Federated Adviser Series N-CSRS Certified semi-annual shareholder report (management investment company)

United States

Securities and Exchange Commission

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form N-CSR

Certified Shareholder Report of Registered Management Investment Companies

811-23259

(Investment Company Act File Number)

Federated Hermes Adviser Series ______________________________________________________________

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

Federated Hermes Funds

4000 Ericsson Drive

Warrendale, PA 15086-7561

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

(412) 288-1900

(Registrant's Telephone Number)

Peter J. Germain, Esquire

1001 Liberty Avenue

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222-3779

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

(Notices should be sent to the Agent for Service)

Date of Fiscal Year End: 08/31/24

Date of Reporting Period: Six months ended 02/29/24

Item 1. Reports to Stockholders

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

February 29, 2024

 

 

Share Class | Ticker Institutional | FHCOX

Federated Hermes Conservative Microshort Fund

Fund Established 2021

A Portfolio of Federated Hermes Adviser Series

Dear Valued Shareholder,

We are pleased to present the Semi-Annual Shareholder Report for your fund covering the period from September 1, 2023 through February 29, 2024. This report includes a complete listing of your fund’s holdings, performance information and financial statements along with other important fund information.

As a global leader in active, responsible investment management, Federated Hermes is guided by our conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term. The company provides capabilities across a wide range of asset classes to investors around the world.

In addition, FederatedHermes.com/us offers quick and easy access to valuable resources that include timely fund updates, economic and market insights from our investment strategists and financial planning tools. You can also access many of those insights by following us on Twitter (@FederatedHermes) and LinkedIn.

Thank you for investing with us. We hope you find this information useful and look forward to keeping you informed.

Sincerely, 

J. Christopher Donahue, President

Not FDIC Insured ▪ May Lose Value ▪ No Bank Guarantee

CONTENTS 

Portfolio of Investments Summary Table	1
Portfolio of Investments	2
Financial Highlights	7
Statement of Assets and Liabilities	8
Statement of Operations	9
Statement of Changes in Net Assets	10
Notes to Financial Statements	11
Shareholder Expense Example	19
Evaluation and Approval of Advisory Contract	21
Liquidity Risk Management Program– Annual Evaluation of Adequacy and Effectiveness	31
Voting Proxies on Fund Portfolio Securities	33
Quarterly Portfolio Schedule	33

Portfolio of Investments Summary Table (unaudited)

At February 29, 2024, the Fund’s portfolio composition1 was as follows: 

Security Type	Percentage of Total Net Assets
Asset-Backed Securities	34.7%
Commercial Paper	12.1%
Collateralized Mortgage Obligation	3.8%
Certificates of Deposit	3.8%
Corporate Bonds	3.1%
Cash Equivalents2	0.1%
Repurchase Agreements	21.7%
Other Repurchase Agreements	19.6%
Other Assets and Liabilities—Net3	1.1%
TOTAL	100%

 

1	See the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information for a description of the types of securities in which the Fund invests.
2	Cash Equivalents include any investments in money market mutual funds.
3	Assets, other than investments in securities, less liabilities. See Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

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1

Portfolio of Investments

February 29, 2024 (unaudited) 

Principal Amount or Shares			Value
		ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES—   34.7%
		Auto Receivables—   15.2%
$ 2,915,121		AmeriCredit Automobile Receivables Trust 2023-2, Class A2A, 6.190%, 4/19/2027	$ 2,922,507
1,127,383	1	CarMax Auto Owner Trust 2023-2, Class A2B, 6.174% (30-DAY AVERAGE SOFR +0.850%), 6/15/2026	1,129,122
2,000,000		Citizens Auto Receivables Trust 2023-2, Class A2A, 6.090%, 10/15/2026	2,005,223
1,245,129		GECU Auto Receivables Trust 2023-1A, Class A2, 5.950%, 3/15/2027	1,246,194
827,044		Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Trust 2023-A, Class A2A, 5.320%, 6/15/2026	825,761
175,509	1	Hyundai Auto Lease Securitization Trust 2022-C, Class A2B, 6.024% (30-DAY AVERAGE SOFR +0.700%), 1/15/2025	175,523
470,704	1	Hyundai Auto Receivables Trust 2023-A, Class A2B, 6.074% (30-DAY AVERAGE SOFR +0.750%), 12/15/2025	471,169
87,450		Santander Bank Auto Credit-Linked Notes 2021-1A, Class B, 1.833%, 12/15/2031	85,504
446,448		Santander Bank Auto Credit-Linked Notes 2022-B, Class C, 5.916%, 8/16/2032	443,188
850,000		Santander Drive Auto Receivables Trust 2022-6, Class B, 4.720%, 6/15/2027	843,002
1,498,214		Santander Drive Auto Receivables Trust 2023-4, Class A2, 6.330%, 2/16/2027	1,501,848
434,622	1	World Omni Auto Receivables Trust 2023-B, Class A2B, 6.034% (30-DAY AVERAGE SOFR +0.710%), 11/16/2026	434,668
		TOTAL	12,083,709
		Credit Card—   3.2%
2,000,000		Evergreen Credit Card Trust 2022-CRT1, Class C, 6.190%, 7/15/2026	1,988,751
550,000		Evergreen Credit Card Trust 2022-CRT2 C, Class C, 7.440%, 11/16/2026	549,722
		TOTAL	2,538,473
		Equipment Lease—   16.1%
3,000,000		Daimler Trucks Retail Trust 2023-1, Class A2, 6.030%, 9/15/2025	3,003,074
1,350,000		Dell Equipment Finance Trust 2023-2, Class A2, 5.840%, 1/22/2029	1,351,607
1,973,120		DLLAA LLC 2023-1A, Class A2, 5.930%, 7/20/2026	1,977,706
459,138		DLLAD LLC 2023-1A, Class A2, 5.190%, 4/20/2026	458,016
1,322,015		DLLMT LLC 2023-1A, Class A2, 5.780%, 11/20/2025	1,321,431
525,380		Kubota Credit Owner Trust 2023-1A, Class A2, 5.400%, 2/17/2026	524,486
1,250,000		Kubota Credit Owner Trust 2023-2A, Class A2, 5.610%, 7/15/2026	1,250,831
2,977,057		MMAF Equipment Finance LLC 2023-A, Class A2, 5.790%, 11/13/2026	2,978,531
		TOTAL	12,865,682

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Principal Amount or Shares			Value
		ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES—   continued
		Other—   0.2%
$   148,126		Sofi Consumer Loan Program Trust 2022-1S, Class A, 6.210%, 4/15/2031	$   148,518
		TOTAL ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES (IDENTIFIED COST $27,617,643)	27,636,382
	2	COMMERCIAL PAPER—   12.1%
		Banking—   7.4%
3,000,000		Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto, 6.045%, 6/28/2024	2,946,960
3,000,000		Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, 5.799%, 6/7/2024	2,956,182
		TOTAL	5,903,142
		Health Care—   4.7%
3,700,000		McKesson Corp., 5.421%, 3/1/2024	3,699,443
		TOTAL COMMERCIAL PAPER (IDENTIFIED COST $9,598,732)	9,602,585
		COLLATERALIZED MORTGAGE OBLIGATION—   3.8%
		Finance - Commercial—   3.8%
3,000,000	1	ORL Trust 2023-GLKS, Class A, 7.668% (CME Term SOFR 1 Month +2.350%), 10/15/2028 (IDENTIFIED COST $2,987,445)	3,011,258
		CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT—   3.8%
		Banking—   3.8%
3,000,000		Bank of America N.A., 5.800%, 6/7/2024 (IDENTIFIED COST $3,000,000)	3,001,471
		CORPORATE BONDS—   3.1%
		Aerospace/Auto—   3.1%
2,500,000	1	Hyundai Capital America, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 6.664% (SOFR +1.320%), 11/3/2025 (IDENTIFIED COST $2,500,000)	2,511,991
		OTHER REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS—   19.6%
3,903,000		BNP Paribas S.A., 5.39%, dated 2/29/2024, interest in a $825,000,000 joint collateralized loan agreement will repurchase securities provided as collateral for $825,123,521 on 3/1/2024, in which asset-backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations, corporate bonds, medium-term notes and sovereign debt securities with a market value of $841,626,061 have been received as collateral and held with BNY Mellon as tri-party agent.	3,903,000
3,903,000		ING Financial Markets LLC, 5.39%, dated 2/29/2024, interest in a $30,000,000 joint collateralized loan agreement will repurchase securities provided as collateral for $30,004,492 on 3/1/2024, in which corporate bonds with a market value of $30,605,185 have been received as collateral and held with BNY Mellon as tri-party agent.	3,903,000
3,903,000		MUFG Securities Americas, Inc., 5.46%, dated 2/29/2024, interest in a $400,000,000 joint collateralized loan agreement will repurchase securities provided as collateral for $400,060,667 on 3/1/2024, in which American depositary receipts, common stocks, exchange-traded funds and mutual funds with a market value of $408,061,920 have been received as collateral and held with BNY Mellon as tri-party agent.	3,903,000

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Principal Amount or Shares		Value
	OTHER REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS—   continued
$ 3,903,000	Standard Chartered Bank 5.38%, dated 2/29/2024, interest in a $150,000,000 joint collateralized loan agreement will repurchase securities provided as collateral for $150,022,417 on 3/1/2024, in which U.S. Government Agency securities with a market value of $153,915,090 have been received as collateral and held with BNY Mellon as tri-party agent.	$ 3,903,000
	TOTAL OTHER REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS (IDENTIFIED COST $15,612,000)	15,612,000
	REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS—   21.7%
10,000,000	Interest in $1,250,000,000 joint repurchase agreement 5.32%, dated 2/29/2024 under which Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA), Inc. will repurchase securities provided as collateral for $1,250,184,722 on 3/1/2024. The securities provided as collateral at the end of the period held with BNY Mellon as tri-party agent, were U.S. Government Agency securities with various maturities to 1/20/2054 and the market value of those underlying securities was $1,285,823,526.	10,000,000
7,287,000	Interest in $3,000,000,000 joint repurchase agreement 5.31%, dated 2/29/2024 under which Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. will repurchase securities provided as collateral for $3,000,442,500 on 3/1/2024. The securities provided as collateral at the end of the period held with BNY Mellon as tri-party agent, were U.S. Government Agency and U.S. Treasury securities with various maturities to 1/1/2054 and the market value of those underlying securities was $3,069,175,777.	7,287,000
	TOTAL REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS (IDENTIFIED COST $17,287,000)	17,287,000
	INVESTMENT COMPANY—   0.1%
114,490	Federated Hermes Institutional Money Market Management, Institutional Shares, 5.40%3 (IDENTIFIED COST $114,433)	114,490
	TOTAL INVESTMENT IN SECURITIES—98.9% (IDENTIFIED COST $78,717,253)4	78,777,177
	OTHER ASSETS AND LIABILITIES - NET—1.1%5	847,808
	TOTAL NET ASSETS—100%	$79,624,985

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Transactions with affiliated investment companies, which are funds managed by Federated Investment Management Company (the “Adviser”) or an affiliate of the Adviser, during the period ended February 29, 2024, were as follows: 

	Federated Hermes Institutional Money Market Management, Institutional Shares
Value as of 8/31/2023	$22,607,706
Purchases at Cost	$—
Proceeds from Sales	$(22,503,150)
Change in Unrealized Appreciation/Depreciation	$817
Net Realized Gain/(Loss)	$9,117
Value as of 2/29/2024	$114,490
Shares Held as of 2/29/2024	114,490
Dividend Income	$462,846

 

1	Floating/variable note with current rate and current maturity or next reset date shown.
2	Discount rate at time of purchase for discount issues, or the coupon for interest-bearing issues.
3	7-day net yield.
4	Also represents cost of investments for federal tax purposes.
5	Assets, other than investments in securities, less liabilities. See Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

Note: The categories of investments are shown as a percentage of total net assets at February 29, 2024.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the Fund’s investments. These inputs are summarized in the three broad levels listed below:

Level 1—quoted prices in active markets for identical securities.

Level 2—other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.). Also includes securities valued at amortized cost.

Level 3—significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments).

The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities.

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The following is a summary of the inputs used, as of February 29, 2024, in valuing the Fund’s assets carried at fair value: 

Valuation Inputs
	Level 1— Quoted Prices	Level 2— Other Significant Observable Inputs	Level 3— Significant Unobservable Inputs	Total
Debt Securities:
Asset-Backed Securities	$—	$27,636,382	$—	$27,636,382
Commercial Paper	—	9,602,585	—	9,602,585
Collateralized Mortgage Obligation	—	3,011,258	—	3,011,258
Certificates of Deposit	—	3,001,471	—	3,001,471
Corporate Bond	—	2,511,991	—	2,511,991
Other Repurchase Agreements	—	15,612,000	—	15,612,000
Repurchase Agreements	—	17,287,000	—	17,287,000
Investment Company	114,490	—	—	114,490
TOTAL SECURITIES	$114,490	$78,662,687	$—	$78,777,177

 

The following acronym(s) are used throughout this portfolio:
SOFR	—Secured Overnight Financing Rate

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Financial Highlights–Institutional Shares

(For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period) 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 2/29/2024	Year Ended August 31,		Period Ended 8/31/20211
		2023	2022
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$9.98	$9.94	$10.02	$10.00
Income From Investment Operations:
Net investment income (loss)2	0.28	0.43	0.07	0.01
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	0.003	0.03	(0.08)	0.03
TOTAL FROM INVESTMENT OPERATIONS	0.28	0.46	(0.01)	0.04
Less Distributions:
Distributions from net investment income	(0.28)	(0.42)	(0.07)	(0.02)
Net Asset Value, End of Period	$9.98	$9.98	$9.94	$10.02
Total Return4	2.88%	4.72%	(0.10)%	0.36%
Ratios to Average Net Assets:
Net expenses5	0.14%6	0.07%	0.05%	0.04%6
Net investment income	5.72%6	4.30%	0.73%	0.23%6
Expense waiver/reimbursement7	0.48%6	0.50%	0.55%	1.15%6
Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (000 omitted)	$79,625	$90,541	$61,280	$71,621
Portfolio turnover8	29%	34%	37%	26%

 

1	Reflects operations for the period from February 3, 2021 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2021.
2	Per share numbers have been calculated using the average shares method.
3	Represents less than $0.01.
4	Based on net asset value. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
5	Amount does not reflect net expenses incurred by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
6	Computed on an annualized basis.
7	This expense decrease is reflected in both the net expense and the net investment income ratios shown above. Amount does not reflect expense waiver/reimbursement recorded by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
8	Securities that mature are considered sales for purposes of this calculation.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Statement of Assets and LiabilitiesFebruary 29, 2024 (unaudited)

 

Assets:
Investment in repurchase agreements	$32,899,000
Investment in securities	45,878,177
Investment in securities, at value including $114,490 of investments in affiliated holdings* (identified cost $78,717,253, including $114,433 of identified cost in affiliated holdings)	78,777,177
Cash	3,287
Income receivable	222,818
Income receivable from affiliated holdings	491
Receivable for shares sold	821,281
Total Assets	79,825,054
Liabilities:
Payable for shares redeemed	159,321
Income distribution payable	8,589
Payable to adviser (Note 5)	752
Payable for administrative fee (Note 5)	167
Payable for Directors’/Trustees’ fees (Note 5)	257
Payable for auditing fees	14,168
Payable for custodian fees	8,469
Accrued expenses (Note 5)	8,346
Total Liabilities	200,069
Net assets for 7,976,067 shares outstanding	$79,624,985
Net Assets Consist of:
Paid-in capital	$79,546,635
Total distributable earnings (loss)	78,350
Total Net Assets	$79,624,985
Net Asset Value, Offering Price and Redemption Proceeds Per Share:
Net asset value per share ($79,624,985 ÷ 7,976,067 shares outstanding), no par value, unlimited shares authorized	$9.98

 

* See information listed after the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Statement of OperationsSix Months Ended February 29, 2024 (unaudited)

 

Investment Income:
Interest	$1,857,271
Dividends received from affiliated holdings*	462,846
TOTAL INCOME	2,320,117
Expenses:
Investment adviser fee (Note 5)	99,534
Administrative fee (Note 5)	31,186
Custodian fees	8,345
Transfer agent fees	3,978
Directors’/Trustees’ fees (Note 5)	504
Auditing fees	15,340
Legal fees	5,448
Portfolio accounting fees	28,353
Share registration costs	17,135
Printing and postage	11,430
Miscellaneous (Note 5)	10,574
TOTAL EXPENSES	231,827
Waivers and Reimbursement:
Waiver of investment adviser fee (Note 5)	(99,534)
Waiver/reimbursement of other operating expenses (Note 5)	(89,771)
TOTAL WAIVERS AND REIMBURSEMENT	(189,305)
Net expenses	42,522
Net investment income	2,277,595
Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments:
Net realized gain on investments (including net realized gain of $9,117 on sales of investments in affiliated holdings*)	10,608
Net change in unrealized depreciation of investments (including net change in unrealized depreciation of $817 on investments in affiliated holdings*)	85,967
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments	96,575
Change in net assets resulting from operations	$2,374,170

 

* See information listed after the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Statement of Changes in Net Assets 

 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 2/29/2024	Year Ended 8/31/2023
Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets
Operations:
Net investment income	$2,277,595	$4,058,803
Net realized gain (loss)	10,608	(2,563)
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation	85,967	331,568
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS	2,374,170	4,387,808
Distributions to Shareholders	(2,286,527)	(4,035,448)
Share Transactions:
Proceeds from sale of shares	42,680,525	146,136,194
Net asset value of shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	1,905,069	2,313,101
Cost of shares redeemed	(55,589,409)	(119,540,250)
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM SHARE TRANSACTIONS	(11,003,815)	28,909,045
Change in net assets	(10,916,172)	29,261,405
Net Assets:
Beginning of period	90,541,157	61,279,752
End of period	$79,624,985	$90,541,157

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Notes to Financial Statements

February 29, 2024 (unaudited)

1. ORGANIZATION

Federated Hermes Adviser Series (the “Trust”) was established as a Delaware statutory trust on July 12, 2017, and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust consists of 12 portfolios. The financial statements included herein are only those of Federated Hermes Conservative Microshort Fund (the “Fund”), a diversified portfolio. The financial statements of the other portfolios are presented separately. The assets of each portfolio are segregated and a shareholder’s interest is limited to the portfolio in which shares are held. Each portfolio pays its own expenses. The Fund offers one class of shares: Institutional Shares. Class A Shares are effective with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but currently are not yet offered for sale. The investment objective of the Fund is to provide current income consistent with capital preservation while maintaining liquidity.

2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The following is a summary of significant accounting policies consistently followed by the Fund in the preparation of its financial statements. These policies are in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Investment Valuation

In calculating its net asset value (NAV), the Fund generally values investments as follows:

■

Shares of other mutual funds or non-exchange-traded investment companies are valued based upon their reported NAVs, or NAV per share practical expedient, as applicable.

■

Fixed-income securities are fair valued using price evaluations provided by a pricing service approved by Federated Investment Management Company (the “Adviser”).

■

For securities that are fair valued in accordance with procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Adviser, certain factors may be considered, such as: the last traded or purchase price of the security, information obtained by contacting the issuer or dealers, analysis of the issuer’s financial statements or other available documents, fundamental analytical data, the nature and duration of restrictions on disposition, the movement of the market in which the security is normally traded, public trading in similar securities or derivative contracts of the issuer or comparable issuers, movement of a relevant index, or other factors including but not limited to industry changes and relevant government actions.

If any price, quotation, price evaluation or other pricing source is not readily available when the NAV is calculated, if the Fund cannot obtain price evaluations from a pricing service or from more than one dealer for an investment within a reasonable period of time as set forth in the Adviser’s valuation policies and procedures for the Fund, or if information furnished by a pricing service, in the opinion of the Adviser’s valuation committee (“Valuation Committee”), is deemed not representative of the fair value of such security, the Fund uses the fair value of the investment determined in accordance

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with the procedures described below. There can be no assurance that the Fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it sold the investment at approximately the time at which the Fund determines its NAV per share, and the actual value obtained could be materially different.

Fair Valuation and Significant Events Procedures

Pursuant to Rule 2a-5 under the Act, the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Trustees”) has designated the Adviser as the Fund’s valuation designee to perform any fair value determinations for securities and other assets held by the Fund. The Adviser is subject to the Trustees’ oversight and certain reporting and other requirements intended to provide the Trustees the information needed to oversee the Adviser’s fair value determinations.

The Adviser, acting through its Valuation Committee, is responsible for determining the fair value of investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Valuation Committee is comprised of officers of the Adviser and certain of the Adviser’s affiliated companies and determines fair value and oversees the calculation of the NAV. The Valuation Committee is also authorized to use pricing services to provide fair value evaluations of the current value of certain investments for purposes of calculating the NAV. The Valuation Committee employs various methods for reviewing third-party pricing-service evaluations including periodic reviews of third-party pricing services’ policies, procedures and valuation methods (including key inputs, methods, models and assumptions), transactional back-testing, comparisons of evaluations of different pricing services, and review of price challenges by the Adviser based on recent market activity. In the event that market quotations and price evaluations are not available for an investment, the Valuation Committee determines the fair value of the investment in accordance with procedures adopted by the Adviser. The Trustees periodically review the fair valuations made by the Valuation Committee. The Trustees have also approved the Adviser’s fair valuation and significant events procedures as part of the Fund’s compliance program and will review any changes made to the procedures.

Factors considered by pricing services in evaluating an investment include the yields or prices of investments of comparable quality, coupon, maturity, call rights and other potential prepayments, terms and type, reported transactions, indications as to values from dealers and general market conditions. Some pricing services provide a single price evaluation reflecting the bid-side of the market for an investment (a “bid” evaluation). Other pricing services offer both bid evaluations and price evaluations indicative of a price between the prices bid and ask for the investment (a “mid” evaluation). The Fund normally uses bid evaluations for any U.S. Treasury and Agency securities, mortgage-backed securities and municipal securities. The Fund normally uses mid evaluations for any other types of fixed-income securities and any OTC derivative contracts. In the event that market quotations and price evaluations are not available for an investment, the fair value of the investment is determined in accordance with procedures adopted by the Adviser.

The Adviser has also adopted procedures requiring an investment to be priced at its fair value whenever the Valuation Committee determines that a significant event affecting the value of the investment has occurred between the time as of which the price of the investment would otherwise be determined and the time as of which the NAV is computed. An event is considered significant if there is both an affirmative expectation that the investment’s value will change in response to the event and a

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reasonable basis for quantifying the resulting change in value. Examples of significant events that may occur after the close of the principal market on which a security is traded, or after the time of a price evaluation provided by a pricing service or a dealer, include:

■

With respect to securities traded principally in foreign markets, significant trends in U.S. equity markets or in the trading of foreign securities index futures contracts;

■

Political or other developments affecting the economy or markets in which an issuer conducts its operations or its securities are traded;

■

Announcements concerning matters such as acquisitions, recapitalizations, litigation developments, or a natural disaster affecting the issuer’s operations or regulatory changes or market developments affecting the issuer’s industry.

The Adviser has adopted procedures whereby the Valuation Committee uses a pricing service to provide factors to update the fair value of equity securities traded principally in foreign markets from the time of the close of their respective foreign stock exchanges to the pricing time of the Fund. For other significant events, the Fund may seek to obtain more current quotations or price evaluations from alternative pricing sources. If a reliable alternative pricing source is not available, the Valuation Committee will determine the fair value of the investment in accordance with the fair valuation procedures approved by the Adviser. The Trustees periodically review fair valuations made in response to significant events.

Repurchase Agreements

The Fund may invest in repurchase agreements for short-term liquidity purposes. It is the policy of the Fund to require the other party to a repurchase agreement to transfer to the Fund’s custodian or sub-custodian eligible securities or cash with a market value (after transaction costs) at least equal to the repurchase price to be paid under the repurchase agreement. The eligible securities are transferred to accounts with the custodian or sub-custodian in which the Fund holds a “securities entitlement” and exercises “control” as those terms are defined in the Uniform Commercial Code. The Fund has established procedures for monitoring the market value of the transferred securities and requiring the transfer of additional eligible securities if necessary to equal at least the repurchase price. These procedures also allow the other party to require securities to be transferred from the account to the extent that their market value exceeds the repurchase price or in exchange for other eligible securities of equivalent market value.

The insolvency of the other party or other failure to repurchase the securities may delay the disposition of the underlying securities or cause the Fund to receive less than the full repurchase price. Under the terms of the repurchase agreement, any amounts received by the Fund in excess of the repurchase price and related transaction costs must be remitted to the other party.

The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements in which eligible securities are transferred into joint trading accounts maintained by the custodian or sub-custodian for investment companies and other clients advised by the Fund’s Adviser and its affiliates. The Fund will participate on a pro rata basis with the other investment companies and clients in its share of the securities transferred under such repurchase agreements and in its share of proceeds from any repurchase or other disposition of such securities.

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Repurchase agreements are subject to Master Netting Agreements (MNA) which are agreements between the Fund and its counterparties that provide for the net settlement of all transactions and collateral with the Fund, through a single payment, in the event of default or termination. Amounts presented on the Portfolio of Investments and Statement of Assets and Liabilities are not net settlement amounts but gross. As indicated above, the cash or securities to be repurchased, as shown on the Portfolio of Investments, exceeds the repurchase price to be paid under the agreement reducing the net settlement amount to zero.

Investment Income, Gains and Losses, Expenses and Distributions

Investment transactions are accounted for on a trade-date basis. Realized gains and losses from investment transactions are recorded on an identified-cost basis. Interest income and expenses are accrued daily. Dividend income and distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Foreign dividends are recorded on the ex-dividend date or when the Fund is informed of the ex-dividend date. Distributions of net investment income, if any, are declared daily and paid monthly. Non-cash dividends included in dividend income, if any, are recorded at fair value. Amortization/accretion of premium and discount is included in investment income. Gains and losses realized on principal payment of mortgage-backed securities (paydown gains and losses) are classified as part of investment income. The detail of the total fund expense waivers and reimbursements of $189,305 is disclosed in Note 5.

Federal Taxes

It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the Subchapter M provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”) and to distribute to shareholders each year substantially all of its income. Accordingly, no provision for federal income tax is necessary. As of and during the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Fund did not have a liability for any uncertain tax positions. The Fund recognizes interest and penalties, if any, related to tax liabilities as income tax expense in the Statement of Operations. As of February 29, 2024, tax years 2021 through 2023 remain subject to examination by the Fund’s major tax jurisdictions, which include the United States of America and the State of Delaware.

When-Issued and Delayed-Delivery Transactions

The Fund may engage in when-issued or delayed-delivery transactions. The Fund records when-issued securities on the trade date and maintains security positions such that sufficient liquid assets will be available to make payment for the securities purchased. Securities purchased on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis are marked to market daily and begin earning interest on the settlement date. Losses may occur on these transactions due to changes in market conditions or the failure of counterparties to perform under the contract.

Restricted Securities

The Fund may purchase securities which are considered restricted. Restricted securities are securities that either: (a) cannot be offered for public sale without first being registered, or being able to take advantage of an exemption from registration, under the Securities Act of 1933; or (b) are subject to contractual restrictions on public sales. In some cases, when a security cannot be offered for public sale without first being registered, the issuer of the restricted security has agreed to register such securities for resale, at the issuer’s expense, either upon demand by the Fund or in connection with

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another registered offering of the securities. Many such restricted securities may be resold in the secondary market in transactions exempt from registration. Restricted securities may be determined to be liquid under criteria established by the Trustees. The Fund will not incur any registration costs upon such resales. The Fund’s restricted securities, like other securities, are priced in accordance with procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Adviser.

Other

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts of assets, liabilities, expenses and revenues reported in the financial statements. Actual results could differ materially from those estimated. The Fund applies investment company accounting and reporting guidance.

3. SHARES OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST

The following table summarizes share activity: 

	Six Months Ended 2/29/2024	Year Ended 8/31/2023
Shares sold	4,275,684	14,696,791
Shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	190,823	232,292
Shares redeemed	(5,566,837)	(12,015,270)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM FUND SHARE TRANSACTIONS	(1,100,330)	2,913,813

4. FEDERAL TAX INFORMATION

At February 29, 2024, the cost of investments for federal tax purposes was $78,717,253. The net unrealized appreciation of investments for federal tax purposes was $59,924. This consists of unrealized appreciation from investments for those securities having an excess of value over cost of $86,592 and unrealized depreciation from investments for those securities having an excess of cost over value of $26,668.

As of August 31, 2023, the Fund had a capital loss carryforward of $7,652 which will reduce the Fund’s taxable income arising from future net realized gains on investments, if any, to the extent permitted by the Code, thereby reducing the amount of distributions to shareholders which would otherwise be necessary to relieve the Fund of any liability for federal income tax. Pursuant to the Code, these net capital losses retain their character as either short-term or long-term and do not expire.

