h)Use of Estimates – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
i)Other – Investment and shareholder transactions are recorded on trade date. The Funds determine the gain or loss realized from the investment transactions by comparing the identified cost of the security lot sold with the net sales proceeds. Dividend income is recognized on the ex-dividend date or as soon as information is available to the Funds and interest income is recognized on an accrual basis. Withholding taxes on foreign dividends have been provided for in accordance with the Funds’ understanding of the applicable country’s tax rules and rates.
2. INVESTMENT VALUATIONS
Processes and Structure
The Funds’ Board of Trustees has adopted guidelines for valuing investments and other derivative instruments including in circumstances in which market quotes are not readily available, and has delegated authority to the Adviser to apply those guidelines in determining fair value prices, subject to review by the Board of Trustees.
Hierarchy of Fair Value Inputs
The Funds utilize various methods to measure the fair value of most of their investments on a recurring basis. GAAP establishes a hierarchy that prioritizes inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The three levels of inputs are as follows:
•Level 1 – Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Funds have the ability to access.
•Level 2 – Observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability either directly or indirectly. These inputs may include quoted prices for the identical instrument on an inactive market, prices for similar instruments, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, yield curves, default rates, and similar data.
•Level 3 – Unobservable inputs for the asset or liability to the extent that relevant observable inputs are not available, representing the Funds’ own assumptions about the assumptions that a market participant would use in valuing the asset or liability, and that would be based on the best information available.
The availability of observable inputs can vary from security to security and is affected by a wide variety of factors, including, for example, the type of security, whether the security is new and not yet established in the marketplace, the liquidity of markets, and other characteristics particular to the security. To the extent that valuation is based on models or inputs that are less observable or unobservable in the market, the determination of fair value requires more judgment. Accordingly, the degree of judgment exercised in determining fair value is greatest for instruments categorized in Level 3.
The inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, for disclosure purposes, the level in the fair value hierarchy within which the fair value measurement falls in its entirety is determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety.