fund invests in a manner that is consistent with its current understanding of the 90% gross income requirement for qualification as a regulated investment company. See “Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Matters” below. There is some uncertainty under current law whether income and gain derived from commodity-linked ETNs constitute qualifying income to a Fund for purposes of this 90% gross income requirement.

A Fund’s investments in ETNs may include leveraged ETNs. Leveraged ETNs are subject to the same risk as instruments that use leverage in any form. While leverage allows for greater potential return, the potential for loss is also greater. The market value of ETNs may differ from their NAV per share. This difference in price may be due to the fact that the supply and demand in the market for ETNs at any point in time is not always identical to the supply and demand in the market for the underlying investments that the ETN holds. There may be times when an ETN trades at a premium or discount to its NAV.

 

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(14) Floating Rate and Variable Rate Demand Notes

Certain Funds may purchase taxable or tax-exempt floating rate and variable rate demand notes and bonds in implementing their investment programs. Floating rate and variable rate demand notes and bonds may have a stated maturity in excess of one year, but may have features that permit the holder to demand payment of principal plus accrued interest upon a specified number of days’ notice. Frequently, such obligations are secured by letters of credit or other credit support arrangements provided by banks. The issuer has a corresponding right, after a given period, to prepay in its discretion the outstanding principal of the obligation plus accrued interest upon a specific number of days’ notice to holders. The interest rate of a floating rate instrument may be based on a known lending rate, such as a bank’s prime rate, and is reset whenever such rate is adjusted. The interest on a variable rate demand note is reset at specified intervals at a market rate.

(15) Foreign Currencies and Related Transactions

Subject to applicable limits set forth in the Funds’ Prospectus and this SAI, a Fund may invest in or utilize foreign currencies and other foreign currency-related transactions. These instruments may be used for a variety of reasons, including to hedge against foreign exchange risk arising from a Fund’s investment or anticipated investment in securities denominated in foreign currencies, to increase exposure to a foreign currency for investment or hedging purposes, or to shift exposure of foreign currency fluctuations from one currency to another.

A Fund may (but is not required to) hedge some or all of its exposure to foreign currencies derived through its investments to reduce the risk of loss due to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Suitable currency hedging transactions may not be available in all circumstances and there can be no assurance that a Fund will engage in such transactions at any given time or from time to time when it may be beneficial to do so. Foreign currency transactions may also be unsuccessful and may result in losses or may eliminate any chance for a Fund to benefit from favorable fluctuations in relevant foreign currencies.

(16) Foreign Securities

Certain Funds may invest in foreign securities, subject to any restrictions set forth in the Funds’ Prospectus and this SAI.

Investment in securities of foreign entities, whether directly or indirectly in the form of ADRs, EDRs, GDRs or similar instruments, and securities denominated in foreign currencies involves risks typically not present to the same degree in domestic investments. Such risks include potential future adverse political and economic developments, possible embargoes or economic sanctions against a particular country or countries, organizations, entities and/or individuals, possible imposition of withholding or other taxes on interest or other income, possible seizure, nationalization or expropriation of foreign deposits, possible establishment of exchange controls or taxation at the source, greater fluctuations in value due to changes in exchange rates, or the adoption of other foreign governmental restrictions which might adversely affect the payment of principal and interest on such obligations. In addition, there may be less publicly available information about foreign issuers or securities than about U.S. issuers or securities, foreign investments may be effected through structures that may be complex or obfuscatory, and foreign issuers are often subject to accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and requirements and engage in business practices different from those of domestic issuers of similar securities or obligations. With respect to unsponsored ADRs, these programs cover securities of companies that are not required to meet either the reporting or accounting standards of the United States. Foreign issuers also are usually not subject to the same degree of regulation as domestic issuers, and many foreign financial markets, while generally growing in volume, continue to experience substantially less volume than domestic markets, and securities of many foreign companies are less liquid and their

 

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prices are more volatile than the securities of comparable U.S. companies. In addition, brokerage commissions, custodial services and other costs related to investment in foreign markets (particularly emerging markets) generally are more expensive than in the United States. Such foreign markets also may have longer settlement periods than markets in the United States as well as different settlement and clearance procedures. In certain markets, there have been times when settlements have been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, making it difficult to conduct such transactions. The inability of a Fund to make intended securities purchases due to settlement problems could cause the Fund to miss attractive investment opportunities. Inability to dispose of a portfolio security caused by settlement problems could result either in losses to a Fund due to subsequent declines in value of a portfolio security or, if the Fund had entered into a contract to sell the security, could result in possible liability to the purchaser. Settlement procedures in certain emerging markets also carry with them a heightened risk of loss due to the failure of the broker or other service provider to deliver cash or securities.

The value of a Fund’s portfolio securities computed in U.S. dollars will vary with increases and decreases in the exchange rate between the currencies in which the Fund has invested and the U.S. dollar. A decline in the value of any particular currency against the U.S. dollar will cause a decline in the U.S. dollar value of a Fund’s holdings of securities denominated in such currency and, therefore, will cause an overall decline in the Fund’s NAV and net investment income and capital gains, if any, to be distributed in U.S. dollars to shareholders by the Fund. A Fund may be required to liquidate other assets in order to make up the shortfall.

The rate of exchange between the U.S. dollar and other currencies is influenced by many factors, including the supply and demand for particular currencies, central bank efforts to support particular currencies, the movement of interest rates, the price of oil, the pace of activity in the industrial countries, including the United States, and other economic and financial conditions affecting the world economy.

A Fund may purchase securities that are issued by the government, a corporation, or a financial institution of one nation but denominated in the currency of another nation. To the extent that a Fund invests in ADRs, the depositary bank generally pays cash dividends in U.S. dollars regardless of the currency in which such dividends originally are paid by the issuer of the underlying security.

Several of the countries in which a Fund may invest restrict, to varying degrees, foreign investments in their securities markets. Governmental and private restrictions take a variety of forms, including (i) limitation on the amount of funds that may be invested into or repatriated from the country (including limitations on repatriation of investment income and capital gains), (ii) prohibitions or substantial restrictions on foreign investment in certain industries or market sectors, such as defense, energy and transportation, (iii) restrictions (whether contained in the charter of an individual company or mandated by the government) on the percentage of securities of a single issuer which may be owned by a foreign investor, (iv) limitations on the types of securities which a foreign investor may purchase and (v) restrictions on a foreign investor’s right to invest in companies whose securities are not publicly traded. In some circumstances, these restrictions may limit or preclude investment in certain countries. Therefore, a Fund may invest in such countries through the purchase of shares of investment companies organized under the laws of such countries.

A Fund’s interest and dividend income from, or proceeds from the sale or other disposition of the securities of, foreign issuers may be subject to non-U.S. withholding and other foreign taxes. A Fund also may be subject to taxes on trading profits in some countries. In addition, certain countries impose a transfer or stamp duties tax on certain securities transactions. The imposition of these taxes may decrease the net return on foreign investments as compared to dividends and interest paid to a Fund by domestic companies, and thus increase the cost to the Fund of investing in any country imposing such taxes. A

 

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Fund may not be eligible to elect or may not elect to permit United States shareholders to claim a credit or deduction for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent of any foreign income taxes paid by a Fund. In such case, the foreign taxes paid or withheld will nonetheless reduce the Fund’s taxable income. See “Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Matters” below.

Emerging Markets. The risks of foreign investing are of greater concern in the case of investments in emerging markets, which may exhibit greater price volatility and risk of principal, have less liquidity and have settlement arrangements which are less efficient than in developed markets. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which regulates auditors of U.S. public companies, is unable to inspect audit work papers in certain foreign 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 SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice and other authorities to bring and enforce actions against foreign issuers or foreign persons is limited. Furthermore, the economies of emerging market countries generally are heavily dependent upon international trade and, accordingly, have been and may continue to be adversely affected by trade barriers, managed adjustments in relative currency values, and other protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which they trade. These emerging market economies also have been and may continue to be adversely affected by economic conditions in the countries with which they trade. See “Emerging Market Securities” above.

Russia Sanctions Risk. In late February 2022, Russian military forces invaded Ukraine, significantly amplifying already existing geopolitical tensions among Russia, Ukraine, Europe, NATO and the West. Russia’s invasion, the responses of countries and political bodies to Russia’s actions, and the potential for wider conflict may increase financial market volatility and could have severe adverse effects on regional and global economic markets, including the markets for certain securities and commodities such as oil and natural gas. Following Russia’s actions, various countries, including the U.S., Canada, the UK, Germany, and France, as well as the EU, issued broad-ranging economic sanctions against Russia. Sanctions threatened or imposed by these jurisdictions, and other intergovernmental actions that have been or may be undertaken in the future, against Russia, Russian entities or Russian individuals, may result in the devaluation of Russian currency, a downgrade in the country’s credit rating, an immediate freeze of Russian assets, a decline in the value and liquidity of Russian securities, property or interests, and/or other adverse consequences to the Russian economy or the Funds. The scope and scale of sanctions in place at a particular time may be expanded or otherwise modified in a way that may have negative effects on the Funds. Sanctions, or the threat of new or modified sanctions, could impair the ability of the Funds to buy, sell, hold, receive, deliver or otherwise transact in certain affected securities or other investment instruments. Sanctions could also result in Russia taking counter measures or other actions in response, which may further impair the value and liquidity of Russian securities. The extent and duration of the military actions associated with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the resulting sanctions, and the resulting disruption of the Russian economy are impossible to predict but may cause volatility in other regional and global markets and may negatively impact the performance of various sectors and industries, as well as companies in other countries, which could have a negative effect on the performance of a Fund, even if the Fund does not have direct exposure to securities of Russian issuers.

(17) Forward Commitments

Certain Funds may make contracts to purchase securities on a forward commitment basis for a fixed price at a future date beyond the customary settlement period for such securities (“forward commitments”) if the Fund segregates liquid assets, consisting of cash, U.S. government securities or other appropriate securities, in an amount at least equal to the amount of the Fund’s commitments. Forward commitments involve a risk of loss if the value of the securities to be purchased declines prior to the settlement date, which risk is in addition to the risk of decline in value of a Fund’s other assets. A Fund may dispose of a commitment prior to settlement and may realize short-term capital gains or losses upon such disposition. Purchasing securities on a forward commitment basis can also involve the risk of default by the other party on its obligation, delaying or preventing the Fund from recovering the collateral or completing the transaction.

 

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(18) Illiquid Securities, Private Placements and Certain Unregistered Securities

Certain Funds may invest in privately placed, restricted, Rule 144A or other unregistered securities. Rule 144A securities are securities that are eligible for resale without registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”), pursuant to Rule 144A under the 1933 Act. A Fund may not acquire illiquid holdings if, as a result, more than 15% of its net assets would be in illiquid investments. If a Fund determines at any time that it owns illiquid securities in excess of 15% of its net assets, it will cease to undertake new commitments to acquire illiquid securities until its holdings are no longer in excess of 15% of its NAV, and, depending on circumstances, may take additional steps to reduce its holdings of illiquid securities. Subject to these limitations, a Fund may acquire investments that are illiquid or have limited liquidity, such as private placements or investments that are not registered under the 1933 Act and cannot be offered for public sale in the United States without first being registered under the 1933 Act. An investment is considered “illiquid” if the Fund reasonably expects the investment cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven (7) calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. The price a Fund’s portfolio may pay for illiquid securities or receive upon resale may be lower than the price paid or received for similar securities with a more liquid market. Accordingly, the valuation of these securities will take into account any limitations on their liquidity.

The SEC has adopted a liquidity risk management rule (the “Liquidity Rule”) that requires the Funds to establish a liquidity risk management program (the “LRMP”). The Trustees, including a majority of the Independent Trustees (defined infra), have designated the Investment Manager to administer the Funds’ LRMP and the Investment Manager has formed a Liquidity Risk Management Committee to which it has delegated responsibilities for the ongoing operation and management of the LRMP. Under the LRMP, the Investment Manager assesses, manages, and periodically reviews the Funds’ liquidity risk. The Liquidity Rule defines “liquidity risk” as the risk that the Funds could not meet requests to redeem shares issued by the Funds without significant dilution of remaining investors’ interests in the Funds. The liquidity of the Funds’ portfolio investments is determined based on relevant market, trading and investment-specific considerations under the LRMP. To the extent that an investment is deemed to be an illiquid investment or a less liquid investment, the Funds can expect to be exposed to greater liquidity risk. The SEC has recently proposed amendments to Rule 22e-4 under the 1940 Act and Rule 22c-1 under the 1940 Act that, if adopted, would, among other things, cause more investments to be treated as illiquid, and could prevent a Fund from investing in securities that the Investment Manager or Subadviser believes are appropriate or desirable.

Rule 144A securities may be determined to be liquid or illiquid in accordance with the guidelines established by the Investment Manager and approved by the Trustees. The Trustees will monitor compliance with these guidelines on a periodic basis.

Investment in these securities entails the risk to a Fund that there may not be a buyer for these securities at a price that a Fund believes represents the security’s value should the Fund wish to sell the security. If a security a Fund holds must be registered under the 1933 Act before it may be sold, the Fund may be obligated to pay all or part of the registration expenses. In addition, in these circumstances a considerable time may elapse between the time of the decision to sell and the time the Fund may be permitted to sell a security under an effective registration statement. If, during such a period, adverse market conditions develop, the Fund may obtain a less favorable price than when it first decided to sell the security.

 

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(19) Interfund Lending

To satisfy redemption requests or to cover unanticipated cash shortfalls (due to “sales fails” or other factors), each of the Focused Absolute Value Fund, International Value Equity Fund and Mid Cap Value Fund has entered into a master interfund lending agreement (“Interfund Lending Agreement”) under which a Fund would lend money and, if applicable, borrow money for temporary purposes directly to and from another eligible fund in the AMG Fund Complex through a credit facility (each an “Interfund Loan”), subject to meeting the conditions of an SEC exemptive order granted to the Fund permitting such interfund lending. No Fund may borrow more than the lesser of the amount permitted by Section 18 of the 1940 Act, and the rules and regulations thereunder, as modified by the above mentioned and any other applicable SEC exemptive order or other relief, or the amount permitted by its fundamental investment restrictions. All Interfund Loans will consist only of uninvested cash reserves that the Fund otherwise would invest in short-term repurchase agreements or other short-term instruments either directly or through a money market fund. The Focused Absolute Value Fund is not currently eligible to participate in the interfund lending program as a borrower based on the Fund’s fundamental investment restrictions with respect to borrowing.

If a Fund has outstanding borrowings, any Interfund Loans to the Fund (a) will be at an interest rate equal to or lower than any outstanding bank loan, (b) will be secured at least on an equal priority basis with at least an equivalent percentage of collateral to loan value as any outstanding bank loan that requires collateral, (c) will have a maturity no longer than any outstanding bank loan (and in any event not over seven days) and (d) will provide that, if an event of default occurs under any agreement evidencing an outstanding bank loan to the Fund, the event of default will automatically (without need for action or notice by the lending fund) constitute an immediate event of default under the Interfund Lending Agreement entitling the lending fund to call the Interfund Loan (and exercise all rights with respect to any collateral) and that such call will be made if the lending bank exercises its right to call its loan under its agreement with the borrowing fund.

A Fund may make an unsecured borrowing through the credit facility if its outstanding borrowings from all sources immediately after the interfund borrowing total 10% or less of its total assets; provided, that if the Fund has a secured loan outstanding from any other lender, including but not limited to another eligible fund in the AMG Fund Complex, the Fund’s Interfund Loan will be secured on at least an equal priority basis with at least an equivalent percentage of collateral to loan value as any outstanding loan that requires collateral. If a Fund’s total outstanding borrowings immediately after an interfund borrowing would be greater than 10% of its total assets, the Fund may borrow through the credit facility only on a secured basis. A Fund may not borrow through the credit facility nor from any other source if its total outstanding borrowings immediately after the interfund borrowing would exceed the limits imposed by Section 18 of the 1940 Act or the Fund’s fundamental investment restrictions.

No Fund may lend to another eligible fund in the AMG Fund Complex through the interfund lending credit facility if the Interfund Loan would cause its aggregate outstanding loans through the credit facility to exceed 15% of the lending fund’s current net assets at the time of the Interfund Loan. A Fund’s Interfund Loans to any one fund shall not exceed 5% of the lending fund’s net assets. The duration of Interfund Loans is limited to the time required to receive payment for securities sold, but in no event may the duration exceed seven days. Interfund Loans effected within seven days of each other will be treated as separate loan transactions for purposes of this condition. Each Interfund Loan may be called on one business day’s notice by a lending fund and may be repaid on any day by a borrowing fund.

 

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The limitations detailed above and the other conditions of the SEC exemptive order permitting interfund lending are designed to minimize the risks associated with interfund lending for both the lending fund and the borrowing fund. However, no borrowing or lending activity is without risk. When a Fund borrows money from another fund, there is a risk that the Interfund Loan could be called on one day’s notice or not renewed, in which case the Fund may have to borrow from a bank at higher rates if an Interfund Loan were not available from another fund. A delay in repayment to a lending fund could result in a lost opportunity or additional lending costs.

(20) Investment Company Securities

The Funds may invest some portion of their assets in shares of other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), open-end mutual funds (including money market funds) and closed-end funds, to the extent that they may facilitate achieving the investment objectives of the Funds or to the extent that they afford the principal or most practical means of access to a particular market or markets or they represent attractive investments in their own right. A Fund’s purchase of shares of investment companies may result in the payment by a shareholder of duplicative management fees. The Investment Manager and Subadviser to a Fund will consider such fees in determining whether to invest in other investment companies. A Fund will invest only in investment companies, or classes thereof, that do not charge a sales load; however, the Fund may invest in such companies with distribution plans and fees, and may pay customary brokerage commissions to buy and sell shares of closed-end investment companies and ETFs.

The return on a Fund’s investments in investment companies will be reduced by the operating expenses, including investment advisory and administrative fees, of such companies. A Fund’s investments in a closed-end investment company may require the payment of a premium above the NAV of the investment company’s shares, and the market price of the investment company thereafter may decline without any change in the value of the investment company’s assets. A Fund, however, will not invest in any investment company or trust unless it is believed that the potential benefits of such investment are sufficient to warrant the payment of any such premium.

ETFs that are linked to a specific index may not be able to replicate and maintain exactly the composition and relative weighting of investments underlying the applicable index and will incur certain expenses not incurred by their applicable index. Certain investments comprising the index tracked by an ETF may, at times, be temporarily unavailable, which may impede an ETF’s ability to track its index.

The market value of ETF shares may differ from their NAV per share. This difference in price may be due to the fact that the supply and demand in the market for ETF shares at any point in time is not always identical to the value of the underlying investments that the ETF holds. There may be times when an ETF share trades at a premium or discount to its NAV.

The provisions of the 1940 Act may impose certain limitations on a Fund’s investments in other investment companies. In particular, each Fund’s investments in investment companies are limited to, subject to certain exceptions, (i) 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of any one investment company, (ii) 5% of the Fund’s total assets with respect to any one investment company, and (iii) 10% of the Fund’s total assets with respect to investment companies in the aggregate (the “Limitation”). Pursuant to rules adopted by the SEC, a Fund may invest in excess of the Limitation if the Fund and the investment company in which the Fund would like to invest comply with certain conditions, including limits on control and voting, required evaluations and findings, required fund investment agreements and limits on complex fund of funds structures. Certain of these conditions do not apply if the Fund is investing in shares issued by affiliated funds. In addition, a Fund may invest in shares issued by money market funds, including certain unregistered money market funds, in excess of the Limitation.    

 

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As an exception to the above, each Fund has the authority to invest all of its assets in the securities of a single open-end investment company with substantially the same fundamental investment objectives, restrictions, and policies as that of the Fund. A Fund will notify its shareholders prior to initiating such an arrangement.

(21) Mortgage Related Securities

Mortgage-related securities include collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”), real estate mortgage investment conduits (“REMIC Certificates”), mortgage-backed bonds and “pass-throughs.” Pass-throughs, which are certificates that are issued by governmental, government-related or private organizations, are backed by pools of mortgage loans and provide investors with monthly payments. Pools that are created by non-government issuers generally have a higher rate of interest than pools of government and government-related issuers. This is because there is no express or implied government backing associated with non-government issuers.

Payment of principal and interest on some mortgage pass-through securities may be guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government (in the case of securities guaranteed by GNMA), or guaranteed by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. Government (in the case of securities guaranteed by Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“FHLMC”)). Mortgage pass-through securities created by non-governmental issuers (such as commercial banks, savings and loan institutions, private mortgage insurance companies, mortgage bankers, and other secondary market issuers) may be uninsured or may be supported by various forms of insurance or guarantees, including individual loan, title, pool and hazard insurance, and letters of credit, which may be issued by governmental entities, private insurers, or the mortgage poolers.

Collateralized Mortgage Obligations and Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits. CMOs are obligations that are fully collateralized by a portfolio of mortgages or mortgage-related securities. REMIC Certificates represent beneficial ownership interests in a REMIC trust, which generally holds mortgages or mortgage-related securities. There are different classes of CMOs and REMIC Certificates, and certain classes have priority over others with respect to prepayment on the mortgages. Therefore, a Fund may be subject to greater or lesser prepayment risk depending on the type of CMOs or REMIC Certificates in which the Fund invests. Although the mortgage-related securities securing these obligations may be subject to a government guarantee or third-party support, the obligation itself is not so guaranteed. Therefore, if the collateral securing the obligation is insufficient to make payment on the obligation, the Fund could sustain a loss.

A wide variety of REMIC Certificates may be issued in parallel pay or sequential pay structures. These securities include accrual certificates (“Z Bonds”), which only accrue interest at a specified rate until all other certificates having an earlier final distribution date have been retired and are converted thereafter to an interest-paying security, and planned amortization class (“PAC”) certificates, which are parallel pay REMIC Certificates that generally require that specified amounts of principal be applied on each payment date to one or more classes of REMIC Certificates (“PAC Certificates”), even though all other principal payments and prepayments of the mortgage-backed securities are then required to be applied to one or more other classes of the PAC Certificates. The scheduled principal payments for the PAC Certificates generally have the highest priority on each payment date after interest due has been paid to all classes entitled to receive interest currently. Shortfalls, if any, are added to the amount payable on the next payment date. The PAC Certificate payment schedule is taken into account in calculating the final distribution date of each class of PAC. In order to create PAC tranches, one or more tranches generally must be created that absorb most of the volatility in the underlying mortgage-backed securities. These tranches tend to have market prices and yields that are much more volatile than other PAC classes.

 

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One or more tranches of a CMO or a REMIC Certificate (collectively, “floating-rate CMOs”) may have coupon rates which reset periodically at a specified increment over an index such as the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). These floating-rate CMOs may be backed by fixed-rate or adjustable-rate mortgages. Floating-rate CMOs are typically issued with lifetime “caps” on the coupon rate. These caps, similar to the caps on adjustable-rate mortgages, represent a ceiling beyond which the coupon rate on a floating-rate CMO may not be increased regardless of increases in the interest rate index to which the floating-rate CMO is geared. The structure and performance of floating-rate tranches will vary widely as interest rates change.

Resets. The interest rates paid on the floating-rate CMOs in which a Fund may invest generally are readjusted at intervals of one year or less to an increment over some predetermined interest rate index. There are three main categories of indices: those based on U.S. Treasury securities, those derived from a calculated measure such as a cost of funds index or a moving average of mortgage rates. Commonly utilized indices include: the one-year, three-year and five-year constant maturity Treasury rates, the three-month Treasury bill rate, the six-month Treasury bill rate, rates on longer-term Treasury securities, the 11th District Federal Home Loan Bank Cost of Funds Index, the National Monthly Median Cost of Funds, the one-, three- or six-month or one-year LIBOR, the prime rate of a specific bank or commercial paper rates. Some indices, such as the one-year constant maturity Treasury rate, closely mirror changes in market interest rate levels. Others, such as the 11th District Federal Home Loan Bank Cost of Funds Index, tend to lag behind changes in market rate levels and tend to be somewhat less volatile.

Caps and Floors. The underlying mortgages which collateralize the floating-rate CMOs in which a Fund may invest will frequently have caps and floors which limit the maximum amount by which the loan rate to the residential borrower may change up or down (1) per reset or adjustment interval and (2) over the life of the loan. Some residential mortgage loans restrict periodic adjustments by limiting changes in the borrower’s monthly principal and interest payments rather than limiting interest rate changes. These payment caps may result in negative amortization.

CMOs and REMIC Certificates are subject to credit risk, interest rate risk and liquidity risk. Generally, CMOs and REMIC Certificates issued by U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities have lower credit risk than private label CMOs and REMIC Certificates because the underlying mortgages are either guaranteed by the U.S. government or carry an implicit guarantee of a government-sponsored enterprise. Private label CMOs and REMIC Certificates may carry higher credit risk, depending on the underlying collateral. The degree of credit risk will be reflected in the credit rating of the security. Yields on private label CMOs and REMIC Certificates historically have been higher than the yields on CMOs and REMIC Certificates issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies. However, the risk of loss due to default on such instruments is higher since they are not guaranteed by the U.S. government. The Funds will not invest in subordinated privately issued CMOs and REMIC Certificates. CMOs and REMIC Certificates have a high degree of interest rate risk. The value of a CMO and a REMIC Certificate will fluctuate more widely in response to interest rate changes than a standard debt security.

Liquidity risk is the risk that the investor will be unable to find a buyer interested in purchasing the security or willing to pay the desired price for the security. If a Fund has to sell the security before maturity, some of the principal could be lost. The markets for CMOs and REMIC Certificates, particularly private label CMOs and REMIC Certificates, at times may be very thin. A Fund’s ability to dispose of its positions in such securities will depend upon the degree of liquidity in the market for such securities. It is impossible to predict the degree of liquidity of such securities in the future.

The prices of certain CMOs and REMIC Certificates, depending on their structure and the rate of prepayments, may be volatile. Some CMOs may also not be as liquid as other securities. In addition, the value of a CMO or REMIC Certificate, including those collateralized by mortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies or instrumentalities, may be affected by other factors, such as the availability of information concerning the pool and its structure, the creditworthiness of the

 

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servicing agent for the pool, the originator of the underlying assets, or the entities providing credit enhancement. The value of these securities also can depend on the ability of their servicers to service the underlying collateral and is, therefore, subject to risks associated with servicers’ performance, including mishandling of documentation. A Fund is permitted to invest in other types of mortgage-backed securities that may be available in the future to the extent consistent with its investment policies and objective.

Stripped Mortgage-Backed Securities. Stripped mortgage-backed securities are derivative securities usually structured with two classes that receive different proportions of the interest and principal distributions from an underlying pool of mortgage assets. A Fund may purchase securities representing only the interest payment portion of the underlying mortgage pools (commonly referred to as “IOs”) or only the principal portion of the underlying mortgage pools (commonly referred to as “POs”). Stripped mortgage-backed securities are more sensitive to changes in prepayment and interest rates and the market for such securities is less liquid than is the case for traditional debt securities and mortgage-backed securities. The yield on IOs is extremely sensitive to the rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the underlying mortgage assets, and a rapid rate of repayment may have a material adverse effect on such securities’ yield to maturity. If the underlying mortgage assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, the Fund will fail to recoup fully its initial investment in these securities, even if they are rated high quality. Stripped mortgage-backed securities not issued by Federal agencies will be treated by the Funds as illiquid securities so long as the staff of the SEC maintains its position that such securities are illiquid.

Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits. Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits are CMO vehicles that qualify for special tax treatment under the Code and invest in mortgages principally secured by interests in real property and other investments permitted by the Code.

GNMA Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates. GNMA Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates (“Ginnie Maes”) are undivided interests in a pool of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, the Farmers Home Administration or the Veterans Administration. They entitle the holder to receive all payments of principal and interest, net of fees due to GNMA and the issuer. Payments are made to holders of Ginnie Maes whether payments are actually received on the underlying mortgages. This is because Ginnie Maes are guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the United States. GNMA has the unlimited authority to borrow funds from the U.S. Treasury to make payments to these holders.

FNMA Guaranteed Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates. FNMA Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates are undivided interests in a pool of conventional mortgages. They are secured by the first mortgages or deeds of trust on residential properties. There is no obligation to distribute monthly payments of principal and interest on the mortgages in the pool. They are guaranteed only by FNMA and are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

FHLMC Guaranteed Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates. FHLMC, a corporate instrumentality of the U.S. Government, issues participation certificates which represent interests in pools of conventional mortgage loans. FHLMC guarantees the timely payment of interest and the ultimate collection of principal, and maintains reserves to protect holders against losses due to default, but these securities are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.

Mortgage-Backed Bonds. Mortgage-backed bonds are general obligations of the issuer fully collateralized directly or indirectly by a pool of mortgages. The mortgages serve as collateral for the issuer’s payment obligations on the bonds but interest and principal payments on the mortgages are not passed through either directly (as with GNMA certificates and FNMA and FHLMC pass-through securities) or on a modified basis (as with CMOs). Accordingly, a change in the rate of prepayments on the pool of mortgages could change the effective maturity of a CMO but not that of a mortgage-backed

 

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bond (although, like many bonds, mortgage-backed bonds may be callable by the issuer prior to maturity). Although the mortgage-related securities securing these obligations may be subject to a government guarantee or third-party support, the obligation itself is not so guaranteed. Therefore, if the collateral securing the obligation is insufficient to make payment on the obligation, the Fund could sustain a loss.

Recent Events Regarding FNMA and FHLMC Securities. On September 6, 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) placed FNMA and FHLMC into conservatorship. As the conservator, FHFA succeeded to all rights, titles, powers and privileges of FNMA and FHLMC and of any stockholder, officer or director of FNMA and FHLMC with respect to FNMA and FHLMC and the assets of FNMA and FHLMC. FHFA selected a new chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors for each of FNMA and FHLMC. In connection with the conservatorship, the U.S. Treasury entered into a Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement with each of FNMA and FHLMC pursuant to which the U.S. Treasury will purchase up to an aggregate of $100 billion of each of FNMA and FHLMC to maintain a positive net worth in each enterprise. This agreement contains various covenants, discussed below, that severely limit each enterprise’s operations. In exchange for entering into these agreements, the U.S. Treasury received $1 billion of each enterprise’s senior preferred stock and warrants to purchase 79.9% of each enterprise’s common stock. In 2009, the U.S. Treasury announced that it was doubling the size of its commitment to each enterprise under the Senior Preferred Stock Program to $200 billion. The U.S. Treasury’s obligations under the Senior Preferred Stock Program are for an indefinite period of time for a maximum amount of $200 billion per enterprise. In 2009, the U.S. Treasury further amended the Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement to allow the cap on the U.S. Treasury’s funding commitment to increase as necessary to accommodate any cumulative reduction in FNMA’s and FHLMC’s net worth through the end of 2012. In August 2012, the Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement was further amended to, among other things, accelerate the wind down of the retained portfolio, terminate the requirement that FNMA and FHLMC each pay a 10% dividend annually on all amounts received under the funding commitment, and require the submission of an annual risk management plan to the U.S. Treasury.

FNMA and FHLMC are continuing to operate as going concerns while in conservatorship and each remain liable for all of its obligations, including its guaranty obligations, associated with its mortgage-backed securities. The Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement is intended to enhance each of FNMA’s and FHLMC’s ability to meet its obligations. The FHFA has indicated that the conservatorship of each enterprise will end when the director of FHFA determines that FHFA’s plan to restore the enterprise to a safe and solvent condition has been completed.

Under the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008 (the “Reform Act”), which was included as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, FHFA, as conservator or receiver, has the power to repudiate any contract entered into by FNMA or FHLMC prior to FHFA’s appointment as conservator or receiver, as applicable, if FHFA determines, in its sole discretion, that performance of the contract is burdensome and that repudiation of the contract promotes the orderly administration of FNMA’s or FHLMC’s affairs. The Reform Act requires FHFA to exercise its right to repudiate any contract within a reasonable period of time after its appointment as conservator or receiver. FHFA, in its capacity as conservator, has indicated that it has no intention to repudiate the guaranty obligations of FNMA or FHLMC because FHFA views repudiation as incompatible with the goals of the conservatorship. However, in the event that FHFA, as conservator or if it is later appointed as receiver for FNMA or FHLMC, were to repudiate any such guaranty obligation, the conservatorship or receivership estate, as applicable, would be liable for actual direct compensatory damages in accordance with the provisions of the Reform Act. Any such liability could be satisfied only to the extent of FNMA’s or FHLMC’s assets available therefor. In the event of repudiation, the payments of interest to holders of FNMA or FHLMC mortgage-backed securities would be reduced if payments on the mortgage loans represented in the mortgage loan groups related to such mortgage-backed securities are not made by the

 

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borrowers or advanced by the servicer. Any actual direct compensatory damages for repudiating these guaranty obligations may not be sufficient to offset any shortfalls experienced by such mortgage-backed security holders. Further, in its capacity as conservator or receiver, FHFA has the right to transfer or sell any asset or liability of FNMA or FHLMC without any approval, assignment or consent. Although FHFA has stated that it has no present intention to do so, if FHFA, as conservator or receiver, were to transfer any such guaranty obligation to another party, holders of FNMA or FHLMC mortgage-backed securities would have to rely on that party for satisfaction of the guaranty obligation and would be exposed to the credit risk of that party.

In addition, certain rights provided to holders of mortgage-backed securities issued by FNMA and FHLMC under the operative documents related to such securities may not be enforced against FHFA, or enforcement of such rights may be delayed, during the conservatorship or any future receivership. The operative documents for FNMA and FHLMC mortgage-backed securities may provide (or with respect to securities issued prior to the date of the appointment of the conservator may have provided) that upon the occurrence of an event of default on the part of FNMA or FHLMC, in its capacity as guarantor, which includes the appointment of a conservator or receiver, holders of such mortgage-backed securities have the right to replace FNMA or FHLMC as trustee if the requisite percentage of mortgage-backed securities holders consent. The Reform Act prevents mortgage-backed security holders from enforcing such rights if the event of default arises solely because a conservator or receiver has been appointed. The Reform Act also provides that no person may exercise any right or power to terminate, accelerate or declare an event of default under certain contracts to which FNMA or FHLMC is a party, or obtain possession of or exercise control over any property of FNMA or FHLMC, or affect any contractual rights of FNMA or FHLMC, without the approval of FHFA, as conservator or receiver, for a period of 45 or 90 days following the appointment of FHFA as conservator or receiver, respectively.