The following schedule summarizes the Fund’s capital loss carryforwards: 

Short-Term	Long-Term	Total
$5,089	$2,563	$7,652

5. INVESTMENT ADVISER FEE AND OTHER TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

Investment Adviser Fee

The advisory agreement between the Fund and the Adviser provides for an annual fee equal to 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. For the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Adviser voluntarily waived and/or reimbursed all of its fee.

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In addition, subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, the Adviser may voluntarily choose to waive and/or reimburse certain operating expenses of the Fund for competitive reasons such as to maintain the Fund’s expense ratio, or as and when appropriate, to maintain positive or zero net yields. For the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Adviser voluntarily reimbursed $89,771 of other operating expenses.

Administrative Fee

Federated Administrative Services (FAS), under the Administrative Services Agreement, provides the Fund with administrative personnel and services. For purposes of determining the appropriate rate breakpoint, “Investment Complex” is defined as all of the Federated Hermes Funds subject to a fee under the Administrative Services Agreement. The fee paid to FAS is based on the average daily net assets of the Investment Complex as specified below: 

Administrative Fee	Average Daily Net Assets of the Investment Complex
0.100%	on assets up to $50 billion
0.075%	on assets over $50 billion

Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, FAS may voluntarily choose to waive any portion of its fee. For the six months ended February 29, 2024, the annualized fee paid to FAS was 0.078% of average daily net assets of the Fund.

In addition, FAS may charge certain out-of-pocket expenses to the Fund.

Expense Limitation

The Adviser and certain of its affiliates (which may include FAS) on their own initiative have agreed to waive certain amounts of their respective fees and/or reimburse expenses. Total annual fund operating expenses (as shown in the financial highlights, excluding interest expense, extraordinary expenses and proxy-related expenses, if any) paid by the Fund’s Institutional Shares (after the voluntary waivers and/or reimbursements) will not exceed 0.25% (the “Fee Limit”), up to but not including the later of (the “Termination Date”): (a) November 1, 2024; or (b) the date of the Fund’s next effective Prospectus. While the Adviser and its applicable affiliates currently do not anticipate terminating or increasing these arrangements prior to the Termination Date, these arrangements may only be terminated or the Fee Limit increased prior to the Termination Date with the agreement of the Trustees.

Directors’/Trustees’ and Miscellaneous Fees

Certain Officers and Trustees of the Fund are Officers and Directors or Trustees of certain of the above companies. To efficiently facilitate payment, Independent Directors’/Trustees’ fees and certain expenses related to conducting meetings of the Directors/Trustees and other miscellaneous expenses are paid by an affiliate of the Adviser which in due course are reimbursed by the Fund. These expenses related to conducting meetings of the Directors/Trustees and other miscellaneous expenses may be included in Accrued and Miscellaneous Expenses on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Statement of Operations, respectively.

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6. INVESTMENT TRANSACTIONS

Purchases and sales of investments, excluding long-term U.S. government securities and short-term obligations, for the six months ended February 29, 2024, were as follows: 

Purchases	$14,734,737
Sales	$31,937,175

7. LINE OF CREDIT

The Fund participates with certain other Federated Hermes Funds, on a several basis, in an up to $500,000,000 unsecured, 364-day, committed, revolving line of credit (LOC) agreement dated June 21, 2023. The LOC was made available to temporarily finance the repurchase or redemption of shares of the Fund, failed trades, payment of dividends, settlement of trades and for other short-term, temporary or emergency general business purposes. The Fund cannot borrow under the LOC if an inter-fund loan is outstanding. The Fund’s ability to borrow under the LOC also is subject to the limitations of the Act and various conditions precedent that must be satisfied before the Fund can borrow. Loans under the LOC are charged interest at a fluctuating rate per annum equal to (a) the highest, on any day, of (i) the federal funds effective rate, (ii) the published secured overnight financing rate plus an assigned percentage, and (iii) 0.0%, plus (b) a margin. Any fund eligible to borrow under the LOC pays its pro rata share of a commitment fee based on the amount of the lenders’ commitment that has not been utilized, quarterly in arrears and at maturity. As of February 29, 2024, the Fund had no outstanding loans. During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Fund did not utilize the LOC.

8. INTERFUND LENDING

Pursuant to an Exemptive Order issued by the SEC, the Fund, along with other funds advised by subsidiaries of Federated Hermes, Inc., may participate in an interfund lending program. This program provides an alternative credit facility allowing the Fund to borrow from other participating affiliated funds. As of February 29, 2024, there were no outstanding loans. During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the program was not utilized.

9. INDEMNIFICATIONS

Under the Fund’s organizational documents, its Officers and Directors/Trustees are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties to the Fund (other than liabilities arising out of their willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of their duties to the Fund). In addition, in the normal course of business, the Fund provides certain indemnifications under arrangements with third parties. Typically, obligations to indemnify a third party arise in the context of an arrangement entered into by the Fund under which the Fund agrees to indemnify such third party for certain liabilities arising out of actions taken pursuant to the arrangement, provided the third party’s actions are not deemed to have breached an agreed-upon standard of care (such as willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of their duties under the contract). The Fund’s maximum exposure under

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these arrangements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet arisen. The Fund does not anticipate any material claims or losses pursuant to these arrangements at this time, and accordingly expects the risk of loss to be remote.

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Shareholder Expense Example (unaudited)

As a shareholder of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees and to the extent applicable, distribution (12b-1) fees and/or other service fees and other Fund expenses. This Example is intended to help you to understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds. It is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from September 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024.

ACTUAL EXPENSES

The first section of the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this section, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you incurred over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first section under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses attributable to your investment during this period.

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

The second section of the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return. Thus, you should not use the hypothetical account values and expenses to estimate the actual ending account balance or your expenses for the period. Rather, these figures are required to be provided to enable you to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund with other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

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Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. Therefore, the second section of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. 

	Beginning Account Value 9/1/2023	Ending Account Value 2/29/2024	Expenses Paid During Period1
Actual	$1,000	$1,028.80	$0.712
Hypothetical (assuming a 5% return before expenses)	$1,000	$1,024.17	$0.712

 

1	Expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio of 0.14%, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 182/366 (to reflect the one-half-year period).
2	Actual and Hypothetical expenses paid during the period utilizing the Fund’s current Fee Limit of 0.25% (as reflected in the Notes to Financial Statements, Note 5 under Expense Limitation), multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 182/366 (to reflect the one-half-year period) would be $1.26 and $1.29, respectively.

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Evaluation and Approval of Advisory Contract–May 2023

Federated Hermes Conservative Microshort Fund (the “Fund”)

At its meetings in May 2023 (the “May Meetings”), the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”), including those Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Fund, as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Independent Trustees”), reviewed and unanimously approved the continuation of the investment advisory contract between the Fund and Federated Investment Management Company (the “Adviser”) (the “Contract”) for an additional one-year term. The Board’s determination to approve the continuation of the Contract reflects the exercise of its business judgment after considering all of the information and factors believed to be relevant and appropriate on whether to approve the continuation of the existing arrangement. The information, factors and conclusions that formed the basis for the Board’s approval are summarized below.

Information Received and Review Process

At the request of the Independent Trustees, the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer (the “CCO”) furnished to the Board in advance of its May Meetings an independent written evaluation of the Fund’s management fee (the “CCO Fee Evaluation Report”). The Board considered the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, along with other information, in evaluating the reasonableness of the Fund’s management fee and in determining to approve the continuation of the Contract. The CCO, in preparing the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, has the authority to retain consultants, experts or staff as reasonably necessary to assist in the performance of his duties, reports directly to the Board, and can be terminated only with the approval of a majority of the Independent Trustees. At the request of the Independent Trustees, the CCO Fee Evaluation Report followed the same general approach and covered the same topics as that of the report that had previously been delivered by the CCO in his capacity as “Senior Officer” prior to the elimination of the Senior Officer position in December 2017.

In addition to the extensive materials that comprise and accompany the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, the Board considered information specifically prepared in connection with the approval of the continuation of the Contract that was presented at the May Meetings. In this regard, in the months preceding the May Meetings, the Board requested and reviewed written responses and supporting materials prepared by the Adviser and its affiliates (collectively, “Federated Hermes”) in response to requests posed to Federated Hermes by independent legal counsel on behalf of the Independent Trustees encompassing a wide variety of topics, including those summarized below. The Board also considered such additional matters as the Independent Trustees deemed

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reasonably necessary to evaluate the Contract, which included detailed information about the Fund and Federated Hermes furnished to the Board at its meetings throughout the year and in between regularly scheduled meetings on particular matters as the need arose.

The Board’s consideration of the Contract included review of materials and information covering the following matters, among others: the nature, quality and extent of the advisory and other services provided to the Fund by Federated Hermes; Federated Hermes’ business and operations; the Adviser’s investment philosophy, personnel and processes; the Fund’s investment objectives and strategies; the Fund’s short-term and long-term performance (in absolute terms, both on a gross basis and net of expenses, and relative to the Fund’s particular investment program and a group of its peer funds and/or its benchmark, as appropriate); the Fund’s fees and expenses, including the advisory fee and the overall expense structure of the Fund (both in absolute terms and relative to a group of its peer funds), with due regard for contractual or voluntary expense limitations (if any); the financial condition of Federated Hermes; the Adviser’s profitability with respect to managing the Fund; distribution and sales activity for the Fund; and the use and allocation of brokerage commissions derived from trading the Fund’s portfolio securities (if any).

The Board also considered judicial decisions concerning allegedly excessive investment advisory fees charged to other registered funds in evaluating the Contract. Using these judicial decisions as a guide, the Board observed that the following factors may be relevant to an adviser’s fiduciary duty with respect to its receipt of compensation from a fund: (1) the nature and quality of the services provided by the adviser to the fund and its shareholders, including the performance of the fund, its benchmark and comparable funds; (2) the adviser’s cost of providing the services and the profitability to the adviser of providing advisory services to the fund; (3) the extent to which the adviser may realize “economies of scale” as the fund grows larger and, if such economies of scale exist, whether they have been appropriately shared with the fund and its shareholders or the family of funds; (4) any “fall-out” benefits that accrue to the adviser because of its relationship with the fund, including research services received from brokers that execute fund trades and any fees paid to affiliates of the adviser for services rendered to the fund; (5) comparative fee and expense structures, including a comparison of management fees paid to the adviser with those paid by similar funds managed by the same adviser or other advisers as well as management fees charged to institutional and other advisory clients of the same adviser for what might be viewed as like services; and (6) the extent of care, conscientiousness and independence with which the fund’s board members perform their duties and their expertise, including whether they are fully informed about all facts the board deems relevant to its consideration of the adviser’s services and fees. The Board noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) disclosure requirements

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regarding the basis for a fund board’s approval of the fund’s investment advisory contract generally align with the factors listed above. The Board was guided by these factors in its evaluation of the Contract to the extent it considered them to be appropriate and relevant, as discussed further below. The Board considered and weighed these factors in light of its substantial accumulated experience in governing the Fund and working with Federated Hermes on matters relating to the oversight of the other funds advised by Federated Hermes (each, a “Federated Hermes Fund” and, collectively, the “Federated Hermes Funds”).

In addition, the Board considered the preferences and expectations of Fund shareholders and the potential disruptions of the Fund’s operations and various risks, uncertainties and other effects that could occur as a result of a decision to terminate or not renew the Contract. In particular, the Board recognized that many shareholders likely have invested in the Fund based on the strength of Federated Hermes’ industry standing and reputation and with the expectation that Federated Hermes will have a continuing role in providing advisory services to the Fund. Thus, the Board observed that there are a range of investment options available to the Fund’s shareholders and such shareholders in the marketplace, having had the opportunity to consider other investment options, have effectively selected Federated Hermes by virtue of investing in the Fund.

In determining to approve the continuation of the Contract, the members of the Board reviewed and evaluated information and factors they believed to be relevant and appropriate through the exercise of their reasonable business judgment. While individual members of the Board may have weighed certain factors differently, the Board’s determination to approve the continuation of the Contract was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Board throughout the year and specifically with respect to the continuation of the Contract. The Board recognized that its evaluation process is evolutionary and that the factors considered and emphasis placed on relevant factors may change in recognition of changing circumstances in the registered fund marketplace. The Independent Trustees were assisted throughout the evaluation process by independent legal counsel. In connection with their deliberations at the May Meetings, the Independent Trustees met separately in executive session with their independent legal counsel and without management present to review the relevant materials and consider their responsibilities under applicable laws. In addition, senior management representatives of Federated Hermes also met with the Independent Trustees and their independent legal counsel to discuss the materials and presentations furnished to the Board at the May Meetings. The Board considered the approval of the Contract for the Fund as part of its consideration of agreements for funds across the family of Federated Hermes Funds, but its approvals were made on a fund-by-fund basis.

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Nature, Extent and Quality of Services

The Board considered the nature, extent and quality of the services provided to the Fund by the Adviser and the resources of Federated Hermes dedicated to the Fund. In this regard, the Board evaluated, among other things, the terms of the Contract and the range of services provided to the Fund by Federated Hermes. The Board considered the Adviser’s personnel, investment philosophy and process, investment research capabilities and resources, trade operations capabilities, experience and performance track record. The Board reviewed the qualifications, backgrounds and responsibilities of the portfolio management team primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and Federated Hermes’ ability and experience in attracting and retaining qualified personnel to service the Fund. The Board considered the trading operations by the Advisers, including the execution of portfolio transactions and the selection of brokers for those transactions. The Board also considered the Adviser’s ability to deliver competitive investment performance for the Fund when compared to the Fund’s Performance Peer Group (as defined below), which was deemed by the Board to be a useful indicator of how the Adviser is executing the Fund’s investment program.

In addition, the Board considered the financial resources and overall reputation of Federated Hermes and its willingness to consider and make investments in personnel, infrastructure, technology, cybersecurity, business continuity planning and operational enhancements that are designed to benefit the Federated Hermes Funds. The Board noted that the significant acquisition of Hermes Fund Managers Limited by Federated Hermes has deepened Federated Hermes’ investment management expertise and capabilities and its access to analytical resources related to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors and issuer engagement on ESG matters. The Board considered Federated Hermes’ oversight of the securities lending program for the Federated Hermes Funds that engage in securities lending and noted the income earned by the Federated Hermes Funds that participate in such program. In addition, the Board considered the quality of Federated Hermes’ communications with the Board and responsiveness to Board inquiries and requests made from time to time with respect to the Federated Hermes Funds. The Board also considered that Federated Hermes is responsible for providing the Federated Hermes Funds’ officers.

The Board received and evaluated information regarding Federated Hermes’ regulatory and compliance environment. The Board considered Federated Hermes’ compliance program and compliance history and reports from the CCO about Federated Hermes’ compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including responses to regulatory developments and any compliance or other issues raised by regulatory agencies. The Board also noted Federated Hermes’ support of the Federated Hermes Funds’ compliance control structure and the compliance-related resources devoted by Federated Hermes in support of the Fund’s obligations pursuant to Rule 38a-1 under the

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Investment Company Act of 1940, including Federated Hermes’ commitment to respond to rulemaking and other regulatory initiatives of the SEC. The Board considered Federated Hermes’ approach to internal audits and risk management with respect to the Federated Hermes Funds and its day-to-day oversight of the Federated Hermes Funds’ compliance with their investment objectives and policies as well as with applicable laws and regulations, noting that regulatory and other developments had over time led, and continue to lead, to an increase in the scope of Federated Hermes’ oversight in this regard, including in connection with the implementation of new rules on derivatives risk management and fair valuation.

The Board also considered the implementation of Federated Hermes’ business continuity plans. In addition, the Board noted Federated Hermes’ commitment to maintaining high quality systems and expending substantial resources to prepare for and respond to ongoing changes due to the market, regulatory and control environments in which the Fund and its service providers operate.

The Board considered Federated Hermes’ efforts to provide shareholders in the Federated Hermes Funds with a comprehensive array of funds with different investment objectives, policies and strategies. The Board considered the expenses that Federated Hermes had incurred, as well as the entrepreneurial and other risks assumed by Federated Hermes, in sponsoring and providing on-going services to new funds to expand these opportunities for shareholders. The Board noted the benefits to shareholders of being part of the family of Federated Hermes Funds, which include the general right to exchange investments between the same class of shares without the incurrence of additional sales charges.

Based on these considerations, the Board concluded that it was satisfied with the nature, extent and quality of the services provided by the Adviser to the Fund.

Fund Investment Performance

The Board considered the investment performance of the Fund. In evaluating the Fund’s investment performance, the Board considered performance results in light of the Fund’s investment objective, strategies and risks. The Board considered detailed investment reports on, and the Adviser’s analysis of, the Fund’s performance over different time periods that were provided to the Board throughout the year and in connection with the May Meetings. These reports included, among other items, information on the Fund’s gross and net returns, the Fund’s investment performance compared to one or more relevant categories or groups of peer funds and the Fund’s benchmark index, performance attribution information and commentary on the effect of market conditions. The Board considered that, in its evaluation of investment performance at meetings throughout the year, it focused particular attention on information indicating less favorable performance of certain

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Federated Hermes Funds for specific time periods and discussed with Federated Hermes the reasons for such performance as well as any specific actions Federated Hermes had taken, or had agreed to take, to seek to enhance Fund investment performance and the results of those actions.

The Board also reviewed comparative information regarding the performance of other registered funds in the category of peer funds selected by Morningstar, Inc. (the “Morningstar”), an independent fund ranking organization (the “Performance Peer Group”). The Board noted the CCO’s view that comparisons to fund peer groups may be helpful, though not conclusive, in evaluating the performance of the Adviser in managing the Fund. The Board considered in the CCO’s view that, in evaluating such comparisons, in some cases there may be differences in the funds’ objectives or investment management techniques, or the costs to implement the funds, even within the same Performance Peer Group.

The Board considered that for the one-year period ended December 31, 2022, the Fund’s performance was above the median of the Performance Peer Group.

Based on these considerations, the Board concluded that it had continued confidence in the Adviser’s overall capabilities to manage the Fund.

Fund Expenses

The Board considered the advisory fee and overall expense structure of the Fund and the comparative fee and expense information that had been provided in connection with the May Meetings. In this regard, the Board was presented with, and considered, information regarding the contractual advisory fee rates, net advisory fee rates, total expense ratios and each element of the Fund’s total expense ratio (i.e., gross and net advisory fees, administrative fees, custody fees, portfolio accounting fees and transfer agency fees) relative to an appropriate group of peer funds compiled by Federated Hermes from the category of peer funds selected by Morningstar (the “Expense Peer Group”). The Board received a description of the methodology used to select the Expense Peer Group from the overall Morningstar category. The Board also reviewed comparative information regarding the fees and expenses of the broader group of funds in the overall Morningstar category.

While mindful that courts have cautioned against giving too much weight to comparative information concerning fees charged to funds by other advisers, the use of comparisons between the Fund and its Expense Peer Group assisted the Board in its evaluation of the Fund’s fees and expenses. The Board focused on comparisons with other registered funds with comparable investment programs more heavily than non-registered fund products or services because such comparisons are believed to be more relevant. The Board considered that other registered funds are the products most like the Fund, in that they are readily available to Fund shareholders as alternative investment vehicles, and they are the type of investment vehicle, in fact, chosen and maintained by the

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Fund’s shareholders. The Board noted that the range of such other registered funds’ fees and expenses, therefore, appears to be a relevant indicator of what investors have found to be reasonable in the marketplace in which the Fund competes.

The Board noted that, for the year ended December 31, 2022, the Fund’s investment advisory fee was waived in its entirety. The Board reviewed the contractual advisory fee rate, net advisory fee rate and other expenses of the Fund with the Adviser and noted the position of the Fund’s fee rates relative to its Expense Peer Group. In this regard, the Board noted that the contractual advisory fee rate was below the median of the Expense Peer Group and the Board was satisfied that the overall expense structure of the Fund remained competitive.

The Board also received and considered information about the nature and extent of services offered and fees charged by Federated Hermes to other types of clients with investment strategies similar to those of the Federated Hermes Funds, including non-registered fund clients (such as institutional separate accounts) and third-party unaffiliated registered funds for which the Adviser or its affiliates serve as sub-adviser. The Board noted the CCO’s conclusion that non-registered fund clients are inherently different products due to the following differences, among others: (i) different types of targeted investors; (ii) different applicable laws and regulations; (iii) different legal structures; (iv) different average account sizes and portfolio management techniques made necessary by different cash flows and different associated costs; (v) the time spent by portfolio managers and their teams (among other personnel across various departments, including legal, compliance and risk management) in reviewing securities pricing and fund liquidity; (vi) different administrative responsibilities; (vii) different degrees of risk associated with management; and (viii) a variety of different costs. The Board also considered information regarding the differences in the nature of the services required for Federated Hermes to manage its proprietary registered fund business versus managing a discrete pool of assets as a sub-adviser to another institution’s registered fund, noting the CCO’s view that Federated Hermes generally performs significant additional services and assumes substantially greater risks in managing the Fund and other Federated Hermes Funds than in its role as sub-adviser to an unaffiliated third-party registered fund. The Board noted that the CCO did not consider the fees for providing advisory services to other types of clients to be determinative in judging the appropriateness of the Federated Hermes Funds’ advisory fees.

Based on these considerations, the Board concluded that the fees and total operating expenses of the Fund, in conjunction with other matters considered, are reasonable in light of the services provided.

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Profitability

The Board received and considered profitability information furnished by Federated Hermes, as requested by the CCO. Such profitability information included revenues reported on a fund-by-fund basis and estimates of the allocation of expenses made on a fund-by-fund basis, using allocation methodologies specified by the CCO and described to the Board. The Board considered the CCO’s view that, while these cost allocation reports apply consistent allocation processes, the inherent difficulties in allocating costs on a fund-by-fund basis continues to cause the CCO to question the precision of the process and to conclude that such reports may be unreliable because a single change in an allocation estimate may dramatically alter the resulting estimate of cost and/or profitability of a Federated Hermes Fund and may produce unintended consequences. In addition, the Board considered the CCO’s view that the allocation methodologies used by Federated Hermes in estimating profitability for purposes of reporting to the Board in connection with the continuation of the Contract are consistent with the methodologies previously reviewed by an independent consultant. The Board noted that the independent consultant had previously conducted a review of the allocation methodologies and reported to the Board that, although there is no single best method to allocate expenses, the methodologies used by Federated Hermes are reasonable. The Board considered the CCO’s view that the estimated profitability to the Adviser from its relationship with the Fund was not unreasonable in relation to the services provided.

The Board also reviewed information compiled by Federated Hermes comparing its profitability information to other publicly held fund management companies, including information regarding profitability trends over time. The Board recognized that profitability comparisons among fund management companies are difficult because of the variation in the type of comparative information that is publicly available, and the profitability of any fund management company is affected by numerous factors. The Board considered the CCO’s conclusion that, based on such profitability information, Federated Hermes’ profit margins did not appear to be excessive. The Board also considered the CCO’s view that Federated Hermes appeared financially sound, with the resources necessary to fulfill its obligations under its contracts with the Federated Hermes Funds.

Economies of Scale

The Board received and considered information about the notion of possible realization of “economies of scale” as a fund grows larger, the difficulties of determining economies of scale at an individual fund level, and the extent to which potential scale benefits are shared with shareholders. In this regard, the Board considered that Federated Hermes has made significant and long-term investments in areas that support all of the Federated Hermes Funds, such as: portfolio management, investment research and trading operations; shareholder services; compliance; business continuity, cybersecurity and information

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

28

security programs; internal audit and risk management functions; and technology and use of data. The Board noted that Federated Hermes’ investments in these areas are extensive and are designed to provide enhanced services to the Federated Hermes Funds and their shareholders. The Board considered that the benefits of these investments are likely to be shared with the family of Federated Hermes Funds as a whole. In addition, the Board considered that fee waivers and expense reimbursements are another means for potential economies of scale to be shared with shareholders and can provide protection from an increase in expenses if a Federated Hermes Fund’s assets decline. The Board considered that, in order for the Federated Hermes Funds to remain competitive in the marketplace, Federated Hermes has frequently waived fees and/or reimbursed expenses for the Federated Hermes Funds and has disclosed to shareholders and/or reported to the Board its intention to do so (or continue to do so) in the future. The Board also considered that Federated Hermes has been active in managing expenses of the Federated Hermes Funds in recent years, which has resulted in benefits being realized by shareholders.

The Board also received and considered information on adviser-paid fees (commonly referred to as “revenue sharing” payments) that was provided to the Board throughout the year and in connection with the May Meetings. The Board considered that Federated Hermes and the CCO believe that this information is relevant to considering whether Federated Hermes had an incentive to either not apply breakpoints, or to apply breakpoints at higher levels, but should not be considered when evaluating the reasonableness of advisory fees. The Board also noted the absence of any applicable regulatory or industry guidelines economies of scale, which is compounded by the lack of any uniform methodology or pattern with respect to structuring fund advisory fees with breakpoints that serve to reduce the fees as a fund attains a certain size.

Other Benefits

The Board considered information regarding the compensation and other ancillary (or “fall-out”) benefits that Federated Hermes derived from its relationships with the Federated Hermes Funds. The Board noted that, in addition to receiving advisory fees under the Federated Hermes Funds’ investment advisory contracts, Federated Hermes’ affiliates also receive fees for providing other services to the Federated Hermes Funds under separate service contracts including for serving as the Federated Hermes Funds’ administrator and distributor. In this regard, the Board considered that certain of Federated Hermes’ affiliates provide distribution and shareholder services to the Federated Hermes Funds, for which they may be compensated through distribution and servicing fees paid pursuant to Rule 12b-1 plans or otherwise. The Board also received and considered information detailing the benefits, if any, that Federated Hermes may derive from its receipt of research services from brokers who execute portfolio trades for the Federated Hermes Funds.

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Conclusions

The Board considered: (i) the CCO’s conclusion that his observations and the information accompanying the CCO Fee Evaluation Report show that the management fee for the Fund is reasonable; and (ii) the CCO’s recommendation that the Board approve the management fee. The Board noted that, under these circumstances, no changes were recommended to, and no objection was raised to the continuation of, the Contract by the CCO. The CCO also recognized that the Board’s evaluation of the Federated Hermes Funds’ advisory and sub-advisory arrangements is a continuing and ongoing process that is informed by the information that the Board requests and receives from management throughout the course of the year and, in this regard, the CCO noted certain items for future reporting to the Board or further consideration by management as the Board continues its ongoing oversight of the Federated Hermes Funds.

On the basis of the information and factors summarized above, among other information and factors deemed relevant by the Board, and the evaluation thereof, the Board, including the Independent Trustees, unanimously voted to approve the continuation of the Contract. The Board based its determination to approve the Contract on the totality of the circumstances and relevant factors and with a view of past and future long-term considerations. Not all of the factors and considerations identified above were necessarily deemed to be relevant to the Fund, nor did the Board consider any one of them to be determinative.

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30

Liquidity Risk Management Program–
Annual Evaluation of Adequacy and Effectiveness

In accordance with Rule 22e-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Liquidity Rule”), Federated Hermes Adviser Series (the “Trust”) has adopted and implemented a liquidity risk management program (the “Program”) for Federated Hermes Conservative Microshort Fund (the “Fund” and, collectively with the other non-money market open-end funds advised by Federated Hermes, the “Federated Hermes Funds”). The Program seeks to assess and manage the Fund’s liquidity risk. “Liquidity risk” is defined under the Liquidity Rule as the risk that the Fund is unable to meet redemption requests without significantly diluting remaining investors’ interests in the Fund. The Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”) has approved the designation of each Federated Hermes Fund’s investment adviser as the administrator for the Program (the “Administrator”) with respect to that Fund. The Administrator, in turn, has delegated day-to-day responsibility for the administration of the Program to multiple Liquidity Risk Management Committees, which are comprised of representatives from certain divisions within Federated Hermes.

The Program is comprised of various components designed to support the assessment and/or management of liquidity risk, including: (1) the periodic assessment (no less frequently than annually) of certain factors that influence the Fund’s liquidity risk; (2) the periodic classification (no less frequently than monthly) of the Fund’s investments into one of four liquidity categories that reflect an estimate of their liquidity under current market conditions; (3) a 15% limit on the acquisition of “illiquid investments” (as defined under the Liquidity Rule); (4) to the extent a Fund does not invest primarily in “highly liquid investments” (as defined under the Liquidity Rule), the determination of a minimum percentage of the Fund’s assets that generally will be invested in highly liquid investments (an “HLIM”); (5) if a Fund has established an HLIM, the periodic review (no less frequently than annually) of the HLIM and the adoption of policies and procedures for responding to a shortfall of the Fund’s highly liquid investments below its HLIM; and (6) periodic reporting to the Board.

