The Inflation-Protected Portfolio seeks its investment objective by investing in a universe of inflation-protected securities that are structured to provide returns linked to the rate of inflation over the long-term. The Portfolio ordinarily invests in inflation-protected securities issued by the U.S. Government and its agencies and instrumentalities and the credit quality of such inflation-protected securities will be that of such applicable U.S. government, agency or instrumentality issuer.

As a non-fundamental policy, under normal circumstances, the Inflation-Protected Portfolio will invest at least 80% of its net assets in inflation-protected securities. Inflation-protected securities (also known as inflation-indexed securities) are securities whose principal and/or interest payments are adjusted for inflation, unlike conventional debt

securities that make fixed principal and interest payments. Inflation-protected securities include Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (“TIPS”), which are securities issued by the U.S. Treasury. The principal value of TIPS is adjusted for inflation (payable at maturity) and the semi-annual interest payments by TIPS equal a fixed percentage of the inflation-adjusted principal amount. These inflation adjustments are based upon the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers (CPI-U). The original principal value of TIPS is guaranteed. At maturity, TIPS are redeemed at the greater of their inflation-adjusted principal or par amount at original issue. Other types of inflation-protected securities may use other methods to adjust for inflation and other measures of inflation. In addition, inflation-protected securities issued by entities other than the U.S. Treasury may not provide a guarantee of principal value at maturity.

Generally, the Inflation-Protected Portfolio will purchase inflation-protected securities with maturities between five and twenty years from the date of settlement, although at times, the Portfolio may purchase securities outside of this range. Under normal circumstances, when determining its duration, the Portfolio will consider a weighted average duration similar to the Bloomberg U.S. TIPS Index, which was approximately 6.57 years as of December 31, 2023. Duration is a measure of 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.

The Inflation-Protected Portfolio is authorized to invest more than 25% of its total assets in U.S. Treasury bonds, bills and notes and obligations of U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities. The Portfolio may also invest in money market funds. The Portfolio will not shift the maturity of its investments in anticipation of interest rate movements.

The Inflation-Protected Portfolio may purchase or sell futures contracts and options on futures contracts, to hedge its interest rate exposure or for non-hedging purposes, such as a substitute for direct investment or to increase or decrease market exposure based on actual or expected cash inflows to or outflows from the Portfolio.

The Inflation-Protected Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to generate additional income.