CREDIT SUISSE FUNDS
Prospectus
Class A, C and I Shares
CREDIT SUISSE FUNDS |
A |
C |
I |
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CREDIT SUISSE COMMODITY RETURN STRATEGY FUND |
CRSAX |
CRSCX |
CRSOX |
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CREDIT SUISSE FLOATING RATE HIGH INCOME FUND |
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CREDIT SUISSE STRATEGIC INCOME FUND |
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CREDIT SUISSE MANAGED FUTURES STRATEGY FUND |
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CREDIT SUISSE MULTIALTERNATIVE STRATEGY FUND |
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— |
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As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have not approved these funds, nor have they passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this Prospectus. It is a criminal offense to state otherwise.
Credit Suisse Funds are advised by Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC.
CONTENTS
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11 |
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17 |
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24 |
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32 |
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SUMMARY OF OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING FUND SHARES |
41 |
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42 |
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42 |
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49 |
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FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS |
58 |
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MEET THE MANAGERS |
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back cover |
CREDIT SUISSE COMMODITY RETURN STRATEGY FUND – SUMMARY
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
FEES AND FUND EXPENSES
The accompanying tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund.
You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in Credit Suisse Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial representative and in this Prospectus on page 92 under the heading "Other Shareholder Information – Classes of Shares and Sales Charges" and on page 97 under the heading "Intermediary-Specific Sales Charge Waiver Policies," and in the fund's Statement of Additional Information ("SAI") on page 73 under the heading "Additional Purchase and Redemption Information." You may pay other fees on purchases and sales of Class I shares of the fund, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries which are not reflected in the table and examples below.
CLASS A |
CLASS C |
CLASS I |
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Shareholder
fees (paid directly from your investment) |
|||||||||||||||
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) |
4.75 |
% |
NONE |
NONE |
|||||||||||
Maximum deferred
sales charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of original purchase
price or redemption proceeds, as applicable) |
NONE |
1 |
1.00 |
%2 |
NONE |
||||||||||
Maximum sales charge (load) on reinvested distributions (as a percentage of offering price) |
NONE |
NONE |
NONE |
||||||||||||
Annual fund
operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
|||||||||||||||
Management fee |
0.59 |
% |
0.59 |
% |
0.59 |
% |
|||||||||
Distribution and service (12b-1) fee |
0.25 |
% |
1.00 |
% |
NONE |
||||||||||
Other expenses3 |
0.22 |
% |
0.22 |
% |
0.22 |
% |
|||||||||
Total annual fund operating expenses |
1.06 |
% |
1.81 |
% |
0.81 |
% |
|||||||||
Less: amount of fee limitations/expense reimbursements4 |
0.01 |
% |
0.01 |
% |
0.01 |
% |
|||||||||
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee limitations/expense reimbursements |
1.05 |
% |
1.80 |
% |
0.80 |
% |
1 Purchases of shares of $1 million or more may be subject to a 0.50% deferred sales charge on redemptions within 12 months of purchase.
2 1.00% during the first year.
3 The fund invests in Credit Suisse Cayman Commodity Fund I, Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the fund organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (the "Subsidiary"). "Other expenses" include expenses of both the fund and the Subsidiary.
4 Credit Suisse Commodity Strategy Funds (the "Trust") and Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC ("Credit Suisse") have entered into a written contract limiting operating expenses to 1.05% of the fund's average daily net assets for Class A shares, 1.80% of the fund's average daily net assets for Class C shares and 0.80% of the fund's average daily net assets for Class I shares at least through February 28, 2025. This limit excludes certain expenses, including interest charges on fund borrowings, taxes, brokerage commissions, dealer spreads and other transaction charges, expenditures that are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, acquired fund fees and expenses, short sale dividends, and extraordinary expenses (e.g., litigation and indemnification and any other costs and expenses that may be approved by the Board of Trustees). The Trust is authorized to reimburse Credit Suisse for management fees previously waived and/or for expenses previously paid by Credit Suisse, provided, however, that any reimbursement must be paid at a date not more than thirty-six months following the applicable month during which such fees were waived or expenses were paid by Credit Suisse and the reimbursement does not cause the applicable class's aggregate expenses, on an annualized basis to exceed either (i) the applicable expense limited in effect at the time such fees were waived or such expenses were paid by Credit Suisse or (ii) the applicable expense limitation in effect at the time of such reimbursement. This contract may not be terminated before February 28, 2025.
4
EXAMPLE
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.
Assume you invest $10,000, the fund returns 5% annually, expense ratios remain the same and you close your account at the end of each of the time periods shown. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your cost would be:
ONE
YEAR |
THREE
YEARS |
FIVE
YEARS |
TEN
YEARS |
||||||||||||||||
CLASS A (with or without redemption) |
$ |
577 |
$ |
795 |
$ |
1,031 |
$ |
1,707 |
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CLASS C (redemption at end of period) |
$ |
283 |
$ |
568 |
$ |
979 |
$ |
2,126 |
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CLASS C (no redemption) |
$ |
183 |
$ |
568 |
$ |
979 |
$ |
2,126 |
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CLASS I (with or without redemption) |
$ |
82 |
$ |
258 |
$ |
449 |
$ |
1,001 |
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The computation of the fund's portfolio turnover rate for regulatory purposes excludes trades of derivatives and instruments with a maturity of one year or less. However, the fund expects to engage in frequent trading of derivatives, which could have tax consequences that impact shareholders, such as the realization of taxable short-term capital gains. In addition, the fund could incur transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities and other instruments. Transaction costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year ended October 31, 2023, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 46% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The fund is designed to achieve positive total return relative to the performance of the Bloomberg Commodity Index Total Return ("BCOM Index"). The fund intends to invest its assets in a combination of commodity linked-derivative instruments and fixed income securities. The fund gains exposure to commodities markets by investing through the Subsidiary and in structured notes linked to the BCOM Index, other commodity indices, or the value of a particular commodity or commodity futures contract or subset of commodities or commodity futures contracts. The value of these investments will rise or fall in response to changes in the underlying index or commodity.
The fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the fund organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands. The fund will invest in the Subsidiary primarily to gain exposure to the commodities markets within the limitations of the federal tax laws, rules and regulations that apply to regulated investment companies. Generally, the Subsidiary will invest in commodity-linked derivative instruments, but it will also invest in fixed income instruments, including U.S. government securities, U.S. government agency securities, corporate bonds, debentures and notes, mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities, event-linked bonds, loan participations, bank certificates of deposit, fixed time deposits, bankers' acceptances, commercial paper and other short-term fixed income securities. The primary purpose of the fixed income instruments held by the Subsidiary will be to serve as collateral for the Subsidiary's derivative positions; however, these instruments are also expected to earn income for the Subsidiary.
The fund invests in a portfolio of fixed income securities normally having an average duration of one year or less, and emphasizes investment-grade fixed income securities.
The fund is "non-diversified," meaning that a relatively high percentage of its assets may be invested in a limited number of issuers of securities.
5
PRINCIPAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND
A WORD ABOUT RISK
All investments involve some level of risk. Simply defined, risk is the possibility that you will lose money or not make money.
Principal risk factors for the fund are discussed below. Before you invest, please make sure you understand the risks that apply to the fund. As with any mutual fund, you could lose money over any period of time.
The fund is not a complete investment program and should only form a small part of a diversified portfolio. At any time, the risk of loss associated with a particular instrument in the fund's portfolio may be significantly higher than 50% of the value of the investment. Investors in the fund should be willing to assume the greater risks of potentially significant short-term share price fluctuations.
Investments in the fund are not bank deposits and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
COMMODITY EXPOSURE RISKS
The fund's and the Subsidiary's investments in commodity-linked derivative instruments may subject the fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities, particularly if the instruments involve leverage. The value of commodity-linked derivative instruments may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity index volatility, changes in interest rates, or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs and international economic, political and regulatory developments.
Use of leveraged commodity-linked derivatives creates an opportunity for increased return but, at the same time, creates the possibility for greater loss (including the likelihood of greater volatility of the fund's net asset value), and there can be no assurance that the fund's use of leverage will be successful.
CORRELATION RISK
Changes in the value of a hedging instrument may not match those of the investment being hedged. In addition, certain of the fund's commodity-linked derivative investments may result in the fund's performance diverging from the BCOM Index, perhaps materially. For example, a structured note can be structured to limit the loss or the gain on the investment, which would result in the fund not participating in declines or increases in the BCOM Index that exceed the limits.
CREDIT RISK
The issuer of a debt instrument or the counterparty to a contract, including derivatives contracts, may default or otherwise become unable to honor a financial obligation. Changes in an issuer's credit rating or the market's perception of an issuer's creditworthiness also may affect the value of the fund's investment in that issuer.
DERIVATIVES RISK
Derivatives are financial contracts whose value depends on, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate or index. The fund typically uses derivatives as a substitute for taking a position in the underlying asset and/or as part of a strategy designed to reduce exposure to other risks, such as interest rate or currency risk. The fund also may use derivatives for leverage. The fund's use of derivative instruments, particularly commodity-linked derivatives, 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 described elsewhere in this Prospectus, such as commodity exposure risks, correlation risk, credit risk, illiquidity risk, interest rate risk, leveraging risk, market risk and regulatory risk. Also, suitable derivative transactions may not be available in all circumstances and there can be no assurance that the fund will engage in these transactions to reduce exposure to other risks when that would be beneficial.