At its meetings in May 2023, the Board received and reviewed a written report (the “Report”) from the Federated Hermes Funds’ Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Risk Officer, on behalf of the Administrator, concerning the operation of the Program for the period from April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023 (the “Period”). The Report addressed the operation of the Program and assessed the adequacy and effectiveness of its implementation, including, where applicable, the operation of any HLIM established for a Federated Hermes Fund. There were no material changes to the Program during the Period. The Report summarized the operation of the Program and

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

31

the information and factors considered by the Administrator in assessing whether the Program has been adequately and effectively implemented with respect to the Federated Hermes Funds. Such information and factors included, among other things:

■ confirmation that it was not necessary for the Fund to utilize, and the Fund did not utilize, any alternative funding sources that were available to the Federated Hermes Funds during the Period, such as the Federated Hermes Funds’ interfund lending facility, redemptions in-kind, reverse repurchase agreement transactions, redemptions delayed beyond the normal T+1 settlement but within seven days of the redemption request, and committed lines of credit;

■ the periodic classifications of the Fund’s investments into one of four liquidity categories and the methodologies and inputs used to classify the investments, including the Fund’s reasonably anticipated trade size;

■ the analysis received from a third-party liquidity assessment vendor that is taken into account in the process of determining the liquidity classifications of the Fund’s investments, and the results of the Administrator’s evaluation of the services performed by the vendor in support of this process, including the Administrator’s view that the methodologies utilized by the vendor continue to be appropriate;

■ the fact that the Fund invested primarily in highly liquid investments during the Period and, therefore, was not required to establish, and has not established, an HLIM and the operation of the procedures for monitoring the status of the Fund as investing primarily in highly liquid investments;

■ the fact that the Fund invested no more than 15% of its assets in illiquid investments during the Period, and the operation of the procedures for monitoring this limit;

■ the fact that there were no liquidity events during the Period that materially affected the Fund’s liquidity risk;

■ the impact on liquidity and management of liquidity risk, if any, caused by extended non-U.S. market closures and confirmation that there were no issues for any of the affected Federated Hermes Funds in meeting shareholder redemptions at any time during these temporary non-U.S. market closures.

Based on this review, the Administrator concluded that the Program is operating effectively to assess and manage the Fund’s liquidity risk, and that the Program has been and continues to be adequately and effectively implemented to monitor and, as applicable, respond to the Fund’s liquidity developments.

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32

Voting Proxies on Fund Portfolio Securities

A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies, if any, relating to securities held in the Fund’s portfolio is available, without charge and upon request, by calling 1-800-341-7400, Option #4. A report on “Form N-PX” of how the Fund voted any such proxies during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available via the Proxy Voting Record (Form N-PX) link associated with the Fund and share class name at FederatedHermes.com/us/FundInformation. Form N-PX filings are also available at the SEC’s website at sec.gov.

Quarterly Portfolio Schedule

Each fiscal quarter, the Fund will file with the SEC a complete schedule of its monthly portfolio holdings on “Form N-PORT.” The Fund’s holdings as of the end of the third month of every fiscal quarter, as reported on Form N-PORT, will be publicly available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov within 60 days of the end of the fiscal quarter upon filing. You may also access this information via the link to the Fund and share class name at FederatedHermes.com/us.

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Mutual funds are not bank deposits or obligations, are not guaranteed by any bank and are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. government, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency. Investment in mutual funds involves investment risk, including the possible loss of principal.

This Report is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by the Fund’s Prospectus, which contains facts concerning its objective and policies, management fees, expenses and other information.

 IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT FUND DOCUMENT DELIVERY 

In an effort to reduce costs and avoid duplicate mailings, the Fund(s) intend to deliver a single copy of certain documents to each household in which more than one shareholder of the Fund(s) resides (so-called “householding”), as permitted by applicable rules. The Fund’s “householding” program covers its/their Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, and supplements to each, as well as Semi-Annual and Annual Shareholder Reports and any Proxies or information statements. Shareholders must give their written consent to participate in the “householding” program. The Fund is also permitted to treat a shareholder as having given consent (“implied consent”) if (i) shareholders with the same last name, or believed to be members of the same family, reside at the same street address or receive mail at the same post office box, (ii) the Fund gives notice of its intent to “household” at least sixty (60) days before it begins “householding” and (iii) none of the shareholders in the household have notified the Fund(s) or their agent of the desire to “opt out” of “householding.” Shareholders who have granted written consent, or have been deemed to have granted implied consent, can revoke that consent and opt out of “householding” at any time: shareholders who purchased shares through an intermediary should contact their representative; other shareholders may call the Fund at 1-800-341-7400, Option #4.

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Federated Hermes Conservative Microshort Fund
Federated Hermes Funds
4000 Ericsson Drive
Warrendale, PA 15086-7561

Contact us atFederatedHermes.com/us
or call 1-800-341-7400.

Federated Securities Corp., Distributor

CUSIP 31423A473

Q455167 (4/24)

© 2024 Federated Hermes, Inc.

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

February 29, 2024

 

 

Share Class | Ticker Institutional | FHMIX

Federated Hermes Conservative Municipal Microshort Fund

Established 2021

A Portfolio of Federated Hermes Adviser Series

Dear Valued Shareholder,

We are pleased to present the Semi-Annual Shareholder Report for your fund covering the period from September 1, 2023 through February 29, 2024. This report includes a complete listing of your fund’s holdings, performance information and financial statements along with other important fund information.

As a global leader in active, responsible investment management, Federated Hermes is guided by our conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term. The company provides capabilities across a wide range of asset classes to investors around the world.

In addition, FederatedHermes.com/us offers quick and easy access to valuable resources that include timely fund updates, economic and market insights from our investment strategists and financial planning tools. You can also access many of those insights by following us on Twitter (@FederatedHermes) and LinkedIn.

Thank you for investing with us. We hope you find this information useful and look forward to keeping you informed.

Sincerely, 

J. Christopher Donahue, President

Not FDIC Insured ▪ May Lose Value ▪ No Bank Guarantee

CONTENTS 

Portfolio of Investments Summary Tables	1
Portfolio of Investments	2
Financial Highlights	9
Statement of Assets and Liabilities	10
Statement of Operations	11
Statement of Changes in Net Assets	12
Notes to Financial Statements	13
Shareholder Expense Example	20
Evaluation and Approval of Advisory Contract	22
Liquidity Risk Management Program– Annual Evaluation of Adequacy and Effectiveness	32
Voting Proxies on Fund Portfolio Securities	34
Quarterly Portfolio Schedule	34

Portfolio of Investments Summary Tables (unaudited)

At February 29, 2024, the Fund’s sector composition1 was as follows: 

Sector Composition	Percentage of Total Net Assets
Industrial Development/Pollution Control	23.9%
General Obligation- Local	16.4%
Multi-Family Housing	15.8%
Electric & Gas	13.4%
Hospital	3.6%
Airport	1.8%
Single Family Housing	0.9%
Other Transportation	0.9%
General Obligation- Local (Appropriation)	0.7%
Port	0.6%
Other2	20.5%
Other Assets and Liabilities—Net3	1.5%
TOTAL	100%

 

1	Sector classifications and the assignment of holdings to such sectors, are based upon the economic sector and/or revenue source of the underlying obligor, as determined by the Fund’s Adviser. For securities that have been enhanced by a third-party guarantor, such as bond insurers and banks, sector classifications are based upon the economic sector and/or revenue source of the underlying obligor, as determined by the Fund’s Adviser.
2	For purposes of this table, sector classifications constitute 78.0% of the Fund’s total net assets. Remaining sectors have been aggregated under the designation “Other”.
3	Assets, other than investments in securities, less liabilities. See Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

At February 29, 2024, the Fund’s effective maturity schedule1 was as follows: 

Securities With an Effective Maturity of:	Percentage of Total Net Assets
1-7 Days	54.6%
8-30 Days	2.5%
31-90 Days	22.4%
91-180 Days	10.4%
181 Days or more	8.6%
Other Assets and Liabilities—Net2	1.5%
Total	100%

 

1	Variable rate demand instruments are treated as short-term securities as the repayment of their principal amount at face value can be on demand. For other investments, effective maturity is the unexpired time until final maturity.
2	Assets, other than investments in securities, less liabilities. See Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

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1

Portfolio of Investments

February 29, 2024 (unaudited) 

Principal Amount			Value
	1	SHORT-TERM MUNICIPALS—   98.5%
		Alabama—   4.4%
$  400,000		Columbia, AL IDB PCRB (Alabama Power Co.), (Series 2014-A) Daily VRDNs, 3.900%, 3/1/2024	$    400,000
900,000		Mobile, AL IDB (Alabama Power Co.), (First Series 2009: Barry Plant) Daily VRDNs, 3.900%, 3/1/2024	900,000
2,500,000		Walker County, AL Economic and IDA (Alabama Power Co.), (First Series 2023) Daily VRDNs, 4.100%, 3/1/2024	2,500,000
5,395,000		West Jefferson, AL IDB Solid Waste Disposal (Alabama Power Co.), (Series 2008) Daily VRDNs, 3.850%, 3/1/2024	5,395,000
		TOTAL	9,195,000
		Arizona—   1.7%
3,500,000		Phoenix, AZ IDA (Republic Services, Inc.), (Series 2013), 4.100%, Mandatory Tender 5/1/2024	3,498,847
		Arkansas—   1.0%
2,150,000		Blytheville, AR (Nucor Corp.), (Series 2002) Weekly VRDNs, 4.200%, 3/6/2024	2,150,000
		California—   17.0%
1,000,000		California HFA, Mizuho 3a-7 (Series 2022-MIZ9097) VRENs, (Mizuho Bank Ltd. GTD)/(Mizuho Bank Ltd. LIQ), 3.670%, 3/7/2024	1,000,000
2,000,000		California Municipal Finance Authority (Aymium Williams Project), (Series 2022), (United States Treasury COL), 4.000%, Mandatory Tender 6/26/2024	1,997,838
2,500,000		California Municipal Finance Authority (Waste Management, Inc.), Solid Waste Disposal Revenue Bonds (Series 2017A), (Waste Management Holdings, Inc. GTD), 4.250%, Mandatory Tender 12/2/2024	2,495,327
1,500,000		California PCFA (Republic Services, Inc.), (Series 2023), 4.125%, Mandatory Tender 8/15/2024	1,499,684
6,000,000		California Statewide Communities Development Authority (Kensington Apartments LP), Mizuho 3a-7 (Series 2022-MIZ9113) VRENs, (Mizuho Bank Ltd. GTD)/(Mizuho Bank Ltd. LIQ), 3.670%, 3/7/2024	6,000,000
4,000,000		Los Angeles, CA Community Redevelopment Agency (DWF V Hollywood & Vine, LP), Mizuho 3a-7 (Series 2022-MIZ9089) Daily VRDNs, (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. GTD)/(Mizuho Bank Ltd. LIQ), 4.350%, 3/1/2024	4,000,000
6,900,000		Nuveen California AMT-Free Quality Municipal Income Fund, (Series A) MuniFund Preferred Shares Weekly VRDPs, 3.750%, 3/1/2024	6,900,000
1,445,000		Nuveen California Quality Municipal Income Fund, RIB Floater Trust (Series 2022-FR-RI-005) (Series 2 Preferred Shares) VRENs, (Barclays Bank PLC LIQ)/(Barclays Bank PLC LOC), 3.700%, 3/7/2024	1,445,000
1,300,000		Port of Oakland, CA, (Series D), 5.000%, 11/1/2024	1,309,784
9,000,000		San Francisco, CA City and County (1500 Mission Urban Housing LP), Mizuho 3a-7 (Series 2022-MIZ9115) VRENs, (Mizuho Bank Ltd. GTD)/(Mizuho Bank Ltd. LIQ), 3.670%, 3/7/2024	9,000,000
		TOTAL	35,647,633

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2

Principal Amount			Value
	1	SHORT-TERM MUNICIPALS—   continued
		Colorado—   2.2%
$4,655,000		Colorado Health Facilities Authority (National Jewish Medical and Research Center), (Series 2005) Weekly VRDNs, (UMB Bank, N.A. LOC), 3.300%, 3/7/2024	$  4,655,000
		Georgia—   3.5%
250,000		Bartow County, GA Development Authority (Georgia Power Co.), (First Series 2022) Daily VRDNs, 4.100%, 3/1/2024	250,000
6,610,000		Burke County, GA Development Authority (Georgia Power Co.), (2018 1st Series) Daily VRDNs, 4.300%, 3/1/2024	6,610,000
400,000		Heard County, GA Development Authority (Georgia Power Co.), (First Series 2007) Daily VRDNs, 3.850%, 3/1/2024	400,000
		TOTAL	7,260,000
		Indiana—   1.4%
3,000,000		Indiana Finance Authority (Brightmark Circularity Center Ashley 2 LLC), Morgan Stanley 3a-7 (Series 2024-MS-0022), (Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A. LIQ)/(United States Treasury GTD), 3.800%, Optional Tender 5/9/2024	3,000,000
		Kentucky—   5.1%
2,900,000		Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (CommonSpirit Health), (Series 2004 C) Weekly VRDNs, 3.600%, 3/6/2024	2,900,000
4,400,000		Louisville & Jefferson County, KY Metropolitan Government (Louisville Gas & Electric Co.), (Series B) Weekly VRDNs, 3.350%, 3/1/2024	4,400,000
100,000		Meade County, KY Industrial Building Revenue Authority (Nucor Corp.), (Series 2020A-1) Daily VRDNs, 4.620%, 3/1/2024	100,000
250,000		Meade County, KY Industrial Building Revenue Authority (Nucor Corp.), (Series 2020B-1) Daily VRDNs, 4.620%, 3/1/2024	250,000
850,000		Meade County, KY Industrial Building Revenue Authority (Nucor Corp.), (Series 2021A-1) Daily VRDNs, 4.620%, 3/1/2024	850,000
2,275,000		Meade County, KY Industrial Building Revenue Authority (Nucor Corp.), (Series 2021B-1) Daily VRDNs, 4.600%, 3/1/2024	2,275,000
		TOTAL	10,775,000
		Louisiana—   0.9%
1,650,000		St. James Parish, LA (Nucor Steel Louisiana LLC), (Series 2010A-1) Weekly VRDNs, (Nucor Corp. GTD), 3.790%, 3/6/2024	1,650,000
170,000		St. James Parish, LA (Nucor Steel Louisiana LLC), (Series 2010B-1) Weekly VRDNs, (Nucor Corp. GTD), 3.650%, 3/6/2024	170,000
		TOTAL	1,820,000
		Massachusetts—   0.5%
1,000,000		Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (Nantucket Electric Co.), (Series 2004), CP, (Massachusetts Electric Co. GTD), 3.850%, Mandatory Tender 3/11/2024	1,000,066
		Missouri—   1.4%
505,000		Kansas City, MO IDA (Paige Point Townhomes), Mizuho 3a-7 (Series 2023-MIZ9154) VRENs, (Mizuho Bank Ltd. GTD)/(Mizuho Bank Ltd. LIQ), 3.670%, 3/7/2024	505,000

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

3

Principal Amount			Value
	1	SHORT-TERM MUNICIPALS—   continued
		Missouri—   continued
$2,449,814		Kansas City, MO Planned Industrial Expansion Authority (EPD3 Ridgeview LP), Mizuho 3a-7 (2022-MIZ9086) VRENs, (Mizuho Bank Ltd. GTD)/(Mizuho Bank Ltd. LIQ), 3.670%, 3/7/2024	$  2,449,814
		TOTAL	2,954,814
		Multi-State—   13.3%
6,005,000		DWS Municipal Income Trust, PUTTERs 3a-7 (Series 5055) Weekly VRDNs, (JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. LIQ), 3.700%, 3/7/2024	6,005,000
4,200,000		Invesco Municipal Opportunity Trust, PUTTERs 3a-7 (VMTP 5029) Daily VRDNs, (JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. LIQ), 4.350%, 3/1/2024	4,200,000
8,300,000		Invesco Value Municipal Income Trust, PUTTERs 3a-7 (VMTP 5027) Daily VRDNs, (JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. LIQ), 4.350%, 3/1/2024	8,300,000
6,600,000		Nuveen AMT-Free Quality Municipal Income Fund, (Series D) MuniFund Preferred Shares Weekly VRDPs, 3.750%, 3/1/2024	6,600,000
1,300,000		Nuveen Municipal Credit Opportunities Fund, PUTTERS 3a-7 (Series 5033) (VMFP Series C) Daily VRDNs, (JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. LIQ), 4.350%, 3/1/2024	1,300,000
200,000		PIMCO Flexible Municipal Income Fund, PUTTERs (3a-7) (Series 5046) MuniFund Term Preferred Shares Daily VRDNs, (JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. LIQ), 4.350%, 3/1/2024	200,000
1,449,000		PIMCO Municipal Income Fund, UBS Preferred Shares Tender Option Bond Trust (Series UA-7013) Weekly VRDNs, (UBS AG GTD)/(UBS AG LIQ), 3.490%, 3/6/2024	1,449,000
		TOTAL	28,054,000
		Nevada—   1.4%
2,000,000		Director of the State of Nevada Department of Business and Industry (Brightline West Passenger Rail Project), (Series 2020A), (United States Treasury GTD), 4.000%, Mandatory Tender 1/30/2025	1,998,469
1,000,000		Director of the State of Nevada Department of Business and Industry (Republic Services, Inc.), Solid Waste Disposal Revenue Bonds (Series 2001), 4.500%, Mandatory Tender 6/3/2024	1,000,480
		TOTAL	2,998,949
		New Jersey—   12.0%
1,000,000		Barnegat Light, NJ BANs, 4.500%, 7/31/2024	1,000,877
1,500,000		Beach Haven, NJ BANs, 4.250%, 5/2/2024	1,501,056
1,173,750		Belleville, NJ BANs, 5.000%, 7/10/2024	1,178,022
1,562,000		Berlin Boro, NJ, (Series A) BANs, 4.500%, 3/27/2024	1,562,757
1,779,444		Dennis Township, NJ BANs, 4.500%, 3/14/2024	1,779,760
1,000,000		Gibbsboro, NJ BANs, 4.250%, 3/27/2024	1,000,213
1,239,000		Hillsdale Borough, NJ BANs, 4.250%, 8/23/2024	1,241,145
1,000,000		Keyport Borough, NJ BANs, 4.750%, 4/17/2024	1,001,041
2,282,700		Laurel Springs, NJ BANs, 4.500%, 5/17/2024	2,285,071
1,440,907		Leonia, NJ BANs, 4.250%, 3/1/2024	1,440,907
1,000,000		Lopatcong, NJ BANs, 4.500%, 7/2/2024	1,002,406
1,200,000		Pitman, NJ BANs, 4.500%, 5/31/2024	1,201,843

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

4

Principal Amount			Value
	1	SHORT-TERM MUNICIPALS—   continued
		New Jersey—   continued
$1,500,000		Springfield Township, (Union County), NJ BANs, 4.250%, 5/1/2024	$  1,501,320
1,568,000		Stone Harbor, NJ BANs, 4.750%, 10/11/2024	1,578,258
1,500,000		Warren Township (Somerset County), NJ BANs, 4.500%, 5/24/2024	1,502,154
1,188,207		West Wildwood, NJ BANs, 4.250%, 2/25/2025	1,191,170
1,000,000		West Wildwood, NJ BANs, 4.500%, 6/13/2024	1,001,455
920,000		Woodcliff Lake, NJ RANs, 4.250%, 9/20/2024	919,624
1,443,500		Wyckoff Township, NJ BANs, 4.500%, 6/13/2024	1,445,898
		TOTAL	25,334,977
		New York—   6.1%
1,000,000		New York State Environmental Facilities Corp. (Waste Management, Inc.), Solid Waste Disposal Refunding Revenue Bonds (Series 2012), 4.100%, Mandatory Tender 5/1/2024	999,671
4,990,000		New York State HFA (42nd and 10th Street Associates LLC), 3a-7 High Grade Trust (Series 2022-007) VRENs, (Barclays Bank PLC LIQ)/(Barclays Bank PLC LOC), 3.750%, 3/7/2024	4,990,000
1,000,000		Newburgh, NY BANs, 4.450%, 8/9/2024	1,000,301
4,800,000		Nuveen New York AMT-Free Quality Municipal Income Fund, 800 (Series A) MuniFund Preferred Shares Weekly VRDPs, 3.750%, 3/1/2024	4,800,000
1,077,889		Perry Central School District, NY BANs, 4.500%, 6/28/2024	1,080,098
		TOTAL	12,870,070
		North Carolina—   1.9%
2,200,000		Hertford County, NC Industrial Facilities & PCFA (Nucor Corp.), (Series 2000A) Weekly VRDNs, 4.200%, 3/6/2024	2,200,000
1,700,000		Hertford County, NC Industrial Facilities & PCFA (Nucor Corp.), (Series 2000B) Weekly VRDNs, 4.200%, 3/6/2024	1,700,000
		TOTAL	3,900,000
		Ohio—   3.8%
1,250,000		Cleveland, OH Airport System, (Series 2018A), 5.000%, 1/1/2025	1,261,668
1,400,000		Delhi Township, OH BANs, 5.000%, 11/27/2024	1,410,243
900,000		Hamilton County, OH (Block 3 Community Urban Redevelopment Corp.), (Series 2004) Weekly VRDNs, (Citizens Bank, N.A. LOC), 3.350%, 3/7/2024	900,000
2,460,000		River Valley, OH Local School District BANs, 5.000%, 6/3/2024	2,469,825
2,000,000		Salem, OH City School District BANs, 5.250%, 6/3/2024	2,009,204
		TOTAL	8,050,940
		Oklahoma—   0.9%
1,900,000		Muskogee, OK Industrial Trust (Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co.), (1995 Series A) Weekly VRDNs, 3.450%, 3/6/2024	1,900,000
		Pennsylvania—   4.2%
1,500,000		Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority (PPL Energy Supply LLC), (Series 2009B) Weekly VRDNs, (MUFG Bank Ltd. LOC), 4.450%, 3/6/2024	1,500,000

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Principal Amount			Value
	1	SHORT-TERM MUNICIPALS—   continued
		Pennsylvania—   continued
$3,000,000		Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority (PPL Energy Supply LLC), (Series 2009C) Weekly VRDNs, (MUFG Bank Ltd. LOC), 4.450%, 3/6/2024	$  3,000,000
1,250,000		Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority (Republic Services, Inc.), (Series 2019A), 4.000%, Mandatory Tender 4/15/2024	1,249,549
1,505,000		Philadelphia, PA Airport System, (Series 2015A), 5.000%, 6/15/2024	1,509,298
1,500,000		Philadelphia, PA Redevelopment Authority (Philadelphia, PA), City Service Agreement Revenue Refunding Bonds (Series 2015B), 5.000%, 4/15/2024	1,501,636
		TOTAL	8,760,483
		South Carolina—   0.8%
1,700,000		South Carolina Jobs-EDA (BTH Spartanburg I LLC), (Series 2022-XF3074) Weekly VRDNs, (Mizuho Bank Ltd. GTD)/(Mizuho Bank Ltd. LIQ), 3.670%, 3/7/2024	1,700,000
		Texas—   12.7%
1,220,000		Las Varas, TX Public Facility Corp., (Roers San Antonio Apartments Owner I LP), Mizuho 3a-7 (Series 2024-MIZ9158) VRENs, (Mizuho Bank Ltd. GTD)/(Mizuho Bank Ltd. LIQ), 3.670%, 3/7/2024	1,220,000
1,000,000		Love Field Airport Modernization Corp., TX, General Airport Revenue Bonds (Series 2017), 5.000%, 11/1/2024	1,007,007
1,000,000		Mission, TX Economic Development Corp. (Republic Services, Inc.), 4.100%, Mandatory Tender 5/1/2024	999,671
1,250,000		Mission, TX Economic Development Corp. (Waste Management, Inc.), (Series 2023A), (Waste Management Holdings, Inc. GTD), 4.250%, Mandatory Tender 6/3/2024	1,249,839
400,000		Port of Corpus Christi Authority of Nueces County, TX (Flint Hills Resources LLC), (Series 2002A) Daily VRDNs, 4.300%, 3/1/2024	400,000
1,000,000		Port of Port Arthur Navigation District of Jefferson County, TX (Motiva Enterprises LLC), (Series 2010B) Daily VRDNs, 4.300%, 3/1/2024	1,000,000
3,800,000		Port of Port Arthur Navigation District of Jefferson County, TX (Motiva Enterprises LLC), (Series 2010C) Daily VRDNs, 3.950%, 3/1/2024	3,800,000
9,415,000		Port of Port Arthur Navigation District of Jefferson County, TX (Motiva Enterprises LLC), (Series 2010D) Weekly VRDNs, 3.550%, 3/6/2024	9,415,000
6,150,000		Port of Port Arthur Navigation District of Jefferson County, TX (Motiva Enterprises LLC), (Series 2010E) Weekly VRDNs, 3.520%, 3/6/2024	6,150,000
1,500,000		Travis County, TX Housing Finance Corp. (Roers Austin Apartments Owner II LP), Mizuho 3a-7 (Series 2023-MIZ9127) VRENs, (Mizuho Bank Ltd. GTD)/(Mizuho Bank Ltd. LIQ), 3.670%, 3/7/2024	1,500,000
		TOTAL	26,741,517
		Virginia—   2.0%
1,140,000		Southampton County, VA IDA (PRTI-Virginia One, LLC), Environmental Improvement Revenue Bonds (Series 2023), (United States Treasury COL), 4.875%, Mandatory Tender 12/12/2024	1,140,624
1,000,000		Virginia Small Business Financing Authority (Pure Salmon Virginia LLC), (Series 2022), (United States Treasury COL), 5.000%, Mandatory Tender 11/15/2024	1,000,984

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6

Principal Amount			Value
	1	SHORT-TERM MUNICIPALS—   continued
		Virginia—   continued
$2,000,000		Virginia State Housing Development Authority, (Series 2023C E-1), 3.850%, Mandatory Tender 1/1/2025	$  2,000,013
		TOTAL	4,141,621
		Wisconsin—   0.3%
700,000		Grantsburg, WI School District TRANs, 5.250%, 10/30/2024	704,790
		TOTAL INVESTMENT IN SECURITIES—98.5% (IDENTIFIED COST $207,096,513)2	207,113,707
		OTHER ASSETS AND LIABILITIES - NET—1.5%3	3,138,394
		TOTAL NET ASSETS—100%	$210,252,101

Securities that are subject to the federal alternative minimum tax (AMT) represent 38.0% of the portfolio as calculated based upon total market value. 

1	Current rate and current maturity or next reset date shown for floating rate notes and variable rate notes/demand instruments. Certain variable rate securities are not based on a published reference rate and spread but are determined by the issuer or agent and are based on current market conditions. These securities do not indicate a reference rate and spread in their description above.
2	Also represents cost of investments for federal tax purposes.
3	Assets, other than investments in securities, less liabilities. See Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

Note: The categories of investments are shown as a percentage of total net assets at February 29, 2024.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the Fund’s investments. These inputs are summarized in the three broad levels listed below:

Level 1—quoted prices in active markets for identical securities.

Level 2—other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.). Also includes securities valued at amortized cost.

Level 3—significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments).

The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities.

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As of February 29, 2024, all investments of the Fund utilized Level 2 inputs in valuing the Fund’s assets carried at fair value. 

