Legg Mason Partners Income Trust N14 Registration statement for investment companies business combination | SEC 1 Jun 12

Exhibit (17)(c)

May 1, 2012

LEGG MASON PARTNERS INCOME TRUST

LEGG MASON WESTERN ASSET SHORT-TERM BOND FUND

Class A (SBSTX), Class C (SSTLX), Class R, Class R1 and Class I (SBSYX)

55 Water Street

New York, New York 10041

1-877-721-1926

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”) is not a prospectus and is meant to be read in conjunction with the current Prospectus of Legg Mason Western Asset Short-Term Bond Fund (the “fund”), dated May 1, 2012, as amended or supplemented from time to time, and is incorporated by reference in its entirety into the Prospectus.

The fund is a series of Legg Mason Partners Income Trust (the “Trust”), a Maryland statutory trust. Prior to October 5, 2009, the fund was known as Legg Mason Partners Short-Term Bond Fund. As part of a number of initiatives launched in 2006 to restructure and streamline the Legg Mason fund complex, the fund assumed the assets and liabilities of a predecessor fund with the same name effective April 16, 2007. Certain historical information with respect to the fund contained in this SAI for periods prior to April 16, 2007 is that of the fund’s predecessor.

Additional information about the fund’s investments is available in the fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. The annual report contains financial statements that are incorporated herein by reference. The fund’s Prospectus and copies of the annual and semi-annual reports may be obtained free of charge by contacting banks, brokers, dealers, insurance companies, investment advisers, financial consultants or advisers, mutual fund supermarkets and other financial intermediaries that have entered into an agreement with the fund’s distributor to sell shares of the fund (each called a “Service Agent”), by writing or calling the Trust at the address or telephone number set forth above, by sending an e-mail request to prospectus@leggmason.com, or by visiting the fund’s website at http://www.leggmason.com/individualinvestors. Legg Mason Investor Services, LLC (“LMIS” or the “distributor”), a wholly-owned broker/dealer subsidiary of Legg Mason, Inc. (“Legg Mason”), serves as the fund’s sole and exclusive distributor.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Investment Objective and Principal Investment Strategies			3

Supplemental Information Regarding Investment Practices and Risk Factors			3

Investment Policies			43

Management			47

Investment Management and Other Services			59

Purchase of Shares			69

Redemption of Shares			74

Exchange Privilege			75

Valuation of Shares			76

Portfolio Transactions			76

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings			78

Taxes			82

The Trust			88

Legal Matters			91

Financial Statements			92

Appendix A—Description of Ratings			A-1

Appendix B—Western Asset Management Company Proxy Voting Policies			B-1

THIS SAI IS NOT A PROSPECTUS AND IS AUTHORIZED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS ONLY IF PRECEDED OR ACCOMPANIED BY AN EFFECTIVE PROSPECTUS.

No person has been authorized to give any information or to make any representations not contained in the Prospectus or this SAI in connection with the offerings made by the Prospectus and, if given or made, such information or representations must not be relied upon as having been authorized by the fund or its distributor. The Prospectus and this SAI do not constitute offerings by the fund or by the distributor in any jurisdiction in which such offerings may not lawfully be made.

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE AND PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

The fund is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The fund is classified as a diversified fund under the 1940 Act.

The fund’s Prospectus discusses the fund’s investment objective and strategies. The following discussion supplements the description of the fund’s investment strategies in its Prospectus.

Investment Objective

The fund seeks current income, preservation of capital and liquidity.

Principal Investment Strategies and Certain Limitations

Following is a summary of the principal investment strategies and certain investment limitations of the fund.

Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its assets in “investment grade” fixed income securities. Securities in which the fund invests include corporate debt securities, bank obligations, mortgage- and asset-backed securities and securities issued by the U.S. government and its agencies and instrumentalities. Investment grade securities are those rated by a rating agency at the time of purchase in one of the top four ratings categories or, if unrated, are judged by the subadviser to be of comparable quality. The fund may also invest in U.S. dollar-denominated fixed income securities of foreign issuers.

The fund is not a money market fund and does not seek to maintain a stable net asset value of $1.00 per share. The fund may invest in securities of any maturity. The fund normally maintains an average effective maturity of not more than three years. For the purposes of determining the fund’s average effective maturity, a security’s maturity date will generally be deemed to be the next interest rate reset date for an adjustable rate security or, if earlier, the date of the next demand feature, such as a put feature, when the fund would be entitled to receive payment of principal and interest. The portfolio managers may also take into account estimated future prepayments on securities, such as mortgage-backed securities, with uncertain future cash flows and estimations of call features and similar features and options. These estimates may prove to be incorrect.

Instead of investing directly in particular securities, the fund may use instruments such as derivatives, including credit default swaps and futures contracts, and synthetic instruments that are intended to provide economic exposure to the securities or the issuer. The fund may use one or more types of these instruments without limit. These instruments are taken into account when determining compliance with the fund’s 80% policy.

The fund may also engage in a variety of transactions using derivatives in order to change the investment characteristics of its portfolio (such as shortening or lengthening duration) and for other purposes.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION REGARDING INVESTMENT PRACTICES AND RISK FACTORS

The fund’s principal investment strategies are summarized above. The following provides additional information about these principal strategies and describes other investment strategies and practices that may be used by the fund. To the extent permitted by law and the fund’s investment policies, the fund may engage in the practices described below.

Debt and Fixed Income Securities

The fund may invest in a variety of debt and fixed income securities. These securities share three principal risks. First, the level of interest income generated by the fund’s fixed income investments may decline due to a

decrease in market interest rates. Thus, when fixed income securities mature or are sold, they may be replaced by lower-yielding investments. Second, their values fluctuate with changes in interest rates. Thus, a decrease in interest rates will generally result in an increase in the value of the fund’s fixed income investments. Conversely, during periods of rising interest rates, the value of the fund’s fixed income investments will generally decline. However, a change in interest rates will not have the same impact on all fixed rate securities. For example, the magnitude of these fluctuations will generally be greater when the fund’s duration or average maturity is longer.

In addition, certain fixed income securities are subject to credit risk, which is the risk that an issuer of securities will be unable to pay principal and interest when due, or that the value of the security will suffer because investors believe the issuer is unable to pay. Common types of these instruments, and their associated risks, are discussed below.

Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Related Securities

Asset-Backed Securities. An asset-backed security represents an interest in a pool of assets such as receivables from credit card loans, automobile loans and other trade receivables. Changes in the market’s perception of the asset backing the security, the creditworthiness of the servicing agent for the loan pool, the originator of the loans, or the financial institution providing any credit enhancement, will all affect the value of an asset-backed security, as will the exhaustion of any credit enhancement. The risks of investing in asset-backed securities ultimately depend upon the payment of the consumer loans by the individual borrowers. In its capacity as purchaser of an asset-backed security, the fund would generally have no recourse to the entity that originated the loans in the event of default by the borrower. Additionally, in the same manner as described below under “Mortgage-Related Securities” with respect to prepayment of a pool of mortgage loans underlying mortgage- related securities, the loans underlying asset-backed securities are subject to prepayments, which may shorten the weighted average life of such securities and may lower their return.

The fund may purchase commercial paper, including asset-backed commercial paper (“ABCP”) that is issued by structured investment vehicles or other conduits. These conduits may be sponsored by mortgage companies, investment banking firms, finance companies, hedge funds, private equity firms and special purpose finance entities. ABCP typically refers to a debt security with an original term to maturity of up to 270 days, the payment of which is supported by cash flows from underlying assets, or one or more liquidity or credit support providers, or both. Assets backing ABCP, which may be included in revolving pools of assets with large numbers of obligors, include credit card, car loan and other consumer receivables and home or commercial mortgages, including subprime mortgages. The repayment of ABCP issued by a conduit depends primarily on the cash collections received from the conduit’s underlying asset portfolio and the conduit’s ability to issue new ABCP. Therefore, there could be losses to the fund investing in ABCP in the event of credit or market value deterioration in the conduit’s underlying portfolio, mismatches in the timing of the cash flows of the underlying asset interests and the repayment obligations of maturing ABCP, or the conduit’s inability to issue new ABCP. To protect investors from these risks, ABCP programs may be structured with various protections, such as credit enhancement, liquidity support, and commercial paper stop-issuance and wind-down triggers. However there can be no guarantee that these protections will be sufficient to prevent losses to investors in ABCP.

Some ABCP programs provide for an extension of the maturity date of the ABCP if, on the related maturity date, the conduit is unable to access sufficient liquidity through the issue of additional ABCP. This may delay the sale of the underlying collateral and the fund may incur a loss if the value of the collateral deteriorates during the extension period. Alternatively, if collateral for ABCP commercial paper deteriorates in value, the collateral may be required to be sold at inopportune times or at prices insufficient to repay the principal and interest on the ABCP. ABCP programs may provide for the issuance of subordinated notes as an additional form of credit enhancement. The subordinated notes are typically of a lower credit quality and have a higher risk of default. A fund purchasing these subordinated notes will therefore have a higher likelihood of loss than investors in the senior notes.

Asset-backed securities are relatively new and untested instruments and may be subject to greater risk of default during periods of economic downturn than other securities which could result in possible losses to the fund. In addition, the secondary market for asset-backed securities may not be as liquid as the market for other securities which may result in the fund’s experiencing difficulty in valuing asset-backed securities.

Mortgage-Related Securities. Mortgage-related securities may be private, governmental or government-related, depending on the issuer or guarantor. Private mortgage-related securities may represent pass-through pools consisting of residential mortgage loans created by non-governmental issuers, such as commercial banks, savings and loan associations and private mortgage insurance companies. Private mortgage-related securities may also consist of mortgages secured by different types of properties, such as apartment buildings, shopping centers, hotels, office buildings and industrial complexes. Governmental mortgage-related securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. The Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”), the principal guarantor of such securities, is a wholly owned United States government corporation within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Government-sponsored mortgage-related securities are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. Issuers of such securities include Fannie Mae (formally known as the Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (formally known as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation). Fannie Mae is a government-sponsored corporation which is subject to general regulation by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Pass-through securities issued by Fannie Mae are guaranteed as to timely payment of principal and interest by Fannie Mae. Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation chartered by Congress and subject to general regulation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Participation certificates representing interests in mortgages from Freddie Mac’s national portfolio are guaranteed as to the timely payment of interest and ultimate collection of principal by Freddie Mac. The U.S. government has, however, provided financial support to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but there can be no assurances that it will support these or other government-sponsored entities in the future. Private, U.S. governmental or government-sponsored entities create mortgage loan pools offering pass-through investments in addition to those described above. The mortgages underlying these securities may be alternative mortgage instruments, that is, mortgage instruments whose principal or interest payments may vary or whose terms to maturity may be shorter than previously customary. As new types of mortgage-related securities are developed and offered to investors, the fund, consistent with its investment objective and policies, will consider making investments in such new types of securities.

Mortgage-related securities provide a monthly payment consisting of interest and principal payments. Additional payments may be made out of unscheduled repayments of principal resulting from the sale of the underlying residential property, refinancing or foreclosure, net of fees or costs that may be incurred. Prepayments of principal on mortgage-related securities may tend to increase due to refinancing of mortgages as interest rates decline. Mortgage pools created by private organizations generally offer a higher rate of interest than government and government-sponsored pools because no direct or indirect guarantees of payments are applicable with respect to the former pools. See “Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities Issued by Nongovernmental Entities” below. Prompt payment of principal and interest on Ginnie Mae mortgage pass-through certificates is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Fannie Mae guaranteed mortgage pass-through certificates and Freddie Mac participation certificates are solely the obligations of those entities but Fannie Mae obligations are supported by the discretionary authority of the United States government to purchase its obligations. Municipal housing bonds include mortgage revenue bonds and multi-family housing bond programs. See “Single Family and Multi-Family Housing Bonds” below.

Collateralized mortgage obligations are a type of bond secured by an underlying pool of mortgages or mortgage pass-through certificates that are structured to direct payments on underlying collateral to different series or classes of the obligations. To the extent that the fund purchases mortgage-related securities at a premium, mortgage foreclosures and prepayments of principal by mortgagors (which may be made at any time without penalty) may result in some loss of the fund’s principal investment to the extent of the premium paid. The fund’s yield may be affected by reinvestment of prepayments at higher or lower rates than the original investment. In addition, like other debt securities, the values of mortgage-related securities, including

government and government-sponsored mortgage pools, generally will fluctuate in response to market interest rates. The average maturity of pass-through pools of mortgage-related securities varies with the maturities of the underlying mortgage instruments. In addition, a pool’s stated maturity may be shortened by unscheduled payments on the underlying mortgages. Factors affecting mortgage prepayments include the level of interest rates, general economic and social conditions, the location of the mortgaged property and age of the mortgage. Because prepayment rates of individual pools vary widely, it is not possible to accurately predict the average life of a particular pool. Common practice is to assume that prepayments will result in an average life ranging from two to ten years for pools of fixed-rate 30-year mortgages. Pools of mortgages with other maturities or different characteristics will have varying average life assumptions.

Structured Mortgage-Backed Securities. The fund may invest in structured mortgage-backed securities. The interest rate or, in some cases, the principal payable at the maturity of a structured mortgage-backed security may change positively or inversely in relation to one or more interest rates, financial indices or other financial indicators (“reference prices”). A structured mortgage-backed security may be leveraged to the extent that the magnitude of any change in the interest rate or principal payable on a structured security is a multiple of the change in the reference price. Thus, structured mortgage-backed securities may decline in value due to adverse market changes in reference prices. The structured mortgage-backed securities purchased by the fund may include interest only (“IO”) and principal only (“PO”) securities, floating rate securities linked to the Cost of Funds Index (“COFI floaters”), other “lagging rate” floating rate securities, floating rate securities that are subject to a maximum interest rate (“capped floaters”), leveraged floating rate securities (“super floaters”), leveraged inverse floating rate securities (“inverse floaters”), leveraged or super IOs and POs, inverse IOs, dual index floaters and range floaters.

Risks of Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Related Securities. Payments of principal of and interest on mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities are made more frequently than are payments on conventional debt securities. In addition, holders of mortgage-backed securities and of certain asset-backed securities (such as asset-backed securities backed by home equity loans) may receive unscheduled payments of principal at any time representing prepayments on the underlying mortgage loans or financial assets. When the holder of the security attempts to reinvest prepayments or even the scheduled payments of principal and interest, it may receive a rate of interest that is higher or lower than the rate on the mortgage-backed security or asset-backed security originally held. To the extent that mortgage-backed securities or asset-backed securities are purchased by the fund at a premium, mortgage foreclosures and principal prepayments may result in a loss to the extent of the premium paid. If mortgage-backed securities or asset-backed securities are bought at a discount, however, both scheduled payments of principal and unscheduled prepayments will increase current and total returns and will accelerate the recognition of income which, when distributed to shareholders, will be taxable as ordinary income.

Asset-backed securities may present certain risks not relevant to mortgage-backed securities. Assets underlying asset-backed securities such as credit card receivables are generally unsecured, and debtors are entitled to the protection of various state and federal consumer protection laws, some of which provide a right of set-off that may reduce the balance owed.

Many mortgage-backed and structured securities are considered to be derivative instruments. Different types of derivative securities are subject to different combinations of prepayment, extension, interest rate and/or other market risks. Conventional mortgage pass-through securities and sequential pay collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”) are subject to all of these risks, but are typically not leveraged. Planned amortization classes (“PACs”), targeted amortization classes (“TACs”) and other senior classes of sequential and parallel pay CMOs involve less exposure to prepayment, extension and interest rate risk than other mortgage-backed securities, provided that prepayment rates remain within expected prepayment ranges or collars.

The risk of early prepayments is the primary risk associated with mortgage IOs, super floaters and other leveraged floating rate mortgage-backed securities. The primary risks associated with COFI floaters, other

“lagging rate” floaters, capped floaters, inverse floaters, POs and leveraged inverse IOs are the potential extension of average life and/or depreciation due to rising interest rates. The residual classes of CMOs are subject to both prepayment and extension risk.

Other types of floating rate derivative debt securities present more complex types of interest rate risks. For example, range floaters are subject to the risk that the coupon will be reduced to below market rates if a designated interest rate floats outside of a specified interest rate band or collar. Dual index or yield curve floaters are subject to depreciation in the event of an unfavorable change in the spread between two designated interest rates.

In addition to the interest rate, prepayment and extension risks described above, the risks associated with transactions in these securities may include: (1) leverage and volatility risk and (2) liquidity and valuation risk.

Asset-Backed Securities and Mortgage-Backed Securities Issued by Nongovernmental Entities. Certain of the mortgage-backed securities, as well as certain of the asset-backed securities, in which the fund may invest will be issued by private issuers, and therefore may have exposure to subprime loans as well as to the mortgage and credit markets generally. Such mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities may take a form similar to the pass-through mortgage-backed securities issued by agencies or instrumentalities of the United States, or may be structured in a manner similar to the other types of mortgage-backed securities or asset-backed securities described below. Private issuers include originators of or investors in mortgage loans and receivables such as savings and loan associations, savings banks, commercial banks, investment banks, finance companies and special purpose finance subsidiaries of these types of institutions.

Unlike mortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or certain government-sponsored entities, mortgage-backed securities issued by private issuers do not have a government or government-sponsored entity guarantee, but may have credit enhancement provided by external entities such as banks or financial institutions or achieved through the structuring of the transaction itself.

In addition, mortgage-backed securities that are issued by private issuers are not subject to the underwriting requirements for the underlying mortgages that are applicable to those mortgage-backed securities that have a government or government-sponsored entity guarantee. As a result, the mortgage loans underlying private mortgage-backed securities may, and frequently do, have less favorable collateral, credit risk or other underwriting characteristics than government or government-sponsored mortgage-backed securities and have wider variances in a number of terms including interest rate, term, size, purpose and borrower characteristics. Privately issued pools more frequently include second mortgages, high loan-to-value mortgages and manufactured housing loans. The coupon rates and maturities of the underlying mortgage loans in a private-label mortgage-backed securities pool may vary to a greater extent than those included in a government guaranteed pool, and the pool may include subprime mortgage loans. Subprime loans refer to loans made to borrowers with weakened credit histories or with a lower capacity to make timely payments on their loans. For these reasons, the loans underlying these securities have had in many cases higher default rates than those loans that meet government underwriting requirements.

The risk of non-payment is greater for mortgage-backed securities that are backed by mortgage pools that contain subprime loans, but a level of risk exists for all loans. Market factors adversely affecting mortgage loan repayments may include a general economic turndown, high unemployment, a general slowdown in the real estate market, a drop in the market prices of real estate, or an increase in interest rates resulting in higher mortgage payments by holders of adjustable rate mortgages.

If the fund purchases subordinated mortgage-backed securities, the subordinated mortgage-backed securities may serve as a credit support for the senior securities purchased by other investors. In addition, the payments of principal and interest on these subordinated securities generally will be made only after payments are made to the holders of securities senior to the fund’s securities. Therefore, if there are defaults on the underlying mortgage

loans, the fund will be less likely to receive payments of principal and interest, and will be more likely to suffer a loss. Privately issued mortgage-backed securities are not traded on an exchange and there may be a limited market for the securities, especially when there is a perceived weakness in the mortgage and real estate market sectors. Without an active trading market, mortgage-backed securities held in the fund’s portfolio may be particularly difficult to value because of the complexities involved in assessing the value of the underlying mortgage loans.

Credit Enhancements. Credit enhancements for certain mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities issued by nongovernmental entities typically are provided by external entities such as banks or financial institutions or by the structure of a transaction itself. Credit enhancements provided for certain mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities issued by non-governmental entities typically take one of two forms: (a) liquidity protection or (b) protection against losses resulting from ultimate default by an obligor on the underlying assets. Liquidity protection refers to the provision of advances, generally by the entity administering the pool of assets, to ensure that the receipt of payments on the underlying pool occurs in a timely fashion. Protection against losses resulting from default ensures ultimate payment of the obligations on at least a portion of the assets in the pool. This protection may be provided through guarantees, insurance policies or letters of credit obtained by the issuer or sponsor from third parties, through various means of structuring the transaction or through a combination of these approaches. The degree of credit support provided for each issue is generally based on historical information with respect to the level of credit risk associated with the underlying assets. Delinquencies or losses in excess of those anticipated could adversely affect the return on an investment in a security. The fund will not pay any additional fees for credit support, although the existence of credit support may increase the price of a security or decrease the yield or amount distributable on the security.

Examples of such credit support arising out of the structure of the transaction include “senior-subordinated securities” (multiple class securities with one or more classes being senior to other subordinated classes as to the payment of principal and interest, with the result that defaults on the underlying assets are borne first by the holders of the subordinated class), creation of “reserve funds” (in which case cash or investments, sometimes funded from a portion of the payments on the underlying assets, are held in reserve against future losses) and “overcollateralization” (in which case the scheduled payments on, or the principal amount of, the underlying assets exceeds that required to make payment of the securities and pay any servicing or other fees). The fund may purchase subordinated securities that, as noted above, may serve as a form of credit support for senior securities purchased by other investors.

Bank Obligations

The fund may invest in all types of bank obligations, including certificates of deposit (“CDs”) and bankers’ acceptances. U.S. commercial banks organized under federal law are supervised and examined by the Comptroller of the Currency and are required to be members of the Federal Reserve System and to be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”). U.S. banks organized under state law are supervised and examined by state banking authorities, but are members of the Federal Reserve System only if they elect to join. Most state banks are insured by the FDIC (although such insurance may not be of material benefit to the fund, depending upon the principal amount of CDs of each held by the fund) and are subject to federal examination and to a substantial body of federal law and regulation. As a result of federal and state laws and regulations, U.S. branches of U.S. banks are, among other things, generally required to maintain specified levels of reserves, and are subject to other supervision and regulation designed to promote financial soundness.

Obligations of foreign branches of U.S. banks, such as CDs and time deposits, may be general obligations of the parent bank in addition to the issuing branch, or may be limited by the terms of a specific obligation and governmental regulation. Such obligations are subject to different risks than are those of U.S. banks or U.S. branches of foreign banks. These risks include foreign economic and political developments, foreign governmental restrictions that may adversely affect payment of principal and interest on the obligations, foreign exchange controls and foreign withholding and other taxes on interest income. Foreign branches of U.S. banks

and foreign branches of foreign banks are not necessarily subject to the same or similar regulatory requirements that apply to U.S. banks, such as mandatory reserve requirements, loan limitations and accounting, auditing and financial recordkeeping requirements. In addition, less information may be publicly available about a foreign branch of a U.S. bank or about a foreign bank than about a U.S. bank.

Obligations of U.S. branches of foreign banks may be general obligations of the parent bank, in addition to the issuing branch, or may be limited by the terms of a specific obligation and by federal and state regulation as well as governmental action in the country in which the foreign bank has its head office. A U.S. branch of a foreign bank with assets in excess of $1 billion may or may not be subject to reserve requirements imposed by the Federal Reserve System or by the state in which the branch is located if the branch is licensed in that state. In addition, branches licensed by the Comptroller of the Currency and branches licensed by certain states (“State Branches”) may or may not be required to: (a) pledge to the regulator, by depositing assets with a designated bank within the state; and (b) maintain assets within the state in an amount equal to a specified percentage of the aggregate amount of liabilities of the foreign bank payable at or through all of its agencies or branches within the state. The deposits of State Branches may not necessarily be insured by the FDIC. In addition, there may be less publicly available information about a U.S. branch of a foreign bank than about a U.S. bank.

Collateralized Debt Obligations

Collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”) include collateralized bond obligations (“CBOs”), collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”) and other similarly structured securities. CDOs are types of asset-backed securities. A CBO is a trust or other special purpose entity (“SPE”) which is typically backed by a diversified pool of fixed income securities (which may include high risk, below investment grade securities). A CLO is a trust or other SPE that is typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include, among others, domestic and non-U.S. senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans, and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans. Although certain CDOs may receive credit enhancement in the form of a senior-subordinate structure, over-collateralization or bond insurance, such enhancement may not always be present, and may fail to protect the fund against the risk of loss on default of the collateral. Certain CDOs may use derivatives contracts to create “synthetic” exposure to assets rather than holding such assets directly. CDOs may charge management fees and administrative expenses, which are in addition to those of the fund.

For both CBOs and CLOs, the cashflows from the SPE are split into two or more portions, called tranches, varying in risk and yield. The riskiest portion is the “equity” tranche, which bears the first loss from defaults from the bonds or loans in the SPE and serves to protect the other, more senior tranches from default (though such protection is not complete). Since it is partially protected from defaults, a senior tranche from a CBO or CLO typically has higher ratings and lower yields than its underlying securities, and may be rated investment grade. Despite the protection from the equity tranche, CBO or CLO tranches can experience substantial losses due to actual defaults, increased sensitivity to defaults due to collateral default and disappearance of subordinate tranches, market anticipation of defaults, as well as investor aversion to CBO or CLO securities as a class. Interest on certain tranches of a CDO may be paid in kind (paid in the form of obligations of the same type rather than cash), which involves continued exposure to default risk with respect to such payments.

The risks of an investment in a CDO depend largely on the type of the collateral securities and the class of the CDO in which the fund invests. Normally, CBOs, CLOs and other CDOs are privately offered and sold, and thus, are not registered under the securities laws. As a result, investments in CDOs may be characterized by the fund as illiquid securities. However, an active dealer market may exist for CDOs, allowing a CDO to qualify for Rule 144A transactions. In addition to the normal risks associated with fixed income securities discussed elsewhere in this SAI and the fund’s Prospectus (e.g., interest rate risk and credit risk), CDOs carry additional risks including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments; (ii) the quality of the collateral may decline in value or default; (iii) the fund may invest in tranches of CDOs that are subordinate to other tranches; (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and may produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results; and (v) the CDO’s manager may perform poorly.

Convertible Securities and Synthetic Convertible Securities

Convertible securities are fixed income securities that may be converted at either a stated price or stated rate into underlying shares of common stock. Convertible securities have general characteristics similar to both fixed income and equity securities. Although to a lesser extent than with fixed income securities generally, the market value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates increase and, conversely, tends to increase as interest rates decline. In addition, because of the conversion feature, the market value of convertible securities tends to vary with fluctuations in the market value of the underlying common stocks and, therefore, also will react to variations in the general market for equity securities. A significant feature of convertible securities is that as the market price of the underlying common stock declines, convertible securities tend to trade increasingly on a yield basis, and so they may not experience market value declines to the same extent as the underlying common stock. When the market price of the underlying common stock increases, the prices of the convertible securities tend to rise as a reflection of the value of the underlying common stock. While no securities investments are without risk, investments in convertible securities generally entail less risk than investments in common stock of the same issuer.

As fixed income securities, convertible securities are investments which provide for a stable stream of income with generally higher yields than common stocks. Of course, like all fixed income securities, there can be no assurance of current income because the issuers of the convertible securities may default on their obligations. Convertible securities, however, generally offer lower interest or dividend yields than non-convertible securities of similar quality because of the potential for capital appreciation. A convertible security, in addition to providing fixed income, offers the potential for capital appreciation through the conversion feature, which enables the holder to benefit from increases in the market price of the underlying common stock. However, there can be no assurance of capital appreciation because securities prices fluctuate.

Convertible securities generally are subordinated to other similar but non-convertible securities of the same issuer, although convertible bonds, as corporate debt obligations, enjoy seniority in right of payment to all equity securities, and convertible preferred stock is senior to common stock of the same issuer. Because of the subordination feature, however, convertible securities typically have lower ratings than similar non-convertible securities.

Unlike a convertible security which is a single security, a synthetic convertible security is comprised of two distinct securities that together resemble convertible securities in certain respects. Synthetic convertible securities are created by combining non-convertible bonds or preferred shares with common stocks, warrants or stock call options. The options that will form elements of synthetic convertible securities will be listed on a securities exchange or on NASDAQ. The two components of a synthetic convertible security, which will be issued with respect to the same entity, generally are not offered as a unit, and may be purchased and sold by the fund at different times. Synthetic convertible securities differ from convertible securities in certain respects, including that each component of a synthetic convertible security has a separate market value and responds differently to market fluctuations. Investing in synthetic convertible securities involves the risk normally involved in holding the securities comprising the synthetic convertible security.

Loans

Loans are negotiated and underwritten by a bank or syndicate of banks and other institutional investors. The fund may acquire an interest in loans through the primary market by acting as one of a group of lenders of a loan. The primary risk in an investment in loans is that the borrower may be unable to meet its interest and/or principal payment obligations. The occurrence of such a default with regard to a loan in which the fund had invested would have an adverse affect on the fund’s net asset value. In addition, a sudden and significant increase in market interest rates may cause a decline in the value of these investments and in the fund’s net asset value. Other factors, such as rating downgrades, credit deterioration, or large downward movement in stock prices, a disparity in supply and demand of certain securities or market conditions that reduce liquidity could reduce the

value of loans, impairing the fund’s net asset value. Loans in which the fund may invest may be collateralized or uncollateralized and senior or subordinate. Investments in uncollateralized and/or subordinate loans entail a greater risk of nonpayment than do investments in corporate loans which hold a more senior position in the borrower’s capital structure or that are secured with collateral.

In the case of collateralized senior loans, however, there is no assurance that sale of the collateral would raise enough cash to satisfy the borrower’s payment obligation or that the collateral can or will be liquidated. As a result, the fund might not receive payments to which it is entitled and thereby may experience a decline in the value of its investment and its net asset value. In the event of bankruptcy, liquidation may not occur and the court may not give lenders the full benefit of their senior positions. If the terms of a senior loan do not require the borrower to pledge additional collateral, the fund will be exposed to the risk that the value of the collateral will not at all times equal or exceed the amount of the borrower’s obligations under the senior loans. To the extent that a senior loan is collateralized by stock in the borrower or its subsidiaries, such stock may lose all of its value in the event of bankruptcy of the borrower.

The fund may also acquire an interest in loans by purchasing both participations (“Participations”) in and assignments (“Assignments”) of portions of loans from third parties. By purchasing a Participation, the fund acquires some or all of the interest of a bank or other lending institution in a loan to a borrower. Participations typically will result in the fund’s having a contractual relationship only with the lender and not the borrower. The fund will have the right to receive payments or principal, interest and any fees to which it is entitled only from the lender selling the Participation and only upon receipt by the lender of the payments from the borrower. In connection with purchasing Participations, the fund generally will have no right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement relating to the loan, nor any rights of set-off against the borrower, and the fund may not directly benefit from any collateral supporting the loan in which it has purchased the Participation. As a result, the fund will assume the credit risk of both the borrower and the lender that is selling the Participation.