In addition, in a February 2011 report to Congress from the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Obama administration provided a plan to reform America’s housing finance market. The plan would reduce the role of and eventually eliminate FNMA and FHLMC. Notably, the plan does not propose similar significant changes to GNMA, which guarantees payments on mortgage-related securities backed by federally insured or guaranteed loans such as those issued by the Federal Housing Association or guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The report also identified three proposals for Congress and the administration to consider for the long-term structure of the housing finance markets after the elimination of FNMA and FHLMC, including implementing: (i) a privatized system of housing finance that limits government insurance to very limited groups of creditworthy low- and moderate-income borrowers; (ii) a privatized system with a government backstop mechanism that would allow the government to insure a larger share of the housing finance market during a future housing crisis; and (iii) a privatized system where the government would offer reinsurance to holders of certain highly-rated mortgage-related securities insured by private insurers and would pay out under the reinsurance arrangements only if the private mortgage insurers were insolvent.

The conditions attached to the financial contribution made by the Treasury to FHLMC and FNMA and the issuance of senior preferred stock place significant restrictions on the activities of FHLMC and FNMA. FHLMC and FNMA must obtain the consent of the Treasury to, among other things, (i) make any payment to purchase or redeem its capital stock or pay any dividend other than in respect of the senior preferred stock, (ii) issue capital stock of any kind, (iii) terminate the conservatorship of the FHFA except in connection with a receivership, or (iv) increase its debt beyond certain specified levels. In addition, significant restrictions are placed on the maximum size of each of FHLMC’s and FNMA’s respective portfolios of mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, and the purchase agreements entered into by FHLMC and FNMA provide that the maximum size of their portfolios of these assets must decrease by a specified percentage each year. The future status and role of FHLMC and FNMA could be impacted by (among other things) the actions taken and restrictions placed on FHLMC and

 

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FNMA by the FHFA in its role as conservator, the restrictions placed on FHLMC’s and FNMA’s operations and activities as a result of the senior preferred stock investment made by the U.S. Treasury, market responses to developments at FHLMC and FNMA, and future legislative and regulatory action that alters the operations, ownership, structure and/or mission of these institutions, each of which may, in turn, impact the value of, and cash flows on, any mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by FHLMC and FNMA, including any such mortgage-backed securities held by a Fund.

On June 3, 2019, under the FHFA’s “Single Security Initiative,” FHLMC and FNMA entered into a joint initiative to develop a common securitization platform for the issuance of a “uniform mortgage-backed security” or “UMBS,” in place of their separate offerings of “to be announced” (TBA)-eligible mortgage-backed securities. The Single Security Initiative seeks to generally align the characteristics of FHLMC and FNMA mortgage-backed securities. The effects it may have on the market for mortgage-backed securities are uncertain and the issuance of UMBS may not achieve the intended results and may have unanticipated or adverse effects on the market for mortgage-backed securities.

A Fund’s ability to invest in UMBS to the same degree that the Fund currently invests in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities is uncertain. While Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have taken steps for a smooth transition to the issuance of UMBS, there may be factors that affect the timing of the transition to UMBS or the ability of market participants, including the Funds, to adapt to the issuance of UMBS. A Fund may need to consider the tax and accounting issues raised by investments in UMBS and/or the exchange of legacy Freddie Mac securities for UMBS. Additionally, there could be divergence in prepayment rates of UMBS issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which could lead to differences in the prices of Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-issued UMBS if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fail to align programs, policies and practices that affect prepayments.

Other Mortgage-Backed Securities. The Investment Manager or Subadviser anticipates that governmental, government-related or private entities may create mortgage loan pools and other mortgage-related securities offering mortgage pass-through and mortgage-collateralized investments in addition to those described above. The mortgages underlying these securities may include alternative mortgage instruments, that is, mortgage instruments whose principal or interest payments may vary or whose terms to maturity may differ from customary long-term fixed-rate mortgages. As new types of mortgage-related securities are developed and offered to investors, the Investment Manager or Subadviser will, consistent with a Fund’s investment objective(s) and policies, consider making investments in such new types of mortgage-related securities.

Risks Associated with Mortgage-Related and other Asset-Backed Securities. There are certain risks associated with mortgage-related securities, such as prepayment risk and default risk. Although there is generally a liquid market for these investments, those certificates issued by private organizations may not be readily marketable. The value of mortgage-related securities depends primarily on the level of interest rates, the coupon rates of the certificates and the payment history of the underlying mortgages. The risk of defaults associated with mortgage-related securities is generally higher in the case of mortgage-backed investments that include so-called “sub-prime” mortgages.

Mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities have yield and maturity characteristics corresponding to their underlying assets. Unlike traditional debt securities, which must pay a fixed rate of interest until maturity when the entire principal amount becomes due, payments on certain mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities include both interest and a partial payment of principal. This partial payment of principal may comprise a scheduled principal payment as well as an unscheduled payment from the voluntary prepayment, refinancing, or foreclosure of the underlying loans. As a result of these unscheduled payments of principal, or prepayments on the underlying securities, the price and yield of mortgage-backed securities can be adversely affected. For example, during periods of declining interest rates, prepayments can be expected to accelerate, and a Fund would be required to reinvest the proceeds at the lower interest rates then available.

 

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Prepayments of mortgages that underlie securities purchased at a premium could result in capital losses because the premium may not have been fully amortized at the time the obligation is prepaid. In addition, like other interest-bearing securities, the values of mortgage-backed securities generally fall when interest rates rise, but when interest rates fall, their potential for capital appreciation is limited due to the existence of the prepayment feature. In order to hedge against possible prepayment, a Fund may purchase certain options and options on futures contracts as described more fully above under “Derivative Instruments.”

Ongoing developments in the residential and commercial mortgage markets may have additional consequences for the market for mortgage-backed securities. During the periods of deteriorating economic conditions, such as recessions or periods of rising unemployment, delinquencies and losses generally increase, sometimes dramatically, with respect to securitizations involving mortgage loans. Many sub-prime mortgage pools have become distressed during the periods of economic distress and may trade at significant discounts to their face value during such periods.

(22) Municipal Obligations

Certain Funds may invest in many types of municipal bonds, including, but not limited to: general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, private activity and industrial development bonds, short-term municipal notes (including tax and revenue authorization notes), housing bonds and tax-exempt commercial paper. General obligation bonds are bonds issued by states, counties, cities, towns and regional districts. The proceeds from these bonds are used to fund municipal projects. Revenue bonds are bonds that receive net revenues from a particular facility or other specific source. Private activity and industrial development bonds are considered to be municipal bonds if the interest paid on these bonds is exempt from U.S. federal income tax. They are issued by public authorities and are used to raise money to finance public and privately owned facilities for business, manufacturing and housing. Short-term municipal notes are issued with a short-term maturity in anticipation of the receipt of tax funds, the proceeds of bond placements, or other revenues, and include tax anticipation notes, revenue anticipation notes, and bond anticipation notes. Housing bonds are short- or long-term bonds issued by a local housing authority to finance short-term construction of typically low- or middle-income housing or long-term commitments for housing, plants, pollution control facilities, or similar projects. Tax-exempt (municipal) commercial paper typically consists of very short-term, unsecured, negotiable promissory notes that are sold to meet the seasonal working capital or interim construction financing needs of a municipality or agency. While these obligations are intended to be paid from general revenues or refinanced with long-term debt, they frequently are backed by letters of credit, lending agreements, note repurchase agreements or other credit facility agreements offered by banks or institutions.

Investments in municipal bonds may result in liability for federal alternative minimum tax, for both individual and corporate shareholders.

Municipal issuers of securities are not usually subject to the securities registration and public reporting requirements of the SEC and state securities regulators. As a result, the amount of information available about the financial condition of an issuer of municipal obligations may not be as extensive as that which is made available by corporations whose securities are publicly traded.

A Fund’s investments in municipal securities is limited to those obligations that are sufficiently liquid that they can be sold at or near their carrying value within a reasonably short period of time and either (i) are subject to no greater than moderate credit risk; or (ii) if the issuer of the municipal securities, or the entity supplying the revenues or other payments from which the issue is to be paid, has been in continuous operation for less than three years, including the operation of any predecessors, the securities are subject to a minimal or low amount of credit risk.

 

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(23) Obligations of Domestic and Foreign Banks

Each Fund may purchase obligations of domestic and foreign banks and foreign branches of domestic banks. Banks are subject to extensive governmental regulations. These regulations place limitations on the amounts and types of loans and other financial commitments which may be made by the bank and the interest rates and fees which may be charged on these loans and commitments. The profitability of the banking industry depends on the availability and costs of capital funds for the purpose of financing loans under prevailing money market conditions. General economic conditions also play a key role in the operations of the banking industry. Exposure to credit losses arising from potential financial difficulties of borrowers may affect the ability of the bank to meet its obligations under a letter of credit.

(24) Participations

Certain Funds may invest in loan participations or assignments. In purchasing a loan participation or assignment, a Fund acquires some or all of the interest of a bank or other lending institution in a loan to a corporate borrower. Both the lending bank and the borrower may be deemed to be “issuers” of a loan participation. Many such loans are secured and most impose restrictive covenants which must be met by the borrower and which are generally more stringent than the covenants available in publicly traded debt securities. However, interests in some loans may not be secured, and a Fund will be exposed to a risk of loss if the borrower defaults. There is no assurance that the collateral can be liquidated in particular cases, or that its liquidation value will be equal to the value of the debt. Loan participations may also be purchased by a Fund when the borrowing company is already in default. Borrowers that are in bankruptcy may pay only a small portion of the amount owed, if they are able to pay at all. Where a Fund purchases a loan through an assignment, there is a possibility that the Fund will, in the event the borrower is unable to pay the loan, become the owner of the collateral. This involves certain risks to a Fund as a property owner.

In purchasing a loan participation, a Fund may have less protection under the federal securities laws than it has in purchasing traditional types of securities. Loans are often administered by a lead bank, which acts as agent for the lenders in dealing with the borrower. In asserting rights against the borrower, a Fund may be dependent on the willingness of the lead bank to assert these rights, or upon a vote of all the lenders to authorize the action. Assets held by the lead bank for the benefit of a Fund may be subject to claims of the lead bank’s creditors. A Fund’s ability to assert its rights against the borrower will also depend on the particular terms of the loan agreement among the parties. Many of the interests in loans purchased by a Fund will be illiquid and therefore subject to the Fund’s limit on illiquid investments.

(25) Participatory Notes and Non-Standard Warrants

AMG River Road International Value Equity Fund. The Fund may use non-standard warrants, including participatory notes (“P-Notes”), to gain exposure to issuers in certain countries. P-Notes are a type of equity-linked derivative that generally are traded OTC and constitute general unsecured contractual obligations of the banks or broker-dealers that issue them. Generally, banks and broker-dealers associated with non-U.S.-based brokerage firms buy securities listed on certain foreign exchanges and then issue P-Notes which are designed to replicate the performance of certain issuers and markets. The performance results of P-Notes will not replicate exactly the performance of the issuers or markets that the notes seek to replicate due to transaction costs and other expenses. The return on a P-Note that is linked to a particular underlying security generally is increased to the extent of any dividends paid in connection with the underlying security. However, the holder of a P-Note typically does not receive

 

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voting or other rights as it would if it directly owned the underlying security, and P-Notes present similar risks to investing directly in the underlying security. Additionally, P-Notes entail the same risks as other OTC derivatives. These include the risk that the counterparty or issuer of the P-Note may not be able to fulfill its obligations, that the holder and counterparty or issuer may disagree as to the meaning or application of contractual terms, or that the instrument may not perform as expected. Additionally, while P-Notes may be listed on an exchange, there is no guarantee that a liquid market will exist or that the counterparty or issuer of a P-Note will be willing to repurchase such instrument when the Fund wishes to sell it.

(26) Pooled Vehicles

The Funds may invest in debt securities indirectly through pooled products typically organized as trust structures (e.g., TRAINS and TRACERS) and typically sold pursuant to Rule 144A under the 1933 Act. TRAINS, TRACERS and similar products contain a basket of debt securities that are designed to provide broad credit exposure in a single product. A Fund will incur transaction costs associated with such products and may be subject to the credit risk of the sponsoring entity.

(27) Publicly Traded Partnerships

Publicly traded partnerships are generally limited partnerships (or limited liability companies), the units of which may be listed and traded on a securities exchange or are readily tradable on a secondary market (or its substantial equivalent). Although publicly traded partnerships are generally taxable as corporations, the Funds may invest in certain publicly traded partnerships, including master limited partnerships (“MLPs”), that qualify for treatment as partnerships for federal income tax purposes pursuant to certain limited exceptions under the Code. A Fund’s investments in such entities may be limited by the Fund’s intention to qualify as a regulated investment company and can bear on the Fund’s ability to qualify as such. See “Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Matters.” Many MLPs derive income and gain from the exploration, development, mining or production, processing, refining, transportation or marketing of any mineral or natural resource or from real property. The value of MLP units fluctuates predominantly based on prevailing market conditions and the success of the MLP. The Funds may purchase common units of an MLP on an exchange as well as directly from the MLP or other parties in private placements. Unlike owners of common stock of a corporation, owners of common units of an MLP have limited voting rights and have no ability to annually elect directors. MLPs generally distribute all available cash flow (cash flow from operations less maintenance capital expenditures) in the form of quarterly distributions, but a Fund will be required to include in its taxable income its allocable share of the MLP’s income regardless of whether any distributions are made by the MLP. Thus, if the distributions received by a Fund are less than that Fund’s allocable share of the MLP’s income, the Fund may be required to sell other securities so that it may satisfy the requirements to qualify as a regulated investment company and avoid federal income and excise taxes. Common units typically have priority as to minimum quarterly distributions. In the event of liquidation, common units have preference over subordinated units, but not debt or preferred units, to the remaining assets of the MLP.

An investment in MLP units involves some risks that differ from an investment in the common stock of a corporation. Holders of MLP units have limited control and voting rights on matters affecting the partnership. Holders of MLP units of a particular MLP are also exposed to a remote possibility of liability for the obligations of that MLP under limited circumstances not expected to be applicable to the Funds. A Fund will not acquire any interests in MLPs that are believed to expose the assets of a Fund to liabilities incurred by the MLP. In addition, the value of a Fund’s investment in MLPs depends largely on the MLPs being treated as partnerships for federal income tax purposes. If an MLP does not meet certain federal income tax requirements to maintain partnership status, or if it is unable to do so because of tax law changes, it would be taxed as a corporation. In that case, the MLP would be obligated to pay income tax at the entity level and distributions received by a Fund generally would be taxed as dividend income. As a result, there could be a reduction in a Fund’s cash flow and there could be a material decrease in the value of that Fund’s shares.

 

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(28) Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”)

Certain Funds may invest in REITs, which are pooled investment vehicles that invest primarily in income-producing real estate or real-estate-related loans or interest.

REITs are generally classified as equity REITs, mortgage REITs or a combination of equity and mortgage REITs. Equity REITs invest the majority of their assets directly in real property and derive income primarily from the collection of rents. Equity REITs can also realize capital gains by selling properties that have appreciated in value. Mortgage REITs invest the majority of their assets in real estate mortgages and derive income from the collection of interest payments. Like regulated investment companies such as a Fund, REITs are not taxed on income distributed to shareholders provided that they comply with certain requirements under the Code. A Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any expenses paid by REITs in which it invests in addition to the expenses paid by the Fund.

Investing in REITs involves certain unique risks. Equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by such REITs, while mortgage REITs may be affected by the quality of any credit extended. REITs are dependent upon management skills, are not diversified (except to the extent the Code requires), and are subject to the risk of financing projects. During periods of declining interest rates, certain mortgage REITs may hold mortgages that the mortgagors elect to prepay, and such prepayment may diminish the yield on securities issued by such mortgage REITs. REITs are subject to heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by borrowers, self-liquidation, and the possibility of failing to qualify for the favorable tax treatment accorded REITs under the Code and failing to maintain their exemption from the 1940 Act. REITs, and mortgage REITs in particular, are also subject to interest rate risk.

(29) Reverse Repurchase Agreements and Dollar Roll Agreements

Certain Funds may enter into reverse repurchase agreements and dollar roll agreements with commercial banks and registered broker-dealers to seek to enhance returns. In a reverse repurchase agreement, a Fund sells a security and agrees to repurchase the same security at a price and on a date mutually agreed-upon by the parties. The difference between the repurchase price and the original price is the reverse repurchase agreement rate, which reflects the interest rate in effect for the term of the agreement. Dollar rolls are transactions in which a Fund sells securities for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts to repurchase substantially similar (same type and coupon) securities on a specified future date. During the roll period, the Fund forgoes principal and interest paid on the securities. The Fund is compensated by the difference between the current sales price and the forward price for the future purchase (often referred to as the “drop”) as well as by the interest earned on the cash proceeds of the initial sale.

Reverse repurchase agreements and dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the securities retained by the Fund may decline below the price of the securities the Fund has sold but is obligated to repurchase under the agreement. In the event the buyer of securities under a reverse repurchase agreement or dollar roll files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, the Fund’s use of the proceeds of the agreement may be restricted pending a determination by the other party, or its trustee or receiver, whether or not to enforce the Fund’s obligation to repurchase the securities. For the purposes of the 1940 Act, reverse repurchase agreements and dollar rolls can be viewed as the borrowing of money by a Fund and, therefore, a form of leverage which may magnify any gains or losses for the Fund. A Fund may only enter into reverse repurchase agreements up to 33 1/3% of the value of the Fund’s total assets taken at market value (computed at the time the loan is made), including the amount borrowed.

 

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(30) Securities Lending

Each Fund may lend its portfolio securities in order to realize additional income. This lending is subject to a Fund’s policies and restrictions. A Fund may lend its investment securities so long as (i) the loan is secured by collateral having a market value at all times not less than 102% (105% in the case of certain foreign securities) of the value of the securities loaned, (ii) such collateral is marked to market on a daily basis, (iii) the loan is subject to termination by the Fund at any time, and (iv) the Fund receives reasonable interest on the loan. When cash is received as collateral, each Fund will invest the cash received in short-term instruments to earn additional income. The Fund will bear the risk of any loss on any such investment; however, the Funds’ securities lending agent has agreed to indemnify each Fund against loss on the investment of the cash collateral. The Fund may pay reasonable finders, administrative and custodial fees to persons that are unaffiliated with the Fund for services in connection with loans of portfolio securities. While voting rights may pass with the loaned portfolio securities, to the extent possible, the loan will be recalled on a reasonable efforts basis and the securities voted by the Fund. The Bank of New York Mellon serves as the Funds’ securities lending agent.

(31) Short Sales

The Funds may engage in “short sales against the box,” which involve selling short a security in which the Fund currently holds a position or that the Fund has a right to acquire, while at the same time maintaining its current position in that security or retaining the right to acquire the security. In order to engage in a short sale against the box, a Fund arranges with a broker or other counterparty, which may be the Fund’s custodian, to borrow the security being sold short. A Fund must deposit with or for the benefit of the broker or other counterparty collateral, consisting of cash, or marketable securities, to secure the Fund’s obligation to replace the security and segregate liquid assets, so that the total of the amounts deposited with the broker or other counterparty and segregated is equal to the current value of the securities sold short. In addition, a Fund must pay the broker or other counterparty any dividends or interest paid on the borrowed security during the time the short position is open. In order to close out its short position, the Fund will replace the security by purchasing the security at the price prevailing at the time of replacement or taking the security the Fund otherwise holds and delivering it to the broker or other counterparty. If the price of the security sold short has increased since the time of the short sale, the Fund will incur a loss in addition to the costs associated with establishing, maintaining and closing out the short position. A Fund’s loss on a short sale is potentially unlimited because there is no upward limit on the price the security sold short could attain. If the price of the security sold short has decreased since the time of the short sale, the Fund will experience a gain to the extent the difference in price is greater than the costs associated with establishing, maintaining and closing out the short position. The successful use of short selling may be adversely affected by imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the security sold short and the securities being hedged.

A Fund may also engage in short sales “not against the box,” which are generally short sales of securities in which the Fund does not currently hold a long position. Short sales that are not made “against the box” create opportunities to increase a Fund’s return but, at the same time, involve special risk considerations and may be considered a speculative technique. Since a Fund in effect profits from a decline in the price of the securities sold short without the need to invest the full purchase price of the securities on the date of the short sale, the Fund’s NAV per share will tend to increase more when the securities it has sold short decrease in value, and to decrease more when the securities it has sold short increase in value, than would otherwise be the case if it had not engaged in short sales. Similar to short sales against the box, short sales not against the box theoretically involve unlimited loss potential, as the

 

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market price of securities sold short may continuously increase. Under adverse market conditions, a Fund might have difficulty purchasing securities to meet its short sale delivery obligations, and might have to sell portfolio securities to raise the capital necessary to meet its short sale obligations at a time when fundamental investment considerations would not favor such sales.

A Fund may also maintain short positions in forward currency exchange transactions, in which a Fund agrees to exchange currency that it does not own at that time for another currency at a future date and specified price in anticipation of a decline in the value of the currency sold short relative to the currency that a Fund has contracted to receive in the exchange. To ensure that any short position of a Fund is not used to achieve leverage, a Fund segregates cash or liquid assets equal to the fluctuating market value of the currency as to which any short position is being maintained. Whenever a Fund is required to segregate assets for 1940 Act purposes, notations on the books of the Trust’s custodian or fund accounting agent are sufficient to constitute a segregated account.

The SEC and other (including non-U.S.) regulatory authorities have imposed, and may in the future impose, restrictions on short selling, either on a temporary or permanent basis, which may include placing limitations on specific companies and/or industries with respect to which a Fund may enter into short positions. Any such restrictions may hinder a Fund in, or prevent it from, fully implementing its investment strategies, and may negatively affect performance.

(32) Special Purpose Acquisition Companies

The Funds may invest in stock, rights, warrants, and other securities of special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) or similar special purpose entities. A SPAC is a publicly traded company that raises investment capital in the form of a blind pool via an IPO for the purpose of acquiring an existing company. The shares of a SPAC are typically issued in “units” that include one share of common stock and one right or warrant (or partial right or warrant) conveying the right to purchase additional shares or partial shares. At a specified time following the SPAC’s IPO (generally 1-2 months), the rights and warrants may be separated from the common stock at the election of the holder, after which they become freely tradeable. After going public and until an acquisition is completed, a SPAC generally invests the proceeds of its IPO (less a portion retained to cover expenses), which are held in trust, in U.S. government securities, money market securities and cash. To the extent the SPAC is invested in cash or similar securities, this may impact a Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. If a SPAC does not complete an acquisition within a specified period of time after going public, the SPAC is dissolved, at which point the invested funds are returned to the SPAC’s shareholders (less certain permitted expenses) and any rights or warrants issued by the SPAC expire worthless.

Because SPACs and similar entities are in essence blank check companies without an operating history or ongoing business other than seeking acquisitions, the value of their securities is particularly dependent on the ability of the entity’s management to identify and complete a profitable acquisition. Some SPACs may pursue acquisitions only within certain industries or regions, which may increase the volatility of their prices. In addition, the securities issued by a SPAC, which are typically traded in the OTC market, may be considered illiquid and/or be subject to restrictions on resale.

(33) Stripped Securities

Stripped Securities (“STRIPS”) are usually structured with two classes that receive different proportions of the interest and principal distributions from a pool of underlying assets. A common type of STRIP will have one class receiving all of the interest from the underlying assets (“interest-only” or “IO” class), while the other class will receive all of the principal (“principal only” or “PO” class). However, in some instances, one class will receive some of the interest and most of the principal while the other class

 

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will receive most of the interest and the remainder of the principal. STRIPS are unusually volatile in response to changes in interest rates. The yield to maturity on an IO class of STRIPS is extremely sensitive not only to changes in prevailing interest rates but also to the rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the underlying assets. A rapid rate of principal prepayments may have a measurably adverse effect on a Fund’s yield to maturity to the extent it invests in IOs.

Conversely, POs tend to increase in value if prepayments are greater than anticipated and decline if prepayments are slower than anticipated. Thus, if the underlying assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, a Fund may fail to fully recover its initial investment in these securities, even if the STRIPS were rated of the highest credit quality by S&P or Moody’s, respectively. These risks (and potential benefits), as described in “Derivatives Risk” in the Prospectus, will be managed by investing in a variety of such securities and by using certain hedging techniques. In addition, the secondary market for STRIPS may be less liquid than that for other mortgage-backed or asset-backed securities, potentially limiting a Fund’s ability to buy or sell those securities at any particular time.

Interest-only STRIPS may be purchased for their hedging characteristics. Because of their structure, interest-only STRIPS will most likely move differently than typical fixed-income securities in relation to changes in interest rates. For example, with increases in interest rates, these securities will typically increase rather than decrease in value. As a result, since they move differently in relation to changes in interest rates than the typical investments held by a Fund, interest-only STRIPS can be used as hedging instruments to reduce the variance of a Fund’s NAV from its targeted option-adjusted duration. There can be no assurance that the use of interest-only STRIPS will be effective as a hedging technique, in which event, a Fund’s overall performance may be less than if the Fund had not purchased the STRIPS.

The determination of whether certain IO and PO STRIPS issued by the U.S. Government and backed by fixed-rate mortgages are liquid shall be made by the Trustees in accordance with applicable pronouncements of the SEC. At present all other IO and PO STRIPS are treated as illiquid securities for the purposes of the 15% limitation on illiquid securities as a percentage of a Fund’s net assets.

In addition to STRIPS issued by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities, the Funds may purchase STRIPS issued by private originators of, or investors in, mortgage loans, including depository institutions, mortgage banks, investment banks and special purpose subsidiaries of these entities. However, each Fund will purchase only STRIPS that are collateralized by mortgage-backed securities that are issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities.

(34) Temporary Defensive Positioning

The investments and strategies described throughout the Prospectus are those the Subadviser intends to use under normal circumstances. When the Subadviser determines that market or other conditions warrant, a Fund may invest up to 100% of its assets in money market instruments or hold U.S. dollars. When a Fund is investing for temporary or defensive purposes, it is not pursuing its investment objective(s).

(35) Trust Originated Preferred Securities

Certain Funds may invest in trust originated preferred securities, a relatively new type of security issued by financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies and other issuers. Trust originated preferred securities represent interests in a trust formed by the issuer. The trust sells preferred shares and invests the proceeds in notes issued by the same entity. These notes may be subordinated and unsecured. Distributions on the trust originated preferred securities match the interest payments on the notes; if no interest is paid on the notes, the trust will not make current payments on its preferred securities. Issuers of the notes currently enjoy favorable tax treatment. If the tax characterization of these securities were to change adversely, they could be redeemed by the issuers, which could result in a loss to the Fund. In addition, some trust originated preferred securities are available only to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A.

 

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(36) U.S. Treasury and Government Securities and Securities of International Organizations

The Funds may invest in direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury. These obligations include Treasury bills, notes and bonds, all of which have their principal and interest payments backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.

The Funds may invest in obligations issued by the agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. Government. These obligations may or may not be backed by the “full faith and credit” of the United States. Securities which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States include obligations of the GNMA, the Farmers Home Administration and the Export-Import Bank. For those securities which are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, the Fund must principally look to the federal agency guaranteeing or issuing the obligation for ultimate repayment and therefore may not be able to assert a claim against the United States itself for repayment in the event that the issuer does not meet its commitments. The securities in which the Funds may invest that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States include, but are not limited to: (a) obligations of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the FHLMC, the Federal Home Loan Banks and the U.S. Postal Service, each of which has the right to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to meet its obligations; (b) securities issued by the FNMA, which are supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. Government to purchase the agency’s obligations; and (c) obligations of the Federal Farm Credit System and the Student Loan Marketing Association, each of whose obligations may be satisfied only by the individual credits of the issuing agency. Such securities may involve increased risk, including loss of principal and interest, compared to government debt securities that are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury.

Securities issued by international organizations, such as Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian-American Development Bank and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “World Bank”), are not U.S. government securities. These international organizations, while not U.S. Government agencies or instrumentalities, have the ability to borrow from member countries, including the United States.

(37) Unit Investment Trusts

A Unit Investment Trust (“UIT”) is a type of investment company. Investments in UITs are subject to regulations limiting a Fund’s acquisition of investment company securities. Standard and Poor’s Depositary Receipts (“SPDRs”), DIAMONDS, MDYs and similar investments are interests in UITs that may be obtained directly from the UIT or purchased in the secondary market. SPDRs consist of a portfolio of securities substantially similar to the component securities of the Standard and Poor’s 500 Composite Stock Price Index. DIAMONDS and MDYs consist of a portfolio of securities substantially similar to the component securities of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and of the Standard and Poor’s MidCap 400 Index, respectively.

The price of a UIT interest is derived and based upon the securities held by the UIT. Accordingly, the level of risk involved in the purchase or sale of a UIT interest is similar to the risk involved in the purchase or sale of traditional common stock, with the exception that the pricing mechanism for UITs is based on a basket of stocks. Disruptions in the markets for the securities underlying UITs purchased or sold by a Fund could result in losses on UITs. Trading in UITs involves risks similar to the risks, involved in the writing of options on securities, described above under “Derivative Instruments—Options.”

 

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Interests in UITs are not individually redeemable, except upon termination of the UIT. To redeem, a Fund must accumulate a certain amount of UIT interests. The liquidity of small holdings of UITs, therefore, depends upon the existence of a secondary market. Upon redemption of a UIT interest, a Fund receives securities and cash identical to the deposit required of an investor wishing to purchase a UIT interest that day.

(38) Unit Trusts

Unit trusts are pooled investment vehicles located outside the United States that are operated similarly to mutual funds in the United States. In a unit trust, an asset management firm solicits a pool of capital from investors by issuing a specific quantity of shares and uses the capital for professional investments. An investment in units of a unit trust is subject to risks similar to those applicable to an investment in an open-end mutual fund, including that market risk, which is the risk that the market value of the trust’s investments could decline as a result of business, economic, political or other factors, resulting in a decline in the trust’s NAV. When a Fund invests in units of a unit trust, shareholders of the Fund bear their proportionate share of the trust’s fees and expenses, as well as their share of the Fund’s fees and expenses. In addition, an investment in units of a unit trust is subject to general foreign securities risks, including currency risk, and may be less liquid than an investment in a U.S. mutual fund.

(39) Variable and Floating Rate Securities

Variable rate securities provide for automatic establishment of a new interest rate at fixed intervals (i.e., daily, monthly, semi-annually, etc.). Floating rate securities provide for automatic adjustment of the interest rate whenever some specified interest rate index changes. The amount of interest to be paid to the holder is typically contingent on another rate (“contingent security”) such as the yield on 90-day Treasury bills. Variable rate securities may also include debt securities which have an interest rate which resets in the opposite direction of the rate of the contingent security.

(40) Warrants and Rights

Rights are short-term obligations issued in conjunction with new stock issues. Warrants give the holder the right to buy an issuer’s securities at a stated price for a stated time. The holder of a right or warrant has the right to purchase a given number of shares of a security of a particular issuer at a specified price until expiration of the right or warrant. Such investments provide greater potential for profit than a direct purchase of the same amount of the securities. Prices of warrants do not necessarily move in tandem with the prices of the underlying securities, and warrants are considered speculative investments. They pay no dividends and confer no rights other than a purchase option. If the price of the underlying securities does not rise above the exercise price before the date of expiration of a warrant or right, or if a warrant or right is not otherwise exercised by the date of its expiration, a Fund would lose its entire investment in such warrant or right.

(41) When-Issued, Delayed-Delivery and To-Be-Announced Securities

Certain Funds may purchase securities on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis. The purchase price and the interest rate payable, if any, on the securities are fixed on the purchase commitment date or at the time the settlement date is fixed. The value of these securities is subject to market fluctuation. For fixed-income securities, no interest accrues to a Fund until a settlement takes place. At the time a Fund makes a commitment to purchase securities on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis, it will record the transaction, reflect the daily value of the securities when determining its NAV, and if applicable, calculate the maturity for the purposes of determining its average maturity from the date of the transaction. At the time of settlement, a when-issued or delayed-delivery security may be valued below the amount of its purchase price.

 

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If a Fund chooses to dispose of the right to acquire a when-issued or delayed-delivery security prior to its acquisition, it could incur a loss or a gain due to market fluctuation. Furthermore, a Fund may be at a disadvantage if the other party to the transaction defaults. When-issued and delayed-delivery transactions may allow a Fund to hedge against changes in interest rates.

In addition, certain Funds may purchase or sell securities, including mortgage-backed securities, in the to-be-announced (“TBA”) market. A TBA purchase commitment is a security that is purchased or sold for a fixed price and the underlying securities are announced at a future date. The seller does not specify the particular securities to be delivered. Instead, a Fund agrees to accept any security that meets specified terms. For example, in a TBA mortgage-backed security transaction, a Fund and the seller would agree upon the issuer, interest rate and terms of the underlying mortgages. The seller would not identify the specific underlying mortgages until it issues the security. The purchaser of TBA securities generally is subject to increased market risk and interest rate risk because the delivered securities may be less favorable than anticipated by the purchaser.

Proposed Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) rules include mandatory margin requirements for the TBA market that would, if implemented, require a Fund to post collateral in connection with its TBA transactions. There is no similar requirement applicable to a Fund’s TBA counterparties. If those rules are implemented, the required collateralization of TBA trades could increase the cost of TBA transactions to a Fund and impose added operational complexity.

(42) Zero Coupon Securities

Certain Funds may invest in zero coupon securities. “Zero coupon” securities are issued at a significant discount from face value and pay interest only at maturity rather than at intervals during the life of the security. Zero coupon securities tend to be more volatile than other securities with similar stated maturities, but which make regular payments of either principal or interest.

A Fund is required to accrue and distribute imputed income from zero coupon securities on a current basis, even though it does not receive the income currently. A Fund may have to sell other investments to obtain cash needed to make income distributions, which may reduce a Fund’s assets, increase its expense ratio and decrease its rate of return.

