The Fund, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in debt securities.

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of net assets in investment grade quality bonds of various types as rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”) (such bonds rated BBB- or higher, or Baa3 or higher), or if unrated, judged to be of comparable quality by NYL Investors LLC, the Fund’s Subadvisor. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in bonds rated below investment grade by a NRSRO (such as bonds rated lower than BBB- and Baa3), commonly referred to as “high yield” or “junk” bonds. In the event NRSROs assign different ratings to the same security, the Fund will apply the lower rating if rated differently by two NRSROs, and will apply the middle rating if rated differently by three NRSROs.

The Fund's principal investments include investment grade corporate credit and securitized assets, including structured credit, collateralized loan obligations, asset-backed securities, residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities and collateralized mortgage obligations.

The Fund attempts to manage interest rate risk through its management of the average duration of the securities it holds in its portfolio. Under normal conditions, the Fund will maintain its average dollar-weighted duration range between one and three years. Duration is a measure 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.

The Fund may also invest in futures to seek to enhance returns or reduce the risk of loss by hedging certain of its holdings.

Investment Process: The Subadvisor seeks to generate consistent, risk-adjusted excess returns by conducting bottom-up fundamental research as the basis for investment selection.

Core to the Subadvisor’s objective is capital preservation through loss-avoidance by constructing a well-diversified portfolio with a long-term focus. Underlying investment opportunities are based on the financial condition and competitiveness of individual companies. The Subadvisor also invests in companies that the Subadvisor believes have a high margin of safety and are leaders in industries with high barriers to entry.

The Subadvisor prefers companies with positive free cash flow, solid asset coverage and management teams with strong track records. In virtually every phase of the investment process, the Subadvisor attempts to control risk and limit defaults.

The Subadvisor’s investment process relies on a comprehensive fundamental investment discipline, including, but not limited to, consideration of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors that may be material to a company’s performance and prospects. In addition to internal research, the Subadvisor may use third-party ESG data to compare internal views with external perspectives.

The Subadvisor may sell a security if it believes the security will no longer contribute to meeting the investment objective of the Fund.