EXPOSURE RISK
The risk associated with investments (such as derivatives) or practices (such as short selling) that increase the amount of money the fund could gain or lose on an investment.
◼ Hedged Exposure risk could multiply losses generated by a derivative or practice used for hedging purposes. Such losses should be substantially offset by gains on the hedged investment. However, while hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains.
6
◼ Speculative To the extent that a derivative or practice is not used as a hedge, the fund is directly exposed to its risks. Gains or losses from speculative positions in a derivative may be much greater than the derivative's original cost. For example, potential losses from commodity-linked notes or swap agreements, from writing uncovered call options and from speculative short sales are unlimited.
FIXED INCOME RISK
The market value of fixed income investments will change in response to interest rate changes and other factors, such as changes in the effective maturities and credit ratings of fixed income investments. During periods of falling interest rates, the values of outstanding fixed income securities and related financial instruments generally rise. Conversely, during periods of rising interest rates, the values of such securities and related financial instruments generally decline. Fixed income investments are also subject to credit risk.
FOCUS RISK
The fund will be exposed to the performance of commodities in the BCOM Index, which may from time to time have a small number of commodity sectors (e.g., energy, metals or agricultural) representing a large portion of the index. As a result, the fund may be subject to greater volatility than if the index were more broadly diversified among commodity sectors. If the fund is exposed to a significant extent to a particular commodity or subset of commodities, the fund will be more exposed to the specific risks relating to such commodity or commodities and will be subject to greater volatility than if it were more broadly diversified among commodity sectors.
FUTURES CONTRACTS RISK
The risks associated with the fund's use of futures contracts and swaps and structured notes that reference the price of futures contracts include the risk that: (i) changes in the price of a futures contract may not always track the changes in market value of the underlying reference asset; (ii) trading restrictions or limitations may be imposed by an exchange, and government regulations may restrict trading in futures contracts; and (iii) if the fund has insufficient cash to meet margin requirements, the fund may need to sell other investments, including at disadvantageous times.
ILLIQUIDITY RISK
Certain fund holdings, such as commodity-linked notes and swaps, may be difficult or impossible to sell at the time and the price that the fund would like. The fund may have to lower the price, sell other holdings instead or forgo an investment opportunity. Any of these could have a negative effect on portfolio management or performance. Liquid investments may become illiquid after purchase by the fund, particularly during periods of market turmoil. There can be no assurance that a security or instrument that is deemed to be liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid for as long as it is held by the fund.
INTEREST RATE RISK
Changes in interest rates may cause a decline in the market value of an investment. With bonds and other fixed income instruments, a rise in interest rates typically causes a fall in values, while a fall in interest rates typically causes a rise in values. The Federal Reserve has recently begun to raise the federal funds rate as part of its efforts to address rising inflation. Interests rates are expected to continue to increase in the near future, which could adversely affect the price and liquidity of fund investments. Generally, the longer the maturity or duration of a debt instrument, the greater the impact of a change in interest on the instrument's value. In periods of market volatility, the market values of fixed income securities may be more sensitive to changes in interest rates.
LEVERAGING RISK
The fund may invest in certain derivatives that provide leveraged exposure. The fund's investment in these instruments generally requires a small investment relative to the amount of investment exposure assumed. As a result, such investments may cause the fund to lose more than the amount it invested in those instruments. The net asset value of the fund when employing leverage will be more volatile and sensitive to market movements. Leverage may involve the creation of a liability that requires the portfolio to pay interest.
MARKET RISK
The market value of an instrument may fluctuate, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably. These fluctuations, which are often referred to as "volatility," may cause an instrument to be worth less than it was worth at an earlier time. Market risk may affect a single issuer, industry, commodity, sector of the economy, or the market as a whole. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, natural disasters,
7
recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the fund and its investments. Market risk is common to most investments – including stocks, bonds and commodities – and the mutual funds that invest in them. The performance of "value" stocks and "growth" stocks may rise or decline under varying market conditions – for example, value stocks may perform well under circumstances in which growth stocks in general have fallen.
Bonds and other fixed income securities generally involve less market risk than stocks and commodities. However, the risk of bonds can vary significantly depending upon factors such as the issuer's creditworthiness and a bond's maturity. The bonds of some companies may be riskier than the stocks of others.
NON-DIVERSIFIED STATUS
The fund is considered a non-diversified investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"), and is permitted to invest a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. As a result, the fund may be subject to greater volatility with respect to its portfolio securities than a fund that is diversified.
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER RISK
The fund expects to engage in frequent trading of derivatives. Active and frequent trading may lead to the realization and distribution to shareholders of higher short-term capital gains, which would increase their tax liability. Frequent trading also increases transaction costs, which could detract from the fund's performance.
STRUCTURED NOTE RISK
The value of a structured note will be influenced by time to maturity, level of supply and demand for the type of note, interest rate and market volatility, changes in the issuer's credit rating, and economic, legal, political, or geographic events that affect the reference asset. In addition, there may be a lag between a change in the value of the underlying reference asset and the value of the structured note.
SUBSIDIARY RISK
By investing in the Subsidiary, the fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary's investments. The derivatives and other investments held by the Subsidiary are generally similar to those that are permitted to be held by the fund and are subject to the same risks that apply to similar investments if held directly by the fund. These risks are described elsewhere in this Prospectus.
The Subsidiary is not registered under the 1940 Act, and, unless otherwise noted in this Prospectus, is not subject to all the investor protections of the 1940 Act. However, the fund wholly owns and controls the Subsidiary, and the fund and the Subsidiary are both managed by Credit Suisse, making it unlikely that the Subsidiary will take action contrary to the interests of the fund and its shareholders. The fund's Board of Trustees has oversight responsibility for the investment activities of the fund, including its investment in the Subsidiary, and the fund's role as sole shareholder of the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary will be subject to the same investment restrictions and limitations, and follow the same compliance policies and procedures, as the fund.
Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the fund and/or the Subsidiary to continue to operate as it does currently and could adversely affect the fund.
SWAP AGREEMENTS RISK
Swap agreements involve the risk that the party with whom the fund has entered into the swap will default on its obligation to pay the fund and the risk that the fund will not be able to meet its obligations to pay the other party to the agreement.
TAX RISK
In order to qualify as a Regulated Investment Company (a "RIC") under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the fund must meet certain requirements regarding the source of its income, the diversification of its assets and the distribution of its income. The Internal Revenue Service has issued a ruling that income realized directly from certain types of commodity-linked derivatives would not be qualifying income. As a result, the fund's ability to realize income from direct investments in such commodity-linked derivatives as part of its investment strategy would be limited to a maximum of 10% of its gross income. To comply with the ruling, the fund seeks to gain exposure to the commodity markets primarily through investments in the Subsidiary, which invests in commodity-linked swaps, commodity futures and other derivatives, and directly through investments in commodity-linked notes. If the fund fails to qualify as a RIC, the fund will be subject to federal income tax on its net income at regular corporate rates (without reduction for
8
distributions to shareholders). When distributed, that income also would be taxable to shareholders as an ordinary dividend to the extent attributable to the fund's earnings and profits. If the fund were to fail to qualify as a RIC and became subject to federal income tax, shareholders of the fund would be subject to diminished returns. The fund anticipates treating income and gain from the Subsidiary and from commodity-linked notes as qualifying income.
U.S. GOVERNMENT SECURITIES RISK
Obligations of U.S. government agencies and authorities are supported by varying degrees of credit but generally are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. No assurance can be given that the U.S. government will provide financial support to its agencies and authorities if it is not obligated by law to do so.
PERFORMANCE
The accompanying bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows you how performance of the fund's Class A shares has varied from year to year for up to 10 years. The table compares the fund's performance (before and after taxes) over time to that of a broad-based securities market index. The table also compares the fund's performance to the BCOM Index, which is currently composed of futures contracts on 24 physical commodities. The after-tax returns are shown for Class A shares only. The after-tax returns of other classes will vary. As with all mutual funds, past performance (before and after taxes) is not a prediction of future performance.
The fund makes updated performance available at the fund's website (www.credit-suisse.com/us/funds) or by calling Credit Suisse Funds at 877-870-2874.
Sales charges are not reflected in the accompanying bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS
PERIOD ENDED 12/31/23: |
ONE
YEAR 2023 |
FIVE
YEARS 2019-2023 |
TEN
YEARS 2014-2023 |
||||||||||||
CLASS A RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
-13.44 |
% |
6.22 |
% |
-1.72 |
% |
|||||||||
CLASS A RETURN AFTER TAXES ON DISTRIBUTIONS |
-14.53 |
% |
1.96 |
% |
-3.85 |
% |
|||||||||
CLASS A RETURN AFTER TAXES ON DISTRIBUTIONS AND SALE OF FUND SHARES |
-7.94 |
% |
3.07 |
% |
-2.11 |
% |
|||||||||
CLASS C RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
-10.70 |
% |
6.46 |
% |
-1.97 |
% |
|||||||||
CLASS I RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
-8.89 |
% |
7.53 |
% |
-0.98 |
% |
|||||||||
BLOOMBERG COMMODITY
INDEX TOTAL RETURN (REFLECTS NO DEDUCTIONS FOR FEES, EXPENSES OR TAXES) |
-7.91 |
% |
7.23 |
% |
-1.11 |
% |
◼ After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts ("IRA").