The following acronym(s) are used throughout this portfolio:
AMT	—Alternative Minimum Tax
BANs	—Bond Anticipation Notes
COL	—Collateralized
CP	—Commercial Paper
EDA	—Economic Development Authority
GTD	—Guaranteed
HFA	—Housing Finance Authority
IDA	—Industrial Development Authority
IDB	—Industrial Development Bond
LIQ	—Liquidity Agreement
LOC	—Letter of Credit
PCFA	—Pollution Control Financing Authority
PCRB	—Pollution Control Revenue Bond
PUTTERs	—Puttable Tax-Exempt Receipts
RANs	—Revenue Anticipation Notes
TRANs	—Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes
VMTP	—Variable Municipal Term Preferred
VRDNs	—Variable Rate Demand Notes
VRDPs	—Variable Rate Demand Preferreds
VRENs	—Variable Rate Extendible Notes

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Financial Highlights–Institutional Shares

(For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period) 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 2/29/2024	Year Ended August 31,		Period Ended 8/31/20211
		2023	2022
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$10.00	$10.00	$10.00	$10.00
Income From Investment Operations:
Net investment income (loss)2	0.19	0.31	0.09	0.02
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	0.003	0.003	(0.03)	(0.00)3
TOTAL FROM INVESTMENT OPERATIONS	0.19	0.31	0.06	0.02
Less Distributions:
Distributions from net investment income	(0.19)	(0.31)	(0.06)	(0.02)
Net Asset Value, End of Period	$10.00	$10.00	$10.00	$10.00
Total Return4	1.90%	3.18%	0.60%	0.16%
Ratios to Average Net Assets:
Net expenses5	0.23%6	0.15%	0.05%	0.05%6
Net investment income	3.78%6	3.07%	0.91%	0.28%6
Expense waiver/reimbursement7	0.22%6	0.30%	0.56%	2.06%6
Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (000 omitted)	$210,252	$175,326	$130,017	$10,247
Portfolio turnover8	11%	72%	32%	0%

 

1	Reflects operations for the period from February 3, 2021 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2021.
2	Per share numbers have been calculated using the average shares method.
3	Represents less than $0.01.
4	Based on net asset value. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
5	Amount does not reflect net expenses incurred by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
6	Computed on an annualized basis.
7	This expense decrease is reflected in both the net expense and the net investment income ratios shown above. Amount does not reflect expense waiver/reimbursement recorded by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
8	Securities that mature are considered sales for purposes of this calculation.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Statement of Assets and LiabilitiesFebruary 29, 2024 (unaudited)

 

Assets:
Investment in securities, at value (identified cost $207,096,513)	$207,113,707
Cash	96,455
Income receivable	1,484,631
Receivable for shares sold	1,770,000
Total Assets	210,464,793
Liabilities:
Payable for shares redeemed	184,618
Income distribution payable	8,077
Payable for investment adviser fee (Note 5)	798
Payable for administrative fee (Note 5)	440
Payable for Directors’/Trustees’ fees (Note 5)	381
Payable for portfolio accounting fees	15,309
Accrued expenses (Note 5)	3,069
Total Liabilities	212,692
Net assets for 21,021,163 shares outstanding	$210,252,101
Net Assets Consist of:
Paid-in capital	$210,211,590
Total distributable earnings (loss)	40,511
Total Net Assets	$210,252,101
Net Asset Value, Offering Price and Redemption Proceeds Per Share:
$210,252,101 ÷ 21,021,163 shares outstanding, no par value, unlimited shares authorized	$10.00

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Statement of OperationsSix Months Ended February 29, 2024 (unaudited)

 

Investment Income:
Interest	$3,508,657
Expenses:
Investment adviser fee (Note 5)	218,608
Administrative fee (Note 5)	68,410
Custodian fees	5,545
Transfer agent fees	6,528
Directors’/Trustees’ fees (Note 5)	732
Auditing fees	15,340
Legal fees	5,464
Portfolio accounting fees	31,232
Share registration costs	22,529
Printing and postage	10,481
Miscellaneous (Note 5)	10,805
TOTAL EXPENSES	395,674
Waiver and Reimbursement:
Waiver of investment adviser fee (Note 5)	(190,850)
Reimbursement of other operating expenses (Note 5)	(810)
TOTAL WAIVER AND REIMBURSEMENT	(191,660)
Net expenses	204,014
Net investment income	3,304,643
Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments:
Net realized gain on investments	285
Net change in unrealized depreciation of investments	37,750
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments	38,035
Change in net assets resulting from operations	$3,342,678

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Statement of Changes in Net Assets 

 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 2/29/2024	Year Ended 8/31/2023
Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets
Operations:
Net investment income	$3,304,643	$5,877,579
Net realized gain (loss)	285	—
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation	37,750	10,256
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS	3,342,678	5,887,835
Distributions to Shareholders	(3,314,787)	(5,850,092)
Share Transactions:
Proceeds from sale of shares	90,401,994	348,714,663
Net asset value of shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	3,258,580	5,721,696
Cost of shares redeemed	(58,762,047)	(309,165,751)
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM SHARE TRANSACTIONS	34,898,527	45,270,608
Change in net assets	34,926,418	45,308,351
Net Assets:
Beginning of period	175,325,683	130,017,332
End of period	$210,252,101	$175,325,683

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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Notes to Financial Statements

February 29, 2024 (unaudited)

1. ORGANIZATION

Federated Hermes Adviser Series (the “Trust”) was established as a Delaware statutory trust on July 12, 2017, and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust consists of 11 portfolios. The financial statements included herein are only those of Federated Hermes Conservative Municipal Microshort Fund (the “Fund”), a diversified portfolio. The financial statements of the other portfolios are presented separately. The assets of each portfolio are segregated and a shareholder’s interest is limited to the portfolio in which shares are held. Each portfolio pays its own expenses. The Fund offers one class of shares: Institutional Shares. Class A Shares are effective with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but currently are not yet offered for sale. The investment objective of the Fund is to provide current income consistent with preservation of capital with an emphasis on maintaining liquidity on a tax-exempt basis.

2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The following is a summary of significant accounting policies consistently followed by the Fund in the preparation of its financial statements. These policies are in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Investment Valuation

In calculating its net asset value (NAV), the Fund generally values investments as follows:

■

Fixed-income securities are fair valued using price evaluations provided by a pricing service approved by Federated Investment Management Company (the “Adviser”).

■

Shares of other mutual funds or non-exchange-traded investment companies are valued based upon their reported NAVs, or NAV per share practical expedient, as applicable.

■

For securities that are fair valued in accordance with procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Adviser, certain factors may be considered, such as: the last traded or purchase price of the security, information obtained by contacting the issuer or dealers, analysis of the issuer’s financial statements or other available documents, fundamental analytical data, the nature and duration of restrictions on disposition, the movement of the market in which the security is normally traded, public trading in similar securities or derivative contracts of the issuer or comparable issuers, movement of a relevant index, or other factors including but not limited to industry changes and relevant government actions.

If any price, quotation, price evaluation or other pricing source is not readily available when the NAV is calculated, if the Fund cannot obtain price evaluations from a pricing service or from more than one dealer for an investment within a reasonable period of time as set forth in the Adviser’s valuation policies and procedures for the Fund, or if information furnished by a pricing service, in the opinion of the Adviser’s valuation committee (“Valuation Committee”), is deemed not representative of the fair value of such security, the Fund uses the fair value of the investment determined in accordance

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13

with the procedures described below. There can be no assurance that the Fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it sold the investment at approximately the time at which the Fund determines its NAV per share, and the actual value obtained could be materially different.

Fair Valuation Procedures

Pursuant to Rule 2a-5 under the Act, the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Trustees”) has designated the Adviser as the Fund’s valuation designee to perform any fair value determinations for securities and other assets held by the Fund. The Adviser is subject to the Trustees’ oversight and certain reporting and other requirements intended to provide the Trustees the information needed to oversee the Adviser’s fair value determinations.

The Adviser, acting through its Valuation Committee, is responsible for determining the fair value of investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Valuation Committee is comprised of officers of the Adviser and certain of the Adviser’s affiliated companies and determines fair value and oversees the calculation of the NAV. The Valuation Committee is also authorized to use pricing services to provide fair value evaluations of the current value of certain investments for purposes of calculating the NAV. The Valuation Committee employs various methods for reviewing third-party pricing-service evaluations including periodic reviews of third-party pricing services’ policies, procedures and valuation methods (including key inputs, methods, models and assumptions), transactional back-testing, comparisons of evaluations of different pricing services, and review of price challenges by the Adviser based on recent market activity. In the event that market quotations and price evaluations are not available for an investment, the Valuation Committee determines the fair value of the investment in accordance with procedures adopted by the Adviser. The Trustees periodically review the fair valuations made by the Valuation Committee. The Trustees have also approved the Adviser’s fair valuation and significant events procedures as part of the Fund’s compliance program and will review any changes made to the procedures.

Factors considered by pricing services in evaluating an investment include the yields or prices of investments of comparable quality, coupon, maturity, call rights and other potential prepayments, terms and type, reported transactions, indications as to values from dealers and general market conditions. Some pricing services provide a single price evaluation reflecting the bid-side of the market for an investment (a “bid” evaluation). Other pricing services offer both bid evaluations and price evaluations indicative of a price between the prices bid and ask for the investment (a “mid” evaluation). The Fund normally uses bid evaluations for any U.S. Treasury and Agency securities, mortgage-backed securities and municipal securities. The Fund normally uses mid evaluations for any other types of fixed-income securities and any OTC derivative contracts. In the event that market quotations and price evaluations are not available for an investment, the fair value of the investment is determined in accordance with procedures adopted by the Adviser.

Investment Income, Gains and Losses, Expenses and Distributions

Investment transactions are accounted for on a trade-date basis. Realized gains and losses from investment transactions are recorded on an identified-cost basis. Interest income and expenses are accrued daily. Dividend income and distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Distributions of net investment

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14

income, if any, are declared daily and paid monthly. Non-cash dividends included in dividend income, if any, are recorded at fair value. Amortization/accretion of premium and discount is included in investment income. The detail of the total fund expense waiver and reimbursement of $191,660 is disclosed in Note 5.

Federal Taxes

It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the Subchapter M provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”) and to distribute to shareholders each year substantially all of its income. Accordingly, no provision for federal income tax is necessary. As of and during the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Fund did not have a liability for any uncertain tax positions. The Fund recognizes interest and penalties, if any, related to tax liabilities as income tax expense in the Statement of Operations. As of February 29, 2024, tax years 2020 through 2023 remain subject to examination by the Fund’s major tax jurisdictions, which include the United States of America and the State of Delaware.

When-Issued and Delayed-Delivery Transactions

The Fund may engage in when-issued or delayed-delivery transactions. The Fund records when-issued securities on the trade date and maintains security positions such that sufficient liquid assets will be available to make payment for the securities purchased. Securities purchased on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis are marked to market daily and begin earning interest on the settlement date. Losses may occur on these transactions due to changes in market conditions or the failure of counterparties to perform under the contract.

Restricted Securities

The Fund may purchase securities which are considered restricted. Restricted securities are securities that either: (a) cannot be offered for public sale without first being registered, or being able to take advantage of an exemption from registration, under the Securities Act of 1933; or (b) are subject to contractual restrictions on public sales. In some cases, when a security cannot be offered for public sale without first being registered, the issuer of the restricted security has agreed to register such securities for resale, at the issuer’s expense, either upon demand by the Fund or in connection with another registered offering of the securities. Many such restricted securities may be resold in the secondary market in transactions exempt from registration. Restricted securities may be determined to be liquid under criteria established by the Trustees. The Fund will not incur any registration costs upon such resales. The Fund’s restricted securities, like other securities, are priced in accordance with procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Adviser.

Other

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts of assets, liabilities, expenses and revenues reported in the financial statements. Actual results could differ materially from those estimated. The Fund applies investment company accounting and reporting guidance.

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3. SHARES OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST

The following table summarizes share activity: 

	Six Months Ended 2/29/2024	Year Ended 8/31/2023
Shares sold	9,040,149	34,871,466
Shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	325,858	572,170
Shares redeemed	(5,876,150)	(30,916,575)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM FUND SHARE TRANSACTIONS	3,489,857	4,527,061

4. FEDERAL TAX INFORMATION

At February 29, 2024, the cost of investments for federal tax purposes was $207,096,513. The net unrealized appreciation of investments for federal tax purposes was $17,194. This consists of unrealized appreciation from investments for those securities having an excess of value over cost of $33,733 and unrealized depreciation from investments for those securities having an excess of cost over value of $16,539.

As of August 31, 2023, the Fund had a capital loss carryforward of $2,657 which will reduce the Fund’s taxable income arising from future net realized gains on investments, if any, to the extent permitted by the Code, thereby reducing the amount of distributions to shareholders which would otherwise be necessary to relieve the Fund of any liability for federal income tax. Pursuant to the Code, these net capital losses retain their character as either short-term or long-term and do not expire.

The following schedule summarizes the Fund’s capital loss carryforwards: 

Short-Term	Long-Term	Total
$2,657	$—	$2,657

5. INVESTMENT ADVISER FEE AND OTHER TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

Investment Adviser Fee

The advisory agreement between the Fund and the Adviser provides for an annual fee equal to 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, the Adviser may voluntarily choose to waive any portion of its fee and/or reimburse certain operating expenses of the Fund for competitive reasons such as to maintain the Fund’s expense ratio, or as and when appropriate, to maintain positive or zero net yields. For the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Adviser voluntarily waived $190,850 of its fee and voluntarily reimbursed $810 of other operating expenses.

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Administrative Fee

Federated Administrative Services (FAS), under the Administrative Services Agreement, provides the Fund with administrative personnel and services. For purposes of determining the appropriate rate breakpoint, “Investment Complex” is defined as all of the Federated Hermes Funds subject to a fee under the Administrative Services Agreement. The fee paid to FAS is based on the average daily net assets of the Investment Complex as specified below: 

Administrative Fee	Average Daily Net Assets of the Investment Complex
0.100%	on assets up to $50 billion
0.075%	on assets over $50 billion

Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, FAS may voluntarily choose to waive any portion of its fee. For the six months ended February 29, 2024, the annualized fee paid to FAS was 0.078% of average daily net assets of the Fund.

In addition, FAS may charge certain out-of-pocket expenses to the Fund.

Expense Limitation

The Adviser and certain of its affiliates (which may include FAS) on their own initiative have agreed to waive certain amounts of their respective fees and/or reimburse expenses. Total annual fund operating expenses (as shown in the financial highlights, excluding interest expense, extraordinary expenses, and proxy-related expenses, if any) paid by the Fund’s Institutional Shares (after the voluntary waivers and/or reimbursements) will not exceed 0.25% (the “Fee Limit”), up to but not including the later of (the “Termination Date”): (a) November 1, 2024; or (b) the date of the Fund’s next effective Prospectus. While the Adviser and its applicable affiliates currently do not anticipate terminating or increasing these arrangements prior to the Termination Date, these arrangements may only be terminated or the Fee Limit increased prior to the Termination Date with the agreement of the Trustees.

Interfund Transactions

During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Fund engaged in purchase and sale transactions with funds that have a common investment adviser (or affiliated investment advisers), common Directors/Trustees and/or common Officers. These purchase and sale transactions complied with Rule 17a-7 under the Act and amounted to $19,000,000 and $48,564,000, respectively. Net realized gain/loss recognized on these transactions was $0.

Directors’/Trustees’ and Miscellaneous Fees

Certain Officers and Trustees of the Fund are Officers and Directors or Trustees of certain of the above companies. To efficiently facilitate payment, Independent Directors’/Trustees’ fees and certain expenses related to conducting meetings of the Directors/Trustees and other miscellaneous expenses are paid by an affiliate of the Adviser which in due course are reimbursed by the Fund. These expenses related to conducting meetings of the Directors/Trustees and other miscellaneous expenses may be included in Accrued and Miscellaneous Expenses on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Statement of Operations, respectively.

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6. INVESTMENT TRANSACTIONS

Purchases and sales of investments, excluding long-term U.S. government securities and short-term obligations, for the six months ended February 29, 2024, were as follows: 

Purchases	$5,180,004
Sales	$2,148,400

7. LINE OF CREDIT

The Fund participates with certain other Federated Hermes Funds, on a several basis, in an up to $500,000,000 unsecured, 364-day, committed, revolving line of credit (LOC) agreement dated June 21, 2023. The LOC was made available to temporarily finance the repurchase or redemption of shares of the Fund, failed trades, payment of dividends, settlement of trades and for other short-term, temporary or emergency general business purposes. The Fund cannot borrow under the LOC if an inter-fund loan is outstanding. The Fund’s ability to borrow under the LOC also is subject to the limitations of the Act and various conditions precedent that must be satisfied before the Fund can borrow. Loans under the LOC are charged interest at a fluctuating rate per annum equal to (a) the highest, on any day, of (i) the federal funds effective rate, (ii) the published secured overnight financing rate plus an assigned percentage, and (iii) 0.0%, plus (b) a margin. Any fund eligible to borrow under the LOC pays its pro rata share of a commitment fee based on the amount of the lenders’ commitment that has not been utilized, quarterly in arrears and at maturity. As of February 29, 2024, the Fund had no outstanding loans. During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Fund did not utilize the LOC.

8. INTERFUND LENDING

Pursuant to an Exemptive Order issued by the SEC, the Fund, along with other funds advised by subsidiaries of Federated Hermes, Inc., may participate in an interfund lending program. This program provides an alternative credit facility allowing the Fund to borrow from other participating affiliated funds. As of February 29, 2024, there were no outstanding loans. During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the program was not utilized.

9. INDEMNIFICATIONS

Under the Fund’s organizational documents, its Officers and Directors/Trustees are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties to the Fund (other than liabilities arising out of their willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of their duties to the Fund). In addition, in the normal course of business, the Fund provides certain indemnifications under arrangements with third parties. Typically, obligations to indemnify a third party arise in the context of an arrangement entered into by the Fund under which the Fund agrees to indemnify such third party for certain liabilities arising out of actions taken pursuant to the arrangement, provided the third party’s actions are not deemed to have breached an agreed-upon standard of care (such as willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of their duties under the contract). The Fund’s maximum exposure under

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these arrangements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet arisen. The Fund does not anticipate any material claims or losses pursuant to these arrangements at this time, and accordingly expects the risk of loss to be remote.

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Shareholder Expense Example (unaudited)

As a shareholder of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees and to the extent applicable, distribution (12b-1) fees and/or other service fees and other Fund expenses. This Example is intended to help you to understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds. It is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from September 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024.

ACTUAL EXPENSES

The first section of the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this section, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you incurred over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first section under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses attributable to your investment during this period.

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

The second section of the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return. Thus, you should not use the hypothetical account values and expenses to estimate the actual ending account balance or your expenses for the period. Rather, these figures are required to be provided to enable you to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund with other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

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Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. Therefore, the second section of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. 

	Beginning Account Value 9/1/2023	Ending Account Value 2/29/2024	Expenses Paid During Period1
Actual	$1,000	$1,019.00	$1.152
Hypothetical (assuming a 5% return before expenses)	$1,000	$1,023.72	$1.162

 

1	Expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio of 0.23%, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 182/366 (to reflect the one-half-year period).
2	Actual and Hypothetical expenses paid during the period utilizing the Fund’s current Fee Limit of 0.25% (as reflected in the Notes to Financial Statements, Note 5 under Expense Limitation), multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 182/366 (to reflect the one-half-year period) would be $1.25 and $1.26, respectively.

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Evaluation and Approval of Advisory Contract–May 2023

Federated Hermes Conservative Municipal Microshort Fund (the “Fund”)

At its meetings in May 2023 (the “May Meetings”), the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”), including those Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Fund, as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Independent Trustees”), reviewed and unanimously approved the continuation of the investment advisory contract between the Fund and Federated Investment Management Company (the “Adviser”) (the “Contract”) for an additional one-year term. The Board’s determination to approve the continuation of the Contract reflects the exercise of its business judgment after considering all of the information and factors believed to be relevant and appropriate on whether to approve the continuation of the existing arrangement. The information, factors and conclusions that formed the basis for the Board’s approval are summarized below.

Information Received and Review Process

At the request of the Independent Trustees, the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer (the “CCO”) furnished to the Board in advance of its May Meetings an independent written evaluation of the Fund’s management fee (the “CCO Fee Evaluation Report”). The Board considered the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, along with other information, in evaluating the reasonableness of the Fund’s management fee and in determining to approve the continuation of the Contract. The CCO, in preparing the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, has the authority to retain consultants, experts or staff as reasonably necessary to assist in the performance of his duties, reports directly to the Board, and can be terminated only with the approval of a majority of the Independent Trustees. At the request of the Independent Trustees, the CCO Fee Evaluation Report followed the same general approach and covered the same topics as that of the report that had previously been delivered by the CCO in his capacity as “Senior Officer” prior to the elimination of the Senior Officer position in December 2017.

In addition to the extensive materials that comprise and accompany the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, the Board considered information specifically prepared in connection with the approval of the continuation of the Contract that was presented at the May Meetings. In this regard, in the months preceding the May Meetings, the Board requested and reviewed written responses and supporting materials prepared by the Adviser and its affiliates (collectively, “Federated Hermes”) in response to requests posed to Federated Hermes by independent legal counsel on behalf of the Independent Trustees encompassing a wide variety of topics, including those summarized below. The Board also considered such additional matters as the Independent Trustees deemed

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reasonably necessary to evaluate the Contract, which included detailed information about the Fund and Federated Hermes furnished to the Board at its meetings throughout the year and in between regularly scheduled meetings on particular matters as the need arose.

The Board’s consideration of the Contract included review of materials and information covering the following matters, among others: the nature, quality and extent of the advisory and other services provided to the Fund by Federated Hermes; Federated Hermes’ business and operations; the Adviser’s investment philosophy, personnel and processes; the Fund’s investment objectives and strategies; the Fund’s short-term and long-term performance (in absolute terms, both on a gross basis and net of expenses, and relative to the Fund’s particular investment program and a group of its peer funds and/or its benchmark, as appropriate); the Fund’s fees and expenses, including the advisory fee and the overall expense structure of the Fund (both in absolute terms and relative to a group of its peer funds), with due regard for contractual or voluntary expense limitations (if any); the financial condition of Federated Hermes; the Adviser’s profitability with respect to managing the Fund; distribution and sales activity for the Fund; and the use and allocation of brokerage commissions derived from trading the Fund’s portfolio securities (if any).

The Board also considered judicial decisions concerning allegedly excessive investment advisory fees charged to other registered funds in evaluating the Contract. Using these judicial decisions as a guide, the Board observed that the following factors may be relevant to an adviser’s fiduciary duty with respect to its receipt of compensation from a fund: (1) the nature and quality of the services provided by the adviser to the fund and its shareholders, including the performance of the fund, its benchmark and comparable funds; (2) the adviser’s cost of providing the services and the profitability to the adviser of providing advisory services to the fund; (3) the extent to which the adviser may realize “economies of scale” as the fund grows larger and, if such economies of scale exist, whether they have been appropriately shared with the fund and its shareholders or the family of funds; (4) any “fall-out” benefits that accrue to the adviser because of its relationship with the fund, including research services received from brokers that execute fund trades and any fees paid to affiliates of the adviser for services rendered to the fund; (5) comparative fee and expense structures, including a comparison of management fees paid to the adviser with those paid by similar funds managed by the same adviser or other advisers as well as management fees charged to institutional and other advisory clients of the same adviser for what might be viewed as like services; and (6) the extent of care, conscientiousness and independence with which the fund’s board members perform their duties and their expertise, including whether they are fully informed about all facts the board deems relevant to its consideration of the adviser’s services and fees. The Board noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) disclosure requirements

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regarding the basis for a fund board’s approval of the fund’s investment advisory contract generally align with the factors listed above. The Board was guided by these factors in its evaluation of the Contract to the extent it considered them to be appropriate and relevant, as discussed further below. The Board considered and weighed these factors in light of its substantial accumulated experience in governing the Fund and working with Federated Hermes on matters relating to the oversight of the other funds advised by Federated Hermes (each, a “Federated Hermes Fund” and, collectively, the “Federated Hermes Funds”).

In addition, the Board considered the preferences and expectations of Fund shareholders and the potential disruptions of the Fund’s operations and various risks, uncertainties and other effects that could occur as a result of a decision to terminate or not renew the Contract. In particular, the Board recognized that many shareholders likely have invested in the Fund based on the strength of Federated Hermes’ industry standing and reputation and with the expectation that Federated Hermes will have a continuing role in providing advisory services to the Fund. Thus, the Board observed that there are a range of investment options available to the Fund’s shareholders and such shareholders in the marketplace, having had the opportunity to consider other investment options, have effectively selected Federated Hermes by virtue of investing in the Fund.

In determining to approve the continuation of the Contract, the members of the Board reviewed and evaluated information and factors they believed to be relevant and appropriate through the exercise of their reasonable business judgment. While individual members of the Board may have weighed certain factors differently, the Board’s determination to approve the continuation of the Contract was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Board throughout the year and specifically with respect to the continuation of the Contract. The Board recognized that its evaluation process is evolutionary and that the factors considered and emphasis placed on relevant factors may change in recognition of changing circumstances in the registered fund marketplace. The Independent Trustees were assisted throughout the evaluation process by independent legal counsel. In connection with their deliberations at the May Meetings, the Independent Trustees met separately in executive session with their independent legal counsel and without management present to review the relevant materials and consider their responsibilities under applicable laws. In addition, senior management representatives of Federated Hermes also met with the Independent Trustees and their independent legal counsel to discuss the materials and presentations furnished to the Board at the May Meetings. The Board considered the approval of the Contract for the Fund as part of its consideration of agreements for funds across the family of Federated Hermes Funds, but its approvals were made on a fund-by-fund basis.

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Nature, Extent and Quality of Services

The Board considered the nature, extent and quality of the services provided to the Fund by the Adviser and the resources of Federated Hermes dedicated to the Fund. In this regard, the Board evaluated, among other things, the terms of the Contract and the range of services provided to the Fund by Federated Hermes. The Board considered the Adviser’s personnel, investment philosophy and process, investment research capabilities and resources, trade operations capabilities, experience and performance track record. The Board reviewed the qualifications, backgrounds and responsibilities of the portfolio management team primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and Federated Hermes’ ability and experience in attracting and retaining qualified personnel to service the Fund. The Board considered the trading operations by the Advisers, including the execution of portfolio transactions and the selection of brokers for those transactions. The Board also considered the Adviser’s ability to deliver competitive investment performance for the Fund when compared to the Fund’s Performance Peer Group (as defined below), which was deemed by the Board to be a useful indicator of how the Adviser is executing the Fund’s investment program.

In addition, the Board considered the financial resources and overall reputation of Federated Hermes and its willingness to consider and make investments in personnel, infrastructure, technology, cybersecurity, business continuity planning and operational enhancements that are designed to benefit the Federated Hermes Funds. The Board noted that the significant acquisition of Hermes Fund Managers Limited by Federated Hermes has deepened Federated Hermes’ investment management expertise and capabilities and its access to analytical resources related to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors and issuer engagement on ESG matters. The Board considered Federated Hermes’ oversight of the securities lending program for the Federated Hermes Funds that engage in securities lending and noted the income earned by the Federated Hermes Funds that participate in such program. In addition, the Board considered the quality of Federated Hermes’ communications with the Board and responsiveness to Board inquiries and requests made from time to time with respect to the Federated Hermes Funds. The Board also considered that Federated Hermes is responsible for providing the Federated Hermes Funds’ officers.

The Board received and evaluated information regarding Federated Hermes’ regulatory and compliance environment. The Board considered Federated Hermes’ compliance program and compliance history and reports from the CCO about Federated Hermes’ compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including responses to regulatory developments and any compliance or other issues raised by regulatory agencies. The Board also noted Federated Hermes’ support of the Federated Hermes Funds’ compliance control structure and the compliance-related resources devoted by Federated Hermes in support of the Fund’s obligations pursuant to Rule 38a-1 under the

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Investment Company Act of 1940, including Federated Hermes’ commitment to respond to rulemaking and other regulatory initiatives of the SEC. The Board considered Federated Hermes’ approach to internal audits and risk management with respect to the Federated Hermes Funds and its day-to-day oversight of the Federated Hermes Funds’ compliance with their investment objectives and policies as well as with applicable laws and regulations, noting that regulatory and other developments had over time led, and continue to lead, to an increase in the scope of Federated Hermes’ oversight in this regard, including in connection with the implementation of new rules on derivatives risk management and fair valuation.

The Board also considered the implementation of Federated Hermes’ business continuity plans. In addition, the Board noted Federated Hermes’ commitment to maintaining high quality systems and expending substantial resources to prepare for and respond to ongoing changes due to the market, regulatory and control environments in which the Fund and its service providers operate.

The Board considered Federated Hermes’ efforts to provide shareholders in the Federated Hermes Funds with a comprehensive array of funds with different investment objectives, policies and strategies. The Board considered the expenses that Federated Hermes had incurred, as well as the entrepreneurial and other risks assumed by Federated Hermes, in sponsoring and providing on-going services to new funds to expand these opportunities for shareholders. The Board noted the benefits to shareholders of being part of the family of Federated Hermes Funds, which include the general right to exchange investments between the same class of shares without the incurrence of additional sales charges.

Based on these considerations, the Board concluded that it was satisfied with the nature, extent and quality of the services provided by the Adviser to the Fund.

Fund Investment Performance

The Board considered the investment performance of the Fund. In evaluating the Fund’s investment performance, the Board considered performance results in light of the Fund’s investment objective, strategies and risks. The Board considered detailed investment reports on, and the Adviser’s analysis of, the Fund’s performance over different time periods that were provided to the Board throughout the year and in connection with the May Meetings. These reports included, among other items, information on the Fund’s gross and net returns, the Fund’s investment performance compared to one or more relevant categories or groups of peer funds and the Fund’s benchmark index, performance attribution information and commentary on the effect of market conditions. The Board considered that, in its evaluation of investment performance at meetings throughout the year, it focused particular attention on information indicating less favorable performance of certain

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Federated Hermes Funds for specific time periods and discussed with Federated Hermes the reasons for such performance as well as any specific actions Federated Hermes had taken, or had agreed to take, to seek to enhance Fund investment performance and the results of those actions.

The Board also reviewed comparative information regarding the performance of other registered funds in the category of peer funds selected by Morningstar, Inc. (the “Morningstar”), an independent fund ranking organization (the “Performance Peer Group”). The Board noted the CCO’s view that comparisons to fund peer groups may be helpful, though not conclusive, in evaluating the performance of the Adviser in managing the Fund. The Board considered in the CCO’s view that, in evaluating such comparisons, in some cases there may be differences in the funds’ objectives or investment management techniques, or the costs to implement the funds, even within the same Performance Peer Group.

