instrument of the reference issuer with a par amount equal to such notional amount. If the swap is cash settled, the seller agrees to pay the buyer the difference between the notional amount and the final price for the relevant debt instrument, as determined either in a market auction or pursuant to a pre-agreed-upon valuation procedure.
The fund enters into interest rate swap transactions to adjust the fund’s sensitivity to changes in interest rates and maintain the ability to generate income at prevailing market rates. Under the terms of the swaps, one party pays the other either an amount that is a fixed percentage rate or a floating rate, which is reset periodically based on short-term interest rates, applied to a notional amount. In return, the counterparty agrees to pay a different floating rate, which is reset periodically based on short-term interest rates, applied to the same notional amount.
The fund enters into centrally cleared interest rate and credit default swaps to achieve the same objectives specified with respect to the equivalent over-the-counter swaps but with less counterparty risk because a regulated clearinghouse is the counterparty instead of the clearing broker or executing broker. The clearinghouse imposes initial margin requirements to secure the fund's performance, and requires daily settlement of variation margin representing changes in the market value of each contract. To further mitigate counterparty risk, the fund trades with a diverse group of prequalified executing brokers; monitors the financial strength of its clearing brokers, executing brokers, and clearinghouse; and has entered into agreements with its clearing brokers and executing brokers.
The primary risk associated with selling credit protection is that, upon the occurrence of a defined credit event, the market value of the debt instrument received by the fund (or, in a cash settled swap, the debt instruments used to determine the settlement payment by the fund) will be significantly less than the amount paid by the fund and, in a physically settled swap, the fund may receive an illiquid debt instrument. A risk associated with all types of swaps is the possibility that a counterparty may default on its obligation to pay net amounts due to the fund. The fund’s maximum amount subject to counterparty risk is the unrealized appreciation on the swap contract. The fund mitigates its counterparty risk by entering into swaps only with a diverse group of prequalified counterparties, monitoring their financial strength, entering into master netting arrangements with its counterparties, and requiring its counterparties to transfer collateral as security for their performance. In the absence of a default, the collateral pledged or received by the fund cannot be repledged, resold, or rehypothecated. In the event of a counterparty’s default (including bankruptcy), the fund may terminate any swap contracts with that counterparty, determine the net amount owed by either party in accordance with its master netting arrangements, and sell or retain any collateral held up to the net amount owed to the fund under the master netting arrangements. The swap contracts contain provisions whereby a counterparty may terminate open contracts if the fund's net assets decline below a certain level, triggering a payment by the fund if the fund is in a net liability position at the time of the termination. The payment amount would be reduced by any collateral the fund has pledged. Any securities pledged as collateral for open contracts are noted in the Schedule of Investments. The value of collateral received or pledged is compared daily to the value of the swap contracts exposure with each counterparty, and any difference, if in excess of a specified minimum transfer amount, is adjusted and settled within two business days.
Swaps are valued daily based on market quotations received from independent pricing services or recognized dealers and the change in value is recorded as an asset (liability) and as unrealized appreciation (depreciation) until the seller of credit protection is required to take delivery (or, in a cash settled swap, pay the settlement amount determined) upon occurrence of a credit event, periodic payments are made, or the swap terminates, at which time realized gain (loss) is recorded. The net premium to be received or paid by the fund under swap contracts is accrued daily and recorded as realized gain (loss) over the life of the contract.