9
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Investment manager: Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC
Portfolio managers: The Credit Suisse Commodities Management Team is responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund. Christopher Burton, Senior Portfolio Manager and Managing Director, and Scott Ikuss, Portfolio Manager and Vice President, are the portfolio managers of the team and have been managing the fund since 2005 and 2023, respectively.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING FUND SHARES
For important information about purchase and sale of fund shares, tax information, and payments to broker-dealers and other financial representatives, please see the "Summary of Other Important Information Regarding Fund Shares" section on page 41 of this Prospectus.
10
The fund seeks high
current income
The accompanying tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund.
CLASS A |
CLASS C |
CLASS I |
|||||||||||||
(paid directly from your investment) |
|||||||||||||||
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) |
|
% |
|
|
|||||||||||
Maximum deferred
sales charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of original purchase
price or redemption proceeds, as applicable) |
|
1 |
|
%2 |
|
||||||||||
Maximum sales charge (load) on reinvested distributions (as a percentage of offering price) |
|
|
|
||||||||||||
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
|||||||||||||||
Management fee |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Distribution and service (12b-1) fee |
|
% |
|
% |
|
||||||||||
Other expenses |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Total annual fund operating expenses |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Less: amount of fee limitations/expense reimbursements3 |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee limitations/expense reimbursements |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
1
2
3
11
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.
Assume you invest $10,000, the fund returns 5% annually, expense ratios remain the same and you close your account at the end of each of the time periods shown. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your cost would be:
ONE
YEAR |
THREE
YEARS |
FIVE
YEARS |
TEN
YEARS |
||||||||||||||||
CLASS A (with or without redemption) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|||||||||||
CLASS C (redemption at end of period) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|||||||||||
CLASS C (no redemption) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|||||||||||
CLASS I (with or without redemption) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
The fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over"
its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction
costs and may result in higher taxes when shares are held in a taxable account.
These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the
example, affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year ended
October 31, 2023, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was
Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in high yield, fixed income securities (commonly referred to as "junk bonds"). The high yield, fixed income securities in which the fund will invest for purposes of this 80% policy will consist entirely of senior secured floating rate loans ("Senior Loans") issued by non-investment grade companies. Senior Loans typically are secured by specific collateral of the issuer and hold the most senior position in the issuer's capital structure. The interest rate on Senior Loans is adjusted periodically to a recognized base rate, such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR"). While these characteristics may reduce interest rate risk and mitigate losses in the event of borrower default, the Senior Loans in which the fund invests have below investment grade credit ratings and thereby are considered speculative because of the significant credit risk of their issuers. The fund may invest up to 30% of its total assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers. The fund seeks to moderate risk by investing in a diversified portfolio of issuers across a variety of industry sectors. Investments are selected for the fund based on an analysis of individual issuers and the general business conditions affecting them. The fund generally will not invest in instruments rated at the time of investment in the lowest rating categories (Ca or below by Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") and CC or below by S&P Global Ratings, a division of S&P Global Inc. ("S&P")) but may continue to hold securities which are subsequently downgraded.
A WORD ABOUT RISK
All investments involve some level of risk. Simply defined, risk is the possibility that you will lose money or not make money.
Principal risk factors
for the fund are discussed below. Before you invest, please make sure you
understand the risks that apply to the fund.
12
13
14
The fund makes updated
performance available at the fund's website (
PERIOD ENDED 12/31/23: |
ONE
YEAR 2023 |
FIVE
YEARS 2019-2023 |
TEN
YEARS 2014-2023 |
||||||||||||
CLASS A RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS A RETURN AFTER TAXES ON DISTRIBUTIONS |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS A RETURN AFTER TAXES ON DISTRIBUTIONS AND SALE OF FUND SHARES |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS C RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS I RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CREDIT SUISSE
LEVERAGED LOAN INDEX TOTAL RETURN FOR FEES, EXPENSES OR TAXES) |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
◼
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Investment manager: Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC
Portfolio managers: The Credit Suisse Credit Investments Group is responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management of the fund. The current team members are John G. Popp, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse, Louis I. Farano, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse, David J. Mechlin, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse, Joshua Shedroff, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse, and Wing Chan, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse. Messrs. Popp, Farano, Mechlin and Shedroff and Ms. Chan have been members of the Credit Suisse Credit Investments Group since 1997, 1998, 2006, 2006, 2008 and 2005, respectively.
15
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING FUND SHARES
For important information about purchase and sale of fund shares, tax information, and payments to broker-dealers and other financial representatives, please see the "Summary of Other Important Information Regarding Fund Shares" section on page 41 of this Prospectus.
16
The fund seeks total return.
The accompanying tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund.
CLASS A |
CLASS C |
CLASS I |
|||||||||||||
(paid directly from your investment) |
|||||||||||||||
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) |
|
% |
|
|
|||||||||||
Maximum deferred
sales charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of original purchase
price or redemption proceeds, as applicable) |
|
1 |
|
%2 |
|
||||||||||
Maximum sales charge (load) on reinvested distributions (as a percentage of offering price) |
|
|
|
||||||||||||
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
|||||||||||||||
Management fee |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Distribution and service (12b-1) fee |
|
% |
|
% |
|
||||||||||
Other expenses |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Total annual fund operating expenses |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Less: amount of fee limitations/expense reimbursements3 |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee limitations/expense reimbursements |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
1
2
3
17
This example may help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.
Assume you invest $10,000, the fund returns 5% annually, expense ratios remain the same and you close your account at the end of each of the time periods shown. Based on these assumptions, your cost would be:
ONE
YEAR |
THREE
YEARS |
FIVE YEARS |
TEN YEARS |
||||||||||||||||
CLASS A (with or without redemption) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|||||||||||
CLASS C (redemption at end of period) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|||||||||||
CLASS C (no redemption) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|||||||||||
CLASS I (with or without redemption) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
The fund pays transaction
costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over"
its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction
costs and may result in higher taxes when shares are held in a taxable account.
These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the
example, affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year ended
October 31, 2023, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was
The fund pursues its investment objective of total return by investing in a portfolio of debt instruments. "Strategic" in the fund's name means that the fund seeks both current income and capital appreciation as elements of total return. While the fund may invest strategically in a number of types of debt instruments, as set forth below, the fund currently primarily invests in the following:
◼ bonds and other debt instruments issued by domestic and foreign companies of any size (including below investment grade debt securities (commonly known as "junk bonds"));
◼ senior secured floating rate loans ("Senior Loans"); and
◼ mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities and collateralized loan obligations ("CLOs").
The fund also may invest in other debt instruments based on the portfolio managers' assessment of the opportunities for total return they present including the following:
◼ convertible debt securities;
◼ obligations issued by foreign governments; and
◼ obligations issued by the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities (such as U.S. Treasury securities or Treasury inflation protected securities).
In seeking to achieve its investment objective, the fund may adjust its portfolio's exposure among the various types of debt instruments based on market conditions and outlook. At any given time, the fund may have a substantial weighting in any one asset class. Accordingly, the fund will, at times, be invested in debt instruments of various credit qualities and maturities, while at other times, the fund may emphasize one particular credit quality or maturity.
The fund's investment manager and sub-adviser emphasize bottom-up fundamental credit analysis and top-down macroeconomic analysis, combined with a focused relative value approach, and are not constrained by any particular duration or credit quality targets. The fund's allocation among various debt instruments will be made on the basis of the portfolio managers' assessment of opportunities for total return relative to the risk of each type of investment. The fund may also take temporary defensive positions in cash and short-term bonds from time to time.
The fund invests significantly in below investment grade debt securities and is authorized to invest without limit in these securities. Below investment grade debt securities are rated in the lower rating categories of the established rating services (Ba or lower by Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") and BB or lower by S&P Global Ratings, a
18
division of S&P Global Inc. ("S&P")), or, if unrated, are deemed by the fund's investment manager or sub-adviser to be of comparable quality.
The fund may invest in non-U.S. dollar denominated debt instruments. The fund may utilize foreign currency transactions, including currency options and forward foreign currency contracts, to hedge non-U.S. dollar investments or to establish or adjust exposure to particular foreign securities, markets or currencies, but it is not required to do so.
The fund may take short positions in securities or indices and generally will do so either by borrowing a security and selling the security short or by using swaps or futures. For example, in a short sale, the fund may sell a borrowed security and it has a corresponding obligation to return to the lender the identical security it has borrowed at the market price of that security at the time of replacement. The fund will have a profit or loss depending on whether the price of the security decreases or increases between the date of the short sale and the date on which the fund purchases the security it has sold in order to replace the security it has borrowed from the lender. Alternatively, the fund may enter into a futures contract pursuant to which it agrees to sell an asset (that it does not currently own) at a specified price at a specified point in the future. This gives the fund a short position with respect to that asset. The fund will benefit to the extent the asset decreases in value (and will be harmed to the extent the asset increases in value) between the time it enters into the futures contract and the agreed date of sale.