When the fund purchases Assignments from lenders, the fund will acquire direct rights against the borrower on the loan. However, since Assignments are arranged through private negotiations between potential assignees and assignors, the rights and obligations acquired by the fund as the purchaser of an Assignment may differ from, and be more limited than, those held by the lender from which the fund is purchasing the Assignments.

Certain of the Participations or Assignments acquired by the fund may involve unfunded commitments of the lenders or revolving credit facilities under which a borrower may from time to time borrow and repay amounts up to the maximum amount of the facility. In such cases, the fund would have an obligation to advance its portion of such additional borrowings upon the terms specified in the loan documentation.

The fund may acquire loans of borrowers that are experiencing, or are more likely to experience, financial difficulty, including loans of borrowers that have filed for bankruptcy protection. Although loans in which the fund will invest generally will be secured by specific collateral, there can be no assurance that liquidation of such collateral would satisfy the borrower’s obligation in the event of nonpayment of scheduled interest or principal, or that such collateral could be readily liquidated. In the event of bankruptcy of a borrower, the fund could experience delays or limitations with respect to its ability to realize the benefits of the collateral securing a senior loan.

In addition, the fund may have difficulty disposing of its investments in loans. The liquidity of such securities is limited and the fund anticipates that such securities could be sold only to a limited number of institutional investors. The lack of a liquid secondary market could have an adverse impact on the value of such securities and on the fund’s ability to dispose of particular loans or Assignments or Participations when necessary to meet the fund’s liquidity needs or in response to a specific economic event, such as a deterioration in the creditworthiness of the borrower. The lack of a liquid secondary market for loans may also make it more difficult for the fund to assign a value to those securities for purposes of valuing the fund’s investments and calculating its net asset value.

Deferred Interest Bonds

Deferred interest bonds are debt obligations that generally provide for a period of delay before the regular payment of interest begins and that are issued at a significant discount from face value. The original discount approximates the total amount of interest the bonds will accrue and compound over the period until the first interest accrual date at a rate of interest reflecting the market rate of the security at the time of issuance. Although this period of delay is different for each deferred interest bond, a typical period is approximately one-third of the bond’s term to maturity. Such investments benefit the issuer by mitigating its initial need for cash to meet debt service, but some also provide a higher rate of return to attract investors who are willing to defer receipt of such cash.

Foreign Securities

Risks of Non-U.S. Investments. The risks of investing in securities of non-U.S. issuers or issuers with significant exposure to non-U.S. markets may be related, among other things, to (i) differences in size, liquidity and volatility of, and the degree and manner of regulation of, the securities markets of certain non-U.S. markets compared to the securities markets in the U.S.; (ii) economic, political and social factors; and (iii) foreign exchange matters, such as restrictions on the repatriation of capital, fluctuations in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the fund’s portfolio securities are quoted or denominated, exchange control regulations and costs associated with currency exchange. The political and economic structures in certain foreign countries, particularly emerging markets, are expected to undergo significant evolution and rapid development, and such countries may lack the social, political and economic stability characteristic of more developed countries.

Unanticipated political or social developments may affect the values of the fund’s investments in such countries. The economies and securities and currency markets of many emerging markets have experienced significant disruption and declines. There can be no assurances that these economic and market disruptions will not continue.

Securities of some foreign companies are less liquid, and their prices are more volatile, than securities of comparable domestic companies. Certain foreign countries are known to experience long delays between the trade and settlement dates of securities purchased or sold resulting in increased exposure of the fund to market and foreign exchange fluctuations brought about by such delays, and to the corresponding negative impact on fund liquidity.

The interest payable on the fund’s foreign securities may be subject to foreign withholding taxes, which will reduce the fund’s return on its investments. Additionally, the operating expenses of the fund making such investment can be expected to be higher than those of an investment company investing exclusively in U.S. securities, since the costs of investing in foreign securities, such as custodial costs, valuation costs and communication costs, are higher than the costs of investing exclusively in U.S. securities.

Foreign Securities Markets and Regulations. There may be less publicly available information about non-U.S. markets and issuers than is available with respect to U.S. securities and issuers. Non-U.S. companies generally are not subject to accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, practices and requirements comparable to those applicable to U.S. companies. The trading markets for most non-U.S. securities are generally less liquid and subject to greater price volatility than the markets for comparable securities in the U.S. The markets for securities in certain emerging markets are in the earliest stages of their development. Even the markets for relatively widely traded securities in certain non-U.S. markets, including emerging countries, may not be able to absorb, without price disruptions, a significant increase in trading volume or trades of a size customarily undertaken by institutional investors in the U.S. Additionally, market making and arbitrage activities are generally less extensive in such markets, which may contribute to increased volatility and reduced liquidity. The less liquid a market, the more difficult it may be for the fund to accurately price its portfolio securities or to

dispose of such securities at the times determined by the subadviser to be appropriate. The risks associated with reduced liquidity may be particularly acute in situations in which the fund’s operations require cash, such as in order to meet redemptions and to pay its expenses.

Emerging Market Countries. Emerging markets include any country which, at the time of investment, is represented in the JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Global or is categorized by the World Bank in its annual categorization as middle- or low-income. These securities may be U.S. dollar denominated or non- U.S. dollar denominated and include: (a) debt obligations issued or guaranteed by foreign national, provincial, state, municipal or other governments with taxing authority or by their agencies or instrumentalities, including Brady Bonds; (b) debt obligations of supranational entities; (c) debt obligations (including dollar and non-dollar denominated) and other debt securities of foreign corporate issuers; and (d) non-dollar denominated debt obligations of U.S. corporate issuers. The fund may also invest in securities denominated in currencies of emerging market countries. There is no minimum rating criteria for the fund’s investments in such securities.

Economic, Political and Social Factors. Certain non-U.S. countries, including emerging markets, may be subject to a greater degree of economic, political and social instability. Such instability may result from, among other things: (i) authoritarian governments or military involvement in political and economic decision making; (ii) popular unrest associated with demands for improved economic, political and social conditions; (iii) internal insurgencies; (iv) hostile relations with neighboring countries; and (v) ethnic, religious and racial disaffection and conflict. Such economic, political and social instability could significantly disrupt the financial markets in such countries and the ability of the issuers in such countries to repay their obligations. Investing in emerging countries also involves the risk of expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property or the imposition of restrictions on foreign investments and on repatriation of capital invested. In the event of such expropriation, nationalization or other confiscation in any emerging country, the fund could lose its entire investment in that country. Certain emerging market countries restrict or control foreign investment in their securities markets to varying degrees. These restrictions may limit the fund’s investment in those markets and may increase the expenses of the fund. In addition, the repatriation of both investment income and capital from certain markets in the region is subject to restrictions such as the need for certain governmental consents. Even where there is no outright restriction on repatriation of capital, the mechanics of repatriation may affect certain aspects of the fund’s operation. Economies in individual non-U.S. countries may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross domestic product, rates of inflation, currency valuation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payments positions. Many non-U.S. countries have experienced substantial, and in some cases extremely high, rates of inflation for many years. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had, and may continue to have, very negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain emerging countries. Economies in emerging countries generally are dependent heavily upon international trade and, accordingly, have been and may continue to be affected adversely by trade barriers, exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which they trade. These economies also have been, and may continue to be, affected adversely by economic conditions in the countries with which they trade.

Custodian Services and Related Investment Costs. Custodian services and other costs relating to investment in international securities markets generally are more expensive than in the U.S. Such markets have settlement and clearance procedures that differ from those in the U.S. In certain markets there have been times when settlements have been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, making it difficult to conduct such transactions. The inability of the fund to make intended securities purchases because of settlement problems could cause the fund to miss attractive investment opportunities. Inability to dispose of a portfolio security caused by settlement problems could result either in losses to the fund because of a subsequent decline in value of the portfolio security or could result in possible liability to the fund. In addition, security settlement and clearance procedures in some emerging countries may not fully protect the fund against loss or theft of its assets.

Withholding and Other Taxes. The fund may be subject to taxes, including withholding taxes imposed by certain non-U.S. countries on income (possibly including, in some cases, capital gains) earned with respect to the fund’s investments in such countries. These taxes will reduce the return achieved by the fund. Treaties between the U.S. and such countries may reduce the otherwise applicable tax rates.

Currency. The value of the securities quoted or denominated in foreign currencies may be adversely affected by fluctuations in the relative currency exchange rates and by exchange control regulations. The fund’s investment performance may be negatively affected by a devaluation of a currency in which the fund’s investments are quoted or denominated. Further, the fund’s investment performance may be significantly affected, either positively or negatively, by currency exchange rates because the U.S. dollar value of securities quoted or denominated in another currency will increase or decrease in response to changes in the value of such currency in relation to the U.S. dollar.

Currency exchange rates generally are determined by the forces of supply and demand in the foreign exchange markets and the relative merits of investments in different countries as seen from an international perspective. Currency exchange rates can also be affected unpredictably by intervention by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks or by currency controls or political developments in the United States or abroad.

The rate of exchange between the U.S. dollar and other currencies is determined by the forces of supply and demand in the foreign exchange markets. Changes in the exchange rate may result over time from the interaction of many factors directly or indirectly affecting economic conditions and political developments in other countries. Of particular importance are rates of inflation, interest rate levels, the balance of payments and the extent of government surpluses or deficits in the United States and the particular foreign country. All these factors are in turn sensitive to the monetary, fiscal and trade policies pursued by the governments of the United States and other foreign countries important to international trade and finance. Government intervention may also play a significant role. National governments rarely voluntarily allow their currencies to float freely in response to economic forces. Sovereign governments use a variety of techniques, such as intervention by a country’s central bank or imposition of regulatory controls or taxes, to affect the exchange rates of their currencies.

ADRs, EDRs and GDRs. The fund may also purchase American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), American Depositary Debentures, American Depositary Notes, American Depositary Bonds, European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”), or other securities representing underlying shares of foreign companies. ADRs are publicly traded on exchanges or over-the-counter in the United States and are issued through “sponsored” or “unsponsored” arrangements. In a sponsored ADR arrangement, the foreign issuer assumes the obligation to pay some or all of the depository’s transaction fees, whereas under an unsponsored arrangement, the foreign issuer assumes no obligation and the depository’s transaction fees are paid by the ADR holders. In addition, less information is available in the United States about an unsponsored ADR than about a sponsored ADR, and the financial information about a company may not be as reliable for an unsponsored ADR as it is for a sponsored ADR. The fund may invest in ADRs through both sponsored and unsponsored arrangements.

Sovereign Government and Supranational Debt. The fund may invest in all types of debt securities of governmental issuers in all countries, including emerging markets. These sovereign debt securities may include: debt securities issued or guaranteed by governments, governmental agencies or instrumentalities and political subdivisions located in emerging market countries; debt securities issued by government owned, controlled or sponsored entities located in emerging market countries; interests in entities organized and operated for the purpose of restructuring the investment characteristics of instruments issued by any of the above issuers; Brady Bonds, which are debt securities issued under the framework of the Brady Plan as a means for debtor nations to restructure their outstanding external indebtedness; participations in loans between emerging market governments and financial institutions; or debt securities issued by supranational entities such as the World Bank or the European Economic Community. A supranational entity is a bank, commission or company established or financially supported by the national governments of one or more countries to promote reconstruction or development.

Sovereign debt is subject to risks in addition to those relating to non-U.S. investments generally. As a sovereign entity, the issuing government may be immune from lawsuits in the event of its failure or refusal to pay the obligations when due. The debtor’s willingness or ability to repay in a timely manner may be affected by, among other factors, its cash flow situation, the extent of its non-U.S. reserves, the availability of sufficient non-U.S. exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor’s policy toward principal international lenders and the political constraints to which the sovereign debtor may be subject. Sovereign debtors may also be dependent on expected disbursements from foreign governments or multinational agencies, the country’s access to trade and other international credits, and the country’s balance of trade. Some emerging market sovereign debtors have in the past rescheduled their debt payments or declared moratoria on payments, and similar occurrences may happen in the future. There is no bankruptcy proceeding by which sovereign debt on which governmental entities have defaulted may be collected in whole or in part.

Eurodollar or Yankee Obligations. Eurodollar bank obligations are dollar denominated debt obligations issued outside the U.S. capital markets by foreign branches of U.S. banks and by foreign banks. Yankee obligations are dollar denominated obligations issued in the U.S. capital markets by foreign issuers. Eurodollar (and to a limited extent, Yankee) obligations are subject to certain sovereign risks. One such risk is the possibility that a foreign government might prevent dollar denominated funds from flowing across its borders. Other risks include: adverse political and economic developments in a foreign country; the extent and quality of government regulation of financial markets and institutions; the imposition of foreign withholding taxes; and expropriation or nationalization of foreign issuers.

High Yield Securities

High yield securities are medium or lower rated securities and unrated securities of comparable quality, sometimes referred to as “junk bonds.” Generally, such securities offer a higher current yield than is offered by higher rated securities, but also are predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal in accordance with the terms of the obligations. The market values of certain of these securities also tend to be more sensitive to individual corporate developments and changes in economic conditions than higher quality bonds. In addition, medium and lower rated securities and comparable unrated securities generally present a higher degree of credit risk. The risk of loss because of default by these issuers is significantly greater because medium and lower rated securities generally are unsecured and frequently subordinated to the prior payment of senior indebtedness. In addition, the market value of securities in lower rated categories is more volatile than that of higher quality securities, and the markets in which medium and lower rated securities are traded are more limited than those in which higher rated securities are traded. The existence of limited markets may make it more difficult for the fund to obtain accurate market quotations for purposes of valuing its securities and calculating its net asset value. Moreover, the lack of a liquid trading market may restrict the availability of securities for the fund to purchase and may also have the effect of limiting the ability of the fund to sell securities at their fair value either to meet redemption requests or to respond to changes in the economy or the financial markets.

Lower rated debt obligations also present risks based on payment expectations. If an issuer calls the obligation for redemption, the fund may have to replace the security with a lower yielding security, resulting in a decreased return for investors. Also, the principal value of bonds moves inversely with movements in interest rates; in the event of rising interest rates, the value of the securities held by the fund may decline more than a portfolio consisting of higher rated securities. If the fund experiences unexpected net redemptions, it may be forced to sell its higher rated bonds, resulting in a decline in the overall credit quality of the securities held by the fund and increasing the exposure of the fund to the risks of lower rated securities. Investments in zero coupon bonds may be more speculative and subject to greater fluctuations in value because of changes in interest rates than bonds that pay interest currently.

Subsequent to its purchase by the fund, an issue of securities may cease to be rated or its rating may be reduced below the minimum required for purchase by the fund. Neither event will require sale of these securities by the fund, but the subadviser will consider the event in determining whether the fund should continue to hold the security.

Municipal Securities

Municipal securities (which are also referred to herein as “municipal obligations” or “Municipal Bonds”) generally include debt obligations (bonds, notes or commercial paper) issued by or on behalf of any of the 50 states and their political subdivisions, agencies and public authorities, certain other governmental issuers (such as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam) or other qualifying issuers, participations or other interests in these securities and other related investments. The interest paid on municipal securities is excluded from gross income for regular federal income tax purposes, although it may be subject to federal alternative minimum tax (“AMT”).

Municipal securities are issued to obtain funds for various public purposes, including the construction of a wide range of public facilities, such as airports, bridges, highways, housing, hospitals, mass transportation, schools, streets, water and sewer works, gas, and electric utilities. They may also be issued to refund outstanding obligations, to obtain funds for general operating expenses, or to obtain funds to loan to other public institutions and facilities and in anticipation of the receipt of revenue or the issuance of other obligations.

The two principal classifications of municipal securities are “general obligation” securities and “limited obligation” or “revenue” securities. General obligation securities are secured by a municipal issuer’s pledge of its full faith, credit, and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest. Accordingly, the capacity of the issuer of a general obligation bond as to the timely payment of interest and the repayment of principal when due is affected by the issuer’s maintenance of its tax base. Revenue securities are payable only from the revenues derived from a particular facility or class of facilities or, in some cases, from the proceeds of a special excise tax or other specific revenue source. Accordingly, the timely payment of interest and the repayment of principal in accordance with the terms of the revenue security is a function of the economic viability of the facility or revenue source. Revenue securities include private activity bonds (described below) which are not payable from the unrestricted revenues of the issuer. Consequently, the credit quality of private activity bonds is usually directly related to the credit standing of the corporate user of the facility involved. Municipal securities may also include “moral obligation” bonds, which are normally issued by special purpose public authorities. If the issuer of moral obligation bonds is unable to meet its debt service obligations from current revenues, it may draw on a reserve fund the restoration of which is a moral commitment but not a legal obligation of the state or municipality which created the issuer.

Private Activity Bonds. Private activity bonds are issued by or on behalf of public authorities to provide funds, usually through a loan or lease arrangement, to a private entity for the purpose of financing construction of privately operated industrial facilities, such as warehouse, office, plant and storage facilities and environmental and pollution control facilities. Such bonds are secured primarily by revenues derived from loan repayments or lease payments due from the entity, which may or may not be guaranteed by a parent company or otherwise secured. Private activity bonds generally are not secured by a pledge of the taxing power of the issuer of such bonds. Therefore, repayment of such bonds generally depends on the revenue of a private entity. The continued ability of an entity to generate sufficient revenues for the payment of principal and interest on such bonds will be affected by many factors, including the size of the entity, its capital structure, demand for its products or services, competition, general economic conditions, government regulation and the entity’s dependence on revenues for the operation of the particular facility being financed.

Under current federal income tax law, interest on Municipal Bonds issued after August 7, 1986 which are specified private activity bonds and the proportionate share of any exempt-interest dividend paid by a regulated investment company that receives interest from such private activity bonds will be treated as an item of tax

preference for purposes of the AMT, which is imposed on individuals and corporations by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). For regular federal income tax purposes such interest will remain fully tax-exempt. Bonds issued in 2009 and 2010 generally will not be treated as private activity bonds, and interest earned on such bonds generally will not be treated as a tax preference item. Although interest on all tax-exempt obligations (including private activity bonds) is generally included in “adjusted current earnings” of corporations for AMT purposes, interest on bonds issued in 2009 and 2010 generally is not included in adjusted current earnings.

Industrial Development Bonds. Industrial development bonds (“IDBs”) are issued by public authorities to obtain funds to provide financing for privately-operated facilities for business and manufacturing, housing, sports, convention or trade show facilities, airport, mass transit, port and parking facilities, air or water pollution control facilities, and certain facilities for water supply, gas, electricity or sewerage or solid waste disposal. Although IDBs are issued by municipal authorities, the payment of principal and interest on IDBs is dependent solely on the ability of the user of the facilities financed by the bonds to meet its financial obligations and the pledge, if any, of the real and personal property being financed as security for such payments. IDBs are considered municipal securities if the interest paid is exempt from regular federal income tax. Interest earned on IDBs may be subject to the AMT.

Tender Option Bonds. A tender option bond is a municipal bond (generally held pursuant to a custodial arrangement) having a relatively long maturity and bearing interest at a fixed rate substantially higher than prevailing short-term tax-exempt rates, that has been coupled with the agreement of a third party, such as a financial institution, pursuant to which such institution grants the security holders the option, at periodic intervals, to tender their securities to the institution and receive the face value thereof. As consideration for providing the option, the institution generally receives periodic fees equal to the difference between the municipal bond’s fixed coupon rate and the rate, as determined by a remarketing or similar agent, that would cause the securities, coupled with the tender option, to trade at par. Thus, after payment of this fee, the security holder would effectively hold a demand obligation that bears interest at the prevailing short-term tax-exempt rate. (See the discussion of Structured Notes and Related Instruments, below.)

Municipal Leases. Municipal leases or installment purchase contracts are issued by a state or local government to acquire equipment or facilities. Municipal leases frequently have special risks not normally associated with general obligation bonds or revenue bonds. Many leases include “non-appropriation” clauses that provide that the governmental issuer has no obligation to make future payments under the lease or contract unless money is appropriated for such purpose by the appropriate legislative body on a yearly or other periodic basis. Although the obligations are typically secured by the leased equipment or facilities, the disposition of the property in the event of non-appropriation or foreclosure might, in some cases, prove difficult or, if sold, may not fully cover the fund’s exposure.

Participation Interests. Tax-exempt participation interests in municipal obligations (such as private activity bonds and municipal lease obligations) are typically issued by a financial institution. A participation interest gives the fund an undivided interest in the municipal obligation in the proportion that the fund’s participation interest bears to the total principal amount of the municipal obligation. Participation interests in municipal obligations may be backed by an irrevocable letter of credit or guarantee of, or a right to put to, a bank (which may be the bank issuing the participation interest, a bank issuing a confirming letter of credit to that of the issuing bank, or a bank serving as agent of the issuing bank with respect to the possible repurchase of the participation interest) or insurance policy of an insurance company. The fund has the right to sell the participation interest back to the institution or draw on the letter of credit or insurance after a specified period of notice, for all or any part of the full principal amount of the fund’s participation in the security, plus accrued interest.

Issuers of participation interests will retain a service and letter of credit fee and a fee for providing the liquidity feature, in an amount equal to the excess of the interest paid on the instruments over the negotiated yield

at which the participations were purchased on behalf of the fund. The issuer of the participation interest may bear the cost of insurance backing the participation interest, although the fund may also purchase insurance, in which case the cost of insurance will be an expense of the fund. Participation interests may be sold prior to maturity. Participation interests may include municipal lease obligations. Purchase of a participation interest may involve the risk that the fund will not be deemed to be the owner of the underlying municipal obligation for purposes of the ability to claim tax exemption of interest paid on that municipal obligation.

Municipal Notes. There are four major varieties of state and municipal notes: Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes (“TRANs”); Tax Anticipation Notes (“TANs”); Revenue Anticipation Notes (“RANs”); and Bond Anticipation Notes (“BANs”). TRANs, TANs and RANs are issued by states, municipalities and other tax-exempt issuers to finance short-term cash needs or, occasionally, to finance construction. Many TRANs, TANs and RANs are general obligations of the issuing entity payable from taxes or designated revenues, respectively, expected to be received within the related fiscal period. BANs are issued with the expectation that their principal and interest will be paid out of proceeds from renewal notes or bonds to be issued prior to the maturity of the BANs. BANs are issued most frequently by both general obligation and revenue bond issuers usually to finance such items as land acquisition, facility acquisition and/or construction and capital improvement projects.

Tax-exempt Commercial Paper. Tax-exempt commercial paper is a short-term obligation with a stated maturity of 270 days or less. It is issued by state and local governments or their agencies to finance seasonal working capital needs or as short-term financing in anticipation of longer term financing. While tax-exempt commercial paper is intended to be repaid from general revenues or refinanced, it frequently is backed by a letter of credit, lending arrangement, note repurchase agreement or other credit facility agreement offered by a bank or financial institution.

Demand Instruments. Municipal bonds may be issued as floating- or variable-rate securities subject to demand features (“demand instruments”). Demand instruments usually have a stated maturity of more than one year but contain a demand feature (or “put”) that enables the holder to redeem the investment. Variable-rate demand instruments provide for automatic establishment of a new interest rate on set dates. Floating-rate demand instruments provide for automatic adjustment of interest rates whenever a specified interest rate (e.g., the prime rate) changes.

These floating and variable rate instruments are payable upon a specified period of notice which may range from one day up to one year. The terms of the instruments provide that interest rates are adjustable at intervals ranging from daily to up to one year and the adjustments are based upon the prime rate of a bank or other appropriate interest rate adjustment index as provided in the respective instruments. Variable rate instruments include participation interests in variable- or fixed-rate municipal obligations owned by a bank, insurance company or other financial institution or affiliated organizations. Although the rate of the underlying municipal obligations may be fixed, the terms of the participation interest may result in the fund receiving a variable rate on its investment.

Because of the variable rate nature of the instruments, when prevailing interest rates decline the fund’s yield will decline and its shareholders will forgo the opportunity for capital appreciation. On the other hand, during periods when prevailing interest rates increase, the fund’s yield will increase and its shareholders will have reduced risk of capital depreciation.

Custodial Receipts. The fund may acquire custodial receipts or certificates underwritten by securities dealers or banks that evidence ownership of future interest payments, principal payments or both on certain municipal obligations. The underwriter of these certificates or receipts typically purchases municipal obligations and deposits the obligations in an irrevocable trust or custodial account with a custodian bank, which then issues receipts or certificates that evidence ownership of the periodic unmatured coupon payments and the final principal payment on the obligations. Although under the terms of a custodial receipt, the fund would be

typically authorized to assert its rights directly against the issuer of the underlying obligation, the fund could be required to assert through the custodian bank those rights as may exist against the underlying issuer. Thus, in the event the underlying issuer fails to pay principal and/or interest when due, the fund may be subject to delays, expenses and risks that are greater than those that would have been involved if the fund had purchased a direct obligation of the issuer. In addition, in the event that the trust or custodial account in which the underlying security has been deposited is determined to be an association taxable as a corporation, instead of a non-taxable entity, the yield on the underlying security would be reduced in recognition of any taxes paid.

Additional Risks Relating to Municipal Securities

Tax risk. The Code imposes certain continuing requirements on issuers of tax-exempt bonds regarding the use, expenditure and investment of bond proceeds and the payment of rebates to the U.S. government. Failure by the issuer to comply after the issuance of tax-exempt bonds with certain of these requirements could cause interest on the bonds to become includable in gross income retroactive to the date of issuance.

From time to time, proposals have been introduced before Congress for the purpose of restricting or eliminating the federal income tax exemption for interest on municipal obligations, and similar proposals may be introduced in the future. In addition, the federal income tax exemption has been, and may in the future be, the subject of litigation. If one of these proposals were enacted, the availability of tax-exempt obligations for investment by the fund and the value of the fund’s investments would be affected.

Opinions relating to the validity of municipal obligations and to the exclusion of interest thereon from gross income for regular federal and/or state income tax purposes are rendered by bond counsel to the respective issuers at the time of issuance. The fund and its service providers will rely on such opinions and will not review the proceedings relating to the issuance of municipal obligations or the bases for such opinions.

Information risk. Information about the financial condition of issuers of municipal obligations may be less available than about corporations whose securities are publicly traded.

State and Federal law risk. Municipal obligations are subject to the provisions of bankruptcy, insolvency and other laws affecting the rights and remedies of creditors, such as the federal Bankruptcy Code, and laws, if any, that may be enacted by Congress or state legislatures extending the time for payment of principal or interest, or both, or imposing other constraints upon enforcement of such obligations or upon the ability of municipalities to levy taxes. There is also the possibility that, as a result of litigation or other conditions, the power or ability of any one or more issuers to pay, when due, the principal of and interest on its or their municipal obligations may be materially affected.

Market and ratings risk. The yields on municipal obligations are dependent on a variety of factors, including economic and monetary conditions, general market conditions, supply and demand, general conditions of the municipal market, size of a particular offering, the maturity of the obligation and the rating of the issue. Adverse economic, business, legal or political developments might affect all or substantial portions of the fund’s municipal obligations in the same manner.

Unfavorable developments in any economic sector may have far-reaching ramifications for the overall or any state’s municipal market.

Although the ratings of tax-exempt securities by ratings agencies are relative and subjective, and are not absolute standards of quality, such ratings reflect the assessment of the ratings agency, at the time of issuance of the rating, of the economic viability of the issuer of a general obligation bond or, with respect to a revenue bond, the special revenue source, with respect to the timely payment of interest and the repayment of principal in accordance with the terms of the obligation, but do not reflect an assessment of the market value of the obligation. See Appendix A for additional information regarding ratings. Consequently, municipal obligations

with the same maturity, coupon and rating may have different yields when purchased in the open market, while municipal obligations of the same maturity and coupon with different ratings may have the same yield.

Risks associated with sources of liquidity or credit support. Issuers of municipal obligations may employ various forms of credit and liquidity enhancements, including letters of credit, guarantees, swaps, puts and demand features, and insurance, provided by domestic or foreign entities such as banks and other financial institutions. Changes in the credit quality of the entities providing the enhancement could affect the value of the securities or the fund’s share price. Banks and certain financial institutions are subject to extensive governmental regulation which may limit both the amounts and types of loans and other financial commitments which may be made and interest rates and fees which may be charged. The profitability of the banking industry is largely dependent upon the availability and cost of capital for the purpose of financing lending operations under prevailing money market conditions. Also, general economic conditions play an important part in the operation of the banking industry, and exposure to credit losses arising from possible financial difficulties of borrowers might affect a bank’s ability to meet its obligations under a letter of credit.

Other. Securities may be sold in anticipation of a market decline (a rise in interest rates) or purchased in anticipation of a market rise (a decline in interest rates). In addition, a security may be sold and another purchased at approximately the same time to take advantage of what the subadviser believes to be a temporary disparity in the normal yield relationship between the two securities. In general, the secondary market for tax-exempt securities in the fund’s portfolio may be less liquid than that for taxable fixed income securities. Accordingly, the ability of the fund to make purchases and sales of securities in the foregoing manner may be limited. Yield disparities may occur for reasons not directly related to the investment quality of particular issues or the general movement of interest rates, but instead due to such factors as changes in the overall demand for or supply of various types of tax-exempt securities or changes in the investment objectives of investors.

Taxable Municipal Obligations. The market for taxable municipal obligations is relatively small, which may result in a lack of liquidity and in price volatility of those securities. Interest on taxable municipal obligations is includable in gross income for regular federal income tax purposes. While interest on taxable municipal obligations may be exempt from personal taxes imposed by the state within which the obligation is issued, such interest will nevertheless generally be subject to all other state and local income and franchise taxes.

Risks Inherent in an Investment in Different Types of Municipal Securities

General Obligation Bonds. General obligation bonds are backed by the issuer’s pledge of its full faith, credit and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest. However, the taxing power of any governmental entity may be limited by provisions of state constitutions or laws and an entity’s credit will depend on many factors. Some such factors are the entity’s tax base, the extent to which the entity relies on federal or state aid, and other factors which are beyond the entity’s control.

Industrial Development Revenue Bonds (“IDRs”). IDRs are tax-exempt securities issued by states, municipalities, public authorities or similar entities to finance the cost of acquiring, constructing or improving various projects. These projects are usually operated by corporate entities. IDRs are not general obligations of governmental entities backed by their taxing power. Issuers are only obligated to pay amounts due on the IDRs to the extent that funds are available from the unexpended proceeds of the IDRs or receipts or revenues of the issuer. Payment of IDRs is solely dependent upon the creditworthiness of the corporate operator of the project or corporate guarantor. Such corporate operators or guarantors that are industrial companies may be affected by many factors, which may have an adverse impact on the credit quality of the particular company or industry.