The Board considered that for the one-year period ended December 31, 2022, the Fund’s performance was above the median of the Performance Peer Group.

Based on these considerations, the Board concluded that it had continued confidence in the Adviser’s overall capabilities to manage the Fund.

Fund Expenses

The Board considered the advisory fee and overall expense structure of the Fund and the comparative fee and expense information that had been provided in connection with the May Meetings. In this regard, the Board was presented with, and considered, information regarding the contractual advisory fee rates, net advisory fee rates, total expense ratios and each element of the Fund’s total expense ratio (i.e., gross and net advisory fees, administrative fees, custody fees, portfolio accounting fees and transfer agency fees) relative to an appropriate group of peer funds compiled by Federated Hermes from the category of peer funds selected by Morningstar (the “Expense Peer Group”). The Board received a description of the methodology used to select the Expense Peer Group from the overall Morningstar category. The Board also reviewed comparative information regarding the fees and expenses of the broader group of funds in the overall Morningstar category.

While mindful that courts have cautioned against giving too much weight to comparative information concerning fees charged to funds by other advisers, the use of comparisons between the Fund and its Expense Peer Group assisted the Board in its evaluation of the Fund’s fees and expenses. The Board focused on comparisons with other registered funds with comparable investment programs more heavily than non-registered fund products or services because such comparisons are believed to be more relevant. The Board considered that other registered funds are the products most like the Fund, in that they are readily available to Fund shareholders as alternative investment vehicles, and they are the type of investment vehicle, in fact, chosen and maintained by the

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Fund’s shareholders. The Board noted that the range of such other registered funds’ fees and expenses, therefore, appears to be a relevant indicator of what investors have found to be reasonable in the marketplace in which the Fund competes.

The Board noted that, for the year ended December 31, 2022, the Fund’s investment advisory fee was waived in its entirety. The Board reviewed the contractual advisory fee rate, net advisory fee rate and other expenses of the Fund with the Adviser and noted the position of the Fund’s fee rates relative to its Expense Peer Group. In this regard, the Board noted that the contractual advisory fee rate was below the median of the Expense Peer Group and the Board was satisfied that the overall expense structure of the Fund remained competitive.

The Board also received and considered information about the nature and extent of services offered and fees charged by Federated Hermes to other types of clients with investment strategies similar to those of the Federated Hermes Funds, including non-registered fund clients (such as institutional separate accounts) and third-party unaffiliated registered funds for which the Adviser or its affiliates serve as sub-adviser. The Board noted the CCO’s conclusion that non-registered fund clients are inherently different products due to the following differences, among others: (i) different types of targeted investors; (ii) different applicable laws and regulations; (iii) different legal structures; (iv) different average account sizes and portfolio management techniques made necessary by different cash flows and different associated costs; (v) the time spent by portfolio managers and their teams (among other personnel across various departments, including legal, compliance and risk management) in reviewing securities pricing and fund liquidity; (vi) different administrative responsibilities; (vii) different degrees of risk associated with management; and (viii) a variety of different costs. The Board also considered information regarding the differences in the nature of the services required for Federated Hermes to manage its proprietary registered fund business versus managing a discrete pool of assets as a sub-adviser to another institution’s registered fund, noting the CCO’s view that Federated Hermes generally performs significant additional services and assumes substantially greater risks in managing the Fund and other Federated Hermes Funds than in its role as sub-adviser to an unaffiliated third-party registered fund. The Board noted that the CCO did not consider the fees for providing advisory services to other types of clients to be determinative in judging the appropriateness of the Federated Hermes Funds’ advisory fees.

Based on these considerations, the Board concluded that the fees and total operating expenses of the Fund, in conjunction with other matters considered, are reasonable in light of the services provided.

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Profitability

The Board received and considered profitability information furnished by Federated Hermes, as requested by the CCO. Such profitability information included revenues reported on a fund-by-fund basis and estimates of the allocation of expenses made on a fund-by-fund basis, using allocation methodologies specified by the CCO and described to the Board. The Board considered the CCO’s view that, while these cost allocation reports apply consistent allocation processes, the inherent difficulties in allocating costs on a fund-by-fund basis continues to cause the CCO to question the precision of the process and to conclude that such reports may be unreliable because a single change in an allocation estimate may dramatically alter the resulting estimate of cost and/or profitability of a Federated Hermes Fund and may produce unintended consequences. In addition, the Board considered the CCO’s view that the allocation methodologies used by Federated Hermes in estimating profitability for purposes of reporting to the Board in connection with the continuation of the Contract are consistent with the methodologies previously reviewed by an independent consultant. The Board noted that the independent consultant had previously conducted a review of the allocation methodologies and reported to the Board that, although there is no single best method to allocate expenses, the methodologies used by Federated Hermes are reasonable. The Board considered the CCO’s view that the estimated profitability to the Adviser from its relationship with the Fund was not unreasonable in relation to the services provided.

The Board also reviewed information compiled by Federated Hermes comparing its profitability information to other publicly held fund management companies, including information regarding profitability trends over time. The Board recognized that profitability comparisons among fund management companies are difficult because of the variation in the type of comparative information that is publicly available, and the profitability of any fund management company is affected by numerous factors. The Board considered the CCO’s conclusion that, based on such profitability information, Federated Hermes’ profit margins did not appear to be excessive. The Board also considered the CCO’s view that Federated Hermes appeared financially sound, with the resources necessary to fulfill its obligations under its contracts with the Federated Hermes Funds.

Economies of Scale

The Board received and considered information about the notion of possible realization of “economies of scale” as a fund grows larger, the difficulties of determining economies of scale at an individual fund level, and the extent to which potential scale benefits are shared with shareholders. In this regard, the Board considered that Federated Hermes has made significant and long-term investments in areas that support all of the Federated Hermes Funds, such as: portfolio management, investment research and trading operations; shareholder services; compliance; business continuity, cybersecurity and information

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security programs; internal audit and risk management functions; and technology and use of data. The Board noted that Federated Hermes’ investments in these areas are extensive and are designed to provide enhanced services to the Federated Hermes Funds and their shareholders. The Board considered that the benefits of these investments are likely to be shared with the family of Federated Hermes Funds as a whole. In addition, the Board considered that fee waivers and expense reimbursements are another means for potential economies of scale to be shared with shareholders and can provide protection from an increase in expenses if a Federated Hermes Fund’s assets decline. The Board considered that, in order for the Federated Hermes Funds to remain competitive in the marketplace, Federated Hermes has frequently waived fees and/or reimbursed expenses for the Federated Hermes Funds and has disclosed to shareholders and/or reported to the Board its intention to do so (or continue to do so) in the future. The Board also considered that Federated Hermes has been active in managing expenses of the Federated Hermes Funds in recent years, which has resulted in benefits being realized by shareholders.

The Board also received and considered information on adviser-paid fees (commonly referred to as “revenue sharing” payments) that was provided to the Board throughout the year and in connection with the May Meetings. The Board considered that Federated Hermes and the CCO believe that this information is relevant to considering whether Federated Hermes had an incentive to either not apply breakpoints, or to apply breakpoints at higher levels, but should not be considered when evaluating the reasonableness of advisory fees. The Board also noted the absence of any applicable regulatory or industry guidelines economies of scale, which is compounded by the lack of any uniform methodology or pattern with respect to structuring fund advisory fees with breakpoints that serve to reduce the fees as a fund attains a certain size.

Other Benefits

The Board considered information regarding the compensation and other ancillary (or “fall-out”) benefits that Federated Hermes derived from its relationships with the Federated Hermes Funds. The Board noted that, in addition to receiving advisory fees under the Federated Hermes Funds’ investment advisory contracts, Federated Hermes’ affiliates also receive fees for providing other services to the Federated Hermes Funds under separate service contracts including for serving as the Federated Hermes Funds’ administrator and distributor. In this regard, the Board considered that certain of Federated Hermes’ affiliates provide distribution and shareholder services to the Federated Hermes Funds, for which they may be compensated through distribution and servicing fees paid pursuant to Rule 12b-1 plans or otherwise. The Board also received and considered information detailing the benefits, if any, that Federated Hermes may derive from its receipt of research services from brokers who execute portfolio trades for the Federated Hermes Funds.

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Conclusions

The Board considered: (i) the CCO’s conclusion that his observations and the information accompanying the CCO Fee Evaluation Report show that the management fee for the Fund is reasonable; and (ii) the CCO’s recommendation that the Board approve the management fee. The Board noted that, under these circumstances, no changes were recommended to, and no objection was raised to the continuation of, the Contract by the CCO. The CCO also recognized that the Board’s evaluation of the Federated Hermes Funds’ advisory and sub-advisory arrangements is a continuing and ongoing process that is informed by the information that the Board requests and receives from management throughout the course of the year and, in this regard, the CCO noted certain items for future reporting to the Board or further consideration by management as the Board continues its ongoing oversight of the Federated Hermes Funds.

On the basis of the information and factors summarized above, among other information and factors deemed relevant by the Board, and the evaluation thereof, the Board, including the Independent Trustees, unanimously voted to approve the continuation of the Contract. The Board based its determination to approve the Contract on the totality of the circumstances and relevant factors and with a view of past and future long-term considerations. Not all of the factors and considerations identified above were necessarily deemed to be relevant to the Fund, nor did the Board consider any one of them to be determinative.

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Liquidity Risk Management Program–
Annual Evaluation of Adequacy and Effectiveness

In accordance with Rule 22e-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Liquidity Rule”), Federated Hermes Adviser Series (the Trust) has adopted and implemented a liquidity risk management program (the “Program”) for Federated Hermes Conservative Municipal Microshort Fund (the “Fund” and, collectively with the other non-money market open-end funds advised by Federated Hermes, the “Federated Hermes Funds”). The Program seeks to assess and manage the Fund’s liquidity risk. “Liquidity risk” is defined under the Liquidity Rule as the risk that the Fund is unable to meet redemption requests without significantly diluting remaining investors’ interests in the Fund. The Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”) has approved the designation of each Federated Hermes Fund’s investment adviser as the administrator for the Program (the “Administrator”) with respect to that Fund. The Administrator, in turn, has delegated day-to-day responsibility for the administration of the Program to multiple Liquidity Risk Management Committees, which are comprised of representatives from certain divisions within Federated Hermes.

The Program is comprised of various components designed to support the assessment and/or management of liquidity risk, including: (1) the periodic assessment (no less frequently than annually) of certain factors that influence the Fund’s liquidity risk; (2) the periodic classification (no less frequently than monthly) of the Fund’s investments into one of four liquidity categories that reflect an estimate of their liquidity under current market conditions; (3) a 15% limit on the acquisition of “illiquid investments” (as defined under the Liquidity Rule); (4) to the extent a Fund does not invest primarily in “highly liquid investments” (as defined under the Liquidity Rule), the determination of a minimum percentage of the Fund’s assets that generally will be invested in highly liquid investments (an “HLIM”); (5) if a Fund has established an HLIM, the periodic review (no less frequently than annually) of the HLIM and the adoption of policies and procedures for responding to a shortfall of the Fund’s highly liquid investments below its HLIM; and (6) periodic reporting to the Board.

At its meetings in May 2023, the Board received and reviewed a written report (the “Report”) from the Federated Hermes Funds’ Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Risk Officer, on behalf of the Administrator, concerning the operation of the Program for the period from April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023 (the “Period”). The Report addressed the operation of the Program and assessed the adequacy and effectiveness of its implementation, including, where applicable, the operation of any HLIM established for a Federated Hermes Fund. There were no material changes to the Program during the Period. The Report summarized the operation of the Program and

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the information and factors considered by the Administrator in assessing whether the Program has been adequately and effectively implemented with respect to the Federated Hermes Funds. Such information and factors included, among other things:

■ confirmation that it was not necessary for the Fund to utilize, and the Fund did not utilize, any alternative funding sources that were available to the Federated Hermes Funds during the Period, such as the Federated Hermes Funds’ interfund lending facility, redemptions in-kind, reverse repurchase agreement transactions, redemptions delayed beyond the normal T+1 settlement but within seven days of the redemption request, and committed lines of credit;

■ the periodic classifications of the Fund’s investments into one of four liquidity categories and the methodologies and inputs used to classify the investments, including the Fund’s reasonably anticipated trade size;

■ the analysis received from a third-party liquidity assessment vendor that is taken into account in the process of determining the liquidity classifications of the Fund’s investments, and the results of the Administrator’s evaluation of the services performed by the vendor in support of this process, including the Administrator’s view that the methodologies utilized by the vendor continue to be appropriate;

■ the fact that the Fund invested primarily in highly liquid investments during the Period and, therefore, was not required to establish, and has not established, an HLIM and the operation of the procedures for monitoring the status of the Fund as investing primarily in highly liquid investments;

■ the fact that the Fund invested no more than 15% of its assets in illiquid investments during the Period, and the operation of the procedures for monitoring this limit;

■ the fact that there were no liquidity events during the Period that materially affected the Fund’s liquidity risk;

■ the impact on liquidity and management of liquidity risk, if any, caused by extended non-U.S. market closures and confirmation that there were no issues for any of the affected Federated Hermes Funds in meeting shareholder redemptions at any time during these temporary non-U.S. market closures.

Based on this review, the Administrator concluded that the Program is operating effectively to assess and manage the Fund’s liquidity risk, and that the Program has been and continues to be adequately and effectively implemented to monitor and, as applicable, respond to the Fund’s liquidity developments.

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Voting Proxies on Fund Portfolio Securities

A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies, if any, relating to securities held in the Fund’s portfolio is available, without charge and upon request, by calling 1-800-341-7400, Option #4. A report on “Form N-PX” of how the Fund voted any such proxies during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available via the Proxy Voting Record (Form N-PX) link associated with the Fund and share class name at FederatedHermes.com/us/FundInformation. Form N-PX filings are also available at the SEC’s website at sec.gov.

Quarterly Portfolio Schedule

Each fiscal quarter, the Fund will file with the SEC a complete schedule of its monthly portfolio holdings on “Form N-PORT.” The Fund’s holdings as of the end of the third month of every fiscal quarter, as reported on Form N-PORT, will be publicly available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov within 60 days of the end of the fiscal quarter upon filing. You may also access this information via the link to the Fund and share class name at FederatedHermes.com/us.

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Mutual funds are not bank deposits or obligations, are not guaranteed by any bank and are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. government, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency. Investment in mutual funds involves investment risk, including the possible loss of principal.

This Report is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by the Fund’s Prospectus, which contains facts concerning its objective and policies, management fees, expenses and other information.

 IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT FUND DOCUMENT DELIVERY 

In an effort to reduce costs and avoid duplicate mailings, the Fund(s) intend to deliver a single copy of certain documents to each household in which more than one shareholder of the Fund(s) resides (so-called “householding”), as permitted by applicable rules. The Fund’s “householding” program covers its/their Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, and supplements to each, as well as Semi-Annual and Annual Shareholder Reports and any Proxies or information statements. Shareholders must give their written consent to participate in the “householding” program. The Fund is also permitted to treat a shareholder as having given consent (“implied consent”) if (i) shareholders with the same last name, or believed to be members of the same family, reside at the same street address or receive mail at the same post office box, (ii) the Fund gives notice of its intent to “household” at least sixty (60) days before it begins “householding” and (iii) none of the shareholders in the household have notified the Fund(s) or their agent of the desire to “opt out” of “householding.” Shareholders who have granted written consent, or have been deemed to have granted implied consent, can revoke that consent and opt out of “householding” at any time: shareholders who purchased shares through an intermediary should contact their representative; other shareholders may call the Fund at 1-800-341-7400, Option #4.

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

35

  

 

Federated Hermes Conservative Municipal Microshort Fund
Federated Hermes Funds
4000 Ericsson Drive
Warrendale, PA 15086-7561

Contact us atFederatedHermes.com/us
or call 1-800-341-7400.

Federated Securities Corp., Distributor

CUSIP 31423A457

Q455159 (4/24)

© 2024 Federated Hermes, Inc.

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

February 29, 2024

 

 

Share Class | Ticker Institutional | FHHIX R6 | FHHRX

Federated Hermes SDG Engagement High Yield Credit Fund

Fund Established 2019

A Portfolio of Federated Hermes Adviser Series

Dear Valued Shareholder,

We are pleased to present the Semi-Annual Shareholder Report for your fund covering the period from September 1, 2023 through February 29, 2024. This report includes a complete listing of your fund’s holdings, performance information and financial statements along with other important fund information.

The fund invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of high yield fixed-income securities that, in its view, provide the potential for current income and long-term capital appreciation while also contributing to positive societal impact aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Through our pioneering engagement group, EOS at Federated Hermes, we engage with company leaders with the aim of improving on their environmental, social and governance factors, as well as gaining a deep understanding of their business strategy and purpose to ensure company behaviors align with the long-term interests of our clients.

As a global leader in active, responsible investment management, Federated Hermes is guided by our conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create wealth over the long term. The company provides capabilities across a wide range of asset classes to investors around the world.

In addition, FederatedHermes.com/us offers quick and easy access to valuable resources that include timely fund updates, economic and market insights from our investment strategists and financial planning tools. You can also access many of those insights by following us on Twitter (@FederatedHermes) and LinkedIn.

Thank you for investing with us. We hope you find this information useful and look forward to keeping you informed.

Sincerely, J. Christopher Donahue, President

Not FDIC Insured ▪ May Lose Value ▪ No Bank Guarantee

CONTENTS 

Portfolio of Investments Summary Table	1
Portfolio of Investments	2
Financial Highlights	9
Statement of Assets and Liabilities	11
Statement of Operations	12
Statement of Changes in Net Assets	13
Notes to Financial Statements	14
Shareholder Expense Example	22
Evaluation and Approval of Advisory Contract	23
Liquidity Risk Management Program– Annual Evaluation of Adequacy and Effectiveness	29
Voting Proxies on Fund Portfolio Securities	30
Quarterly Portfolio Schedule	30

Portfolio of Investments Summary Table (unaudited)

At February 29, 2024, the Fund’s sector composition1 was as follows: 

Sector Composition	Percentage of Total Net Assets
Banking	12.4%
Basic Industries	10.3%
Telecommunications	7.4%
Capital Goods	7.3%
Utilities	6.1%
Health Care	5.7%
Energy	3.2%
Media	2.8%
Technology & Electronics	1.7%
Consumer Goods	1.7%
Real Estate	1.7%
Consumer Non-Cyclical	1.5%
Packaging	1.4%
Insurance	1.4%
Retail	1.3%
Automotive	1.3%
Consumer Cyclicals	0.7%
Financial Services	0.3%
U.S. Treasuries	22.7%
Sovereign	4.8%
Derivative Contracts2	2.2%
Other Assets and Liabilities—Net3	2.1%
TOTAL	100%

 

1	Sector classifications are based upon, and individual portfolio securities are assigned to, the classifications of the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) except that the Adviser assigns a classification to securities not classified by the GICS and to securities for which the Adviser does not have access to the classification made by the GICS.
2	Based upon net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) or value of the derivative contracts as applicable. Derivative contracts may consist of futures, forwards and swaps. The impact of a derivative contract on the Fund’s performance may be larger than its unrealized appreciation (depreciation) or value may indicate. In many cases, the notional value or amount of a derivative contract may provide a better indication of the contract’s significance to the portfolio. More complete information regarding the Fund’s direct investments in derivative contracts, including unrealized appreciation (depreciation), value and notional values or amounts of such contracts, can be found in the table at the end of the Portfolio of Investments included in this Report.
3	Assets, other than investments in securities and derivative contracts, less liabilities. See Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

1

Portfolio of Investments

February 29, 2024 (unaudited) 

Foreign Currency Par Amount or Principal Amount			Value in U.S. Dollars
		CORPORATE BONDS—68.2%
		Automotive—1.3%
$  500,000		Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 3.815%, 11/2/2027	$   466,491
EUR 300,000		Goodyear Europe B.V., Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 2.750%, 8/15/2028	291,411
266,000		Volvo Car AB, Sr. Unsecd. Note, Series EMTN, 4.250%, 5/31/2028	287,551
		TOTAL	1,045,453
		Banking—12.4%
600,000	1	ABN Amro Bank NV, Jr. Sub. Deb., 4.750%, 9/22/2027	600,655
$  200,000		Akbank TAS, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 5.125%, 3/31/2025	198,362
550,000	1	Ally Financial, Inc., Jr. Sub. Note, Series C, 4.700%, 5/15/2028	433,125
EUR 100,000		Alpha Bank AE, Sub., 5.500%, 6/11/2031	105,243
300,000		Alpha Bank SA, Sr. Pfd., 2.500%, 3/23/2028	301,158
435,000		Aust & NZ Banking Group, Sub., Series EMTN, 5.101%, 2/3/2033	480,172
$  400,000		Banco Btg Pactual/Cayman, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 2.750%, 1/11/2026	377,866
200,000	1	Banco Mercantil De Norte, Jr. Sub. Deb., REGS, 7.500%, 6/27/2029	196,150
200,000	1	Banco Mercantil De Norte, Jr. Sub. Note, REGS, 6.625%, 1/24/2032	175,461
EUR 300,000		Bank of Ireland Group PLC, Sub. Note, Series EMTN, 1.375%, 8/11/2031	300,287
GBP 300,000		Bank of Ireland Group PLC, Sub., Series EMTN, 7.594%, 12/6/2032	389,099
$  600,000	1	Barclays PLC, Jr. Sub. Note, 4.375%, 3/15/2028	472,851
800,000	1	BNP Paribas, Jr. Sub. Note, REGS, 4.625%, 2/25/2031	642,389
EUR 300,000		Cellnex Finance Co. SA, Series EMTN, 2.000%, 2/15/2033	273,821
600,000	1	Commerzbank AG, Jr. Sub. Note, 4.250%, 10/9/2027	531,160
400,000	1	Cooperatieve Rabobank UA, Jr. Sub. Note, 3.250%, 12/29/2026	388,621
400,000	1	Deutsche Bank AG, Jr. Sub. Note, 4.500%, 11/30/2026	344,345
200,000		Deutsche Bank AG, Sr. Unsecd. Note, Series EMTN, 5.625%, 5/19/2031	216,659
$  400,000	1	DNB Bank ASA, Jr. Sub. Note, Series -, 4.875%, 11/12/2024	394,020
350,000	1	First Citizens Bancshares, Inc., Jr. Sub. Note, Series B, 9.524%, 1/4/2027	355,945
700,000	1	ING Groep N.V., Jr. Sub. Note, Series NC10, 4.250%, 5/16/2031	509,397
EUR 480,000	1	Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Jr. Sub. Note, 4.125%, 2/27/2030	429,616
$  200,000		Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Sub., 144A, 5.017%, 6/26/2024	198,749
200,000		Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Sub. Deb., REGS, 4.500%, 11/21/2029	198,038
800,000	1	NatWest Markets plc, Jr. Sub. Note, 4.600%, 6/28/2031	602,455
400,000	1	UBS Group AG, Jr. Sub. Note, REGS, 4.375%, 2/10/2031	320,490
200,000	1	UBS Group AG, Jr. Sub. Note, REGS, 4.875%, 2/12/2027	182,590
EUR 400,000	1	UniCredit SpA, Jr. Sub. Note, Series EMTN, 3.875%, 6/3/2027	376,895
		TOTAL	9,995,619
		Basic Industries—10.3%
$  525,000		Alcoa Nederland Holding B.V., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 4.125%, 3/31/2029	481,371
800,000		Ashland LLC, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 3.375%, 9/1/2031	671,038
600,000		Cemex SAB de CV, REGS, 3.875%, 7/11/2031	523,460
195,000		CF Industries Holdings, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 4.950%, 6/1/2043	173,594
45,000		CF Industries Holdings, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 5.150%, 3/15/2034	43,568
320,000		Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 4.625%, 3/1/2029	294,147
40,000		Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 7.000%, 3/15/2027	39,402
EUR 100,000		Graphic Packaging International Corp., Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 2.625%, 2/1/2029	99,825
100,000		Graphic Packaging International, LLC, Unsecd. Note, 144A, 2.625%, 2/1/2029	99,825
$  200,000		GUSAP III, LP, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 4.250%, 1/21/2030	187,053

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

2

Foreign Currency Par Amount or Principal Amount			Value in U.S. Dollars
		CORPORATE BONDS—continued
		Basic Industries—continued
$  320,000		Huntsman International LLC, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 2.950%, 6/15/2031	$   263,670
395,000		KB HOME, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 4.000%, 6/15/2031	343,392
175,000		KB HOME, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 4.800%, 11/15/2029	164,449
EUR 500,000		Nexans SA, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 5.500%, 4/5/2028	568,004
$  366,000		Novelis Corporation, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 3.875%, 8/15/2031	310,175
110,000		Novelis Corporation, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 4.750%, 1/30/2030	100,557
EUR 300,000		Novelis Sheet Ingot Gmbh, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 3.375%, 4/15/2029	304,853
$  200,000		Olympus Water US Holding Corp., Sec. Fac. Bond, 144A, 4.250%, 10/1/2028	179,348
EUR 400,000		Olympus Water US Holding Corp., Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 5.375%, 10/1/2029	381,280
$  400,000		Orbia Advance Corp. SAB de CV, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 2.875%, 5/11/2031	324,375
EUR 300,000		Sappi Papier Holding GmbH, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 3.625%, 3/15/2028	311,407
300,000	1	Solvay S.A., Jr. Sub. Note, 2.500%, 12/2/2025	309,244
$  700,000		SPCM SA, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 3.375%, 3/15/2030	604,499
200,000		Summit Digitel Infrastructure, 144A, 2.875%, 8/12/2031	165,808
200,000	2	Summit Digitel Infrastructure, C Bond, REGS, 2.875%, 8/12/2031	165,808
650,000		Suzano Austria GmbH, Sr. Unsecd. Note, Series DM3N, 3.125%, 1/15/2032	534,207
661,000		Taylor Morrison Communities, Inc./Monarch Communities, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 5.125%, 8/1/2030	624,571
		TOTAL	8,268,930
		Capital Goods—7.3%
200,000		ARD Finance SA, Sec. Fac. Bond, 144A, 6.500%, 6/30/2027	85,758
EUR 500,000		Ardagh Metal Packaging, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 3.000%, 9/1/2029	425,973
GBP 525,000		Ardagh Packaging Finance PLC/Ardagh Holdings, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 4.750%, 7/15/2027	472,900
$1,025,000		Ball Corp., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 2.875%, 8/15/2030	868,753
300,000		Berry Global, Inc., 1.650%, 1/15/2027	270,332
12,000		Berry Global, Inc., Sec. Fac. Bond, 144A, 5.650%, 1/15/2034	11,849
EUR 300,000		Berry Global, Inc., Sec. Fac. Bond, REGS, 1.500%, 1/15/2027	302,354
100,000		Crown European Holdings SA, 144A, 4.750%, 3/15/2029	109,282
200,000		Crown European Holdings SA, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 2.875%, 2/1/2026	211,053
$  250,000		Klabin Austria Gmbh, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 3.200%, 1/12/2031	210,195
400,000		Klabin Austria Gmbh, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 3.200%, 1/12/2031	336,312
EUR 300,000		Rexel S.A., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 2.125%, 12/15/2028	297,844
$  775,000		Sealed Air Corp., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 4.000%, 12/1/2027	721,644
100,000		Sealed Air Corp., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 5.000%, 4/15/2029	94,822
EUR 102,000	1	Sig Combibloc Purchaser, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 2.125%, 12/2/2025	107,659
450,000		Sig Combibloc Purchaser, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 2.125%, 6/18/2025	474,965
400,000		Smurfit Kappa Treasury Unlimited Company, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 1.000%, 9/22/2033	340,124
600,000		Verallia, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 1.875%, 11/10/2031	552,505
		TOTAL	5,894,324
		Consumer Cyclicals—0.7%
$  200,000		LKQ Corp., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 6.250%, 6/15/2033	205,665
EUR 100,000	1	LKQ Dutch Bond BV, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 4.125%, 3/15/2028	107,954
250,000		LKQ European Holdings B.V., Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 4.125%, 4/1/2028	270,125
		TOTAL	583,744
		Consumer Goods—1.7%
500,000		Arcelik AS, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 3.000%, 5/27/2026	520,864
GBP 200,000		Kraft Heinz Foods Co., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 4.125%, 7/1/2027	246,049
$  100,000		Kraft Heinz Foods Co., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 4.375%, 6/1/2046	82,922
30,000		Post Holdings, Inc., Sec. Fac. Bond, 144A, 6.250%, 2/15/2032	30,192