Additional Risks

Market Disruption and Geopolitical Risk

The Funds are subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. War, terrorism, and related geopolitical events (and their aftermath) have led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects on U.S. and world economies and markets generally. Likewise, natural and environmental disasters, such as, for example, earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis and weather-related phenomena generally, as well as the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, including widespread epidemics or pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and systemic market dislocations can be highly disruptive to economies and markets. Those events as well as other changes in non-U.S. and domestic economic and political conditions also could adversely affect individual issuers or related groups of issuers, securities markets, interest rates, credit ratings, inflation, investor sentiment, and other factors affecting the value of a Fund’s investments.

 

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The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in travel restrictions and disruptions, closed borders, enhanced health screenings at ports of entry and elsewhere, disruption of and delays in healthcare service preparation and delivery, quarantines, event cancellations and restrictions, service cancellations or reductions, disruptions to business operations, supply chains and customer activity, lower consumer demand for goods and services, as well as general concern and uncertainty that has negatively affected the economic environment. The impact of this outbreak and any other epidemic or pandemic that may arise in the future could adversely affect the economies of many nations or the entire global economy, the financial performance of individual issuers, borrowers and sectors and the health of capital markets and other markets generally in potentially significant and unforeseen ways. This crisis or other public health crises may also exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. At this time, it is still not possible to estimate the severity or duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the severity, duration and frequency of any additional “waves” or emerging variants of COVID-19, or the efficacy or utilization of any therapeutic treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 or variants thereof. It is likewise still not possible to predict or estimate the longer-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, or any actions taken to contain or address the pandemic, on the Funds, the financial markets, and the economy at large. The foregoing could lead to a significant economic downturn or recession, increased market volatility, a greater number of market closures, higher default rates, supply chain disruptions and adverse effects on the values and liquidity of securities or other assets. Such impacts, which may vary across asset classes, may adversely affect the performance of a Fund’s investments, the Fund and your investment in the Fund.

Given the increasing interdependence between global economies and markets, conditions in one country, market, or region might adversely impact markets, issuers and/or foreign exchange rates in other countries, including the U.S. Continuing uncertainty as to the status of the Euro and the European Monetary Union (the “EMU”) has created significant volatility in currency and financial markets generally. Any partial or complete dissolution of the EMU, or any continued uncertainty as to its status, could have significant adverse effects on currency and financial markets, and on the values of a Fund’s investments. The UK left the EU (commonly known as “Brexit”) on January 31, 2020. An agreement between the UK and the EU governing their future trade relationship became effective January 1, 2021, but critical aspects of the relationship remain unresolved and subject to further negotiation and agreement. Brexit has resulted in volatility in European and global markets and could have negative long-term impacts on financial markets in the UK and throughout Europe. Significant uncertainty remains in the market regarding the ramifications of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and the arrangements that will apply to the UK’s relationship with the EU and other countries following its withdrawal; the range and potential implications of possible political, regulatory, economic, and market outcomes are difficult to predict. Moreover, other countries may seek to withdraw from the EU and/or abandon the euro, the common currency of the EU. The ultimate effects of these events and other socio-political or geopolitical issues are not known but could profoundly affect global economies and markets. Whether or not a Fund invests in securities of issuers located in Europe or with significant exposure to European issuers or countries, these events could negatively affect the value and liquidity of a Fund’s investments.

Many financial instruments use or may use a floating rate based on London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), which is the offered rate for short-term Eurodollar deposits between major international banks. ICE Benchmark Administration, the administrator of LIBOR, ceased publication of most LIBOR settings on a representative basis at the end of 2021 and is expected to cease publication of a majority of U.S. dollar LIBOR settings on a representative basis after June 30, 2023. In addition, global regulators have announced that, with limited exceptions, no new LIBOR-based contracts should be entered into after the end of 2021. The transition away from and eventual elimination of LIBOR may adversely affect the

 

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interest rates on, and liquidity and value of, certain assets and liabilities of a Fund that are tied to LIBOR. These may include bank loans, floating rate securities, structured securities (including asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities), other debt securities, derivatives, and other assets or liabilities tied to LIBOR, particularly insofar as the documentation governing such instruments does not include “fall back” provisions addressing the transition from LIBOR. Actions by regulators have resulted in the establishment of alternative reference rates to LIBOR in most major currencies (e.g., the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, which is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR, and the Sterling Overnight Interbank Average Rate, which is intended to replace GBP LIBOR). Markets are slowly developing in response to these new rates. Questions around liquidity of investments impacted by these rates, and how to appropriately adjust these rates at the time of transition, remain a concern for the Funds. The effect of any changes to, or discontinuation of, LIBOR on the Funds will vary depending, among other things, on (1) existing fallback or termination provisions in individual contracts and (2) the extent to which industry participants adopt new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new products and instruments. A Subadviser may have discretion to determine a successor or substitute reference rate, including any price or other adjustments to account for differences between the successor or substitute reference rate and previous rate. Such successor or substitute reference rate and any adjustments selected may negatively impact a Fund’s investments, performance or financial condition, and may expose the Fund to additional tax, accounting and regulatory risks. The transition away from LIBOR and the adoption of alternative reference rates may affect the value, liquidity or return on certain Fund investments and may result in costs incurred in connection with closing out positions and entering into new trades, adversely impacting a Fund’s overall financial condition or results of operations. It is difficult to predict the full impact of the transition away from LIBOR and the adoption of alternative reference rates on the Funds.

Unexpected political, regulatory and diplomatic events within the United States and abroad, such as the U.S.-China “trade war” that intensified in 2018, may affect investor and consumer confidence and may adversely impact financial markets and the broader economy, perhaps suddenly and to a significant degree. The current political climate and the further escalation of a trade war between China and the United States may have an adverse effect on both the U.S. and Chinese economies, as each country has recently imposed tariffs on the other country’s products. In January 2020, the U.S. and China signed a “Phase 1” trade agreement that reduced some U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods while boosting Chinese purchases of American goods. However, this agreement left in place a number of existing tariffs, and it is unclear whether further trade agreements may be reached in the future. Events such as these and their impact on the Funds are difficult to predict and it is unclear whether further tariffs may be imposed or other escalating actions may be taken in the future.

Cyber Security Risk

With the increased use of technologies such as the Internet and the dependence on computer systems to perform business and operational functions, investment companies (such as the Funds) and their service providers (including the Investment Manager) may be prone to operational and information security risks resulting from cyber-attacks and/or technological malfunctions. In general, cyber-attacks are deliberate, but unintentional events may have similar effects. Cyber-attacks include, among others, stealing or corrupting data maintained online or digitally, preventing legitimate users from accessing information or services on a website, releasing confidential information without authorization, and causing operational disruption. Successful cyber-attacks against, or security breakdowns of, a Fund, the Investment Manager, the Subadviser, or a custodian, transfer agent, or other affiliated or third-party service provider may adversely affect the Fund or its shareholders. For instance, cyber-attacks may interfere with the processing of shareholder transactions, affect a Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, cause the release of private shareholder information or confidential Fund information, impede trading, cause reputational damage, and subject the Fund to regulatory fines, penalties or financial losses, reimbursement or other compensation costs, and additional compliance costs. Cyber-attacks may render records of Fund assets and transactions,

 

54


shareholder ownership of Fund shares, and other data integral to the functioning of the Fund inaccessible or inaccurate or incomplete. The Funds may also incur substantial costs for cyber security risk management in order to prevent cyber incidents in the future. The Funds and their shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result. While the Investment Manager has established business continuity plans and systems designed to prevent cyber-attacks, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified. The Funds rely on third-party service providers for many of their day-to-day operations, and are subject to the risk that the protections and protocols implemented by those service providers will be ineffective to protect the Funds from cyber-attack. Any problems relating to the performance and effectiveness of security procedures used by the Funds or third-party service providers to protect the Funds’ assets, such as algorithms, codes, passwords, multiple signature systems, encryption and telephone call-backs, may have an adverse impact on an investment in a Fund. The Investment Manager does not control the cyber security plans and systems put in place by third-party service providers, and such third-party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Investment Manager or the Funds. Similar types of cyber security risks also are present for issuers of securities in which the Funds invest, which could result in material adverse consequences for such issuers, and may cause a Fund’s investment in such securities to lose value.

Diversification Requirements for the Funds

Each Fund, with the exception of the Focused Absolute Value Fund, intends to meet the diversification requirements of the 1940 Act as in effect from time to time. Currently under the 1940 Act, a “diversified” fund generally may not, with respect to 75% of its total assets, invest more than 5% of its total assets in the securities of any one issuer or own more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer (except, in each case, U.S. Government securities, cash, cash items and the securities of other investment companies). The remaining 25% of a fund’s total assets is not subject to this limitation. A fund that is non-diversified can invest a greater percentage of its assets in a single issuer or a group of issuers, and, as a result, may be subject to greater credit, market, and other risks than a diversified fund. The poor performance by a single issuer may have a greater impact on the performance of a non-diversified fund. A non-diversified fund’s shares tend to be more volatile than shares of a diversified fund and are more susceptible to the risks of focusing investments in a small number of issuers or industries, and the risks of a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence.

Fundamental Investment Restrictions

The following investment restrictions have been adopted by the Trust with respect to the Funds. Except as otherwise stated, these investment restrictions are “fundamental” policies. A “fundamental” policy is defined in the 1940 Act to mean that the restriction cannot be changed without the vote of a “majority of the outstanding voting securities” of the Funds. A majority of the outstanding voting securities is defined in the 1940 Act as the lesser of (a) 67% or more of the voting securities present at a meeting if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities are present or represented by proxy, or (b) more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities.

Fundamental Investment Restrictions of AMG River Road Small Cap Value Fund

The Fund may not (except as noted):

(1) Purchase or sell real estate (but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from investing directly or indirectly in portfolio instruments secured by real estate or interests therein or acquiring securities of real estate investment trusts or other issuers that deal in real estate).

 

55


(2) Purchase the securities of issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry (other than obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if immediately after such purchase the value of the Fund’s investments in such industry would exceed 25% of the value of the total assets of the Fund.

(3) Act as an underwriter of securities, except that, in connection with the disposition of a security, the Fund may be deemed to be an “underwriter” as that term is defined in the 1933 Act.

(4) As to 75% of the total assets of the Fund, purchase the securities of any one issuer (other than securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities) if immediately after such purchase, more than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets would be invested in securities of such issuer.

(5) Borrow money or issue senior securities, except that the Fund may borrow from banks and enter into reverse repurchase agreements for temporary purposes in amounts up to one-third of the value of its total assets at the time of such borrowing. The Fund may not mortgage, pledge or hypothecate any assets, except in connection with any such borrowing and in amounts not in excess of the lesser of the dollar amounts borrowed or 10% of the value of the total assets of the Fund at the time of its borrowing. All borrowings will be done from a bank and asset coverage of at least 300% is required. The Fund will not purchase securities when borrowings exceed 5% of that Fund’s total assets.

(6) Invest more than 5% of its total assets in securities of companies less than three years old. Such three-year periods shall include the operation of any predecessor trust or companies.

(7) Purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except that the Fund may enter into futures contracts and options thereon in accordance with the Fund’s investment objectives and policies.

(8) Make investments in securities for the purpose of exercising control.

(9) Purchase the securities of any one issuer if, immediately after such purchase, the Fund would own more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer.

(10) Sell securities short or purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as are necessary for the clearance of transactions. For this purpose, the deposit or payment by the Fund for initial or maintenance margin in connection with futures contracts is not considered to be the purchase or sale of a security on margin.

(11) Make loans, except that this restriction shall not prohibit (a) the purchase and holding of debt instruments in accordance with the Fund’s investment objectives and policies, (b) the lending of portfolio securities, or (c) the entry into repurchase agreements with banks or broker-dealers.

(12) Invest in puts, calls, straddles or combinations thereof, except to the extent disclosed in the SAI.

(13) Issue senior securities (as defined in the 1940 Act), except in connection with permitted borrowings as described above or as permitted by rule, regulation or order of the SEC.

With respect to limitation (7) above, such limitation should not be deemed to prohibit investments in forwards, swaps or other instruments that were not deemed “commodity interests” prior to July 21, 2010.

 

56


Fundamental Investment Restrictions of AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value Fund and AMG River Road Small-Mid Cap Value Fund

Each Fund may not (except as noted):

(1) Purchase or sell real estate (but this restriction shall not prevent the Funds from investing directly or indirectly in portfolio instruments secured by real estate or interests therein or acquiring securities of real estate investment trusts or other issuers that deal in real estate).

(2) Purchase the securities of issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry (other than obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if immediately after such purchase the value of a Fund’s investments in such industry would exceed 25% of the value of the total assets of the Fund.

(3) Act as an underwriter of securities, except that, in connection with the disposition of a security, a Fund may be deemed to be an “underwriter” as that term is defined in the 1933 Act.

(4) Purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except that a Fund may enter into futures contracts and options thereon in accordance with such Fund’s investment objectives and policies.

(5) Make investments in securities for the purpose of exercising control.

(6) Purchase the securities of any one issuer if, immediately after such purchase, a Fund would own more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer.

(7) Sell securities short or purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as are necessary for the clearance of transactions. For this purpose, the deposit or payment by a Fund for initial or maintenance margin in connection with futures contracts is not considered to be the purchase or sale of a security on margin.

(8) Make loans, except that this restriction shall not prohibit (a) the purchase and holding of debt instruments in accordance with a Fund’s investment objectives and policies, (b) the lending of portfolio securities, or (c) the entry into repurchase agreements with banks or broker-dealers.

(9) Invest in puts, calls, straddles or combinations thereof, except to the extent disclosed in the SAI.

(10)(a) Except for AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value Fund: Borrow money or issue senior securities, except that a Fund may borrow from banks and enter into reverse repurchase agreements for temporary purposes in amounts up to one-third of the value of its total assets at the time of such borrowing.

(b) For AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value Fund: Borrow money or issue senior securities, except that each Fund may borrow from banks and enter into reverse repurchase agreements for temporary purposes in amounts up to one-third of the value of its total assets at the time of such borrowing. The Funds may not mortgage, pledge or hypothecate any assets, except in connection with any such borrowing and in amounts not in excess of the lesser of the dollar amounts borrowed or 10% of the value of the total assets of the Fund at the time of its borrowing. All borrowings will be done from a bank and asset coverage of at least 300% is required. A Fund will not purchase securities when borrowings exceed 5% of that Fund’s total assets.

 

57


(11) Except for AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value Fund: As to 75% of the total assets of the Fund, purchase the securities of any one issuer (other than cash, other investment companies and securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities) if immediately after such purchase, more than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets would be invested in the securities of such issuer.

(12) Issue senior securities (as defined in the 1940 Act), except in connection with permitted borrowings as described above or as permitted by rule, regulation or order of the SEC.

With respect to limitation (4) above, such limitation should not be deemed to prohibit investments in forwards, swaps or other instruments that were not deemed “commodity interests” prior to July 21, 2010.

Fundamental Investment Restrictions of AMG River Road Focused Absolute Value Fund

The Fund may not (except as noted):

(1) Purchase or sell real estate (but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from investing directly or indirectly in portfolio instruments secured by real estate or interests therein or acquiring securities of real estate investment trusts or other issuers that deal in real estate).

(2) Purchase the securities of issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry (other than obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if immediately after such purchase the value of the Fund’s investments in such industry would exceed 25% of the value of the total assets of the Fund.

(3) Act as an underwriter of securities, except that, in connection with the disposition of a security, the Fund may be deemed to be an “underwriter” as that term is defined in the 1933 Act.

(4) Issue senior securities (as defined in the 1940 Act), except in connection with permitted borrowings as described above or as permitted by rule, regulation or order of the SEC.

(5) Make loans, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief.

(5) Borrow money, except that the Fund may borrow from banks and enter into reverse repurchase agreements for temporary purposes in amounts up to one-third of the value of its total assets at the time of such borrowing.

(6) Purchase physical commodities, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any applicable exemptive relief or unless acquired as a result of the ownership of securities or instruments, but this restriction shall not prohibit the Fund from purchasing futures contracts, options, foreign currencies or forward contracts, swaps, caps, collars, floors and other financial instruments or from investing in securities of any kind.

Fundamental Investment Restrictions of AMG River Road International Value Equity Fund

The Fund may:

(1) Borrow money to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act of 1940, or the rules or regulations thereunder, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended from time to time, or by regulatory guidance or interpretations of, or any exemptive order or other relief issued by the SEC or any successor organization or their staff under, such Act, rules or regulations.

 

58


The Fund may not:

(1) Purchase or sell real estate (but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from investing directly or indirectly in portfolio instruments secured by real estate or interests therein or acquiring securities of real estate investment trusts or other issuers that deal in real estate).

(2) Purchase the securities of issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry (other than obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if immediately after such purchase the value of the Fund’s investments in such industry would exceed 25% of the value of the total assets of the Fund.

(3) Act as an underwriter of securities, except that, in connection with the disposition of a security, the Fund may be deemed to be an “underwriter” as that term is defined in the 1933 Act.

(4) Purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except that the Fund may enter into futures contracts and options thereon in accordance with the Fund’s investment objectives and policies.

(5) Make investments in securities for the purpose of exercising control.

(6) Issue senior securities (as defined in the 1940 Act), except in connection with permitted borrowings as described above or as permitted by rule, regulation or order of the SEC.

(7) Make loans, except as permitted by the 1940 Act, and the rules and regulations thereunder.

(8) Purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as are necessary for the clearance of transactions. For this purpose, the deposit or payment by the Fund for initial or maintenance margin in connection with futures contracts is not considered to be the purchase or sale of a security on margin.

With respect to limitation (4) above, such limitation should not be deemed to prohibit investments in forwards, swaps or other instruments that were not deemed “commodity interests” prior to July 21, 2010.

Fundamental Investment Restrictions of AMG River Road Mid Cap Value Fund

The Fund may:

(1) Borrow money and issue senior securities to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act of 1940, or the rules or regulations thereunder, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended from time to time, or by regulatory guidance or interpretations of, or any exemptive order or other relief issued by the SEC or any successor organization or their staff under, such Act, rules or regulations.

 

59


(2) Lend money to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act of 1940, or the rules or regulations thereunder, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended from time to time, or by regulatory guidance or interpretations of, or any exemptive order or other relief issued by the SEC or any successor organization or their staff under, such Act, rules or regulations.

The Fund may not (except as noted):

(1) Purchase or sell real estate (but this restriction shall not prevent the Fund from investing directly or indirectly in portfolio instruments secured by real estate or interests therein or acquiring securities of real estate investment trusts or other issuers that deal in real estate), interests in oil, gas and/or mineral exploration or development programs or leases.

(2) Purchase the securities of issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry (other than obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if immediately after such purchase the value of the Fund’s investments in such industry would exceed 25% of the value of the total assets of the Fund.

(3) Act as an underwriter of securities, except that, in connection with the disposition of a security, the Fund may be deemed to be an “underwriter” as that term is defined in the 1933 Act.

(4) As to 75% of the total assets of the Fund, purchase the securities of any one issuer (other than securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities) if immediately after such purchase, more than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets would be invested in securities of such issuer.

(5) Purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except that the Fund may enter into futures contracts and options thereon in accordance with such Fund’s investment objectives and policies.

(6) Make investments in securities for the purpose of exercising control.

(7) Purchase the securities of any one issuer if, immediately after such purchase, the Fund would own more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer.

(8) Sell securities short or purchase securities on margin, except such short-term credits as are necessary for the clearance of transactions. For this purpose, the deposit or payment by the Fund for initial or maintenance margin in connection with futures contracts is not considered to be the purchase or sale of a security on margin.

(9) Invest in puts, calls, straddles or combinations thereof, except to the extent disclosed in the SAI.

With respect to limitation (5) above, such limitation should not be deemed to prohibit investments in forwards, swaps or other instruments that were not deemed “commodity interests” prior to July 21, 2010.

Non-Fundamental Investment Restrictions of Funds Other Than AMG River Road Mid Cap Value Fund

The following restrictions are designated as non-fundamental with respect to each Fund other than AMG River Road Mid Cap Value Fund and may be changed by the Trustees without shareholder approval.

 

60


(1) Except as otherwise provided in a Fund’s Prospectus or in this SAI, a Fund will only purchase call options to the extent that the premiums paid on all outstanding call options do not exceed 20% of that Fund’s total assets.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in a Fund’s Prospectus or in this SAI, a Fund will only purchase put options to the extent that the premiums paid on all outstanding put options do not exceed 20% of that Fund’s total assets.

(3) Except as otherwise provided in a Fund’s Prospectus or in this SAI, with regard to the writing of put options, a Fund will limit the aggregate value of the obligations underlying such put options to 50% of its total assets.

(4) Each Fund will limit investments in securities of issuers which a Fund is restricted from selling to the public without registration under the 1933 Act to no more than 5% of a Fund’s total assets, excluding restricted securities eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S under the 1933 Act, that have been deemed to be liquid pursuant to guidelines adopted by the Board. Securities of foreign issuers that are restricted as to resale in the U.S., but are freely tradable in their local market, are not subject to this restriction.

Portfolio Turnover

Generally, the Funds purchase securities for investment purposes and not for short-term trading profits. However, each Fund may sell securities without regard to the length of time that the security is held in the portfolio when the Fund believes the sale is consistent with the Fund’s investment strategies and in the Fund’s best interest to do so. A higher degree of portfolio activity may increase brokerage costs to a Fund and may increase shareholders’ tax liability.

The portfolio turnover rates for each Fund for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2021 and October 31, 2022 were as follows:

All Cap Value Fund

 

Fiscal Year Ended

   Portfolio Turnover Rate  

October 31, 2021

     20

October 31, 2022

     30

Focused Absolute Value Fund

 

Period/Fiscal Year Ended

   Portfolio Turnover Rate  

October 31, 2021

     83

October 31, 2022

     113

International Value Equity Fund*

 

Fiscal Year Ended

   Portfolio Turnover Rate  

October 31, 2021

     159

October 31, 2022

     51

Mid Cap Value Fund**

 

Fiscal Year Ended

   Portfolio Turnover Rate  

October 31, 2021

     149

October 31, 2022

     71

 

61


Small-Mid Cap Value Fund

 

Fiscal Year Ended    Portfolio Turnover Rate  

October 31, 2021

     44

October 31, 2022

     32

Small Cap Value Fund

 

Fiscal Year Ended    Portfolio Turnover Rate  

October 31, 2021

     39

October 31, 2022

     33

 

*

The International Value Equity Fund’s higher portfolio turnover rate for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2021 from that for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 is attributable to changes in the Fund’s subadviser and investment strategy that took effect on August 16, 2021.

**

The Mid Cap Value Fund’s higher portfolio turnover rate for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2021 from that for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 is attributable to changes in the Fund’s subadviser and investment strategy that took effect on March 19, 2021.

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

The Trust has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent selective disclosure of each Fund’s portfolio holdings to third parties, other than disclosures that are consistent with the best interests of shareholders of a Fund. Each Fund will disclose its portfolio holdings on a monthly basis on or about the 10th business day of the following month by posting this information on the Fund’s website. The Chief Compliance Officer of the Trust may designate an earlier or later date for public disclosure of a Fund’s portfolio holdings. In addition, each Fund (i) may disclose the top 10 portfolio holdings at any time following the disclosure of portfolio holdings, and (ii) may disclose statistical information regarding such Fund’s portfolio allocation characteristics on or about 10 business days after each month-end, or may disclose such information if it is derived from publicly available portfolio holdings, in each case, by posting the information on the Fund’s website. Non-public portfolio holdings may also be disclosed by a Fund or its duly authorized service providers to certain third parties, including mutual fund evaluation services, rating agencies, lenders or providers of borrowing facilities, if (i) the Chief Compliance Officer of the Trust has made a determination that the disclosure of portfolio holdings information in the manner and at the time proposed is consistent with a legitimate business purpose of the Fund; and (ii) the recipient has been informed in writing that it is subject to a duty of confidentiality with respect to that information and undertakes not to trade in securities or other property on the basis of that information unless and until that information is made publicly available. The Board of Trustees receives reports of any potential exceptions to, or violations of, the Trust’s policies and procedures governing disclosure of portfolio holdings that are deemed to constitute a material compliance matter. The Chief Compliance Officer or his designee is responsible for monitoring compliance with these procedures, including requesting information from service providers.

The Trust has arrangements with the persons indicated below to make available information about a Fund’s portfolio securities. The Trust’s policies and procedures prohibit any person or entity from receiving compensation or consideration of any kind in connection with the release of information relating to a Fund’s portfolio holdings.

The Funds may regularly provide non-public portfolio holdings information, including current portfolio holdings information, to the following third parties in the normal course of their performance of services to the Funds: the Subadviser; the independent registered public accounting firm (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP); the custodian and securities lending agent (The Bank of New York

 

62


Mellon); financial printer (Donnelley Financial Solutions); counsel to the Funds (Ropes & Gray LLP) or counsel to the independent trustees of the Funds (Sullivan & Worcester LLP); regulatory authorities; and securities exchanges and other listing organizations. Disclosures of current portfolio holdings information will be made on a daily basis with respect to the Subadviser and the custodian. Disclosures of portfolio holdings information will be made to the Funds’ independent registered public accounting firm on an annual basis in connection with the annual audit of the Funds’ financial statements and to the Funds’ financial printer on a quarterly basis in connection with the preparation of public filings, and from time to time in the course of Fund operations. Disclosures of portfolio holdings information, including current portfolio holdings information, may be made to counsel to the Funds or counsel to the Funds’ independent trustees in connection with periodic meetings of the Board of Trustees and otherwise from time to time in connection with the Funds’ operations. In addition, the Funds provide portfolio holdings information to the following data providers, fund ranking/rating services, independent consultants, fair valuation services and other service providers: Lipper, Inc., Morningstar, Inc., ICE Data Services, FactSet Research Systems Inc., Bloomberg L.P., Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., Davison, Dietsch & McCarthy, Inc., Seismic Professional Services, eVestment Alliance, LLC, HedgeMark Risk Analytics, LLC, Confluence Technologies, Inc., and VATIT USA Inc. (d/b/a WTax). The Funds may disclose non-public current portfolio holdings information to ICE Data Services on a monthly basis for valuation purposes, to FactSet Research Systems Inc. on a daily basis for portfolio holdings analysis, to Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. on a daily basis for proxy voting and class action processing purposes, to Davison, Dietsch, & McCarthy, Inc. and Seismic Professional Services on a quarterly basis for services related to Fund marketing materials, to eVestment Alliance, LLC on a quarterly basis for services related to Fund marketing, to HedgeMark Risk Analytics, LLC on a daily basis for liquidity classification services, to Confluence Technologies, Inc. on a monthly basis in connection with regulatory filings and on a daily basis for services related to Rule 18f-4, and to VATIT USA Inc. (d/b/a WTax) on a daily basis for tax services relating to foreign securities. The Funds also provide current portfolio holdings information to Lipper, Inc., Morningstar, Inc., Bloomberg L.P. and various institutional investment consultants and other related firms, but only after such information has already been disclosed to the general public.

The entities to which the Funds voluntarily disclose portfolio holdings information are required, either by explicit agreement or by virtue of their respective duties to the Funds, to maintain the confidentiality of the information disclosed. There can be no assurance that the Trust’s policies and procedures regarding selective disclosure of the Funds’ portfolio holdings will protect the Funds from potential misuse of that information by individuals or entities to which it is disclosed.

TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS

The Trustees and Officers of the Trust, their business addresses, principal occupations for the past five years and ages are listed below. The Trustees provide broad supervision over the affairs of the Trust and the Funds. The Trustees are experienced executives who meet periodically throughout the year to oversee the Funds’ activities, review contractual arrangements with companies that provide services to the Funds, and review the Funds’ performance. Unless otherwise noted, the address of each Trustee or Officer is the address of the Trust: 680 Washington Boulevard, Suite 500, Stamford, Connecticut 06901.

There is no stated term of office for Trustees. Each Trustee serves during the continued lifetime of the Trust until he or she dies, resigns or is removed, or, if sooner, until the next meeting of shareholders called for the purpose of electing Trustees and until the election and qualification of his or her successor in accordance with the Trust’s organizational documents and the Board’s policy that a Trustee retire at the end of the calendar year in which the Trustee reaches the age of 75. The Chairman of the Board, the President, the Treasurer and the Secretary and such other Officers as the Trustees may in their discretion from time to time elect each hold office until his or her successor is elected and qualified, or until he or she sooner dies, resigns, is removed or becomes disqualified. Each Officer holds office at the pleasure of the Trustees.

 

63


Independent Trustees

The Trustees in the following table are not “interested persons” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act (“Independent Trustees”). Eric Rakowski serves as the Independent Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

 

NAME

AND

YEAR OF

BIRTH

  

POSITION(S)

HELD

WITH THE

TRUST

AND

LENGTH

OF TIME

SERVED

  

PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION(S)
DURING PAST

5 YEARS

  

NUMBER
OF
FUNDS
IN
FUND
COMPLEX
OVERSEEN
BY
TRUSTEE

  

OTHER
DIRECTORSHIPS
HELD BY
TRUSTEE

  

EXPERIENCE,
QUALIFICATIONS,
ATTRIBUTES,
SKILLS FOR
BOARD
MEMBERSHIP

Bruce B.

Bingham

YOB: 1948

  

Trustee

since 2014

   Partner, Hamilton Partners (real estate development firm) (1987-Present)    41    Director of The Yacktman Funds, Inc. (2 portfolios) (2000-2012)    Significant experience as a board member of mutual funds; business experience as a partner of a real estate development and investment firm; familiar with financial statements.

 

64


NAME

AND

YEAR OF

BIRTH

  

POSITION(S)

HELD

WITH THE

TRUST

AND

LENGTH

OF TIME

SERVED

  

PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION(S)
DURING PAST

5 YEARS

  

NUMBER
OF
FUNDS
IN
FUND
COMPLEX
OVERSEEN
BY
TRUSTEE

  

OTHER
DIRECTORSHIPS
HELD BY
TRUSTEE

  

EXPERIENCE,
QUALIFICATIONS,
ATTRIBUTES,
SKILLS FOR
BOARD
MEMBERSHIP

Kurt A.

Keilhacker

YOB: 1963

   Trustee since 2014; Chairman of the Audit Committee since 2020    Managing Partner, TechFund Europe (2000-Present); Managing Partner, TechFund Capital (1997-Present); Managing Partner, Elementum Ventures (2013-Present); Director, MetricStory, Inc. (2017-Present); Trustee, Wheaton College (2018-Present); Trustee, Gordon College (2001-2016); Board Member, 6wind SA (2002-2019)    45    None    Significant board experience, including as a board member of private companies; significant experience as a managing member of private companies; significant experience in the venture capital industry; significant experience as co-founder of a number of technology companies.

 

65


NAME

AND

YEAR OF

BIRTH

  

POSITION(S)

HELD

WITH THE

TRUST

AND

LENGTH

OF TIME

SERVED

  

PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION(S)
DURING PAST

5 YEARS

  

NUMBER
OF
FUNDS
IN
FUND
COMPLEX
OVERSEEN
BY
TRUSTEE

  

OTHER
DIRECTORSHIPS
HELD BY
TRUSTEE

  

EXPERIENCE,
QUALIFICATIONS,
ATTRIBUTES,
SKILLS FOR
BOARD
MEMBERSHIP

Steven J. Paggioli

YOB: 1950

   Trustee since 2010    Independent Consultant (2002-Present); Executive Vice President, Secretary and Director, Investment Company Administration, LLC (1990-2001)    41    Trustee, Professionally Managed Portfolios (28 portfolios); Advisory Board Member, Sustainable Growth Advisors, LP; Independent Director, Muzinich BDC, Inc. (business development company) (2019-Present); Independent Director, Chase Investment Counsel (2008-2019)    Significant board experience, including as a board member of mutual funds; significant executive experience with several financial services firms; former service with financial service regulator; Audit Committee financial expert.

Eric Rakowski

YOB: 1958

   Trustee since 2010; Independent Chairman of the Board of Trustees since 2017; Chairman of the Governance Committee since 2017    Professor of Law, University of California at Berkeley School of Law (1990-Present)    45    Trustee of Parnassus Funds (3 portfolios) (2021-Present); Trustee of Parnassus Income Funds (2 portfolios) (2021-Present); Director of Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc. (10 portfolios); Trustee of Third Avenue Trust (3 portfolios) (2002-2019); Trustee of Third Avenue Variable Trust (1 portfolio) (2002-2019)    Significant experience as a board member of mutual funds; former practicing attorney; currently professor of law.

 

66


NAME

AND

YEAR OF

BIRTH

  

POSITION(S)

HELD

WITH THE

TRUST

AND

LENGTH

OF TIME

SERVED

  

PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION(S)
DURING PAST

5 YEARS

  

NUMBER
OF
FUNDS
IN
FUND
COMPLEX
OVERSEEN
BY
TRUSTEE

  

OTHER
DIRECTORSHIPS
HELD BY
TRUSTEE

  

EXPERIENCE,
QUALIFICATIONS,
ATTRIBUTES,
SKILLS FOR
BOARD
MEMBERSHIP

Victoria L. Sassine

YOB: 1965

   Trustee since 2014    Adjunct Professor, Babson College (2007-Present); Director, Board of Directors, PRG Group (2017-Present); CEO, Founder, Scale Smarter Partners, LLC (2018-Present); Adviser, EVOFEM Biosciences (2019-Present); Chairperson, Board of Directors, Business Management Associates (2018-2019)    45    None    Currently professor of finance; significant business and finance experience in strategic financial and operation management positions in a variety of industries; accounting experience in a global accounting firm; experience as a board member of various organizations; Certified Public Accountant (inactive).

Interested Trustee

Mr. Weston is an “interested person” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act by virtue of his position with, and interest in securities of, AMG.

 

67


NAME

AND

YEAR OF

BIRTH

  

POSITION(S)

HELD WITH

THE TRUST

AND

LENGTH OF

TIME

SERVED

  

PRINCIPAL
OCCUPATION(S)
DURING PAST 5

YEARS

  

NUMBER

OF FUNDS

IN FUND
COMPLEX
OVERSEEN

BY

TRUSTEE

  

OTHER
DIRECTORSHIPS
HELD BY
TRUSTEE

  

EXPERIENCE,
QUALIFICATIONS,
ATTRIBUTES, SKILLS
FOR BOARD
MEMBERSHIP

Garret W.