Hospital and Health Care Facility Bonds. The ability of hospitals and other health care facilities to meet their obligations with respect to revenue bonds issued on their behalf is dependent on various factors. Some such factors are the level of payments received from private third-party payors and government programs and the cost of providing health care services. There can be no assurance that payments under governmental programs will be

sufficient to cover the costs associated with their bonds. It also may be necessary for a hospital or other health care facility to incur substantial capital expenditures or increased operating expenses to effect changes in its facilities, equipment, personnel and services. Hospitals and other health care facilities are additionally subject to claims and legal actions by patients and others in the ordinary course of business. There can be no assurance that a claim will not exceed the insurance coverage of a health care facility or that insurance coverage will be available to a facility.

Single Family and Multi-Family Housing Bonds. Multi-family housing revenue bonds and single family mortgage revenue bonds are state and local housing issues that have been issued to provide financing for various housing projects. Multi-family housing revenue bonds are payable primarily from mortgage loans to housing projects for low to moderate income families. Single-family mortgage revenue bonds are issued for the purpose of acquiring notes secured by mortgages on residences. The ability of housing issuers to make debt service payments on their obligations may be affected by various economic and non-economic factors. Such factors include: occupancy levels, adequate rental income in multi-family projects, the rate of default on mortgage loans underlying single family issues and the ability of mortgage insurers to pay claims. All single-family mortgage revenue bonds and certain multi-family housing revenue bonds are prepayable over the life of the underlying mortgage or mortgage pool. Therefore, the average life of housing obligations cannot be determined. However, the average life of these obligations will ordinarily be less than their stated maturities. Mortgage loans are frequently partially or completely prepaid prior to their final stated maturities.

Power Facility Bonds. The ability of utilities to meet their obligations with respect to bonds they issue is dependent on various factors. These factors include the rates that they may charge their customers, the demand for a utility’s services and the cost of providing those services. Utilities are also subject to extensive regulations relating to the rates which they may charge customers. Utilities can experience regulatory, political and consumer resistance to rate increases. Utilities engaged in long-term capital projects are especially sensitive to regulatory lags in granting rate increases. Utilities are additionally subject to increased costs due to governmental environmental regulation and decreased profits due to increasing competition. Any difficulty in obtaining timely and adequate rate increases could adversely affect a utility’s results of operations. The subadviser cannot predict the effect of such factors on the ability of issuers to meet their obligations with respect to bonds.

Water and Sewer Revenue Bonds. Water and sewer bonds are generally payable from user fees. The ability of state and local water and sewer authorities to meet their obligations may be affected by a number of factors. Some such factors are the failure of municipalities to utilize fully the facilities constructed by these authorities, declines in revenue from user charges, rising construction and maintenance costs, impact of environmental requirements, the difficulty of obtaining or discovering new supplies of fresh water, the effect of conservation programs, the impact of “no growth” zoning ordinances and the continued availability of federal and state financial assistance and of municipal bond insurance for future bond issues.

University and College Bonds. The ability of universities and colleges to meet their obligations is dependent upon various factors. Some of these factors of which an investor should be aware are the size and diversity of their sources of revenues, enrollment, reputation, management expertise, the availability and restrictions on the use of endowments and other funds and the quality and maintenance costs of campus facilities. Also, in the case of public institutions, the financial condition of the relevant state or other governmental entity and its policies with respect to education may affect an institution’s ability to make payments on its own.

Lease Rental Bonds. Lease rental bonds are predominantly issued by governmental authorities that have no taxing power or other means of directly raising revenues. Rather, the authorities are financing vehicles created solely for the construction of buildings or the purchase of equipment that will be used by a state or local government. Thus, the bonds are subject to the ability and willingness of the lessee government to meet its lease rental payments, which include debt service on the bonds. Lease rental bonds are subject to the risk that the lessee government is not legally obligated to budget and appropriate for the rental payments beyond the current fiscal year. These bonds are also subject to the risk of abatement in many states as rents cease in the event that

damage, destruction or condemnation of the project prevents its use by the lessee. Also, in the event of default by the lessee government, there may be significant legal and/or practical difficulties involved in the reletting or sale of the project.

Capital Improvement Facility Bonds. Capital improvement bonds are bonds issued to provide funds to assist political subdivisions or agencies of a state through acquisition of the underlying debt of a state or local political subdivision or agency. The risks of an investment in such bonds include the risk of possible prepayment or failure of payment of proceeds on and default of the underlying debt.

Solid Waste Disposal Bonds. Bonds issued for solid waste disposal facilities are generally payable from tipping fees and from revenues that may be earned by the facility on the sale of electrical energy generated in the combustion of waste products. The ability of solid waste disposal facilities to meet their obligations depends upon the continued use of the facility, the successful and efficient operation of the facility and, in the case of waste-to-energy facilities, the continued ability of the facility to generate electricity on a commercial basis. Also, increasing environmental regulation on the federal, state and local level has a significant impact on waste disposal facilities. While regulation requires more waste producers to use waste disposal facilities, it also imposes significant costs on the facilities.

Moral Obligation Bonds. A moral obligation bond is a type of revenue bond issued by a state or municipality pursuant to legislation authorizing the establishment of a reserve fund to pay principal and interest payments if the issuer is unable to meet its obligations. The establishment of such a reserve fund generally requires appropriation by the state legislature, which is not legally required. Accordingly, the establishment of a reserve fund is generally considered a moral commitment but not a legal obligation of the state or municipality that created the issuer.

Refunded Bonds. Refunded bonds are typically secured by direct obligations of the U.S. government, or in some cases obligations guaranteed by the U.S. government, placed in an escrow account maintained by an independent trustee until maturity or a predetermined redemption date. These obligations are generally non-callable prior to maturity or the predetermined redemption date. In a few isolated instances to date, however, bonds which were thought to be escrowed to maturity have been called for redemption prior to maturity.

Airport, Port and Highway Revenue Bonds. Certain facility revenue bonds are payable from and secured by the revenue from the ownership and operation of particular facilities, such as airports, highways and port authorities. Airport operating income may be affected by the ability of airlines to meet their obligations under the agreements with airports. Similarly, payment on bonds related to other facilities is dependent on revenues from the projects, such as use fees from ports, tolls on turnpikes and bridges and rents from buildings. Therefore, payment may be adversely affected by reduction in revenues due to such factors and increased cost of maintenance or decreased use of a facility. The subadviser cannot predict what effect conditions may have on revenues which are required for payment on these bonds.

Special Tax Bonds. Special tax bonds are payable from and secured by the revenues derived by a municipality from a particular tax. Examples of such special taxes are a tax on the rental of a hotel room, the purchase of food and beverages, the rental of automobiles or the consumption of liquor. Special tax bonds are not secured by the general tax revenues of the municipality, and they do not represent general obligations of the municipality. Therefore, payment on special tax bonds may be adversely affected by a reduction in revenues realized from the underlying special tax. Also, should spending on the particular goods or services that are subject to the special tax decline, the municipality may be under no obligation to increase the rate of the special tax to ensure that sufficient revenues are raised from the shrinking taxable base.

Tax Allocation Bonds. Tax allocation bonds are typically secured by incremental tax revenues collected on property within the areas where redevelopment projects financed by bond proceeds are located. Such payments are expected to be made from projected increases in tax revenues derived from higher assessed values of property

resulting from development in the particular project area and not from an increase in tax rates. Special risk considerations include: reduction of, or a less than anticipated increase in, taxable values of property in the project area; successful appeals by property owners of assessed valuations; substantial delinquencies in the payment of property taxes; or imposition of any constitutional or legislative property tax rate decrease.

Tobacco Settlement Revenue Bonds. Tobacco settlement revenue bonds are secured by a state or local government’s proportionate share in the Master Settlement Agreement (“MSA”). The MSA is an agreement, reached out of court in November 1998 between the attorneys general of 46 states (Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi and Texas all settled independently) and six other U.S. jurisdictions (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam), and the four largest U.S. tobacco manufacturers (Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, and Lorillard). Subsequently, 34 smaller tobacco manufacturers signed on to the MSA, bringing the current combined market share of participating tobacco manufacturers to approximately 99%. The MSA basically provides for payments annually by the manufacturers to the states and jurisdictions in perpetuity, in exchange for releasing all claims against the manufacturers and a pledge of no further litigation. The MSA established a base payment schedule and a formula for adjusting payments each year. Manufacturers pay into a master escrow trust based on their market share, and each state receives a fixed percentage of the payment as set forth in the MSA. Annual payments are highly dependent on annual domestic cigarette shipments and inflation, as well as several other factors. As a result, payments made by tobacco manufacturers could be negatively impacted by a decrease in tobacco consumption over time. A market share loss by the MSA companies to non-MSA participating manufacturers would also cause a downward adjustment in the payment amounts. A participating manufacturer filing for bankruptcy could cause delays or reductions in bond payments.

Certain tobacco settlement revenue bonds are issued with “turbo” redemption features. Under this turbo structure, all available excess revenues are applied as an early redemption to the designated first turbo maturity until it is completely repaid, and then to the next turbo maturity until paid in full, and so on. The result is that the returned principal creates an average maturity that could be much shorter than the legal final maturity.

Transit Authority Bonds. Mass transit is generally not self-supporting from fare revenues. Therefore, additional financial resources must be made available to ensure operation of mass transit systems as well as the timely payment of debt service. Often such financial resources include federal and state subsidies, lease rentals paid by funds of the state or local government or a pledge of a special tax. If fare revenues or the additional financial resources do not increase appropriately to pay for rising operating expenses, the ability of the issuer to adequately service the debt may be adversely affected.

Convention Facility Bonds. Bonds in the convention facilities category include special limited obligation securities issued to finance convention and sports facilities payable from rental payments and annual governmental appropriations. The governmental agency is not obligated to make payments in any year in which the monies have not been appropriated to make such payments. In addition, these facilities are limited use facilities that may not be used for purposes other than as convention centers or sports facilities.

Correctional Facility Bonds. Bonds in the correctional facilities category include special limited obligation securities issued to construct, rehabilitate and purchase correctional facilities payable from governmental rental payments and/or appropriations.

Stripped Securities

Stripped securities may be issued by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. government, or by private originators of, or investors in, government securities or mortgage loans, including savings and loan associations, mortgage banks, commercial banks, investment banks and special purpose subsidiaries of the foregoing. Stripped securities have greater volatility than other types of securities. Although mortgage securities are purchased and sold by institutional investors through several investment banking firms acting as brokers or dealers, the market for such securities has not yet been fully developed. Accordingly, stripped securities may be illiquid.

Stripped securities are structured with two or more classes of securities that receive different proportions of the interest and principal distributions on a pool of assets. A common type of stripped mortgage security will have at least one class receiving only a small portion of the principal. In the most extreme case, one class will receive all of the interest (“IO” or interest-only), while the other class will receive all of the principal (“PO” or principal-only class). The yield to maturity on IOs, POs and other mortgage-backed securities that are purchased at a substantial premium or discount generally are extremely sensitive not only to changes in prevailing interest rates but also to the rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the related underlying mortgage assets, and a rapid rate of principal payments may have a material adverse effect on such securities’ yield to maturity. If the underlying mortgage assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, the fund may fail to fully recoup its initial investment in these securities even if the securities have received the highest rating by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”).

Structured Notes and Related Instruments

“Structured” notes and other related instruments are privately negotiated debt obligations where the principal and/or interest is determined by reference to the performance of a benchmark asset, market or interest rate (an “embedded index”), such as selected securities, an index of securities or specified interest rates, or the differential performance of two assets or markets, such as indexes reflecting bonds. Structured instruments may be issued by corporations, including banks, as well as by governmental agencies and frequently are assembled in the form of medium-term notes, but a variety of forms is available and may be used in particular circumstances. The terms of such structured instruments normally provide that their principal and/or interest payments are to be adjusted upwards or downwards (but ordinarily not below zero) to reflect changes in the embedded index while the instruments are outstanding. As a result, the interest and/or principal payments that may be made on a structured product may vary widely, depending on a variety of factors, including the volatility of the embedded index and the effect of changes in the embedded index on principal and/or interest payments. The rate of return on structured notes may be determined by applying a multiplier to the performance or differential performance of the referenced index(es) or other asset(s). Application of a multiplier involves leverage that will serve to magnify the potential for gain and the risk of loss. Investment in indexed securities and structured notes involves certain risks, including the credit risk of the issuer and the normal risks of price changes in response to changes in interest rates. Further, in the case of certain indexed securities or structured notes, a decline in the reference instrument may cause the interest rate to be reduced to zero, and any further declines in the reference instrument may then reduce the principal amount payable on maturity. Finally, these securities may be less liquid than other types of securities, and may be more volatile than their underlying reference instruments.

U.S. Government Obligations

U.S. government securities include (1) U.S. Treasury bills (maturity of one year or less), U.S. Treasury notes (maturity of one to ten years) and U.S. Treasury bonds (maturities generally greater than ten years) and (2) obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. government agencies or instrumentalities which are supported by any of the following: (a) the full faith and credit of the U.S. government (such as Ginnie Mae certificates); (b) the right of the issuer to borrow an amount limited to a specific line of credit from the U.S. government (such as obligations of the Federal Home Loan Banks); (c) the discretionary authority of the U.S. government to purchase certain obligations of agencies or instrumentalities (such as securities issued by Fannie Mae); or (d) only the credit of the instrumentality (such as securities issued by Freddie Mac). U.S. government securities include issues by non-governmental entities (like financial institutions) that carry direct guarantees from U.S. government agencies as part of government initiatives in response to the market crisis or otherwise. In the case of obligations not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, the fund must look principally to the agency or instrumentality issuing or guaranteeing the obligation for ultimate repayment and may not be able to assert a claim against the United States itself in the event the agency or instrumentality does not meet its commitments. Neither the U.S. government nor any of its agencies or instrumentalities guarantees the market value of the securities it issues. Therefore, the market value of such securities will fluctuate in response to changes in interest rates.

Variable and Floating Rate Securities

Variable and floating rate securities provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid on the obligations. The terms of such obligations provide that interest rates are adjusted periodically based upon an interest rate adjustment index as provided in the respective obligations. The adjustment intervals may be regular, and range from daily up to annually, or may be event-based, such as based on a change in the prime rate.

The fund may invest in floating rate debt instruments (“floaters”) and engage in credit spread trades. The interest rate on a floater is a variable rate which is tied to another interest rate, such as a corporate bond index or Treasury bill rate. The interest rate on a floater resets periodically, typically every six months. While, because of the interest rate reset feature, floaters may provide the fund with a certain degree of protection against rising interest rates, the fund will participate in any declines in interest rates as well. A credit spread trade is an investment position relating to a difference in the prices or interest rates of two bonds or other securities or currencies, where the value of the investment position is determined by movements in the difference between the prices or interest rates, as the case may be, of the respective securities or currencies.

The fund may also invest in inverse floating rate debt instruments (“inverse floaters”). The interest rate on an inverse floater resets in the opposite direction from the market rate of interest to which the inverse floater is indexed. An inverse floating rate security may exhibit greater price volatility than a fixed rate obligation of similar credit quality.

A floater may be considered to be leveraged to the extent that its interest rate varies by a magnitude that exceeds the magnitude of the change in the index rate of interest. The higher degree of leverage inherent in some floaters is associated with greater volatility in their market values.

Such instruments may include variable amount master demand notes that permit the indebtedness thereunder to vary in addition to providing for periodic adjustments in the interest rate. The absence of an active secondary market with respect to particular variable and floating rate instruments could make it difficult for the fund to dispose of a variable or floating rate note if the issuer defaulted on its payment obligation or during periods that the fund is not entitled to exercise its demand rights, and the fund could, for these or other reasons, suffer a loss with respect to such instruments. In determining average-weighted portfolio maturity, an instrument will be deemed to have a maturity equal to either the period remaining until the next interest rate adjustment or the time the fund involved can recover payment of principal as specified in the instrument, depending on the type of instrument involved.

Zero Coupon and Pay-In-Kind Securities

A zero coupon bond is a security that makes no fixed interest payments but instead is sold at a discount from its face value. The bond is redeemed at its face value on the specified maturity date. Zero coupon bonds may be issued as such, or they may be created by a broker who strips the coupons from a bond and separately sells the rights to receive principal and interest. The prices of zero coupon bonds tend to fluctuate more in response to changes in market interest rates than do the prices of interest-paying debt securities with similar maturities. The fund investing generally accrues income on zero coupon bonds prior to the receipt of cash payments. Since the fund must distribute substantially all of its income to shareholders to qualify as a regulated investment company under federal income tax law, to the extent that the fund invests in zero coupon bonds, it may have to dispose of other securities, including at times when it may be disadvantageous to do so, to generate the cash necessary for the distribution of income attributable to its zero coupon bonds. Pay-in-kind securities have characteristics similar to those of zero coupon securities, but interest on such securities may be paid in the form of obligations of the same type rather than cash.

Derivatives

General. The fund may utilize options, futures contracts (sometimes referred to as “futures”), options on futures contracts, forward contracts, swaps, caps, floors, collars, indexed securities, various mortgage-related obligations, structured or synthetic financial instruments and other derivative instruments (collectively, “Financial Instruments”). The fund may use Financial Instruments for any purpose, including as a substitute for other investments, to attempt to enhance its portfolio’s return or yield and to alter the investment characteristics of its portfolio (including to attempt to mitigate risk of loss in some fashion, or “hedge”). Except as otherwise provided in the Prospectus, this SAI or by applicable law, the fund may purchase and sell any type of Financial Instrument. The fund may choose not to make use of derivatives for a variety of reasons, and no assurance can be given that any derivatives strategy employed will be successful.

Recent legislation calls for new regulation of the derivatives markets. The extent and impact of the regulation is not yet fully known and may not be for some time. Any new regulations could adversely affect the value, availability and performance of derivative instruments, may make them more costly, and may limit or restrict their use by the fund.

The use of Financial Instruments may be limited by applicable law and any applicable regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”), or the exchanges on which some Financial Instruments may be traded. (Note, however, that some Financial Instruments that the fund may use may not be listed on any exchange and may not be regulated by the SEC or the CFTC.) In addition, the fund’s ability to use Financial Instruments may be limited by tax considerations.

In addition to the instruments and strategies discussed in this section, the subadviser may discover additional opportunities in connection with Financial Instruments and other similar or related techniques. These opportunities may become available as the subadviser develops new techniques, as regulatory authorities broaden the range of permitted transactions and as new Financial Instruments or other techniques are developed. The subadviser may utilize these opportunities and techniques to the extent that they are consistent with the fund’s investment objective and permitted by its investment limitations and applicable regulatory authorities. These opportunities and techniques may involve risks different from or in addition to those summarized herein.

This discussion is not intended to limit the fund’s investment flexibility, unless such a limitation is expressly stated, and therefore will be construed by the fund as broadly as possible. Statements concerning what the fund may do are not intended to limit any other activity. Also, as with any investment or investment technique, even when the Prospectus or this discussion indicates that the fund may engage in an activity, it may not actually do so for a variety of reasons, including cost considerations.

Summary of Certain Risks. The use of Financial Instruments involves special considerations and risks, certain of which are summarized below, and may result in losses to the fund. In general, the use of Financial Instruments may increase the volatility of the fund and may involve a small investment of cash relative to the magnitude of the risk or exposure assumed. Even a small investment in derivatives may magnify or otherwise increase investment losses to the fund. As noted above, there can be no assurance that any derivatives strategy will succeed.

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Financial Instruments are subject to the risk that the market value of the derivative itself or the market value of underlying instruments will change in a way adverse to the fund’s interest. Many Financial Instruments are complex, and successful use of them depends in part upon the subadviser’s ability to forecast correctly future market trends and other financial or economic factors or the value of the underlying security, index, interest rate or currency. Even if the subadviser’s forecasts are correct, other factors may cause distortions or dislocations in the markets that result in unsuccessful transactions. Financial Instruments may behave in unexpected ways, especially in abnormal or volatile market conditions.

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The fund may be required to maintain assets as “cover,” maintain segregated accounts, post collateral or make margin payments when it takes positions in Financial Instruments. Assets that are segregated or used as cover, margin or collateral may be required to be in the form of cash or liquid securities, and typically may not be sold while the position in the Financial Instrument is open unless they are replaced with other appropriate assets. If markets move against the fund’s position, the fund may be required to maintain or post additional assets and may have to dispose of existing investments to obtain assets acceptable as collateral or margin. This may prevent it from pursuing its investment objective. Assets that are segregated or used as cover, margin or collateral typically are invested, and these investments are subject to risk and may result in losses to the fund. These losses may be substantial, and may be in addition to losses incurred by using the Financial Instrument in question. If the fund is unable to close out its positions, it may be required to continue to maintain such assets or accounts or make such payments until the positions expire or mature, and the fund will continue to be subject to investment risk on the assets. Segregation, cover, margin and collateral requirements may impair the fund’s ability to sell a portfolio security or make an investment at a time when it would otherwise be favorable to do so, or require the fund to sell a portfolio security or close out a derivatives position at a disadvantageous time or price.

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The fund’s ability to close out or unwind a position in a Financial Instrument prior to expiration or maturity depends on the existence of a liquid market or, in the absence of such a market, the ability and willingness of the other party to the transaction (the “counterparty”) to enter into a transaction closing out the position. If there is no market or the fund is not successful in its negotiations, the fund may not be able to sell or unwind the derivative position at a particular time or at an anticipated price. This may also be the case if the counterparty to the Financial Instrument becomes insolvent. The fund may be required to make delivery of portfolio securities or other assets underlying a Financial Instrument in order to close out a position or to sell portfolio securities or assets at a disadvantageous time or price in order to obtain cash to close out the position. While the position remains open, the fund continues to be subject to investment risk on the Financial Instrument. The fund may or may not be able to take other actions or enter into other transactions, including hedging transactions, to limit or reduce its exposure to the Financial Instrument.

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Certain Financial Instruments transactions may have a leveraging effect on the fund, and adverse changes in the value of the underlying security, index, interest rate, currency or other instrument or measure can result in losses substantially greater than the amount invested in the Financial Instrument itself. When the fund engages in transactions that have a leveraging effect, the value of the fund is likely to be more volatile and all other risks also are likely to be compounded. This is because leverage generally magnifies the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of an asset and creates investment risk with respect to a larger pool of assets than the fund would otherwise have. Certain Financial Instruments have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment.

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Many Financial Instruments may be difficult to value or may be valued subjectively. Inaccurate valuations can result in increased payment requirements to counterparties or a loss of value to the fund.

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Liquidity risk exists when a particular Financial Instrument is difficult to purchase or sell. If a derivative transaction is particularly large or if the relevant market is illiquid, the fund may be unable to initiate a transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or price. Certain Financial Instruments, including certain over-the-counter (or “OTC”) options and swaps, may be considered illiquid and therefore subject to the fund’s limitation on investments in illiquid securities.

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In a hedging transaction there may be imperfect correlation, or even no correlation, between the identity, price or price movements of a Financial Instrument and the identity, price or price

movements of the investments being hedged. This lack of correlation may cause the hedge to be unsuccessful and may result in the fund incurring substantial losses and/or not achieving anticipated gains.

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Hedging strategies can reduce opportunity for gain by offsetting the positive effect of favorable price movements. Even if the strategy works as intended, the fund might be in a better position had it not attempted to hedge at all.

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Financial Instruments transactions used for non-hedging purposes may result in losses which would not be offset by increases in the value of portfolio securities or declines in the cost of securities to be acquired. In the event that the fund enters into a derivatives transaction as an alternative to purchasing or selling other investments or in order to obtain desired exposure to an index or market, the fund will be exposed to the same risks as are incurred in purchasing or selling the other investments directly, as well as the risks of the derivatives transaction itself.

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Certain Financial Instruments transactions involve the risk of loss resulting from the insolvency or bankruptcy of the counterparty or the failure by the counterparty to make required payments or otherwise comply with the terms of the contract. In the event of default by a counterparty, the fund may have contractual remedies pursuant to the agreements related to the transaction, which may be limited by applicable law in the case of the counterparty’s bankruptcy.

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Certain Financial Instruments transactions, including certain options, swaps, forward contracts, and certain options on foreign currencies, are not entered into or traded on exchanges or in markets regulated by the CFTC or the SEC. Instead, such OTC derivatives are entered into directly by the counterparties and may be traded only through financial institutions acting as market makers. Many of the protections afforded to exchange participants will not be available to participants in OTC derivatives transactions. For example, OTC derivatives transactions are not subject to the guarantee of an exchange or clearinghouse and as a result the fund bears greater risk of default by the counterparties to such transactions. Information available on counterparty creditworthiness may be incomplete or outdated, thus reducing the ability to anticipate counterparty defaults.

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Swap contracts involve special risks. Swaps may in some cases be illiquid. In the absence of a central exchange or market for swap transactions, they may be difficult to trade or value, especially in the event of market disruptions. The swap market is a relatively new market and is largely unregulated. It is possible that developments in the swap market, including potential government regulation, could adversely affect the fund’s ability to terminate existing swap agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such agreements. Credit default swaps involve additional risks. For example, credit default swaps increase credit risk since the fund has exposure to both the issuer of the referenced obligation (typically a debt obligation) and the counterparty to the credit default swap.

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Financial Instruments involve operational risk. There may be incomplete or erroneous documentation or inadequate collateral or margin, or transactions may fail to settle. The risk of operational failures may be higher for OTC derivatives transactions. For derivatives not guaranteed by an exchange, the fund may have only contractual remedies in the event of a counterparty default, and there may be delays, costs, disagreements as to the meaning of contractual terms and litigation, in enforcing those remedies.

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Financial Instruments transactions conducted outside the United States may not be conducted in the same manner as those entered into on U.S. exchanges, and may be subject to different margin, exercise, settlement or expiration procedures. Many of the risks of OTC derivatives transactions are also applicable to derivatives transactions conducted outside the United States. Derivatives transactions conducted outside the United States also are subject to the risks affecting foreign securities, currencies and other instruments.

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Financial Instruments involving currency are subject to additional risks. Currency related transactions may be negatively affected by government exchange controls, blockages, and manipulations. Exchange rates may be influenced by factors extrinsic to a country’s economy. Also, there is no systematic reporting of last sale information with respect to foreign currencies. As a result, the information on which trading in currency derivatives is based may not be as complete as, and may be delayed beyond, comparable data for other transactions.

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Use of Financial Instruments involves transaction costs, which may be significant. Use of Financial Instruments also may increase the amount of taxable income to shareholders, including in a fund that invests largely in municipal securities.

Hedging. As stated above, the term “hedging” often is used to describe a transaction or strategy that is intended to mitigate risk of loss in some fashion. Hedging strategies can be broadly categorized as “short hedges” and “long hedges.” A short hedge is a purchase or sale of a Financial Instrument intended partially or fully to offset potential declines in the value of one or more investments held in the fund’s portfolio. In a short hedge the fund takes a position in a Financial Instrument whose price is expected to move in the opposite direction of the price of the investment being hedged.

Conversely, a long hedge is a purchase or sale of a Financial Instrument intended partially or fully to offset potential increases in the acquisition cost of one or more investments that the fund intends to acquire. Thus, in a long hedge, the fund takes a position in a Financial Instrument whose price is expected to move in the same direction as the price of the prospective investment being hedged. A long hedge is sometimes referred to as an anticipatory hedge. In an anticipatory hedge transaction, the fund does not own a corresponding security and, therefore, the transaction does not relate to the portfolio security that the fund owns. Rather, it relates to a security that the fund intends to acquire. If the fund does not complete the hedge by purchasing the security it anticipated purchasing, the effect on the fund’s portfolio is the same as if the transaction were entered into for speculative purposes.

In hedging transactions, Financial Instruments on securities (such as options and/or futures) generally are used to attempt to hedge against price movements in one or more particular securities positions that the fund owns or intends to acquire. Financial Instruments on indices, in contrast, generally are used to attempt to hedge against price movements in market sectors in which the fund has invested or expects to invest. Financial Instruments on debt securities generally are used to hedge either individual securities or broad debt market sectors.

Options—Generally. A call option gives the purchaser the right to buy, and obligates the writer to sell, the underlying investment at the agreed-upon price during the option period. A put option gives the purchaser the right to sell, and obligates the writer to buy, the underlying investment at the agreed-upon price during the option period. Purchasers of options pay an amount, known as a premium, to the option writer in exchange for the right under the option contract.

The fund may purchase or write both exchange-traded and OTC options. Exchange-traded options in the United States are issued by a clearing organization affiliated with the exchange on which the option is listed that, in effect, guarantees completion of every exchange-traded option transaction. In contrast, OTC options are contracts between the fund and its counterparty (usually a securities dealer or a bank) with no clearing organization guarantee. Unlike exchange-traded options, which are standardized with respect to the underlying instrument, expiration date, contract size, and strike price, the terms of OTC options generally are established through negotiation with the other party to the option contract. When the fund purchases an OTC option, it relies on the counterparty from whom it purchased the option to make or take delivery of the underlying investment upon exercise of the option. Failure by the counterparty to do so would result in the loss of any premium paid by the fund as well as the loss of any expected benefit of the transaction.

Writing put or call options can enable the fund to enhance income or yield by reason of the premiums paid by the purchasers of such options. However, the fund may also suffer a loss. For example, if the market price of the security underlying a put option written by the fund declines to less than the exercise price of the option, minus the premium received, it can be expected that the option will be exercised and the fund would be required to purchase the security at more than its market value. If a security appreciates to a price higher than the exercise price of a call option written by the fund, it can be expected that the option will be exercised and the fund will be obligated to sell the security at less than its market value.

The value of an option position will reflect, among other things, the current market value of the underlying investment, the time remaining until expiration, the relationship of the exercise price to the market price of the underlying investment, the historical price volatility of the underlying investment and general market conditions. Options purchased by the fund that expire unexercised have no value, and the fund will realize a loss in the amount of the premium paid and any transaction costs. If an option written by the fund expires unexercised, the fund realizes a gain equal to the premium received at the time the option was written. Transaction costs must be included in these calculations.

The fund may effectively terminate its right or obligation under an option by entering into a closing transaction. For example, the fund may terminate its obligation under a call or put option that it had written by purchasing an identical call or put option; this is known as a closing purchase transaction. Conversely, the fund may terminate a position in a put or call option it had purchased by writing an identical put or call option; this is known as a closing sale transaction. Closing transactions permit the fund to realize profits or limit losses on an option position prior to its exercise or expiration. There can be no assurance that it will be possible for the fund to enter into any closing transaction.