A WORD ABOUT RISK
All investments involve some level of risk. Simply defined, risk is the possibility that you will lose money or not make money.
Principal risk factors
for the fund are discussed below. Before you invest, please make sure you
understand the risks that apply to the fund.
19
20
21
The fund makes updated
performance available at the fund's website (
PERIOD ENDED 12/31/23: |
ONE
YEAR 2023 |
FIVE
YEARS 2019-2023 |
TEN
YEARS 2014-2023 |
||||||||||||
CLASS A RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS A RETURN AFTER TAXES ON DISTRIBUTIONS |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS A RETURN AFTER
TAXES ON DISTRIBUTIONS AND SALE OF FUND SHARES |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS C RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS I RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
ICE BOFA US 3-MONTH
TREASURY BILL INDEX EXPENSES OR TAXES) |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
◼
22
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Investment manager: Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC
Subadviser: Credit Suisse Asset Management Limited ("Credit Suisse UK")
Portfolio managers: The Credit Suisse Credit Investments Group is responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management of the fund. The current team members are John G. Popp, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse, Andrew H. Marshak, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse UK, Louis I. Farano, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse, David J. Mechlin, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse, Joshua Shedroff, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse and Wing Chan, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse. Messrs. Popp, Marshak, Farano, Mechlin and Shedroff and Ms. Chan have been members of the Credit Suisse Credit Investments Group since 1997, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2006, 2008 and 2005, respectively, and portfolio managers of the fund since inception except for Mr. Shedroff who has been a portfolio manager of the fund since 2021.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING FUND SHARES
For important information about purchase and sale of fund shares, tax information, and payments to broker-dealers and other financial representatives, please see the "Summary of Other Important Information Regarding Fund Shares" section on page 41 of this Prospectus.
23
The fund seeks to achieve investment results that correspond generally to the risk and return patterns of managed futures funds.
The accompanying tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund.
CLASS A |
CLASS C |
CLASS I |
|||||||||||||
(paid directly from your investment) |
|||||||||||||||
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) |
|
% |
|
|
|||||||||||
Maximum deferred
sales charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of original purchase
price or redemption proceeds, as applicable) |
|
1 |
|
%2 |
|
||||||||||
Maximum sales charge (load) on reinvested distributions (as a percentage of offering price) |
|
|
|
||||||||||||
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
|||||||||||||||
Management fee |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Distribution and service (12b-1) fee |
|
% |
|
% |
|
||||||||||
Other expenses3 |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Acquired fund fees and expenses4 |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Total annual fund operating expenses |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Less: amount of fee limitations/expense reimbursements5 |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee limitations/expense reimbursements |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
1
2
3
4
5
24
This example may help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.
Assume you invest $10,000, the fund returns 5% annually, expense ratios remain the same and you close your account at the end of each of the time periods shown. Based on these assumptions, your cost would be:
ONE YEAR |
THREE YEARS |
FIVE YEARS |
TEN YEARS |
||||||||||||||||
CLASS A (with or without redemption) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|||||||||||
CLASS C (redemption at end of period) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|||||||||||
CLASS C (no redemption) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|||||||||||
CLASS I (with or without redemption) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
The computation of the
fund's portfolio turnover rate for regulatory purposes excludes trades of
derivatives and instruments with a maturity of one year or less. However, the
fund expects to engage in frequent trading of derivatives, which could have tax
consequences that impact shareholders, such as the realization of taxable
short-term capital gains. In addition, the fund could incur transaction costs,
such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities and other instruments.
Transaction costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or
in the example, affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal
year ended October 31, 2023, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was
The Fund seeks diverse exposure to significant price trends, both up and down, across asset classes, geographies and time horizons. It aims to capture the aggregate risk-return characteristics of the managed futures industry without the cost and complexity of a multi-manager approach. The fund may take long and/or short positions in these asset classes, and dynamically adjusts its exposure to individual asset classes based on a trend-following approach. The fund may also aim to obtain exposure to other strategies commonly used by managed futures funds. As a component of its overall investment process, Credit Suisse may utilize certain quantitative models and methodologies to guide its investment approach or security selection although the use of such models and methodologies may vary based on market factors and economic trends as determined by Credit Suisse.
The fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing directly and/or indirectly through the Subsidiary (as described below) in securities and derivative instruments including, but not limited to, equity index futures and options, swaps on equity index futures, equity swaps, interest rate futures and options, fixed income futures and options, swaps on fixed income futures, commodity and commodity index-linked futures and options, swaps on commodity and commodity index-linked futures, currency futures and options, swaps on currency futures, currency forwards and equity-, fixed income-, and commodity-notes. There are no geographic limits on the fund's holdings and the fund will have exposure to U.S. and non-U.S. securities and currencies. In addition, the fund may have exposure to issuers of any size or credit quality. The fund also invests a significant portion of its assets in investment grade money market instruments, which may include, but are not limited to, U.S. government securities, U.S. government agency securities, short-term fixed income securities, repurchase agreements, money market mutual fund shares, and cash and cash equivalents. The fund's money market instrument holdings may serve as collateral for the fund's derivative positions and may also earn income for the fund. The fund's return is expected to be derived principally from changes in the value of securities and its portfolio is expected to consist principally of securities.
The fund's use of futures, forwards, swaps and certain other financial instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies the exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying a financial instrument and results in increased volatility, which means that the fund will have the potential for greater gains, as well as the potential for greater losses, than if the fund does not use financial instruments that have a leveraging effect. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the fund's exposure to an asset class and may cause the fund's net asset value ("NAV") to be volatile. A decline in the
25
fund's assets due to losses magnified by the financial instruments providing leveraged exposure may require the fund to liquidate portfolio positions to satisfy its obligations, to meet redemption requests or to meet the applicable requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"), and the rules thereunder when it may not be advantageous to do so.
The fund will enter into short positions, and may use futures and swaps or may sell a security short to do so. For example, the fund may enter into a futures contract pursuant to which it agrees to sell an asset (that it does not currently own) at a specified price at a specified point in the future. This gives the fund a short position with respect to the asset. At times, the fund may have significant short positions.
The fund intends to make investments through the Subsidiary, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the fund organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands, and may invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary. The fund will invest in the Subsidiary primarily to gain exposure to the commodities markets within the limitations of the federal tax laws, rules and regulations that apply to regulated investment companies. Generally, the Subsidiary will invest in long and short commodity-linked futures and swaps, but it may also invest in other types of futures, swaps and options, as well as certain money market instruments, including U.S. government securities, money market fund shares, repurchase agreements and other high-quality, short-term fixed income instruments. The primary purpose of the money market instruments held by the Subsidiary will be to serve as collateral for the Subsidiary's derivative positions; however, these instruments may also earn income for the Subsidiary.
The fund is actively managed by Credit Suisse based on Credit Suisse's view of the prevailing trends in the market. The percentage of the fund's portfolio exposed to each asset class and to any particular strategy will vary from time to time.
For defensive purposes, due to abnormal market conditions or economic situations as determined by Credit Suisse, the fund's investment manager, the fund may invest up to 100% of its total assets in cash or certain short-term securities. Although intended to avoid losses in adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, defensive tactics might be inconsistent with the fund's principal investment strategies and might prevent the fund from achieving its goal.
The fund is "non-diversified," meaning that a relatively high percentage of its assets may be invested in a limited number of issuers of securities.
A WORD ABOUT RISK
All investments involve some level of risk. Simply defined, risk is the possibility that you will lose money or not make money.
Principal risk factors
for the fund are discussed below. Before you invest, please make sure you
understand the risks that apply to the fund.
The fund is not a complete investment program and should only form a part of a diversified portfolio. Investors in the fund should be willing to assume the risks of potentially significant short-term share price fluctuations.
26
27
28
29
The fund makes updated
performance available at the fund's website (
30
Sales charges are not reflected in the accompanying bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.
PERIOD ENDED 12/31/23: |
ONE
YEAR 2023 |
FIVE
YEARS 2019-2023 |
TEN
YEARS 2014-2023 |
||||||||||||
CLASS A RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
- |
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS A RETURN AFTER TAXES ON DISTRIBUTIONS |
- |
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS A RETURN AFTER
TAXES ON DISTRIBUTIONS AND SALE OF FUND SHARES |
- |
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS C RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
- |
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS I RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
- |
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CREDIT SUISSE
MANAGED FUTURES LIQUID INDEX EXPENSES OR TAXES) |
- |
% |
|
% |
|
% |
◼
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Investment manager: Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC
Portfolio managers: The Quantitative Investment Strategies group ("QIS") is responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management of the Fund. Yung-Shin Kung, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse, is the lead portfolio manager of the team and has been managing the Fund since November 2015.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING FUND SHARES
For important information about purchase and sale of fund shares, tax information, and payments to broker-dealers and other financial representatives, please see the "Summary of Other Important Information Regarding Fund Shares" section on page 41 of this Prospectus.