Weston

YOB: 1981

  

Trustee

since 2021

   Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2008-Present): Managing Director, Co-Head of Affiliate Engagement (2021-Present), Senior Vice President, Affiliate Development (2016-2021), Vice President, Office of the CEO (2015-2016), Vice President, New Investments (2012-2015), Senior Associate, New Investments (2008-2012); Associate, Madison Dearborn Partners (2006-2008); Analyst, Merrill Lynch (2004-2006)    45    None    Significant senior leadership role within AMG across a number of areas, including responsibilities since 2020 for the AMG Funds business and other distribution related activities, as well as prior significant experience with AMG’s investments and relationships with its Affiliates. Prior to AMG, significant business, investment and corporate finance experience within the financial services industry.

Information About Each Trustee’s Experience, Qualifications, Attributes or Skills

Trustees of the Trust, together with information as to their positions with the Trust, principal occupations and other board memberships for the past five years, and experience, qualifications, attributes or skills for serving as Trustees are shown in the tables above. The summaries relating to the experience, qualifications, attributes and skills of the Trustees are required by the registration form adopted by the SEC, do not constitute holding out the Board or any Trustee as having any special expertise or experience, and do not impose any greater responsibility or liability on any such person or on the Board as a whole than would otherwise be the case. The Board believes that the significance of each Trustee’s experience, qualifications, attributes or skills is an individual matter (meaning that experience that is important for one Trustee may not have the same value for another) and that these factors are best evaluated at the Board level, with no single Trustee, or particular factor, being indicative of Board effectiveness. However, the Board believes that Trustees need to be able to critically review, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, and to interact effectively with Trust management, service providers and counsel, in order to exercise effective business judgment in the performance of their duties. The Board believes that each of its members has these abilities. Experience relevant to having these abilities may be achieved through a Trustee’s educational background; business, professional training or practice (e.g., finance or law), or academic positions; experience from service as a board member (including the Board) or as an executive of investment funds, significant private or not-for-profit entities or other organizations; and/or other life experiences. To assist them in evaluating matters under federal and state law, the Independent Trustees are counseled by their own separate, independent legal counsel, who participates in Board meetings and interacts with the Investment Manager, and also may benefit from information provided by the Trust’s and the Investment Manager’s legal counsel. Both Independent Trustee and Trust counsel have significant experience advising funds and fund board members. The Board and its committees have the ability to engage other experts, including the Funds’ independent public accounting firm, as appropriate. The Board evaluates its performance on an annual basis.

 

68


Officers

 

NAME AND YEAR OF

BIRTH

  

POSITION(S) HELD

WITH THE TRUST AND

LENGTH OF TIME

SERVED

  

PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION(S)

DURING

PAST 5 YEARS

Keitha L. Kinne

YOB: 1958

   Chief Operating Officer since 2016; President, Chief Executive Officer and Principal Executive Officer since 2018    Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2007-Present); Chief Investment Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2008-Present); President and Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2018-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2007-Present); President, Chief Executive Officer and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2018-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2007-Present); Chief Operating Officer, AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Aston Asset Management, LLC (2016); President and Principal Executive Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II and AMG Funds III (2012-2014); Managing Partner, AMG Funds LLC (2007-2014); President and Principal, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2012-2014); Managing Director, Legg Mason & Co., LLC (2006-2007); Managing Director, Citigroup Asset Management (2004-2006)

 

69


NAME AND YEAR OF

BIRTH

  

POSITION(S) HELD

WITH THE TRUST AND

LENGTH OF TIME

SERVED

  

PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION(S)

DURING

PAST 5 YEARS

Thomas G. Disbrow

YOB: 1966

   Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer since 2017    Vice President, Mutual Fund Treasurer & CFO, AMG Funds, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Treasurer and Principal Accounting Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Managing Director—Global Head of Traditional Funds Product Control, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2015-2017); Managing Director—Head of North American Funds Treasury, UBS Asset Management (Americas), Inc. (2011-2015)

Mark J. Duggan

YOB: 1965

   Secretary and Chief Legal Officer since 2015    Managing Director and Senior Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2021-Present); Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2021); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2015-Present); Attorney, K&L Gates, LLP (2009-2015)

Patrick J. Spellman

YOB: 1974

   Chief Compliance Officer and Sarbanes-Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer since 2019; Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer since 2022    Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2017-Present); Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Distributors, Inc. (2010-Present); Chief Compliance Officer and Sarbanes-Oxley Code of Ethics Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2019-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, and AMG Funds III (2014-2019; 2022-Present); Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer, AMG Funds IV (2016-2019; 2022-Present); Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, AMG Funds LLC (2011-2017); Compliance Manager, Legal and Compliance, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (2005-2011)

 

70


NAME AND YEAR OF

BIRTH

  

POSITION(S) HELD

WITH THE TRUST AND

LENGTH OF TIME

SERVED

  

PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION(S)

DURING

PAST 5 YEARS

John A. Starace

YOB: 1970

   Deputy Treasurer since 2017    Vice President, Mutual Fund Accounting, AMG Funds LLC (2021-Present); Director, Mutual Fund Accounting, AMG Funds LLC (2017-2021); Vice President, Deputy Treasurer of Mutual Funds Services, AMG Funds LLC (2014-2017); Deputy Treasurer, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2017-Present); Vice President, Citi Hedge Fund Services (2010-2014); Audit Senior Manager (2005-2010) and Audit Manager (2001-2005), Deloitte & Touche LLP

Maureen M. Kerrigan

YOB: 1985

   Assistant Secretary since 2016    Vice President, Senior Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2021-Present); Vice President, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2019-2021); Director, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2017-2018); Vice President, Counsel, AMG Funds LLC (2015-2017); Assistant Secretary, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II, AMG Funds III and AMG Funds IV (2016-Present); Associate, Ropes & Gray LLP (2011-2015); Law Fellow, Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice (2010-2011)

 

71


Trustee Share Ownership

 

Name of Trustee

  

Dollar Range of Equity
Securities in the Funds
Beneficially Owned as of

December 31, 2022

  

Aggregate Dollar Range of
Equity Securities in All
Registered Investment
Companies Overseen by
Trustee in the Family of
Investment Companies
Beneficially Owned as of
December 31, 2022

Independent Trustees:

Bruce B. Bingham

Kurt A. Keilhacker

Steven J. Paggioli

Eric Rakowski

Victoria L. Sassine

  

None

None

Over $100,000

None

$1 – $10,000

  

Over $100,000

Over $100,000

Over $100,000

Over $100,000

Over $100,000

Interested Trustee:

Garret W. Weston

   None    Over $100,000

Board Leadership Structure and Risk Oversight

The following provides an overview of the leadership structure of the Board of Trustees of AMG Funds IV (the “Board”) and the Board’s oversight of the Funds’ risk management process. The Board consists of six Trustees, five of whom are Independent Trustees. An Independent Trustee serves as Chairman of the Board. In addition, the Board also has two standing committees, the Audit Committee and Governance Committee (the “Committees”) (discussed below), each comprised of all of the Independent Trustees, to which the Board has delegated certain authority and oversight responsibilities.

The Board’s role in management of the Trust is oversight, including oversight of the Funds’ risk management process. The Board meets regularly on at least a quarterly basis and at these meetings the officers of the Funds and the Funds’ Chief Compliance Officer report to the Board on a variety of matters. A portion of each regular meeting is devoted to an executive session of the Independent Trustees, the Independent Trustees’ separate, independent legal counsel, and the Funds’ Chief Compliance Officer, at which no members of management are present. In a separate executive session of the Independent Trustees and the Independent Trustees’ independent legal counsel, the Independent Trustees consider a variety of matters that are required by law to be considered by the Independent Trustees, as well as matters that are scheduled to come before the full Board, including fund governance, compliance, and leadership issues. When considering these matters, the Independent Trustees are advised by their independent legal counsel. The Board reviews its leadership structure periodically and believes that its structure is appropriate to enable the Board to exercise its oversight of the Funds.

AMG Funds IV has retained AMG Funds LLC as the Funds’ investment adviser and administrator. The Investment Manager is responsible for the Funds’ overall administration and operations, including management of the risks that arise from the Funds’ investments and operations. Employees of the Investment Manager serve as several of the Funds’ officers, including the Funds’ President. The Board provides oversight of the services provided by the Investment Manager and the Funds’ officers, including their risk management activities. On an annual basis, the Funds’ Chief

 

72


Compliance Officer conducts a compliance review and risk assessment and prepares a written report relating to the review that is provided to the Board for review and discussion. The assessment includes a broad-based review of the risks inherent to the Funds, the controls designed to address those risks, and selective testing of those controls to determine whether they are operating effectively and are reasonably designed. In the course of providing oversight, the Board and the Committees receive a wide range of reports on the Funds’ activities, including regarding each Fund’s investment portfolio, the compliance of the Funds with applicable laws, and the Funds’ financial accounting and reporting. The Board receives periodic reports from the Funds’ Chief Legal Officer on the Investment Manager’s risk management activities. The Board also receives periodic reports from the Funds’ Chief Compliance Officer regarding the compliance of the Funds with federal and state securities laws and the Funds’ internal compliance policies and procedures. In addition, the Board receives periodic reports from the portfolio managers of the Subadviser and the Investment Manager’s investment research team regarding the management of the Funds, including their investment risks. The Board also receives periodic reports from the Funds’ Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and other senior personnel of the Investment Manager regarding the Investment Manager’s general business operations.

Board Committees

As described below, the Board of Trustees has two standing Committees, each of which is chaired by an Independent Trustee. The Board has not established a formal risk oversight committee. However, much of the regular work of the Board and its standing Committees addresses aspects of risk oversight.

Audit Committee

The Board of Trustees has an Audit Committee consisting of all of the Independent Trustees. Kurt A. Keilhacker serves as the chairman of the Audit Committee. Under the terms of its charter, the Audit Committee: (a) acts for the Trustees in overseeing the Trust’s financial reporting and auditing processes; (b) receives and reviews communications from the independent registered public accounting firm relating to its review of the Funds’ financial statements; (c) reviews and assesses the performance, approves the compensation, and approves or ratifies the appointment, retention or termination of the Trust’s independent registered public accounting firm; (d) meets periodically with the independent registered public accounting firm to review the annual audits of the series of the Trust, including the audits of the Funds, and pre-approves the audit services provided by the independent registered public accounting firm; (e) considers and acts upon proposals for the independent registered public accounting firm to provide non-audit services to the Trust or the Investment Manager or its affiliates to the extent that such approval is required by applicable laws or regulations; (f) considers and reviews with the independent registered public accounting firm, periodically as the need arises, but not less frequently than annually, matters bearing upon the registered public accounting firm’s status as “independent” under applicable standards of independence established from time to time by the SEC and other regulatory authorities; and (g) reviews and reports to the full Board with respect to any material accounting, tax, valuation or recordkeeping issues of which the Audit Committee is aware that may affect the Trust, the Trust’s financial statements or the amount of any dividend or distribution right, among other matters. The chairman of the Audit Committee or his designee also may carry out the duties of the Board’s pricing oversight committee from time to time. The Audit Committee met two times during the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022.

 

73


Governance Committee

The Board of Trustees has a Governance Committee consisting of all of the Independent Trustees. Eric Rakowski serves as the chairman of the Governance Committee. Under the terms of its charter, the Governance Committee is empowered to perform a variety of functions on behalf of the Board, including responsibility to make recommendations with respect to the following matters: (i) individuals to be appointed or nominated for election as Independent Trustees; (ii) the designation and responsibilities of the chairperson of the Board (who shall be an Independent Trustee) and Board committees, such other officers of the Board, if any, as the Governance Committee deems appropriate, and officers of the Funds; (iii) the compensation to be paid to Independent Trustees; and (iv) other matters the Governance Committee deems necessary or appropriate. The Governance Committee is also empowered to: (i) set any desired standards or qualifications for service as a Trustee; (ii) conduct self-evaluations of the performance of the Trustees and help facilitate the Board’s evaluation of the performance of the Board at least annually; (iii) oversee the selection of independent legal counsel to the Independent Trustees and review reports from independent legal counsel regarding potential conflicts of interest; and (iv) consider and evaluate any other matter the Governance Committee deems necessary or appropriate. It is the policy of the Governance Committee to consider nominees recommended by shareholders. Shareholders who would like to recommend nominees to the Governance Committee should submit the candidate’s name and background information in a sufficiently timely manner (and in any event, no later than the date specified for receipt of shareholder proposals in any applicable proxy statement of the Funds) and should address their recommendations to the attention of the Governance Committee, c/o the Secretary of the Funds, 680 Washington Boulevard, Suite 500, Stamford, Connecticut 06901. The Governance Committee met two times during the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022.

Trustees’ Compensation

For their services as Trustees of the Trust and other funds within the AMG Fund Complex for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, the Trustees were compensated as follows:

Compensation Table:

 

Name of

Trustee

  

Aggregate

Compensation

from the Funds (a)

    

Total Compensation

from the

Fund Complex

Paid to Trustees (b)

 

Independent Trustees:

     

Bruce B. Bingham

   $ 20,766      $ 250,000  

Kurt A. Keilhacker(c)

   $ 22,843      $ 316,000  

Steven J. Paggioli

   $ 20,766      $ 250,000  

Eric Rakowski(d)

   $ 25,335      $ 355,000  

Victoria L. Sassine

   $ 20,766      $ 299,750  

Thomas R. Schneeweis(e)

   $ 20,766      $ 250,000  

Interested Trustee:

     

Garret W. Weston

     None        None  

(a)

Compensation is calculated for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022. The Trust does not provide any pension or retirement benefits for the Trustees.

(b)

Total compensation includes compensation paid during the 12-month period ended October 31, 2022 for services as a Trustee to any fund currently in the AMG Fund Complex. As of October 31, 2022, each of Messrs. Bingham, Paggioli, and Schneeweis served as a trustee to 40 funds in the AMG Fund Complex and each of Messrs. Keilhacker, Rakowski and Weston and Ms. Sassine served as a trustee or director to 44 funds in the AMG Fund Complex.

 

74


(c)

Mr. Keilhacker receives an additional $25,000 annually for serving as the Audit Committee Chairman, which is reflected in the chart above.

(d)

Mr. Rakowski receives an additional $55,000 annually for serving as the Independent Chairman, which is reflected in the chart above.

(e)

Mr. Schneeweis retired from the Board effective October 31, 2022.

CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES

As of January 31, 2023, the following persons and/or entities owned beneficially or of record 5% or more of the outstanding shares of each class of each Fund.

All Cap Value Fund

Class I       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

Raymond James*

     74.60

Omnibus for Mutual Funds

  

Attn: Courtney Waller

880 Carillon Parkway

  

St. Petersburg, Florida 33716

  

National Financial Services Corp.

     9.03

(FBO) Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

  

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

     6.64

Special Custody Account

  

For the Exclusive Benefit of Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds

101 Montgomery Street

  

San Francisco, California 94104-4122

  
Class N       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

National Financial Services Corp.

     54.22

(FBO) Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

  

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

     24.17

Special Custody Account

  

For the Exclusive Benefit of Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds

101 Montgomery Street

  

San Francisco, California 94104-4122

  

 

75


Class Z       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

Empower Trust

     81.60

FBO Empower Benefit Plans

8515 East Orchard Road 2T2

  

Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111

  

BNYM I S Trust Co. Cust IRA FBO

     5.20

Charlene Dixon

7712 South Vernon

  

Chicago, Illinois 60619-2923

                                   

Focused Absolute Value Fund

 

Class I       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

National Financial Services Corp.*

     41.74

(FBO) Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

  

Raymond James

     17.74

Omnibus for Mutual Funds

  

Attn: Courtney Waller

880 Carillon Parkway

  

St. Petersburg, Florida 33716

  

Reliance Trust Company

     17.13

FBO CHI STD WM Blair Equity

  

P.O. Box 78446

  

Atlanta, Georgia 30357

  

Reliance Trust Company

     11.54

FBO CHICAGOSRDINSVA

  

P.O. Box 78446

  

Atlanta, Georgia 30357

  

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

     9.69

Special Custody Account

  

For the Exclusive Benefit of Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds

101 Montgomery Street

  

San Francisco, California 94104-4122

  

 

76


Class N       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

     33.99

Special Custody Account

  

For the Exclusive Benefit of Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds

  

101 Montgomery Street

  

San Francisco, California 94104-4122

  

National Financial Services Corp.

     33.69

(FBO) Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

  

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

  

TD Ameritrade Inc.

     13.05

For the Exclusive Benefit of Our Clients

  

P.O. Box 2226

  

Omaha, Nebraska 68103-2226

  

Raymond James

     8.13

Omnibus for Mutual Funds

  

Attn: Courtney Waller

  

880 Carillon Parkway

  

St. Petersburg, Florida 33716

  
Class Z       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

SEI Private Trust Company

     54.99

c/o Truist

  

Attn: Mutual Fund Admin

  

1 Freedom Valley Drive

  

Oaks, Pennsylvania 19456-9989

  

Empower Trust

     36.88

FBO Empower Benefit Plans

  

8515 East Orchard Road 2T2

  

Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111

  

SEI Private Trust Company

     5.45

c/o Truist

  

Attn: Mutual Fund Admin

  

1 Freedom Valley Drive

  

Oaks, Pennsylvania 19456

  

 

77


International Value Equity Fund

 

Class I       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

National Financial Services Corp.*

     81.47

(FBO) Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

  

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

     7.99

Special Custody Account for the

  

Exclusive Benefit of Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds

101 Montgomery Street

  

San Francisco, California 94104-4122

  
Class N       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

     44.94

Special Custody Account for the

  

Exclusive Benefit of Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds

101 Montgomery Street

  

San Francisco, California 94104-4122

  

National Financial Services Corp.

     17.90

(FBO) Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

  

Pershing LLC

     11.52

1 Pershing Plaza

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07399-0002

  

Vanguard Brokerage Services

     8.95

P.O. Box 1170

  

Valley Forge, Pennsylvania 19482-1170

  

BNYM I S Trust Co Cust Rollover IRA

     6.86

Lauren Berzins

4738 Post Oak Timber Drive #46

  

Houston, Texas 77056-2237

  

 

78


Class Z       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

Empower Trust

     96.72

FBO Empower Benefit Plans

  

8515 East Orchard Road 2T2

  

Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111

  

Mid Cap Value Fund

 

Class I       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

National Financial Services Corp.

     36.36

(FBO) Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

  

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

  

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

     17.36

Special Custody Account for the

  

Exclusive Benefit of Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds

  

101 Montgomery Street

  

San Francisco, California 94104-4122

  
Class N       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

National Financial Services Corp.

     20.77

(FBO) Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

  

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

  

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

     13.30

Special Custody Account for the

  

Exclusive Benefit of Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds

  

101 Montgomery Street

  

San Francisco, California 94104-4122

  

John Hancock Life Insurance Co. USA

     11.87

Attn: JHRPS Trading Ops ST6

  

200 Berkeley Street

  

Boston, Massachusetts 02116-5010

  

Voya Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company

     8.89

1 Orange Way

  

Windsor, Connecticut 06095-4774

  

UMB Bank N/A FBO

     8.20

Fiduciary for Tax Deferred Accounts

  

1 Security Benefit Place

  

Topeka, Kansas 66636-0001

  

 

79


Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC

     6.00

For the Exclusive Benefit of Its Customers

1 New York Plaza, 39th Floor

  

New York, New York 10004

  
Class Z       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

BNC Partnership FBO BNCCORP

     9.35

In 401(k) Savings Plan

322 East Main Avenue

  

Bismarck, North Dakota 58501

  

National Financial Services LLC

     6.13

For the Exclusive Benefit of Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310-2010

  

JP Morgan Securities LLC

     5.59
Omnibus Account for the Exclusive Benefit of Customers 4 Chase Metrotech Center, 3rd Floor   

Mutual Fund Department

  

Brooklyn, New York 11245

  
  

Small-Mid Cap Value Fund

 

Class I       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

National Financial Services Corp.*

     31.81

(FBO) Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

  

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

     13.06

Special Custody Account

  

For the Exclusive Benefit of Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds

101 Montgomery Street

  

San Francisco, California 94104-4122

  

Raymond James

     9.10

Omnibus for Mutual Funds

  

Attn: Courtney Waller

880 Carillon Parkway

  

St. Petersburg, Florida 33716

  

 

80


SEI Private Trust Company

     5.34

c/o Legacy SWP

1 Freedom Valley Drive

  

Oaks, Pennsylvania 19456

  

SEI Private Trust Company

     5.16

Attn: Mutual Funds

1 Freedom Valley Drive

  

Oaks, Pennsylvania 19456

  

UBS WM USA

     5.07

Special Custody Account for the

  

Exclusive Benefit of Customers of UBSFSI

1000 Harbor Boulevard

  

Weehawken, New Jersey 07086

  
Class N       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

     51.16

Special Custody Account

  

For the Exclusive Benefit of Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds

101 Montgomery Street

  

San Francisco, California 94104-4122

  

National Financial Services Corp.

     18.67

(FBO) Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

  

TD Ameritrade Inc.

     8.48

For the Exclusive Benefit of Our Clients

  

P.O. Box 2226

  

Omaha, Nebraska 68103-2226

  
Class Z       

Name and Address

   Percentage Ownership  

Shepherd Center Inc.

     59.59

2020 Peachtree Road Northwest

  

Atlanta, Georgia 30309-1426

  

SEI Private Trust Company

     34.73

c/o Truist

  

Attn: Mutual Fund Admin

1 Freedom Valley Drive

  

Oaks, Pennsylvania 19456

  

 

81


Small Cap Value Fund

 

Class I       
Name and Address    Percentage Ownership  

Raymond James

     21.29

Omnibus for Mutual Funds

  

Attn: Courtney Waller

880 Carillon Parkway

  

St. Petersburg, Florida 33716

  

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

     19.11

Special Custody Account

  

For the Exclusive Benefit of Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds

101 Montgomery Street

  

San Francisco, California 94104-4122

  

National Financial Services Corp.

     15.00

(FBO) Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

  

SEI Private Trust Company

     12.82

Attn: Mutual Funds

  

One Freedom Valley Drive

  

Oaks, Pennsylvania 19456

  

Pershing LLC

     10.94

1 Pershing Plaza

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07399-0002

  
Class N       
Name and Address    Percentage Ownership  

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

     46.67

Special Custody Account

  

For the Exclusive Benefit of Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds

101 Montgomery Street

  

San Francisco, California 94104-4122

  

National Financial Services Corp.

     43.72

(FBO) Our Customers

  

Attn: Mutual Funds Department, 4th Floor

499 Washington Boulevard

  

Jersey City, New Jersey 07310

  

 

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Class Z       
Name and Address    Percentage Ownership  

Associated Trust Company

     66.46

FBO Plumbers & Steamfitters

  

P.O. Box 22037

  

Green Bay, Wisconsin 54305

  

Empower Trust

     14.13

FBO Empower Benefit Plans

  

8515 East Orchard Road 2T2

  

Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111

  

Vanguard Fiduciary Trust Co.

     10.66

P.O. Box 2600

  

Attn: Outside Funds

  

Valley Forge, Pennsylvania 19482-2600

  

 

*

Denotes persons or entities that owned 25% or more of the outstanding shares of beneficial interest of the Fund as of January 31, 2023, and therefore may be presumed to “control” the Fund under the 1940 Act. Except for these persons or entities, the Trust did not know of any person or entity who, as of January 31, 2023, “controlled” (within the meaning of the 1940 Act) the Fund. A person or entity that “controls” the Fund could have effective voting control over the Fund. It may not be possible for matters subject to a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund to be approved without the affirmative vote of such “controlling” shareholders, and it may be possible for such matters to be approved by such shareholders without the affirmative vote of any other shareholders.

Management Ownership

As of January 31, 2023, all management personnel (i.e., Trustees and Officers) as a group owned beneficially less than 1% of the outstanding shares of each class of each Fund, with the exception of the All Cap Value Fund, where all management personnel as a group owned 7.205% of the outstanding shares of Class Z.

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUNDS

Investment Manager and Subadviser

The Trustees provide broad supervision over the operations and affairs of the Trust and the Funds. The Investment Manager serves as investment manager to each Fund. The Investment Manager also serves as administrator of the Funds and carries out the daily administration of the Trust and the Funds. The Investment Manager’s principal address is 680 Washington Boulevard, Suite 500, Stamford, Connecticut 06901. The Investment Manager is a subsidiary of AMG, and a subsidiary of AMG serves as the Managing Member of the Investment Manager. AMG is located at 777 South Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach, Florida 33401. AMG (NYSE: AMG) is a global asset management company with equity investments in leading boutique investment management firms. AMG Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Investment Manager, serves as distributor of the Funds. The Distributor’s principal address is 680 Washington Boulevard, Suite 500, Stamford, Connecticut 06901.

 

83


Effective as of October 1, 2016, Aston, the former investment adviser to the Funds and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of AMG, merged with and into the Investment Manager, with the Investment Manager becoming the investment manager to the Funds.

The assets of each Fund are managed by a Subadviser selected by the Investment Manager, subject to the review and approval of the Trustees. The Investment Manager recommends Subadvisers for the Funds to the Trustees based upon continuing quantitative and qualitative evaluation of each Subadviser’s skills in managing assets subject to specific investment styles and strategies. Short-term investment performance, by itself, is not a significant factor in hiring or terminating a Subadviser, and the Investment Manager does not expect to make frequent changes of Subadvisers. The Investment Manager and its corporate predecessors have over 20 years of experience in evaluating subadvisers for individuals and institutional investors.

For its investment management services, the Investment Manager receives an investment management fee from each Fund. The Investment Manager uses a portion of the investment management fees it receives from each Fund to pay the subadvisory fees of the Subadviser that manages the assets of the Fund. Because River Road Asset Management, LLC (“River Road”) is an affiliate of the Investment Manager, the Investment Manager indirectly benefits from the compensation received by the Subadviser.

The Subadviser has discretion, subject to oversight by the Trustees and the Investment Manager, to purchase and sell portfolio assets, consistent with each Fund’s investment objective(s), policies and restrictions. Generally, the services that the Subadviser provides to the Funds are limited to asset management and related recordkeeping services.

The Subadviser or an affiliated broker-dealer may execute portfolio transactions for the Funds and receive brokerage commissions, or markups/markdowns, in connection with the transaction as permitted by Sections 17(a) and 17(e) of the 1940 Act, and the rules thereunder, and the terms of any exemptive order issued by the SEC. The Board of Trustees has approved procedures in conformity with Rule 10f-3 under the 1940 Act whereby the Funds may purchase securities that are offered in underwritings in which an affiliate of the Subadviser participates. For underwritings where a Subadviser affiliate participates as a principal underwriter, certain restrictions may apply that could, among other things, limit the amount of securities that a Fund could purchase in the underwritings.

The Subadviser may also serve as a discretionary or non-discretionary investment adviser to management or advisory or other accounts which are unrelated in any manner to the Funds or the Investment Manager and its affiliates.

Investment Management and Subadvisory Agreements

The Investment Manager serves as investment manager to the Funds pursuant to an investment management agreement with the Trust (the “Investment Management Agreement”). The Investment Management Agreement permits the Investment Manager to engage, from time to time, one or more Subadvisers to assist in the performance of its services. Pursuant to the Investment Management Agreement, the Investment Manager has entered into Subadvisory Agreements with the Subadviser (each a “Subadvisory Agreement” and collectively the “Subadvisory Agreements”).

Effective as of October 1, 2016, in connection with the merger of Aston with and into the Investment Manager, the Investment Manager, as Aston’s legal successor, replaced Aston as a party to the Investment Management Agreement and the Subadvisory Agreement between the Investment Manager and the Subadviser with respect to the All Cap Value Fund, the Focused Absolute Value Fund, the International Value Equity Fund, the Small-Mid Cap Value Fund, and the Small Cap Value Fund.

 

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Under the Investment Management Agreement, the Investment Manager is not liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Trust or a Fund in connection with the performance of the Investment Management Agreement, except a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on its part in the performance of its duties, or from reckless disregard of its duties and obligations thereunder.

The Investment Management Agreement between the Trust and the Investment Manager may be terminated with respect to a Fund by vote of the Board or by the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, at any time without penalty, upon 60 days’ written notice to the Investment Manager. The Investment Manager may also terminate its advisory relationship with respect to a Fund upon 60 days’ written notice to the Trust. The Investment Management Agreement terminates automatically in the event of its assignment.

The Investment Management Agreement provides that the Investment Manager is specifically responsible for the following advisory services:

 

   

manage the investment and reinvestment of the assets of the Funds,

 

   

continuously review, supervise and administer the investment program of the Funds,

 

   

determine in its discretion, the assets to be held uninvested,

 

   

provide the Trust with records concerning the Investment Manager’s activities which are required to be maintained by the Trust, and

 

   

render regular reports to the Trust’s officers and Board concerning the Investment Manager’s discharge of the foregoing responsibilities.

The Investment Manager shall discharge the foregoing responsibilities subject to the oversight of the Trust’s officers and the Board and in compliance with the objectives, policies and limitations set forth in the Trust’s then-effective prospectus and SAI.

With respect to each Fund, the Investment Management Agreement provides for an initial term of two years and thereafter continues in effect for the Fund from year to year, so long as its continuation is approved at least annually by (i) the Board or (ii) the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the applicable Fund; and in either event by a vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to such agreement or interested persons of any such party in the matter provided in Section 15(c) of the 1940 Act.

The Investment Management Agreement with the Investment Manager also provides that the Investment Manager shall have the authority, subject to applicable provisions of the 1940 Act and the regulations thereunder, to select one or more Subadvisers to provide day-to-day portfolio management with respect to all or a portion of the assets of any of the Funds and to allocate and reallocate the assets of a Fund between and among any Subadvisers so selected pursuant to a “manager-of-managers” structure.

Under the Subadvisory Agreements between the Investment Manager and the Subadviser for each Fund, the Subadviser manages a portfolio of the Fund, selects investments and places all orders for purchases and sales of that Fund’s securities, subject to the general oversight of the Board and the Investment Manager. In addition, except as may otherwise be prohibited by law or regulation, the Subadviser may, in its discretion and from time to time, waive a portion of its fee.

 

85


The Subadvisory Agreement with respect to the All Cap Value Fund, the Focused Absolute Value Fund, the International Value Equity Fund, the Small-Mid Cap Value Fund and the Small Cap Value Fund provides that neither the Subadviser nor any of its directors, officers, stockholders, agents or employees shall have any liability to a Fund or the Investment Manager for any error of judgment, mistake of law, or any loss arising out of any investment, or for any other act or omission in the performance by the Subadviser of its duties under the Subadvisory Agreement except for liability resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith, or gross negligence on its part in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard by it of its obligations and duties under the Subadvisory Agreement. The Subadvisory Agreement with respect to the Mid Cap Value Fund provides that neither the Subadviser nor its officers, directors, employees, agents or legal representatives shall be subject to any liability for any act or omission, error of judgment, or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Investment Manager or the Trust in connection with the Subadvisory Agreement, except by reason of the Subadviser’s willful misfeasance, bad faith, or negligence in the performance of its duties, or by reason of the Subadviser’s reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under the Subadvisory Agreement.

Each Subadvisory Agreement provides for an initial term of two years and thereafter shall continue in effect from year to year so long as such continuation is specifically approved at least annually (i) by either the Trustees of the Trust or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund, and (ii) in either event, by the vote of a majority of the Trustees of the Trust who are not parties to the agreement or “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of any such party, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval to the extent required by applicable law. The Subadvisory Agreement with respect to the All Cap Value Fund, the Focused Absolute Value Fund, the International Value Equity Fund, the Small-Mid Cap Value Fund and the Small Cap Value Fund will be terminated without the payment of any penalty upon termination of the Investment Management Agreement by either party thereto (accompanied by simultaneous notice to the Subadviser) or upon ten days’ written notice to the Subadviser that the Trustees of the Trust, the Investment Manager or the shareholders by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the applicable Fund, as provided by the 1940 Act, have terminated the Subadvisory Agreement, or upon sixy days’ written notice from the Subadviser to the Investment Manager and the Trust. The Subadvisory Agreement with respect to the Mid Cap Value Fund may be terminated, without penalty, by vote of the Board of Trustees, by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund (as defined in the 1940 Act), by the Investment Manager, and by the Subadviser, in each case upon 60 days’ prior written notice to the other party. Each Subadvisory Agreement terminates automatically in the event of its assignment.

For the services provided pursuant to each Subadvisory Agreement, the Investment Manager pays the Subadviser a fee computed daily and payable monthly.

Under each Subadvisory Agreement, the Subadviser manages all of a Fund’s portfolio, including the determination of the purchase, retention, or sale of securities, cash, and other investments for the Fund in accordance with the Fund’s investment objective(s), policies, and investment restrictions. The Subadviser provides these services subject to the general supervision of the Investment Manager and the Trustees. The provision of investment advisory services by the Subadviser to its Fund will not be exclusive under the terms of the Subadvisory Agreements, and the Subadviser will be free to and expects to render investment advisory services to others.

In performing the functions set forth above and supervising the Subadviser, the Investment Manager:

 

   

performs periodic detailed analysis and reviews of the performance by the Subadviser of its obligations to a Fund, including without limitation analysis and review of portfolio and other compliance matters and a review of the Subadviser’s investment performance in respect of a Fund;

 

86


   

prepares and presents periodic reports to the Board regarding the investment performance of the Subadviser and other information regarding the Subadviser, at such times and in such forms as the Board may reasonably request;

 

   

reviews and considers any changes in the personnel of the Subadviser responsible for performing the Subadviser’s obligations and makes appropriate reports to the Board;

 

   

reviews and considers any changes in the ownership or senior management of the Subadviser and makes appropriate reports to the Board;

 

   

performs periodic in-person or telephonic diligence meetings, including with respect to compliance matters, with representatives of the Subadviser;

 

   

assists the Board and management of the Trust in developing and reviewing information with respect to the initial approval of each Subadvisory Agreement with the Subadviser and annual consideration of each Subadvisory Agreement thereafter;

 

   

prepares recommendations with respect to the continued retention of the Subadviser or the replacement of the Subadviser, including at the request of the Board;

 

   

identifies potential successors to or replacements of the Subadviser or potential additional subadvisers, performs appropriate due diligence, and develops and presents to the Board a recommendation as to any such successor, replacement, or additional subadviser, including at the request of the Board;

 

   

designates and compensates from its own resources such personnel as the Investment Manager may consider necessary or appropriate to the performance of its services; and

 

   

performs such other review and reporting functions as the Board shall reasonably request consistent with the Investment Management Agreement and applicable law.