A type of put that the fund may purchase is an “optional delivery standby commitment,” which is entered into by parties selling debt securities to the fund. An optional delivery standby commitment gives the fund the right to sell the security back to the seller on specified terms. This right is provided as an inducement to purchase the security.

Options on Indices. Puts and calls on indices are similar to puts and calls on securities (described above) or futures contracts (described below) except that all settlements are in cash and gain or loss depends on changes in the index in question rather than on price movements in individual securities or futures contracts. When the fund writes a call on an index, it receives a premium and agrees that, prior to the expiration date, the purchaser of the call, upon exercise of the call, will receive from the fund an amount of cash if the closing level of the index upon which the call is based is greater than the exercise price of the call. The amount of cash is equal to the difference between the closing price of the index and the exercise price of the call times a specified multiple (“multiplier”), which determines the total dollar value for each point of such difference. When the fund buys a call on an index, it pays a premium and has the same rights as to such call as are indicated above. When the fund buys a put on an index, it pays a premium and has the right, prior to the expiration date, to require the seller of the put, upon the fund’s exercise of the put, to deliver to the fund an amount of cash if the closing level of the index upon which the put is based is less than the exercise price of the put, which amount of cash is determined by the multiplier, as described above for calls. When the fund writes a put on an index, it receives a premium and the purchaser of the put has the right, prior to the expiration date, to require the fund to deliver to it an amount of cash equal to the difference between the closing level of the index and exercise price times the multiplier if the closing level is less than the exercise price.

Options on indices may, depending on circumstances, involve greater risk than options on securities. Because index options are settled in cash, when the fund writes a call on an index it may not be able to provide in advance for its potential settlement obligations by acquiring and holding the underlying securities.

Futures Contracts and Options on Futures Contracts. A financial futures contract sale creates an obligation by the seller to deliver the type of Financial Instrument or, in the case of index and similar futures, cash, called

for in the contract in a specified delivery month for a stated price. A financial futures contract purchase creates an obligation by the purchaser to take delivery of the asset called for in the contract in a specified delivery month at a stated price. Options on futures give the purchaser the right to assume a position in a futures contract at the specified option exercise price at any time during the period of the option.

Futures strategies can be used to change the duration of the fund’s portfolio. If the subadviser wishes to shorten the duration of the fund’s portfolio, the fund may sell a debt futures contract or a call option thereon, or purchase a put option on that futures contract. If the subadviser wishes to lengthen the duration of the fund’s portfolio, the fund may buy a debt futures contract or a call option thereon, or sell a put option thereon.

Futures contracts may also be used for other purposes, such as to simulate full investment in underlying securities while retaining a cash balance for portfolio management purposes, as a substitute for direct investment in a security, to facilitate trading, to reduce transaction costs, or to seek higher investment returns when a futures contract or option is priced more attractively than the underlying security or index.

No price is paid upon entering into a futures contract. Instead, at the inception of a futures contract the fund is required to deposit “initial margin.” Margin must also be deposited when writing a call or put option on a futures contract, in accordance with applicable exchange rules. Under certain circumstances, such as periods of high volatility, the fund may be required by an exchange to increase the level of its initial margin payment, and initial margin requirements might be increased generally in the future by regulatory action.

Subsequent “variation margin” payments are made to and from the futures broker daily as the value of the futures position varies, a process known as “marking-to-market.” Daily variation margin calls could be substantial in the event of adverse price movements. If the fund has insufficient cash to meet daily variation margin requirements, it might need to sell securities at a disadvantageous time or price.

Although some futures and options on futures call for making or taking delivery of the underlying securities, currencies or cash, generally those contracts are closed out prior to delivery by offsetting purchases or sales of matching futures or options (involving the same index, currency or underlying security and delivery month). If an offsetting purchase price is less than the original sale price, the fund realizes a gain, or if it is more, the fund realizes a loss. If an offsetting sale price is more than the original purchase price, the fund realizes a gain, or if it is less, the fund realizes a loss. The fund will also bear transaction costs for each contract, which will be included in these calculations. Positions in futures and options on futures may be closed only on an exchange or board of trade that provides a secondary market. However, there can be no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for a particular contract at a particular time. In such event, it may not be possible to close a futures contract or options position.

Under certain circumstances, futures exchanges may establish daily limits on the amount that the price of a futures contract or an option on a futures contract can vary from the previous day’s settlement price; once that limit is reached, no trades may be made that day at a price beyond the limit. Daily price limits do not limit potential losses because prices could move to the daily limit for several consecutive days with little or no trading, thereby preventing liquidation of unfavorable positions.

If the fund were unable to liquidate a futures contract or an option on a futures position due to the absence of a liquid secondary market, the imposition of price limits or otherwise, it could incur substantial losses. The fund would continue to be subject to market risk with respect to the position. In addition, except in the case of purchased options, the fund would continue to be required to make daily variation margin payments and might be required to maintain the position being hedged by the future or option or to maintain cash or securities in a segregated account.

If an index future is used for hedging purposes the risk of imperfect correlation between movements in the price of index futures and movements in the price of the securities that are the subject of the hedge increases as

the composition of the fund’s portfolio diverges from the securities included in the applicable index. The price of the index futures may move more than or less than the price of the securities being hedged. To compensate for the imperfect correlation of movements in the price of the securities being hedged and movements in the price of the index futures, the fund may buy or sell index futures in a greater dollar amount than the dollar amount of the securities being hedged if the historical volatility of the prices of such securities being hedged is more than the historical volatility of the prices of the securities included in the index. It is also possible that, where the fund has sold index futures contracts to hedge against a decline in the market, the market may advance and the value of the securities held in the fund may decline. If this occurred, the fund would lose money on the futures contract and also experience a decline in value of its portfolio securities.

Where index futures are purchased to hedge against a possible increase in the price of securities before the fund is able to invest in them in an orderly fashion, it is possible that the market may decline instead. If the subadviser then concludes not to invest in them at that time because of concern as to possible further market decline or for other reasons, the fund will realize a loss on the futures contract that is not offset by a reduction in the price of the securities it had anticipated purchasing.

Futures and options on futures are regulated by the CFTC. The fund is operated by a person who has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act, and, therefore, such person is not subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator under the Commodity Exchange Act. On February 9, 2012, the CFTC adopted amendments to its rules that, upon effectiveness, may affect the ability of the fund to continue to claim this exclusion. The fund would be limited in its ability to use futures or options on futures or engage in swaps transactions if it continued to claim the exclusion. If the fund were no longer able to claim the exclusion, the fund’s manager would likely become subject to registration and regulation as a commodity pool operator or the fund might be limited in the use of these transactions. The fund and the manager are continuing to analyze the effect of these rules changes on the fund.

Non-U.S. Currency Strategies. The fund may invest in securities that are denominated in non-U.S. currencies and may engage in a variety of non-U.S. currency exchange transactions to protect against uncertainty in the level of future exchange rates or to earn additional income. The fund may use options and futures contracts, swaps and indexed notes relating to non-U.S. currencies and forward currency contracts to attempt to hedge against movements in the values of the non-U.S. currencies in which the fund’s securities are denominated or to attempt to enhance income or yield. Currency hedges can protect against price movements in a security that the fund owns or intends to acquire that are attributable to changes in the value of the currency in which it is denominated. Such hedges do not, however, protect against price movements in the securities that are attributable to other causes.

The value of Financial Instruments on non-U.S. currencies depends on the value of the underlying currency relative to the U.S. dollar. Because non-U.S. currency transactions occurring in the interbank market might involve substantially larger amounts than those involved in the use of such Financial Instruments, the fund could be disadvantaged by having to deal in the odd lot market (generally consisting of transactions of less than $1 million) for the underlying non-U.S. currencies at prices that are less favorable than for round lots.

There is no systematic reporting of last sale information for non-U.S. currencies or any regulatory requirement that quotations available through dealers or other market sources be firm or revised on a timely basis. Quotation information generally is representative of very large transactions in the interbank market and thus might not reflect odd-lot transactions where rates might be less favorable. The interbank market in non-U.S. currencies is a global, round-the-clock market. To the extent the U.S. options or futures markets are closed while the markets for the underlying currencies remain open, significant price and rate movements might take place in the underlying markets that cannot be reflected in the markets for the Financial Instruments until they reopen.

Settlement of transactions involving non-U.S. currencies might be required to take place within the country issuing the underlying currency. Thus, the fund might be required to accept or make delivery of the underlying

non-U.S. currency in accordance with any U.S. or non-U.S. regulations regarding the maintenance of non-U.S. banking arrangements by U.S. residents and might be required to pay any fees, taxes and charges associated with such delivery assessed in the issuing country.

Generally, OTC non-U.S. currency options used by the fund are European-style options. This means that the option is only exercisable immediately prior to its expiration. This is in contrast to American-style options, which are exercisable at any time prior to the expiration date of the option.

Forward Currency Contracts. The fund may enter into forward currency contracts to purchase or sell non-U.S. currencies for a fixed amount of U.S. dollars or another non-U.S. currency. A forward currency contract involves an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days (term) from the date of the forward currency contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the forward currency contract. These forward currency contracts are traded directly between currency traders (usually large commercial banks) and their customers.

The cost to the fund of engaging in forward currency contracts varies with factors such as the currency involved, the length of the contract period and the market conditions then prevailing. Because forward currency contracts are usually entered into on a principal basis, no fees or commissions are involved. When the fund enters into a forward currency contract, it relies on the counterparty to make or take delivery of the underlying currency at the maturity of the contract. Failure by the counterparty to do so would result in the loss of any expected benefit of the transaction.

As is the case with futures contracts, parties to forward currency contracts can enter into offsetting closing transactions, similar to closing transactions on futures contracts, by selling or purchasing, respectively, an instrument identical to the instrument purchased or sold. Secondary markets generally do not exist for forward currency contracts, with the result that closing transactions generally can be made for forward currency contracts only by negotiating directly with the counterparty.

If the fund engages in a forward currency contract with respect to particular securities, the precise matching of forward currency contract amounts and the value of the securities involved generally will not be possible because the value of such securities, measured in the non-U.S. currency, will change after the forward currency contract has been established. Thus, the fund might need to purchase or sell non-U.S. currencies in the spot (cash) market to the extent such non-U.S. currencies are not covered by forward currency contracts.

Swaps, Caps, Floors and Collars. The fund may enter into swaps, caps, floors and collars to preserve a return or a spread on a particular investment or portion of its portfolio, to protect against any increase in the price of securities the fund anticipates purchasing at a later date or to attempt to enhance yield or total return. A swap typically involves the exchange by the fund with another party of their respective commitments to pay or receive cash flows, e.g., an exchange of floating rate payments for fixed-rate payments. The purchase of a cap entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index exceeds a predetermined value, to receive payments on a notional principal amount from the party selling the cap. The purchase of a floor entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index falls below a predetermined value, to receive payments on a notional principal amount from the party selling the floor. A collar combines elements of a cap and a floor.

Swap agreements, including caps, floors and collars, can be individually negotiated and structured to include exposure to a variety of different types of investments or market factors. Depending on their structure, swap agreements may increase or decrease the overall volatility of the fund’s investments and its share price and yield because, and to the extent, these agreements affect the fund’s exposure to long- or short-term interest rates, non-U.S. currency values, mortgage-backed or other security values, corporate borrowing rates or other factors such as security prices or inflation rates.

Swap agreements will tend to shift the fund’s investment exposure from one type of investment to another. Caps and floors have an effect similar to buying or writing options.

If a counterparty’s creditworthiness declines, the value of the agreement would be likely to decline, potentially resulting in losses.

The fund may enter into credit default swap contracts for investment purposes. As the seller in a credit default swap contract, the fund would be required to pay the par (or other agreed-upon) value of a referenced debt obligation to the counterparty in the event of a default by a third party, such as a U.S. or a non- U.S. corporate issuer, on the debt obligation. In return, the fund would receive from the counterparty a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract provided that no event of default has occurred. If no default occurs, the fund would keep the stream of payments and would have no payment obligations. As the seller, the fund would be subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap which may be significantly larger than the fund’s cost to enter into the credit default swap.

The fund may purchase credit default swap contracts in order to hedge against the risk of default of debt securities held in its portfolio, in which case the fund would function as the counterparty referenced in the preceding paragraph. This would involve the risk that the investment may expire worthless and would only generate income in the event of an actual default by the issuer of the underlying obligation (or, as applicable, a credit downgrade or other indication of financial instability). It would also involve credit risk—that the seller may fail to satisfy its payment obligations to the fund in the event of a default.

The net amount of the excess, if any, of the fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each swap will be accrued on a daily basis, depending on whether a threshold amount (if any) is exceeded, and an amount of cash or liquid assets having an aggregate net asset value approximately equal to the accrued excess will be set aside as cover, as described below. The fund will also maintain collateral with respect to its total obligations under any swaps that are not entered into on a net basis, and will maintain cover as required by SEC guidelines from time to time with respect to caps and floors written by the fund.

Combined Positions. The fund may purchase and write options in combination with each other, or in combination with other Financial Instruments, to adjust the risk and return characteristics of its overall position. Because combined options positions involve multiple trades, they result in higher transaction costs and may be more difficult to open and close out.

Cover. Transactions using Financial Instruments may involve obligations which if not covered could be construed as “senior securities.” The fund will comply with SEC guidelines regarding cover for these instruments and will, if the guidelines so require, segregate or set aside on its books cash or liquid assets in the prescribed amount as determined daily. The fund may cover such transactions using other methods permitted under the 1940 Act, orders or releases issued by the SEC thereunder, or no-action letters or other guidance of the SEC staff. Although SEC guidelines on cover are designed to limit the transactions involving Financial Instruments that the fund may be engaged in at any time, the segregation of assets does not reduce the risks to the fund of entering into transactions in Financial Instruments.

Turnover. The fund’s derivatives activities may affect its turnover rate and brokerage commission payments. The exercise of calls or puts written by the fund, and the sale or purchase of futures contracts, may cause it to sell or purchase related investments, thus increasing its turnover rate. Once the fund has received an exercise notice on an option it has written, it cannot effect a closing transaction in order to terminate its obligation under the option and must deliver or receive the underlying securities at the exercise price. The exercise of puts purchased by the fund may also cause the sale of related investments, also increasing turnover; although such exercise is within the fund’s control, holding a protective put might cause it to sell the related investments for reasons that would not exist in the absence of the put. The fund will pay a brokerage commission each time it buys or sells a put or call or purchases or sells a futures contract. Such commissions may be higher than those that would apply to direct purchases or sales.

Illiquid Assets

Illiquid assets are assets that cannot be sold or disposed of in the ordinary course of business within seven days at approximately the value at which they are being carried on the fund’s books. These assets include, among others, certain securities that are subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, certain derivative products and any repurchase transactions that do not mature within seven days. The fund may not be able to sell illiquid securities and other assets in its portfolio at a time when the sale would be desirable or at a price the fund deems representative of their value. Disposing of illiquid investments may involve time-consuming negotiation and expenses.

Certain restricted securities can be traded freely among qualified purchasers in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “1933 Act”). The SEC has stated that an investment company’s board of directors, or its investment adviser acting under authority delegated by the board, may determine that a security eligible for trading under this rule is “liquid.” The Board of Trustees (the “Board”) has delegated to the subadviser authority to determine whether particular securities eligible for trading under Rule 144A are and continue to be “liquid.” Investing in these restricted securities could have the effect of increasing the fund’s illiquidity, however, if qualified purchasers become uninterested in buying these securities.

Investment Company Securities

Subject to applicable statutory and regulatory limitations, the fund may invest in shares of other investment companies, including shares of other mutual funds, closed-end funds, and unregistered investment companies. Investments in other investment companies are subject to the risk of the securities in which those investment companies invest. In addition, to the extent the fund invests in securities of other investment companies, fund shareholders would indirectly pay a portion of the operating costs of such companies in addition to the expenses of the fund’s own operation. These costs include management, brokerage, shareholder servicing and other operational expenses.

The fund may invest in shares of mutual funds or unit investment trusts that are traded on a stock exchange, called exchange-traded funds or ETFs. Typically an ETF seeks to track the performance of an index, such as the S&P 500, the NASDAQ 100, or more narrow sector or foreign indices, by holding in its portfolio either the same securities that comprise the index, or a representative sample of the index. Investing in an ETF will give the fund exposure to the securities comprising the index on which the ETF is based.

Unlike shares of typical mutual funds or unit investment trusts, shares of ETFs are designed to be traded throughout a trading day, bought and sold based on market values and not at net asset value. For this reason, shares could trade at either a premium or discount to net asset value. However, the portfolios held by index-based ETFs are publicly disclosed on each trading day, and an approximation of actual net asset value is disseminated throughout the trading day. Because of this transparency, the trading prices of index based ETFs tend to closely track the actual net asset value of the underlying portfolios and the fund will generally gain or lose value depending on the performance of the index. However, gains or losses on the fund’s investment in ETFs will ultimately depend on the purchase and sale price of the ETF. The fund may invest in ETFs that are actively managed. Actively managed ETFs do not have the transparency of index-based ETFs, and also therefore, are more likely to trade at a discount or premium to actual net asset values.

The fund may invest in closed-end investment companies which hold securities of U.S. and/or non-U.S. issuers. Because shares of closed-end funds trade on an exchange, investments in closed-end investment funds may entail the additional risk that the market value of such investments may be substantially less than their net asset value.

Forward Roll Transactions

In forward roll transactions, also known as mortgage “dollar rolls,” the fund sells mortgage-backed securities for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts to repurchase substantially similar (same type, coupon and maturity) securities on a specified future date. The fund may enter into a mortgage dollar roll commitment with the intention of entering into an offsetting transaction whereby, rather than accepting delivery of the security on the specified future date, the fund sells the security and then agrees to repurchase a similar security at a later time. In this case, the fund forgoes interest on the security during the roll period and is compensated by the interest earned on the cash proceeds of the initial sale of the security and by the difference between the sale price and the lower repurchase price at the future date. At the time the fund enters into a mortgage dollar roll commitment, the fund will set aside cash or other appropriate liquid securities with a value at least equal to the fund’s obligation under the commitment. The fund’s liquidity and ability to manage its assets might be affected when it sets aside cash or portfolio securities to cover such commitments.

Mortgage dollar rolls involve the risk that the market value of the securities the fund is obligated to repurchase under the agreement may decline below the repurchase price. In the event the buyer of securities under a mortgage dollar roll files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, the fund’s use of proceeds of the dollar roll may be restricted pending a determination by the other party, or its trustee or receiver, whether to enforce the fund’s obligation to repurchase the securities.

Forward roll transactions may have a leveraging effect on the fund, making the value of an investment in the fund more volatile and increasing the fund’s overall investment exposure.

See “Forward Commitments and When-Issued Securities” below.

Forward Commitments and When-Issued Securities

The fund may purchase securities on a “when-issued” or “to be announced” or “forward delivery” basis. The payment obligation and the interest rate that will be received on the “when-issued” securities are fixed at the time the buyer enters into the commitment although settlement, i.e., delivery of and payment for the securities, takes place at a later date. In a “to be announced” transaction, a fund commits to purchase securities for which all specific information is not known at the time of the trade.

Securities purchased on a “when-issued” or “forward delivery” basis are subject to changes in value based upon the market’s perception of the creditworthiness of the issuer and changes, real or anticipated, in the level of interest rates. The value of these securities experiences appreciation when interest rates decline and depreciation when interest rates rise. Purchasing securities on a “when-issued” or “forward delivery” basis can involve a risk that the yields available in the market on the settlement date may actually be higher or lower than those obtained in the transaction itself. At the time the fund enters into a “when issued” or “forward delivery” commitment, the fund will set aside cash or other appropriate liquid securities with a value at least equal to the fund’s obligation under the commitment. The fund’s liquidity and ability to manage its assets might be affected when it sets aside cash or portfolio securities to cover such commitments.

An increase in the percentage of the fund’s assets committed to the purchase of securities on a “when-issued” basis may increase the volatility of its net asset value.

Stand-By Commitments

The fund may acquire “stand-by commitments” with respect to municipal obligations held in its portfolio. Under a stand-by commitment a dealer agrees to purchase, at the fund’s option, specified municipal obligations held by the fund at a specified price and, in this respect, stand-by commitments are comparable to put options. A stand-by commitment entitles the holder to achieve same day settlement and to receive an exercise price equal to

the amortized cost of the underlying security plus accrued interest, if any, at the time of exercise. The fund will be subject to credit risk with respect to an institution providing a stand-by commitment and a decline in the credit quality of the institution could cause losses to the fund.

The fund will generally acquire stand-by commitments to facilitate fund liquidity. The cost of entering into stand-by commitments will increase the cost of the underlying municipal obligation and similarly will decrease such security’s yield to investors. Gains, if any, realized in connection with stand-by commitments will be taxable.

Repurchase Agreements

Under the terms of a typical repurchase agreement, the fund would acquire an underlying debt obligation for a relatively short period (usually not more than one week) subject to an obligation of the seller to repurchase, and the fund to resell, the obligation at an agreed-upon price and time, thereby determining the yield during the fund’s holding period. This arrangement results in a fixed rate of return that is not subject to market fluctuations during the fund’s holding period. The value of the underlying securities will be at least equal at all times to the total amount of the repurchase obligation, including interest. All repurchase agreements entered into by the fund shall be fully collateralized at all times during the period of the agreement in that the value of the underlying security shall be at least equal to an amount of the loan, including interest thereon, and the fund or its custodian shall have control of the collateral, which the subadviser believes will give the fund a valid, perfected security interest in the collateral. Repurchase agreements could involve certain risks in the event of default or insolvency of the other party, including possible delays or restrictions upon the fund’s ability to dispose of the underlying securities, the risk of a possible decline in the value of the underlying securities during the period in which the fund seeks to assert its right to them, the risk of incurring expenses associated with asserting those rights and the risk of losing all or part of the income from the agreement.

Pursuant to an exemptive order issued by the SEC, the fund, along with other affiliated entities managed by the manager, may transfer uninvested cash balances into one or more joint repurchase accounts. These balances are invested in one or more repurchase agreements, secured by U.S. government securities. Securities that are collateral for repurchase agreements are financial assets subject to the fund’s entitlement orders through its securities account at its custodian bank until the agreements mature. Each joint repurchase agreement requires that the market value of the collateral be sufficient to cover payments of interest and principal; however, in the event of default by the other party to the agreement, retention or sale of the collateral may be subject to legal proceedings.

Borrowings

The fund may engage in borrowing transactions as a means of raising cash to satisfy redemption requests, for other temporary or emergency purposes or, to the extent permitted by its investment policies, to raise additional cash to be invested by the fund’s portfolio managers in other securities or instruments in an effort to increase the fund’s investment returns.

When the fund invests borrowing proceeds in other securities, the fund will be at risk for any fluctuations in the market value of the securities in which the proceeds are invested. Like other leveraging risks, this makes the value of an investment in the fund more volatile and increases the fund’s overall investment exposure. In addition, if the fund’s return on its investment of the borrowing proceeds does not equal or exceed the interest that the fund is obligated to pay under the terms of a borrowing, engaging in these transactions will lower the fund’s return.

The fund may be required to liquidate portfolio securities at a time when it would be disadvantageous to do so in order to make payments with respect to its borrowing obligations. This could adversely affect the portfolio managers’ strategy and result in lower fund returns. Interest on any borrowings will be a fund expense and will reduce the value of the fund’s shares.

The fund may borrow on a secured or on an unsecured basis. If the fund enters into a secured borrowing arrangement, a portion of the fund’s assets will be used as collateral. During the term of the borrowing, the fund will remain at risk for any fluctuations in the market value of these assets in addition to any securities purchased with the proceeds of the loan. In addition, the fund may be unable to sell the collateral at a time when it would be advantageous to do so, which could adversely affect the portfolio managers’ strategy and result in lower fund returns. The fund would also be subject to the risk that the lender may file for bankruptcy, become insolvent, or otherwise default on its obligations to return the collateral to the fund. In the event of a default by the lender, there may be delays, costs and risks of loss involved in the fund’s exercising its rights with respect to the collateral or those rights may be limited by other contractual agreements or obligations or by applicable law.

The 1940 Act requires the fund to maintain at all times an “asset coverage” of at least 300% of the amount of its borrowings. Asset coverage means the ratio that the value of the fund’s total assets, minus liabilities other than borrowings, bears to the aggregate amount of all borrowings. Although complying with this guideline would have the effect of limiting the amount that the fund may borrow, it does not otherwise mitigate the risks of entering into borrowing transactions.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements

A reverse repurchase agreement has the characteristics of a secured borrowing by the fund and creates leverage in the fund’s portfolio. In a reverse repurchase transaction, the fund sells a portfolio instrument to another person, such as a financial institution or broker/dealer, in return for cash. At the same time, the fund agrees to repurchase the instrument at an agreed-upon time and at a price that is greater than the amount of cash that the fund received when it sold the instrument, representing the equivalent of an interest payment by the fund for the use of the cash. During the term of the transaction, the fund will continue to receive any principal and interest payments (or the equivalent thereof) on the underlying instruments.

The fund may engage in reverse repurchase agreements as a means of raising cash to satisfy redemption requests or for other temporary or emergency purposes. Unless otherwise limited in the Prospectus or this SAI, the fund may also engage in reverse repurchase agreements to the extent permitted by its fundamental investment policies in order to raise additional cash to be invested by the fund’s portfolio managers in other securities or instruments in an effort to increase the fund’s investment returns.

During the term of the transaction, the fund will remain at risk for any fluctuations in the market value of the instruments subject to the reverse repurchase agreement as if it had not entered into the transaction. When the fund reinvests the proceeds of a reverse repurchase agreement in other securities, the fund will also be at risk for any fluctuations in the market value of the securities in which the proceeds are invested. Like other leveraging risks, this makes the value of an investment in the fund more volatile and increases the fund’s overall investment exposure. In addition, if the fund’s return on its investment of the proceeds of the reverse repurchase agreement does not equal or exceed the implied interest that it is obligated to pay under the reverse repurchase agreement, engaging in the transaction will lower the fund’s return.

When the fund enters into a reverse repurchase agreement, it is subject to the risk that the buyer under the agreement may file for bankruptcy, become insolvent, or otherwise default on its obligations to the fund. In the event of a default by the counterparty, there may be delays, costs and risks of loss involved in the fund’s exercising its rights under the agreement, or those rights may be limited by other contractual agreements or obligations or by applicable law.

In addition, the fund may be unable to sell the instruments subject to the reverse repurchase agreement at a time when it would be advantageous to do so, or may be required to liquidate portfolio securities at a time when it would be disadvantageous to do so in order to make payments with respect to its obligations under a reverse repurchase agreement. This could adversely affect the portfolio managers’ strategy and result in lower fund returns. At the time the fund enters into a reverse repurchase agreement, the fund is required to set aside cash or

other appropriate liquid securities in the amount of the fund’s obligation under the reverse repurchase agreement or take certain other actions in accordance with SEC guidelines, which may affect the fund’s liquidity and ability to manage its assets. Although complying with SEC guidelines would have the effect of limiting the amount of fund assets that may be committed to reverse repurchase agreements and other similar transactions at any time, it does not otherwise mitigate the risks of entering into reverse repurchase agreements.

Subordinated Securities

The fund may invest in securities which are subordinated or “junior” to more senior securities of the issuer, or which represent interests in pools of such subordinated or junior securities. Such securities may include so-called “high yield” or “junk” bonds (i.e., bonds that are rated below investment grade by a rating agency or that are determined by the subadviser to be of equivalent quality) and preferred stock. Under the terms of subordinated securities, payments that would otherwise be made to their holders may be required to be made to the holders of more senior securities, and/or the subordinated or junior securities may have junior liens, if they have any rights at all, in any collateral (meaning proceeds of the collateral are required to be paid first to the holders of more senior securities). As a result, subordinated or junior securities will be disproportionately adversely affected by a default or even a perceived decline in creditworthiness of the issuer.

Real Estate Investment Trusts

The fund may invest in real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). REITs are pooled investment vehicles which invest primarily in income producing real estate, or real estate related loans or interests. REITs are generally classified as equity REITs, mortgage REITs or a combination of equity and mortgage REITs. Equity REITs invest the majority of their assets directly in real property and derive income primarily from the collection of rents. Equity REITs can also realize capital gains by selling properties that have appreciated in value. Mortgage REITs invest the majority of their assets in real estate mortgages and derive income from the collection of interest payments. REITs are not taxed on income distributed to shareholders provided they comply with the applicable requirements of the Code. Debt securities issued by REITs, for the most part, are general and unsecured obligations and are subject to risks associated with REITs.

Investing in REITs involves certain unique risks in addition to those risks associated with investing in the real estate industry in general. An equity REIT may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying properties owned by the REIT. A mortgage REIT may be affected by changes in interest rates and the ability of the issuers of its portfolio mortgages to repay their obligations. REITs are dependent upon the skills of their managers and are not diversified. REITs are generally dependent upon maintaining cash flows to repay borrowings and to make distributions to shareholders and are subject to the risk of default by lessees or borrowers. REITs whose underlying assets are concentrated in properties used by a particular industry, such as health care, are also subject to industry related risks.

REITs (especially mortgage REITs) are also subject to interest rate risks. When interest rates decline, the value of a REIT’s investment in fixed rate obligations can be expected to rise. Conversely, when interest rates rise, the value of a REIT’s investment in fixed rate obligations can be expected to decline. If the REIT invests in adjustable rate mortgage loans the interest rates on which are reset periodically, yields on a REIT’s investments in such loans will gradually align themselves to reflect changes in market interest rates. This causes the value of such investments to fluctuate less dramatically in response to interest rate fluctuations than would investments in fixed rate obligations. REITs may have limited financial resources, may trade less frequently and in a limited volume and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements than larger company securities. Historically, REITs have been more volatile in price than the larger capitalization stocks included in S&P 500 Index.

Preferred Stock

The fund may invest in preferred stock. Preferred stock pays dividends at a specified rate and has preference over common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of an issuer’s assets but is junior to the debt securities of the issuer in those same respects. The market prices of preferred stocks are subject to changes in interest rates and are more sensitive to changes in an issuer’s creditworthiness than are the prices of debt securities. Shareholders of preferred stock may suffer a loss of value if dividends are not paid. Under ordinary circumstances, preferred stock does not carry voting rights. In addition, the fund may receive stocks or warrants as result of an exchange or tender of fixed income securities.