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

3

Foreign Currency Par Amount or Principal Amount			Value in U.S. Dollars
		CORPORATE BONDS—continued
		Consumer Goods—continued
$  233,000		Post Holdings, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 4.500%, 9/15/2031	$   207,601
338,000		Post Holdings, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 4.625%, 4/15/2030	307,793
		TOTAL	1,395,421
		Consumer Non-Cyclical—1.5%
460,000		Hanesbrands, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 4.875%, 5/15/2026	444,435
842,000		Levi Strauss & Co., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 3.500%, 3/1/2031	730,406
		TOTAL	1,174,841
		Energy—3.2%
300,000		Aker BP ASA, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 3.750%, 1/15/2030	272,049
GBP 200,000	1	BP Capital Markets PLC, Sub., 4.250%, 3/22/2027	236,683
$  200,000		EnLink Midstream Partners LP, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 4.150%, 6/1/2025	195,147
125,000		EnLink Midstream Partners LP, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 5.050%, 4/1/2045	106,411
275,000		EnLink Midstream Partners LP, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 5.450%, 6/1/2047	242,221
32,000		EnLink Midstream Partners LP, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 5.600%, 4/1/2044	29,026
139,000		EQT Corp., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 3.625%, 5/15/2031	121,609
300,000		EQT Corp., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 3.900%, 10/1/2027	284,111
550,000		Occidental Petroleum Corp., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 3.200%, 8/15/2026	517,368
600,000		Range Resources Corp., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 4.750%, 2/15/2030	558,000
		TOTAL	2,562,625
		Financial Services—0.3%
230,000	1	Barclays Bank plc, Jr. Sub. Deb., 6.278%, 12/15/2034	230,628
		Health Care—5.7%
519,000		Centene Corp., 2.500%, 3/1/2031	425,557
425,000		Centene Corp., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 2.625%, 8/1/2031	348,030
EUR 200,000	1	Eurofins Scientific SE, Jr. Sub. Note, 3.250%, 11/13/2025	208,324
100,000		Eurofins Scientific SE, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 0.875%, 5/19/2031	85,293
$  700,000		Fresenius Medical Care US Finance III, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 2.375%, 2/16/2031	544,170
EUR 580,000		Grifols Escrow Issuer SA, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 3.875%, 10/15/2028	531,801
$  150,000		HCA, Inc., Sec. Fac. Bond, 3.500%, 7/15/2051	101,466
360,000		HCA, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 2.375%, 7/15/2031	293,135
EUR 800,000		Iqvia, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 2.250%, 3/15/2029	774,934
$  699,000		Mozart Debt Merger Sub, Inc., Sec. Fac. Bond, 144A, 3.875%, 4/1/2029	627,351
688,000		Tenet Healthcare Corp., 4.375%, 1/15/2030	630,789
		TOTAL	4,570,850
		Insurance—1.4%
GBP 325,000	1	Phoenix Group Holdings PLC, Jr. Sub. Deb., 5.750%, 4/26/2028	355,706
EUR 400,000	1	UnipolSai Assicurazioni SpA, Jr. Sub. Note, 6.375%, 4/27/2030	422,868
$  400,000		Zurich Finance Ireland, Sub. Note, Series EMTN, 3.000%, 4/19/2051	326,060
		TOTAL	1,104,634
		Media—2.8%
EUR 550,000		Netflix, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 3.625%, 6/15/2030	592,941
$  600,000		Telenet Finance Luxembourg, Sec. Fac. Bond, 144A, 5.500%, 3/1/2028	566,010
630,000		UPC Broadband Finco BV, Sr. Note, 144A, 4.875%, 7/15/2031	558,231
GBP 100,000		Virgin Media Secured Finance PLC, Sec. Fac. Bond, REGS, 4.250%, 1/15/2030	108,060
EUR 100,000		VZ Vendor Financing B.V., Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 2.875%, 1/15/2029	93,548
391,000		Ziggo Bond Co. BV, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 3.375%, 2/28/2030	360,802
		TOTAL	2,279,592

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

4

Foreign Currency Par Amount or Principal Amount			Value in U.S. Dollars
		CORPORATE BONDS—continued
		Packaging—1.4%
EUR 200,000		ARD Finance SA, Sec. Fac. Bond, REGS, 5.000%, 6/30/2027	$    84,302
$  467,000		Crown Americas LLC, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 4.250%, 9/30/2026	448,688
650,000		Graphic Packaging International, LLC, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 3.750%, 2/1/2030	579,127
		TOTAL	1,112,117
		Real Estate—1.7%
EUR 500,000		CANPACK SA and Eastern PA Land Investment Holding LLC, REGS, 2.375%, 11/1/2027	497,633
$  200,000		CANPACK SA and Eastern PA Land Investment Holding LLC, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 3.875%, 11/15/2029	173,757
595,000		Iron Mountain, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 4.500%, 2/15/2031	527,075
170,000		Iron Mountain, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 5.250%, 7/15/2030	159,237
		TOTAL	1,357,702
		Retail—1.3%
500,000		Falabella S.A., Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 3.375%, 1/15/2032	386,654
GBP 500,000		Marks & Spencer PLC, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 3.250%, 7/10/2027	600,683
$  100,000		Marks & Spencer PLC, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 7.125%, 12/1/2037	103,157
		TOTAL	1,090,494
		Technology & Electronics—1.7%
100,000		Dell, Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 5.400%, 9/10/2040	96,556
300,000		Nokia Oyj, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 4.375%, 6/12/2027	287,803
EUR 100,000		Nokia Oyj, Sr. Unsecd. Note, Series EMTN, 4.375%, 8/21/2031	107,581
$  150,000		NXP BV / NXP Funding LLC / NXP USA Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 2.500%, 5/11/2031	124,194
69,000		NXP BV / NXP Funding LLC / NXP USA Inc., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 3.400%, 5/1/2030	61,881
450,000		Seagate HDD Cayman, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 4.125%, 1/15/2031	395,670
360,000		Seagate HDD Cayman, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 4.091%, 6/1/2029	328,854
		TOTAL	1,402,539
		Telecommunications—7.4%
EUR 700,000	1	AT&T, Inc., Jr. Sub. Note, Series B, 2.875%, 3/2/2025	733,864
300,000		Cellnex Telecom S.A., Conv. Bond, Series CLNX, 0.750%, 11/20/2031	271,155
100,000		Cellnex Telecom S.A., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 1.875%, 6/26/2029	97,545
100,000		Cellnex Telecom S.A., Sr. Unsecd. Note, Series EMTN, 1.750%, 10/23/2030	94,264
600,000		Iliad SA, Sr. Secd. Note, 1.875%, 2/11/2028	588,638
400,000		Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane SPA, Sr. Unsecd. Note, Series EMTN, 1.750%, 4/19/2031	380,500
300,000		Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane SPA, Sr. Unsecd. Note, Series GMTN, 1.625%, 10/21/2028	296,117
700,000		LorcaTelecom Bondco, Term Loan - 1st Lien, REGS, 4.000%, 9/18/2027	740,803
$  200,000		Millicom International Cellular S. A., Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 4.500%, 4/27/2031	172,750
300,000	1	Network i2i Ltd., Sub. Deb., REGS, 5.650%, 1/15/2025	298,500
EUR 325,000		Telecom Italia SpA, Sr. Unsecd. Note, Series EMTN, 2.375%, 10/12/2027	326,072
100,000		Telecom Italia SpA, Sr. Unsecd. Note, Series EMTN, 2.750%, 4/15/2025	105,529
900,000	1	Telefonica Europe BV, Jr. Sub. Note, 2.376%, 2/12/2029	839,512
$   72,000		T-Mobile USA, Inc., 2.250%, 11/15/2031	58,447
300,000		T-Mobile USA, Inc., 3.300%, 2/15/2051	206,441
400,000		Turk Telekomunikasyon AS, Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 4.875%, 6/19/2024	397,920
GBP 349,000		Vmed O2 UK Financing I PLC, Sec. Fac. Bond, REGS, 4.500%, 7/15/2031	364,726
		TOTAL	5,972,783
		Utilities—6.1%
$  257,000		AES Corp., Sr. Unsecd. Note, 2.450%, 1/15/2031	209,831
200,000		AES Gener S.A., Jr. Sub. Note, REGS, 6.350%, 10/7/2079	194,385
575,000		Clearway Energy Operating LLC, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 3.750%, 1/15/2032	481,537
493,000		Clearway Energy Operating LLC, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 3.750%, 2/15/2031	416,267

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

5

Foreign Currency Par Amount or Principal Amount			Value in U.S. Dollars
		CORPORATE BONDS—continued
		Utilities—continued
EUR 650,000	1	Enel SpA, Jr. Sub. Note, Series 9.5Y, 1.875%, 6/8/2030	$   572,723
800,000		Energias de Portugal SA, Jr. Sub. Note, Series NC8, 1.875%, 3/14/2082	726,039
$  360,000		Greenko Power II Ltd., Sr. Unsecd. Note, REGS, 4.300%, 12/13/2028	330,750
GBP 500,000		Orsted A/S, Sub., Series GBP, 2.500%, 2/18/3021	445,279
$  950,000		TerraForm Power Operating LLC, Sr. Unsecd. Note, 144A, 4.750%, 1/15/2030	860,106
EUR 700,000	1	Veolia Environnement SA, Jr. Sub. Note, Series ., 2.500%, 1/20/2029	673,566
		TOTAL	4,910,483
		TOTAL CORPORATE BONDS (IDENTIFIED COST $57,501,731)	54,952,779
		U.S. TREASURIES—22.7%
$9,255,400	3,4	United States Treasury Bill, 0.000%, 5/30/2024	9,134,350
4,100,500		United States Treasury Note, 0.250%, 3/15/2024	4,092,628
5,100,000		United States Treasury Note, 2.250%, 4/30/2024	5,074,774
		TOTAL U.S. TREASURIES (IDENTIFIED COST $18,122,311)	18,301,752
		FOREIGN GOVERNMENT/AGENCY—4.8%
		Sovereign—4.8%
GBP 3,055,000		United Kingdom, Government of, Unsecd. Note, 1.000%, 4/22/2024 (IDENTIFIED COST $3,823,474)	3,834,368
		TOTAL INVESTMENT IN SECURITIES—95.7% (IDENTIFIED COST $79,447,516)5	$77,088,899
		OTHER ASSETS AND LIABILITIES - NET—4.3%6	3,429,615
		TOTAL NET ASSETS—100.0%	$80,518,514

At February 29, 2024, the Fund had the following outstanding futures contracts: 

Description	Number of Contracts	Notional Value	Expiration Date	Value and Unrealized Appreciation/ (Depreciation)
Long Futures:
Long Gilt Long Futures	3	GBP 371,459	June 2024	$1,055
United States Treasury Notes 2 Year Long Futures	5	$1,023,750	June 2024	$(599)
United States Treasury Notes 5 Year Long Futures	15	$1,603,594	June 2024	$779
United States Treasury Notes 10 Year Long Futures	14	$1,546,125	June 2024	$4,116
United States Treasury Ultra Bond Long Futures	4	$511,500	June 2024	$10,832
Short Futures:
Euro-Bobl Short Futures	5	EUR (636,375)	June 2024	$(1,361)
NET UNREALIZED APPRECIATION ON FUTURES CONTRACTS				$14,822

At February 29, 2024, the Fund had the following outstanding foreign exchange contracts: 

Settlement Date	Counterparty	Foreign Currency Units to Receive/Deliver		In Exchange For	Unrealized Appreciation/ (Depreciation)
Contracts Purchased:
3/20/2024	State Street Bank		200,000 EUR	$217,238	$(896)
3/20/2024	State Street Bank		100,000 EUR	$107,529	$642
3/20/2024	State Street Bank		200,000 EUR	$215,735	$608

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6

Settlement Date	Counterparty	Foreign Currency Units to Receive/Deliver		In Exchange For	Unrealized Appreciation/ (Depreciation)
Contracts Sold:
3/20/2024	Lloyds Bank PLC		300,000 EUR	$329,341	$4,827
3/20/2024	State Street Bank		19,900,000 EUR	$21,831,255	$305,168
3/20/2024	State Street Bank		400,000 EUR	$440,096	$7,411
3/20/2024	State Street Bank		200,000 EUR	$221,674	$5,331
3/20/2024	State Street Bank		5,200,000 GBP	$6,589,471	$24,699
3/20/2024	State Street Bank		200,000 GBP	$253,110	$619
3/20/2024	State Street Bank		200,000 GBP	$251,934	$(558)
3/20/2024	State Street Bank		100,000 GBP	$126,818	$572
NET UNREALIZED APPRECIATION ON FOREIGN EXCHANGE CONTRACTS					$348,423

At February 29, 2024, the Fund had the following open swap contracts: 

Counterparty	Reference Entity	Buy/ Sell	Pay/ Receive Fixed Rate	Expiration Date	Implied Credit Spread at 2/29/20247	Notional Amount	Market Value	Upfront Premiums Paid/ (Received)	Unrealized Appreciation/ (Depreciation)
OTC Swaps:
JPMorgan	General Motors Co.	Sell	5.00%	6/20/2029	1.28%	$507,000	$86,267	$79,065	$7,202
JPMorgan	Volvo	Sell	5.00%	6/20/2029	1.79%	$309,000	$49,258	$38,770	$10,488
Morgan Stanley	Ally Financial, Inc.	Sell	5.00%	12/20/2028	1.53%	$78,000	$11,232	$7,211	$4,021
Morgan Stanley	Anglo American PLC	Sell	5.00%	6/20/2029	1.39%	$175,000	$32,119	$29,872	$2,247
Morgan Stanley	Arcelor Mittal SA	Sell	5.00%	6/20/2029	1.59%	$300,000	$51,613	$49,972	$1,641
Morgan Stanley	Ardagh Packaging Finance PLC/Ardagh Holdings	Sell	5.00%	12/20/2028	1.32%	$175,000	$(43,960)	$(39,080)	$(4,880)
Morgan Stanley	Ford Motor Co.	Sell	5.00%	6/20/2029	1.60%	$485,000	$74,361	$61,733	$12,628
Morgan Stanley	Forvia	Sell	5.00%	6/20/2029	2.56%	$480,000	$57,022	$66,756	$(9,734)
Morgan Stanley	Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.	Sell	5.00%	6/20/2029	3.00%	$300,000	$23,591	$24,939	$(1,348)
Morgan Stanley	Markit CDX North America High Yield Index Series 38	Sell	5.00%	6/20/2027	2.63%	$291,000	$20,669	$20,409	$260
Morgan Stanley	Markit CDX North America High Yield Index Series 41	Sell	5.00%	12/20/2028	3.40%	$14,770,800	$936,418	$179,483	$756,935
Morgan Stanley	Nokia Oyj	Sell	5.00%	6/20/2029	1.01%	$125,000	$25,690	$24,259	$1,431
Morgan Stanley	Rexel SA	Sell	5.00%	6/20/2029	1.14%	$300,000	$58,347	$58,523	$(176)
Morgan Stanley	Schaeffler AG	Sell	5.00%	6/20/2029	1.72%	$510,000	$83,547	$70,115	$13,432
Morgan Stanley	Telecom Italia SpA	Sell	1.00%	6/20/2029	2.05%	$200,000	$(10,347)	$(14,966)	$4,619
Morgan Stanley	Valeo	Sell	1.00%	6/20/2029	2.35%	$720,000	$(47,210)	$(50,387)	$3,177
Morgan Stanley	Virgin Media Finance PLC	Sell	5.00%	6/20/2029	3.09%	$244,000	$21,791	$16,790	$5,001
TOTAL CREDIT DEFAULT SWAPS							$1,430,408	$623,464	$806,944

Net Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) on Futures Contracts, Foreign Exchange Contracts and the value of Swap Contracts is included in “Other Assets and Liabilities—Net.” 

1	Perpetual Bond Security. The maturity date reflects the next call date.
2	Denotes a restricted security that either: (a) cannot be offered for public sale without first being registered, or availing of an exemption from registration, under the Securities Act of 1933; or (b) is subject to a contractual restriction on public sales. At February 29, 2024, these restricted securities amounted to $165,808, which represented 0.2% of total net assets.
3	Discount rate at time of purchase.
4	Zero coupon bond.
5	The cost of investments for federal tax purposes amounts to $78,748,117.
6	Assets, other than investments in securities, less liabilities. See Statement of Assets and Liabilities.
7	Implied credit spreads, represented in absolute terms, utilized in determining the market value of credit default swap agreements serve as an indicator of the current status of the payment/performance risk and represent the likelihood or risk of default for the credit derivative. The implied credit spread of a particular referenced entity reflects the cost of buying/selling protection and may include upfront payments required to be made to enter into the agreement. Wider credit spreads represent a deterioration of the referenced entity’s credit soundness and a greater likelihood or risk of default or other credit event occurring as defined under the terms of the agreement. A credit spread identified as “Defaulted” indicates a credit event has occurred for the referenced entity or obligation.

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

7

Note: The categories of investments are shown as a percentage of total net assets at February 29, 2024.

Various inputs are used in determining the value of the Fund’s investments. These inputs are summarized in the three broad levels listed below:

Level 1—quoted prices in active markets for identical securities.

Level 2—other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.). Also includes securities valued at amortized cost.

Level 3—significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments).

The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities.

The following is a summary of the inputs used, as of February 29, 2024, in valuing the Fund’s assets carried at fair value: 

Valuation Inputs
	Level 1— Quoted Prices	Level 2— Other Significant Observable Inputs	Level 3— Significant Unobservable Inputs	Total
Debt Securities:
Corporate Bonds	$—	$54,952,779	$—	$54,952,779
U.S. Treasuries	—	18,301,752	—	18,301,752
Foreign Government/Agency	—	3,834,368	—	3,834,368
TOTAL SECURITIES	$—	$77,088,899	$—	$77,088,899
Other Financial Instruments:
Assets
Futures Contracts	$16,782	$—	$—	$16,782
Swap Contracts	—	1,531,925	—	1,531,925
Foreign Exchange Contracts	—	349,877	—	349,877
Liabilities
Futures Contracts	(1,960)	—	—	(1,960)
Swap Contracts	—	(101,517)	—	(101,517)
Foreign Exchange Contracts	—	(1,454)	—	(1,454)
TOTAL OTHER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS	$14,822	$1,778,831	$—	$1,793,653

 

The following acronym(s) are used throughout this portfolio:
BOBL	—Bundesobligation
EMTN	—Euro Medium Term Note
EUR	—Euro
GBP	—Great British Pound
GMTN	—Global Medium Term Note
OTC	—Over-the-Counter

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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8

Financial Highlights–Institutional Shares

(For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period) 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 2/29/2024	Year Ended August 31,			Period Ended 8/31/20201
		2023	2022	2021
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$9.02	$8.89	$10.81	$10.34	$10.00
Income From Investment Operations:
Net investment income2	0.30	0.35	0.22	0.26	0.37
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	0.33	0.30	(1.63)	0.58	0.23
TOTAL FROM INVESTMENT OPERATIONS	0.63	0.65	(1.41)	0.84	0.60
Less Distributions:
Distributions from net investment income	(0.21)	(0.28)	(0.29)	(0.37)	(0.26)
Distributions from net realized gain	—	(0.24)	(0.22)	—	—
TOTAL DISTRIBUTIONS	(0.21)	(0.52)	(0.51)	(0.37)	(0.26)
Net Asset Value, End of Period	$9.44	$9.02	$8.89	$10.81	$10.34
Total Return3	7.11%	7.44%	(13.61)%	8.27%	6.19%
Ratios to Average Net Assets:
Net expenses4	0.61%5,6	0.62%6	0.62%	0.62%6	0.62%5,6
Net investment income	6.54%5	3.95%	2.23%	2.54%	4.08%5
Expense waiver/reimbursement7	0.58%5	0.81%	0.86%	0.95%	1.10%5
Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (000 omitted)	$80,507	$64,780	$45,031	$47,738	$32,603
Portfolio turnover8	31%	36%	75%	27%	36%

 

1	Reflects operations for the period from September 26, 2019 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2020.
2	Per share number has been calculated using the average shares method.
3	Based on net asset value. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
4	Amount does not reflect net expenses incurred by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
5	Computed on an annualized basis.
6	The net expense ratios are calculated without reduction for expense offset arrangements. The net expense ratios are 0.61%, 0.62%, 0.62% and 0.62% for the six months ended February 29, 2024 and the years ended August 31, 2023, 2021 and 2020, respectively, after taking into account these expense reductions.
7	This expense decrease is reflected in both the net expense and net investment income ratios shown above. Amount does not reflect expense waiver/ reimbursement recorded by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
8	Securities that mature are considered sales for purposes of this calculation.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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9

Financial Highlights–Class R6 Shares

(For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period) 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 02/29/2024	Year Ended August 31,		Period Ended 8/31/20211,2
		2023	2022
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$9.03	$8.89	$10.81	$10.73
Income From Investment Operations:
Net investment income3	0.30	0.36	0.20	0.11
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	0.34	0.30	(1.61)	0.02
TOTAL FROM INVESTMENT OPERATIONS	0.64	0.66	(1.41)	0.13
Less Distributions:
Distributions from net investment income	(0.22)	(0.28)	(0.29)	(0.05)
Distributions from net realized gain	—	(0.24)	(0.22)	—
TOTAL DISTRIBUTIONS	(0.22)	(0.52)	(0.51)	(0.05)
Net Asset Value, End of Period	$9.45	$9.03	$8.89	$10.81
Total Return4	7.14%	7.61%	(13.62)%	1.24%
Ratios to Average Net Assets:
Net expenses5	0.57%6,7	0.57%7	0.57%	0.53%6
Net investment income	6.54%6	4.01%	2.42%	2.39%6
Expense waiver/reimbursement8	0.51%6	0.80%	0.00%9	0.22%6
Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of period (000 omitted)	$12	$11	$010	$010
Portfolio turnover11	31%	36%	75%	27%12

 

1	Certain ratios included in Ratios to Average Net Assets and per share amounts may be inflated or deflated as compared to the fee structure for each respective share class as a result of daily systematic allocations being rounded to the nearest penny for fund level income, expense and realized gain/loss amounts. Such differences are immaterial.
2	Reflects operations for the period from June 11, 2021 (commencement of operations) to August 31, 2021.
3	Per share number has been calculated using the average shares method.
4	Based on net asset value. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
5	Amount does not reflect net expenses incurred by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
6	Computed on an annualized basis.
7	The net expense ratios are calculated without reduction for expense offset arrangements. The net expense ratios are 0.57% and 0.57% for the six months ended February 29, 2024 and the year ended August 31, 2023, respectively, after taking into account these expense reductions.
8	This expense decrease is reflected in both the net expense and net investment income ratios shown above. Amount does not reflect expense waiver/ reimbursement recorded by investment companies in which the Fund may invest.
9	Represents less than 0.01%.
10	Represents less than $1,000.
11	Securities that mature are considered sales for purposes of this calculation.
12	Calculated at the fund level. Percentage indicated was calculated for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2021.

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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10

Statement of Assets and LiabilitiesFebruary 29, 2024 (unaudited)

 

Assets:
Investment in securities (identified cost $79,447,516)	$77,088,899
Cash collateral on swap contracts	230,836
Cash	505,169
Cash denominated in foreign currencies (identified cost $251,512)	251,126
Swaps, at value (premium paid $727,897)	1,531,925
Income receivable	751,442
Unrealized appreciation on foreign exchange contracts	349,877
Receivable for periodic payments from swap contracts	194,560
Due from broker (Note 2)	134,071
Receivable for shares sold	29,882
Receivable for variation margin on futures contracts	5,279
Receivable for investments sold	3,615
Total Assets	81,076,681
Liabilities:
Payable for investments purchased	$228,037
Payable for portfolio accounting fees	109,159
Swaps, at value (premium received $104,433)	101,517
Payable for shares redeemed	78,499
Payable for share registration costs	16,313
Unrealized depreciation on foreign exchange contracts	1,454
Payable for investment adviser fee (Note 5)	554
Payable for administrative fee (Note 5)	318
Payable for Directors’/Trustees’ fees (Note 5)	228
Accrued expenses (Note 5)	22,088
TOTAL LIABILITIES	558,167
Net assets for 8,527,939 shares outstanding	$80,518,514
Net Assets Consist of:
Paid-in capital	$82,910,404
Total distributable earnings (loss)	(2,391,890)
TOTAL NET ASSETS	$80,518,514
Net Asset Value Per Share:
Institutional Shares:
Net asset value per share ($80,506,790 ÷ 8,526,698 shares outstanding), no par value, unlimited shares authorized	$9.44
Class R6 Shares:
Net asset value per share ($11,724 ÷ 1,241 shares outstanding), no par value, unlimited shares authorized	$9.45

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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11

Statement of OperationsSix Months Ended February 29, 2024 (unaudited)

 

Investment Income:
Interest (net of foreign tax withheld of $1,005)	$2,628,742
Expenses:
Investment adviser fee (Note 5)	$220,549
Administrative fee (Note 5)	30,475
Custodian fees	11,648
Transfer agent fees (Note 2)	17,761
Directors’/Trustees’ fees (Note 5)	448
Auditing fees	23,174
Legal fees	5,387
Portfolio accounting fees	84,969
Share registration costs	18,062
Printing and postage	11,633
Miscellaneous (Note 5)	12,294
TOTAL EXPENSES	436,400
Waiver, Reimbursement and Reduction:
Waiver of investment adviser fee (Note 5)	(208,984)
Reimbursement of other operating expenses (Notes 2 and 5)	(2,396)
Reduction of custodian fees (Note 6)	(639)
TOTAL WAIVER, REIMBURSEMENT AND REDUCTION	(212,019)
Net expenses	224,381
Net investment income	2,404,361
Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments, Foreign Exchange Contracts, Futures Contracts, Swap Contracts and Foreign Currency Transactions:
Net realized loss on investments and foreign currency transactions	(1,128,661)
Net realized gain on foreign exchange contracts	111,898
Net realized loss on futures contracts	(56,003)
Net realized gain on swap contracts	766,532
Net change in unrealized depreciation of investments and translation of assets and liabilities in foreign currency	2,455,113
Net change in unrealized appreciation of foreign exchange contracts	105,889
Net change in unrealized appreciation of futures contracts	(9,914)
Net change in unrealized appreciation of swap contracts	543,412
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments, foreign exchange contracts, futures contracts, swap contracts and foreign currency transactions	2,788,266
Change in net assets resulting from operations	$5,192,627

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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12

Statement of Changes in Net Assets 

 

	Six Months Ended (unaudited) 2/29/2024	Year Ended 8/31/2023
Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets
Operations:
Net investment income	$2,404,361	$1,828,555
Net realized loss	(306,234)	(1,325,125)
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation	3,094,500	2,495,040
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS	5,192,627	2,998,470
Distributions to Shareholders:
Institutional Shares	(1,722,381)	(2,517,072)
Class R6 Shares	(268)	(2,058)
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM DISTRIBUTIONS TO SHAREHOLDERS	(1,722,649)	(2,519,130)
Share Transactions:
Proceeds from sale of shares	16,469,037	30,839,071
Net asset value of shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	1,181,606	1,876,667
Cost of shares redeemed	(5,392,954)	(13,435,385)
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM SHARE TRANSACTIONS	12,257,689	19,280,353
Change in net assets	15,727,667	19,759,693
Net Assets:
Beginning of period	64,790,847	45,031,154
End of period	$80,518,514	$64,790,847

See Notes which are an integral part of the Financial Statements

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13

Notes to Financial Statements

February 29, 2024 (unaudited)

1. ORGANIZATION

Federated Hermes Adviser Series (the “Trust”) is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust consists of 11 portfolios. The financial statements included herein are only those of the Federated Hermes SDG Engagement High Yield Credit Fund (the “Fund”), a diversified portfolio. The financial statements of the other portfolios are presented separately. The assets of each portfolio are segregated and a shareholder’s interest is limited to the portfolio in which shares are held. Each portfolio pays its own expenses. The Fund offers two classes of shares, Institutional Shares and Class R6 Shares, which commenced operations on June 11, 2021. Class A Shares and Class C Shares are effective with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but are not yet offered for sale. All shares of the Fund have equal rights with respect to voting, except on class-specific matters. The Fund’s investment objective is to seek current income and long-term capital appreciation alongside positive societal impact.

2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The following is a summary of significant accounting policies consistently followed by the Fund in the preparation of its financial statements. These policies are in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Investment Valuation

In calculating its net asset value (NAV), the Fund generally values investments as follows:

■

Fixed-income securities are fair valued using price evaluations provided by a pricing service approved by Federated Investment Management Company (the “Adviser”).

■

Equity securities listed on an exchange or traded through a regulated market system are valued at their last reported sale price or official closing price in their principal exchange or market.

■

Derivative contracts listed on exchanges are valued at their reported settlement or closing price, except that options are valued at the mean of closing bid and ask quotations.

■

Over-the-counter (OTC) derivative contracts are fair valued using price evaluations provided by a pricing service approved by the Adviser.

■

Shares of other mutual funds or non-exchange-traded investment companies are valued based upon their reported NAVs, or NAV per share practical expedient, as applicable.

■

For securities that are fair valued in accordance with procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Adviser, certain factors may be considered, such as: the last traded or purchase price of the security, information obtained by contacting the issuer or dealers, analysis of the issuer’s financial statements or other available documents, fundamental analytical data, the nature and duration of restrictions on disposition, the movement of the market in which the security is normally traded, public trading in similar securities or derivative contracts of the issuer or comparable issuers, movement of a relevant index, or other factors including but not limited to industry changes and relevant government actions.