Each Fund pays all expenses not borne by the Investment Manager or Subadviser including, but not limited to, advisory fees; distribution fees; interest; taxes; governmental fees; voluntary assessments and other expenses incurred in connection with membership in investment company organizations; organizational costs of the Fund; the cost (including brokerage commissions, transaction fees or charges, if any) in connection with the purchase or sale of the Fund’s securities and other investments and any losses in connection therewith; fees and expenses of custodians, transfer agents, administrators, registrars, independent pricing vendors or other agents; legal expenses; loan commitment fees; expenses relating to share certificates; expenses relating to the issuing and redemption or repurchase of the Fund’s shares and servicing shareholder accounts; expenses of registering and qualifying the Fund’s shares for sale under applicable federal and state law; expenses of preparing, setting in print, printing and distributing prospectuses and statements of additional information and any supplements thereto, reports, proxy statements, notices and dividends to the Fund’s shareholders; costs of stationery; website costs; costs of meetings of the Board or any committee thereof, meetings of shareholders and other meetings of the Fund except as otherwise determined by the Trustees; Board fees; audit fees; travel expenses of officers, Trustees and employees of the Trust who are not officers, employees or directors of the Investment Manager or its affiliates, if any; and the Trust’s pro rata portion of premiums on any fidelity bond and other insurance covering the Trust and its officers, Trustees and employees; litigation expenses and any non-recurring or extraordinary expenses as may arise, including, without limitation, those relating to actions, suits or proceedings to which the Fund is a party and the legal obligation which the Fund may have to indemnify the Trust’s Trustees and officers with respect thereto.

 

87


The Trust may rely on an exemptive order from the SEC that permits the Investment Manager, subject to certain conditions and oversight by the Board of Trustees, to enter into subadvisory agreements with unaffiliated subadvisers (and, with respect to the International Value Equity Fund and the Mid Cap Value Fund, affiliated subadvisers) approved by the Trustees but without the requirement of shareholder approval. Under the terms of this exemptive order, the Investment Manager is able, subject to certain conditions (including a 90-day notification requirement discussed below) and approval by the Board of Trustees but without shareholder approval, to hire new unaffiliated subadvisers (and, with respect to the International Value Equity Fund and the Mid Cap Value Fund, affiliated subadvisers) for the Funds, change the terms of a subadvisory agreement for an unaffiliated subadviser (or, with respect to the International Value Equity Fund and the Mid Cap Value Fund, an affiliated subadviser), or continue the employment of an unaffiliated subadviser (or, with respect to the International Value Equity Fund and the Mid Cap Value Fund, an affiliated subadviser) after events that under the 1940 Act and the subadvisory agreement would be deemed to be an automatic termination of the subadvisory agreement provided that the Investment Manager provides notification to shareholders within 90 days of the hiring of such subadviser. In addition, with respect to the International Value Equity Fund and the Mid Cap Value Fund, subject to approval by the SEC of an amendment to the Fund’s exemptive order, the Fund may disclose fees paid to subadvisers on an aggregate, rather than individual, basis. The Investment Manager, subject to oversight by the Trustees, has ultimate responsibility to oversee the subadvisers and recommend their hiring, termination, and replacement. Although shareholder approval will not be required for the termination of subadvisory agreements, shareholders of a Fund will continue to have the right to terminate such subadvisory agreements for the Fund at any time by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. The Investment Manager may not change a subadviser to the Funds without approval of the Board of Trustees and, to the extent required by the 1940 Act, shareholder approval. Except with respect to the International Value Equity Fund and the Mid Cap Value Fund, affiliated subadvisers selected by the Investment Manager are subject to shareholder approval.

Compensation of the Investment Manager and the Subadviser

As compensation for the investment management services rendered and related expenses under the Investment Management Agreement, each Fund has agreed to pay the Investment Manager an investment management fee, at the annual rates included in the table below, which is computed daily as a percentage of the value of the average daily net assets of the applicable Fund and may be paid monthly.

 

Fund

   Investment Management Fee  

All Cap Value Fund

     0.50

Focused Absolute Value Fund

     0.60

International Value Equity Fund

     0.53

Mid Cap Value Fund

     0.56

Small-Mid Cap Value Fund

     0.75

Small Cap Value Fund

     0.80

 

88


As compensation for the investment management services rendered and related expenses under the Subadvisory Agreements, the Investment Manager has agreed to pay the Subadviser a portion of the investment management fee (net of all mutually agreed-upon fee waivers and reimbursements) for managing the portfolio, which is also computed daily and paid monthly based on the average daily net assets that the Subadviser manages. The fee paid to the Subadviser is paid out of the fee the Investment Manager receives from a Fund and does not increase a Fund’s expenses.

Investment Management Fees Paid by the Funds. Investment management fees paid to the Investment Manager by each Fund for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2020, October 31, 2021 and October 31, 2022 are as follows. The Investment Manager may voluntarily agree to waive or reimburse a portion of its management fee from time to time. Any voluntary waiver or reimbursement by the Investment Manager may be terminated or reduced in amount at any time and solely in the discretion of the Investment Manager. Amounts shown reflect, in part, the All Cap Value Fund’s previous investment management fee of 0.60%, the International Value Equity Fund’s previous investment management fee of 0.85%, and the Mid Cap Value Fund’s previous investment management fee of 0.70% for the first $100,000,000 of assets under management, 0.65% for the next $300,000,000 and 0.60% on amounts in excess of $400,000,000.

 

Fund

   Total      Waived/Reimbursed*      Net  

All Cap Value Fund

        

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 2,005,238      $ 0      $ 2,005,238  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 3,060,349      $ 0      $ 3,060,349  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 3,076,734      $ 0      $ 3,076,734  

Focused Absolute Value Fund

        

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 788,816      $ 0      $ 788,816  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 1,167,575      $ 0      $ 1,167,575  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 923,146      $ 0      $ 923,146  

International Value Equity Fund

        

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 42,852      $ 0      $ 42,852  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 123,794      $ 0      $ 123,794  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 175,965      $ 0      $ 175,965  

Mid Cap Value Fund

        

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 1,960,465      $ 0      $ 1,960,465  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 2,816,151      $ 0      $ 2,816,151  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 4,632,984      $ 0      $ 4,632,984  

Small-Mid Cap Value Fund

        

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 1,896,998      $ 0      $ 1,896,998  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 1,860,628      $ 0      $ 1,860,628  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 1,345,765      $ 0      $ 1,345,765  

Small Cap Value Fund

        

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 6,802,408      $ 0      $ 6,802,408  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 6,294,216      $ 0      $ 6,294,216  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 3,658,731      $ 0      $ 3,658,731  

 

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*

As further described under “Purchase, Redemption and Pricing of Shares—Exchange of Shares” below, an investor may exchange shares of the Funds through the Investment Manager for shares in the Agency share class of the JPMorgan U.S. Government Money Market Fund (the “JPMorgan Fund”). The Investment Manager has entered into a Service Agreement and Supplemental Payment Agreement with the JPMorgan Fund’s distributor and investment adviser, respectively, that provide for a cash payment to the Investment Manager that compensates the Investment Manager for providing, directly or through an agent, administrative, sub-transfer agent and other shareholder services. The Investment Manager has voluntarily agreed to waive or reimburse a portion of its management fee in the amount of the cash payments it receives under these agreements, amounts which are reflected in the table as amounts waived/reimbursed. Any such voluntary waiver or reimbursement is not recoverable by the Investment Manager from a Fund under the expense limitations described under “Expense Limitations” below. See “Purchase, Redemption and Pricing of Shares—Exchange of Shares” below for more information on the JPMorgan Fund and the Service Agreement and Supplemental Payment Agreement.

Subadvisory Fees Paid by the Investment Manager. Fees paid by the Investment Manager to the Subadviser for subadvisory services with respect to each Fund for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2020, October 31, 2021 and October 31, 2022 are as follows. The Subadviser may voluntarily agree to waive or reimburse a portion of its subadvisory fee from time to time. Any voluntary waiver or reimbursement by the Subadviser may be terminated or reduced in amount at any time and solely in the discretion of the Subadviser.

 

     All Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 1,178,907  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 1,785,203  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 1,794,761  
     Focused Absolute Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 460,143  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 681,086  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 538,502  
     International Value Equity Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 25,469  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 69,554  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 98,333  
     Mid Cap Value Fund*  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 1,155,274  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 1,266,751  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 1,772,203  
     Small-Mid Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 1,074,966  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 1,054,356  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 762,600  
     Small Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 3,826,355  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 3,540,497  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 2,058,036  

 

*

Reflects, in part, subadvisory fees paid by the Investment Manager to the Fund’s former subadviser for periods prior to the hiring of River Road on March 19, 2021.

 

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Expense Limitations

From time to time, the Investment Manager may agree to limit a Fund’s expenses by agreeing to waive all or a portion of the investment management fee and certain other fees it would otherwise be entitled to receive from a Fund and/or pay or reimburse certain Fund expenses above a specified maximum amount (i.e., an “expense limitation”). The Investment Manager may waive all or a portion of its fees and/or pay or reimburse Fund expenses for a number of reasons, such as passing on to the Fund and its shareholders the benefit of reduced portfolio management fees resulting from a waiver by the Investment Manager or Subadviser of all or a portion of the fees it would otherwise be entitled to receive from the Fund, or attempting to make a Fund’s performance more competitive as compared to similar funds. The tables below and, if applicable, the Annual Fund Operating Expenses table (including footnotes thereto) located in the front of the Funds’ Prospectus reflect the impact of a Fund’s contractual expense limitations, if any, in effect during the periods shown. In general, for a period of up to 36 months after the date any amounts are paid, waived, or reimbursed by the Investment Manager pursuant to a Fund’s contractual expense limitation, the Investment Manager may recover such amounts from the Fund provided that such repayment would not cause the Fund’s total annual operating expenses (exclusive of the items noted in the Funds’ Prospectus) to exceed either (i) the expense limitation in effect at the time such amounts were paid, waived or reimbursed, or (ii) the expense limitation in effect at the time of such repayment by the Fund. In general, contractual expense limitations are only terminated at the end of a term, and shareholders will generally be notified of any change on or about the time that it becomes effective.

All fees waived and/or expenses reimbursed to (or repayments by) each Fund for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2020, October 31, 2021 and October 31, 2022 are set forth in the table below. These amounts include fees waived and/or expenses reimbursed to (or repayments by) the Funds pursuant to expense reimbursement agreements between the Funds and the Investment Manager that were in place prior to November 1, 2017.

 

     All Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 117,693  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 97,897  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 0  
     Focused Absolute Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 98,288  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 98,605  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 176,679  
     International Value Equity Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 86,935  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 79,873  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 84,419  
     Mid Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 27,037  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 219,148  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 176,021  

 

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     Small-Mid Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 0  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 0  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ (28,445
     Small Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 0  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 0  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 0  

In connection with the merger of Aston with and into the Investment Manager on October 1, 2016, all obligations of the Funds and Aston existing under expense reimbursement agreements between the Funds and Aston that were in place at the time of the merger, including any future obligations of the Funds to reimburse Aston for fees previously waived or expenses reimbursed, were expressly assumed by the Funds and the Investment Manager, respectively, under the expense reimbursement agreements between the Trust and the Investment Manager with respect to each of the Funds and are reflected in the table above.

The Investment Manager also serves as the administrator to the Funds and receives compensation from the Trust pursuant to an administration agreement between the Trust and the Investment Manager. For more information about the administration agreement, see “Administrative Services” below.

Portfolio Managers of the Funds

Unless otherwise indicated, all information below is as of October 31, 2022.

AMG River Road Dividend All Cap Value Fund, AMG River Road Focused Absolute Value Fund, AMG River Road International Value Equity Fund, AMG River Road Mid Cap Value Fund, AMG River Road Small-Mid Cap Value Fund and AMG River Road Small Cap Value Fund

River Road Asset Management, LLC (“River Road”)

River Road has served as Subadviser to each of the All Cap Value Fund, the Focused Absolute Value Fund, the International Value Equity Fund, the Small-Mid Cap Value Fund and the Small Cap Value Fund since the Fund’s inception. River Road has served as Subadviser to the Mid Cap Value Fund since March 2021. AMG holds an indirect, majority equity interest in River Road and River Road’s senior management team holds a substantial minority equity interest in River Road. As of December 31, 2022, River Road’s assets under management totaled approximately $7.8 billion.

Henry W. Sanders, III, CFA, Thomas S. Forsha, CFA, and Andrew R. McIntosh, CFA, are the portfolio managers jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the All Cap Value Fund. R. Andrew Beck and J. Alex Brown are the portfolio managers jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Focused Absolute Value Fund. Wenjun (William) Yang, CFA, and Jeffrey B. Hoskins, CFA, are the portfolio managers jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the International Value Equity Fund. Matthew W. Moran, CFA, Daniel R. Johnson, CFA, CPA, and R. Andrew Beck are the portfolio managers jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Mid Cap Value Fund. J. Justin Akin, R. Andrew Beck and James C. Shircliff, CFA, are the portfolio managers jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Small-Mid Cap Value Fund and the Small Cap Value Fund. Effective March 31, 2023, Mr. Shircliff will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the Small-Mid Cap Value Fund or the Small Cap Value Fund.

 

92


Other Accounts Managed by the Portfolio Managers

 

Portfolio Manager: Henry W. Sanders, III, CFA

 

Type of Account

   Number Of
Accounts
Managed
     Total Assets
Managed
($ millions)
     Number of Accounts
Managed For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance Based
     Assets Managed
For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance
Based
($ millions)
 

Registered Investment Companies

     None      $ 0        None      $ 0  

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

     5      $ 403        None      $ 0  

Other Accounts

     30      $ 181        None      $ 0  

 

Portfolio Manager: Thomas S. Forsha, CFA

 

Type of Account

   Number Of
Accounts
Managed
     Total Assets
Managed
($ millions)
     Number of Accounts
Managed For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance Based
     Assets Managed
For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance
Based
($ millions)
 

Registered Investment Companies

     None      $ 0        None      $ 0  

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

     5      $ 403        None      $ 0  

Other Accounts

     30      $ 181        None      $ 0  

 

Portfolio Manager: Andrew R. McIntosh, CFA

 

Type of Account

   Number Of
Accounts
Managed
     Total Assets
Managed
($ millions)
     Number of Accounts
Managed For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance Based
     Assets Managed
For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance
Based
($ millions)
 

Registered Investment Companies

     None      $ 0        None      $ 0  

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

     5      $ 403        None      $ 0  

Other Accounts

     30      $ 181        None      $ 0  

 

Portfolio Manager: R. Andrew Beck

 

Type of Account

   Number Of
Accounts
Managed
     Total Assets
Managed
($ millions)
     Number of Accounts
Managed For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance Based
     Assets Managed
For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance
Based
($ millions)
 

Registered Investment Companies

     4      $ 1,046        None      $ 0  

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

     13      $ 1,126        None      $ 0  

Other Accounts

     43      $ 2,403        2      $ 325  

 

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Portfolio Manager: Wenjun (William) Yang, CFA

 

Type of Account

   Number Of
Accounts
Managed
     Total Assets
Managed
($ millions)
     Number of Accounts
Managed For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance Based
     Assets Managed
For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance
Based
($ millions)
 

Registered Investment Companies

     None      $ 0        None      $ 0  

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

     None      $ 0        None      $ 0  

Other Accounts

     5      $ 3        None      $ 0  

 

Portfolio Manager: Jeffrey B. Hoskins, CFA

 

Type of Account

   Number Of
Accounts
Managed
     Total Assets
Managed
($ millions)
     Number of Accounts
Managed For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance Based
     Assets Managed
For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance
Based
($ millions)
 

Registered Investment Companies

     None      $ 0        None      $ 0  

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

     1      $ 259        None      $ 0  

Other Accounts

     9      $ 4        None      $ 0  

 

Portfolio Manager: Matthew W. Moran, CFA

 

Type of Account

   Number Of
Accounts
Managed
     Total Assets
Managed
($ millions)
     Number of Accounts
Managed For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance Based
     Assets Managed
For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance
Based
($ millions)
 

Registered Investment Companies

     2      $ 933        None      $ 0  

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

     1      $ 59        None      $ 0  

Other Accounts

     3      $ 2        None      $ 0  

 

94


Portfolio Manager: Daniel R. Johnson, CFA, CPA

 

Type of Account

   Number Of
Accounts
Managed
     Total Assets
Managed
($ millions)
     Number of Accounts
Managed For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance Based
     Assets Managed
For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance
Based
($ millions)
 

Registered Investment Companies

     2      $ 933        None      $ 0  

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

     1      $ 59        None      $ 0  

Other Accounts

     3      $ 2        None      $ 0  

 

Portfolio Manager: J. Justin Akin

 

Type of Account

   Number Of
Accounts
Managed
     Total Assets
Managed
($ millions)
     Number of Accounts
Managed For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance Based
     Assets Managed
For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance
Based
($ millions)
 

Registered Investment Companies

     4      $ 1,046        None      $ 0  

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

     11      $ 630        None      $ 0  

Other Accounts

     31      $ 1,968        2      $ 325  

 

Portfolio Manager: James C. Shircliff, CFA*

 

Type of Account

   Number Of
Accounts
Managed
     Total Assets
Managed
($ millions)
     Number of Accounts
Managed For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance Based
     Assets Managed
For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance
Based
($ millions)
 

Registered Investment Companies

     4      $ 1,046        None      $ 0  

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

     11      $ 630        None      $ 0  

Other Accounts

     31      $ 1,968        2      $ 325  

 

Portfolio Manager: J. Alex Brown

 

Type of Account

   Number Of
Accounts
Managed
     Total Assets
Managed
($ millions)
     Number of Accounts
Managed For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance Based
     Assets Managed
For Which
Advisory Fee is
Performance
Based
($ millions)
 

Registered Investment Companies

     None      $ 0        None      $ 0  

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

     2      $ 496        None      $ 0  

Other Accounts

     11      $ 435        None      $ 0  

 

*

Effective March 31, 2023, Mr. Shircliff will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the Small-Mid Cap Value Fund or the Small Cap Value Fund.

 

95


Potential Material Conflicts of Interest

The portfolio managers for each Fund manage multiple accounts, including their respective Fund. The portfolio managers make decisions for each account based on the investment objectives, policies, practices and other relevant investment considerations that the portfolio managers believe are applicable to that account. Consequently, the portfolio managers may purchase securities for one account and not another account, and the performance of securities purchased for one account may vary from the performance of securities purchased for other accounts. A portfolio manager may place transactions on behalf of other accounts that are contrary to investment decisions made on behalf of a Fund, or make investment decisions that are similar to those made for a Fund, both of which have the potential to adversely affect the price paid or received by a Fund or the size of the security position obtainable for a Fund. River Road has adopted policies and procedures that it believes are reasonably designed to address the conflicts associated with managing multiple accounts for multiple clients, although there can be no assurance that such policies and procedures will adequately address such conflicts.

Portfolio Manager Compensation

Compensation for portfolio managers includes an annual fixed base salary and an annual performance bonus. Portfolio manager performance assessments are based on pre-tax portfolio performance relative to the respective benchmark index (depending on portfolio objectives) typically over the one-, three-, five-, and seven-year/since inception periods (with the three- and five-year periods typically receiving the greatest emphasis). Additionally, qualitative consideration is given to overall performance at the investment business group and firm level. Achievement of ESG, CSR, and DEI initiatives is included in the firm performance assessment. Portfolio managers are eligible for equity participation or participation in the firm’s deferred bonus incentive plan. All instances of equity participation are accompanied by an employment agreement with long-term incentives. Additionally, portfolio managers who contribute to the firm’s derived strategies are eligible to receive secondary bonus compensation associated with the derived strategy performance.

Portfolio Managers’ Ownership of Fund Shares

All Cap Value Fund

Mr. Sanders: Over $1,000,000

Mr. Forsha: Over $1,000,000

Mr. McIntosh: $100,001 to $500,000

Focused Absolute Value Fund

Mr. Beck: None*

Mr. Brown: $100,001 to $500,000

International Value Equity Fund

Mr. Yang: $10,001 to $50,000

Mr. Hoskins: $100,001 to $500,000

 

96


Mid Cap Value Fund

Mr. Moran: $1 to $10,000

Mr. Johnson: $50,001 to $100,000

Mr. Beck: None**

Small-Mid Cap Value Fund

Mr. Akin: $100,001 to $500,000

Mr. Beck: $100,001 to $500,000

Mr. Shircliff: $500,001 to $1,000,000***

Small Cap Value Fund

Mr. Akin: $500,001 to $1,000,000

Mr. Beck: Over $1,000,000

Mr. Shircliff: Over $1,000,000***

 

*

$100,001 to $500,000 held in a no-fee separate account managed by River Road using the Focused Absolute Value® III strategy, which is the same strategy utilized by River Road to manage the Focused Absolute Value Fund’s assets.

**

$100,001 to $500,000 held in a no-fee separate account managed by River Road using the Mid Cap Value strategy, which is the same strategy utilized by River Road to manage the Mid Cap Value Fund’s assets.

***

Effective March 31, 2023, Mr. Shircliff will no longer serve as a portfolio manager of the Small-Mid Cap Value Fund or the Small Cap Value Fund.

Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures

Proxies for each Fund’s portfolio securities are voted in accordance with the applicable Subadviser’s proxy voting policies and procedures. The proxy voting policies and procedures for River Road are attached to this SAI as Appendix B. Information regarding how the Funds voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve months ended June 30 is available: (i) without charge, upon request, by calling (800) 548-4539; and (ii) on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

Codes of Ethics

The Trust, the Investment Manager, the Distributor and the Subadviser have adopted codes of ethics under Rule 17j-1 of the 1940 Act. These codes of ethics, which generally permit personnel subject to the codes to invest in securities, including securities that may be purchased or held by the Funds, contain procedures that are designed to avoid the conflicts of interest that may be presented by personal securities investing.

Administrative Services

Effective October 1, 2016, the Investment Manager entered into an Amended and Restated Administration Agreement (the “Fund Administration Agreement”) with the Trust on behalf of each Fund. Under the Fund Administration Agreement, the Investment Manager also serves as administrator of each Fund and is responsible for certain aspects of managing the Funds’ operations, including administration and shareholder servicing. The administrative and shareholder services to be provided include, but are not limited to, processing and/or coordinating Fund share purchases and redemptions, responding to inquiries from shareholders, providing omnibus level support for financial intermediaries who perform sub-accounting for shares held of record by financial intermediaries for the benefit of other

 

97


beneficial owners and other general and administrative responsibilities for the Funds. For providing these services, each Fund pays the Investment Manager 0.15% of its average daily net assets per annum. The Fund Administration Agreement generally may be terminated by the Investment Manager upon at least 60 days’ prior written notice to the Trust, and by the Trust upon at least 60 days’ prior written notice to the Investment Manager.

Fees paid by the Funds under the Fund Administration Agreement for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2020, October 31, 2021 and October 31, 2022 are as follows.

 

     All Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 528,864  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 765,087  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 769,183  
     Focused Absolute Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 197,204  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 291,894  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 230,787  
     International Value Equity
Fund
 

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 12,128  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 22,971  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 31,053  
     Mid Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 525,124  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 681,025  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 1,095,746  
     Small-Mid Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 379,400  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 372,126  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 269,153  
     Small Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 1,275,452  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 1,180,166  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 686,012  

Distribution Arrangements

Under a Distribution Agreement between the Trust and the Distributor (the “Distribution Agreement”), the Distributor serves as the principal distributor and underwriter for the Funds. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (“FINRA”). Shares of each Fund will be continuously offered and will be sold directly to prospective purchasers and through brokers, dealers or other financial intermediaries who have executed selling agreements with the Distributor. Subject to the compensation arrangements discussed below, generally the Distributor bears all or a portion of the expenses of providing services pursuant to the Distribution Agreement, including the payment of the expenses relating to the distribution of the Funds’ Prospectus for sales purposes and any advertising or sales literature. Any costs and expenses not allocated to the Distributor shall be borne by the Investment Manager or an affiliate of the Investment Manager as agreed-upon between the Distributor and the Investment Manager from time to time. The Distributor is not obligated to sell any specific amount of shares of the Funds.

 

98


The Distribution Agreement may be terminated by either party under certain specified circumstances and will automatically terminate on assignment in the same manner as the Investment Management Agreement. The Distribution Agreement remains in effect for one year from the date of its execution and thereafter from year to year, provided that each such continuance is specifically approved at least annually (i) by vote of the Trustees of the Trust and (ii) by vote of a majority of the Trustees of the Trust who are not “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Distribution Agreement or any plan adopted by the Trust under Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on the Distribution Agreement.

For sales of Fund shares, the Distributor may provide promotional incentives including cash compensation to certain brokers, dealers, or financial intermediaries whose representatives have sold or are expected to sell significant amounts of shares of a Fund. Other programs may provide, subject to certain conditions, additional compensation to brokers, dealers, or financial intermediaries based on a combination of aggregate shares sold and increases of assets under management. All of the above payments will be made pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 distribution and services plan described below and possibly supplemented by payments by the Distributor or its affiliates out of their own assets, or, in the case of such shares that are not subject to a Rule 12b-1 distribution and services plan, only by the Distributor or its affiliates out of their own assets.

The Distributor’s principal address is 680 Washington Boulevard, Suite 500, Stamford, Connecticut 06901.

Prior to October 1, 2016, the Funds had a different principal distributor and underwriter.

Rule 12b-1 Distribution and Services Plan. The Trust has adopted a distribution and services plan with respect to Class N shares of the Funds (the “Plan”), in accordance with the requirements of Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act and the requirements of the applicable rules of FINRA regarding asset-based sales charges. All share classes of the Funds are sold without a front end or contingent deferred sales load and Class I and Class Z shares of the Funds are not subject to the expenses of any Rule 12b-1 distribution and services plan.

Pursuant to the Plan, a Fund may compensate the Distributor for services relating to the distribution of Class N shares and for payments the Distributor makes to brokers, dealers or other financial intermediaries for distribution services and reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with distribution assistance or the maintenance and personal service provided to existing shareholders of that class. The Plan authorizes payments of up to 0.25% annually of a Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to its Class N shares. The Plan is characterized as a reimbursement plan and is directly tied to expenses incurred by the Distributor; the payments the Distributor receives during any year may not exceed its actual expenses.

Rule 12b-1 regulates the circumstances under which an investment company, like a Fund, may directly or indirectly bear expenses relating to the distribution of its shares. Continuance of the Plan must be approved annually by a majority of the Trustees and by a majority of the Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust or the Distributor, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act (“12b-1 Independent Trustees”). In adopting the Plan, the Independent Trustees concluded in accordance with the requirements of Rule 12b-1 that there is a reasonable likelihood that the Plan will benefit each Fund and its shareholders by resulting in greater sales of Fund shares. The Plan requires that quarterly written

 

99


reports of amounts spent under the Plan and the purposes of such expenditures be furnished to and reviewed by the Trustees. In accordance with Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, the Plan may be terminated with respect to any Fund by a vote of a majority of the 12b-1 Independent Trustees, or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of that Fund. The Plan may be amended by vote of the Board, including a majority of the 12b-1 Independent Trustees, cast in person at a meeting called for such purpose, except that any change that would effect a material increase in any distribution fee with respect to a Fund (or class) requires the approval of that Fund’s (or class’s) shareholders. All material amendments of the Plan will require approval by a majority of the Trustees of the Trust and of the Independent Trustees.

To the Trust’s knowledge, no “interested person” of the Trust, nor any Independent Trustee has a direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan.

The Distributor does not receive compensation from the Fund for its distribution services except the distribution/service fees with respect to the shares of those classes for which a Rule 12b-1 plan is effective, as applicable.

For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, Class N shares of each Fund paid the following amounts under the Plan.

 

     All Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 98,590  
     Focused Absolute Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 6,955  
     International Value Equity Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 3,052  
     Mid Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 609,063  
     Small-Mid Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 50,993  
     Small Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 83,932  

Custodian

The Bank of New York Mellon, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (the “Custodian”), 6023 Airport Road, Oriskany, New York 13424, is the custodian for the Funds. The Custodian is responsible for holding all cash assets and all portfolio securities of the Funds, releasing and delivering such securities as directed by the Funds, maintaining bank accounts in the names of the Funds, receiving for deposit into such accounts payments for shares of the Funds, collecting income and other payments due to the Funds with respect to portfolio securities and paying out monies of the Funds.

The Custodian is authorized to deposit securities in securities depositories or to use the services of sub-custodians, including foreign sub-custodians, to the extent permitted by and subject to the regulations of the SEC.

 

100


Transfer Agent

BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc., 4400 Computer Drive, Westborough, Massachusetts 01581 (the “Transfer Agent”), is the transfer agent for the Funds and also serves as the dividend disbursing agent for the Funds. Effective March 9, 2023, the Transfer Agent’s address will change to BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc., Attn: 534426, AIM 154-0520, 500 Ross Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15262.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 101 Seaport Boulevard, Suite 500, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, is the independent registered public accounting firm for the Funds. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP conducts an annual audit of the financial statements of each Fund, assists in the preparation and/or review of each Fund’s federal and state income tax returns and may provide other audit, tax and related services.

Securities Lending

The Board of Trustees has approved each Fund’s participation in a securities lending program. Under the securities lending program, the Trust has retained The Bank of New York Mellon to serve as its securities lending agent.

For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, the income earned by the Funds as well as the fees and/or compensation paid by such Funds (in dollars) pursuant to the Securities Lending Authorization Agreement between AMG Funds IV and The Bank of New York Mellon with respect to the Funds were as follows:

 

101


     AMG River
Road
Dividend All
Cap Value
Fund
     AMG River
Road Focused
Absolute Value
Fund
     AMG River
Road
International
Value Equity
Fund
     AMG River
Road Mid Cap
Value Fund
 

Gross income earned by the Fund from securities lending activities

   $ 29,487.40      $ 3,839.48      $ 1,917.25      $ 22,132.42  

Fees and/or compensation paid by the Fund for securities lending activities and related services

 

•  Fees paid to The Bank of New York Mellon from a revenue split

   $ 2,957.69      $ 537.97      $ 48.60      $ 450.04  

•  Fees paid for any cash collateral management service (including fees deducted from a pooled cash collateral reinvestment vehicle) that are not included in a revenue split

   $ 0.00      $ 0.00      $ 0.00      $ 0.00  

•  Administrative fees not included in a revenue split

   $ 0.00      $ 0.00      $ 0.00      $ 0.00  

•  Indemnification fees not included in a revenue split

   $ 0.00      $ 0.00      $ 0.00      $ 0.00  

•  Rebate (paid to borrower)

   $ 9,763.48      $ 251.48      $ 1,592.78      $ 19,131.35  

Aggregate fees/compensation paid by the Fund for securities lending activities

   $ 12,721.17      $ 789.45      $ 1,641.38      $ 19,581.39  

Net income from securities lending activities

   $ 16,766.23      $ 3,050.03      $ 275.87      $ 2,551.03  

 

102


     AMG River Road
Small-Mid Cap
Value Fund
     AMG River Road
Small Cap Value
Fund
 

Gross income earned by the Fund from securities lending activities

   $ 23,515.35      $ 27,013.60  

Fees and/or compensation paid by the Fund for securities lending activities and related services

 

•  Fees paid to The Bank of New York Mellon from a revenue split

   $ 2,863.49      $ 2,903.69  

•  Fees paid for any cash collateral management service (including fees deducted from a pooled cash collateral reinvestment vehicle) that are not included in a revenue split

   $ 0.00      $ 0.00  

•  Administrative fees not included in a revenue split

   $ 0.00      $ 0.00  

•  Indemnification fees not included in a revenue split

   $ 0.00      $ 0.00  

•  Rebate (paid to borrower)

   $ 4,420.70      $ 7,648.26  

Aggregate fees/compensation paid by the Fund for securities lending activities

   $ 7,284.19      $ 10,551.95  

Net income from securities lending activities

   $ 16,231.16      $ 16,461.65  

For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, The Bank of New York Mellon, acting as agent of the Funds, provided the following services to the Funds in connection with the Funds’ securities lending activities: (i) locating borrowers; (ii) monitoring daily the value of the loaned securities and collateral; (iii) seeking additional collateral as necessary from borrowers, and returning collateral to borrowers; (iv) receiving and holding collateral from borrowers, and facilitating the investment and reinvestment of cash collateral; (v) negotiating loan terms, including, but not limited to, the amount of any loan premium; (vi) selecting securities to be loaned; (vii) recordkeeping and account servicing; (viii) carrying out instructions of clients with respect to dividend activity and material proxy votes; and (ix) arranging for return of loaned securities to the Fund at loan termination.

BROKERAGE ALLOCATION AND OTHER PRACTICES

The Subadvisory Agreements provide that the Subadviser places all orders for the purchase and sale of securities that are held in each Fund’s portfolio. In executing portfolio transactions and selecting brokers or dealers, it is the policy and principal objective of the Subadviser to seek to obtain best price and execution. It is expected that securities will ordinarily be purchased in the primary markets. The Subadviser shall consider all factors that it deems relevant when assessing best price and execution for a Fund, including the breadth of the market in the security, the price of the security, the financial condition and execution capability of the broker or dealer and the reasonableness of the commission, if any (for the specific transaction and on a continuing basis).

In addition, when selecting brokers to execute transactions and in evaluating the best available net price and execution, the Subadviser is authorized by the Trustees to consider the “brokerage and research services” (as defined in Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended), provided by the broker. The Subadviser is also authorized to cause a Fund to pay a commission to a broker who

 

103


provides such brokerage and research services for executing a portfolio transaction which is in excess of the amount of commission another broker would have charged for effecting that transaction. The Subadviser must determine in good faith, however, that such commission was reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services provided viewed in terms of that particular transaction or in terms of all the accounts over which the Subadviser exercises investment discretion. Brokerage and research services received from such brokers will be in addition to, and not in lieu of, the services required to be performed by the Subadviser. Each Fund may purchase and sell portfolio securities through brokers who provide the Subadviser with research services. Brokerage commissions may be used for the general benefit of all other clients of the Subadviser where legally and contractually permissible.