Equity Securities

Although the fund invests principally in fixed income securities and related investments, the fund may from time to time invest in or receive equity securities and equity-like securities. Equity securities include warrants, rights, exchange traded and over-the-counter common stocks, baskets of equity securities such as exchange traded funds, depositary receipts, trust certificates, limited partnership interests and shares of other investment companies and real estate investment trusts.

Equity securities represent an ownership interest in the issuing company. Holders of equity securities are not creditors of the company, and in the event of the liquidation of the company, would be entitled to their pro rata share of the company’s assets, if any, after creditors, including the holders of fixed income securities, and holders of any senior equity securities are paid. Equity securities generally have greater price volatility than fixed income securities.

Warrants and rights permit, but do not obligate, their holders to subscribe for other securities. Warrants and rights are subject to the same market risks as stocks, but may be more volatile in price. An investment in warrants or rights may be considered speculative. In addition, the value of a warrant or right does not necessarily change with the value of the underlying securities and a warrant or right ceases to have value if it is not exercised prior to its expiration date.

Short-Term Trading

Fund transactions will be undertaken principally to accomplish the fund’s investment objective in relation to anticipated movements in the general level of interest rates, but the fund may also engage in short-term trading consistent with its investment objective.

Alternative Investment Strategies and Temporary Investments

At times the subadviser may judge that conditions in the securities markets make pursuing the fund’s typical investment strategy inconsistent with the best interest of its shareholders. At such times, the subadviser may temporarily use alternative strategies, primarily designed to reduce fluctuations in the value of the fund’s assets. In implementing these defensive strategies, the fund may invest without limit in securities that the subadviser believes present less risk to the fund, including equity securities, debt and fixed income securities, preferred stocks, U.S. government and agency obligations, cash or money market instruments, certificates of deposit, demand and time deposits, bankers’ acceptance or other securities the subadviser considers consistent with such defensive strategies, such as, but not limited to, options, futures, warrants or swaps. During periods in which such strategies are used, the duration of the fund may diverge from the duration range for that fund disclosed in its Prospectus (if applicable). It is impossible to predict when, or for how long, the fund will use these alternative strategies. As a result of using these alternative strategies, the fund may not achieve its investment objective.

New Investment Products

New types of derivative instruments, hedging instruments and other securities or instruments are developed and marketed from time to time. Consistent with its investment limitations, the fund expects to invest in those new types of securities and instruments that its subadviser believes may assist the fund in achieving its investment objective.

Ratings as Investment Criteria

In general, the ratings of NRSROs represent the opinions of these agencies as to the quality of securities that they rate. Such ratings, however, are relative and subjective, are not absolute standards of quality and do not evaluate the market value risk of the securities. These ratings will be used by the fund as initial criteria for the selection of portfolio securities, but the fund also will rely upon the independent advice of the subadviser to evaluate potential investments. Among the factors that will be considered are the long-term ability of the issuer to pay principal and interest and general economic trends. Appendix A to this SAI contains further information concerning the rating categories of NRSROs and their significance.

If, after purchase, the credit rating on a security is downgraded or the credit quality deteriorates, or if the maturity is extended, the fund’s portfolio managers will decide whether the security should be held or sold. Upon the occurrence of certain triggering events or defaults, the investors in a security held by the fund may become the holders of underlying assets. In that case, the fund may become the holder of securities that it could not otherwise purchase at a time when those assets may be difficult to sell or can be sold only at a loss.

Diversification

The fund is currently classified as a diversified fund under the 1940 Act . This means that the fund may not purchase securities of an issuer (other than obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities) if, with respect to 75% of its total assets, (a) more than 5% of the fund’s total assets would be invested in securities of that issuer, or (b) the fund would hold more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of that issuer. With respect to the remaining 25% of its total assets, the fund can invest more than 5% of its assets in one issuer. When the assets and revenues of an agency, authority, instrumentality or other political subdivision are separate from those of the government creating the issuing entity and only the assets and revenues of such entity back the security, such entity is deemed to be the sole issuer. Similarly, in the case of a private activity bond, if only the assets and revenues of the nongovernmental user back that bond, then such nongovernmental user is deemed to be the sole issuer. If, however, in either case, the creating government or some other entity guarantees a security, such a guarantee would be considered a separate security and is to be treated as an issue of such government or other entity. The fund may only change to non-diversified status with the approval of the fund’s shareholders. Under the 1940 Act, such approval requires the affirmative vote (a) of 67% or more of the voting securities present at an annual or special meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the fund are present or represented by proxy, or (b) of more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the fund, whichever is less.

Duration

For the simplest fixed income securities, “duration” indicates the average time at which the security’s cash flows are to be received. For simple fixed income securities with interest payments occurring prior to the payment of principal, duration is always less than maturity. For example, a current coupon “bullet” bond with a maturity of 3.5 years (i.e., a bond that pays interest at regular intervals and that will have a single principal payment of the entire principal amount in 3.5 years) might have a duration of approximately three years. In general, the lower the stated or coupon rate of interest of a fixed income security, the closer its duration will be to its final maturity; conversely, the higher the stated or coupon rate of interest of a fixed income security, the shorter its duration will be compared to its final maturity.

Determining duration becomes more complex when fixed income security features like floating or adjustable coupon payments, optionality (for example, the right of the issuer to prepay or call the security), and structuring (for example, the right of the holders of certain securities to receive priority as to the issuer’s cash flows) are considered. The calculation of “effective duration” attempts to take into account optionality and other complex features. Generally, the longer the effective duration of a security, the greater will be the expected change in the percentage price of the security with respect to a change in the security’s own yield. By way of illustration, a security with an effective duration of 3.5 years might normally be expected to go down in price by 35 bps if its yield goes up by 10 bps, while another security with an effective duration of 4.0 years might normally be expected to go down in price by 40 bps if its yield goes up by 10 bps.

The assumptions that are made about a security’s features and options when calculating effective duration may prove to be incorrect. For example, many mortgage pass-through securities may have stated final maturities of 30 years, but current prepayment rates, which can vary widely under different economic conditions, may have a large influence on the pass-through security’s response to changes in yield. In these situations, the subadviser may consider other analytical techniques that seek to incorporate the security’s additional features into the determination of its response to changes in its yield.

A security may change in price for a variety of reasons. For example, floating rate securities may have final maturities of ten or more years, but their effective durations will tend to be very short. If there is an adverse credit event, or a perceived change in the issuer’s creditworthiness, these securities could experience a far greater negative price movement than would be predicted by the change in the security’s yield in relation to its effective duration.

As a result, investors should be aware that effective duration is not an exact measurement and may not reliably predict a security’s price sensitivity to changes in yield or interest rates.

Lending of Portfolio Securities

Consistent with applicable regulatory requirements, the fund may lend portfolio securities to brokers, dealers and other financial organizations meeting capital and other credit requirements or other criteria established by the Board. Loans of securities will be secured continuously by collateral in cash, cash equivalents, or U.S. government obligations maintained on a current basis at an amount at least equal to the market value of the securities loaned. Cash collateral received by the fund will be invested in high quality short-term instruments, or in one or more funds maintained by the lending agent for the purpose of investing cash collateral. During the term of the loan, the fund will continue to have investment risk with respect to the security loaned, as well as risk with respect to the investment of the cash collateral. Either party has the right to terminate a loan at any time on customary industry settlement notice (which will not usually exceed three business days). During the existence of a loan, the fund will continue to receive the equivalent of the interest or dividends paid by the issuer on the securities loaned and, with respect to cash collateral, will receive any income generated by the fund’s investment of the collateral (subject to a rebate payable to the borrower and a percentage of the income payable to the lending agent). Where the borrower provides the fund with collateral other than cash, the borrower is also obligated to pay the fund or portfolio a fee for use of the borrowed securities. The fund does not have the right to vote any securities having voting rights during the existence of the loan, but would retain the right to call the loan in anticipation of an important vote to be taken among holders of the securities or of the giving or withholding of their consent on a material matter affecting the investment. As with other extensions of credit, there are risks of delay in recovery or even loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower fail financially. In addition, the fund could suffer loss if the loan terminates and the fund is forced to liquidate investments at a loss in order to return the cash collateral to the buyer. If the subadviser determines to make loans, it is not intended that the value of the securities loaned by the fund would exceed 33¹/3% of the value of its net assets.

The fund does not currently intend to engage in securities lending, although it may engage in transactions (such as reverse repurchase agreements) which have similar characteristics.

Commodity Exchange Act Registration

The fund is operated by persons who have claimed an exclusion, granted to operators of registered investment companies like the fund, from registration as a “commodity pool operator” with respect to the fund under the Commodity Exchange Act, and therefore, are not subject to registration or regulation with respect to the fund under the Commodity Exchange Act. On February 9, 2012, the CFTC adopted amendments to its rules that, upon effectiveness, may affect the ability of the fund to continue to claim this exclusion. The fund would be limited in its ability to use futures or options on futures or engage in swaps transactions if it continued to claim the exclusion. If the fund were no longer able to claim the exclusion, the fund’s manager would likely become subject to registration and regulation as a commodity pool operator or the fund might be limited in the use of these transactions. The fund and the manager are continuing to analyze the effect of these rules changes on the fund.

INVESTMENT POLICIES

The fund has adopted the fundamental and non-fundamental investment policies below for the protection of shareholders. Fundamental investment policies of the fund may not be changed without the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the fund, defined under the 1940 Act as the lesser of (a) 67% or more of the voting securities of the fund present at a shareholder meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the voting securities of the fund are present in person or represented by proxy, or (b) more than 50% of the voting securities of the fund. The Board may change non-fundamental investment policies at any time.

If any percentage restriction described below is complied with at the time of an investment, a later increase or decrease in the percentage resulting from a change in values or assets will not constitute a violation of such restriction.

The fund’s investment objective is non-fundamental.

Fundamental Investment Policies

The fund’s fundamental investment policies are as follows:

1. The fund may not borrow money except as permitted by (i) the 1940 Act, or interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, or (ii) exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

2. The fund may not engage in the business of underwriting the securities of other issuers except as permitted by (i) the 1940 Act, or interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, or (ii) exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

3. The fund may lend money or other assets to the extent permitted by (i) the 1940 Act, or interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, or (ii) exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

4. The fund may not issue senior securities except as permitted by (i) the 1940 Act, or interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, or (ii) exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

5. The fund may not purchase or sell real estate except as permitted by (i) the 1940 Act, or interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, or (ii) exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

6. The fund may purchase or sell commodities or contracts related to commodities to the extent permitted by (i) the 1940 Act, or interpretations or modifications by the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, or (ii) exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority.

7. Except as permitted by exemptive or other relief or permission from the SEC, SEC staff or other authority with appropriate jurisdiction, the fund may not make any investment if, as a result, the fund’s investments will be concentrated in any one industry.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to borrowing money set forth in (1) above, the 1940 Act permits a fund to borrow money in amounts of up to one-third of the fund’s total assets from banks for any purpose, and to borrow up to 5% of the fund’s total assets from banks or other lenders for temporary purposes. (The fund’s total assets include the amounts being borrowed.) To limit the risks attendant to borrowing, the 1940 Act requires the fund to maintain at all times an “asset coverage” of at least 300% of the amount of its borrowings. Asset coverage means the ratio that the value of the fund’s total assets (including amounts borrowed), minus liabilities other than borrowings, bears to the aggregate amount of all borrowings. Certain trading practices and investments, such as reverse repurchase agreements, may be considered to be borrowing, and thus, subject to the 1940 Act restrictions. Borrowing money to increase portfolio holdings is known as “leveraging.” Borrowing, especially when used for leverage, may cause the value of a fund’s shares to be more volatile than if the fund did not borrow. This is because borrowing tends to magnify the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of a fund’s portfolio holdings. Borrowed money thus creates an opportunity for greater gains, but also greater losses. To repay borrowings, the fund may have to sell securities at a time and at a price that is unfavorable to the fund. There also are costs associated with borrowing money, and these costs would offset and could eliminate the fund’s net investment income in any given period. Currently the fund does not contemplate borrowing money for leverage, but if the fund does so, it will not likely do so to a substantial degree. The policy in (1) above will be interpreted to permit the fund to engage in trading practices and investments that may be considered to be borrowing to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act. Short-term credits necessary for the settlement of securities transactions and arrangements with respect to securities lending will not be considered to be borrowings under the policy. Practices and investments that may involve leverage but are not considered to be borrowings are not subject to the policy.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to underwriting set forth in (2) above, the 1940 Act does not prohibit a fund from engaging in the underwriting business or from underwriting the securities of other issuers; in fact, the 1940 Act permits a fund to have underwriting commitments of up to 25% of its assets under certain circumstances. Those circumstances currently are that the amount of the fund’s underwriting commitments, when added to the value of the fund’s investments in issuers where the fund owns more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of those issuers, cannot exceed the 25% cap. A fund engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act. Under the 1933 Act, an underwriter may be liable for material omissions or misstatements in an issuer’s registration statement or prospectus. Securities purchased from an issuer and not registered for sale under the 1933 Act are considered restricted securities. There may be a limited market for these securities. If these securities are registered under the 1933 Act, they may then be eligible for sale but participating in the sale may subject the seller to underwriter liability. These risks could apply to a fund investing in restricted securities. Although it is not believed that the application of the 1933 Act provisions described above would cause the fund to be engaged in the business of underwriting, the policy in (2) above will be interpreted not to prevent the fund from engaging in transactions involving the acquisition or disposition of portfolio securities, regardless of whether the fund may be considered to be an underwriter under the 1933 Act.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to lending set forth in (3) above, the 1940 Act does not prohibit a fund from making loans; however, SEC staff interpretations currently prohibit funds from lending more than one-third of their total assets, except through the purchase of debt obligations or the use of repurchase agreements. (A repurchase agreement is an agreement to purchase a security, coupled with an agreement to sell that security back to the original seller on an agreed-upon date at a price that reflects current interest rates. The SEC frequently treats repurchase agreements as loans.) While lending securities may be a source of income to a fund, as with other extensions of credit, there are risks of delay in recovery or even loss of rights in the underlying securities should the borrower fail financially. However, loans would be made only when the fund’s manager or subadviser believes the income justifies the attendant risks. The fund also will be permitted by this

policy to make loans of money, including to other funds. The fund would have to obtain exemptive relief from the SEC to make loans to other funds. The policy in (3) above will be interpreted not to prevent the fund from purchasing or investing in debt obligations and loans. In addition, collateral arrangements with respect to options, forward currency and futures transactions and other derivative instruments, as well as delays in the settlement of securities transactions, will not be considered loans.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to issuing senior securities set forth in (4) above, “senior securities” are defined as fund obligations that have a priority over the fund’s shares with respect to the payment of dividends or the distribution of fund assets. The 1940 Act prohibits a fund from issuing senior securities except that the fund may borrow money in amounts of up to one-third of the fund’s total assets from banks for any purpose. A fund also may borrow up to 5% of the fund’s total assets from banks or other lenders for temporary purposes, and these borrowings are not considered senior securities. The issuance of senior securities by the fund can increase the speculative character of the fund’s outstanding shares through leveraging. Leveraging of the fund’s portfolio through the issuance of senior securities magnifies the potential for gain or loss on monies, because even though the fund’s net assets remain the same, the total risk to investors is increased to the extent of the fund’s gross assets. The policy in (4) above will be interpreted not to prevent collateral arrangements with respect to swaps, options, forward or futures contracts or other derivatives, or the posting of initial or variation margin.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to real estate set forth in (5) above, the 1940 Act does not prohibit a fund from owning real estate; however, a fund is limited in the amount of illiquid assets it may purchase. Investing in real estate may involve risks, including that real estate is generally considered illiquid and may be difficult to value and sell. Owners of real estate may be subject to various liabilities, including environmental liabilities. To the extent that investments in real estate are considered illiquid, the current SEC staff position generally limits a fund’s purchases of illiquid securities to 15% of net assets. The policy in (5) above will be interpreted not to prevent the fund from investing in real estate-related companies, companies whose businesses consist in whole or in part of investing in real estate, instruments (like mortgages) that are secured by real estate or interests therein, or real estate investment trust securities.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to commodities set forth in (6) above, the 1940 Act does not prohibit a fund from owning commodities, whether physical commodities and contracts related to physical commodities (such as oil or grains and related futures contracts), or financial commodities and contracts related to financial commodities (such as currencies and, possibly, currency futures). However, a fund is limited in the amount of illiquid assets it may purchase. To the extent that investments in commodities are considered illiquid, the current SEC staff position generally limits a fund’s purchases of illiquid securities to 15% of net assets. If a fund were to invest in a physical commodity or a physical commodity-related instrument, the fund would be subject to the additional risks of the particular physical commodity and its related market. The value of commodities and commodity-related instruments may be extremely volatile and may be affected either directly or indirectly by a variety of factors. There also may be storage charges and risks of loss associated with physical commodities. The policy in (6) above will be interpreted to permit investments in exchange traded funds that invest in physical and/or financial commodities.

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to concentration set forth in (7) above, the 1940 Act does not define what constitutes “concentration” in an industry. The SEC staff has taken the position that investment of 25% or more of a fund’s total assets in one or more issuers conducting their principal activities in the same industry or group of industries constitutes concentration. It is possible that interpretations of concentration could change in the future. A fund that invests a significant percentage of its total assets in a single industry may be particularly susceptible to adverse events affecting that industry and may be more risky than a fund that does not concentrate in an industry. The policy in (7) above will be interpreted to refer to concentration as that term may be interpreted from time to time. The policy also will be interpreted to permit investment without limit in the following: securities of the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities; securities of state, territory, possession or municipal governments and their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions;

securities of foreign governments; and repurchase agreements collateralized by any such obligations. Accordingly, issuers of the foregoing securities will not be considered to be members of any industry. There also will be no limit on investment in issuers domiciled in a single jurisdiction or country. The policy also will be interpreted to give broad authority to the fund as to how to classify issuers within or among industries.

The fund’s fundamental policies are written and will be interpreted broadly. For example, the policies will be interpreted to refer to the 1940 Act and the related rules as they are in effect from time to time, and to interpretations and modifications of or relating to the 1940 Act by the SEC and others as they are given from time to time. When a policy provides that an investment practice may be conducted as permitted by the 1940 Act, the policy will be interpreted to mean either that the 1940 Act expressly permits the practice or that the 1940 Act does not prohibit the practice.

Non-Fundamental Investment Policy

Under a non-fundamental investment policy adopted by the Trust, the fund may not purchase or otherwise acquire any security if, as a result, more than 15% of its net assets would be invested in securities that are illiquid.

Portfolio Turnover

For reporting purposes, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated by dividing the lesser of purchases or sales of portfolio securities for the fiscal year by the monthly average of the value of the portfolio securities owned by the fund during the fiscal year. In determining such portfolio turnover, all securities whose maturities at the time of acquisition were one year or less are excluded. A 100% portfolio turnover rate would occur, for example, if all of the securities in the fund’s investment portfolio (other than short-term money market securities) were replaced once during the fiscal year.

In the event that portfolio turnover increases, this increase necessarily results in correspondingly greater transaction costs which must be paid by the fund. To the extent the portfolio trading results in realization of net short-term capital gains, shareholders will be taxed on such gains at ordinary tax rates (except shareholders who invest through individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”) and other retirement plans which are not taxed currently on accumulations in their accounts).

Portfolio turnover will not be a limiting factor should the subadviser deem it advisable to purchase or sell securities.

For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2011, the fund’s portfolio turnover rates were as follows*:


		2010 (%)						2011 (%)
		80						89

*	Excluding mortgage dollar roll transactions. If mortgage dollar roll transactions had been included, the portfolio turnover rate would have been 87% and 105%, for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2010 and 2011, respectively.

MANAGEMENT

The business and affairs of the fund are conducted by management under the supervision and subject to the direction of its Board. The business address of each Trustee (including each Trustee of the fund who is not an “interested person” of the fund (an “Independent Trustee”)) is c/o R. Jay Gerken, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10018. Information pertaining to the Trustees and officers of the fund is set forth below.


Name and Year of Birth	Position(s) with Trust	Term of Office* and Length of Time Served**	Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years	Number of Funds in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee	Other Board Memberships Held by Trustee During Past 5 Years
Independent Trustees^#:

Elliott J. Berv Born 1943	Trustee	Since 1989	President and Chief Executive Officer, Catalyst (consulting) (since 1984); formerly, Chief Executive Officer, Rocket City Enterprises (media) (2000 to 2005)	57	World Affairs Council (since 2009); formerly, Board Member, American Identity Corp. (doing business as Morpheus Technologies) (biometric information management) (2001 to 2008); formerly, Director, Lapoint Industries (industrial filter company) (2002 to 2007); formerly, Director, Alzheimer’s Association (New England Chapter) (1998 to 2008)

A. Benton Cocanougher Born 1938	Trustee	Since 1991	Retired; Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M University (since 2008); Interim Dean, George Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A & M University (2009 to 2010); A.P. Wiley Professor, Texas A & M University (2001 to 2008); Interim Chancellor, Texas A & M University System (2003 to 2004); Dean of the Mays Business School, Texas A&M University (1987 to 2001)	57	Formerly, Director, First American Bank, Texas (1994 to 1999); formerly, Director, Randle Foods, Inc. (1991 to 1999); formerly, Director, Petrolon, Inc. (engine lubrication products) (1991 to 1994)

Jane F. Dasher Born 1949	Trustee	Since 1999	Chief Financial Officer, Korsant Partners, LLC (a family investment company) (since 1997)	57	None


Name and Year of Birth	Position(s) with Trust	Term of Office* and Length of Time Served**	Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years	Number of Funds in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee	Other Board Memberships Held by Trustee During Past 5 Years
Mark T. Finn Born 1943	Trustee	Since 1989	Adjunct Professor, College of William & Mary (since 2002); Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Owner, Vantage Consulting Group, Inc. (investment management) (since 1988); Principal/Member, Balvan Partners (investment management) (2002 to 2009)	57	None

Stephen Randolph Gross Born 1947	Trustee	Since 1986	Chairman, HLB Gross Collins, P.C. (accounting and consulting firm) (since 1974); Executive Director of Business Builders Team, LLC (since 2005); formerly, Managing Director, Fountainhead Ventures, L.L.C. (technology accelerator) (1998 to 2003)	57	Director, Andersen Calhoun (assisted living) (since 1987); formerly, Director, United Telesis, Inc. (telecommunications) (1997 to 2002); formerly, Director, ebank Financial Services, Inc. (1997 to 2004)

Richard E. Hanson, Jr. Born 1941	Trustee	Since 1985	Retired; formerly, Headmaster, The New Atlanta Jewish Community High School, Atlanta, Georgia (1996 to 2000)	57	None

Diana R. Harrington Born 1940	Trustee	Since 1992	Babson Distinguished Professor of Finance, Babson College (since 1992)	57	None

Susan M. Heilbron Born 1945	Trustee	Since 1994	Retired; formerly, President, Lacey & Heilbron (communications consulting) (1990 to 2002); formerly, General Counsel and Executive Vice President, The Trump Organization (1986 to 1990); formerly, Senior Vice President, New York State Urban Development Corporation (1984 to 1986)	57	Formerly, Director, Lincoln Savings Bank, FSB (1991 to 1994); formerly, Director, Trump Shuttle, Inc. (air transportation) (1989 to 1990); formerly, Director, Alexander’s Inc. (department store) (1987 to 1990)


Name and Year of Birth	Position(s) with Trust	Term of Office* and Length of Time Served**	Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years	Number of Funds in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee	Other Board Memberships Held by Trustee During Past 5 Years
Susan B. Kerley Born 1951	Trustee	Since 1992	Investment Consulting Partner, Strategic Management Advisors, LLC (investment consulting) (since 1990)	57	Director and Trustee (since 1990) and Chairman (since 2005) of various series of MainStay Family of Funds (66 funds)

Alan G. Merten Born 1941	Trustee	Since 1990	President, George Mason University (since 1996)	57	Director, Cardinal Financial Corporation (since 2006); Trustee, First Potomac Realty Trust (since 2005); formerly, Director, Xybernaut Corporation (information technology) (2004 to 2006); formerly, Director, Digital Net Holdings, Inc. (2003 to 2004); formerly, Director, Comshare, Inc. (information technology) (1985 to 2003)

R. Richardson Pettit Born 1942	Trustee	Since 1990	Retired; formerly, Duncan Professor of Finance, University of Houston (1977 to 2006); previous academic or management positions include: University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania and Purdue University	57	None


Name and Year of Birth	Position(s) with Trust	Term of Office* and Length of Time Served**	Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years	Number of Funds in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee	Other Board Memberships Held by Trustee During Past 5 Years
Interested Trustee and Officer:

R. Jay Gerken, CFA† Born 1951	Trustee, President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer	Since 2002	Managing Director of Legg Mason & Co., LLC (“Legg Mason & Co.”) (since 2005); Officer and Trustee/Director of 161 funds associated with Legg Mason Partners Fund Advisor, LLC (“LMPFA”) or its affiliates (since 2006) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (prior to 2006); President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of LMPFA (since 2006); President and CEO of Smith Barney Fund Management LLC (“SBFM”) (formerly a registered investment adviser) (since 2002)	161	None

#	Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the fund within the meaning of Section 2(a) (19) of the 1940 Act.

*	Each Trustee serves until his or her respective successor has been duly elected and qualified or until his or her earlier death, resignation, retirement or removal.

**	Indicates the earliest year in which the Trustee became a board member for a fund in the Legg Mason fund complex.

†	Mr. Gerken is an “interested person” of the fund, as defined in the 1940 Act, because of his position with LMPFA and/or certain of its affiliates.


Name, Year of Birth and Address	Position(s) with Trust	Term of Office* and Length of Time Served**	Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years
Additional Officers:

Ted P. Becker Born 1951 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018	Chief Compliance Officer	Since 2007	Director of Global Compliance at Legg Mason (since 2006); Chief Compliance Officer of LMPFA (since 2006); Managing Director of Compliance of Legg Mason & Co. (since 2005); Chief Compliance Officer of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2006) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (prior to 2006)

Vanessa A. Williams Born 1979 100 First Stamford Place Stamford, CT 06902	Chief Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer and Identity Theft Prevention Officer	Since 2011 Since 2011	Identity Theft Prevention Officer of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2011); Chief Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2011); formerly, Assistant Vice President and Senior Compliance Officer of Legg Mason & Co. (2008 to 2011); formerly, Compliance Analyst of Legg Mason & Co. (2006 to 2008) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (prior to 2006)


Name, Year of Birth and Address	Position(s) with Trust	Term of Office* and Length of Time Served**	Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years
Robert I. Frenkel Born 1954 100 First Stamford Place Stamford, CT 06902	Secretary and Chief Legal Officer	Since 2007	Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Legg Mason (since 2006); Managing Director and General Counsel of Global Mutual Funds for Legg Mason & Co. (since 2006) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (since 1994); Secretary and Chief Legal Officer of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2006) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (prior to 2006)

Thomas C. Mandia Born 1962 100 First Stamford Place Stamford, CT 06902	Assistant Secretary	Since 2007	Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel of Legg Mason & Co. (since 2005) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (prior to 2005); Secretary of LMPFA (since 2006); Assistant Secretary of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2006) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (prior to 2006); Secretary of SBFM and CFM (since 2002)

Richard F. Sennett Born 1970 100 International Drive Baltimore, MD 21202	Principal Financial Officer	Since 2011	Principal Financial Officer of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2011); Managing Director of Legg Mason & Co. and Senior Manager of the Treasury Policy group for Legg Mason & Co.’s Global Fiduciary Platform (since 2011); formerly, Chief Accountant within the SEC’s Division of Investment Management (2007 to 2011); formerly, Assistant Chief Accountant within the SEC’s Division of Investment Management (2002 to 2007)


Name, Year of Birth and Address	Position(s) with Trust	Term of Office* and Length of Time Served**	Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years
James Crowley Born 1966 55 Water Street New York, NY 10041	Treasurer	Since 2011	Treasurer of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2011); formerly, Vice President and Controller within the Global Oversight group for certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (2010 to 2011); formerly, Controller of Security Fair Valuation and Project Management for Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (2006 to 2010)

Jeanne M. Kelly Born 1951 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018	Senior Vice President	Since 2007	Senior Vice President of certain mutual funds associated with Legg Mason & Co. or its affiliates (since 2007); Senior Vice President of LMPFA (since 2006); Managing Director of Legg Mason & Co. (since 2005) and Legg Mason & Co. predecessors (prior to 2005)

*	Each officer serves until his or her respective successor has been duly elected and qualified or until his or her earlier death, resignation, retirement or removal.

**	Indicates the earliest year in which the officer took such office.

Each of the Trustees previously served as a trustee or director of certain predecessor funds in the Legg Mason-sponsored fund complex, and each Trustee was thus initially selected by the board of the predecessor fund. In connection with a restructuring of the fund complex completed in 2007, the Board was established to oversee mutual funds in the fund complex that invest primarily in fixed income securities, including the fund, with a view to ensuring continuity of representation by board members of predecessor funds on the Board and in order to establish a Board with experience in and focused on overseeing fixed income mutual funds, which experience would be further developed and enhanced over time.

In connection with the restructuring, the Trustees were selected to join the Board based upon the following as to each Board Member: his or her contribution as a board member of predecessor funds; such person’s character and integrity; such person’s willingness to serve and willingness and ability to commit the time necessary to perform the duties of a Trustee; the fact that such person’s service would be consistent with the requirements of the retirement policies of the Trust; as to each Trustee other than Mr. Gerken, his or her status as not being an “interested person” as defined in the 1940 Act; and, as to Mr. Gerken, his status as a representative of Legg Mason.