CREDIT SUISSE MULTIALTERNATIVE STRATEGY FUND – SUMMARY
The fund seeks positive absolute returns.
The accompanying tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund.
CLASS A |
CLASS I |
||||||||||
(paid directly from your investment) |
|||||||||||
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) |
|
% |
|
||||||||
Maximum deferred
sales charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of original purchase
price or redemption proceeds, as applicable) |
|
1 |
|
||||||||
Maximum sales charge (load) on reinvested distributions (as a percentage of offering price) |
|
|
|||||||||
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) |
|||||||||||
Management fee |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||
Distribution and service (12b-1) fee |
|
% |
|
||||||||
Other expenses2 |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||
Acquired fund fees and expenses4 |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||
Total annual fund operating expenses3 |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||
Less: amount of fee limitations/expense reimbursements5 |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee limitations/expense reimbursements |
|
% |
|
% |
1
2
3
4
5
32
This example may help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.
Assume you invest $10,000, the fund returns 5% annually, expense ratios remain the same and you close your account at the end of each of the time periods shown. Based on these assumptions, your cost would be:
ONE YEAR |
THREE YEARS |
FIVE YEARS |
TEN YEARS |
||||||||||||||||
CLASS A (with or without redemption) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
|||||||||||
CLASS I (with or without redemption) |
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
$ |
|
The computation of the
fund's portfolio turnover rate for regulatory purposes excludes trades of
derivatives and instruments with a maturity of one year or less. However, the
fund expects to engage in frequent trading of derivatives, which could have tax
consequences that impact shareholders, such as the realization of taxable
short-term capital gains. In addition, the fund could incur transaction costs,
such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities and other instruments.
Transaction costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or
in the example, affect the fund's performance. During the fiscal year ended
October 31, 2023, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was
The fund seeks positive absolute returns. It pursues its investment objective by utilizing a macro-aware investment process to allocate capital across a range of investment strategies. The fund primarily, but not exclusively, allocates to directional and/or relative value strategies that take long and/or short positions in instruments across all major asset groups.
As a component of its overall investment process, Credit Suisse may utilize certain quantitative models and methodologies to guide its investment approach or security selection although the use of such models and methodologies may vary, on a discretionary basis, based on market environments and economic trends as determined by Credit Suisse.
The fund may invest globally (including in emerging markets) and there are no geographic limits on the fund's holdings. The instruments in which the fund may invest may be U.S. dollar or non-U.S. dollar denominated. The fund may have exposure to issuers of any size or credit quality. The fund intends to engage in active and frequent trading.
The percentage of the fund's portfolio exposed to each asset class and geographic region will vary from time to time. The fund may invest in a broad range of instruments, including equities, American Depositary Receipts and Global Depositary Receipts, other mutual funds, exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"), warrants, bonds (both investment grade and below investment grade (commonly referred to as "junk bonds")), currencies, commodities, futures, exchange-traded and over-the-counter put and call options (both covered and uncovered) and total return and excess return swaps, either by investing directly in these instruments or, in the case of commodities and certain commodity-linked instruments, indirectly, by investing in the Subsidiary (as described below) that invests in such commodities and commodity-linked instruments. The fund also may invest in cash and cash equivalents. As a result of the fund's use of derivatives, the fund may hold significant amounts of high-quality, short-term securities, including U.S. Treasuries, shares of money market funds and repurchase agreements. The fund may also invest in high-yield securities to earn income, as well as to achieve its investment objective.The fund may invest in bonds of any maturity or duration.
The fund primarily will gain exposure to commodities and commodity-linked instruments through investments in the Subsidiary, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the fund organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands. The Subsidiary will invest in (long and short) commodity-linked futures and swaps, as well as certain money market instruments, including U.S. government securities, money market fund shares, repurchase agreements and other high-quality, short-term fixed income instruments. The primary purpose of the money market instruments held by the Subsidiary will be to serve as collateral for the Subsidiary's derivative positions; however, these instruments may also earn income for the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary is managed by Credit Suisse and has the same investment objective as the fund. The fund
33
may invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary. Investment in the Subsidiary is expected to provide the fund with commodity exposure within the limitations of the federal tax requirements that apply to the fund. Investments in other Credit Suisse Funds may provide the fund with exposure to other securities and financial instruments in addition to commodities and commodity-linked instruments.
For defensive purposes, due to abnormal market conditions or economic situations as determined by Credit Suisse, the fund may invest up to 100% of its total assets in cash or certain short-term securities. Although intended to avoid losses in adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, defensive tactics might be inconsistent with the fund's principal investment strategies and might prevent the fund from achieving its goal.
The fund is "non-diversified," meaning that a relatively high percentage of its assets may be invested in a limited number of issuers of securities.
A WORD ABOUT RISK
All investments involve some level of risk. Simply defined, risk is the possibility that you will lose money or not make money.
Principal risk factors
for the fund are discussed below. Before you invest, please make sure you
understand the risks that apply to the fund.
34
35
36
37
38
The fund makes updated
performance available at the fund's website (
PERIOD ENDED 12/31/23: |
ONE
YEAR 2023 |
FIVE
YEARS 2019-2023 |
TEN
YEARS 2014-2023 |
||||||||||||
CLASS A RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
- |
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS A RETURN AFTER TAXES ON DISTRIBUTIONS |
- |
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS A RETURN AFTER
TAXES ON DISTRIBUTIONS AND SALE OF FUND SHARES |
- |
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
CLASS I RETURN BEFORE TAXES |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
|||||||||
ICE BOFA US 3-MONTH
TREASURY BILL INDEX FOR FEES, EXPENSES OR TAXES) |
|
% |
|
% |
|
% |
◼
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Investment manager: Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC
Portfolio managers: The Quantitative Investment Strategies group ("QIS") is responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management of the Fund. Yung-Shin Kung, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse, is the lead portfolio manager of the team and has been managing the Fund since November 2015.
39
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING FUND SHARES
For important information about purchase and sale of fund shares, tax information, and payments to broker-dealers and other financial representatives, please see the "Summary of Other Important Information Regarding Fund Shares" section on page 41 of this Prospectus.
40
PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
Eligible investors may purchase, redeem or exchange shares of a fund each day the New York Stock Exchange is open, at the fund's net asset value determined after receipt of your request in proper form, subject to any applicable sales charge.
Each fund's initial investment minimums for Class A and Class C generally are as follows:
General |
$2,500 | ||||||
IRAs |
$500 | ||||||
Retirement plan programs |
None |
Each fund's subsequent investment minimums for Class A and Class C generally are as follows:
General |
$100 | ||||||
IRAs |
$100 ($50 for electronic transfers (ACH)) |
||||||
Retirement plan programs |
None |
Each fund's initial investment minimum for Class I generally is $250,000.
Each fund's subsequent investment minimum for Class I generally is $100,000.
If you invest through a financial representative, your financial representative may impose different investment minimum amount requirements.
For more information about how to purchase, redeem or exchange shares, and to learn which classes of shares are available to you, you should contact your financial representative or contact the funds by phone (Credit Suisse Funds at 877-870-2874).
TAX INFORMATION
Each fund's distributions are taxable as ordinary income or capital gain, except when your investment is through an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged account, in which case your withdrawals from such account may be taxed as ordinary income.
PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL REPRESENTATIVES
If you purchase a fund through a broker-dealer or other financial representative (such as a bank), the fund and its related companies may pay the representative for the sale of fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other representative and your salesperson to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial representative's website for more information.
41
COMMODITY RETURN STRATEGY FUND
The fund seeks total return. To pursue this goal, it invests in a combination of commodity-linked derivative instruments and fixed income securities.
The fund invests in commodity-linked derivative instruments, such as commodity-linked notes, that provide exposure to the investment returns of the commodities markets without investing directly in physical commodities. The fund intends to gain exposure to commodities markets by investing in the Credit Suisse Cayman Commodity Fund I, Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the fund organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (the "Subsidiary"), which in turn invests in commodity-linked swap agreements and other commodity-linked derivative instruments, and by investing directly in commodity-linked structured notes. These investments will be linked to the Bloomberg Commodity Index Total Return ("BCOM Index"), other commodity indices or the value of a particular commodity or commodity futures contract or subset of commodities or commodity futures contracts. The principal value of commodity-linked investments held by the fund is expected to equal between 0% and 50% of the fund's net assets at the time of investment. The percentage may be higher or lower as the value of the BCOM Index changes. The remainder of the fund's assets (other than amounts invested in commodity-linked investments) is expected to consist predominantly of fixed income instruments.
The fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary is advised by Credit Suisse. The Subsidiary (unlike the fund) may invest without limitation in commodity-linked swap agreements and other commodity-linked derivative instruments, including futures contracts on individual commodities or a subset of commodities and options on them. However, the Subsidiary is otherwise subject to the same fundamental, non-fundamental and certain other investment restrictions as the fund.