If any price, quotation, price evaluation or other pricing source is not readily available when the NAV is calculated, if the Fund cannot obtain price evaluations from a pricing service or from more than one dealer for an investment within a reasonable period of time as set forth in the Adviser’s valuation policies and procedures for the Fund, or if information furnished by a pricing service, in the opinion of the Adviser’s valuation committee (“Valuation Committee”), is deemed not representative of the fair value of such security, the Fund uses the fair value of the investment determined in accordance with the procedures described below. There can be no assurance that the Fund could obtain the fair value assigned to an investment if it sold the investment at approximately the time at which the Fund determines its NAV per share, and the actual value obtained could be materially different.

Fair Valuation and Significant Events Procedures

Pursuant to Rule 2a-5 under the Act, the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Trustees”) has designated the Adviser as the Fund’s valuation designee to perform any fair value determinations for securities and other assets held by the Fund. The Adviser is subject to the Trustees’ oversight and certain reporting and other requirements intended to provide the Trustees the information needed to oversee the Adviser’s fair value determinations.

The Adviser, acting through its Valuation Committee, is responsible for determining the fair value of investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Valuation Committee is comprised of officers of the Adviser and certain of the Adviser’s affiliated companies and determines fair value and oversees the calculation of the NAV. The Valuation Committee is also authorized to use pricing services to provide fair value evaluations of the current value of certain investments for purposes of calculating the NAV. The Valuation Committee employs various methods for reviewing third-party pricing-service evaluations including periodic reviews of third-party pricing services’ policies, procedures and valuation methods (including key inputs, methods, models and assumptions), transactional back-testing, comparisons of evaluations of different pricing services and review of price challenges by the Adviser based on recent market activity. In the event that market quotations and price evaluations are not available for an investment, the Valuation Committee determines the fair value of the investment in accordance with procedures adopted by the Adviser. The Trustees periodically review the fair valuations made by the Valuation Committee. The Trustees have also approved the Adviser’s fair valuation and significant events procedures as part of the Fund’s compliance program and will review any changes made to the procedures.

Factors considered by pricing services in evaluating an investment include the yields or prices of investments of comparable quality, coupon, maturity, call rights and other potential prepayments, terms and type, reported transactions, indications as to values from dealers and general market conditions. Some pricing services provide a single price evaluation reflecting the bid-side of the market for an investment (a “bid” evaluation). Other pricing services offer both bid evaluations and price evaluations indicative of a price between

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

14

the prices bid and ask for the investment (a “mid” evaluation). The Fund normally uses bid evaluations for any U.S. Treasury and Agency securities, mortgage-backed securities and municipal securities. The Fund normally uses mid evaluations for any other types of fixed-income securities and any OTC derivative contracts. In the event that market quotations and price evaluations are not available for an investment, the fair value of the investment is determined in accordance with procedures adopted by the Adviser.

The Adviser has also adopted procedures requiring an investment to be priced at its fair value whenever the Valuation Committee determines that a significant event affecting the value of the investment has occurred between the time as of which the price of the investment would otherwise be determined and the time as of which the NAV is computed. An event is considered significant if there is both an affirmative expectation that the investment’s value will change in response to the event and a reasonable basis for quantifying the resulting change in value. Examples of significant events that may occur after the close of the principal market on which a security is traded, or after the time of a price evaluation provided by a pricing service or a dealer, include:

■

With respect to securities traded principally in foreign markets, significant trends in U.S. equity markets or in the trading of foreign securities index futures contracts;

■

Political or other developments affecting the economy or markets in which an issuer conducts its operations or its securities are traded;

■

Announcements concerning matters such as acquisitions, recapitalizations, litigation developments, or a natural disaster affecting the issuer’s operations or regulatory changes or market developments affecting the issuer’s industry.

The Adviser has adopted procedures whereby the Valuation Committee uses a pricing service to provide factors to update the fair value of equity securities traded principally in foreign markets from the time of the close of their respective foreign stock exchanges to the pricing time of the Fund. For other significant events, the Fund may seek to obtain more current quotations or price evaluations from alternative pricing sources. If a reliable alternative pricing source is not available, the Valuation Committee will determine the fair value of the investment in accordance with the fair valuation procedures approved by the Adviser. The Trustees periodically review fair valuations made in response to significant events.

Investment Income, Gains and Losses, Expenses and Distributions

Investment transactions are accounted for on a trade-date basis. Realized gains and losses from investment transactions are recorded on an identified-cost basis. Interest income and expenses are accrued daily. Dividend income and distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Foreign dividends are recorded on the ex-dividend date or when the Fund is informed of the ex-dividend date. Distributions of net investment income, if any, are declared and paid monthly. Non-cash dividends included in dividend income, if any, are recorded at fair value. Amortization/accretion of premium and discount is included in investment income. Investment income, realized and unrealized gains and losses, and certain fund-level expenses are allocated to each class based on relative average daily net assets, except that select classes will bear certain expenses unique to those classes. Dividends are declared separately for each class. No class has preferential dividend rights; differences in per share dividend rates are generally due to differences in separate class expenses. The detail of the total fund expense waiver, reimbursement and reduction of $212,019 is disclosed in Note 2, Note 5 and Note 6.

Transfer Agent Fees

For the six months ended February 29, 2024, transfer agent fees for the Fund were as follows: 

	Transfer Agent Fees Incurred
Institutional Shares	$17,761

Other Service Fees

The Fund may pay other service fees up to 0.25% of the average daily net assets of the Fund’s Institutional Shares to unaffiliated financial intermediaries or to Federated Shareholder Services Company (FSSC) for providing services to shareholders and maintaining shareholder accounts. Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, FSSC may voluntarily reimburse the Fund for other service fees.

For the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Fund’s Institutional Shares did not incur other service fees.

Federal Taxes

It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the Subchapter M provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”) and to distribute to shareholders each year substantially all of its income. Accordingly, no provision for federal income tax is necessary. As of and during the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Fund did not have a liability for any uncertain tax positions. The Fund recognizes interest and penalties, if any, related to tax liabilities as income tax expense in the Statement of Operations. As of February 29, 2024, tax years 2020 through 2023 remain subject to examination by the Fund’s major tax jurisdictions, which include the United States of America and the State of Delaware.

The Fund may be subject to taxes imposed by governments of countries in which it invests. Such taxes are generally based on either income or gains earned or repatriated. The Fund accrues and applies such taxes to net investment income, net realized gains and net unrealized gains as income and/or gains are earned.

When-Issued and Delayed-Delivery Transactions

The Fund may engage in when-issued or delayed-delivery transactions. The Fund records when-issued securities on the trade date and maintains security positions such that sufficient liquid assets will be available to make payment for the securities purchased. Securities purchased on a when-issued or delayed-delivery basis are marked to market daily and begin earning interest on the settlement date. Losses may occur on these transactions due to changes in market conditions or the failure of counterparties to perform under the contract.

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Swap Contracts

Swap contracts involve two parties that agree to exchange the returns (or the differential in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined investments, instruments, indices or other measures. The gross returns to be exchanged or “swapped” between parties are generally calculated with respect to a “notional amount” for a determined period of time. The Fund may enter into interest rate, total return, credit default, currency and other swap agreements to seek to increase yield, income and return and to manage country, currency, duration, security, market and sector/asset class risks. Risks may arise upon entering into swap agreements from the potential inability of the counterparties to meet the terms of their contract from unanticipated changes in the value of the swap agreement. In connection with these agreements, securities or cash may be identified as collateral or margin in accordance with the terms of the respective swap agreements to provide assets of value and recourse in the event of default.

The Fund is subject to interest rate risk exposure in the normal course of pursuing its investment objectives. Because the Fund holds fixed rate bonds, the value of these bonds may decrease if interest rates rise. Interest rate swap agreements generally involve the agreement by the Fund to pay the counterparty a fixed or floating interest rate on a fixed notional amount and to receive a fixed or floating rate on a fixed notional amount, but may also involve the agreement to pay or receive payments derived from changes in interest rates. Periodic payments are generally made during the life of the swap agreement according to the terms and conditions of the agreement and at termination or maturity. The Fund’s maximum risk of loss from counterparty credit risk is the discounted value of the net cash flows to be received from/paid to the counterparty over the contract’s remaining life, to the extent the amount is positive. This risk is mitigated by having a master netting arrangement between the Fund and the counterparty and by the posting of collateral by the counterparty to the Fund to cover the Fund’s exposure to the counterparty.

The “buyer” in a credit default swap is obligated to pay the “seller” a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract provided that no event of default on an underlying reference obligation has occurred. If an event of default occurs, the seller must pay the buyer the full notional value, or the “par value,” of the reference obligation in exchange for the reference obligation. In connection with these agreements, securities may be identified as collateral in accordance with the terms of the respective swap agreements to provide assets of the value and recourse in the event of default or bankruptcy/solvency. Recovery values are assumed by market makers considering either industry standard recovery rates or entity specific factors and considerations until a credit event occurs. If a credit event has occurred, the recovery value is typically determined by a facilitated auction whereby a minimum number of allowable broker bids, together with a specific valuation method, are used to calculate the settlement value. The maximum amount of the payment that may occur, as a result of a credit event payable by the protection seller, is equal to the notional amount of the underlying index or security. The Fund’s maximum exposure to loss of the notional value of credit default swaps outstanding at February 29, 2024, is $19,969,800. The Fund’s maximum risk of loss from counterparty credit risk, either as the protection buyer or as the protection seller, is the fair value of the contract. This risk is mitigated by having a master netting arrangement between the Fund and the counterparty and by the posting of collateral by the counterparty to the Fund to cover the Fund’s exposure to the counterparty.

Upfront payments received or paid by the Fund will be reflected as an asset or liability on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Changes in the value of swap contracts are included in “Swaps, at value” on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities, and periodic payments are reported as “Net realized gain (loss) on swap contracts” in the Statement of Operations.

Certain swap contracts are subject to Master Netting Agreements (MNAs) which are agreements between the Fund and its counterparties that provides for the net settlement of all transactions and collateral with the Fund, through a single payment, in the event of default or termination. Amounts presented on the Portfolio of Investments and Statement of Assets and Liabilities are not net settlement amounts but gross. The cash or securities deposited in a segregated account offsets the amount due to the broker reducing the net settlement amount to zero.

Certain swap contracts may be centrally cleared (“centrally cleared swaps”), whereby all payments made or received by the Fund pursuant to the contract are with a central clearing party (the “CCP”) rather than the counterparty. The CCP guarantees the performance of the parties to the contract. Upon entering into centrally cleared swaps, the Fund is required to deposit with the CCP, either in cash or securities, an amount of initial margin determined by the CCP, which is subject to adjustment. For centrally cleared swaps, the daily change in valuation is recorded as a receivable or payable for variation margin and settled in cash with the CCP daily. In the case of centrally cleared swaps, counterparty risk is minimal due to protections provided by the CCP.

Swaps, at value at period end, including net unrealized appreciation/depreciation, are listed after the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

The average notional amount of credit default swap contracts held by the Fund throughout the period was $19,599,171. This is based on amounts held as of each month-end throughout the six-month period.

Foreign Exchange Contracts

The Fund may enter into foreign exchange contracts to seek to increase return and to manage currency risk. Purchased contracts are used to acquire exposure to foreign currencies, whereas, contracts to sell are used to hedge the Fund’s securities against currency fluctuations. Risks may arise upon entering into these transactions from the potential inability of counterparties to meet the terms of their commitments and from unanticipated movements in security prices or foreign exchange rates. The foreign exchange contracts are adjusted by the daily exchange rate of the underlying currency and any gains or losses are recorded for financial statement purposes as unrealized until the settlement date.

Foreign exchange contracts are subject to MNAs. Amounts presented on the Portfolio of Investments and Statement of Assets and Liabilities are not net settlement amounts but gross.

Foreign exchange contracts outstanding at period end, including net unrealized appreciation/depreciation or net settlement amounts, are listed after the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

The average value at settlement date payable and receivable of foreign exchange contracts purchased and sold by the Fund throughout the period was $108,875 and $211,374, respectively. This is based on the amounts held as of each month-end throughout the six-month period.

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Foreign Currency Translation

The accounting records of the Fund are maintained in U.S. dollars. All assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars based on the rates of exchange of such currencies against U.S. dollars on the date of valuation. Purchases and sales of securities, income and expenses are translated at the rate of exchange quoted on the respective date that such transactions are recorded. The Fund does not isolate that portion of the results of operations resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates on investments from the fluctuations arising from changes in market prices of securities held. Such fluctuations are included with the net realized and unrealized gain or loss from investments.

Reported net realized foreign exchange gains or losses arise from sales of foreign currencies, currency gains or losses realized between the trade and settlement dates on securities transactions, the difference between the amounts of dividends, interest and foreign withholding taxes recorded on the Fund’s books and the U.S. dollar equivalent of the amounts actually received or paid. Net unrealized foreign exchange gains and losses arise from changes in the value of assets and liabilities other than investments in securities at period end, resulting from changes in the exchange rate.

Futures Contracts

The Fund purchases and sells financial futures contracts to manage currency and duration risk. Upon entering into a financial futures contract with a broker, the Fund is required to deposit with a broker, either U.S. government securities or a specified amount of cash, which is shown as due from broker in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Futures contracts are valued daily and unrealized gains or losses are recorded in a “variation margin” account. The Fund receives from or pays to the broker a specified amount of cash based upon changes in the variation margin account. When a contract is closed, the Fund recognizes a realized gain or loss. Futures contracts have market risks, including the risk that the change in the value of the contract may not correlate with the changes in the value of the underlying securities. There is minimal counterparty risk to the Fund since futures contracts are exchange traded and the exchange’s clearinghouse, as counterparty to all exchange-traded futures contracts, guarantees the futures contracts against default.

Futures contracts outstanding at the period end are listed after the Fund’s Portfolio of Investments.

The average notional value of long and short futures contracts held by the Fund throughout the period was $7,107,791 and $1,410,038, respectively. This is based on amounts held as of each month-end throughout the six month period.

Restricted Securities

The Fund may purchase securities which are considered restricted. Restricted securities are securities that either: (a) cannot be offered for public sale without first being registered, or being able to take advantage of an exemption from registration, under the Securities Act of 1933; or (b) are subject to contractual restrictions on public sales. In some cases, when a security cannot be offered for public sale without first being registered, the issuer of the restricted security has agreed to register such securities for resale, at the issuer’s expense, either upon demand by the Fund or in connection with another registered offering of the securities. Many such restricted securities may be resold in the secondary market in transactions exempt from registration. Restricted securities may be determined to be liquid under criteria established by the Trustees. The Fund will not incur any registration costs upon such resales. The Fund’s restricted securities, like other securities, are priced in accordance with procedures established by and under the general supervision of the Adviser. 

Security	Acquisition Date	Acquisition Cost	Value
Summit Digitel Infrastructure, C Bond, REGS, 2.875%, 8/12/2031	11/22/2023	$155,528	$165,808

Additional Disclosure Related to Derivative Instruments 

Fair Value of Derivative Instruments
	Asset		Liability
	Statement of Assets and Liabilities Location	Fair Value	Statement of Assets and Liabilities Location	Fair Value
Derivatives not accounted for as hedging instruments under ASC Topic 815
Foreign exchange contracts	Unrealized appreciation on foreign exchange contracts	$349,877	Unrealized depreciation on foreign exchange contracts	$1,454
Interest rate contracts	Receivable for variation margin on future contracts	14,822*	Payable for variation margin on future contracts	—
Credit contracts	Swaps, at value	1,531,925	Swaps, at value	101,517

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Fair Value of Derivative Instruments
	Asset		Liability
	Statement of Assets and Liabilities Location	Fair Value	Statement of Assets and Liabilities Location	Fair Value
Total derivatives not accounted for as hedging instruments under ASC Topic 815		$1,896,624		$102,971

 

* Includes cumulative net appreciation of futures contracts as reported in the footnotes to the Portfolio of Investments. Only the current day’s variation margin is reported within the Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

The Effect of Derivative Instruments on the Statement of Operations for the Six Months Ended February 29, 2024 

Amount of Realized Gain or (Loss) on Derivatives Recognized in Income
	Foreign Exchange Contracts	Interest Rate Contracts	Credit Contracts	Total
Credit Default Swap Contracts	$—	$—	$766,532	$766,532
Foreign Exchange Contracts	111,898	—	—	111,898
Futures Contracts	—	(56,003)	—	(56,003)
TOTAL	$111,898	$(56,003)	$766,532	$822,427

 

Change in Unrealized Appreciation or (Depreciation) on Derivatives Recognized in Income
	Foreign Exchange Contracts	Interest Rate Contracts	Credit Contracts	Total
Credit Default Swap Contracts	$—	$—	$543,412	$543,412
Foreign Exchange Contracts	105,889	—	—	105,889
Futures Contracts	—	(9,914)	—	(9,914)
TOTAL	$105,889	$(9,914)	$543,412	$639,387

As indicated above, certain derivative investments are transacted subject to MNAs. These agreements permit the Fund to offset with a counterparty certain derivative payables and/or receivables with collateral held and create one single net payment in the event of default or termination of the agreement by either the Fund or the counterparty. As of February 29, 2024, the impact of netting assets and liabilities and the collateral pledged or received based on MNAs are detailed below: 

Gross Amounts Not Offset in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities
Transaction	Gross Asset Derivatives Presented in Statement of Assets and Liabilities	Financial Instrument	Collateral Received	Net Amount
Swap Contracts	$1,531,925	$(101,517)	$—	$1,430,408
Foreign Exchange Contracts	349,877	(1,454)	—	348,423
TOTAL	$1,881,802	$(102,971)	$—	$1,778,831

 

Transaction	Gross Liability Derivatives Presented in Statement of Assets and Liabilities	Financial Instrument	Collateral Pledged	Net Amount
Swap Contracts	$101,517	$(101,517)	$—	$—
Foreign Exchange Contracts	1,454	(1,454)	—	—
TOTAL	$102,971	$(102,971)	$—	$—

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Other

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts of assets, liabilities, expenses and revenues reported in the financial statements. Actual results could differ materially from those estimated. The Fund applies investment company accounting and reporting guidance.

3. SHARES OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST

The following tables summarize share activity: 

	Six Months Ended 2/29/2024		Year Ended 8/31/2023
Institutional Shares:	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount
Shares sold	1,807,817	$16,469,037	3,445,124	$30,792,196
Shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	129,647	1,181,606	211,085	1,874,691
Shares redeemed	(591,262)	(5,392,954)	(1,539,153)	(13,395,397)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM INSTITUTIONAL SHARE TRANSACTIONS	1,346,202	$12,257,689	2,117,056	$19,271,490
	Six Months Ended 2/29/2024		Year Ended 8/31/2023
Class R6 Shares:	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount
Shares sold	—	$—	5,442	$46,875
Shares issued to shareholders in payment of distributions declared	—	—	223	1,976
Shares redeemed	—	—	(4,433)	(39,988)
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM CLASS R6 SHARE TRANSACTIONS	—	$—	1,232	$8,863
NET CHANGE RESULTING FROM TOTAL FUND SHARE TRANSACTIONS	1,346,202	$12,257,689	2,118,288	$19,280,353

4. FEDERAL TAX INFORMATION

At February 29, 2024, the cost of investments for federal tax purposes was $78,748,117. The net unrealized appreciation of investments for federal tax purposes was $134,435. This consists of unrealized appreciation from investments for those securities having an excess of value over cost of $2,363,922 and unrealized depreciation from investments for those securities having an excess of cost over value of $2,229,487. The amounts presented are inclusive of derivative contracts.

As of August 31, 2023, the Fund had a capital loss carryforward of $2,151,842 which will reduce the Fund’s taxable income arising from future net realized gains on investments, if any, to the extent permitted by the Code, thereby reducing the amount of distributions to shareholders which would otherwise be necessary to relieve the Fund of any liability for federal income tax. Pursuant to the Code, these net capital losses retain their character as either short-term or long-term and do not expire.

The following schedule summarizes the Fund’s capital loss carryforwards: 

Short-Term	Long-Term	Total
$320,799	$1,831,043	$2,151,842

5. INVESTMENT ADVISER FEE AND OTHER TRANSACTIONS WITH AFFILIATES

Investment Adviser Fee

The advisory agreement between the Fund and the Adviser provides for an annual fee equal to 0.60% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, the Adviser may voluntarily choose to waive any portion of its fee and/or reimburse certain operating expenses of the Fund for competitive reasons such as to maintain the Fund’s expense ratio, or as and when appropriate, to maintain positive or zero net yields. For the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Adviser voluntarily waived $208,984 of its fee and voluntarily reimbursed $2,396 of other operating expenses.

Some or all of the Fund’s assets are managed by Hermes Investment Management Limited (the “Sub-Adviser”). Under the terms of a sub-advisory agreement between the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser, the Sub-Adviser receives an annual fee equal to 0.35% of the daily net assets of the Fund. The fee is paid by the Adviser out of its resources and is not an incremental Fund expense. The Sub-Adviser may from time to time and for such periods as it deems appropriate reduce its compensation. The Sub-Adviser agrees to share pro rata in any fee waivers, or expense assumptions and reimbursements, imposed or made by the Adviser or its affiliates.

For the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Sub-Adviser waived all of its fee.

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Administrative Fee

Federated Administrative Services (FAS), under the Administrative Services Agreement, provides the Fund with administrative personnel and services. For purposes of determining the appropriate rate breakpoint, “Investment Complex” is defined as all of the Federated Hermes Funds subject to a fee under the Administrative Services Agreement. The fee paid to FAS is based on the average daily net assets of the Investment Complex as specified below: 

Administrative Fee	Average Daily Net Assets of the Investment Complex
0.100%	on assets up to $50 billion
0.075%	on assets over $50 billion

Subject to the terms described in the Expense Limitation note, FAS may voluntarily choose to waive any portion of its fee. For the six months ended February 29, 2024, the annualized fee paid to FAS was 0.083% of average daily net assets of the Fund.

In addition, FAS may charge certain out-of-pocket expenses to the Fund.

Expense Limitation

The Adviser and certain of its affiliates (which may include FAS and FSSC) on their own initiative have agreed to waive certain amounts of their respective fees and/or reimburse expenses. Total annual fund operating expenses (as shown in the financial highlights, excluding interest expense, extraordinary expenses and proxy-related expenses, if any) paid by the Fund’s Institutional Shares and Class R6 Shares (after the voluntary waivers and/or reimbursements) will not exceed 0.62% and 0.57% (the “Fee Limit”), respectively, up to but not including the later of (the “Termination Date”): (a) November 1, 2024; or (b) the date of the Fund’s next effective Prospectus. While the Adviser and its applicable affiliates currently do not anticipate terminating or increasing these arrangements prior to the Termination Date, these arrangements may only be terminated or the Fee Limit increased prior to the Termination Date with the agreement of the Trustees.

Directors’/Trustees’ and Miscellaneous Fees

Certain Officers and Trustees of the Fund are Officers and Directors or Trustees of certain of the above companies. To efficiently facilitate payment, Independent Directors’/Trustees’ fees and certain expenses related to conducting meetings of the Directors/Trustees and other miscellaneous expenses are paid by an affiliate of the Adviser which in due course are reimbursed by the Fund. These expenses related to conducting meetings of the Directors/Trustees and other miscellaneous expenses may be included in Accrued and Miscellaneous Expenses on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Statement of Operations, respectively.

6. EXPENSE REDUCTION

Through arrangements with the Fund’s custodian, net credits realized as a result of uninvested cash balances were used to offset custody expenses. For the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Fund’s expenses were offset by $639 under these arrangements.

7. CREDIT RISK

The Fund may place its cash on deposit with financial institutions in the United States, which are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Company (“FDIC”) up to $250,000. The Fund’s credit risk in the event of failure of these financial institutions is represented by the difference between the FDIC limit and the total amounts on deposit. The Fund from time to time may have amounts on deposit in excess of the insured limits.

8. INVESTMENT TRANSACTIONS

Purchases and sales of investments, excluding long-term U.S. government securities and short-term obligations, for the six months ended February 29, 2024, were as follows: 

Purchases	$18,362,131
Sales	$20,315,334

9. LINE OF CREDIT

The Fund participates with certain other Federated Hermes Funds, on a several basis, in an up to $500,000,000 unsecured, 364-day, committed, revolving line of credit (LOC) agreement dated June 21, 2023. The LOC was made available to temporarily finance the repurchase or redemption of shares of the Fund, failed trades, payment of dividends, settlement of trades and for other short-term, temporary or emergency general business purposes. The Fund cannot borrow under the LOC if an inter-fund loan is outstanding. The Fund’s ability to borrow under the LOC also is subject to the limitations of the Act and various conditions precedent that must be satisfied before the Fund can borrow. Loans under the LOC are charged interest at a fluctuating rate per annum equal to (a) the highest, on any day, of (i) the federal funds effective rate, (ii) the published secured overnight financing rate plus an assigned percentage, and (iii) 0.0%, plus (b) a margin. Any fund eligible to borrow under the LOC pays its pro rata share of a commitment fee based on the amount of the lenders’ commitment that has not been utilized, quarterly in arrears and at maturity. As of February 29, 2024, the Fund had no outstanding loans. During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the Fund did not utilize the LOC.

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10. INTERFUND LENDING

Pursuant to an Exemptive Order issued by the SEC, the Fund, along with other funds advised by subsidiaries of Federated Hermes, Inc., may participate in an interfund lending program. This program provides an alternative credit facility allowing the Fund to borrow from other participating affiliated funds. As of February 29, 2024, there were no outstanding loans. During the six months ended February 29, 2024, the program was not utilized.

11. INDEMNIFICATIONS

Under the Fund’s organizational documents, its Officers and Directors/Trustees are indemnified against certain liabilities arising out of the performance of their duties to the Fund (other than liabilities arising out of their willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of their duties to the Fund). In addition, in the normal course of business, the Fund provides certain indemnifications under arrangements with third parties. Typically, obligations to indemnify a third party arise in the context of an arrangement entered into by the Fund under which the Fund agrees to indemnify such third party for certain liabilities arising out of actions taken pursuant to the arrangement, provided the third party’s actions are not deemed to have breached an agreed-upon standard of care (such as willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of their duties under the contract). The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet arisen. The Fund does not anticipate any material claims or losses pursuant to these arrangements at this time, and accordingly expects the risk of loss to be remote.

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Shareholder Expense Example (unaudited)

As a shareholder of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees and to the extent applicable, distribution (12b-1) fees and/or other service fees and other Fund expenses. This Example is intended to help you to understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds. It is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from September 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024.

ACTUAL EXPENSES

The first section of the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this section, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you incurred over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first section under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid During Period” to estimate the expenses attributable to your investment during this period.

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES

The second section of the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return. Thus, you should not use the hypothetical account values and expenses to estimate the actual ending account balance or your expenses for the period. Rather, these figures are required to be provided to enable you to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund with other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.

Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. Therefore, the second section of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. 

	Beginning Account Value 9/1/2023	Ending Account Value 2/29/2024	Expenses Paid During Period1
Actual:
Institutional Shares	$1,000.00	$1,071.10	$3.14
Class R6 Shares	$1,000.00	$1,071.40	$2.94
Hypothetical (assuming a 5% return before expenses):
Institutional Shares	$1,000.00	$1,021.83	$3.07
Class R6 Shares	$1,000.00	$1,022.03	$2.87

 

1 Expenses are equal to the Fund’s annualized net expense ratios, multiplied by the average account value over the period, multiplied by 182/366 (to reflect the one-half-year period). The annualized net expense ratios are as follows:

 

Institutional Shares	0.61%
Class R6 Shares	0.57%

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Evaluation and Approval of Advisory Contract–May 2023

Federated Hermes SDG Engagement High Yield Credit Fund (the “Fund”)

At its meetings in May 2023 (the “May Meetings”), the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”), including those Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Fund, as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Independent Trustees”), reviewed and unanimously approved the continuation of the investment advisory contract between the Fund and Federated Investment Management Company (the “Adviser”) and the investment sub-advisory contract between the Adviser and Hermes Investment Management Limited (the “Sub-Adviser” and together with the Adviser, the “Advisers”) with respect to the Fund (together, the “Contracts”) for an additional one-year term. The Board’s determination to approve the continuation of the Contracts reflects the exercise of its business judgment after considering all of the information and factors believed to be relevant and appropriate on whether to approve the continuation of the existing arrangements. The information, factors and conclusions that formed the basis for the Board’s approval are summarized below.