The Board believes that each Trustee’s experience, qualifications, attributes or skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees lead to the conclusion that the Board possesses the requisite skills and attributes. The Board believes that the Trustees’ ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the manager, subadviser, other service providers, counsel and independent auditors, and to exercise effective business judgment in the performance of their duties, support this conclusion. The Board has also considered the contributions that each Trustee can make to the Board and the fund, as well as the perspectives gained from the Trustee’s service on the board of the predecessor fund. In addition, the following specific experience, qualifications, attributes and/or skills apply as to each Trustee: Mr. Berv, experience as a chief executive officer and board member of various businesses and organizations and organizational consulting experience; Dr. Cocanougher, academic leadership experience and background in business and finance and experience as a board member of various business and non-profit organizations; Ms. Dasher, experience as a chief financial officer of a private investment company; Mr. Finn, investment management experience as an executive, consultant and portfolio manager; Mr. Gross, accounting background and experience and experience as an officer and board member of various organizations; Mr. Hanson, experience in academic leadership; Dr. Harrington, background in investment and finance; Ms. Heilbron, legal background and experience, business and consulting experience and experience as a board member of public companies; Ms. Kerley, investment consulting experience and background and mutual fund board experience; Dr. Merten, academic leadership experience, background in investments and finance, and board experience; Dr. Pettit, economic and finance background and academic management experience; and Mr. Gerken, investment management experience as an executive and portfolio manager and leadership roles within Legg Mason and affiliated entities. References to the qualifications, attributes and skills of Trustees are pursuant to requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, do not constitute holding out of the Board or any Trustee as having any special expertise or experience, and shall not impose any greater responsibility or liability on any such person or on the Board by reason thereof.

The Board is responsible for overseeing the management and operations of the fund. Mr. Gerken serves as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Gerken is an interested person of the fund. Independent Trustees constitute more than 75% of the Board.

The Board has three standing committees: the Audit Committee, Nominating and Governance Committee (referred to as the Governance Committee), and Investment and Performance Committee (referred to as the Performance Committee). Each of the Audit, Governance and Performance Committees is chaired by an Independent Trustee and composed of all of the Independent Trustees. The chair of the Governance Committee serves as Lead Independent Trustee (the “Lead Trustee”). Where deemed appropriate, the Board constitutes ad hoc committees.

The Lead Trustee and the chairs of the Audit and Performance Committees work with the Chairman of the Board to set the agendas for Board and committee meetings. The Lead Trustee also serves as a key point person for dealings between management and the Independent Trustees. As noted below, through the committees the Independent Trustees consider and address important matters involving the fund, including those presenting conflicts or potential conflicts of interest for management. The Independent Trustees also regularly meet outside the presence of management and are advised by independent legal counsel. The Board has determined that its committees help ensure that the fund has effective and independent governance and oversight. The Board also has determined that due to the multiple board structure of the fund complex, a single chair for all of the boards in the fund complex is effective and promotes efficiencies, and that therefore the Board’s leadership structure is appropriate. The Board also believes that its leadership structure facilitates the orderly and efficient flow of information to the Independent Trustees from management, including the fund’s subadviser.

The Audit Committee oversees, among other things, the scope of the fund’s audit, the fund’s accounting and financial reporting policies and practices and the internal controls over financial accounting and reporting. The primary purposes of the Board’s Audit Committee are to assist the Board in fulfilling its responsibility for oversight of the integrity of the accounting, auditing and financial reporting practices of the fund, and the

qualifications and independence of the fund’s independent registered public accounting firm. The Audit Committee approves, and recommends to the Independent Trustees for their ratification, the selection, appointment, retention or termination of the fund’s independent registered public accounting firm and approves the compensation of the independent registered public accounting firm. The Audit Committee also approves all audit and permissible non-audit services provided to the fund by the independent registered public accounting firm and all permissible non-audit services provided by the fund’s independent registered public accounting firm to its manager and any affiliated service providers if the engagement relates directly to the fund’s operations and financial reporting.

The Governance Committee is the forum for consideration of a number of issues required to be considered separately by independent trustees of mutual funds, including, among other things, recommending candidates to fill vacancies on the Board. The Governance Committee also considers issues that the Independent Trustees believe it is advisable for them to consider separately. When addressing vacancies, the Governance Committee may consider nominees recommended by a shareholder. Shareholders who wish to recommend a nominee should send recommendations to the Trust’s Secretary that include all information relating to such person that is required to be disclosed in solicitations of proxies for the election of Trustees. A recommendation must be accompanied by a written consent of the individual to stand for election if nominated by the Board and to serve if elected by the shareholders.

The Governance Committee also identifies potential nominees through its network of contacts and may also engage, if it deems appropriate, a professional search firm. The committee meets to discuss and consider such candidates’ qualifications and then chooses a candidate by majority vote. The committee does not have specific, minimum qualifications for nominees, nor has it established specific qualities or skills that it regards as necessary for one or more of the Trustees to possess (other than any qualities or skills that may be required by applicable law, regulation or listing standard). However, in evaluating a person as a potential nominee to serve as a Trustee, the Governance Committee may consider the following factors, among any others it may deem relevant:

•

whether or not the person is an “interested person,” as defined in the 1940 Act, and whether the person is otherwise qualified under applicable laws and regulations to serve as a Trustee;

•

whether or not the person has any relationships that might impair his or her independence, such as any business, financial or family relationships with fund management, the investment adviser, service providers or their affiliates;

•

whether or not the person serves on boards of, or is otherwise affiliated with, competing financial service organizations or their related mutual fund complexes;

•

the contribution which the person can make to the Board (or, if the person has previously served as a Trustee, the contribution which the person made to the Board during his or her previous term of service), with consideration being given to the person’s business and professional experience, education and such other factors as the committee may consider relevant;

•

whether or not the person is willing to serve, and willing and able to commit the time necessary for the performance of the duties of a Trustee;

•

the character and integrity of the person; and

•

whether or not the selection and nomination of the person would be consistent with the requirements of the retirement policies of the Trust, as applicable.

The Performance Committee is charged with, among other things, reviewing investment performance. The Performance Committee also assists the Board in fulfilling its responsibility for the review and negotiation of the fund’s investment management and subadvisory arrangements.

As an integral part of its responsibility for oversight of the fund in the interests of shareholders, the Board oversees risk management of the fund’s investment programs and business affairs. The Board has emphasized to

the fund’s manager and subadviser the importance of maintaining vigorous risk management. The manager and the subadviser also have their own independent interest in risk management and in maintaining risk management programs. Oversight of the risk management process is part of the Board’s general oversight of the fund and its service providers. The Board exercises oversight of the risk management process primarily through the Performance Committee and the Audit Committee, and through oversight by the Board itself.

The fund faces a number of risks, such as investment risk, counterparty risk, valuation risk, reputational risk, risk of operational failure or lack of business continuity, and legal, compliance and regulatory risk. Risk management seeks to identify and address risks, i.e., events or circumstances that could have material adverse effects on the business, operations, shareholder services, investment performance or reputation of the fund. Under the overall oversight of the Board or the applicable committee, the fund, or the manager, the fund’s subadviser, and the affiliates of the manager and the subadviser, or other service providers to the fund employ a variety of processes, procedures and controls to identify various of those possible events or circumstances, to lessen the probability of their occurrence and/or to mitigate the effects of such events or circumstances if they do occur.

Different processes, procedures and controls are employed with respect to different types of risks. Various personnel, including the fund’s and the manager’s CCO and the manager’s chief risk officer, as well as various personnel of the subadviser and other service providers such as the fund’s independent accountants, also make periodic reports to the Performance Committee or Audit Committee or to the Board, pursuant to the committee’s or Board’s request, with respect to various aspects of risk management, as well as events and circumstances that have arisen and responses thereto.

The Board recognizes that not all risks that may affect the fund can be identified, that it may not be practical or cost-effective to eliminate or mitigate certain risks, that it may be necessary to bear certain risks (such as investment-related risks) to achieve the fund’s goals, and that the processes, procedures and controls employed to address certain risks may be limited in their effectiveness. Moreover, reports received by the Trustees as to risk management matters are typically summaries of the relevant information. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, the Board’s risk management oversight is subject to substantial limitations.

The Board met 5 times during the fund’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. Each of the Audit, Governance and Performance Committees met 4 times during the fund’s last fiscal year.

The following table shows the amount of equity securities owned by the Trustees in the fund and other investment companies in the fund complex supervised by the Trustees as of December 31, 2011.


Name of Trustee	Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund ($)	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustee ($)
Independent Trustees
Elliott J. Berv	None	None
A. Benton Cocanougher	None	Over 100,000
Jane F. Dasher	1-10,000	Over 100,000
Mark T. Finn	None	Over 100,000
Rainer Greeven¹	None	None
Stephen Randolph Gross	None	Over 100,000
Richard E. Hanson, Jr.	None	Over 100,000
Diana R. Harrington	None	Over 100,000
Susan M. Heilbron	None	Over 100,000
Susan B. Kerley	None	Over 100,000
Alan G. Merten	None	Over 100,000
R. Richardson Pettit	None	Over 100,000
Interested Trustee
R. Jay Gerken	None	Over 100,000

(1)	Rainer Greeven retired from his position as a Trustee of the Trust on November 15, 2011.

As of December 31, 2011, none of the Independent Trustees or their immediate family members owned beneficially or of record any securities of the fund’s manager, subadviser or distributor, or of a person (other than a registered investment company) directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by or under common control with the manager, subadviser or distributor of the fund.

Information regarding compensation paid by the fund to its Board is set forth below. The Independent Trustees receive a fee for each meeting of the Board and committee meetings attended and are reimbursed for all out-of-pocket expenses relating to attendance at such meetings. Mr. Gerken, an “interested person,” as defined in the 1940 Act, does not receive compensation from the fund for his service as Trustee, but may be reimbursed for all out-of-pocket expenses relating to attendance at such meetings.

The fund pays a pro rata share of the Trustees’ fees based upon asset size. The fund currently pays each of the Trustees who is not a director, officer or employee of the manager or any of its affiliates its pro rata share of: an annual fee of $160,000, plus $20,000 for each regularly scheduled Board meeting attended in person and $2,500 for certain telephonic Board and committee meetings in which that Trustee participates. The Lead Trustee receives an additional $30,000 per year and each of the Chairs of the Audit Committee and Performance Committee receives an additional $15,000 per year. Each of the other members of the Performance Committee receives an additional $10,000 per year in connection with the annual consideration of the fund’s advisory, subadvisory and distribution arrangements.

Information regarding compensation paid to the Trustees is shown below:


Name of Trustee	Aggregate Compensation From the Fund for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2011($)		Total Pension or Retirement Benefits Paid as Part of Fund Expenses for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2011 ($)⁽¹⁾		Total Compensation from the Fund Complex Paid to Trustee for Calendar Year Ended December 31, 2011 ($)		Number of Funds in the Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee as of Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2011
Independent Trustees:
Elliott J. Berv		751		None		250,000		58
A. Benton Cocanougher		781		None		257,500		58
Jane F. Dasher		751		None		250,000		58
Mark T. Finn		751		None		250,000		58
Rainer Greeven⁽²⁾		557		None		250,000		58
Stephen Randolph Gross		761		None		253,750		58
Richard E. Hanson, Jr.		751		None		250,000		58
Diana R. Harrington		795		None		265,000		58
Susan M. Heilbron		751		None		250,000		58
Susan B. Kerley		751		None		250,000		58
Alan G. Merten		820		None		272,500		58
R. Richardson Pettit		785		None		261,250		58
Interested Trustee:
R. Jay Gerken⁽³⁾		None		None		None		161

(1)	Pursuant to prior retirement plans, the fund made payments to former trustees for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 of $3,230.

(2)	Rainer Greeven retired from his position as a Trustee of the Trust on November 15, 2011.

(3)	Mr. Gerken was not compensated for his services as a Trustee because of his affiliation with the manager.

Officers of the fund receive no compensation from the fund, although they may be reimbursed by the fund for reasonable out-of-pocket travel expenses for attending Board meetings.

As of April 9, 2012, the Trustees and officers of the fund, as a group, owned less than 1% of the outstanding shares of each class of the fund.

To the knowledge of the fund, as of April 9, 2012, the following shareholders owned or held of record 5% or more, as indicated, of the outstanding shares of the following classes of the fund:


Class	Name and Address	Percent of Class (%)
A	CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS HOUSE ACCOUNT 700 RED BROOK BLVD OWINGS MILLS MD 21117-5184		34.39

A	ING K-CHOICE TRUSTEE: RELIANCE TRUST COMPANY 400 ATRIUM DRIVE SOMERSET NJ 08873-4162		24.17

A	PERSHING LLC 1 PERSHING PLZ JERSEY CITY NJ 07399-0001		10.91

A	MORGAN STANLEY & CO INC ATTN MUTUAL FUNDS OPERATIONS HARBORSIDE FINANCIAL CENTER PLAZA TWO 2ND FLOOR JERSEY CITY NJ 07311		5.70

A	UBS WM USA OMNI ACCOUNT M/F ATTN: DEPARTMENT MANAGER 499 WASHINGTON BLVD FL 9 JERSEY CITY NJ 07310-2055		5.67

C	CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS HOUSE ACCOUNT 700 RED BROOK BLVD OWINGS MILLS MD 21117-5184		45.76

C	MORGAN STANLEY & CO INC ATTN MUTUAL FUNDS OPERATIONS HARBORSIDE FINANCIAL CENTER PLAZA TWO 2ND FLOOR JERSEY CITY NJ 07311		11.13

C	FIRST CLEARING, LLC SPECIAL CUSTODY ACCT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMER 2801 MARKET STREET ST LOUIS MO 63103-2523		7.00


Class	Name and Address	Percent of Class (%)
C	UBS WM USA OMNI ACCOUNT M/F ATTN: DEPARTMENT MANAGER 499 WASHINGTON BLVD FL 9 JERSEY CITY NJ 07310-2055		6.90

I	STATE OF COLORADO COLLEGEINVEST PORTFOLIO 6 SCHOLARS CHOICE COLLEGE 55 WATER ST FL 31 NEW YORK NY 10041-3299		33.72

I	STATE OF COLORADO COLLEGEINVEST PORTFOLIO 4 SCHOLARS CHOICE COLLEGE 55 WATER ST FL 31 NEW YORK NY 10041-3299		21.65

I	STATE OF COLORADO COLLEGEINVEST PORTFOLIO 5 SCHOLARS CHOICE COLLEGE 55 WATER ST FL 31 NEW YORK NY 10041-3299		20.30

I	STATE OF COLORADO COLLEGEINVEST PORTFOLIO 7 SCHOLARS CHOICE COLLEGE 55 WATER ST FL 31 NEW YORK NY 10041-3299		19.87

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AND OTHER SERVICES

Manager

Legg Mason Partners Fund Advisor, LLC (“LMPFA” or the “manager”) serves as investment manager to the fund and provides certain oversight services to the fund pursuant to an investment management agreement (the “Management Agreement”). LMPFA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Legg Mason.

The manager has agreed, under the Management Agreement, subject to the supervision of the fund’s Board, to provide the fund with investment research, advice, management and supervision, furnish a continuous investment program for the fund’s portfolio of securities and other investments consistent with the fund’s investment objectives, policies and restrictions, and place orders pursuant to its investment determinations. The manager is permitted to enter into contracts with subadvisers or subadministrators, subject to the Board’s approval. The manager has entered into a subadvisory agreement, as described below.

As compensation for services performed, facilities furnished and expenses assumed by the manager, the fund pays the manager a fee computed daily at an annual rate of the fund’s average daily net assets as described below. The manager also performs administrative and management services as reasonably requested by the fund necessary for the operation of the fund, such as (i) supervising the overall administration of the fund, including negotiation of contracts and fees with, and monitoring of performance and billings of, the fund’s transfer agent, shareholder servicing agents, custodian and other independent contractors or agents; (ii) providing certain compliance, fund accounting, regulatory reporting and tax reporting services; (iii) preparing or participating in the preparation of Board materials, registration statements, proxy statements and reports and other communications to shareholders; (iv) maintaining the fund’s existence; and (v) maintaining the registration or qualification of the fund’s shares under federal and state laws.

The Management Agreement will continue in effect from year to year, provided continuance is specifically approved at least annually (a) by the Board or by a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the fund (as defined in the 1940 Act), and (b) in either event, by a majority of the Independent Trustees, with such Independent Trustees casting votes in person at a meeting called for such purpose.

The Management Agreement provides that the manager may render services to others. The Management Agreement is terminable without penalty by the Board or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the fund on not more than 60 days’ nor less than 30 days’ written notice to the manager, or by the manager on not less than 90 days’ written notice to the fund, and will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act) by the manager. The Management Agreement is not assignable by the Trust except with the consent of the manager.

The Management Agreement provides that the manager, its affiliates performing services contemplated by the Management Agreement, and the partners, shareholders, directors, officers and employees of the manager and such affiliates, will not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law, for any loss arising out of any investment, or for any act or omission in the execution of securities transactions for the fund, but the manager is not protected against any liability to the fund to which the manager would be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties or by reason of its reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under the Management Agreement.

For its services under the Management Agreement, the manager receives an investment management fee that is calculated daily and payable monthly at the annual rate of 0.45% of the fund’s average daily net assets.

For the periods below, the fund paid investment management fees to the manager as follows:


Fiscal Year Ended	Gross Management Fees ($)		Management Fees Waived/Expenses Reimbursed ($)		Net Management Fees (after fee waivers/expense reimbursements) ($)
December 31, 2011		2,360,566		0		2,360,566
December 31, 2010		2,139,092		0		2,139,092
December 31, 2009		1,368,979		0		1,368,979

Subadviser

Western Asset Management Company (“Western Asset” or the “subadviser”) provides the day-to-day portfolio management of the fund as subadviser pursuant to a subadvisory agreement (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”). Western Asset is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Legg Mason.

Under the Subadvisory Agreement, subject to the supervision of the Board and the manager, the subadviser regularly provides investment research, advice, management and supervision; furnishes a continuous investment program consistent with the fund’s investment objectives, policies and restrictions; and places orders pursuant to its investment determinations. The subadviser may delegate to companies that the subadviser controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, certain of the subadviser’s duties under the Subadvisory Agreement, subject to the subadviser’s supervision, provided the subadviser will not be relieved of its duties or obligations under the Subadvisory Agreement as a result of any delegation.

The Subadvisory Agreement will continue in effect from year to year, provided continuance is specifically approved at least annually with respect to the fund (a) by the Board or by a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the fund (as defined in the 1940 Act) and (b) in either event, by a majority of the Independent Trustees with such Independent Trustees casting votes in person at a meeting called for such purpose.

The Board or a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the fund (as defined in the 1940 Act) may terminate the Subadvisory Agreement on not more than 60 days’ nor less than 30 days’ written notice to the

subadviser without penalty. The subadviser may terminate the Subadvisory Agreement on not less than 90 days’ written notice to the fund and the manager without penalty. The manager and the subadviser may terminate the Subadvisory Agreement upon their mutual written consent. The Subadvisory Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act) by the subadviser. The manager may not assign the Subadvisory Agreement except with the subadviser’s consent.

The Subadvisory Agreement provides that the subadviser, its affiliates performing services contemplated by the Subadvisory Agreement, and the partners, shareholders, directors, officers and employees of the subadviser and such affiliates will not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law, or for any loss arising out of any investment, or for any act or omission in the execution of securities transactions for the fund, but the subadviser is not protected against any liability to the fund or the manager to which the subadviser would be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties or by reason of its reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under the Subadvisory Agreement.

As compensation for its services, the manager pays to the subadviser a fee equal to 70% of the management fee paid to the manager by the fund, net of any waivers and expense reimbursements.

Portfolio Managers

The following tables set forth additional information with respect to the portfolio managers for the fund. Unless noted otherwise, all information is provided as of December 31, 2011.

Other Accounts Managed by Portfolio Managers

The table below identifies, for each portfolio manager, the number of accounts (other than the fund with respect to which information is provided) for which the portfolio manager has day-to-day management responsibilities and the total assets in such accounts, within each of the following categories: registered investment companies, other pooled investment vehicles and other accounts. For each category, the number of accounts and total assets in the accounts where fees are based on performance are also indicated.

Data for registered investment companies is shown based on the specific portfolio managers that are named in the applicable disclosure documents. Data for other pooled investment vehicles and other accounts is reported based on Western Asset’s practice of naming a particular individual to maintain oversight responsibility for each vehicle/account. Where the named individual has been assigned primary responsibility for oversight of another pooled investment vehicle or other account, that vehicle/account has been allocated to that individual for disclosure purposes, but not other portfolio managers that may be involved in managing that vehicle/account.


Portfolio Manager	Type of Account	Number of Accounts Managed		Total Assets Managed ($, in billions)		Number of Accounts Managed for which Advisory Fee is Performance-Based		Assets Managed for which Advisory Fee is Performance- Based ($, in billions)
Stephen A. Walsh	Registered investment companies		101		163.4		0		0

	Other pooled investment vehicles		208		103.7		6		0.85

	Other accounts		741		175.5		76		18.9


Portfolio Manager	Type of Account	Number of Accounts Managed		Total Assets Managed ($, in billions)		Number of Accounts Managed for which Advisory Fee is Performance-Based		Assets Managed for which Advisory Fee is Performance- Based ($, in billions)
Andrea A. Mack	Other registered investment companies		4		0.79		0		0

	Other pooled investment vehicles		1		0.02		0		0

	Other accounts		11		3.3		0		0

Michael Pak	Other registered investment companies		2		0.20		0		0

	Other pooled investment vehicles		1		0.17		0		0

	Other accounts		6		3.3		0		0

Dennis J. McNamara	Other registered investment companies		1		0.13		0		0

	Other pooled investment vehicles		5		0.62		0		0

	Other accounts		18		3.2		1		0.12

Portfolio Manager Compensation

With respect to the compensation of portfolio managers, Western Asset’s compensation system assigns each employee a total compensation range, which is derived from annual market surveys that benchmark each role with its job function and peer universe. This method is designed to reward employees with total compensation reflective of the external market value of their skills, experience and ability to produce desired results. Standard compensation includes competitive base salaries, generous employee benefits and a retirement plan.

In addition, the subadviser’s employees are eligible for bonuses. These are structured to closely align the interests of employees with those of the subadviser, and are determined by the professional’s job function and pre-tax performance as measured by a formal review process. All bonuses are completely discretionary. The principal factor considered is a portfolio manager’s investment performance versus appropriate peer groups and benchmarks (e.g., a securities index and with respect to the fund, the benchmark set forth in the fund’s Prospectus to which the fund’s average annual total returns are compared or, if none, the benchmark set forth in the fund’s annual report). Performance is reviewed on a 1, 3 and 5 year basis for compensation—with 3 and 5 years having a larger emphasis. The subadviser may also measure a portfolio manager’s pre-tax investment performance against other benchmarks, as it determines appropriate. Because portfolio managers are generally responsible for multiple accounts (including the fund) with similar investment strategies, they are generally compensated on the performance of the aggregate group of similar accounts, rather than a specific account. Other factors that may be considered when making bonus decisions include client service, business development, length of service to the subadviser, management or supervisory responsibilities, contributions to developing business strategy and overall contributions to the subadviser’s business.

Finally, in order to attract and retain top talent, all professionals are eligible for additional incentives in recognition of outstanding performance. These are determined based upon the factors described above and include Legg Mason stock options and long-term incentives that vest over a set period of time past the award date.

Conflicts of Interest

The manager, subadviser and portfolio managers have interests which conflict with the interests of the fund. There is no guarantee that the policies and procedures adopted by the manager, the subadviser and the fund will be able to identify or mitigate these conflicts of interest.

Some examples of material conflicts of interest include:

Allocation of Limited Time and Attention. A portfolio manager who is responsible for managing multiple funds and/or accounts may devote unequal time and attention to the management of those funds and/or accounts. A portfolio manager may not be able to formulate as complete a strategy or identify equally attractive investment opportunities for each of those funds and accounts as might be the case if he or she were to devote substantially more attention to the management of a single fund. Such a portfolio manager may make general determinations across multiple funds, rather than tailoring a unique approach for the fund. The effects of this conflict may be more pronounced where funds and/or accounts overseen by a particular portfolio manager have different investment strategies.

Allocation of Limited Investment Opportunities; Aggregation of Orders. If a portfolio manager identifies a limited investment opportunity that may be suitable for multiple funds and/or accounts, the opportunity may be allocated among these several funds or accounts, which may limit the fund’s ability to take full advantage of the investment opportunity. Additionally, the subadviser may aggregate transaction orders for multiple accounts for purpose of execution. Such aggregation may cause the price or brokerage costs to be less favorable to a particular client than if similar transactions were not being executed concurrently for other accounts. In addition, the subadviser’s trade allocation policies may result in the fund’s orders not being fully executed or being delayed in execution.

Pursuit of Differing Strategies. At times, a portfolio manager may determine that an investment opportunity may be appropriate for only some of the funds and/or accounts for which he or she exercises investment responsibility, or may decide that certain of the funds and/or accounts should take differing positions with respect to a particular security. In these cases, the portfolio manager may place separate transactions for one or more funds or accounts which may affect the market price of the security or the execution of the transaction, or both, to the detriment or benefit of one or more other funds and/or accounts. For example, a portfolio manager may determine that it would be in the interest of another account to sell a security that the fund holds long, potentially resulting in a decrease in the market value of the security held by the fund.

Cross Trades. Portfolio managers may manage funds that engage in cross trades, where one of the manager’s funds or accounts sells a particular security to another fund or account managed by the same manager. Cross trades may pose conflicts of interest because of, for example, the possibility that one account sells a security to another account at a higher price than an independent third party would pay or otherwise enters into a transaction that it would not enter into with an independent party, such as the sale of a difficult-to-obtain security.

Selection of Broker/Dealers. Portfolio managers may select or influence the selection of the brokers and dealers that are used to execute securities transactions for the funds and/or accounts that they supervise. In addition to executing trades, some brokers and dealers provide subadvisers with brokerage and research services. These services may be taken into account in the selection of brokers and dealers whether a broker is being selected to effect a trade on an agency basis for a commission or (as is normally the case for the fund) whether a dealer is being selected to effect a trade on a principal basis. This may result in the payment of higher brokerage

fees and/or execution at a less favorable price than might have otherwise been available. The services obtained may ultimately be more beneficial to certain of the manager’s funds or accounts than to others (but not necessarily to the funds that pay the increased commission or incur the less favorable execution). A decision as to the selection of brokers and dealers could therefore yield disproportionate costs and benefits among the funds and/or accounts managed.

Variation in Financial and Other Benefits. A conflict of interest arises where the financial or other benefits available to a portfolio manager differ among the funds and/or accounts that he or she manages. If the amount or structure of the investment manager’s management fee and/or a portfolio manager’s compensation differs among funds and/or accounts (such as where certain funds or accounts pay higher management fees or performance-based management fees), the portfolio manager might be motivated to help certain funds and/or accounts over others. Similarly, the desire to maintain assets under management or to enhance the portfolio manager’s performance record or to derive other rewards, financial or otherwise, could influence the portfolio manager in affording preferential treatment to those funds and/or accounts that could most significantly benefit the portfolio manager. A portfolio manager may, for example, have an incentive to allocate favorable or limited opportunity investments or structure the timing of investments to favor such funds and/or accounts. Also, a portfolio manager’s or the manager’s or the subadviser’s desire to increase assets under management could influence the portfolio manager to keep the fund open for new investors without regard to potential benefits of closing the fund to new investors. Additionally, the portfolio manager might be motivated to favor funds and/or accounts in which he or she has an ownership interest or in which the investment manager and/or its affiliates have ownership interests. Conversely, if a portfolio manager does not personally hold an investment in the fund, the portfolio manager’s conflicts of interest with respect to the fund may be more acute.

Related Business Opportunities. The investment manager or its affiliates may provide more services (such as distribution or recordkeeping) for some types of funds or accounts than for others. In such cases, a portfolio manager may benefit, either directly or indirectly, by devoting disproportionate attention to the management of funds and/or accounts that provide greater overall returns to the investment manager and its affiliates.

Portfolio Manager Securities Ownership

The table below identifies ownership of portfolio securities by each portfolio manager as of December 31, 2011.


Portfolio Manager		Dollar Range of Ownership of Securities ($)
Stephen A. Walsh		None
Andrea A. Mack		None
Michael C. Buchanan		None
Julien Scholnick		None
Michael Pak		None

Expenses

In addition to amounts payable under the Management Agreement and the 12b-1 Plan (as discussed below), the fund is responsible for its own expenses, including, among other things, interest; taxes; governmental fees; voluntary assessments and other expenses incurred in connection with membership in investment company organizations; organizational costs of the fund; costs (including interest, brokerage, taxes, extraordinary expenses and acquired fund fees and expenses, if any) in connection with the purchase or sale of the fund’s securities and other investments and any losses in connection therewith; fees and expenses of custodians, transfer agents, registrars, independent pricing vendors or other agents; legal expenses; loan commitment fees; expenses relating to share certificates; expenses relating to the issuing and redemption or repurchase of the fund’s shares and servicing shareholder accounts; expenses of registering and qualifying the fund’s shares for sale under applicable

federal and state law; expenses of preparing, setting in print, printing and distributing prospectuses and statements of additional information and any supplements thereto, reports, proxy statements, notices and dividends to the fund’s shareholders; costs of stationery; website costs; costs of meetings of the Board or any committee thereof, meetings of shareholders and other meetings of the fund; Board fees; audit fees; travel expenses of officers, members of the Board and employees of the fund, if any; the fund’s pro rata portion of premiums on any fidelity bond and other insurance covering the fund and its officers, members of the Board and employees; and litigation expenses and any non-recurring or extraordinary expenses as may arise, including, without limitation, those relating to actions, suits or proceedings to which the fund is a party and the legal obligation which the fund may have to indemnify the fund’s Board members and officers with respect thereto.

Management may agree to implement an expense limitation and/or reimburse operating expenses for one or more classes of shares. Any such expense limitations and/or reimbursements are described in the fund’s Prospectus. The expense limitations and/or reimbursements do not cover (a) transaction costs (such as brokerage commissions and dealer and underwriter spreads) and taxes; (b) extraordinary expenses, such as any expenses or charges related to litigation, derivative actions, demands related to litigation, regulatory or other government investigations and proceedings, “for cause” regulatory inspections and indemnification or advancement of related expenses or costs, to the extent any such expenses are considered extraordinary expenses for the purposes of fee disclosure in Form N-1A, as the same may be amended from time to time; and (c) other extraordinary expenses as determined for the purposes of fee disclosure in Form N-1A, as the same may be amended from time to time. Without limiting the foregoing, extraordinary expenses are generally those that are unusual or expected to recur only infrequently, and may include such expenses, by way of illustration, as (i) expenses of the reorganization, restructuring, redomiciling or merger of the fund or class or the acquisition of all or substantially all of the assets of another fund or class; (ii) expenses of holding, and soliciting proxies for, a meeting of shareholders of the fund or class (except to the extent relating to routine items such as the election of board members or the approval of the independent registered public accounting firm); and (iii) expenses of converting to a new custodian, transfer agent or other service provider, in each case to the extent any such expenses are considered extraordinary expenses for the purposes of fee disclosure in Form N-1A, as the same may be amended from time to time. Some of these arrangements do not cover interest expenses.