The BCOM Index is a broadly diversified futures index currently composed of futures contracts on 24 physical commodities. The index is weighted among commodity sectors using dollar-adjusted liquidity and production data. Currently, six energy commodities, two precious metals commodities, five industrial metals commodities, two livestock commodities, and nine agricultural commodities are represented in the index. The BCOM Index is rebalanced as of the beginning of each calendar year so that as of that time no single commodity constitutes less than 2%, as liquidity allows, or more than 15% of the index, and each related group of commodities (e.g., energy, precious metals, industrial metals, livestock or agriculture) represented in the index is limited to 33%. However, following this rebalancing and for the remainder of the calendar year these percentages may change so that a single commodity may constitute a lesser or greater percentage of the index at the beginning of the year and different sectors may represent different proportions of the index. (A more detailed description of the BCOM Index is found in the Statement of Additional Information ("SAI").) The fund does not intend to invest in commodities directly or in instruments linked to individual commodity sectors.
The prices of commodity-linked instruments may move in different directions than investments in traditional equity and debt securities in periods of rising inflation. Of course, there can be no guarantee that the fund's commodity-linked investments would not be correlated with traditional financial assets under any particular market conditions. In addition, while the primary driver of the fund's returns is expected to be the change in value of the BCOM Index, the fund is not an index fund and may be exposed to particular commodities or subset of commodities to a greater or lesser extent than reflected in the BCOM Index. However, the fund is designed to generally achieve positive performance relative to that of the BCOM Index, although there can be no guarantee that this positive performance will be achieved.
The fund will not invest 25% or more of its total assets in instruments issued by companies in any one industry. However, 25% or more of its total assets may be indirectly exposed to industries in one or more of the three commodity sectors (currently, the energy, metal, and agricultural sectors) of the BCOM Index. In addition, the fund can invest more than 25% of its total assets in instruments (such as structured notes) issued by companies in the financial services sector (which includes the banking, brokerage and insurance industries). In that case the fund's share values will fluctuate in response to events affecting issues in those sectors.
Under normal market conditions:
◼ at least 90% of the fund's fixed income securities (excluding structured notes) will be investment grade
◼ the fund will maintain an average duration of the fixed income portion of the portfolio (excluding structured notes) of one year or less
42
In determining the credit quality of a security, Credit Suisse will use the highest rating assigned to it. While structured notes are not typically rated, the fund does not intend to enter into structured notes with issuers that do not have debt ratings of investment grade.
Duration is a measure of the expected life of a fixed income security that is used to determine the sensitivity of a security's price to changes in interest rates. The longer a security's duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates. Similarly, a fund with a longer average portfolio duration will be more sensitive to changes in interest rates than a fund with a shorter average portfolio duration.
PRINCIPAL PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS
The fund intends to gain exposure to commodity markets primarily by investing up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary invests primarily in commodity-linked derivative instruments, including swap agreements, commodity options, futures and options on futures. Although the fund may enter into these commodity-linked derivative instruments directly, the fund likely will gain exposure to these derivative instruments indirectly by investing in the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary also will invest in fixed income instruments, some of which are intended to serve as margin or collateral for the Subsidiary's derivatives position.
The derivative instruments in which the fund and the Subsidiary primarily intend to invest are instruments linked to certain commodity indices. Additionally, the fund or the Subsidiary may invest in derivative instruments linked to the value of a particular commodity or commodity futures contract, or a subset of commodities or commodity futures contracts, including swaps on commodity futures. The fund's or the Subsidiary's investments in commodity-linked derivative instruments may specify exposure to commodity futures with different roll dates, reset dates or contract months than those specified by a particular commodity index. As a result, the commodity-linked derivatives component of the fund's portfolio may deviate from the returns of any particular commodity index. The fund or the Subsidiary may also over-weight or under-weight its exposure to a particular commodity index, or a subset of commodities, such that the fund has greater or lesser exposure to that index than the value of the fund's net assets, or greater or lesser exposure to a subset of commodities than is represented by a particular commodity index. Such deviations will frequently be the result of temporary market fluctuations, and under normal circumstances the fund will seek to maintain net notional exposure to one or more commodity indices within 5% (plus or minus) of the value of the fund's net assets. The portion of the fund's or Subsidiary's assets exposed to any particular commodity or commodity sector will vary based on market conditions, but from time to time the portion could be substantial. To the extent that the fund invests in the Subsidiary, it may be subject to the risks associated with those derivative instruments and other securities, which are discussed elsewhere in this Prospectus.
The Subsidiary is managed by Credit Suisse. With respect to its investments, the Subsidiary generally will be subject to the same fundamental, non-fundamental and certain other investment restrictions as the fund; however, the Subsidiary (unlike the fund) may invest without limitation in commodity-linked instruments that may otherwise be limited if purchased by the fund due to federal tax requirements, as discussed above. The fund and the Subsidiary may test for compliance with certain investment restrictions on a consolidated basis.
The structured notes in which the fund may invest may be issued by U.S. and foreign banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies and other corporations. These notes are debt securities of the issuer and so, in addition to fluctuating in response to changes in the underlying commodity index, will be subject to credit and interest rate risks that typically affect debt securities.
The fixed income securities the fund may invest in include:
◼ corporate bonds, debentures and notes
◼ government and agency securities
◼ mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities
◼ structured notes, including hybrid or "indexed" securities, event-linked bonds and loan participations
◼ bank certificates of deposit, fixed time deposits and bankers' acceptances
◼ commercial paper
OTHER PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS
In addition to investing in the Subsidiary and commodity-linked instruments, the fund may engage in other investment practices that include the use of options, futures and other derivative securities. The fund will attempt to take advantage of pricing inefficiencies in these securities. For example, the fund may write (i.e., sell) put and call
43
options. The fund would receive premium income when it writes an option, which will increase the fund's return in the event the option expires unexercised or is closed out at a profit. Upon the exercise of a put or call option written by the fund, the fund may suffer an economic loss equal to the difference between the price at which the fund is required to purchase, in the case of a put, or sell, in the case of a call, the underlying security or instrument and the option exercise price, less the premium received for writing the option. The fund may engage in derivative transactions involving a variety of underlying instruments, including, in addition to structured notes, swaps, equity and debt securities, securities indexes and futures.
The fund also may invest in common and preferred stock as well as convertible securities of issuers in commodity-related industries. To a limited extent, the fund may also engage in other investment practices.
The fund may, from time to time, place some or all of its assets in investments such as money-market obligations and investment-grade debt securities for defensive purposes. Although intended to avoid losses in adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, defensive tactics might be inconsistent with the fund's principal investment strategies and might prevent the fund from achieving its goal.
The fund's investment objective may be changed by the Board of Trustees without shareholder approval.
FLOATING RATE HIGH INCOME FUND
The fund's primary investment objective is to provide a high level of current income and its secondary objective is capital appreciation. Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in fixed income securities that are rated in the lower rating categories of the established rating services (Ba or lower by Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") and BB or lower by S&P Global Ratings, a division of S&P Global Inc. ("S&P")), or, if unrated, are deemed by Credit Suisse to be of comparable quality. Securities rated Ba or lower by Moody's and BB or lower by S&P are commonly considered the equivalent of "junk bonds". The high yield, fixed income securities in which the fund will invest for purposes of this 80% policy will consist entirely of senior secured floating rate loans ("Senior Loans") issued by non-investment grade companies. Senior Loans typically are secured by specific collateral of the issuer and hold the most senior position in the issuer's capital structure. The interest rate on Senior Loans is adjusted periodically to a recognized base rate, such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR"). While these characteristics may reduce interest rate risk and mitigate losses in the event of borrower default, the Senior Loans in which the fund invests have below investment grade credit ratings and thereby are considered speculative because of the significant credit risk of their issuers. The fund may invest up to 30% of its total assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers. The fund may invest in other mutual funds (including other Credit Suisse Funds). The fund seeks to moderate risk by investing in a diversified portfolio of issuers across a variety of industry sectors. Investments are selected for the fund based on an analysis of individual issuers and the general business conditions affecting them. The fund will generally not invest in instruments rated at the time of investment in the lowest rating categories (Ca or below for Moody's and CC or below for S&P) but may continue to hold securities which are subsequently downgraded. However, it has authority to invest in securities rated as low as C and D by Moody's and S&P, respectively.
The fund may purchase Senior Loans by assignment from a participant in the original syndicate of lenders or from subsequent assignees of such interests, or can buy a participation in a loan. Loan participations typically represent indirect participations in a loan to a corporate borrower, and generally are offered by banks or other financial institutions or lending syndicates.
In choosing investments, the portfolio managers:
◼ continually analyze individual companies, including their financial condition, cash flow and borrowing requirements, value of assets in relation to cost, strength of management, responsiveness to business conditions, credit standing and anticipated results of operations
◼ analyze business conditions affecting investments, including:
◼ changes in economic activity and interest rates
◼ availability of new investment opportunities
◼ economic outlook for specific industries
◼ seek to moderate risk by investing among a variety of industry sectors and issuers
The portfolio managers may sell investments for a variety of reasons, such as to realize profits, limit losses or take advantage of better investment opportunities.