Information Received and Review Process

At the request of the Independent Trustees, the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer (the “CCO”) furnished to the Board in advance of its May Meetings an independent written evaluation of the Fund’s management fee (the “CCO Fee Evaluation Report”). The Board considered the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, along with other information, in evaluating the reasonableness of the Fund’s management fee and in determining to approve the continuation of the Contracts. The CCO, in preparing the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, has the authority to retain consultants, experts or staff as reasonably necessary to assist in the performance of his duties, reports directly to the Board, and can be terminated only with the approval of a majority of the Independent Trustees. At the request of the Independent Trustees, the CCO Fee Evaluation Report followed the same general approach and covered the same topics as that of the report that had previously been delivered by the CCO in his capacity as “Senior Officer” prior to the elimination of the Senior Officer position in December 2017.

In addition to the extensive materials that comprise and accompany the CCO Fee Evaluation Report, the Board considered information specifically prepared in connection with the approval of the continuation of the Contracts that was presented at the May Meetings. In this regard, in the months preceding the May Meetings, the Board requested and reviewed written responses and supporting materials prepared by the Advisers and their affiliates (collectively, “Federated Hermes”) in response to requests posed to Federated Hermes by independent legal counsel on behalf of the Independent Trustees encompassing a wide variety of topics, including those summarized below. The Board also considered such additional matters as the Independent Trustees deemed reasonably necessary to evaluate the Contracts, which included detailed information about the Fund and Federated Hermes furnished to the Board at its meetings throughout the year and in between regularly scheduled meetings on particular matters as the need arose.

The Board’s consideration of the Contracts included review of materials and information covering the following matters, among others: the nature, quality and extent of the advisory and other services provided to the Fund by Federated Hermes; Federated Hermes’ business and operations; the Advisers’ investment philosophy, personnel and processes; the Fund’s investment objectives and strategies; the Fund’s short-term and long-term performance (in absolute terms, both on a gross basis and net of expenses, and relative to the Fund’s particular investment program and a group of its peer funds and/or its benchmark, as appropriate); the Fund’s fees and expenses, including the advisory fee and the overall expense structure of the Fund (both in absolute terms and relative to a group of its peer funds), with due regard for contractual or voluntary expense limitations (if any); the financial condition of Federated Hermes; the Adviser’s profitability with respect to managing the Fund; distribution and sales activity for the Fund; and the use and allocation of brokerage commissions derived from trading the Fund’s portfolio securities (if any).

The Board also considered judicial decisions concerning allegedly excessive investment advisory fees charged to other registered funds in evaluating the Contracts. Using these judicial decisions as a guide, the Board observed that the following factors may be relevant to an adviser’s fiduciary duty with respect to its receipt of compensation from a fund: (1) the nature and quality of the services provided by the adviser to the fund and its shareholders, including the performance of the fund, its benchmark and comparable funds; (2) the adviser’s cost of providing the services and the profitability to the adviser of providing advisory services to the fund; (3) the extent to which the adviser may realize “economies of scale” as the fund grows larger and, if such economies of scale exist, whether they have been appropriately shared with the fund and its shareholders or the family of funds; (4) any “fall-out” benefits that accrue to the adviser because of its relationship with the fund, including research services received from brokers that execute fund trades and any fees paid to affiliates of the adviser for services rendered to the fund; (5) comparative fee and expense structures, including a comparison of management fees paid to the adviser with those paid by similar funds managed by the same adviser or other advisers as well as management fees charged to institutional and other advisory clients of the same adviser for what might be viewed as like services; and (6) the extent of care, conscientiousness and independence with which the fund’s board members perform their duties and their expertise, including whether they are fully informed about all facts

Semi-Annual Shareholder Report

23

the board deems relevant to its consideration of the adviser’s services and fees. The Board noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) disclosure requirements regarding the basis for a fund board’s approval of the fund’s investment advisory contract generally align with the factors listed above. The Board was guided by these factors in its evaluation of the Contracts to the extent it considered them to be appropriate and relevant, as discussed further below. The Board considered and weighed these factors in light of its substantial accumulated experience in governing the Fund and working with Federated Hermes on matters relating to the oversight of the other funds advised by Federated Hermes (each, a “Federated Hermes Fund” and, collectively, the “Federated Hermes Funds”).

In addition, the Board considered the preferences and expectations of Fund shareholders and the potential disruptions of the Fund’s operations and various risks, uncertainties and other effects that could occur as a result of a decision to terminate or not renew the Contracts. In particular, the Board recognized that many shareholders likely have invested in the Fund based on the strength of Federated Hermes’ industry standing and reputation and with the expectation that Federated Hermes will have a continuing role in providing advisory services to the Fund. Thus, the Board observed that there are a range of investment options available to the Fund’s shareholders and such shareholders in the marketplace, having had the opportunity to consider other investment options, have effectively selected Federated Hermes by virtue of investing in the Fund.

In determining to approve the continuation of the Contracts, the members of the Board reviewed and evaluated information and factors they believed to be relevant and appropriate through the exercise of their reasonable business judgment. While individual members of the Board may have weighed certain factors differently, the Board’s determination to approve the continuation of the Contracts was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Board throughout the year and specifically with respect to the continuation of the Contracts. The Board recognized that its evaluation process is evolutionary and that the factors considered and emphasis placed on relevant factors may change in recognition of changing circumstances in the registered fund marketplace. The Independent Trustees were assisted throughout the evaluation process by independent legal counsel. In connection with their deliberations at the May Meetings, the Independent Trustees met separately in executive session with their independent legal counsel and without management present to review the relevant materials and consider their responsibilities under applicable laws. In addition, senior management representatives of Federated Hermes also met with the Independent Trustees and their independent legal counsel to discuss the materials and presentations furnished to the Board at the May Meetings. The Board considered the approval of the Contracts for the Fund as part of its consideration of agreements for funds across the family of Federated Hermes Funds, but its approvals were made on a fund-by-fund basis.

Nature, Extent and Quality of Services

The Board considered the nature, extent and quality of the services provided to the Fund by the Advisers and the resources of Federated Hermes dedicated to the Fund. In this regard, the Board evaluated, among other things, the terms of the Contracts and the range of services provided to the Fund by Federated Hermes. The Board considered the Advisers’ personnel, investment philosophy and process, investment research capabilities and resources, trade operations capabilities, experience and performance track record. The Board considered information about the Advisers’ capabilities and resources with respect to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) investing, noting that in managing the assets of the Fund, the Advisers seek to invest in companies that, in their view, provide the potential for current income and long-term capital appreciation while also contributing to positive societal impact aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Board reviewed the qualifications, backgrounds and responsibilities of the portfolio management team primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and Federated Hermes’ ability and experience in attracting and retaining qualified personnel to service the Fund. The Board considered the trading operations by the Advisers, including the execution of portfolio transactions and the selection of brokers for those transactions. The Board also considered the Advisers’ ability to deliver competitive investment performance for the Fund when compared to the Fund’s Performance Peer Group (as defined below), which was deemed by the Board to be a useful indicator of how the Advisers are executing the Fund’s investment program.

In addition, the Board considered the financial resources and overall reputation of Federated Hermes and its willingness to consider and make investments in personnel, infrastructure, technology, cybersecurity, business continuity planning and operational enhancements that are designed to benefit the Federated Hermes Funds. The Board noted that the significant acquisition of Hermes Fund Managers Limited by Federated Hermes has deepened Federated Hermes’ investment management expertise and capabilities and expanded its access to analytical resources related to ESG factors and issuer engagement on ESG matters. The Board considered Federated Hermes’ oversight of the securities lending program for the Federated Hermes Funds that engage in securities lending and noted the income earned by the Federated Hermes Funds that participate in such program. In addition, the Board considered the quality of Federated Hermes’ communications with the Board and responsiveness to Board inquiries and requests made from time to time with respect to the Federated Hermes Funds. The Board also considered that Federated Hermes is responsible for providing the Federated Hermes Funds’ officers.

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The Board received and evaluated information regarding Federated Hermes’ regulatory and compliance environment. The Board considered Federated Hermes’ compliance program and compliance history and reports from the CCO about Federated Hermes’ compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including responses to regulatory developments and any compliance or other issues raised by regulatory agencies. The Board also noted Federated Hermes’ support of the Federated Hermes Funds’ compliance control structure and the compliance-related resources devoted by Federated Hermes in support of the Fund’s obligations pursuant to Rule 38a-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, including Federated Hermes’ commitment to respond to rulemaking and other regulatory initiatives of the SEC. The Board considered Federated Hermes’ approach to risk management with respect to the Federated Hermes Funds and its day-to-day oversight of the Federated Hermes Funds’ compliance with their investment objectives and policies as well as with applicable laws and regulations, noting that regulatory and other developments had over time led, and continue to lead, to an increase in the scope of Federated Hermes’ oversight in this regard, including in connection with the implementation of new rules on derivatives risk management and fair valuation.

The Board also considered the implementation of Federated Hermes’ business continuity plans. In addition, the Board noted Federated Hermes’ commitment to maintaining high quality systems and expending substantial resources to prepare for and respond to ongoing changes due to the market, regulatory and control environments in which the Fund and its service providers operate.

The Board considered Federated Hermes’ efforts to provide shareholders in the Federated Hermes Funds with a comprehensive array of funds with different investment objectives, policies and strategies. The Board considered the expenses that Federated Hermes had incurred, as well as the entrepreneurial and other risks assumed by Federated Hermes, in sponsoring and providing on-going services to new funds to expand these opportunities for shareholders. The Board noted the benefits to shareholders of being part of the family of Federated Hermes Funds, which include the general right to exchange investments between the same class of shares without the incurrence of additional sales charges.

Based on these considerations, the Board concluded that it was satisfied with the nature, extent and quality of the services provided by the Advisers to the Fund.

Fund Investment Performance

The Board considered the investment performance of the Fund. In evaluating the Fund’s investment performance, the Board considered performance results in light of the Fund’s investment objective, strategies and risks. The Board also considered information regarding how ESG investing may relate to the Fund’s investment performance. The Board considered detailed investment reports on, and the Advisers’ analysis of, the Fund’s performance over different time periods that were provided to the Board throughout the year and in connection with the May Meetings. These reports included, among other items, information on the Fund’s gross and net returns, the Fund’s investment performance compared to one or more relevant categories or groups of peer funds and the Fund’s benchmark index, performance attribution information and commentary on the effect of market conditions. The Board considered that, in its evaluation of investment performance at meetings throughout the year, it focused particular attention on information indicating less favorable performance of certain Federated Hermes Funds for specific time periods and discussed with Federated Hermes the reasons for such performance as well as any specific actions Federated Hermes had taken, or had agreed to take, to seek to enhance Fund investment performance and the results of those actions.

The Board also reviewed comparative information regarding the performance of other registered funds in the category of peer funds selected by Morningstar, Inc. (the “Morningstar”), an independent fund ranking organization (the “Performance Peer Group”). The Board noted the CCO’s view that comparisons to fund peer groups may be helpful, though not conclusive, in evaluating the performance of the Advisers in managing the Fund. The Board considered the CCO’s view that, in evaluating such comparisons, in some cases there may be differences in the funds’ objectives or investment management techniques, or the costs to implement the funds, even within the same Performance Peer Group.

For the periods ended December 31, 2022, the Fund’s performance fell below the Performance Peer Group median for the three-year period, and was above the Performance Peer Group median for the one-year period. The Board discussed the Fund’s performance with the Advisers and recognized the efforts being taken by the Advisers in the context of other factors considered relevant by the Board.

Based on these considerations, the Board concluded that it had continued confidence in the Advisers’ overall capabilities to manage the Fund.

Fund Expenses

The Board considered the advisory fee, sub-advisory fee, and overall expense structure of the Fund and the comparative fee and expense information that had been provided in connection with the May Meetings. In this regard, the Board was presented with, and considered, information regarding the contractual advisory fee rates, net advisory fee rates, total expense ratios and each element of the Fund’s total expense ratio (i.e., gross and net advisory fees, administrative fees, custody fees, portfolio accounting fees and transfer agency fees) relative to an appropriate group of peer funds compiled

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by Federated Hermes from the category of peer funds selected by Morningstar (the “Expense Peer Group”). The Board received a description of the methodology used to select the Expense Peer Group from the overall Morningstar category. The Board also reviewed comparative information regarding the fees and expenses of the broader group of funds in the overall Morningstar category.

While mindful that courts have cautioned against giving too much weight to comparative information concerning fees charged to funds by other advisers, the use of comparisons between the Fund and its Expense Peer Group assisted the Board in its evaluation of the Fund’s fees and expenses. The Board focused on comparisons with other registered funds with comparable investment programs more heavily than non-registered fund products or services because such comparisons are believed to be more relevant. The Board considered that other registered funds are the products most like the Fund, in that they are readily available to Fund shareholders as alternative investment vehicles, and they are the type of investment vehicle, in fact, chosen and maintained by the Fund’s shareholders. The Board noted that the range of such other registered funds’ fees and expenses, therefore, appears to be a relevant indicator of what investors have found to be reasonable in the marketplace in which the Fund competes.

The Board noted that, for the year ended December 31, 2022, the Fund’s investment advisory fee was waived in its entirety. The Board reviewed the contractual advisory fee rate, net advisory fee rate and other expenses of the Fund with the Adviser and noted the position of the Fund’s fee rates relative to its Expense Peer Group. In this regard, the Board noted that the contractual advisory fee rate was above the median of the Expense Peer Group, but the Board noted that the investment advisory fee was waived in its entirety, and that the overall expense structure of the Fund remained competitive in the context of other factors considered by the Board.

The Board also received and considered information about the nature and extent of services offered and fees charged by Federated Hermes to other types of clients with investment strategies similar to those of the Federated Hermes Funds, including non-registered fund clients (such as institutional separate accounts) and third-party unaffiliated registered funds for which any of the Advisers or their affiliates serve as sub-adviser. The Board noted the CCO’s conclusion that non-registered fund clients are inherently different products due to the following differences, among others: (i) different types of targeted investors; (ii) different applicable laws and regulations; (iii) different legal structures; (iv) different average account sizes and portfolio management techniques made necessary by different cash flows and different associated costs; (v) the time spent by portfolio managers and their teams (among other personnel across various departments, including legal, compliance and risk management) in reviewing securities pricing and fund liquidity; (vi) different administrative responsibilities; (vii) different degrees of risk associated with management; and (viii) a variety of different costs. The Board also considered information regarding the differences in the nature of the services required for Federated Hermes to manage its proprietary registered fund business versus managing a discrete pool of assets as a sub-adviser to another institution’s registered fund, noting the CCO’s view that Federated Hermes generally performs significant additional services and assumes substantially greater risks in managing the Fund and other Federated Hermes Funds than in its role as sub-adviser to an unaffiliated third-party registered fund. The Board noted that the CCO did not consider the fees for providing advisory services to other types of clients to be determinative in judging the appropriateness of the Federated Hermes Funds’ advisory fees.

Based on these considerations, the Board concluded that the fees and total operating expenses of the Fund, in conjunction with other matters considered, are reasonable in light of the services provided.

Profitability

The Board received and considered profitability information furnished by Federated Hermes. Such profitability information included revenues reported on a fund-by-fund basis and estimates of the allocation of expenses made on a fund-by-fund basis, using allocation methodologies specified by the CCO and described to the Board. The Board considered the CCO’s view that, while these cost allocation reports apply consistent allocation processes, the inherent difficulties in allocating costs on a fund-by-fund basis continues to cause the CCO to question the precision of the process and to conclude that such reports may be unreliable because a single change in an allocation estimate may dramatically alter the resulting estimate of cost and/or profitability of a Federated Hermes Fund and may produce unintended consequences. In addition, the Board considered the CCO’s view that the allocation methodologies used by Federated Hermes in estimating profitability for purposes of reporting to the Board in connection with the continuation of the Contracts are consistent with the methodologies previously reviewed by an independent consultant. The Board noted that the independent consultant had previously conducted a review of the allocation methodologies and reported to the Board that, although there is no single best method to allocate expenses, the methodologies used by Federated Hermes are reasonable. The Board considered the CCO’s view that the estimated profitability to the Adviser from its relationship with the Fund was not unreasonable in relation to the services provided.

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The Board also reviewed information compiled by Federated Hermes comparing its profitability information to other publicly held fund management companies, including information regarding profitability trends over time. The Board recognized that profitability comparisons among fund management companies are difficult because of the variation in the type of comparative information that is publicly available, and the profitability of any fund management company is affected by numerous factors. The Board considered the CCO’s conclusion that, based on such profitability information, Federated Hermes’ profit margins did not appear to be excessive. The Board also considered the CCO’s view that Federated Hermes appeared financially sound, with the resources necessary to fulfill its obligations under its contracts with the Federated Hermes Funds.

Economies of Scale

The Board received and considered information about the notion of possible realization of “economies of scale” as a fund grows larger, the difficulties of determining economies of scale at an individual fund level, and the extent to which potential scale benefits are shared with shareholders. In this regard, the Board considered that Federated Hermes has made significant and long-term investments in areas that support all of the Federated Hermes Funds, such as: portfolio management, investment research and trading operations; shareholder services; compliance; business continuity, cybersecurity and information security programs; internal audit and risk management functions; and technology and use of data. The Board noted that Federated Hermes’ investments in these areas are extensive and are designed to provide enhanced services to the Federated Hermes Funds and their shareholders. The Board considered that the benefits of these investments are likely to be shared with the family of Federated Hermes Funds as a whole. In addition, the Board considered that fee waivers and expense reimbursements are another means for potential economies of scale to be shared with shareholders and can provide protection from an increase in expenses if a Federated Hermes Fund’s assets decline. The Board considered that, in order for the Federated Hermes Funds to remain competitive in the marketplace, Federated Hermes has frequently waived fees and/or reimbursed expenses for the Federated Hermes Funds and has disclosed to shareholders and/or reported to the Board its intention to do so (or continue to do so) in the future. The Board also considered that Federated Hermes has been active in managing expenses of the Federated Hermes Funds in recent years, which has resulted in benefits being realized by shareholders.

The Board also received and considered information on adviser-paid fees (commonly referred to as “revenue sharing” payments) that was provided to the Board throughout the year and in connection with the May Meetings. The Board considered that Federated Hermes and the CCO believe that this information is relevant to considering whether Federated Hermes had an incentive to either not apply breakpoints, or to apply breakpoints at higher levels, but should not be considered when evaluating the reasonableness of advisory fees. The Board also noted the absence of any applicable regulatory or industry guidelines on economies of scale, which is compounded by the lack of any uniform methodology or pattern with respect to structuring fund advisory fees with breakpoints that serve to reduce the fees as a fund attains a certain size.

Other Benefits

The Board considered information regarding the compensation and other ancillary (or “fall-out”) benefits that Federated Hermes derived from its relationships with the Federated Hermes Funds. The Board noted that, in addition to receiving advisory fees under the Federated Hermes Funds’ investment advisory contracts, Federated Hermes’ affiliates also receive fees for providing other services to the Federated Hermes Funds under separate service contracts including for serving as the Federated Hermes Funds’ administrator and distributor. In this regard, the Board considered that certain of Federated Hermes’ affiliates provide distribution and shareholder services to the Federated Hermes Funds, for which they may be compensated through distribution and servicing fees paid pursuant to Rule 12b-1 plans or otherwise. The Board also received and considered information detailing the benefits, if any, that Federated Hermes may derive from its receipt of research services from brokers who execute portfolio trades for the Federated Hermes Funds.

Conclusions

The Board considered: (i) the CCO’s conclusion that his observations and the information accompanying the CCO Fee Evaluation Report show that the management fee for the Fund is reasonable; and (ii) the CCO’s recommendation that the Board approve the management fee. The Board noted that, under these circumstances, no changes were recommended to, and no objection was raised to the continuation of, the Contracts by the CCO. The CCO also recognized that the Board’s evaluation of the Federated Hermes Funds’ advisory and sub-advisory arrangements is a continuing and ongoing process that is informed by the information that the Board requests and receives from management throughout the course of the year and, in this regard, the CCO noted certain items for future reporting to the Board or further consideration by management as the Board continues its ongoing oversight of the Federated Hermes Funds.

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On the basis of the information and factors summarized above, among other information and factors deemed relevant by the Board, and the evaluation thereof, the Board, including the Independent Trustees, unanimously voted to approve the continuation of the Contracts. The Board based its determination to approve the Contracts on the totality of the circumstances and relevant factors and with a view of past and future long-term considerations. Not all of the factors and considerations identified above were necessarily deemed to be relevant to the Fund, nor did the Board consider any one of them to be determinative.

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Liquidity Risk Management Program–
Annual Evaluation of Adequacy and Effectiveness

In accordance with Rule 22e-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Liquidity Rule”), Federated Hermes Adviser Series (the “Trust”) has adopted and implemented a liquidity risk management program (the “Program”) for Federated Hermes SDG Engagement High Yield Credit Fund (the “Fund” and, collectively with the other non-money market open-end funds advised by Federated Hermes, the “Federated Hermes Funds”). The Program seeks to assess and manage the Fund’s liquidity risk. “Liquidity risk” is defined under the Liquidity Rule as the risk that the Fund is unable to meet redemption requests without significantly diluting remaining investors’ interests in the Fund. The Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”) has approved the designation of each Federated Hermes Fund’s investment adviser as the administrator for the Program (the “Administrator”) with respect to that Fund. The Administrator, in turn, has delegated day-to-day responsibility for the administration of the Program to multiple Liquidity Risk Management Committees, which are comprised of representatives from certain divisions within Federated Hermes.

The Program is comprised of various components designed to support the assessment and/or management of liquidity risk, including: (1) the periodic assessment (no less frequently than annually) of certain factors that influence the Fund’s liquidity risk; (2) the periodic classification (no less frequently than monthly) of the Fund’s investments into one of four liquidity categories that reflect an estimate of their liquidity under current market conditions; (3) a 15% limit on the acquisition of “illiquid investments” (as defined under the Liquidity Rule); (4) to the extent a Fund does not invest primarily in “highly liquid investments” (as defined under the Liquidity Rule), the determination of a minimum percentage of the Fund’s assets that generally will be invested in highly liquid investments (an “HLIM”); (5) if a Fund has established an HLIM, the periodic review (no less frequently than annually) of the HLIM and the adoption of policies and procedures for responding to a shortfall of the Fund’s highly liquid investments below its HLIM; and (6) periodic reporting to the Board.

At its meetings in May 2023, the Board received and reviewed a written report (the “Report”) from the Federated Hermes Funds’ Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Risk Officer, on behalf of the Administrator, concerning the operation of the Program for the period from April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023 (the “Period”). The Report addressed the operation of the Program and assessed the adequacy and effectiveness of its implementation, including, where applicable, the operation of any HLIM established for a Federated Hermes Fund. There were no material changes to the Program during the Period. The Report summarized the operation of the Program and the information and factors considered by the Administrator in assessing whether the Program has been adequately and effectively implemented with respect to the Federated Hermes Funds. Such information and factors included, among other things:

■ confirmation that it was not necessary for the Fund to utilize, and the Fund did not utilize, any alternative funding sources that were available to the Federated Hermes Funds during the Period, such as the Federated Hermes Funds’ interfund lending facility, redemptions in-kind, reverse repurchase agreement transactions, redemptions delayed beyond the normal T+1 settlement but within seven days of the redemption request, and committed lines of credit;

■ the periodic classifications of the Fund’s investments into one of four liquidity categories and the methodologies and inputs used to classify the investments, including the Fund’s reasonably anticipated trade size;

■ the analysis received from a third-party liquidity assessment vendor that is taken into account in the process of determining the liquidity classifications of the Fund’s investments, and the results of the Administrator’s evaluation of the services performed by the vendor in support of this process, including the Administrator’s view that the methodologies utilized by the vendor continue to be appropriate;

■ the fact that the Fund invested primarily in highly liquid investments during the Period and, therefore, was not required to establish, and has not established, an HLIM and the operation of the procedures for monitoring the status of the Fund as investing primarily in highly liquid investments;

■ the fact that the Fund invested no more than 15% of its assets in illiquid investments during the Period, and the operation of the procedures for monitoring this limit;

■ the fact that there were no liquidity events during the Period that materially affected the Fund’s liquidity risk;

■ the impact on liquidity and management of liquidity risk, if any, caused by extended non-U.S. market closures and confirmation that there were no issues for any of the affected Federated Hermes Funds in meeting shareholder redemptions at any time during these temporary non-U.S. market closures.

Based on this review, the Administrator concluded that the Program is operating effectively to assess and manage the Fund’s liquidity risk, and that the Program has been and continues to be adequately and effectively implemented to monitor and, as applicable, respond to the Fund’s liquidity developments.

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Voting Proxies on Fund Portfolio Securities

A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies, if any, relating to securities held in the Fund’s portfolio is available, without charge and upon request, by calling 1-800-341-7400, Option #4. A report on “Form N-PX” of how the Fund voted any such proxies during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available via the Proxy Voting Record (Form N-PX) link associated with the Fund and share class name at FederatedHermes.com/us/FundInformation. Form N-PX filings are also available at the SEC’s website at sec.gov.

Quarterly Portfolio Schedule

Each fiscal quarter, the Fund will file with the SEC a complete schedule of its monthly portfolio holdings on “Form N-PORT.” The Fund’s holdings as of the end of the third month of every fiscal quarter, as reported on Form N-PORT, will be publicly available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov within 60 days of the end of the fiscal quarter upon filing. You may also access this information via the link to the Fund and share class name at FederatedHermes.com/us.

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Mutual funds are not bank deposits or obligations, are not guaranteed by any bank and are not insured or guaranteed by the U.S. government, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency. Investment in mutual funds involves investment risk, including the possible loss of principal.

This Report is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only when preceded or accompanied by the Fund’s Prospectus, which contains facts concerning its objective and policies, management fees, expenses and other information.

 IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT FUND DOCUMENT DELIVERY 

In an effort to reduce costs and avoid duplicate mailings, the Fund(s) intend to deliver a single copy of certain documents to each household in which more than one shareholder of the Fund(s) resides (so-called “householding”), as permitted by applicable rules. The Fund’s “householding” program covers its/their Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, and supplements to each, as well as Semi-Annual and Annual Shareholder Reports and any Proxies or information statements. Shareholders must give their written consent to participate in the “householding” program. The Fund is also permitted to treat a shareholder as having given consent (“implied consent”) if (i) shareholders with the same last name, or believed to be members of the same family, reside at the same street address or receive mail at the same post office box, (ii) the Fund gives notice of its intent to “household” at least sixty (60) days before it begins “householding” and (iii) none of the shareholders in the household have notified the Fund(s) or their agent of the desire to “opt out” of “householding.” Shareholders who have granted written consent, or have been deemed to have granted implied consent, can revoke that consent and opt out of “householding” at any time: shareholders who purchased shares through an intermediary should contact their representative; other shareholders may call the Fund at 1-800-341-7400, Option #4.

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Federated Hermes SDG Engagement High Yield Credit Fund

Federated Hermes Funds
4000 Ericsson Drive
Warrendale, PA 15086-7561

Contact us atFederatedHermes.com/us
or call 1-800-341-7400.

Federated Securities Corp., Distributor

CUSIP 31423A556
CUSIP 31423A549

Q454741 (4/24)

© 2024 Federated Hermes, Inc.

Item 2. Code of Ethics

Not Applicable

Item 3. Audit Committee Financial Expert

Not Applicable

Item 4. Principal Accountant Fees and Services

Not Applicable

Item 5. Audit Committee of Listed Registrants

Not Applicable

Item 6. Schedule of Investments

(a) The registrant’s Schedule of Investments is included as part of the Report to Stockholders filed under Item 1 of this form.

(b) Not Applicable; Fund had no divestments during the reporting period covered since the previous Form N-CSR filing.

Item 7. Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures for Closed-End Management Investment Companies

Not Applicable

Item 8. Portfolio Managers of Closed-End Management Investment Companies

Not Applicable

Item 9. Purchases of Equity Securities by Closed-End Management Investment Company and Affiliated Purchasers

Not Applicable

Item 10. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

No Changes to Report

Item 11. Controls and Procedures

(a) The registrant’s President and Treasurer have concluded that the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in rule 30a-3(c) under the Act) are effective in design and operation and are sufficient to form the basis of the certifications required by Rule 30a-(2) under the Act, based on their evaluation of these disclosure controls and procedures within 90 days of the filing date of this report on Form N-CSR.

(b) There were no changes in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in rule 30a-3(d) under the Act) during the period covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Item 12. Disclosure of Securities Lending Activities for Closed-End Management Investment Companies

Not Applicable

Item 18. Recovery of Erroneously Awarded Compensation

(a) Not Applicable

(b) Not Applicable

Item 13. Exhibits

(a)(1) Code of Ethics- Not Applicable to this Report.

(a)(2) Certifications of Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer.

(a)(3) Not Applicable.

(b) Certifications pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Registrant Federated Hermes Adviser Series

By /S/ Jeremy D. Boughton

Jeremy D. Boughton

Principal Financial Officer

Date April 23, 2024

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

By /S/ J. Christopher Donahue

J. Christopher Donahue

Principal Executive Officer

Date April 23, 2024

By /S/ Jeremy D. Boughton

Jeremy D. Boughton

Principal Financial Officer

Date April 23, 2024