Prospectus by Investment Company (Form 497)

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Front-end Load Waivers Available at Merrill

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Shares of mutual funds available for purchase by employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation, and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans provided the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans

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Shares purchased through a Merrill investment advisory program.

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Brokerage class shares exchanged from advisory class shares due to the holdings moving from a Merrill investment advisory program to a Merrill brokerage account.

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Shares purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform.

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Shares purchased through the systematic reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same mutual fund in the same account.

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Shares exchanged from level-load shares to front-end load shares of the same mutual fund in accordance with the description in the Merrill SLWD Supplement.

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Shares purchased by eligible employees of Merrill or its affiliates and their family members who purchase shares in accounts within the employee's Merrill Household (as defined in the Merrill SLWD Supplement).

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Shares purchased by eligible persons associated with the fund as defined in this prospectus (e.g. the fund's officers or trustees).

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Shares purchased from the proceeds of a mutual fund redemption in front-end load shares provided (1) the repurchase is in a mutual fund within the same fund family; (2) the repurchase occurs within 90 calendar days from the redemption trade date, and (3) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill's account maintenance fees are not eligible for Rights of Reinstatement.

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Contingent Deferred Sales Charge ("CDSC") Waivers on Front-end, Back-end, and Level Load Shares Available at Merrill

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Shares sold due to the client's death or disability (as defined by Internal Revenue Code Section 22(e)(3)).

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Shares sold pursuant to a systematic withdrawal program subject to Merrill's maximum systematic withdrawal limits as described in the Merrill SLWD Supplement.

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Shares sold due to return of excess contributions from an IRA account.

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Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the investor reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulation.

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Front-end or level-load shares held in commission-based, non-taxable retirement brokerage accounts (e.g. traditional, Roth, rollover, SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans) that are transferred to fee-based accounts or platforms and exchanged for a lower cost share class of the same mutual fund.

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Front-end Load Discounts Available at Merrill: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation & Letters of Intent

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Breakpoint discounts, as described in this prospectus, where the sales load is at or below the maximum sales load that Merrill permits to be assessed to a front-end load purchase, as described in the Merrill SLWD Supplement.

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Rights of Accumulation (ROA), as described in the Merrill SLWD Supplement, which entitle clients to breakpoint discounts based on the aggregated holdings of mutual fund family assets held in accounts in their Merrill Household.

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On or about May 1, 2026, assets not held at Merrill will no longer be included in the ROA calculation. For more detail on the timing and calculation, please refer to the Merrill SLWD Supplement.

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Letters of Intent (LOI), which allow for breakpoint discounts on eligible new purchases based on anticipated future eligible purchases within a fund family at Merrill, in accounts within your Merrill Household, as further described in the Merrill SLWD Supplement.

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On or about May 1, 2026, Merrill will no longer accept new LOIs. For more detail on the timing, please refer to the Merrill SLWD Supplement.