mortgage-backed securities and agency commercial mortgage-backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations (including interest only, principal only, and other prepayment derivatives), collateralized loan obligations {"CLOs"), asset-backed securities and credit linked notes. GW&K may consider, among other factors, credit, interest rate, prepayment and liquidity risks, as well as general market conditions, when deciding whether to buy or sell investments.
The Fund also may invest up to 20% of its net assets in other US government securities, including, but not limited to, US Treasury bills, notes and bonds, securities issued by agencies or instrumentalities of the US Government which may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, and securities issued by agencies or instrumentalities which are backed solely by the credit of the issuing agency or instrumentality but that are not considered securitized bonds.
While the Fund may purchase debt securities of any duration, the Fund typically seeks to maintain an overall average dollar-weighted duration that is within +/-20% of the duration of the Bloomberg US Securitized Index (the "Index"). The average dollar weighted duration of the Index is approximately 5.88 years as of April 30, 2025. The average duration of debt securities in the Fund's portfolio may, however, be shorter or longer depending on market conditions.
In selecting potential investments for the Fund, GW&K uses top-down research that focuses on managing duration, yield curve, credit quality, volatility and liquidity, as well as bottom-up research that focuses on fundamental analysis, valuation analysis, and technical analysis. GW&K may adjust its assessment of an investment based on a number of considerations.
The Fund may use derivatives and similar instruments for a variety of purposes, including hedging, risk management, portfolio management or to earn income. The Fund's use of derivatives may involve the purchase and sale of derivative instruments such as futures, options, to-be-announced (TBA) commitments, swaps and other similar instruments and techniques. Derivatives that provide investment exposure to securitized bonds, or to one or more market risk factors associated with securitized bonds, may be counted toward the Fund's 80% investment policy.
Principal Risks
There is the risk that you may lose money on your investment. All investments carry a certain amount of risk, and the Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit or obligation of any bank, is not endorsed or guaranteed by any bank, and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") or any other government agency. The Fund is intended to be used as part of a managed account program. The performance and objectives of the Fund should be evaluated in the context of the investor's managed account program. The Fund is not designed to be used as a stand-alone investment.
Below are some of the risks of investing in the Fund. The risks are presented in an order intended to facilitate readability and their order does not imply that the realization of one risk is more likely to occur than another risk or likely to have a greater
adverse impact than another risk. The significance of any specific risk to an investment in the Fund will vary over time, depending on the composition of the Fund's portfolio, market conditions, and other factors. You should read all of the risk information presented below carefully, because any one or more of these risks may result in losses to the Fund.
Debt Securities Risk-the value of a debt security changes in response to various factors, including, for example, market-related factors, such as changes in interest rates or changes in the actual or perceived ability of an issuer to meet its obligations. Investments in debt securities are subject to, among other risks, credit risk, interest rate risk, extension risk, prepayment risk and liquidity risk.
Market Risk-market prices of investments held by the Fund may fall rapidly or unpredictably due to a variety of factors, including economic or market conditions, or other factors including terrorism, war, natural disasters and the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, including epidemics or pandemics, or in response to events that affect particular industries or companies. In addition, unexpected political, regulatory, trade and diplomatic events within the United States and abroad may affect investor and consumer confidence and may adversely impact financial markets and the broader economy, perhaps suddenly and to a significant degree.
Interest Rate Risk-fixed coupon payments (cash flows) of bonds and debt securities may become less competitive with the market in periods of rising interest rates and cause bond prices to decline. During periods of increasing interest rates, the Fund may experience high levels of volatility and shareholder redemptions, and may have to sell securities at times when it would otherwise not do so, and at unfavorable prices, which could reduce the returns of the Fund.
Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk-investments in asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities involve risk of severe credit downgrades, loss due to prepayments that occur earlier or later than expected, illiquidity and default.
Credit and Counterparty Risk-the issuer of bonds or other debt securities or a counterparty to a derivatives contract (including over-the-counter counterparties as well as brokers and clearinghouses in respect of exchange-traded and/or cleared products) may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely interest, principal or settlement payments or otherwise honor its obligations. Changes in an issuer's financial strength, credit rating or the market's perception of an issuer's creditworthiness may also affect the value of the Fund's investment in that issuer.
Collateralized Loan Obligations and Other Collateralized Obligations Risk- the risks of investing in a CLO generally can be summarized as a combination of economic risks of the underlying loans combined with the risks associated with the CLO structure governing the priority of payments, and include interest rate risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, prepayment risk, and the risk of default of the underlying asset, among others.
Derivatives Risk-the use of derivatives involves costs, the risk that the value of derivatives may not correlate perfectly with their underlying assets, rates or indices, liquidity risk, and the