44
The fund's investment objective may be changed by the Board of Trustees without shareholder approval. The fund's 80% investment policies may be changed by the Board of Trustees on 60 days' notice to shareholders.
PRINCIPAL PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS
The instruments in which the fund invests are:
◼ floating rate loans and notes
◼ high yield corporate bonds and notes
◼ convertible bonds and preferred stocks
◼ equity securities when acquired as a unit with fixed income securities or in a restructuring of fixed income securities
The fund may invest:
◼ without limit in floating rate debt securities, including their unrated equivalents
◼ up to 30% of total assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers
To a limited extent the fund may also engage in other investment practices.
STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
The fund pursues its investment objective of total return by investing in a broad range of debt instruments. "Strategic" in the fund's name means that the fund seeks both current income and capital appreciation as elements of total return. The debt instruments in which the fund may invest include:
◼ bonds and other debt instruments issued by domestic and foreign companies of any size (including below investment grade debt securities (commonly known as "junk bonds"));
◼ Senior Loans;
◼ mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities and collateralized loan obligations ("CLOs");
◼ convertible debt securities;
◼ obligations issued by foreign governments (including emerging market countries); and
◼ obligations issued by the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities (such as U.S. Treasury securities or Treasury inflation protected securities).
In seeking to achieve its investment objective, the fund adjusts its portfolio's exposure amongst the various types of debt instruments based on market conditions and outlook. At any given time, the fund may have a substantial weighting in any one asset class. Accordingly, the fund will, at times, be invested in debt instruments of various credit qualities and maturities, while at other times, the fund may emphasize one particular credit quality or maturity.
Credit Suisse, the fund's investment manager, and Credit Suisse UK, the fund's sub-adviser (together, the "Adviser"), emphasize bottom-up fundamental credit analysis and top-down macroeconomic analysis, combined with a focused relative value approach, and are not constrained by any particular duration or credit quality targets. The fund's allocation among various debt instruments will be made on the basis of the portfolio managers' assessment of opportunities for total return relative to the risk of each type of investment. The fund may also take temporary defensive positions in cash and short-term bonds from time to time.
The fund may invest significantly in below investment grade debt securities and is authorized to invest without limit in these securities. Below investment grade debt securities are rated in the lower rating categories of the established rating services (Ba or lower by Moody's and BB or lower by S&P), or, if unrated, are deemed by the Adviser to be of comparable quality. The fund may invest in securities rated C or lower and which have limited capacity to pay principal and interest on their obligations. The fund is not required to dispose of debt instruments that are downgraded or go into default.
The fund may invest in non-U.S. dollar denominated debt instruments and debt instruments of emerging market issuers and is authorized to invest without limit in these instruments. The fund may utilize foreign currency transactions, including currency options and forward foreign currency contracts, to hedge non-U.S. dollar investments or to establish or adjust exposure to particular foreign securities, markets or currencies, but it is not required to do so.
45
The fund may also invest in other derivatives, regardless of whether the fund may own the asset, instrument or components of the index underlying the derivative. The fund typically uses derivatives as a substitute for taking a position in the underlying asset, instrument or index and/or as part of a strategy designed to reduce exposure to other risks, such as currency risk. The fund's derivative investments may include equity puts, credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, total return swaps, and futures contracts on securities and indexes.
The fund may take short positions in securities or indices and generally will do so either by borrowing a security and selling the security short or by using swaps or futures. For example, in a short sale, the fund may sell a borrowed security and it has a corresponding obligation to return to the lender the identical security it has borrowed at the market price of that security at the time of replacement. The fund will have a profit or loss depending on whether the price of the security decreases or increases between the date of the short sale and the date on which the fund purchases the security it has sold in order to replace the security it has borrowed from the lender. Alternatively, the fund may enter into a futures contract pursuant to which it agrees to sell an asset (that it does not currently own) at a specified price at a specified point in the future. This gives the fund a short position with respect to that asset. The fund will benefit to the extent the asset decreases in value (and will be harmed to the extent the asset increases in value) between the time it enters into the futures contract and the agreed date of sale.
To a limited extent the fund may also engage in other investment practices, including, but not limited to purchasing both dividend and non-dividend paying equity securities.
The fund's investment objective may be changed by the Board of Trustees without shareholder approval.
MANAGED FUTURES STRATEGY FUND
The Fund seeks diverse exposure to significant price trends, both up and down, across asset classes, geographies and time horizons. It aims to capture the aggregate risk-return characteristics of the managed futures industry without the cost and complexity of a multi-manager approach. The fund may take long and/or short positions in these asset classes, and dynamically adjusts its exposure to individual asset classes based on a trend-following approach. The fund may also aim to obtain exposure to other strategies commonly used by managed futures funds. As a component of its overall investment process, Credit Suisse may utilize certain quantitative models and methodologies to guide its investment approach or security selection although the use of such models and methodologies may vary based on market factors and economic trends as determined by Credit Suisse.
The fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing directly and/or indirectly through the Subsidiary (as defined and described below) in securities and derivative instruments including, but not limited to, equity index futures and options, swaps on equity index futures, equity swaps, interest rate futures and options, fixed income futures and options, swaps on fixed income futures, commodity and commodity index-linked futures and options, swaps on commodity and commodity index-linked futures, currency futures and options, swaps on currency futures, currency forwards and equity-, fixed income-, and commodity-notes. There are no geographic limits on the fund's holdings and the fund will have exposure to U.S. and non-U.S. securities and currencies. In addition, the fund may have exposure to issuers of any size or credit quality. The fund also invests a significant portion of its assets in investment grade money market instruments, which may include, but are not limited to, U.S. government securities, U.S. government agency securities, short-term fixed income securities, repurchase agreements, money market mutual fund shares, and cash and cash equivalents. The fund's money market instrument holdings may serve as collateral for the fund's derivative positions and may also earn income for the fund. The fund's return is expected to be derived principally from changes in the value of securities and its portfolio is expected to consist principally of securities.
Futures, forwards and swaps are contractual agreements that involve the right to receive, or obligation to deliver, assets or money depending on the performance of one or more underlying assets or currencies, or a market or economic index. The fund's use of futures, forwards, swaps and certain other financial instruments will have the economic effect of financial leverage. Financial leverage magnifies the exposure to the swings in prices of an asset class underlying a financial instrument and results in increased volatility, which means that the fund will have the potential for greater gains, as well as the potential for greater losses, than if the fund does not use financial instruments that have a leveraging effect. Leveraging tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in the fund's exposure to an asset class and may cause the fund's net asset value ("NAV") to be volatile. A decline in the fund's assets due to losses magnified by the financial instruments providing leveraged exposure may require the fund to liquidate portfolio positions to satisfy its obligations, to meet redemption requests or to meet the applicable requirements of the 1940 Act and the rules thereunder when it may not be advantageous to do so.
46
As a result of the fund's strategy, the fund may have highly leveraged exposure to one or more asset classes at times. The 1940 Act and the rules and interpretations thereunder impose certain limitations on the fund's ability to use leverage; however, the fund is not subject to any additional limitations on its exposures. For example, the fund could hold instruments that provide long or short exposure equal to three or more times the value of the fund's net assets, and could maintain net short exposure equal to three or more times the value of the fund's net assets. Generally, however, Credit Suisse expects not to have net long exposure exceeding 300% of the value of the fund's net assets or net short exposure exceeding 150% of the value of the fund's net assets.
The fund will enter into short positions, and may use futures and swaps or may sell a security short to do so. For example, the fund may enter into a futures contract pursuant to which it agrees to sell an asset (that it does not currently own) at a specified price at a specified point in the future. This gives the fund a short position with respect to the asset. At times, the fund may have significant short positions.
The fund intends to make investments through the Credit Suisse Cayman Managed Futures Strategy Fund, Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the fund organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (the "Subsidiary"), and may invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary. The fund will invest in the Subsidiary primarily to gain exposure to the commodities markets within the limitations of the federal tax laws, rules and regulations that apply to regulated investment companies. Generally, the Subsidiary will invest in long and short commodity-linked futures and swaps, but it may also invest in other types of futures, swaps and options, as well as certain money market instruments, including U.S. government securities, money market fund shares, repurchase agreements and other high-quality, short-term fixed income instruments. The primary purpose of the money market instruments held by the Subsidiary will be to serve as collateral for the Subsidiary's derivative positions; however, these instruments may also earn income for the Subsidiary.
The Subsidiary is managed by Credit Suisse. With respect to its investments, the Subsidiary generally will be subject to the same fundamental, non-fundamental and certain other investment restrictions as the fund; however, the Subsidiary (unlike the fund) may invest without limitation in commodity-linked instruments that may otherwise be limited if purchased by the fund due to federal tax requirements, as discussed above. The fund and Subsidiary may test for compliance with certain investment restrictions on a consolidated basis.
The fund is actively managed by Credit Suisse based on Credit Suisse's view of the prevailing trends in the market. The percentage of the fund's portfolio exposed to each asset class and to any particular strategy will vary from time to time.
For defensive purposes, due to abnormal market conditions or economic situations as determined by Credit Suisse, the fund's investment manager, the fund may invest up to 100% of its total assets in cash or certain short-term securities. Although intended to avoid losses in adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, defensive tactics might be inconsistent with the fund's principal investment strategies and might prevent the fund from achieving its goal.