The revised EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (“MiFID II”), which became effective January 3, 2018, requires EU investment managers in the scope of the EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive to pay for research services from brokers and dealers directly out of their own resources or by establishing “research payment accounts” for each client, rather than through client commissions. MiFID II’s research requirements present various compliance and operational considerations for investment advisers and broker-dealers serving clients in both the United States and the EU. It is possible that a Subadviser subject to MiFID II will cause a Fund to pay for research services with soft dollars in circumstances where the Subadviser is prohibited from causing its other client accounts to do so, including where the Subadviser aggregates trades on behalf of a Fund and those other client accounts. In such situations, a Fund would bear the additional amounts for the research services and the Fund’s Subadviser’s other client accounts would not, although the Subadviser’s other client accounts might nonetheless benefit from those research services.

The Trustees will periodically review the total amount of commissions paid by the Funds to determine if the commissions paid over representative periods of time were reasonable in relation to commissions being charged by other brokers and the benefits to the Funds of using particular brokers or dealers. It is possible that certain of the services received by the Subadviser attributable to a particular transaction will primarily benefit one or more other accounts for which investment discretion is exercised by the Subadviser.

The fees of the Subadviser are not reduced by reason of its receipt, if any, of such brokerage and research services. Generally, the Subadviser does not provide any services to a Fund except portfolio investment management and related recordkeeping services. The Investment Manager may request that the Subadviser employ certain specific brokers who have agreed to pay certain Fund expenses. The use of such brokers is subject to best price and execution, and there is no specific amount of brokerage that is required to be placed through such brokers.

Brokerage Commissions

Aggregate brokerage commissions paid by each Fund for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2020, October 31, 2021 and October 31, 2022 are as follows:

 

     All Cap Value Fund*  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 91,735  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 108,809  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 239,576  
     Focused Absolute Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 174,326  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 138,982  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 226,209  

 

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     International Value Equity Fund**  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 8,034  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 31,005  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 99,278  
     Mid Cap Value Fund***  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 216,382  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 505,922  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 902,337  
     Small-Mid Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 136,645  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 183,549  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 188,048  
     Small Cap Value Fund  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2022

   $ 457,242  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2021

   $ 687,774  

Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2020

   $ 577,803  

 

*

The decrease in brokerage fees paid by the All Cap Value Fund for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2022 and October 31, 2021 compared to the fiscal year ended October 31, 2020 was the result of changes in Fund assets.

**

The decrease in brokerage fees paid by the International Value Equity Fund for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 compared to the fiscal year ended October 31, 2021 was the result of changes in the Fund’s subadviser and investment strategy that took effect on August 16, 2021. The decrease in brokerage fees paid by the International Value Equity Fund for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2021 compared to the fiscal year ended October 31, 2020 was the result of changes in Fund assets.

***

The decrease in brokerage fees paid by the Mid Cap Value Fund for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 compared to the fiscal year ended October 31, 2021 was the result of changes in the Fund’s subadviser and investment strategy that took effect on March 19, 2021. The decrease in brokerage fees paid by the Mid Cap Value Fund for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2021 compared to the fiscal year ended October 31, 2020 was the result of changes in Fund assets.

Brokerage Recapture Arrangements

For certain Funds, the Trust may enter into arrangements with various brokers pursuant to which a portion of the commissions paid by the Funds may be directed by the Funds to pay expenses of the Funds. Consistent with its policy and principal objective of seeking best price and execution, the Subadviser may consider these brokerage recapture arrangements in selecting brokers to execute transactions for the Funds. There is no specific amount of brokerage that is required to be placed through such brokers. In all cases, brokerage recapture arrangements relate solely to expenses of the Funds and not to expenses of the Investment Manager or the Subadviser.

 

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Affiliated Brokerage

Certain affiliates of Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. may be deemed to be affiliated persons of the All Cap Value Fund because of their record ownership of the Fund. For the fiscal years ended October 31, 2020, October 31, 2021 and October 31, 2022, the Fund paid brokerage commissions to such broker-dealer affiliates of $1,056, $4,034, and $0, respectively. For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, 0% of the Fund’s aggregate brokerage commissions were paid to such broker-dealer affiliates. For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, 0% of the Fund’s aggregate dollar amount of transactions involving the payment of brokerage commissions were effected through such broker-dealer affiliates.

Certain affiliates of Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. may be deemed to be affiliated persons of the Focused Absolute Value Fund because of their record ownership of the Fund. For the fiscal years ended October 31, 2020, October 31, 2021 and October 31, 2022, the Fund paid brokerage commissions to such broker-dealer affiliates of $15,199, $5,040, and $6,546, respectively. For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, 3.75% of the Fund’s aggregate brokerage commissions were paid to such broker-dealer affiliates. For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, 4.38% of the Fund’s aggregate dollar amount of transactions involving the payment of brokerage commissions were effected through such broker-dealer affiliates.

Certain affiliates of Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. may be deemed to be affiliated persons of the Small-Mid Cap Value Fund because of their record ownership of the Fund. For the fiscal years ended October 31, 2020, October 31, 2021 and October 31, 2022, the Fund paid brokerage commissions to such broker-dealer affiliates of $4,428, $5,940, and $3,914, respectively. For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, 2.86% of the Fund’s aggregate brokerage commissions were paid to such broker-dealer affiliates. For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, 1.71% of the Fund’s aggregate dollar amount of transactions involving the payment of brokerage commissions were effected through such broker-dealer affiliates.

Certain affiliates of Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. may be deemed to be affiliated persons of the Small Cap Value Fund because of their record ownership of the Fund. For the fiscal years ended October 31, 2020, October 31, 2021 and October 31, 2022, the Fund paid brokerage commissions to such broker-dealer affiliates of $12,933, $26,290, and $13,371, respectively. For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, 2.92% of the Fund’s aggregate brokerage commissions were paid to such broker-dealer affiliates. For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, 1.29% of the Fund’s aggregate dollar amount of transactions involving the payment of brokerage commissions were effected through such broker-dealer affiliates.

PURCHASE, REDEMPTION AND PRICING OF SHARES

Purchasing Shares

Investors may open accounts directly with the Funds or through their financial planners or investment professionals, or directly with the Trust in circumstances as described in each Fund’s current Prospectus. Shares may also be purchased through bank trust departments on behalf of their clients and tax-exempt employee welfare, pension and profit-sharing plans. The Trust reserves the right to determine which customers and which purchase orders the Trust will accept.

The Investment Manager, the Subadviser, and/or the Distributor may pay compensation (out of their own funds and not as an expense of the Funds) to certain affiliated or unaffiliated brokers, dealers, or other financial intermediaries or service providers in connection with the sale or retention of Fund shares and/or shareholder servicing. This compensation may provide such affiliated or unaffiliated entities with an incentive to favor sales of shares of a Fund over other investment options. Any such payments will not change the NAV or the price of a Fund’s shares.

 

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Certain investors may purchase or sell a Fund’s shares through a third party such as a bank, broker-dealer (including through a fund supermarket platform), trust company or other financial intermediary (each of the above, a “Financial Intermediary”) that may impose transaction fees or other charges in connection with this service. Shares purchased in this way may be treated as a single account for purposes of the minimum initial investment. Each Fund has authorized one or more Financial Intermediaries to (i) receive purchase and redemption orders on its behalf and (ii) designate other intermediaries to receive purchase and redemption orders on the Fund’s behalf. A Fund will be deemed to have received a purchase or redemption order when an authorized Financial Intermediary or an authorized Financial Intermediary’s authorized designee receives the order. These orders will be priced at a Fund’s NAV next calculated after they are so received by an authorized Financial Intermediary or such Financial Intermediary’s authorized designee and accepted by the Fund. The Funds may from time to time make payments to Financial Intermediaries for certain services, such as account maintenance, recordkeeping or sub-accounting, forwarding communications to shareholders, providing shareholders with account statements, transaction processing and customer liaison services. Investors who do not wish to receive the services of a Financial Intermediary may consider investing directly with the Trust. Shares held through a Financial Intermediary may be transferred into the investor’s name by contacting the Financial Intermediary or the Transfer Agent. Certain Financial Intermediaries may receive compensation from the Investment Manager, the Subadviser and/or the Distributor out of their legitimate profits in exchange for selling shares or for recordkeeping or other shareholder related services.

Purchase orders received by the Trust by 4:00 p.m. New York time at the address listed in each Fund’s current Prospectus on any day that the NYSE is open for business will receive the NAV computed that day. Purchase orders received after 4:00 p.m. from certain processing organizations that have entered into contractual arrangements with the Fund(s) will also receive that day’s offering price, provided that the orders the processing organization transmits to the Fund(s) were received in proper form by the processing organization before 4:00 p.m. The broker-dealer, omnibus processor or investment professional is responsible for promptly transmitting orders to the Trust. Orders transmitted to the Trust at the address indicated in the Prospectus will be promptly forwarded to the Transfer Agent.

Federal funds or bank wires used to pay for purchase orders must be in U.S. dollars and received in advance, except for certain processing organizations that have entered into contractual arrangements with the Trust. Purchases made by check are effected when the check is received, but are accepted subject to collection at full face value in U.S. funds and must be drawn in U.S. dollars on a U.S. bank.

To ensure that checks are collected by the Trust, if shares purchased by check or by Automated Clearing House funds (“ACH”) are sold before the check has cleared, the redemption proceeds will not be processed until the check has cleared. This may take up to 15 calendar days unless arrangements are made with the Investment Manager. However, during this 15 calendar day period, such shareholder may exchange such shares into any series of the Trust, AMG Funds, AMG Funds I, AMG Funds II or AMG Funds III, subject to applicable restrictions such as minimum investment amounts. The 15 calendar day holding period for redemptions would still apply to shares received through such exchanges.

If the check accompanying any purchase order does not clear, or if there are insufficient funds in your bank account, the transaction will be canceled and you will be responsible for any loss the Trust incurs. For current shareholders, the Trust can redeem shares from any identically registered account in the Trust as reimbursement for any loss incurred. The Trust has the right to prohibit or restrict all future purchases in the Trust in the event of any nonpayment for shares. The Funds and the Distributor reserve the right to reject any order for the purchase of shares in whole or in part. The Trust reserves the right to cancel any purchase order for which payment has not been received by the third business day following placement of the order.

 

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In the interest of economy and convenience, share certificates will not be issued. All share purchases are confirmed to the record holder and credited to such holder’s account on the Trust’s books maintained by the Transfer Agent.

Redeeming Shares

Any redemption orders received in proper form by the Trust before 4:00 p.m. New York time on any day that the NYSE is open for business will receive the NAV determined at the close of regular business of the NYSE on that day. Redemption orders received after 4:00 p.m. from certain processing organizations that have entered into contractual arrangements with the Funds will also be redeemed at the NAV computed that day, provided that the orders the processing organization transmits to a Fund were received in proper form by the processing organization before 4:00 p.m.

Redemption orders received after 4:00 p.m. New York time will be redeemed at the NAV determined at the close of trading on the next business day. Redemption orders transmitted to the Trust at the address indicated in each Fund’s current Prospectus will be promptly forwarded to the Transfer Agent. If you are trading through a broker-dealer or investment adviser, such investment professional is responsible for promptly transmitting orders.

The Trust reserves the right to redeem a shareholder account if its value (i) falls below $500 for Class N shares, $25,000 for Class I shares, or $50,000 for Class Z shares due to redemptions the shareholder makes; or (ii) is below $100, but, in each case, not until after the Fund gives the shareholder at least 60 days’ notice and the opportunity to increase the account balance to the minimum account balance amount. Whether the Trust will exercise its right to redeem shareholder accounts will be determined by the Investment Manager on a case-by-case basis. We may convert your position(s) in Class I shares of a Fund to the respective Class N shares of that Fund, if applicable. Unless you did not meet the minimum initial investment, we will give you 30 days’ notice before we convert your Fund position(s). This gives you an opportunity to purchase enough shares to raise the value of your Fund position(s) above the applicable minimum initial investment. We will not redeem or close Fund position(s) in IRAs, Education Savings Accounts, custodial accounts for minors, or active Automatic Investment Plans because they do not meet the applicable minimum investment requirement. We may close Fund position(s) in IRAs, Education Savings Accounts, custodial accounts for minors, or active Automatic Investment Plans due to insufficient information as it relates to customer identification procedures. If these account types are invested in Class I shares below the required minimum investment, we may convert the Fund position(s) to the Class N. Additionally, we will not convert Class I Fund position(s) where there is an effective “letter of intent.”

A Fund may pay all or a portion of redemption proceeds with a distribution in kind of its portfolio securities, in lieu of cash, in conformity with applicable law, when such payment is in the best interest of the Fund. If shares are redeemed in kind, the redeeming shareholder might incur transaction costs in converting the assets to cash and the assets will be subject to market and other risks until they are sold. The method of valuing portfolio securities is described under “Net Asset Value” below, and such valuation will be made as of the same time the redemption price is determined.

Investors should be aware that redemptions from a Fund may not be processed if a redemption request is not submitted in proper form. To be in proper form, the request must include the shareholder’s taxpayer identification number, account number, Fund number and signatures of all account holders. All redemptions will be mailed to the address of record on the shareholder’s account. In addition, if shares purchased by check or ACH are sold before the check has cleared, the redemption proceeds will not be sent to the shareholder until the check has cleared. This may take up to 15 calendar days unless arrangements are made with the Investment Manager. The Trust reserves the right to suspend the right of redemption and to postpone the date of payment upon redemption beyond seven days as follows:

 

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(i) during periods when the NYSE is closed for business other than weekends and holidays or when trading on the NYSE is restricted as determined by the SEC by rule or regulation, (ii) during periods in which an emergency, as determined by the SEC, exists that causes disposal by a Fund of, or evaluation of the NAV of, portfolio securities to be unreasonable or impracticable, or (iii) for such other periods as the SEC may permit.

A Fund or the Transfer Agent may temporarily delay for more than seven days the disbursement of redemption proceeds from the account of a “Specified Adult” (as that term is defined in FINRA Rule 2165) based on a reasonable belief that financial exploitation of the Specified Adult has occurred, is occurring, has been attempted, or will be attempted, subject to certain conditions.

Exchange of Shares

As described in the Funds’ Prospectus, an investor may exchange shares of a Fund for shares of the same class of other funds in the Trust or for shares of other funds managed by the Investment Manager, subject to the applicable investment minimum. Not all funds managed by the Investment Manager offer all classes of shares or are open to new investors. In addition to exchanging into other funds managed by the Investment Manager as described above, an investor also may exchange shares of the Funds through the Investment Manager for shares in the Agency share class of the JPMorgan Fund (see below for more information about the JPMorgan Fund). Because an exchange is the sale of shares of the Fund exchanged out of and the purchase of shares of the fund exchanged into, the usual purchase and redemption procedures, requirements and restrictions apply to each exchange. The value of the shares exchanged must meet the minimum purchase requirement of the fund and class for which you are exchanging them, except that there is no minimum purchase requirement to exchange into the JPMorgan Fund if you exchange out of a Fund through the Investment Manager. Investors may exchange only into accounts that are registered in the same name with the same address and taxpayer identification number. In addition, an investor who intends to continue to maintain an account in a Fund may make an exchange out of that Fund only if following the exchange the investor would continue to meet the Fund’s minimum investment amount. Settlement on the purchase of shares of another fund will occur when the proceeds from the redemption become available. Shareholders subject to U.S. federal income tax may recognize capital gains or losses on the exchange for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The Trust reserves the right to discontinue, alter or limit the exchange privilege at any time, subject to applicable law. Holding your shares through a financial intermediary, such as a broker, may affect your ability to use the exchange privilege or other investor services.

The JPMorgan Fund is advised, offered and distributed by JPMorgan Asset Management and its affiliates, but an investor may place an exchange order in the same manner as the investor places other exchange orders and as described in the Funds’ Prospectus, subject to the restrictions above. The Investment Manager has entered into a Service Agreement and Supplemental Payment Agreement with the JPMorgan Fund’s distributor and investment adviser, respectively, that provide for a cash payment to the Investment Manager with respect to the average daily NAV of the total number of shares of the JPMorgan Fund held by customers investing through the Investment Manager. This cash payment compensates the Investment Manager for providing, directly or through an agent, administrative, sub-transfer agent and other shareholder services, and not investment advisory or distribution related services.

Cost Basis Reporting

Upon the sale, redemption or exchange of a Fund’s shares, the Fund or, in the case of shares purchased through a financial intermediary, the financial intermediary may be required to provide you and the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) with cost basis and certain other related tax information about the Fund’s shares you redeemed or exchanged. See each Fund’s current Prospectus for more information.

 

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Net Asset Value

Each Fund computes its NAV for each class of shares once daily on Monday through Friday on each day on which the NYSE is open for trading, at the close of business of the NYSE, usually 4:00 p.m. New York time. The NAV will not be computed on the day the following legal holidays are observed: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The Funds may close for purchases and redemptions at such other times as may be determined by the Board of Trustees to the extent permitted by applicable law. The time at which orders are accepted and shares are redeemed may be changed in case of an emergency or if the NYSE closes at a time other than 4:00 p.m. New York time.

The NAV per share of each class of a Fund is equal to the value of the class’s net worth (assets minus liabilities) divided by the number of shares outstanding for that class. Equity securities traded on a national securities exchange or reported on the NASDAQ national market system (“NMS”) are valued at the last quoted sales price on the primary exchange or, if applicable, the NASDAQ official closing price or the official closing price of the relevant exchange or, lacking any sales, at the last quoted bid price. Equity securities traded in the OTC market (other than NMS securities) are valued at the bid price. Foreign equity securities (securities principally traded in markets other than U.S. markets) are valued at the official closing price on the primary exchange or, for markets that either do not offer an official closing price or where the official closing price may not be representative of the overall market, the last quoted sale price as of the close of the regular trading hours of the primary market or the value obtained for the security in accordance with the Trust’s procedures for fair valuation of foreign securities. In addition, if a foreign exchange or market is closed on a day when the NYSE is open, the value of a security that is traded in the affected foreign exchange or market is the value obtained for the security in accordance with the Trust’s procedures for fair valuation of foreign securities, if available, or the last value assigned to the security on the immediately preceding valuation date (unless such value is deemed to be unreliable). Unless a foreign equity security is valued in accordance with the Trust’s procedures for fair valuation of foreign securities, a foreign equity security for which there are no reported sales on the valuation date may be valued at the last quoted bid price. Fixed-income securities purchased with a remaining maturity exceeding 60 days are valued at the evaluated bid price provided by an authorized pricing service or, if an evaluated price is not available, by reference to other securities which are considered comparable in credit rating, interest rate, due date and other features (generally referred to as “matrix pricing”) or other similar pricing methodologies. In addition, foreign fixed-income securities purchased with a remaining maturity exceeding 60 days may be valued in accordance with the Trust’s procedures for fair valuation of foreign securities. Fixed-income securities purchased with a remaining maturity of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost, provided that the amortized cost value is approximately the same as the fair value of the security valued without the use of amortized cost. With respect to foreign equity securities and foreign fixed-income securities, securities held in a Fund that can be fair valued by the applicable fair value pricing service are fair valued on each business day provided that each individual price exceeds a pre-established confidence level. Notwithstanding the foregoing, foreign currency exchange contracts, subscription stock rights, warrants and other redeemable securities with predetermined values, shares of open-end registered investment companies (excluding ETFs), foreign currencies, IPOs, financial derivatives, foreign investor-only common stock issued by companies in various countries that issue two separate common stock lines (one for foreign investors and one for local investors), and securities halted or delisted due to a corporate action will be valued in accordance with the Funds’ valuation procedures adopted from time to time. The Funds’ portfolio instruments are generally valued using third-party pricing services. In the event that the market quotation, price or market based valuation for a portfolio instrument is not readily available or otherwise not determinable pursuant to the Funds’ valuation procedures, if the Investment Manager believes the quotation, price or market based valuation to be unreliable, or in certain other circumstances, the portfolio instrument may be valued at fair value, as determined in good faith under the general supervision of the Board. All portfolio instrument valuations described above on a valuation date shall be valuations of such instruments as of or prior to the close of business of the NYSE.

 

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Frequent Purchase and Redemption Arrangements

The Trust does not have any arrangements with any person to permit frequent purchases and redemptions of a Fund’s shares, and no compensation or other consideration is received by a Fund, the Investment Manager or any other party in this regard.

Dividends and Distributions

Each Fund declares and pays dividends and distributions as described in its Prospectus.

If a shareholder has elected to receive dividends and/or their distributions in cash and the postal or other delivery service is unable to deliver the checks to the shareholder’s address of record, the dividends and/or distributions will automatically be converted to having the dividends and/or distributions reinvested in additional shares. No interest will accrue on amounts represented by uncashed dividend or redemption checks.

CERTAIN U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX MATTERS

The following summary of certain U.S. federal income tax considerations is intended for general informational purposes only. This discussion is not tax advice. This discussion does not address all aspects of taxation (including state, local, and foreign taxes) that may be relevant to particular shareholders in light of their own investment or tax circumstances, or to particular types of shareholders (including insurance companies, tax-advantaged retirement plans, financial institutions or broker-dealers, foreign corporations, and persons who are not citizens or residents of the United States) subject to special treatment under U.S. federal income tax laws. This summary is based on the Code, the regulations thereunder, published rulings and court decisions, in effect as of the date of this SAI. These laws are subject to change, possibly on a retroactive basis.

YOU ARE ADVISED TO CONSULT YOUR OWN TAX ADVISOR WITH RESPECT TO THE SPECIFIC TAX CONSEQUENCES OF AN INVESTMENT IN A FUND IN LIGHT OF YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. THIS DISCUSSION IS NOT INTENDED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CAREFUL TAX PLANNING.

U.S. Federal Income Taxation of the Funds—in General

Each Fund has elected to be treated and intends to qualify and to be eligible to be treated each taxable year as a “regulated investment company” under Subchapter M of the Code. In order to qualify as such and to be so treated, each Fund must, among other things:

(a) derive at least 90% of its gross income in each taxable year from (i) dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies, or other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures, or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies and (ii) net income derived from interests in “qualified publicly traded partnerships” (as defined below) (all such income, “Qualifying Income”);

 

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(b) invest the Fund’s assets in such a manner that, as of the close of each quarter of its taxable year, (i) at least 50% of the value of the Fund’s total assets is represented by cash and cash items (including receivables), U.S. Government securities and securities of other regulated investment companies, and other securities limited in respect of any one issuer (except with regard to certain investment companies furnishing capital to development corporations) to an amount not greater in value than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets and to not more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of the Fund’s total assets is invested, including through corporations in which the Fund owns a 20% or more voting stock interest, in (x) the securities (other than U.S. Government securities or the securities of other regulated investment companies) of any one issuer, or two or more issuers each of which the Fund owns 20% or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock entitled to vote, and that are engaged in the same, similar or related trades or businesses, or (y) the securities of one or more “qualified publicly traded partnerships” (as defined below); and

(c) distribute with respect to each taxable year at least 90% of the sum of its investment company taxable income (as that term is defined in the Code without regard to the deduction for dividends paid—generally, taxable ordinary income and the excess, if any, of net short-term capital gains over net long-term capital losses) and net tax-exempt interest income, for such year.

In general, for purposes of the 90% gross income requirement described in paragraph (a) above, income derived from a partnership will be treated as Qualifying Income to a Fund only to the extent such income is attributable to items of income of the partnership which would be Qualifying Income if realized by the Fund. However, 100% of the net income derived from an interest in a “qualified publicly traded partnership” (a partnership (x) the interests in which are traded on an established securities market or are readily tradable on a secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof, and (y) that derives less than 90% of its income from the Qualifying Income described in paragraph (a)(i) above) will be treated as Qualifying Income. In general, such entities will be treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes because they meet the passive income requirement under Section 7704(c)(2) of the Code. In addition, although in general the passive loss rules of the Code do not apply to regulated investment companies, such rules do apply to a regulated investment company with respect to items attributable to an interest in a qualified publicly traded partnership.

For purposes of the diversification test in paragraph (b) above, the term “outstanding voting securities of such issuer” will include the equity securities of a qualified publicly traded partnership. Also, for purposes of the diversification test in paragraph (b) above, the identification of the issuer (or, in some cases, issuers) of a particular Fund investment can depend on the terms and conditions of that investment. In some cases, identification of the issuer (or issuers) is uncertain under current law, and an adverse determination or future guidance by the IRS with respect to issuer identification for a particular type of investment may adversely affect a Fund’s ability to meet the diversification test in paragraph (b) above.

Gains from foreign currencies (including foreign currency options, foreign currency futures and foreign currency forward contracts) currently constitute Qualifying Income for purposes of the 90% test. However, the Treasury Department has the authority to issue regulations (possibly retroactively) excluding from the definition of Qualifying Income a Fund’s foreign currency gains to the extent that such income is not directly related to the Fund’s principal business of investing in stock or securities. This could affect the qualification of certain of the Funds as regulated investment companies. In addition, as further discussed below, a Fund’s investments in commodity-linked ETNs and other commodity-linked instruments, if any, can be limited by such Fund’s intention to qualify as a regulated investment company, and can limit such Fund’s ability to so qualify.

 

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If a Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company, the Fund generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on its investment company taxable income (computed without regard to the dividends-paid deduction) and net capital gain (net long-term capital gains in excess of net short-term capital losses, in each case determined with reference to capital losses carried forward from prior years), if any, that it distributes in a timely manner to shareholders in the form of dividends (including Capital Gain Dividends, as defined below).

If a Fund were to fail to meet the income, diversification or distribution tests described above, the Fund could in some cases cure such failure, including by paying a Fund-level tax, paying interest, making additional distributions or disposing of certain assets. If a Fund were ineligible to or otherwise did not cure such failure for any taxable year, or if a Fund were otherwise to fail to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company for such taxable year, it would lose the beneficial tax treatment accorded regulated investment companies under Subchapter M of the Code and all of its taxable income would be subject to tax at regular corporate rates without any deduction for distributions to shareholders. All distributions by such Fund, including any distributions of net tax-exempt income, if any, and net long-term capital gains, would be taxable to shareholders in the same manner as other regular corporate dividends to the extent of the Fund’s current or accumulated earnings and profits. Some portions of such distributions might be eligible for treatment as “qualified dividend income” for individuals and for the “dividends-received deduction” for corporate shareholders, in each case as described below. A Fund could be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest and make substantial distributions before requalifying as a regulated investment company that is accorded special tax treatment.

If a Fund were to fail to distribute in a calendar year at least an amount equal to the sum of 98% of its ordinary income for such calendar year and 98.2% of its capital gain net income for the one-year period ending on October 31 of such calendar year (or November 30 or December 31 of that year if the Fund is permitted to elect and so elects), plus any such amounts retained from the prior year, the Fund would be subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax on the undistributed amounts. For purposes of the required excise tax distribution, a Fund’s ordinary gains and losses from the sale, exchange or other taxable disposition of property that would otherwise be taken into account after October 31 of a calendar year (or November 30 of that year, if the Fund is eligible to make and makes the election described above) generally are treated as arising on January 1 of the following calendar year; in the case of a fund with a December 31 year end that is eligible to make and makes the election described above, no such gains or losses will be so treated. Also, for these purposes, a Fund will be treated as having distributed any amount on which it is subject to corporate income tax for the taxable year ending within the calendar year. A dividend paid by a Fund to shareholders in January of a year generally is deemed to have been paid by such a Fund on December 31 of the preceding year, if the dividend was declared and payable to shareholders of record on a date in October, November, or December of that preceding year. Each Fund intends generally to make sufficient distributions to avoid the imposition of this 4% excise tax, although there can be no assurance that it will be able to do so.

In determining its net capital gain, including in connection with determining the amount available to support a Capital Gain Dividend (as defined below), its taxable income, and its earnings and profits, a regulated investment company generally may elect to treat part or all of any post-October capital loss (defined as any “net capital loss” attributable to the portion, if any, of the taxable year after October 31 or, if there is no such loss, the net long-term capital loss or net short-term capital loss attributable to any such portion of the taxable year) or late-year ordinary loss (generally, the sum of its (i) net ordinary loss, if any, from the sale, exchange or other taxable disposition of property, attributable to the portion, if any, of the taxable year after October 31, and (ii) other net ordinary loss attributable to the portion, if any, of the taxable year after December 31) as if incurred in the succeeding taxable year.

 

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Capital losses in excess of capital gains (“net capital losses”) are not permitted to be deducted against a Fund’s net investment income. Instead, potentially subject to certain limitations, a Fund may carry net capital losses from any taxable year forward to subsequent taxable years to offset capital gains, if any, realized during such subsequent taxable years. Distributions from capital gains are generally made after applying any available capital loss carryforwards. Capital loss carryforwards are reduced to the extent they offset current-year net realized capital gains, whether a Fund retains or distributes such gains. If a Fund incurs or has incurred net capital losses, those losses will be carried forward to one or more subsequent taxable years without expiration to offset capital gains realized during such subsequent taxable years; any such carryforward losses will retain their character as short-term or long-term. A Fund must apply such carryforwards first against gains of the same character.

See each Fund’s most recent annual shareholder report for such Fund’s available capital loss carryforwards as of the end of its most recently ended fiscal year.

Taxation of the Funds’ Investments

Certain Debt Obligations; Original Issue Discount; Market Discount. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, some debt obligations with a fixed maturity date of more than one year from the date of issuance (and zero-coupon debt obligations with a fixed maturity date of more than one year from the date of issuance) will be treated as having original issue discount (“OID”). OID is, very generally, the excess of the stated redemption price at maturity of a debt obligation over the issue price. OID is treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as interest income earned by a Fund, which will comprise a part of the Fund’s investment company taxable income or net tax-exempt income, if any, required to be distributed to shareholders as described above, whether or not cash on the debt obligation is actually received. Generally, the amount of OID accrued each year is determined on the basis of a constant yield to maturity which takes into account the compounding of interest (as potentially reduced by any amortizable bond premium—see below).

Some debt obligations with a fixed maturity date of more than one year from the date of issuance that are acquired by a Fund in the secondary market may be treated as having “market discount.” Very generally, market discount is the excess of the stated redemption price of a debt obligation (or in the case of an obligation issued with OID, its “revised issue price”) over the purchase price of such obligation. Generally, any gain recognized on the disposition of, and any partial payment of principal on, a debt obligation having market discount is treated as ordinary income to the extent the gain, or principal payment, does not exceed the “accrued market discount” on such debt obligation. Alternatively, the Fund may elect to accrue market discount currently, in which case the Fund will be required to include the accrued market discount in the Fund’s income (as ordinary income) and thus distribute it over the term of the debt obligation, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, upon partial or full repayment or disposition of the debt obligation. The rate at which the market discount accrues, and thus is included in the Fund’s income, will depend upon which of the permitted accrual methods the Fund elects.

Some debt obligations with a fixed maturity date of one year or less from the date of issuance may be treated as having OID or, in certain cases, “acquisition discount” (very generally, the excess of the stated redemption price over the purchase price). Generally, a Fund will be required to include the acquisition discount or OID in income (as ordinary income) and thus distribute it over the term of the debt obligation, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, upon partial or full repayment or disposition of the debt obligation. A Fund may make one or more of the elections applicable to debt obligations having acquisition discount or OID, which could affect the character and timing of recognition of income.

Pay-in-kind bonds also will give rise to income which is required to be distributed and is taxable even though a Fund holding the obligation receives no interest payment in cash on the obligation during the year.

 

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If a Fund holds the foregoing kinds of obligations, or other obligations subject to special rules under the Code, it may be required to pay out as an income distribution each year an amount which is greater than the total amount of cash interest the Fund actually received. Such distributions may be made from the cash assets of a Fund or, if necessary, by selling of portfolio obligations including at a time when it may not be advantageous to do so. These dispositions may cause a Fund to realize higher amounts of short-term capital gains (generally taxed to shareholders at ordinary income tax rates) and, in the event a Fund realizes net capital gains from such transactions, its shareholders may receive a larger Capital Gain Dividend (see “Federal Income Taxation of Shareholders,” below) than if a Fund had not held such obligations.

Securities Issued or Purchased at a Premium. Very generally, where a Fund purchases a bond at a price that exceeds the stated principal amount (or revised issue price)—that is, at a premium—the premium is amortizable over the remaining term of the bond. In the case of a taxable bond, if a Fund makes an election applicable to all such bonds it purchases, which election is irrevocable without the consent of the IRS, the Fund reduces the current taxable income from the bond by the amortizable premium and reduces its tax basis in the bond (or the upward basis adjustment attributable to any OID) by the amount of such offset; upon the disposition or maturity of such bonds acquired on or after January 4, 2013, the Fund is permitted to deduct, against stated interest from other bonds, any remaining premium allocable to a prior period. In the case of a tax-exempt bond, tax rules require a Fund to reduce its tax basis by the amount of amortizable premium.

Junk Bonds. To the extent such investments are permissible, the Funds may invest in debt obligations that are in the lowest rating categories or are unrated, including debt obligations of issuers not currently paying interest or who are in default. If a Fund invests in high-yield OID obligations issued by corporations (including tax-exempt obligations), a portion of the OID accruing on the obligation may be treated as taxable dividend income. In such cases, if the issuer of the high-yield discount obligation is a domestic corporation, dividend payments by the Fund attributable to such portion of accrued OID may be eligible for the dividends-received deduction for corporate shareholders.

Investments in debt obligations that are at risk of or in default present special tax issues for a Fund. Tax rules are not entirely clear about issues such as whether or to what extent a Fund should recognize market discount on such a debt obligation, when a Fund may cease to accrue interest, OID or market discount, when and to what extent a Fund may take deductions for bad debts or worthless securities and how a Fund should allocate payments received on obligations in default between principal and income. These and other related issues will be addressed by each Fund when, as and if it invests in such securities, in order to seek to ensure that it distributes sufficient income to preserve its eligibility for treatment as a regulated investment company and does not become subject to U.S. federal income or excise tax.

Issuer Deductibility of Interest. A portion of the interest paid or accrued on certain high-yield discount obligations owned by a Fund may not be deductible to (and thus, may affect the cash flow of) the issuer and will instead be treated as a dividend paid by the issuer for purposes of the dividends-received deduction (described below). In such cases, if the issuer of the high-yield discount obligations is a domestic corporation, dividend payments by the Fund may be eligible for the corporate dividends-received deduction (described below) to the extent attributable to the deemed dividend portion of such accrued interest.