These arrangements may be reduced or terminated under certain circumstances.

In order to implement an expense limitation, the manager will, as necessary, waive management fees or reimburse operating expenses. However, the manager is permitted to recapture amounts waived or reimbursed to a class during the same fiscal year if the class’ total annual operating expenses have fallen to a level below the class’ expense limitation. In no case will the manager recapture any amount that would result, on any particular business day of the fund, in the class’ total annual operating expenses exceeding such expense limitation or any lower limit then in effect.

Distributor

LMIS, a wholly-owned broker/dealer subsidiary of Legg Mason, located at 100 International Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, serves as the sole and exclusive distributor of the fund pursuant to a written agreement (as amended, the “Distribution Agreement”).

Under the Distribution Agreement, the distributor is appointed as principal underwriter and distributor in connection with the offering and sale of shares of the fund. The distributor offers the shares on an agency or “best efforts” basis under which the fund issues only the number of shares actually sold. Shares of the fund are continuously offered by the distributor.

The Distribution Agreement is renewable from year to year with respect to the fund if approved (a) by the Board or by a vote of a majority of the fund’s outstanding voting securities, and (b) by the affirmative vote of a majority of Trustees who are not parties to such agreement or interested persons of any party by votes cast in person at a meeting called for such purpose.

The Distribution Agreement is terminable with respect to the fund without penalty by the Board or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the fund, or by the distributor, on not less than 60 days’ written notice to the other party (unless the notice period is waived by mutual consent). The Distribution Agreement will automatically and immediately terminate in the event of its assignment.

LMIS may be deemed to be an underwriter for purposes of the 1933 Act. Dealer reallowances are described in the fund’s Prospectus.

Dealer Commissions and Concessions

From time to time, the fund’s distributor or the manager, at its expense, may provide compensation or promotional incentives (“concessions”) to dealers that sell or arrange for the sale of shares of the fund or a managed account strategy of which the fund is part. Such concessions provided by the fund’s distributor or the manager may include financial assistance to dealers in connection with preapproved conferences or seminars, sales or training programs for invited registered representatives and other employees, payment for travel expenses, including lodging, incurred by registered representatives and other employees for such seminars or training programs, seminars for the public, advertising and sales campaigns regarding one or more funds, and/or other dealer-sponsored events. From time to time, the fund’s distributor or manager may make expense reimbursements for special training of a dealer’s registered representatives and other employees in group meetings or to help pay the expenses of sales contests. Other concessions may be offered to the extent not prohibited by state laws or any self-regulatory agency, such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”).

Services and Distribution Plan

The Trust, on behalf of the fund, has adopted a shareholder services and distribution plan (the “12b-1 Plan”) in accordance with Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. Under the 12b-1 Plan, the fund may pay monthly fees to LMIS at an annual rate not to exceed 0.25% of the average daily net assets of the fund attributable to Class A shares, not to exceed 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the fund attributable to Class C shares, not to exceed 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the fund attributable to Class R shares and not to exceed 1.00% of the average daily net assets of the fund attributable to Class R1 shares. The fund will provide the Board with periodic reports of amounts expended under the 12b-1 Plan and the purposes for which such expenditures were made.

Fees under the 12b-1 Plan may be used to make payments to the distributor, Service Agents and other parties in respect of the sale of shares of the fund, for advertising, marketing or other promotional activity, and payments for preparation, printing and distribution of prospectuses, statements of additional information and reports for recipients other than existing shareholders. The fund also may make payments to the distributor, Service Agents, and others for providing personal service or the maintenance of shareholder accounts. The amounts paid to each recipient may vary based upon certain factors, including, among other things, the levels of sales of shares and/or shareholder services; provided, however, that the fees paid to a recipient with respect to a particular class that may be used to cover expenses primarily intended to result in the sale of shares of that class, or that may be used to cover expenses primarily intended for personal service and/or maintenance of shareholder accounts, may not exceed the maximum amounts, if any, as may from time to time be permitted for such services under FINRA Conduct Rule 2830 or any successor rule, in each case as amended or interpreted by FINRA.

Since fees paid under the 12b-1 Plan are not tied directly to expenses, the amount of the fees paid by a class of the fund during any year may be more or less than actual expenses incurred pursuant to the 12b-1 Plan. This type of distribution fee arrangement is characterized by the staff of the SEC as being of the “compensation variety” (in contrast to “reimbursement” arrangements by which a distributor’s payments are directly linked to its expenses). Thus, even if the expenses exceed the fees provided for by the 12b-1 Plan, the fund will not be obligated to pay more than those fees and, if expenses incurred are less than the fees paid to the distributor and others, they will realize a profit.

The 12b-1 Plan recognizes that various service providers to the fund, such as its manager, may make payments for distribution, marketing or sales-related expenses out of their own resources of any kind, including profits or payments received from the fund for other purposes, such as management fees. The 12b-1 Plan provides that, to the extent that such payments might be deemed to be indirect financing of any activity primarily intended to result in the sale of shares of the fund, the payments are deemed to be authorized by the 12b-1 Plan.

Under its terms, the 12b-1 Plan continues in effect for successive annual periods, provided continuance is specifically approved at least annually by vote of the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the 12b-1 Plan or in any agreements related to it (“Qualified Trustees”). The 12b-1 Plan may not be amended to increase the amount of the service and distribution fees without shareholder approval, and all amendments of the 12b-1 Plan also must be approved by the Trustees, including the Qualified Trustees, in the manner described above. The 12b-1 Plan may be terminated with respect to a class of the fund at any time, without penalty, by vote of a majority of the Qualified Trustees or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the class (as defined in the 1940 Act).

The following service and distribution fees were incurred by the fund pursuant to the distribution plan in effect during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011:


Class	Service and Distribution Fees Incurred ($)
Class A		155,965
Class C		849,664

No information is given for Class R and Class R1 shares of the fund because no Class R and Class R1 shares of the fund were outstanding during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, LMIS incurred distribution expenses for advertising, printing and mailing prospectuses, support services and overhead expenses and compensation to Service Agents and third parties as expressed in the following table. The distributor may have made revenue sharing payments in addition to the expenses shown here.


	Third Party Fees ($)		Financial Consultant Compensation (Amortized) ($)		Marketing ($)		Printing ($)		Total Current Expenses ($)
Class A		155,965		0		N/A		N/A		155,965
Class C		842,895		2,658		325,166		992		1,171,711

No information is given for Class R and Class R1 shares of the fund because no Class R and Class R1 shares of the fund were outstanding during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011.

Initial Sales Charges

The aggregate dollar amount of commissions on shares received by the distributor during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 were as follows:

Class A Shares


For the fiscal year ended December 31	LMIS ($)
2011		1,647
2010		4,380
2009		879

Contingent Deferred Sales Charges

The aggregate dollar amount of contingent deferred sales charges on Class A and Class C shares received by LMIS were as follows:

Class A Shares


For the fiscal year ended December 31:	LMIS ($)
2011		9,185
2010		4,580
2009		49

Class C Shares


For the fiscal year ended December 31:	LMIS ($)
2011		681
2010		912
2009		141

Custodian and Transfer Agent

State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”), One Lincoln Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, serves as the custodian of the fund. State Street, among other things, maintains a custody account or accounts in the name of the fund, receives and delivers all assets for the fund upon purchase and upon sale or maturity, collects and receives all income and other payments and distributions on account of the assets of the fund and makes disbursements on behalf of the fund. State Street neither determines the fund’s investment policies nor decides which securities the fund will buy or sell. For its services, State Street receives a monthly fee based upon the daily average market value of securities held in custody and also receives securities transaction charges, including out-of-pocket expenses. The fund may also periodically enter into arrangements with other qualified custodians with respect to certain types of securities or other transactions such as repurchase agreements or derivatives transactions. State Street may also act as the fund’s securities lending agent and in that case would receive a share of the income generated by such activities.

Boston Financial Data Services, Inc. (“BFDS” or the “transfer agent”), located at 2000 Crown Colony Drive, Quincy, Massachusetts 02169, serves as the fund’s transfer agent. Under the transfer agency agreement with BFDS, BFDS maintains the shareholder account records for the fund, handles certain communications between shareholders and the fund and distributes dividends and distributions payable by the fund. For these services, BFDS receives a monthly fee computed on the basis of the number of shareholder accounts it maintains for the fund during the month and is reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses.

Counsel

Bingham McCutchen LLP, located at One Federal Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, serves as counsel to the fund.

Sullivan & Worcester LLP, located at 1666 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006, serves as counsel to the Independent Trustees.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

KPMG LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, located at 345 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10154, has been selected to audit and report upon the fund’s financial statements and financial highlights for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2012.

Code of Ethics

Pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act, the fund, the manager, the subadviser and the distributor each has adopted a code of ethics that permits its personnel to invest in securities for their own accounts, including securities that may be purchased or held by the fund. All personnel must place the interests of clients first, must not act upon non-public information, must not take inappropriate advantage of their positions, and are required to fulfill their fiduciary obligations. All personal securities transactions by employees must adhere to the requirements of the codes of ethics and must be conducted in such a manner as to avoid any actual or potential conflict of interest, the appearance of such a conflict, or the abuse of an employee’s position of trust and responsibility.

Copies of the Codes of Ethics of the fund, the manager, the subadviser and the distributor are on file with the SEC.

Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures

Although individual Trustees may not agree with particular policies or votes by the manager or the subadviser, the Board has delegated proxy voting discretion to the manager and/or the subadviser, believing that the manager and/or the subadviser should be responsible for voting because it is a matter relating to the investment decision making process.

The manager delegates the responsibility for voting proxies for the fund to the subadviser through its contracts with the subadviser. The subadviser will use its own proxy voting policies and procedures to vote proxies. Accordingly, the manager does not expect to have proxy-voting responsibility for the fund. Should the manager become responsible for voting proxies for any reason, such as the inability of the subadviser to provide investment advisory services, the manager will utilize the proxy voting guidelines established by the most recent subadviser to vote proxies until a new subadviser is retained. In the case of a material conflict between the interests of the manager (or its affiliates if such conflict is known to persons responsible for voting at the manager) and the fund, the board of directors of the manager will consider how to address the conflict and/or how to vote the proxies. The manager will maintain records of all proxy votes in accordance with applicable securities laws and regulations, to the extent that the manager votes proxies. The manager will be responsible for gathering relevant documents and records related to proxy voting from the subadviser and providing them to the fund as required for the fund to comply with applicable rules under the 1940 Act.

The subadviser’s Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures govern in determining how proxies relating to the fund’s portfolio securities are voted and are attached as Appendix B to this SAI. Information regarding how the fund voted proxies (if any) relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available without charge: (1) by calling 1- 877-721-1926, (2) on the fund’s website at http://www.leggmason.com/individualinvestors and (3) on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

PURCHASE OF SHARES

General

See the fund’s Prospectus for a discussion of which classes of shares of the fund are available for purchase and who is eligible to purchase shares of each class.

Investors may purchase shares from a Service Agent. In addition, certain investors, including retirement plans purchasing through certain Service Agents, may purchase shares directly from the fund. When purchasing shares of the fund, investors must specify the class of shares being purchased. Service Agents may charge their customers an annual account maintenance fee in connection with a brokerage account through which an investor purchases or holds shares. Accounts held directly with the transfer agent are not subject to a maintenance fee.

Class A Shares. Class A shares are sold to investors at the public offering price, which is the net asset value (“NAV”) plus an initial sales charge, as described in the fund’s Prospectus.

The distributor and Service Agents may receive a portion of the sales charge as described in the fund’s Prospectus and may be deemed to be underwriters of the fund, as defined in the 1933 Act. Sales charges are calculated based on the aggregate of purchases of Class A shares of the fund made at one time by any “person,” which includes an individual and his or her spouse and children under the age of 21, or a trustee or other fiduciary of a single trust estate or single fiduciary account. For additional information regarding sales charge reductions, see “Sales Charge Waivers and Reductions” below.

Purchases of Class A shares of $500,000 or more will be made at NAV without any initial sales charge, but will be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge of 0.50% on redemptions made within 12 months of purchase. The contingent deferred sales charge is waived in the same circumstances in which the contingent deferred sales charge applicable to Class C shares is waived. See “Contingent Deferred Sales Charge Provisions” and “Waivers of Contingent Deferred Sales Charge” below.

There are no minimum investment requirements for purchases of Class A shares by: (i) current and retired board members of Legg Mason; (ii) current and retired board members of any fund advised by LMPFA (such board members, together with board members of Legg Mason, are referred to herein as “Board Members”); (iii) current employees of Legg Mason and its subsidiaries; (iv) the “immediate families” of such persons (“immediate families” are such person’s spouse, including the surviving spouse of a deceased Board Member, and children under the age of 21); and (v) a pension, profit-sharing or other benefit plan for the benefit of such persons. The fund reserves the right to waive or change minimums, to decline any order to purchase its shares and to suspend the offering of shares from time to time.

Class C, Class R and Class R1 Shares. Class C, Class R and Class R1 shares are sold at net asset value with no initial sales charge on purchase and no contingent deferred sales charge upon redemption.

Class I Shares. Effective October 17, 2007, Class I shares were closed to new purchases and incoming exchanges. Investors owning Class I shares on that date and investors who received Class I shares as a result of the reorganization of Legg Mason Limited Duration Bond Portfolio into the fund on July 10, 2009 may continue to add to their Class I share positions. In addition, participants in Eligible Retirement Programs may exchange Class A shares for Class I shares of the fund.

For additional information regarding applicable investment minimums and eligibility requirements for purchases of fund shares, please see the fund’s Prospectus.

Under certain circumstances, an investor who purchases fund shares pursuant to a fee-based advisory account program of an Eligible Financial Intermediary as authorized by LMIS may be afforded an opportunity to make a conversion between one or more share classes owned by the investor in the same fund to Class I shares of that fund. Such a conversion in these particular circumstances does not cause the investor to realize taxable gain or loss.

Systematic Investment Plan. Shareholders may purchase additional Class A and Class C shares of the fund through a service known as the Systematic Investment Plan. For information about the Systematic Investment Plan, please see the fund’s Prospectus. A shareholder who has insufficient funds to complete a pre-authorized transfer may be charged a fee of up to $25 by a Service Agent or the transfer agent. Additional information is available from the fund or a Service Agent.

Sales Charge Waivers and Reductions

Initial Sales Charge Waivers. Purchases of Class A shares may be made at NAV without an initial sales charge in the following circumstances:

(a) sales to (i) current and retired Board Members, (ii) current employees of Legg Mason and its subsidiaries, (iii) the “immediate families” of such persons, and (iv) a pension, profit-sharing or other benefit plan for the benefit of such persons;

(b) sales to any employees of Service Agents having dealer, service or other selling agreements or other arrangements with the distributor, and to the immediate families of such persons or a pension, profit-sharing or other benefit plan for the benefit of such persons (providing the purchase is made for investment purposes and such securities will not be resold except through redemption or repurchase);

(c) offers of Class A shares to any other investment company to effect the combination of such company with the fund by merger, acquisition of assets or otherwise;

(d) purchases by shareholders who have redeemed Class A shares in the fund (or Class A shares of another fund sold by the distributor that is offered with a sales charge) and who wish to reinvest their redemption proceeds in the fund, provided the reinvestment is made within 60 calendar days of the redemption;

(e) purchases by certain separate accounts used to fund unregistered variable annuity contracts; and

(f) purchases by investors participating in “wrap fee” or asset allocation programs or other fee-based arrangements sponsored by broker/dealers and other financial institutions that have entered into agreements with the distributor.

In order to obtain such discounts, the purchaser must provide sufficient information at the time of purchase to permit verification that the purchase qualifies for the initial sales charge waiver.

Accumulation Privilege—Please see the fund’s Prospectus for information regarding accumulation privileges.

Letter of Intent—helps you take advantage of breakpoints in Class A sales charges. You may purchase Class A shares of funds sold by the distributor over a 13-month period and pay the same sales charge, if any, as if all shares had been purchased at once. You have a choice of three Asset Level Goal amounts, as follows:

(1)

$100,000

(2)

$250,000

(3)

$500,000

Each time you make a Class A purchase under a Letter of Intent, you will be entitled to the sales charge that is applicable to the amount of your Asset Level Goal. For example, if your Asset Level Goal is $100,000, any Class A investments you make under a Letter of Intent would be subject to the sales charge of the specific fund you are investing in for purchases of $100,000. Sales charges and breakpoints vary among the funds sold by the distributor.

When you enter into a Letter of Intent, you agree to purchase in Eligible Accounts over a 13-month period Eligible Fund Purchases in an amount equal to the Asset Level Goal you have selected, less any Eligible Prior Purchases. For this purpose, shares are valued at the public offering price (including any sales charge paid) calculated as of the date of purchase, plus any appreciation in the value of the shares as of the date of calculation, except for Eligible Prior Purchases, which are valued at current value as of the date of calculation. Your commitment will be met if at any time during the 13-month period the value, as so determined, of eligible holdings is at least equal to your Asset Level Goal. All reinvested dividends and distributions on shares acquired

under the Letter of Intent will be credited towards your Asset Level Goal. You may include any Eligible Fund Purchases towards the Letter of Intent, including shares of classes other than Class A shares. However, a Letter of Intent will not entitle you to a reduction in the sales charge payable on any shares other than Class A shares, and if the shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge, you will still be subject to that contingent deferred sales charge with respect to those shares. You must make reference to the Letter of Intent each time you make a purchase under the Letter of Intent.

Eligible Fund Purchases. Generally, any shares of a fund sold by the distributor may be credited towards your Asset Level Goal. Shares of certain money market funds acquired by exchange from other funds offered with a sales charge and sold by the distributor may be credited toward your Asset Level Goal.

Eligible Accounts. Purchases may be made through any account in your name, or in the name of your spouse or your children under the age of 21. You may need to provide certain records, such as account statements, in order to verify your eligibility for reduced sales charges. Contact your Service Agent to see which accounts may be credited toward your Asset Level Goal.

Eligible Prior Purchases. You may also credit towards your Asset Level Goal any Eligible Fund Purchases made in Eligible Accounts at any time prior to entering into the Letter of Intent that have not been sold or redeemed, based on the current price of those shares as of the date of calculation.

Increasing the Amount of the Letter of Intent. You may at any time increase your Asset Level Goal. You must, however, contact your Service Agent, or if you purchase your shares directly through the transfer agent, contact the transfer agent prior to making any purchases in an amount in excess of your current Asset Level Goal. Upon such an increase, you will be credited by way of additional shares at the then-current offering price for the difference between: (a) the aggregate sales charges actually paid for shares already purchased under the Letter of Intent and (b) the aggregate applicable sales charges for the increased Asset Level Goal. The 13-month period during which the Asset Level Goal must be achieved will remain unchanged.

Sales and Exchanges. Shares acquired pursuant to a Letter of Intent, other than Escrowed Shares as defined below, may be redeemed or exchanged at any time, although any shares that are redeemed prior to meeting your Asset Level Goal will no longer count towards meeting your Asset Level Goal. However, complete liquidation of purchases made under a Letter of Intent prior to meeting the Asset Level Goal will result in the cancellation of the Letter of Intent. See “Failure to Meet Asset Level Goal” below. Exchanges in accordance with the fund’s Prospectus are permitted, and shares so exchanged will continue to count towards your Asset Level Goal, as long as the exchange results in an Eligible Fund Purchase.

Cancellation of the Letter of Intent. You may cancel a Letter of Intent by notifying your financial professional in writing, or if you purchase your shares directly through the transfer agent, by notifying the transfer agent in writing. The Letter of Intent will be automatically cancelled if all shares are sold or redeemed as set forth above. See “Failure to Meet Asset Level Goal” below.

Escrowed Shares. Shares equal in value to five percent (5%) of your Asset Level Goal as of the date your Letter of Intent (or the date of any increase in the amount of the Letter of Intent) is accepted, will be held in escrow during the term of your Letter of Intent. The Escrowed Shares will be included in the total shares owned as reflected in your account statement, and any dividends and capital gains distributions applicable to the Escrowed Shares will be credited to your account and counted towards your Asset Level Goal or paid in cash upon request. The Escrowed Shares will be released from escrow if all the terms of your Letter of Intent are met.

Failure to Meet Asset Level Goal. If the total assets under your Letter of Intent within its 13-month term are less than your Asset Level Goal, whether because you made insufficient Eligible Fund Purchases, redeemed all of your holdings or cancelled the Letter of Intent before reaching your Asset Level Goal, you will be liable for the difference between: (a) the sales charge actually paid and (b) the sales charge that would have applied if you

had not entered into the Letter of Intent. You may, however, be entitled to any breakpoints that would have been available to you under the accumulation privilege. An appropriate number of shares in your account will be redeemed to realize the amount due. For these purposes, by entering into a Letter of Intent, you irrevocably appoint your Service Agent, or if you purchase your shares directly through the transfer agent, the transfer agent, as your attorney-in-fact for the purposes of holding the Escrowed Shares and surrendering shares in your account for redemption. If there are insufficient assets in your account, you will be liable for the difference. Any Escrowed Shares remaining after such redemption will be released to your account.

Contingent Deferred Sales Charge Provisions

“Contingent deferred sales charge shares” are Class A shares that were purchased without an initial sales charge but are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge. A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on certain redemptions of these shares.

Any applicable contingent deferred sales charge will be assessed on the net asset value at the time of purchase or redemption, whichever is less.

Class A shares that are contingent deferred sales charge shares are subject to a 0.50% contingent deferred sales charge if redeemed within 12 months of purchase. Solely for purposes of determining the number of years since a purchase payment, all purchase payments made during a month will be aggregated and deemed to have been made on the last day of the preceding statement month.

In determining the applicability of any contingent deferred sales charge, it will be assumed that a redemption is made first of shares representing capital appreciation, next of shares representing the reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions, next of shares that are not subject to the contingent deferred sales charge and finally of other shares held by the shareholder for the longest period of time. The length of time that contingent deferred sales charge shares acquired through an exchange have been held will be calculated from the date the shares exchanged were initially acquired in one of the other funds sold by the distributor. For federal income tax purposes, the amount of the contingent deferred sales charge will reduce the gain or increase the loss, as the case may be, on the amount realized on redemption. The distributor receives contingent deferred sales charges in partial consideration for its expenses in selling shares.

Waivers of Contingent Deferred Sales Charge

The contingent deferred sales charge will be waived on: (a) exchanges (see “Exchange Privilege”); (b) automatic cash withdrawals in amounts equal to or less than 2.00% of the shareholder’s account balance at the time the withdrawals commence per month, up to a maximum of 12.00% in one year (see “Automatic Cash Withdrawal Plan”); (c) redemptions of shares within 12 months following the death or disability (as defined by the Code) of the shareholder; (d) involuntary redemptions; (e) redemptions of shares to effect a combination of the fund with any investment company by merger, acquisition of assets or otherwise; and (f) certain redemptions of shares of the fund in connection with lump-sum or other distributions made by eligible retirement plans or redemptions of shares by participants in certain “wrap fee” or asset allocation programs sponsored by broker/dealers and other financial institutions that have entered into agreements with the distributor or the manager.

A shareholder who has redeemed shares from other funds sold by the distributor may, under certain circumstances, reinvest all or part of the redemption proceeds within 60 days and receive pro rata credit for any contingent deferred sales charge imposed on the prior redemption.

Contingent deferred sales charge waivers will be granted subject to confirmation by the distributor or the transfer agent of the shareholder’s status or holdings, as the case may be.

Determination of Public Offering Price

The fund offers its shares on a continuous basis. The public offering price for each class of shares of the fund is equal to the NAV per share at the time of purchase, plus for Class A shares an initial sales charge based on the aggregate amount of the investment. A contingent deferred sales charge, however, is imposed on certain redemptions of Class A shares.

Set forth below is an example of the method of computing the offering price of the Class A shares of the fund based on the net asset value of a share of the fund as of December 31, 2011.


Class A (based on a net asset value of $3.84 and a maximum initial sales charge of 2.25%)		$	3.93

REDEMPTION OF SHARES

The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed (a) for any period during which the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) is closed (other than for customary weekend and holiday closings), (b) when trading in the markets the fund normally utilizes is restricted, or an emergency exists, as determined by the SEC, so that disposal of the fund’s investments or determination of net asset value is not reasonably practicable or (c) for any other periods as the SEC by order may permit for protection of the fund’s shareholders.

If a shareholder holds shares in more than one class, any request for redemption must specify the class being redeemed. In the event of a failure to specify which class, or if the investor owns fewer shares of the class than specified, the redemption request will be delayed until the transfer agent receives further instructions.

The Service Agent may charge you a fee for executing your order. The amount and applicability of such a fee is determined and should be disclosed to its customers by each Service Agent.

Additional Information Regarding Telephone Redemption and Exchange Program. The fund reserves the right to suspend, modify or discontinue the telephone redemption and exchange program or to impose a charge for this service at any time following at least seven days’ prior notice to shareholders.

Automatic Cash Withdrawal Plan

An automatic cash withdrawal plan (the “Withdrawal Plan”) is available to shareholders as described in the fund’s Prospectus. To the extent withdrawals under the Withdrawal Plan exceed dividends, distributions and appreciation of a shareholder’s investment in the fund, there will be a reduction in the value of the shareholder’s investment, and continued withdrawal payments may reduce the shareholder’s investment and ultimately exhaust it. Withdrawal payments should not be considered as income from investment in the fund. The Withdrawal Plan will be carried over on exchanges between funds or, if permitted, between classes of the fund. All dividends and distributions on shares in the Withdrawal Plan are reinvested automatically at net asset value in additional shares of the fund.

Shareholders who wish to participate in the Withdrawal Plan and who hold their shares in certificate form must deposit their share certificates with the transfer agent as agent for Withdrawal Plan members. For additional information shareholders should contact their Service Agents. A shareholder who purchases shares directly through the transfer agent may continue to do so and applications for participation in the Withdrawal Plan should be sent to the transfer agent. Withdrawals may be scheduled on any day of the month; however, if the shareholder does not specify a day, the transfer agent will schedule the withdrawal on the 25th day (or the next business day if the 25th day is a weekend or holiday) of the month.

Distributions in Kind

If the Board determines that it would be detrimental to the best interests of the remaining shareholders of the fund to make a redemption payment wholly in cash, the fund may pay, in accordance with SEC rules, any portion of a redemption by a distribution in kind of fund securities in lieu of cash. If a redemption is paid in portfolio securities, such securities will be valued in accordance with the procedures described under “Share price” in the fund’s Prospectus. Securities issued as a distribution in kind may incur brokerage commissions when shareholders subsequently sell those securities.

EXCHANGE PRIVILEGE

The exchange privilege enables shareholders to acquire shares of the same class in another fund with different investment objectives when they believe that a shift between funds is an appropriate investment decision. Prior to any exchange, the shareholder should obtain and review a copy of the current prospectus of each fund into which an exchange is being considered. The fund’s Prospectus describes the requirements for exchanging shares of the fund.

Upon receipt of proper instructions and all necessary supporting documents, shares submitted for exchange are redeemed at the then-current net asset value, and the proceeds, net of any applicable sales charge, are immediately invested in shares of the fund being acquired at that fund’s then-current net asset value. The fund reserves the right to reject any exchange request. The exchange privilege may be modified or terminated at any time after written notice to shareholders.

Class A, Class R and Class R1 Exchanges. Class A, Class R and Class R1 shareholders of the fund who wish to exchange all or a portion of their shares for shares of the respective class in another fund may do so without imposition of any charge.

Class C Exchanges. Class C shares of the fund may be exchanged for other Class C shares without a contingent deferred sales charge. Upon an exchange, the new Class C shares will be deemed to have been purchased on the same date as the Class C shares of the fund that have been exchanged. Upon exchange for Class C Shares of a Legg Mason-sponsored equity or long-term fixed income fund, the investor will be subject to the contingent deferred sales charge of that fund and the contingent deferred sales charge will be measured from the date of exchange.

Class I Shares. Effective October 17, 2007, Class I shares were closed to incoming exchanges. However, participants in Eligible Retirement Programs may exchange Class A shares for Class I shares of the fund.

Additional Information Regarding the Exchange Privilege

The fund is not designed to provide investors with a means of speculation on short-term market movements. A pattern of frequent exchanges by investors can be disruptive to efficient portfolio management and, consequently, can be detrimental to the fund and its shareholders. See “Frequent trading of fund shares” in the fund’s Prospectus.

During times of drastic economic or market conditions, the fund may suspend the exchange privilege temporarily without notice and treat exchange requests based on their separate components—redemption orders with a simultaneous request to purchase the other fund’s shares. In such a case, the redemption request would be processed at the fund’s next determined net asset value but the purchase order would be effective only at the net asset value next determined after the fund being purchased formally accepts the order, which may result in the purchase being delayed.

The exchange privilege may be modified or terminated at any time, and is available only in those jurisdictions where such exchanges legally may be made. Before making any exchange, shareholders should contact the transfer agent or, if they hold fund shares through a Service Agent, their Service Agent, to obtain more information and prospectuses of the funds to be acquired through the exchange. An exchange is treated as a sale of the shares exchanged and could result in taxable gain or loss to the shareholder making the exchange.

VALUATION OF SHARES

The net asset value per share of each class is calculated on each day, Monday through Friday, except days on which the NYSE is closed. As of the date of this SAI, the NYSE is normally open for trading every weekday, except in the event of an emergency or for the following holidays (or the days on which they are observed): New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Because of the differences in distribution fees and class-specific expenses, the per share net asset value of each class may differ. Please see the fund’s Prospectus for a description of the procedures used by the fund in valuing its assets.

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS

Subject to such policies as may be established by the Board from time to time, the subadviser is primarily responsible for the fund’s portfolio decisions and the placing of the fund’s portfolio transactions with respect to assets allocated to the subadviser.

Pursuant to the Subadvisory Agreement, the subadviser is authorized to place orders pursuant to its investment determinations for the fund either directly with the issuer or with any broker or dealer, foreign currency dealer, futures commission merchant or others selected by it. The general policy of the subadviser in selecting brokers and dealers is to obtain the best results achievable in the context of a number of factors which are considered both in relation to individual trades and broader trading patterns, including the reliability of the broker/dealer, the competitiveness of the price and the commission, the research services received and whether the broker/dealer commits its own capital.