The fund is "non-diversified," meaning that a relatively high percentage of its assets may be invested in a limited number of issuers of securities.
The fund's investment objective may be changed by the Board of Trustees without shareholder approval.
MULTIALTERNATIVE STRATEGY FUND
The fund seeks positive absolute returns. It pursues its investment objective by utilizing a macro-aware investment process to allocate capital across a range of investment strategies. The fund primarily, but not exclusively, allocates to directional and/or relative value strategies that take long and/or short positions in instruments across all major asset groups.
As a component of its overall investment process, Credit Suisse may utilize certain quantitative models and methodologies to guide its investment approach or security selection although the use of such models and methodologies may vary, on a discretionary basis, based on market factors environments and economic trends as determined by Credit Suisse.
The fund may invest globally (including in emerging markets) and there are no geographic limits on the fund's holdings. The instruments in which the fund may invest may be U.S. dollar- or non-U.S. dollar denominated. The fund may have exposure to issuers of any size or credit quality. The fund intends to engage in active and frequent trading.
The percentage of the fund's portfolio exposed to each asset class and geographic region will vary from time to time. The fund may invest in a broad range of instruments, including equities, American Depositary Receipts and Global Depositary Receipts, other mutual funds, ETFs, warrants, bonds (both investment grade and below
47
investment grade (commonly referred to as "junk bonds")), currencies, commodities, futures, exchange-traded and over-the-counter put and call options (both covered and uncovered) and total return and excess return swaps, either by investing directly in these instruments or, in the case of commodities and certain commodity-linked instruments, indirectly, by investing in the Subsidiary that invests in such commodity-linked instruments. The fund also may invest in cash and cash equivalents. As a result of the fund's use of derivatives, the fund may hold significant amounts of high-quality securities, including U.S. Treasuries, shares of money market funds and repurchase agreements. The fund also may invest in high-yield securities to earn income, as well as to achieve its investment objective. For defensive purposes, due to abnormal market conditions or economic situations as determined by Credit Suisse, the fund may invest up to 100% of its total assets in cash or certain short-term securities. Although intended to avoid losses in adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, defensive tactics might be inconsistent with the fund's principal investment strategies and might prevent the fund from achieving its goal. The fund may also engage in other investment practices in seeking to achieve its investment objective. The fund may invest in bonds of any maturity or duration.
The fund primarily will gain exposure to commodities and certain commodity-linked instruments through investments in the Credit Suisse Cayman Multialternative Strategy Fund, Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the fund organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (the "Subsidiary"). The Subsidiary will invest in (long and short) commodity-linked futures and swaps, as well as certain money market instruments, including U.S. government securities, money market fund shares, repurchase agreements and other high-quality, short-term fixed income instruments. The primary purpose of the money market instruments held by the Subsidiary will be to serve as collateral for the Subsidiary's derivative positions; however, these instruments may also earn income for the Subsidiary.
The Subsidiary is managed by Credit Suisse and has the same investment objective as the fund. With respect to its investments, the Subsidiary generally will be subject to the same fundamental, non-fundamental and certain other investment restrictions as the fund; however, unlike the fund, the Subsidiary may invest without limitation in commodity-linked instruments that may otherwise be limited if purchased by the fund due to federal tax requirements relating to qualifying income, as discussed above.
For defensive purposes, due to abnormal market conditions or economic situations as determined by Credit Suisse, the fund may invest up to 100% of its total assets in cash or certain short-term securities. Although intended to avoid losses in adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, defensive tactics might be inconsistent with the fund's principal investment strategies and might prevent the fund from achieving its goal.
The fund is "non-diversified," meaning that a relatively high percentage of its assets may be invested in a limited number of issuers of securities.
The fund's investment objective may be changed by the Board of Trustees without shareholder approval.
48
The funds may use certain investment practices that have higher risks associated with them. However, the funds have limitations and policies designed to reduce many of the risks. The principal risks of each fund are identified in the Summary sections and are described in this section. The table below indicates the principal risks and non-principal risks applicable to each fund.
X
Principal Risk * Non-Principal Risk |
Credit Suisse Commodity Return Strategy Fund |
Credit Suisse Floating Rate High Income Fund |
Credit Suisse Strategic Income Fund |
Credit Suisse Managed Futures Strategy Fund |
Credit Suisse Multialternative Strategy Fund |
||||||||||||||||||
Arbitrage or Fundamental Risk |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Below Investment Grade Securities Risk |
X |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||
Collateralized Loan Obligations Risk |
* |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Commodity Exposure Risks |
X |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||
Conflict of Interest Risk |
X |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Convertible Securities Risk |
X |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Correlation Risk |
X |
* |
X |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||
Counterparty Risk |
* |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||
Credit Risk |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||
Currency Risk |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||
Cybersecurity Risk |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
||||||||||||||||||
Derivatives Risk |
X |
* |
X |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||
Emerging Markets Risk |
* |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Equity Exposure Risk |
* |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||
Extension Risk |
* |
* |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||
Fixed Income Risk |
X |
|
X |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||
Focus Risk |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Foreign Securities Risk |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||
Forwards Risk |
X |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Futures Contracts Risk |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||
Hedged Exposure Risk |
X |
* |
X |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||
Illiquidity Risk |
X |
X |
X |
* |
* |
||||||||||||||||||
Interest Rate Risk |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||
Leveraging Risk |
X |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||
Manager/Model Risk |
X |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Market Risk |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||
Model and Style Risk |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Mortgage- and Asset-Backed Securities Risks |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-Diversified Status |
X |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||
Options Risk |
* |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Portfolio Turnover Risk |
X |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||
Prepayment Risk |
* |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||
Reference Rate Replacement Risk |
X |
X |
* |
||||||||||||||||||||
Repurchase Agreements Risk |
X |
* |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Risks of Investing in Other Funds |
* |
* |
* |
* |
X |
||||||||||||||||||
Senior Loans Risks |
X |
X |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Short Position Risk |
X |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||
Small- and Mid-Cap Stock Risk |
X |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Speculative Exposure Risk |
X |
* |
* |
X |
X |
||||||||||||||||||
Structured Note Risk |
X |
49
X
Principal Risk * Non-Principal Risk |
Credit Suisse Commodity Return Strategy Fund |
Credit Suisse Floating Rate High Income Fund |
Credit Suisse Strategic Income Fund |
Credit Suisse Managed Futures Strategy Fund |
Credit Suisse Multialternative Strategy Fund |
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Subsidiary Risk |
X |
X |
X |
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Swap Agreements Risk |
X |
* |
X |
X |
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Tax Risk |
X |
X |
X |
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U.S. Government Securities Risk |
X |
X |
X |
* |
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Valuation Risk |
* |
X |
X |
* |
* |
RISK FACTORS
Arbitrage or Fundamental Risk Employing arbitrage and alternative strategies has the risk that anticipated opportunities do not play out as planned, resulting in potentially reduced returns or losses to a fund as it unwinds failed trades. For example, with respect to the merger arbitrage strategy, the merger deal may terminate prior to closing, thereby imposing losses to the fund. Arbitrage or fundamental risk exists for other strategies employed by the fund such as convertible arbitrage.
Below Investment Grade Securities Risk Below investment grade securities (commonly referred to as "junk bonds") are regarded as being predominantly speculative as to the issuer's ability to make payments of principal and interest. Investment in such securities involves substantial risk. Issuers of below investment grade securities may be highly leveraged and may not have available to them more traditional methods of financing. Therefore, the risks associated with acquiring the securities of such issuers generally are greater than is the case with higher-rated securities. For example, during an economic downturn or a sustained period of rising interest rates, issuers of below investment grade securities may be more likely to experience financial stress, especially if such issuers are highly leveraged. During periods of economic downturn, such issuers may not have sufficient revenues to meet their interest payment obligations. The issuer's ability to service its debt obligations also may be adversely affected by specific issuer developments, the issuer's inability to meet specific projected business forecasts or the unavailability of additional financing. The risk of loss due to default by the issuer is significantly greater for the holders of below investment grade securities because such securities may be unsecured and may be subordinate to other creditors of the issuer.
Collateralized Loan Obligations Risk CLOs are trusts or other special purpose entities that are backed by a pool of loans. Such loans may include domestic and foreign senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans and subordinate corporate loans, some of which may be below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans.
CLOs issue classes or "tranches" that vary in risk and yield, and may experience substantial losses due to actual defaults, decrease of market value due to collateral defaults and disappearance of subordinate tranches, market anticipation of defaults, and investor aversion to CLO securities as a class. The risks of CLOs depend largely on the type of the underlying loans and the tranche of CLOs in which the fund invests. In addition, CLOs carry risks including interest rate risk and credit risk.
Commodity Exposure Risks A fund's investment in commodity-linked derivative instruments may subject the fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities, particularly if the investments involve leverage. The value of commodity-linked derivative instruments may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity index volatility, changes in interest rates, or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs and international economic, political and regulatory developments.
Use of leveraged commodity-linked derivatives creates