REITs. Any investment by a Fund in equity securities of REITs qualifying as real estate investment trusts under Subchapter M of the Code may result in the Fund’s receipt of cash in excess of the REIT’s earnings; if the Fund distributes these amounts, these distributions could constitute a return of capital to Fund shareholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Dividends received by a Fund from a REIT will not qualify for the corporate dividends-received deduction and generally will not constitute qualified dividend income (see “Federal Income Taxation of Shareholders,” below).

 

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Distributions by a Fund to its shareholders that the Fund properly reports as “section 199A dividends,” as defined and subject to certain conditions described below, are treated as qualified REIT dividends in the hands of non-corporate shareholders. Non-corporate shareholders are permitted a federal income tax deduction equal to 20% of qualified REIT dividends received by them, subject to certain limitations. Very generally, a “section 199A dividend” is any dividend or portion thereof that is attributable to certain dividends received by a Fund from REITs, to the extent such dividends are properly reported as such by the Fund in a written notice to its shareholders. A section 199A dividend is treated as a qualified REIT dividend only if the shareholder receiving such dividend holds the dividend-paying Fund shares for at least 46 days of the 91-day period beginning 45 days before the shares become ex-dividend, and is not under an obligation to make related payments with respect to a position in substantially similar or related property. A Fund is permitted to report such part of its dividends as section 199A dividends as are eligible, but is not required to do so. Subject to future regulatory guidance to the contrary, distributions attributable to qualified publicly traded partnership income from a Fund’s investments in MLPs will ostensibly not qualify for the deduction available to non-corporate taxpayers in respect of such amounts received directly from an MLP.

Mortgage-Related Securities. Certain of the Funds may invest directly or indirectly (e.g. through REITs) in residual interests in REMICs, including by investing in residual interests in CMOs with respect to which an election to be treated as a REMIC is in effect, or equity interests in taxable mortgage pools (“TMPs”). Under a notice issued by the IRS in October 2006 and Treasury regulations that have yet to be issued, but may apply retroactively, a portion of a Fund’s income (including income allocated to the Fund from a REIT or other pass-through entity) that is attributable to a residual interest in a REMIC or an equity interest in a TMP (referred to in the Code as an “excess inclusion”) will be subject to U.S. federal income tax in all events. This notice also provides, and the regulations are expected to provide, that excess inclusion income of a regulated investment company, such as a Fund, will be allocated to shareholders of the regulated investment company in proportion to the dividends received by such shareholders, with the same consequences as if the shareholders held the related interest directly. As a result, a Fund investing in such interests may not be a suitable investment for charitable remainder trusts (“CRTs”) (see “Tax-Exempt Shareholders” below).

In general, excess inclusion income allocated to shareholders (i) cannot be offset by net operating losses (subject to a limited exception for certain thrift institutions), (ii) will constitute unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) to entities (including a qualified pension plan, an individual retirement account, a 401(k) plan, a Keogh plan or other tax-exempt entity) subject to tax on UBTI, thereby potentially requiring such an entity that is allocated excess inclusion income, and otherwise might not be required to file a tax return, to file a tax return and pay tax on such income and (iii) in the case of a non-U.S. shareholder, will not qualify for any reduction in U.S. federal withholding tax. A shareholder will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on such inclusions notwithstanding any exemption from such income tax otherwise available under the Code.

Options, Futures, Foreign Currencies, Forward Contracts, Swap Agreements, and Other Derivatives. A Fund’s use of options contracts, futures contracts, foreign currency forward contracts, ETNs, swap agreements and other derivatives, if any, may cause the Fund to recognize taxable income in excess of the cash generated by such instruments. As a result, a Fund could be required at times to sell other investments in order to satisfy its distribution requirements under the Code. A Fund’s use of derivatives might also affect the amount, timing, or character of a Fund’s distributions. The character of a Fund’s taxable income will, in some cases, be determined on the basis of reports made to the Fund by the issuers of the securities in which they invest. In addition, because the tax rules applicable to such

 

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investments may be uncertain under current U.S. federal income tax law, an adverse determination or future IRS guidance with respect to these rules (which determination or guidance could be retroactive) may affect whether a Fund has derived its income from the proper sources, made sufficient distributions, and otherwise satisfied the relevant requirements, to maintain its qualification and eligibility for treatment as a regulated investment company and avoid a Fund-level tax.

Certain of a Fund’s investments may be subject to provisions of the Code that (i) require inclusion of unrealized gains in the Fund’s income for purposes of the excise tax and the distribution requirements applicable to regulated investment companies; (ii) defer recognition of realized losses; (iii) cause adjustments in the holding periods of portfolio securities; (iv) convert capital gains into ordinary income; (v) characterize both realized and unrealized gains or losses as short-term or long-term, irrespective of the holding period of the investment; and (vi) require inclusion of unrealized gains or losses in the Fund’s income for purposes of determining whether 90% of the Fund’s gross income is Qualifying Income. Such provisions may apply to, among other investments, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, options on securities, options on security indices, forward contracts, swaps, credit default swaps, short sales, securities loans or other similar transactions, and foreign securities. Each Fund will monitor its transactions and may make certain tax elections available to it in order to mitigate the impact of these rules and prevent disqualification of the Fund as a regulated investment company.

In general, option premiums received by a Fund are not immediately included in the income of the Fund. Instead, the premiums are recognized when the option contract expires, the option is exercised by the holder, or the Fund transfers or otherwise terminates the option (e.g., through a closing transaction). If a call option written by a Fund is exercised and the Fund sells or delivers the underlying stock, the Fund generally will recognize capital gain or loss equal to (a) the sum of the strike price and the option premium received by the Fund minus (b) the Fund’s basis in the stock. Such gain or loss generally will be short-term or long-term depending upon the holding period of the underlying stock. If securities are purchased by a Fund pursuant to the exercise of a put option written by it, the Fund generally will subtract the premium received for purposes of computing its cost basis in the securities purchased. Gain or loss arising in respect of a termination of a Fund’s obligation under an option other than through the exercise of the option will be short-term gain or loss depending on whether the premium income received by the Fund is greater or less than the amount paid by the Fund, if any, in terminating the transaction. Thus, for example, if an option written by a Fund expires unexercised, the Fund generally will recognize short-term gain equal to the premium received.

The tax treatment of certain positions entered into by a Fund (including regulated futures contracts, certain foreign currency positions and certain listed non-equity options) will be governed by Section 1256 of the Code (“section 1256 contracts”). Gains or losses on section 1256 contracts generally are considered to be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gains or losses (“60/40”), although certain foreign currency gains and losses from such contracts may be treated as ordinary in character (See “Foreign Currency Transactions and Hedging” below). Also, section 1256 contracts held by a Fund at the end of each taxable year (and, for purposes of the 4% excise tax, on certain other dates as prescribed under the Code) are “marked to market” with the result that unrealized gains or losses are treated as though they were realized and the resulting gain or loss is treated as ordinary or 60/40 gain or loss, as applicable.

The timing and character of income and losses arising in respect of swap contracts are, in many instances, unclear. In addition, the tax treatment of a payment made or received on a swap contract held by a Fund, and in particular, whether such payment is, in whole or in part, capital or ordinary in character, will vary depending upon the terms of the particular swap contract.

 

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Transactions in options, futures and forward contracts, and swaps undertaken by a Fund may result in “straddles” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The straddle rules may affect the character of gains (or losses) realized by a Fund, and losses realized by a Fund on positions that are part of a straddle may be deferred under the straddle rules, rather than being taken into account in calculating the taxable income for the taxable year in which the losses are realized. In addition, certain carrying charges (including interest expenses) associated with positions in a straddle may be required to be capitalized rather than deducted currently. Certain elections that a Fund may make with respect to its straddle positions may also affect the amount, character, and timing of the recognition of gains or losses from the affected positions.

The straddle rules may increase the amount of short-term capital gain realized by a Fund, which is taxed as ordinary income when distributed to shareholders. Because application of the straddle rules may affect the character of gains or losses, defer losses and/or accelerate the recognition of gains or losses from the affected straddle positions, the amount which must be distributed to shareholders as ordinary income or long-term capital gain may be increased or decreased substantially as compared to a fund that did not engage in such transactions. The consequences to a Fund of certain transactions under the straddle rules remain unclear.

Foreign Currency Transactions and Hedging. Any transaction by a Fund in foreign currencies, foreign currency-denominated debt obligations or certain foreign currency options, futures contracts or forward contracts (or similar instruments) may give rise to ordinary income or loss to the extent such income or loss results from fluctuations in the value of the foreign currency concerned. Any such net gains could require a larger dividend toward the end of the calendar year. Any such net losses will generally reduce and potentially require the recharacterization of prior ordinary income distributions. Such ordinary income treatment may accelerate Fund distributions to shareholders and increase the distributions taxed to shareholders as ordinary income. Any net ordinary losses so created cannot be carried forward by the Fund to offset income or gains earned in subsequent taxable years. However, in certain circumstances, a Fund may elect to treat gains or losses from certain foreign currency positions as capital gains or losses.

Commodity-Linked Instruments. A Fund’s investments in commodity-linked instruments can be limited by the Fund’s intention to qualify as a regulated investment company, and can bear on the Fund’s ability to so qualify. Income and gains from certain commodity-linked instruments do not constitute Qualifying Income to a regulated investment company for purposes of the 90% gross income test described above. The tax treatment of some other commodity-linked instruments in which a Fund might invest is not certain, in particular with respect to whether income or gains from such instruments constitute Qualifying Income to a regulated investment company. If a Fund were to treat income or gain from a particular instrument as Qualifying Income and the income or gain were later determined not to constitute Qualifying Income and, together with any other nonqualifying income, caused the Fund’s nonqualifying income to exceed 10% of its gross income in any taxable year, the Fund would fail to qualify as a regulated investment company unless it is eligible to and does pay a tax at the Fund level to cure such failure.

Exchange-Traded Notes. The tax rules are uncertain with respect to the treatment of income or gains arising in respect of commodity-linked ETNs and certain commodity-linked structured notes; also, the timing and character of income or gains arising from ETNs can be uncertain. An adverse determination or future guidance by the IRS (which determination or guidance could be retroactive) may affect a Fund’s ability to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company and to avoid a Fund-level tax.

 

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Book-Tax Differences. Certain of a Fund’s investments in derivative instruments and foreign currency-denominated instruments, and any of a Fund’s transactions in foreign currencies and hedging activities, are likely to produce a difference between the Fund’s book income and the sum of the Fund’s taxable income and net tax-exempt income, if any. If such a difference arises, and a Fund’s book income exceeds the sum of its taxable income (including realized capital gains) and net tax-exempt income, if any, the distribution, if any, of such excess generally will be treated as (i) a dividend to the extent of the Fund’s remaining earnings and profits (including earnings and profits arising from tax-exempt income), (ii) thereafter, as a return of capital to the extent of the recipient’s basis in its shares, and (iii) thereafter, as gain from the sale or exchange of a capital asset. In the alternative, if a Fund’s book income is less than the sum of its taxable income and net tax-exempt income, if any, the Fund could be required to make distributions exceeding book income to qualify as a regulated investment company that is accorded special tax treatment.

Repurchase Agreements and Securities Loans. Any distribution of income that is attributable to (i) income received by a Fund in lieu of dividends with respect to securities on loan pursuant to a securities lending transaction or (ii) dividend income received by a Fund on securities it temporarily purchased from a counterparty pursuant to a repurchase agreement that is treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a loan by the Fund, will not constitute qualified dividend income to individual shareholders and will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction for corporate shareholders, in each case as described below. In addition, withholding taxes accrued on dividends during the period that such security was not directly held by a Fund will not qualify as a foreign tax paid by the Fund and therefore cannot be passed through to shareholders even if the Fund were otherwise to meet the requirements described in “Foreign Taxes,” below.

Master Limited Partnerships and other Publicly Traded Partnerships. Subject to any future regulatory guidance to the contrary, any distribution of income attributable to qualified publicly traded partnership income from a Fund’s investment in an MLP or other publicly traded partnership will ostensibly not qualify for the deduction that would be available to a non-corporate shareholder were the shareholder to own such MLP or publicly traded partnership directly. If such distributions do not so qualify, a non-corporate shareholder will generally be subject to a higher effective tax rate on any such amounts received from a Fund compared to the effective rate applicable to any qualified publicly traded partnership income the shareholder would receive if the shareholder invested directly in an MLP or other publicly traded partnership.

Passive Foreign Investment Companies. Under the Code, investments in certain foreign investment companies that qualify as “passive foreign investment companies” (“PFICs”) are subject to special tax rules. A PFIC is any foreign corporation in which (i) 75% or more of the gross income for the taxable year is passive income, or (ii) the average percentage of the assets (generally by value, but by adjusted tax basis in certain cases) that produce or are held for the production of passive income is at least 50%. Generally, “passive income” for this purpose means dividends, interest (including income equivalent to interest), royalties, rents, annuities, the excess of gains over losses from certain property transactions and commodities transactions, and foreign currency gains. Passive income for this purpose does not include rents and royalties received by the foreign corporation from active business and certain income received from related persons.

Equity investments by a Fund in certain PFICs could subject the Fund to a U.S. federal income tax or other charge (including interest charges) on distributions received from the PFIC or on proceeds received from the disposition of shares in the PFIC, which tax cannot be eliminated by making distributions to that Fund’s shareholders. However, in certain circumstances, a Fund may avoid this tax treatment by electing to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” (i.e., make a “QEF” election), in which case the Fund will be required to include its share of the PFIC’s income and net capital gains

 

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annually, regardless of whether it receives any distribution from the PFIC. Alternatively, a Fund may elect to mark the gains (and to a limited extent losses) in its PFIC holdings “to the market” as though it had sold (and repurchased) its holdings in those PFICs on the last day of the Fund’s taxable year. Such gains and losses are treated as ordinary income and loss. The QEF and mark-to-market elections may have the effect of accelerating the recognition of income (without the receipt of cash) and increasing the amount required to be distributed for the Fund to avoid taxation. Making either of these elections therefore may require a Fund to sell other investments (including when it is not advantageous to do so) to meet its distribution requirement, which also may accelerate the recognition of gain and affect the Fund’s total return. If a Fund indirectly invests in PFICs by virtue of the Fund’s investment in underlying U.S. funds, it may not make such elections; rather, the underlying U.S. funds directly investing in PFICs would decide whether to make such elections.

Because it is not always possible to identify a foreign corporation as a PFIC, a Fund may incur the tax and interest charges described above in some instances. Dividends paid by PFICs will not be eligible to be treated as “qualified dividend income.” See “Federal Income Taxation of Shareholders,” below.

Investments in Other RICs. A Fund’s investments in shares of other mutual funds, ETFs or other companies that are treated as regulated investment companies (each, an “underlying RIC”), as well as certain investments in REITs, can cause the Fund to be required to distribute greater amounts of net investment income or net capital gain than the Fund would have distributed had it invested directly in the securities held by the underlying RIC, rather than in shares of the underlying RIC. Further, the amount or timing of distributions from a Fund qualifying for treatment as a particular character (e.g., long-term capital gain, exempt interest, eligibility for dividends-received deduction, etc.) will not necessarily be the same as it would have been had the Fund invested directly in the securities held by the underlying RIC.

If a Fund receives dividends from an underlying RIC, and the underlying RIC reports such dividends as “qualified dividend income,” then the Fund is permitted in turn to report a portion of its distributions as qualified dividend income, provided the Fund meets holding period and other requirements with respect to shares of the underlying RIC.

If a Fund receives dividends from an underlying RIC and the underlying RIC reports such dividends as eligible for the dividends-received deduction, then the Fund is permitted in turn to report its distributions derived from those dividends as eligible for the dividends-received deduction as well, provided the Fund meets holding period and other requirements with respect to shares of the underlying RIC. Qualified dividend income and the dividends-received deduction are described below.

Taxation of Certain Investments. Including as described above, certain of each Fund’s investments will create taxable income in excess of the cash they generate. In such cases, a Fund may be required to sell assets (including when it is not advantageous to do so) to generate the cash necessary to distribute to its shareholders all of its income and gains and therefore to eliminate any tax liability at the Fund level. These dispositions may cause a Fund to realize higher amounts of short-term capital gains (generally taxed to shareholders at ordinary income tax rates) and, in the event the Fund realizes net capital gains from such transactions, its shareholders may receive a larger Capital Gain Dividend (as defined below) than if the Fund had not held such investments. The character of a Fund’s taxable income will, in many cases, be determined on the basis of reports made to the Fund by the issuers of the securities in which they invest. The tax treatment of certain securities in which a Fund may invest is not free from doubt and it is possible that an IRS examination of the issuers of such securities could result in adjustments to the income of such Fund.

 

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Foreign Taxes. Income, proceeds and gains received by a Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by such countries. This will decrease a Fund��s yield on securities subject to such taxes. Tax treaties between certain countries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate such taxes. It is impossible to determine the effective rate of foreign tax in advance because the amount of a Fund’s assets to be invested within various countries is not known. If more than 50% of a Fund’s assets at the end of its taxable year consists of the securities of foreign corporations, the Fund may elect to permit shareholders to claim a credit or deduction on their U.S. federal income tax returns for their pro rata portions of qualified taxes paid by the Fund to foreign countries in respect of foreign securities that the Fund has held for at least the minimum period specified in the Code. In such a case, shareholders will include in gross income from foreign sources their pro rata shares of such taxes paid by the Fund. A shareholder’s ability to claim an offsetting foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of foreign taxes paid by the Fund is subject to certain limitations imposed by the Code, which may result in the shareholder’s not receiving a full credit or deduction, if any, for the amount of such taxes. Shareholders who do not itemize deductions on their U.S. federal income tax returns may claim a credit (but not a deduction) for such foreign taxes. Shareholders that are not subject to U.S. federal income tax, and those who invest in a Fund through tax-advantaged accounts (including those who invest through individual retirement accounts or other tax-advantaged retirement plans), generally will receive no benefit from any tax credit or deduction passed through by the Fund.

If a Fund is not eligible to or does not make the above election, the Fund’s taxable income will be reduced by the foreign taxes paid or withheld, and shareholders will not be entitled separately to claim a credit or deduction with respect to such taxes. Shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the treatment of foreign source income and foreign taxes under the U.S. federal income tax laws.

Federal Income Taxation of Shareholders

For U.S. federal income tax purposes, distributions of investment income other than exempt-interest dividends, if any, are generally taxable to shareholders as ordinary income. Taxes on distributions of capital gains are determined by how long a Fund owned or is considered to have owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long a shareholder may have owned shares in such Fund. In general, a Fund will recognize long-term capital gain or loss on investments it has owned (or is deemed to have owned) for more than one year, and short-term capital gain or loss on investments it has owned (or is deemed to have owned) for one year or less. Distributions of net capital gain (that is, the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss, in each case determined with reference to loss carryforwards) that are properly reported by a Fund as capital gain dividends (“Capital Gain Dividends”) will be taxable to shareholders as long-term capital gains includible in net capital gain, and taxed to individuals at reduced rates relative to ordinary income. Distributions from capital gains are generally made after applying any available capital loss carryforwards. Distributions of net short-term capital gain (as reduced by any net long-term capital loss for the taxable year) will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income. The IRS and the Department of the Treasury have issued final regulations that impose special rules in respect of Capital Gain Dividends received through partnership interests constituting “applicable partnership interests” under Section 1061 of the Code.

The Code generally imposes a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on the net investment income of certain individuals, trusts and estates to the extent their income exceeds certain threshold amounts. For these purposes, “net investment income” generally includes, among other things, (i) distributions paid by a Fund of net investment income and capital gains as described above, and (ii) any net gain from the sale, redemption, exchange, or other taxable disposition of Fund shares. Shareholders are advised to consult their tax advisors regarding the possible implications of this additional tax on their investment in a Fund.

 

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Each Fund intends to distribute at least annually to its shareholders all or substantially all of its investment company taxable income (computed without regard to the dividends-paid deduction) and its net tax-exempt income, if any, and may distribute its net capital gain. Taxable income that is retained by a Fund will be subject to tax at the Fund level at regular corporate rates. Each Fund may also retain for investment its net capital gain. If a Fund retains any net capital gain, it will be subject to tax at the Fund level at regular corporate rates on the amount retained, but may designate the retained amount as undistributed capital gains in a timely notice to its shareholders who (i) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gain, their shares of such undistributed amount, and (ii) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the tax paid by the Fund on such undistributed amount against their U.S. federal income tax liabilities, if any, and to claim refunds on a properly filed U.S. tax return to the extent the credit exceeds such liabilities. If a Fund makes this designation, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the tax basis of shares owned by a shareholder of the Fund will be increased by an amount equal under current law to the difference between the amount of undistributed capital gains included in the shareholder’s gross income and the tax deemed paid by the shareholder under clause (ii) of the preceding sentence. A Fund is not required to, and there can be no assurance a Fund will, make this designation if it retains all or a portion of its net capital gain in a taxable year.

Distributions are taxable to shareholders as described herein whether shareholders receive them in cash or reinvest them in additional shares through a dividend reinvestment plan.

Distributions by a Fund will result in a reduction in the fair market value of such Fund’s shares. A distribution may be taxable to the shareholder, even though, from an investment standpoint, it may constitute a partial return of capital. In particular, a shareholder that purchases shares of a Fund just prior to a taxable distribution will then receive a return of investment upon distribution which may nevertheless be taxable to the shareholder as ordinary income or capital gain.

Qualified dividend income received by an individual will be taxed at the reduced rates applicable to net capital gain. In order for some portion of the dividends received by a Fund shareholder to be qualified dividend income, the Fund must meet holding period and other requirements with respect to some portion of the dividend-paying stocks in its portfolio and the shareholder must meet holding period and other requirements with respect to the Fund’s shares.

In general, a dividend will not be treated as qualified dividend income (at either the Fund or shareholder level) (i) if the dividend is received with respect to any share of stock held for fewer than 61 days during the 121-day period beginning on the date which is 60 days before the date on which such share becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend (or, in the case of certain preferred stock, 91 days during the 181-day period beginning 90 days before such date), (ii) to the extent that the recipient is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property, (iii) if the recipient elects to have the dividend income treated as investment income for purposes of the limitation on deductibility of investment interest, or (iv) if the dividend is received from a foreign corporation that is (a) not eligible for the benefits of a comprehensive income tax treaty with the United States (with the exception of dividends paid on stock of such a foreign corporation readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States) or (b) treated as a PFIC. Distributions received by a Fund from REITs generally will not constitute qualified dividend income.

In general, distributions of investment income reported by a Fund as derived from qualified dividend income will be treated as qualified dividend income by a shareholder taxed as an individual provided the shareholder meets the holding period and other requirements described above with respect to the Fund’s shares. If the aggregate qualified dividend income received by a Fund during any taxable year is 95% or more of its “gross income,” then 100% of the Fund’s dividends (other than Capital Gain Dividends) will be eligible to be treated as qualified dividend income. For this purpose, the only capital gain included in the term “gross income” is the excess of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss.

 

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A portion of the dividends paid by the Funds to shareholders that are corporations (other than S corporations) may be eligible for the dividends-received deduction (subject to a holding period requirement imposed by the Code) to the extent such dividends are derived from dividends received from U.S. corporations. However, any distributions received by a Fund from REITs or PFICs will not qualify for the corporate dividends-received deduction. A dividend received by a Fund will not be treated as a dividend eligible for the dividends-received deduction (i) if it has been received with respect to any share of stock that the Fund has held for less than 46 days (91 days in the case of certain preferred stock) during the 91-day period beginning on the date which is 45 days before the date on which such share becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend (during the 181-day period beginning 90 days before such date in the case of certain preferred stock) or (ii) to the extent that the Fund is under an obligation (pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property. Moreover, the dividends-received deduction may otherwise be disallowed or reduced (i) if the corporate shareholder fails to satisfy the foregoing requirements with respect to its shares of the Fund or (ii) by application of various provisions of the Code (for instance, the dividends-received deduction is reduced in the case of a dividend received on debt-financed portfolio stock (generally, stock acquired with borrowed funds)).

The ultimate tax characterization of a Fund’s distributions made in a taxable year cannot be determined until after the end of that taxable year. As a result, there is a possibility that a Fund may make total distributions during a taxable year in an amount that exceeds the net investment income and net capital gains the Fund realizes that year, in which case the excess generally will be treated as a return of capital to shareholders, reducing their tax basis in such Fund’s shares, with any amounts exceeding such basis treated as gain from the sale of such shares. A return of capital is not taxable, but it reduces a shareholder’s tax basis in its Fund shares, thus reducing any loss or increasing any gain on the subsequent taxable disposition by a shareholder of those shares.

As required by federal law, detailed federal tax information with respect to each calendar year will be furnished to each shareholder early in the succeeding year.

Sale, Exchange or Redemption of Shares

The sale, exchange, or redemption of shares of a Fund may give rise to a gain or loss. In general, any gain or loss realized upon a taxable disposition of shares of a Fund will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the shares have been held for more than 12 months. Otherwise, the gain or loss on the taxable disposition of Fund shares will be treated as short-term capital gain or loss. However, any loss realized upon a taxable disposition of Fund shares held by a shareholder for six months or less will be treated as long-term, rather than short-term, to the extent of any Capital Gain Dividends received (or deemed received) by the shareholder with respect to those shares. Further, all or a portion of any loss realized upon a taxable disposition of shares of a Fund will be disallowed under the Code’s “wash sale” rule if other substantially identical shares of a Fund are purchased within 30 days before or after the disposition. In such a case, the basis of the newly purchased shares will be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss.

Upon the sale, exchange or redemption of shares of a Fund, the Fund or, in the case of shares purchased through a financial intermediary, the financial intermediary, may be required to provide a shareholder and the IRS with cost basis and certain other related tax information about the Fund shares the shareholder sold, exchanged or redeemed. See the Funds’ Prospectus for more information.

 

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Backup Withholding

Each Fund generally is required to withhold and remit to the U.S. Treasury a percentage of the taxable distributions and redemption proceeds paid to any individual shareholder who fails to properly furnish the Fund with a correct taxpayer identification number, who has under-reported dividend or interest income, or who fails to certify to such Fund that he or she is not subject to such withholding.

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld may be credited against a shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, provided the appropriate information is furnished to the IRS.

Tax-Exempt Shareholders

Income of a regulated investment company, such as a Fund, that would be UBTI if earned directly by a tax-exempt entity will not generally be attributed as UBTI to a tax-exempt shareholder of the Fund. Notwithstanding this “blocking” effect, a tax-exempt shareholder could realize UBTI by virtue of its investment in a Fund if shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of the tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of Section 514(b) of the Code. A tax-exempt shareholder may also recognize UBTI if a Fund recognizes “excess inclusion income” derived from direct or indirect investments in residual interests in REMICs or equity interests in TMPs, as described above, if the amount of such income recognized by the Fund exceeds the Fund’s investment company taxable income (after taking into account deductions for dividends paid by the Fund).

In addition, special tax consequences apply to CRTs that invest in regulated investment companies that invest directly or indirectly in residual interests in REMICs or equity interests in TMPs. Under legislation enacted in December 2006, a CRT (as defined in Section 664 of the Code) that realizes UBTI for a taxable year must pay an excise tax annually of an amount equal to such UBTI. Under IRS guidance issued in October of 2006, a CRT will not recognize UBTI as a result of investing in a Fund that recognizes “excess inclusion income.” Rather, if at any time during any taxable year a CRT (or one of certain other tax-exempt shareholders, such as the United States, a state or political subdivision or an agency or instrumentality thereof, and certain energy cooperatives) is a record holder of a share in a Fund that recognizes “excess inclusion income,” then the Fund will be subject to a tax on that portion of its “excess inclusion income” for the taxable year that is allocable to such shareholders at the highest federal corporate income tax rate. The extent to which this IRS guidance remains applicable in light of the December 2006 legislation is unclear. To the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, a Fund may elect to specially allocate any such tax to the applicable CRT, or other disqualified organization shareholder, and thus reduce such shareholder’s distributions for the year by the amount of the tax that relates to such shareholder’s interest in the Fund. CRTs and other tax-exempt investors are urged to consult their tax advisors concerning the consequences of investing in a Fund.

Special tax rules apply to investments through defined contribution plans and other tax-qualified plans. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the suitability of shares of a Fund as an investment through such plans.

Foreign Shareholders

Distributions by a Fund to shareholders that are not “U.S. persons” within the meaning of the Code (“foreign shareholders”) properly reported by the Fund as (1) Capital Gain Dividends, (2) short-term capital gain dividends, and (3) interest-related dividends, each as defined and subject to certain conditions described below, generally are not subject to withholding of U.S. federal income tax.

 

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In general, the Code defines (1) “short-term capital gain dividends” as distributions of net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses and (2) “interest-related dividends” as distributions from U.S.-source interest income of types similar to those not subject to U.S. federal income tax if earned directly by an individual foreign shareholder, in each case to the extent such distributions are properly reported as such by a Fund in a written notice to shareholders. The exceptions to withholding for Capital Gain Dividends and short-term capital gain dividends do not apply to (A) distributions to an individual foreign shareholder who is present in the United States for a period or periods aggregating 183 days or more during the year of the distribution and (B) distributions attributable to gain that is treated as effectively connected with the conduct by the foreign shareholder of a trade or business within the United States under special rules regarding the disposition of U.S. real property interests as described below. The exception to withholding for interest-related dividends does not apply to distributions to a foreign shareholder (A) that has not provided a satisfactory statement that the beneficial owner is not a U.S. person, (B) to the extent that the dividend is attributable to certain interest on an obligation if the foreign shareholder is the issuer or is a 10% shareholder of the issuer, (C) that is within certain foreign countries that have inadequate information exchange with the United States, or (D) to the extent the dividend is attributable to interest paid by a person that is a related person of the foreign shareholder and the foreign shareholder is a controlled foreign corporation. If a Fund invests in a regulated investment company that pays Capital Gain Dividends, short-term capital gain dividends or interest-related dividends to the Fund, such distributions retain their character as not subject to withholding if properly reported when paid by the Fund to foreign shareholders. A Fund is permitted to report such part of its dividends as interest-related and/or short-term capital gain dividends as are eligible, but is not required to do so. In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if a Fund reports all or a portion of a payment as an interest-related or short-term capital gain dividend to shareholders.

 

    

Distributions by a Fund to foreign shareholders other than Capital Gain Dividends, short-term capital gain dividends, and interest-related dividends (e.g. dividends attributable to foreign-source dividend and interest income or to short-term capital gains or U.S. source interest income to which the exception from withholding described above does not apply) are generally subject to withholding of U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 30% (or lower applicable treaty rate).

A foreign shareholder is not, in general, subject to U.S. federal income tax on gains (and is not allowed a deduction for losses) realized on the sale of shares of a Fund unless (i) such gain is effectively connected with the conduct by the foreign shareholder of a trade or business within the United States, (ii) in the case of a foreign shareholder that is an individual, the shareholder is present in the United States for a period or periods aggregating 183 days or more during the year of the sale and certain other conditions are met, or (iii) the special rules relating to gain attributable to the sale or exchange of “U.S. real property interests” (“USRPIs”) apply to the foreign shareholder’s sale of shares of the Fund (as described below).

Special rules would apply if a Fund were a qualified investment entity (“QIE”) because it is either a “U.S. real property holding corporation” (“USRPHC”) or would be a USRPHC but for the operation of certain exceptions to the definition of USRPIs described below. Very generally, a USRPHC is a domestic corporation that holds USRPIs the fair market value of which equals or exceeds 50% of the sum of the fair market values of the corporation’s USRPIs, interests in real property located outside the United States, and other trade or business assets. USRPIs are generally defined as any interest in U.S. real property and any interest (other than solely as a creditor) in a USRPHC or, very generally, an entity that has been a USRPHC in the last five years. A RIC that holds, directly or indirectly, significant interests in REITs may be a USRPHC. Interests in domestically controlled QIEs, including REITs and regulated investment companies that are QIEs, not-greater-than-10% interests in publicly traded classes of stock in REITs and not-greater-than-5% interests in publicly traded classes of stock in regulated investment companies generally are not USRPIs, but these exceptions do not apply for purposes of determining whether a Fund is a QIE. If an interest in a Fund were a USRPI, the Fund would be required to withhold U.S. tax on the proceeds of a share redemption by a greater-than-5% foreign shareholder, in which case such foreign shareholder generally would also be required to file U.S. tax returns and pay any additional taxes due in connection with the redemption.

 

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If a Fund were a QIE, under a special “look through” rule, any distributions by the Fund to a foreign shareholder (including, in certain cases, distributions made by the Fund in redemption of its shares) attributable directly or indirectly to (i) distributions received by the Fund from a lower-tier regulated investment company or REIT that the Fund is required to treat as USRPI gain in its hands and (ii) gains realized on the disposition of USRPIs by the Fund would retain their character as gains realized from USRPIs in the hands of the Fund’s foreign shareholders and would be subject to U.S. tax withholding. In addition, such distributions could result in the foreign shareholder being required to file a U.S. tax return and pay tax on the distributions at regular U.S. federal income tax rates. The consequences to a foreign shareholder, including the rate of such withholding and character of such distributions (e.g., as ordinary income or USRPI gain), would vary depending upon the extent of the foreign shareholder’s current and past ownership of a Fund.

Foreign shareholders of a Fund also may be subject to “wash sale” rules to prevent the avoidance of the tax-filing and -payment obligations discussed above through the sale and repurchase of Fund shares.

Each Fund generally does not expect that it will be a QIE.

Foreign shareholders should consult their tax advisors and, if holding shares through intermediaries, their intermediaries, concerning the application of these rules to their investment in a Fund.

Foreign shareholders with respect to whom income from a Fund is effectively connected with a trade or business conducted by the foreign shareholder within the United States will in general be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the income derived from the Fund at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens, residents or domestic corporations, whether such income is received in cash or reinvested in shares of the Fund and, in the case of a foreign corporation, may also be subject to a branch profits tax. If a foreign shareholder is eligible for the benefits of a tax treaty, any effectively connected income or gain will generally be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net basis only if it is also attributable to a permanent establishment maintained by the shareholder in the United States. More generally, foreign shareholders who are residents in a country with an income tax treaty with the United States may obtain different tax results than those described herein, and are urged to consult their tax advisors.

Tax Shelter Reporting Regulations

Under Treasury regulations, if a shareholder recognizes a loss on disposition of a Fund’s shares of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder, the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on IRS Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a regulated investment company are not excepted. Future guidance may extend the current exception from this reporting requirement to shareholders of most or all regulated investment companies. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

 

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Shareholder Reporting Obligations With Respect to Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts

Shareholders that are U.S. persons and own, directly or indirectly, more than 50% of a Fund by vote or value could be required to report annually their “financial interest” in the Fund’s “foreign financial accounts,” if any, on FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”). Shareholders should consult a tax advisor regarding the applicability to them of this reporting requirement.

Other Reporting and Withholding Requirements

Sections 1471-1474 of the Code and the U.S. Treasury regulations and IRS guidance issued thereunder (collectively, “FATCA”) generally require a Fund to obtain information sufficient to identify the status of each of its shareholders under FATCA or under an applicable intergovernmental agreement (an “IGA”) between the United States and a foreign government. If a shareholder of a Fund fails to provide the requested information or otherwise fails to comply with FATCA or an IGA, the Fund may be required to withhold under FATCA at a rate of 30% with respect to that shareholder on ordinary dividends it pays. The IRS and the Department of Treasury have issued proposed regulations providing that these withholding rules will not apply to the gross proceeds of share redemptions or Capital Gain Dividends the Fund pays. If a payment by a Fund is subject to FATCA withholding, the Fund is required to withhold even if such payment would otherwise be exempt from withholding under the rules applicable to foreign shareholders described above (e.g., short-term capital gain dividends, and interest-related dividends).

Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the applicability of FATCA and any other reporting requirements with respect to the prospective investor’s own situation, including investments through an intermediary.

State and Local Taxes

Each Fund is a series of a Delaware statutory trust. Each Fund may be subject to state and/or local taxes in jurisdictions in which such Fund is deemed to be doing business. In addition, the treatment of each Fund and its shareholders in those states which have income tax laws might differ from treatment under the U.S. federal income tax laws. Shareholders should consult with their own tax advisors concerning the state and local tax consequences of investing in a Fund.

EACH SHAREHOLDER SHOULD CONSULT A TAX ADVISOR ABOUT THE APPLICATION OF FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND FOREIGN TAX LAWS TO AN INVESTMENT IN A FUND IN LIGHT OF THE SHAREHOLDER’S PARTICULAR TAX SITUATION.

OTHER INFORMATION

Delaware Statutory Trust

Each Fund is a series of a “Delaware statutory trust.” The Trust is governed by its Trust Instrument and Certificate of Trust, as amended (“Trust Instrument”), and Amended and Restated By-Laws (“By-Laws”).

The Trust Instrument provides that the Trust shall indemnify each of its Trustees against all liabilities and expenses (including amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise, as fines and penalties, and as counsel fees) reasonably incurred by him or her in connection with the defense or disposition of any action, suit or other proceeding, whether civil or criminal, in which he or she may be

 

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involved or with which he or she may be threatened, while as a Trustee or thereafter, by reason of his or her being or having been such a Trustee except with respect to any matter as to which he or she shall have been adjudicated to have acted in bad faith, willful misfeasance, gross negligence or reckless disregard of his or her duties, provided that as to any matter disposed of by a compromise payment by such person, pursuant to a consent decree or otherwise, no indemnification either for said payment or for any other expenses shall be provided unless the Trust shall have received a written opinion from independent legal counsel approved by the Trustees to the effect that if either the matter of willful misfeasance, gross negligence or reckless disregard of duty, or the matter of bad faith had been adjudicated, it would in the opinion of such counsel have been adjudicated in favor of such person. The rights accruing to any person under these provisions shall not exclude any other right to which he or she may be lawfully entitled, provided that no person may satisfy any right of indemnity or reimbursement hereunder except out of the property of the Trust. The Trustees may make advance payments in connection with the indemnification under the Trust Instrument, provided that the indemnified person shall have given a written undertaking to reimburse the Trust in the event it is subsequently determined that he or she is not entitled to such indemnification.

The Trust shall indemnify officers, and shall have the power to indemnify representatives and employees of the Trust, to the same extent that Trustees are entitled to indemnification pursuant to the Trust Instrument.

The Trust Instrument also provides that, in case any shareholder or former shareholder of any Fund shall be held to be personally liable solely by reason of the shareholder’s being or having been a shareholder of such Fund and not because of the shareholder’s acts or omissions or for some other reason, the shareholder or former shareholder (or his or her heirs, executors, administrators or other legal representatives or, in the case of a corporation or other entity, its corporate or other general successor) shall be entitled out of the assets belonging to the applicable Fund to be held harmless from and indemnified against all loss and expense arising from such liability. The Trust, on behalf of the affected Fund, shall, upon request by the shareholder, assume the defense of any claim made against the Shareholder for any act or obligation of the Fund and satisfy any judgment thereon from the assets of the Fund.

The Trust shall continue without limitation of time subject to the provisions in the Trust Instrument concerning termination by action of the Trustees.

Description of Shares

The Trust is an open-end management investment company organized as a Delaware statutory trust in which the Funds each represent a separate series of shares of beneficial interest. The Trustees may, without shareholder approval, divide the shares of any series of the Trust into one or more classes and combine the shares of two or more classes of any series into a single class. The Trustees have authorized the issuance of three classes of shares of each Fund—Class N, Class I and Class Z.

The Trust Instrument permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest without par value of one or more series and to divide or combine the shares of any series or class, if applicable, into a greater or lesser number without changing the proportionate beneficial interest in the series or class. Each share of each Fund represents an equal proportionate interest in such Fund with each other share. Upon liquidation of a Fund, shareholders are entitled to share pro rata in the net assets of the Fund available for distribution to such shareholders. Shares of the Funds have no preemptive or conversion rights. The rights of redemption and exchange are described in the Prospectus and in this SAI.

 

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The shareholders of the Trust are entitled to one vote for each whole share held of a Fund (or a class thereof) (or a proportionate fractional vote in respect of a fractional share), on matters on which shares of the Fund (or a class thereof) shall be entitled to vote.

Subject to the 1940 Act, the Trustees themselves have the power to alter the number and the terms of office of the Trustees, and to set the length of their own terms subject to certain removal procedures, and appoint their own successors, provided however, that immediately after such appointment the requisite majority of the Trustees have been elected by the shareholders of the Trust. The voting rights of shareholders are not cumulative in the election of Trustees so that holders of more than 50% of the shares voting can, if they choose, elect all Trustees being selected while the shareholders of the remaining shares would be unable to elect any Trustees. It is the intention of the Trust not to hold annual meetings of shareholders. The Trustees may call meetings of shareholders for action by shareholder vote as may be required or permitted by either the 1940 Act or by the Trust’s Trust Instrument.

The Trustees have authorized the issuance and sale to the public of shares of several series of the Trust. The Trustees may authorize the issuance of shares of additional series of the Trust. The proceeds from the issuance of any additional series would be invested in separate, independently managed portfolios with distinct investment objectives, policies and restrictions, and share purchase, redemption and NAV procedures. All consideration received by the Trust for shares of any additional series, and all assets in which such consideration is invested, would belong to that series, subject only to the rights of creditors of the Trust and would be subject to the liabilities related thereto. Shareholders of any additional series will approve the adoption of any management contract, distribution agreement and any changes in the investment policies of any such additional series, to the extent required by the 1940 Act.

Conduct of the Trust’s Business

Forum for Adjudication of Disputes. The By-Laws of the Trust provide that unless the Trust consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Trust or the shareholders, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any Trustee, officer, or other agent of the Trust to the Trust or the Trust’s shareholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware Statutory Trust Act or the Trust Instrument or the By-Laws, (iv) any action to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of the Trust Instrument or the By-Laws or any agreement contemplated by any provision of the 1940 Act, the Trust Instrument or the By-Laws, or (v) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or, if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware does not have jurisdiction, the Superior Court of the State of Delaware (each, a “Covered Action”). The By-Laws further provide that if any Covered Action is filed in a court other than the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or the Superior Court of the State of Delaware (a “Foreign Action”) in the name of any shareholder, such shareholder shall be deemed to have consented to (i) the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the Superior Court of the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in any such courts to enforce the preceding sentence (an “Enforcement Action”) and (ii) having service of process made upon such shareholder in any such Enforcement Action by service upon such shareholder’s counsel in the Foreign Action as agent for such shareholder.

The By-Laws provide that any person purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in shares of beneficial interest of the Trust will be (i) deemed to have notice of and consented to the foregoing paragraph and (ii) deemed to have waived any argument relating to the inconvenience of the forum referenced above in connection with any action or proceeding described in the foregoing paragraph.

 

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This forum selection provision may limit a shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with Trustees, officers or other agents of the Trust and its service providers, which may discourage such lawsuits with respect to such claims. If a court were to find the forum selection provision contained in the By-Laws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, the Trust may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions.

Derivative and Direct Claims of Shareholders. The By-Laws contain provisions regarding derivative and direct claims of shareholders. As used in the By-Laws, a “direct” shareholder claim refers to (i) a claim based upon alleged violations of a shareholder’s individual rights independent of any harm to the Trust, including a shareholder’s voting rights under Article V of the By-Laws, rights to receive a dividend payment as may be declared from time to time, rights to inspect books and records, or other similar rights personal to the shareholder and independent of any harm to the Trust; and (ii) a claim for which a direct shareholder action is expressly provided under the U.S. federal securities laws. The By-Laws provide that any other claim asserted by a shareholder, including without limitation any claims purporting to be brought on behalf of the Trust or involving any alleged harm to the Trust, are considered a “derivative” claim as used in the By-Laws.

The By-Laws provide that a shareholder may not bring or maintain any court action or other proceeding asserting a derivative claim or any claim asserted on behalf or for the benefit of the Trust or involving any alleged harm to the Trust without first making demand on the Trustees requesting the Trustees to bring or maintain such action, proceeding or claim. Such demand shall not be excused under any circumstances, including claims of alleged interest on the part of the Trustees, unless the shareholder makes a specific showing that irreparable nonmonetary injury to the Trust would otherwise result. The By-Laws provide that the Trustees shall consider such demand within 90 days of its receipt by the Trust. The By-Laws provide that, the Trustees, in their sole discretion, may submit the matter to a vote of shareholders of the Trust or any series or class of shares, as appropriate. The By-Laws provide that any decision by the Trustees to bring, maintain or settle (or not to bring, maintain or settle) such court action, proceeding or claim, or to submit the matter to a vote of shareholders, shall be binding upon the shareholders, and no suit, proceeding or other action shall be commenced or maintained after a decision to reject a demand. The By-Laws provide that any Trustee acting in connection with any demand or any proceeding relating to a claim on behalf or for the benefit of the Trust who is not an “interested person” (as that term is defined in the 1940 Act) will be deemed to be independent and disinterested with respect to such demand, proceeding or claim.

The By-Laws provide that a shareholder may not bring or maintain a court action or other proceeding asserting a direct claim against the Trust, the Trustees, or officers predicated upon an express or implied right of action under the Trust Instrument or U.S. federal securities laws (excepting direct shareholder actions expressly provided by U.S. federal securities laws), unless the shareholder has obtained authorization from the Trustees to bring the action. The By-Laws provide that the requirement of authorization shall not be excused under any circumstances, including claims of alleged interest on the part of the Trustees. The By-Laws provide that the Trustees shall consider such request within 90 days after its receipt by the Trust. The By-Laws provide that the Trustees, in their sole discretion, may submit the matter to a vote of shareholders of the Trust or of any series or class of shares, as appropriate. Any decision by the Trustees to settle or to authorize (or not to settle or to authorize) such court action, proceeding or claim, or to submit the matter to a vote of shareholders, shall be binding upon the shareholder seeking authorization.

The By-Laws provide that any person purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in shares of beneficial interest of the Trust will be deemed to have notice of and consented to the foregoing provisions. These forgoing provisions may limit a shareholder’s ability to bring a claim against the Trustees, officers or other agents of the Trust and its service providers, which may discourage such lawsuits with respect to such claims. If a court were to find that any of the foregoing provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, the Trust may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions.

 

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Additional Information

This SAI and the Funds’ Prospectus do not contain all of the information included in the Trust’s Registration Statement filed with the SEC under the 1933 Act. Pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC, certain portions have been omitted. The Trust’s Registration Statement, including the Exhibits filed therewith, may be examined on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Statements contained in this SAI and the Funds’ Prospectus concerning the contents of any contract or other document are not necessarily complete, and in each instance, reference is made to the copy of such contract or other document filed as an Exhibit to the Trust’s Registration Statement. Each such statement is qualified in all respects by such reference.

No dealer, salesman or any other person has been authorized to give any information or to make any representations, other than those contained in the Funds’ Prospectus or this SAI, in connection with the offer of shares of the Funds and, if given or made, such other representations or information must not be relied upon as having been authorized by the Trust, the Funds or the Distributor. The Funds’ Prospectus and this SAI do not constitute an offer to sell or solicit an offer to buy any of the securities offered thereby in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful for the Funds or the Distributor to make such offer in such jurisdictions.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The Funds’ audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 and the related Notes to the Financial Statements for the Funds, as well as the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, from each Fund’s Annual Report for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 are incorporated by reference into this SAI (meaning such documents are legally a part of this SAI) and are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Funds’ Annual and Semi-Annual Reports are available without charge, upon request, by calling the Funds at (800) 548-4539 or by visiting the Funds’ website at www.amgfunds.com or on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov.

 

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APPENDIX A

DESCRIPTION OF BOND RATINGS ASSIGNED BY

S&P GLOBAL RATINGS AND MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE, INC.

A Fund’s investments may range in quality from securities rated in the lowest category in which the Fund is permitted to invest to securities rated in the highest category (as rated by Moody’s or S&P or, if unrated, determined by the Subadviser to be of comparable quality). The percentage of a Fund’s assets invested in securities in a particular rating category will vary. The following is a description of Moody’s and S&P’s rating categories applicable to fixed income securities.

Moody’s Investors Service

Global Rating Scales

Ratings assigned on Moody’s global long-term and short-term rating scales are forward-looking opinions of the relative credit risks of financial obligations issued by non-financial corporates, financial institutions, structured finance vehicles, project finance vehicles, and public sector entities. Long-term ratings are assigned to issuers or obligations with an original maturity of one year or more and reflect both on the likelihood of a default or impairment on contractual financial obligations and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default or impairment. The contractual financial obligations addressed by Moody’s ratings are those that call for, without regard to enforceability, the payment of an ascertainable amount, which may vary based upon standard sources of variation (e.g., floating interest rates), by an ascertainable date. Moody’s rating addresses the issuer’s ability to obtain cash sufficient to service the obligation, and its willingness to pay. Moody’s ratings do not address non-standard sources of variation in the amount of the principal obligation (e.g., equity indexed), absent an express statement to the contrary in a press release accompanying an initial rating. Short-term ratings are assigned for obligations with an original maturity of thirteen months or less and reflect both on the likelihood of a default or impairment on contractual financial obligations and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default or impairment. Moody’s issues ratings at the issuer level and instrument level on both the long-term scale and the short-term scale. Typically, ratings are made publicly available although private and unpublished ratings may also be assigned.

Moody’s differentiates structured finance ratings from fundamental ratings (i.e., ratings on nonfinancial corporate, financial institution, and public sector entities) on the global long-term scale by adding (sf) to all structured finance ratings. The addition of (sf) to structured finance ratings should eliminate any presumption that such ratings and fundamental ratings at the same letter grade level will behave the same. The (sf) indicator for structured finance security ratings indicates that otherwise similarly rated structured finance and fundamental securities may have different risk characteristics. Through its current methodologies, however, Moody’s aspires to achieve broad expected equivalence in structured finance and fundamental rating performance when measured over a long period of time.

Global Long-Term Rating Scale

 

  Aaa:

Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, subject to the lowest level of credit risk.

 

  Aa:

Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.

 

A-1


  A:

Obligations rated A are judged to be upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.

 

  Baa:

Obligations rated Baa are judged to be medium-grade and subject to moderate credit risk and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics.

 

  Ba:

Obligations rated Ba are judged to be speculative and are subject to substantial credit risk.

 

  B:

Obligations rated B are considered speculative and are subject to high credit risk.

 

  Caa:

Obligations rated Caa are judged to be speculative of poor standing and are subject to very high credit risk.

 

  Ca:

Obligations rated Ca are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near, default, with some prospect of recovery of principal and interest.

 

  C:

Obligations rated C are the lowest rated and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.

Note: Moody’s appends numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 to each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category. Additionally, a “(hyb)” indicator is appended to all ratings of hybrid securities issued by banks, insurers, finance companies, and securities firms.*

* By their terms, hybrid securities allow for the omission of scheduled dividends, interest, or principal payments, which can potentially result in impairment if such an omission occurs. Hybrid securities may also be subject to contractually allowable write-downs of principal that could result in impairment. Together with the hybrid indicator, the long-term obligation rating assigned to a hybrid security is an expression of the relative credit risk associated with that security.

Global Short-Term Rating Scale

 

  P-1:

Ratings of Prime-1 reflect a superior ability to repay short-term obligations.

 

  P-2:

Ratings of Prime-2 reflect a strong ability to repay short-term obligations.

 

  P-3:

Ratings of Prime-3 reflect an acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations.

 

  NP:

Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Not Prime do not fall within any of the Prime rating categories.

US Municipal Short-Term Debt and Demand Obligation Ratings

Short-Term Obligation Ratings

Moody’s uses the global short-term Prime rating scale for commercial paper issued by US municipalities and nonprofits. These commercial paper programs may be backed by external letters of credit or liquidity facilities, or by an issuer’s self-liquidity.

 

A-2


For other short-term municipal obligations, Moody’s uses one of two other short-term rating scales, the Municipal Investment Grade (MIG) and Variable Municipal Investment Grade (VMIG) scales discussed below.

Moody’s uses the MIG scale for US municipal cash flow notes, bond anticipation notes and certain other short-term obligations, which typically mature in three years or less. Under certain circumstances, Moody’s uses the MIG scale for bond anticipation notes with maturities of up to five years.

 

  MIG 1:

This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by established cash flows, highly reliable liquidity support, or demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing.

 

  MIG 2:

This designation denotes strong credit quality. Margins of protection are ample, although not as large as in the preceding group.

 

  MIG 3:

This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Liquidity and cash-flow protection may be narrow, and market access for refinancing is likely to be less well-established.

 

  SG:

This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Debt instruments in this category may lack sufficient margins of protection.

Demand Obligation Ratings

In the case of variable rate demand obligations (VRDOs), Moody’s assigns both a long-term rating and a short-term payment obligation rating. The long-term rating addresses the issuer’s ability to meet scheduled principal and interest payments. The short-term payment obligation rating addresses the ability of the issuer or the liquidity provider to meet any purchase price payment obligation resulting from optional tenders (“on demand”) and/or mandatory tenders of the VRDO. The short-term payment obligation rating uses the VMIG scale. Transitions of VMIG ratings with conditional liquidity support differ from transitions of Prime ratings reflecting the risk that external liquidity support will terminate if the issuer’s long-term rating drops below investment grade.

Moody’s typically assigns a VMIG rating if the frequency of the payment obligation is less than every three years. If the frequency of the payment obligation is less than three years, but the obligation is payable only with remarketing proceeds, the VMIG short-term rating is not assigned and it is denoted as “NR”.

 

  VMIG 1:

This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by the superior short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

 

  VMIG 2:

This designation denotes strong credit quality. Good protection is afforded by the strong short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

 

  VMIG 3:

This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Adequate protection is afforded by the satisfactory short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

 

A-3


  SG:

This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Demand features rated in this category may be supported by a liquidity provider that does not have a sufficiently strong short-term rating or may lack the structural or legal protections necessary to ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

S&P Global Ratings

Issue Credit Rating Definitions

An S&P Global Ratings issue credit rating is a forward-looking opinion about the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a specific financial obligation, a specific class of financial obligations, or a specific financial program (including ratings on medium-term note programs and commercial paper programs). It takes into consideration the creditworthiness of guarantors, insurers, or other forms of credit enhancement on the obligation and takes into account the currency in which the obligation is denominated. The opinion reflects S&P Global Ratings’ view of the obligor’s capacity and willingness to meet its financial commitments as they come due, and this opinion may assess terms, such as collateral security and subordination, which could affect ultimate payment in the event of default.

Issue credit ratings can be either long-term or short-term. Short-term issue credit ratings are generally assigned to those obligations considered short-term in the relevant market, typically with an original maturity of no more than 365 days. Short-term issue credit ratings are also used to indicate the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to put features on long-term obligations. Medium-term notes are assigned long-term ratings.

Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings*

 

  AAA:

An obligation rated ‘AAA’ has the highest rating assigned by S&P Global Ratings. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is extremely strong.

 

  AA:

An obligation rated ‘AA’ differs from the highest-rated obligations only to a small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is very strong.

 

  A:

An obligation rated ‘A’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher-rated categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is still strong.

 

  BBB:

An obligation rated ‘BBB’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to weaken the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

BB; B; CCC;

  CC; and C:

Obligations rated ‘BB’, ‘B’, ‘CCC’, ‘CC’, and ‘C’ are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. ‘BB’ indicates the least degree of speculation and ‘C’ the highest. While such obligations will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposure to adverse conditions.

 

A-4


  BB:

An obligation rated ‘BB’ is less vulnerable to nonpayment than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions that could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

 

  B:

An obligation rated ‘B’ is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated ‘BB’, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

 

  CCC:

An obligation rated ‘CCC’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitments on the obligation. In the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

 

  CC:

An obligation rated ‘CC’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment. The ‘CC’ rating is used when a default has not yet occurred but S&P Global Ratings expects default to be a virtual certainty, regardless of the anticipated time to default.

 

  C:

An obligation rated ‘C’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment, and the obligation is expected to have lower relative seniority or lower ultimate recovery compared with obligations that are rated higher.

 

  D:

An obligation rated ‘D’ is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the ‘D’ rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P Global Ratings believes that such payments will be made within the next five business days in the absence of a stated grace period or within the earlier of the stated grace period or the next 30 calendar days. The ‘D’ rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. A rating on an obligation is lowered to ‘D’ if it is subject to a distressed debt restructuring.

 

*

Ratings from ‘AA’ to ‘CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the rating categories.

Short-Term Issue Credit Ratings

 

  A-1:

A short-term obligation rated ‘A-1’ is rated in the highest category by S&P Global Ratings. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is strong. Within this category, certain obligations are designated with a plus sign (+). This indicates that the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on these obligations is extremely strong.

 

A-5


  A-2:

A short-term obligation rated ‘A-2’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher rating categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is satisfactory.

 

  A-3:

A short-term obligation rated ‘A-3’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to weaken an obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

 

  B:

A short-term obligation rated ‘B’ is regarded as vulnerable and has significant speculative characteristics. The obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments; however, it faces major ongoing uncertainties that could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments.

 

  C:

A short-term obligation rated ‘C’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

 

  D:

A short-term obligation rated ‘D’ is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the ‘D’ rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P Global Ratings believes that such payments will be made within any stated grace period. However, any stated grace period longer than five business days will be treated as five business days. The ‘D’ rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. A rating on an obligation is lowered to ‘D’ if it is subject to a distressed debt restructuring.

SPUR (S&P Underlying Rating)

A SPUR is an opinion about the stand-alone capacity of an obligor to pay debt service on a credit-enhanced debt issue, without giving effect to the enhancement that applies to it. These ratings are published only at the request of the debt issuer or obligor with the designation SPUR to distinguish them from the credit-enhanced rating that applies to the debt issue. S&P Global Ratings maintains surveillance of an issue with a published SPUR.

Municipal Short-Term Note Ratings

An S&P Global Ratings U.S. municipal note rating reflects S&P Global Ratings’ opinion about the liquidity factors and market access risks unique to the notes. Notes due in three years or less will likely receive a note rating. Notes with an original maturity of more than three years will most likely receive a long-term debt rating. In determining which type of rating, if any, to assign, S&P Global Ratings’ analysis will review the following considerations:

 

   

Amortization schedule--the larger the final maturity relative to other maturities, the more likely it will be treated as a note; and

 

   

Source of payment--the more dependent the issue is on the market for its refinancing, the more likely it will be treated as a note.

 

A-6


Municipal short-term note rating symbols are as follows:

 

  SP-1:

Strong capacity to pay principal and interest. An issue determined to possess a very strong capacity to pay debt service is given a plus (+) designation.

 

  SP-2:

Satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest, with some vulnerability to adverse financial and economic changes over the term of the notes.

 

  SP-3:

Speculative capacity to pay principal and interest.

 

  D:

‘D’ is assigned upon failure to pay the note when due, completion of a distressed debt restructuring, or the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions.

Dual Ratings

Dual ratings may be assigned to debt issues that have a put option or demand feature. The first component of the rating addresses the likelihood of repayment of principal and interest as due, and the second component of the rating addresses only the demand feature. The first component of the rating can relate to either a short-term or long-term transaction and accordingly use either short-term or long-term rating symbols. The second component of the rating relates to the put option and is assigned a short-term rating symbol (for example, ‘AAA/A-1+’ or ‘A-1+/A-1’). With U.S. municipal short-term demand debt, the U.S. municipal short-term note rating symbols are used for the first component of the rating (for example, ‘SP-1+/A-1+’).

Active Qualifiers (Currently applied and/or outstanding)

S&P Global Ratings uses the following qualifiers that limit the scope of a rating. The structure of the transaction can require the use of a qualifier such as a ‘p’ qualifier, which indicates the rating addresses the principal portion of the obligation only. A qualifier appears as a suffix and is part of the rating.

 

  L:

Ratings qualified with ‘L’ apply only to amounts invested up to federal deposit insurance limits.

 

  p:

This suffix is used for issues in which the credit factors, the terms, or both that determine the likelihood of receipt of payment of principal are different from the credit factors, terms, or both that determine the likelihood of receipt of interest on the obligation. The ‘p’ suffix indicates that the rating addresses the principal portion of the obligation only and that the interest is not rated.

 

  prelim:

Preliminary ratings, with the ‘prelim’ suffix, may be assigned to obligors or obligations, including financial programs, in the circumstances described below. Assignment of a final rating is conditional on the receipt by S&P Global Ratings of appropriate documentation. S&P Global Ratings reserves the right not to issue a final rating. Moreover, if a final rating is issued, it may differ from the preliminary rating.

 

   

Preliminary ratings may be assigned to obligations, most commonly structured and project finance issues, pending receipt of final documentation and legal opinions.

 

A-7


   

Preliminary ratings may be assigned to obligations that will likely be issued upon the obligor’s emergence from bankruptcy or similar reorganization, based on late-stage reorganization plans, documentation, and discussions with the obligor. Preliminary ratings may also be assigned to the obligors. These ratings consider the anticipated general credit quality of the reorganized or post-bankruptcy issuer as well as attributes of the anticipated obligation(s).

 

   

Preliminary ratings may be assigned to entities that are being formed or that are in the process of being independently established when, in S&P Global Ratings’ opinion, documentation is close to final. Preliminary ratings may also be assigned to the obligations of these entities.

 

   

Preliminary ratings may be assigned when a previously unrated entity is undergoing a well-formulated restructuring, recapitalization, significant financing, or other transformative event, generally at the point that investor or lender commitments are invited. The preliminary rating may be assigned to the entity and to its proposed obligation(s). These preliminary ratings consider the anticipated general credit quality of the obligor, as well as attributes of the anticipated obligation(s), assuming successful completion of the transformative event. Should the transformative event not occur, S&P Global Ratings would likely withdraw these preliminary ratings.

 

   

A preliminary recovery rating may be assigned to an obligation that has a preliminary issue credit rating.

 

  t:

This symbol indicates termination structures that are designed to honor their contracts to full maturity or, should certain events occur, to terminate and cash settle all their contracts before their final maturity date.

 

  cir:

This symbol indicates a counterparty instrument rating (CIR), which is a forward-looking opinion about the creditworthiness of an issuer in a securitization structure with respect to a specific financial obligation to a counterparty (including interest rate swaps, currency swaps, and liquidity facilities). The CIR is determined on an ultimate payment basis; these opinions do not take into account timeliness of payment.

Inactive Qualifiers (No longer applied or outstanding)

 

  *:

This symbol indicated that the rating was contingent upon S&P Global Ratings’ receipt of an executed copy of the escrow agreement or closing documentation confirming investments and cash flows. Discontinued use in August 1998.

 

  c:

This qualifier was used to provide additional information to investors that the bank may terminate its obligation to purchase tendered bonds if the long-term credit rating of the issuer was lowered to below an investment-grade level and/or the issuer’s bonds were deemed taxable. Discontinued use in January 2001.

 

  G:

The letter ‘G’ followed the rating symbol when a fund’s portfolio consisted primarily of direct U.S. government securities.

 

  i:

This suffix was used for issues in which the credit factors, terms, or both that determine the likelihood of receipt of payment of interest are different from the credit factors, terms, or both that determine the likelihood of receipt of

 

A-8


  principal on the obligation. The ‘i’ suffix indicated that the rating addressed the interest portion of the obligation only. The ‘i’ suffix was always used in conjunction with the ‘p’ suffix, which addresses likelihood of receipt of principal. For example, a rated obligation could have been assigned a rating of ‘AAApNRi’ indicating that the principal portion was rated ‘AAA’ and the interest portion of the obligation was not rated.

 

  pi:

This qualifier was used to indicate ratings that were based on an analysis of an issuer’s published financial information, as well as additional information in the public domain. Such ratings did not, however, reflect in-depth meetings with an issuer’s management and therefore could have been based on less comprehensive information than ratings without a ‘pi’ suffix. Discontinued use as of December 2014 and as of August 2015 for Lloyd’s Syndicate Assessments.

 

  pr:

The letters ‘pr’ indicate that the rating was provisional. A provisional rating assumed the successful completion of a project financed by the debt being rated and indicates that payment of debt service requirements was largely or entirely dependent upon the successful, timely completion of the project. This rating, however, while addressing credit quality subsequent to completion of the project, made no comment on the likelihood of or the risk of default upon failure of such completion.

 

  q:

A ‘q’ subscript indicates that the rating is based solely on quantitative analysis of publicly available information. Discontinued use in April 2001.

 

  r:

The ‘r’ modifier was assigned to securities containing extraordinary risks, particularly market risks, that are not covered in the credit rating. The absence of an ‘r’ modifier should not be taken as an indication that an obligation would not exhibit extraordinary noncredit-related risks. S&P Global Ratings discontinued the use of the ‘r’ modifier for most obligations in June 2000 and for the balance of obligations (mainly structured finance transactions) in November 2002.

Local Currency and Foreign Currency Ratings

S&P Global Ratings’ issuer credit ratings make a distinction between foreign currency ratings and local currency ratings. A foreign currency rating on an issuer can differ from the local currency rating on it when the obligor has a different capacity to meet its obligations denominated in its local currency versus obligations denominated in a foreign currency.

 

A-9


APPENDIX B

 

LOGO

Updated January 3, 2023

PROXY VOTING

Policy. River Road Asset Management, LLC’s (“River Road”) exercises discretionary voting authority over proxies issued on securities held in client accounts unless the client has explicitly reserved voting authority. River Road, as a matter of policy and as a fiduciary to our clients, votes proxies for client securities consistent with the best economic interests of the clients. River Road maintains written policies and procedures as to the handling, research, voting and reporting of proxy voting. River Road has established the Proxy Voting Policy Committee for reviewing voting guidelines and special issues. River Road’s compliance department oversees the operational and procedural aspects of the proxy voting process. Additionally, to help discharge its duties, River Road uses Glass Lewis & Co. (“Glass Lewis”) as its voting agent. Glass Lewis performs the following services:

 

   

provides analysis of proxy proposals,

 

   

tracks and receives proxies for which River Road clients are entitled to vote,

 

   

votes the proxies as directed by River Road; and,

 

   

compiles and provides client voting records.

Voting Process. River Road will generally instruct Glass Lewis to vote proxies pursuant to guidelines adopted by the Proxy Voting Policy Committee at the beginning of each year. If the Glass Lewis/River Road policy recommendation and the management recommendation for all votes on a ballot are the same, the compliance department will typically vote accordingly. There are limited instances where River Road has (and may in the future) vote differently from the policy and management recommendation.

For each instance when the Glass Lewis recommended vote contradicts the recommendation of management, the primary analyst assigned to the stock consults with the relevant portfolio manager(s) and reviews the proposal and the respective arguments of management and Glass Lewis. The analyst and portfolio manager(s) then recommend voting the issue in the way River Road believes is most beneficial to shareholder value. If this vote decision is different than River Road’s policy recommendation (i.e., the Glass Lewis recommendation in most instances), the rationale is documented and a member of River Road’s ESG team and compliance team reviews and approves the rationale before submitting the final vote.

For a period, the Proxy Voting Policy Committee has determined that ballots for non-U.S. companies will typically receive an individual voting review in all instances. This will help identify differences between Glass Lewis’ policy for various countries to identify an approach more like U.S. voting going forward. If the vote decision goes against the Glass Lewis recommendation, an ESG review is completed.

 

COMPLIANCE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

 

B-1


Conflicts of Interest. River Road has eliminated most conflicts of interest by using an independent third party (Glass Lewis) that votes pursuant to the guidelines adopted by the Proxy Voting Policy Committee or in accordance with River Road’s direction based on the above process. Additionally, River Road’s voting process of voting with Glass Lewis/River Road policy recommendation and requiring the compliance department signoff if voting differently addresses any potential conflict of River Road voting shares for a public company that is also a River Road client or an affiliate of a River Road client. In cases where River Road believes there may be an actual or perceived conflict of interest, River Road requires additional steps that may include the following:

 

  i.

documenting the potential conflict of interest;

 

  ii.

obtaining the prior approval of the Chief Investment Officer and the Chief Compliance Officer;

 

  iii.

obtaining Proxy Voting Policy Committee review or approval;

 

  iv.

deferring to the voting recommendation of a third party;

 

  v.

voting pursuant to client direction (following disclosure of the conflict);

 

  vi.

abstaining from voting;

 

  vii.

voting reflectively (in the same proportion and manner as other shareholders); or,

 

  viii.

taking such other action as necessary to protect the interests of clients.

COMPLIANCE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

 

B-2