In connection with the selection of brokers or dealers and the placing of such orders, subject to applicable law, brokers or dealers may be selected who also provide brokerage and research services (as those terms are defined in Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) to the fund and/or the other accounts over which the subadviser or its affiliates exercise investment discretion. The subadviser is authorized to pay a broker or dealer who provides such brokerage and research services a commission for executing a portfolio transaction for the fund which is in excess of the amount of commission another broker or dealer would have charged for effecting that transaction if the subadviser determines in good faith that such amount of commission is reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services provided by such broker or dealer. This determination may be viewed in terms of either that particular transaction or the overall responsibilities that the subadviser and its affiliates have with respect to accounts over which they exercise investment discretion. The subadviser may also have arrangements with brokers pursuant to which such brokers provide research services to the subadviser in exchange for a certain volume of brokerage transactions to be executed by such brokers. While the payment of higher commissions increases the fund’s costs, the subadviser does not believe that the receipt of such brokerage and research services significantly reduces its expenses as the fund��s subadviser. Arrangements for the receipt of research services from brokers may create conflicts of interest.

Research services furnished to the subadviser by brokers who effect securities transactions for the fund may be used by the subadviser in servicing other investment companies and accounts which it manages. Similarly, research services furnished to the subadviser by brokers who effect securities transactions for other investment

companies and accounts which the subadviser manages may be used by the subadviser in servicing the fund. Not all of these research services are used by the subadviser in managing any particular account, including the fund.

Debt securities purchased and sold by the fund generally are traded on a net basis (i.e., without a commission) through dealers acting for their own account and not as brokers, or otherwise involve transactions directly with the issuer of the instrument. This means that a dealer makes a market for securities by offering to buy at one price and sell at a slightly higher price. The difference between the prices is known as a “spread.” Other portfolio transactions may be executed through brokers acting as agent. The fund will pay a spread or commission in connection with such transactions.

In certain instances there may be securities that are suitable as an investment for the fund as well as for one or more of the subadviser’s other clients. Investment decisions for the fund and for the subadviser’s other clients are made with a view to achieving their respective investment objectives. It may develop that a particular security is bought or sold for only one client even though it might be held by, or bought or sold for, other clients. Likewise, a particular security may be bought for one or more clients when one or more clients are selling the same security.

Under the subadviser’s procedures, portfolio managers and their trading desks may seek to aggregate (or “bunch”) orders that are placed or received concurrently for more than one fund or account managed by the subadviser. In some cases, this policy may adversely affect the price paid or received by the fund or an account, or the size of the position obtained or liquidated. In other cases, however, the ability of the fund or account to participate in volume transactions will produce better executions for the fund or account. Certain brokers or dealers may be selected because of their ability to handle special executions such as those involving large block trades or broad distributions. Generally, when trades are aggregated, the fund or account within the block will receive the same price and commission. However, random allocations of aggregate transactions may be made to minimize custodial transaction costs. In addition, at the close of the trading day, when reasonable and practicable, the securities of partially filled orders will generally be allocated to each participating fund and account in the proportion that each order bears to the total of all orders (subject to rounding to “round lot” amounts).

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, the fund did not direct any amounts to brokerage transactions related to research services and did not pay any brokerage commissions related to research services.

Aggregate Brokerage Commissions Paid

LMIS is an underwriter of the fund under the 1940 Act. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, the fund paid the following aggregate brokerage commissions for portfolio transactions (including commissions on derivatives transactions):


2011 ($)	2010 ($)	2009 ($)
51,860	205,092	1,676

For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, the fund did not pay any brokerage commissions to LMIS or its affiliates.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, the fund held securities issued by the fund’s regular broker/dealers as follows:


Name of Regular Broker or Dealer	Type of Security Owned D=Debt Equity=Equity	Market Value as of December 31, 2011 ($000s)
CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS, INC.	D	7,195
CREDIT SUISSE SECURITIES (USA) LLC	D	6,286
GOLDMAN SACHS & CO.	D	9,430
BANK OF AMERICA SECURITIES LLC	D	3,272
MORGAN STANLEY	D	3,564
UBS SECURITIES LLC	D	1,960
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.	D	1,138
DEUTSCHE BANK SECURITIES, INC.	D	1,006
BARCLAYS CAPITAL INC.	D	371
BNP PARIBAS SECURITIES CORP.	D	2,966

DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS

The funds’ Board has adopted policies and procedures (the “policy”) developed by the manager with respect to the disclosure of a fund’s portfolio securities and any ongoing arrangements to make available information about the fund’s portfolio securities. The manager believes the policy is in the best interests of each fund and its shareholders and that it strikes an appropriate balance between the desire of investors for information about fund portfolio holdings and the need to protect funds from potentially harmful disclosures.

General rules/Website disclosure

The policy provides that information regarding a fund’s portfolio holdings may be shared at any time with employees of the manager, a fund’s subadviser and other affiliated parties involved in the management, administration or operations of the fund (referred to as fund-affiliated personnel). With respect to non-money market funds, a fund’s complete list of holdings (including the size of each position) may be made available to investors, potential investors, third parties and Legg Mason personnel that are not fund-affiliated personnel (i) upon the filing of Form N-Q or Form N-CSR in accordance with SEC rules, provided that such filings are not made until 15 calendar days following the end of the period covered by the Form N-Q or Form N-CSR or (ii) no sooner than 15 days after month end, provided that such information has been made available through public disclosure at least one day previously. Typically, public disclosure is achieved by required filings with the SEC and/or posting the information to Legg Mason’s or the funds’ Internet site that is accessible by the public, or through public release by a third party vendor.

The fund currently discloses its complete portfolio holdings 14 calendar days after quarter-end on Legg Mason’s website: http://www.leggmason.com/individualinvestors/prospectuses (click on the name of the fund).

Ongoing arrangements

Under the policy, a fund may release portfolio holdings information on a regular basis to a custodian, sub-custodian, fund accounting agent, proxy voting provider, rating agency or other vendor or service provider for a legitimate business purpose, where the party receiving the information is under a duty of confidentiality, including a duty to prohibit the sharing of non-public information with unauthorized sources and trading upon non-public information. A fund may enter into other ongoing arrangements for the release of portfolio holdings information, but only if such arrangements serve a legitimate business purpose and are with a party who is subject to a confidentiality agreement and restrictions on trading upon non-public information. None of the

funds, Legg Mason or any other affiliated party may receive compensation or any other consideration in connection with such arrangements. Ongoing arrangements to make available information about a fund’s portfolio securities will be reviewed at least annually by the fund’s board.

Set forth below is a list, as of March 31, 2012, of those parties with whom the manager, on behalf of each fund, has authorized ongoing arrangements that include the release of portfolio holdings information in accordance with the policy, as well as the frequency of the release under such arrangements, and the length of the lag, if any, between the date of the information and the date on which the information is disclosed. The parties identified below as recipients are service providers, fund rating agencies, consultants and analysts.


Recipient	Frequency	Delay Before Dissemination
State Street Bank and Trust Company (Fund Custodian and Accounting Agent)	Daily	None

A.S.A.P. Advisor Services, Inc.	Quarterly	8-10 Days after Quarter-End

Bloomberg L.P.	Quarterly	Sent 6 Business Days after Quarter-End

Lipper Analytical Services Corp.	Quarterly	Sent 6 Business Days after Quarter-End

Morningstar	Quarterly	Sent 8-10 Days after Quarter-End

Institutional Shareholder Services (Proxy Voting Services)	As necessary	None

Thomson/Vestek	Daily	None
FactSet	Daily	None

The Bank of New York Mellon	Daily	None

Thomson	Semi-annually	None

SunGard/Protegent (formerly Dataware)	Daily	None

ITG	Daily	None

The Northern Trust Company	Daily	None

Middle Office Solutions, LLC	Daily	None

NaviSite, Inc.	Daily	None

Portfolio holdings information for a fund may also be released from time to time pursuant to ongoing arrangements with the following parties:


Recipient	Frequency	Delay Before Dissemination
Baseline	Daily	None

Frank Russell	Monthly	1 Day

Callan Associates	Quarterly	Sent 8-10 Days after Quarter-End

Mercer LLC	Quarterly	Sent 8-10 Days after Quarter-End

eVestment Alliance	Quarterly	Sent 8-10 Days after Quarter-End

Rogerscasey	Quarterly	Sent 8-10 Days after Quarter-End


Recipient	Frequency	Delay Before Dissemination
Cambridge Associates LLC	Quarterly	Sent 8-10 Days after Quarter-End

Wilshire Associates Inc.	Quarterly	Sent 8-10 Days after Quarter-End

Informa Investment Solutions	Quarterly	Sent 8-10 Days after Quarter-End

Prima Capital	Quarterly	Sent 8-10 Days after Quarter-End

Investor Tools	Daily	None

Advent	Daily	None

BARRA	Daily	None

Plexus	Quarterly (Calendar)	Sent 1-3 Business Days after Quarter-End

Elkins/McSherry	Quarterly (Calendar)	Sent 1-3 Business Days after Quarter-End

Quantitative Services Group	Daily	None

Deutsche Bank	Monthly	6-8 Business Days

Fitch	Monthly	6-8 Business Days

Liberty Hampshire	Weekly and Month End	None

SunTrust	Weekly and Month End	None

S&P (Rating Agency)	Weekly Tuesday Night	1 Business Day

Electra Information Systems	Daily	None

Cabot Research	Weekly	None

Goldman Sachs	Daily	None

Chicago Mercantile Exchange	Daily	None

Canterbury Consulting	Quarterly	Sent 8-10 Days after Quarter-End

Broadridge	Daily	None

DST Global Solutions Limited	Monthly	Sent 6 Business Days after Month-End

Interactive Data Corp	Daily	None

Citigroup Global Markets Inc.	Daily	None

Glass Lewis & Co.	Daily	None

Fidelity	Quarterly	5 Business Days

Excluded from the lists of ongoing arrangements set forth above are ongoing arrangements where either (i) the disclosure of portfolio holdings information occurs concurrently with or after the time at which the portfolio holdings information is included in a public filing with the SEC that is required to include the information, or (ii) a fund’s portfolio holdings information is made available no earlier than the day next following the day on which the fund makes the information available on its website, as disclosed in the fund’s prospectus. The approval of the funds’ Chief Compliance Officer, or designee, must be obtained before entering into any new ongoing arrangement or altering any existing ongoing arrangement to make available portfolio holdings information, or with respect to any exceptions from the policy.

Release of limited portfolio holdings information

In addition to the ongoing arrangements described above, a fund’s complete or partial list of holdings (including size of positions) may be released to another party on a one-time basis, provided the party receiving the information has executed a non-disclosure and confidentiality agreement and provided that the specific release of information has been approved by the fund’s Chief Compliance Officer or designee as consistent with the policy. By way of illustration and not of limitation, release of non-public information about a fund’s portfolio holdings may be made (i) to a proposed or potential adviser or subadviser or other investment manager asked to provide investment management services to the fund, or (ii) to a third party in connection with a program or similar trade.

In addition, the policy permits the release to investors, potential investors, third parties and Legg Mason personnel that are not fund-affiliated personnel of limited portfolio holdings information in other circumstances, including:

1. A fund’s top ten securities, current as of month-end, and the individual size of each such security position may be released at any time following month-end with simultaneous public disclosure.

2. A fund’s top ten securities positions (including the aggregate but not individual size of such positions) may be released at any time with simultaneous public disclosure.

3. A list of securities (that may include fund holdings together with other securities) followed by a portfolio manager (without position sizes or identification of particular funds) may be disclosed to sell-side brokers at any time for the purpose of obtaining research and/or market information from such brokers.

4. A trade in process may be discussed only with counterparties, potential counterparties and others involved in the transaction (i.e., brokers and custodians).

5. A fund’s sector weightings, yield and duration (for fixed income and money market funds), performance attribution (e.g., analysis of the fund’s out-performance or underperformance of its benchmark based on its portfolio holdings) and other summary and statistical information that does not include identification of specific portfolio holdings may be released, even if non-public, if such release is otherwise in accordance with the policy’s general principles.

6. A small number of a fund’s portfolio holdings (including information that the fund no longer holds a particular holding) may be released, but only if the release of the information could not reasonably be seen to interfere with current or future purchase or sales activities of the fund and is not contrary to law.

7. A fund’s portfolio holdings may be released on an as-needed basis to its legal counsel, counsel to its independent trustees and its independent public accounting firm, in required regulatory filings or otherwise to governmental agencies and authorities.

Exceptions to the policy

A fund’s Chief Compliance Officer, or designee, may, as is deemed appropriate, approve exceptions from the policy. Exceptions are granted only after a thorough examination and consultation with the manager’s legal department, as necessary. Exceptions from the policy are reported annually to each fund’s board.

Limitations of policy

The funds’ portfolio holdings policy is designed to prevent sharing of portfolio information with third parties that have no legitimate business purpose for accessing the information. The policy may not be effective to limit access to portfolio holdings information in all circumstances, however. For example, the manager or a subadviser may manage accounts other than a fund that have investment objectives and strategies similar to those of the fund. Because these accounts, including a fund, may be similarly managed, portfolio holdings may be similar across the accounts. In that case, an investor in another account managed by the manager or a subadviser may be able to infer the portfolio holdings of the fund from the portfolio holdings in that investor’s account.

TAXES

The following is a summary of certain material U.S. federal (and, where noted, state and local) income tax considerations affecting the fund and its shareholders. This discussion is very general and, except where noted, does not address investors subject to special rules, such as investors who hold shares in the fund through an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged account. Current and prospective shareholders are therefore urged to consult their own tax advisers with respect to the specific federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences of investing in the fund. The summary is based on the laws in effect on the date of this SAI and existing judicial and administrative interpretations thereof, all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect.

The Fund and Its Investments

The fund will be treated as a separate taxpayer for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The fund has elected to be treated, and intends to qualify each year, as a “regulated investment company” or “RIC” under Subchapter M of the Code. To so qualify, the fund must, among other things: (a) derive at least 90% of its gross income in each taxable year from dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, and gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or securities or foreign currencies, or other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, and net income derived from interests in “qualified publicly traded partnerships” (i.e., partnerships that are traded on an established securities market or tradable on a secondary market, other than partnerships that derive 90% of their income from interest, dividends, capital gains, and other traditionally permitted mutual fund income); and (b) diversify its holdings so that, at the end of each quarter of the fund’s taxable year, (i) at least 50% of the market value of the fund’s assets is represented by cash, securities of other regulated investment companies, U.S. government securities and other securities, with such other securities limited, in respect of any one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the fund’s assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of its assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or securities of other regulated investment companies) of any one issuer, in the securities (other than the securities of other regulated investment companies) of any two or more issuers that the fund controls and that are determined to be engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses or related trades or businesses, or in the securities of one or more “qualified publicly traded partnerships.”

The fund’s investments in partnerships, if any, including in qualified publicly traded partnerships, may result in the fund being subject to state, local or foreign income, franchise or withholding tax liabilities.

As a regulated investment company, the fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its taxable investment income and capital gains that it distributes to its shareholders, provided that it satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. To satisfy the minimum distribution requirement, the fund must distribute to its shareholders at least the sum of (i) 90% of its “investment company taxable income” (i.e., generally, the taxable income of a RIC other than its net capital gain, plus or minus certain other adjustments), and (ii) 90% of its net tax-exempt income for the taxable year. The fund will be subject to income tax at regular corporate tax rates on any taxable income or gains that it does not distribute to its shareholders.

If, for any taxable year, the fund were to fail to qualify as a regulated investment company under the Code or were to fail to meet the distribution requirement, it would be taxed in the same manner as an ordinary corporation and distributions to its shareholders would not be deductible by the fund in computing its taxable income. In addition, in the event of a failure to qualify, the fund’s distributions, including any distributions of long-term capital gains, would be taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividend income to the extent of the fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. However, such dividends would be eligible, subject to any generally applicable limitations, (i) for taxable years beginning on or before December 31, 2012, to be treated as qualified dividend income in the case of shareholders taxed as individuals and (ii) for the dividends received deduction in the case of corporate shareholders. Moreover, if the fund were to fail to qualify as a regulated investment company in any year, it would be required to pay out its earnings and profits accumulated in that year

in order to qualify again as a regulated investment company. Under certain circumstances, the fund may cure a failure to qualify as a regulated investment company, but in order to do so the fund may incur significant fund-level taxes and may be forced to dispose of certain assets. If the fund failed to qualify as a regulated investment company for a period greater than two taxable years, the fund would generally be required to recognize any net built-in gains with respect to certain of its assets upon a disposition of such assets within ten years of qualifying as a regulated investment company in a subsequent year.

The Code imposes a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the fund to the extent it does not distribute by the end of any calendar year at least the sum of (i) 98% of its ordinary income for that year and (ii) 98.2% of its capital gain net income (both long-term and short-term) for the one-year period ending, as a general rule, on October 31 of that year. For this purpose, however, any ordinary income or capital gain net income that is retained by the fund and subject to corporate income tax will be considered to have been distributed by year-end. In addition, the minimum amounts that must be distributed in any year to avoid the excise tax will be increased or decreased to reflect any underdistribution or overdistribution, as the case may be, from the previous year. The fund anticipates that it will pay such dividends and will make such distributions as are necessary to avoid the application of this excise tax.

The fund’s transactions in zero coupon securities, foreign currencies, forward contracts, options and futures contracts (including options and futures contracts on foreign currencies), if any, will be subject to special provisions of the Code (including provisions relating to “hedging transactions” and “straddles”) that, among other things, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the fund (i.e., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital), accelerate recognition of income to the fund, and defer fund losses. These rules could therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also (a) will require the fund to “mark-to-market” certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out at the end of each year) and (b) may cause the fund to recognize income prior to the receipt of cash with which to pay dividends or make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the distribution requirements for avoiding income and excise taxes. In order to distribute this income and avoid a tax at the fund level, the fund might be required to liquidate portfolio securities that it might otherwise have continued to hold, potentially resulting in additional taxable gain or loss. The fund will monitor its transactions, will make the appropriate tax elections and will make the appropriate entries in its books and records when it acquires any zero coupon securities, foreign currency, forward contract, option, futures contract or hedged investment in order to mitigate the effect of these rules and prevent disqualification of the fund as a regulated investment company.

The fund’s investments in so-called “section 1256 contracts,” such as regulated futures contracts, most foreign currency forward contracts traded in the interbank market and options on most stock indices, are subject to special tax rules. All section 1256 contracts held by the fund at the end of its taxable year are required to be marked to their market value, and any unrealized gain or loss on those positions will be included in the fund’s income as if each position had been sold for its fair market value at the end of the taxable year. The resulting gain or loss will be combined with any gain or loss realized by the fund from positions in section 1256 contracts closed during the taxable year. Provided such positions were held as capital assets and were not part of a “hedging transaction” or part of a “straddle,” 60% of the resulting net gain or loss will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss, and 40% of such net gain or loss will be treated as short-term capital gain or loss, regardless of the period of time the positions were actually held by the fund.

In general, gain or loss on a short sale is recognized when the fund closes the sale by delivering the borrowed property to the lender, not when the borrowed property is sold. Gain or loss from a short sale is generally considered as capital gain or loss to the extent that the property used to close the short sale constitutes a capital asset in the fund’s hands. Except with respect to certain situations where the property used by the fund to close a short sale has a long-term holding period on the date of the short sale, special rules would generally treat the gains on short sales as short-term capital gains. These rules may also terminate the running of the holding period of “substantially identical property” held by the fund. Moreover, a loss on a short sale will be treated as a long-term capital loss if, on the date of the short sale, “substantially identical property” has been held by the fund for more than one year. In general, the fund will not be permitted to deduct payments made to reimburse the lender of securities for dividends paid on borrowed stock if the short sale is closed on or before the 45th day after the short sale is entered into.

As a result of entering into swap contracts, the fund may make or receive periodic net payments. The fund may also make or receive a payment when a swap is terminated prior to maturity through an assignment of the swap or other closing transaction. Periodic net payments will generally constitute ordinary income or deductions, while termination of a swap will generally result in capital gain or loss (which will be a long-term capital gain or loss if the fund has been a party to the swap for more than one year).

The fund may be required to treat amounts as taxable income or gain, subject to the distribution requirements referred to above, even though no corresponding amounts of cash are received concurrently, as a result of (1) mark-to-market rules, constructive sale rules or rules applicable to PFICs (as defined below) or partnerships or trusts in which the fund invests or to certain options, futures or forward contracts, or “appreciated financial positions” or (2) the inability to obtain cash distributions or other amounts due to currency controls or restrictions on repatriation imposed by a foreign country with respect to the fund’s investments (including through depositary receipts) in issuers in such country or (3) tax rules applicable to debt obligations acquired with “original issue discount,” including zero-coupon or deferred payment bonds and pay-in-kind debt obligations, or to market discount if an election is made with respect to such market discount. In order to distribute this income and avoid a tax on the fund, the fund might be required to liquidate portfolio securities that it might otherwise have continued to hold, potentially resulting in additional taxable gain or loss. The fund might also meet the distribution requirements by borrowing the necessary cash, thereby incurring interest expenses.

Foreign Investments. Interest or other income (including, in some cases, capital gains) received by the fund from investments in foreign securities may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by foreign countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes in some cases. If more than 50% of the value of the fund’s assets at the close of any taxable year consists of stock or securities of foreign corporations, which for this purpose may include obligations of foreign governmental issuers, the fund may elect, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, to treat any foreign income or withholding taxes paid by the fund as paid by its shareholders. For any year that the fund is eligible for and makes such an election, each shareholder of the fund will be required to include in its income an amount equal to his or her allocable share of qualified foreign income taxes paid by the fund, and shareholders will be entitled, subject to certain holding period requirements and other limitations, to credit their portions of these amounts against their United States federal income tax due, if any, or to deduct their portions from their United States taxable income, if any. No deductions for foreign taxes paid by the fund may be claimed, however, by non-corporate shareholders who do not itemize deductions.

Under Section 988 of the Code, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the time the fund accrues income or receivables or expenses or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time the fund actually collects such income or pays such liabilities are generally treated as ordinary income or ordinary loss. Similarly, gains or losses on foreign currency, foreign currency forward contracts, certain foreign currency options or futures contracts and the disposition of debt securities denominated in foreign currency, to the extent attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the acquisition and disposition dates, are also treated as ordinary income or loss.

Passive Foreign Investment Companies. If the fund purchases shares in certain foreign investment entities, called “passive foreign investment companies” (“PFICs”), and does not make certain elections, it may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a portion of any “excess distribution” or gain from the disposition of such shares even if such income is distributed as a taxable dividend by the fund to its shareholders. Additional charges in the nature of interest may be imposed on the fund in respect of deferred taxes arising from such distributions or gains. The fund does not anticipate that it will invest in any PFICs.

If the fund were to invest in a PFIC and elect to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” under the Code, in lieu of the foregoing requirements, the fund would generally be required to include in income each year a

portion of the ordinary earnings and net capital gains of the qualified electing fund, even if not distributed to the fund, and such amounts would be subject to the 90% and excise tax distribution requirements described above. In order to distribute this income and avoid a tax at the fund level, the fund might be required to liquidate portfolio securities that it might otherwise have continued to hold, potentially resulting in additional taxable gain or loss. In order to make the “qualified electing fund” election, the fund would be required to obtain certain annual information from the PFICs in which it invests, which may be difficult or impossible to obtain.

If the fund were to invest in a PFIC and make a mark-to-market election, the fund would be treated as if it had sold and repurchased all of the PFIC stock at the end of each year. In such case, the fund would report any such gains as ordinary income and would deduct any such losses as ordinary losses to the extent of previously recognized gains. Such an election must be made separately for each PFIC owned by the fund and, once made, would be effective for all subsequent taxable years of the fund, unless revoked with the consent of the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”). By making the election, the fund could potentially ameliorate the adverse tax consequences with respect to its ownership of shares in a PFIC, but in any particular year might be required to recognize income in excess of the distributions it receives from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock. The fund might have to distribute such excess income and gain to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement and to avoid imposition of the 4% excise tax. In order to distribute this income and avoid a tax at the fund level, the fund might be required to liquidate portfolio securities that it might otherwise have continued to hold, potentially resulting in additional taxable gain or loss.

Capital Loss Carryforwards. On December 31, 2011, the unused capital loss carryforwards of the fund were approximately $29,408,926. For federal income tax purposes, unused capital loss carryforwards that arose in tax years that began on or before December 22, 2010 (“Pre-2011 Carryforwards”) are available to be applied against future capital gains of the fund, if any, that are realized by the fund prior to the expiration of the carryforwards.

Those carryforwards expire as follows:


Year of Expiration	Amount of Capital Loss Carryforward that Expires ($)
12/31/2012		554,986
12/31/2013		2,210,102
12/31/2014		8,307,534
12/31/2015		306,147
12/31/2016		2,362,393
12/31/2017		7,080,265
12/31/2018		2,540,310

Net short- and long-term capital losses incurred in taxable years beginning after December 22, 2010 may be carried forward without limit, and such carryforwards must be exhausted before the fund will be permitted to utilize any Pre-2011 Carryforward.

Under certain circumstances, the fund may elect to treat certain losses as though they were incurred on the first day of the taxable year following the taxable year in which they were actually incurred.

Taxation of U.S. Shareholders

Dividends and Distributions. Dividends and other distributions by the fund are generally treated under the Code as received by the shareholders at the time the dividend or distribution is made. However, if any dividend or distribution is declared by the fund in October, November or December of any calendar year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month but is actually paid during the following January, such dividend or distribution will be deemed to have been received by each shareholder on December 31 of the year in which the dividend was declared.

The fund intends to distribute annually to its shareholders substantially all of its investment company taxable income, and any net realized long-term capital gains in excess of net realized short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers). However, if the fund retains for investment an amount equal to all or a portion of its net long-term capital gains in excess of its net short-term capital losses (including any capital loss carryovers), it will be subject to a corporate tax (currently at a maximum rate of 35%) on the amount retained. In that event, the fund will designate such retained amounts as undistributed capital gains in a notice to its shareholders who (a) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gains, their proportionate shares of the undistributed amount, (b) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the 35% tax paid by the fund on the undistributed amount against their U.S. federal income tax liabilities, if any, and to claim refunds to the extent their credits exceed their liabilities, if any, and (c) will be entitled to increase their tax basis, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in their shares by an amount equal to 65% of the amount of undistributed capital gains included in the shareholder’s income. Organizations or persons not subject to U.S. federal income tax on such capital gains will be entitled to a refund of their pro rata share of such taxes paid by the fund upon timely filing appropriate returns or claims for refund with the IRS.

Dividends of net investment income and distributions of net realized short-term capital gains are taxable to a U.S. shareholder as ordinary income, whether paid in cash or in shares. Distributions of net realized long-term capital gains, if any, that the fund reports as capital gain dividends are taxable as long-term capital gains, whether paid in cash or in shares, and regardless of how long a shareholder has held shares of the fund.

Dividends and distributions from the fund will generally be taken into account in determining a shareholder’s “net investment income” for purposes of the Medicare contribution tax applicable to certain individuals, estates and trusts for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012.

The fund does not anticipate that any of its dividends paid will qualify for the dividends-received deduction for corporate shareholders. The fund also does not expect any distributions to be treated as “qualified dividend income,” which for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2013, is taxable to noncorporate shareholders at reduced rates.

Distributions in excess of the fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits will, as to each shareholder, be treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of the shareholder’s basis in his or her shares of the fund, and as a capital gain thereafter (if the shareholder holds his or her shares of the fund as capital assets). Each shareholder who receives distributions in the form of additional shares will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as if receiving a distribution in an amount equal to the amount of money that the shareholder would have received if he or she had instead elected to receive cash distributions. A shareholder’s tax basis in the shares so received will be equal to such amount.

Investors considering buying shares just prior to a capital gain distribution should be aware that, although the price of shares purchased at that time may reflect the amount of the forthcoming distribution, such distribution may nevertheless be taxable to them.

Sales of Shares. Upon the sale or exchange of his or her shares, a shareholder will generally recognize a taxable gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and his or her basis in the shares. A redemption of shares by the fund will be treated as a sale for this purpose. Such gain or loss will be treated as capital gain or loss if the shares are capital assets in the shareholder’s hands, and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year and short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less. Any loss realized on a sale or exchange will be disallowed to the extent the shares disposed of are replaced, including replacement through the reinvesting of dividends and capital gains distributions in the fund, within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition of the shares. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be increased to reflect the disallowed loss. Any loss realized by a shareholder on the sale of fund shares held by the shareholder for six months or fewer will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distributions or deemed distributions of long-term capital gains received by the shareholder (including amounts credited to the shareholder as undistributed capital gains) with respect to such shares.

If a shareholder incurs a sales charge in acquiring shares of the fund, disposes of those shares within 90 days and then acquires, before February 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year of the disposition, shares in a mutual fund for which the otherwise applicable sales charge is reduced by reason of a reinvestment right (e.g., an exchange privilege), the original sales charge will not be taken into account in computing gain or loss on the original shares to the extent the subsequent sales charge is reduced. Instead, the disregarded portion of the original sales charge will be added to the tax basis in the newly acquired shares. Furthermore, the same rule also applies to a disposition of the newly acquired shares made within 90 days of the second acquisition. This provision prevents a shareholder from immediately deducting the sales charge by shifting his or her investment within a family of mutual funds.

If a shareholder recognizes a loss with respect to the fund’s shares of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder, the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a regulated investment company are not excepted. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

If a shareholder’s shares are redeemed to pay a fee because the shareholder’s account balance is less than a certain threshold, the redemption will be treated as a taxable sale or exchange of shares, as described above. The deductibility of that fee by a shareholder that is an individual may be subject to generally applicable limitations on miscellaneous itemized deductions.

The fund, or, if you hold your shares through a Service Agent, your Service Agent will report to the IRS the amount of sale proceeds that a shareholder receives from a redemption or exchange of fund shares. For redemptions or exchanges of shares acquired on or after January 1, 2012, the fund will also report the shareholder’s basis in those shares and the character of any gain or loss that the shareholder realizes on the redemption or exchange (i.e., short-term or long-term), and certain related tax information. If a shareholder has a different basis for different shares of the fund in the same account (e.g., if a shareholder purchased fund shares held in the same account when the shares were at different prices), the fund expects to use the average basis default method, in which the basis per redeemed share is reported as an average of the shareholder’s total basis of fund shares in any given account. (For these purposes, shares acquired prior to January 1, 2012 and shares acquired on or after January 1, 2012 will be treated as held in separate accounts.)

Shareholders may instruct the fund to use a method other than average basis for an account, but the application of that other method will depend on whether shares in that account have previously been sold or exchanged. For further assistance, shareholders who hold their shares directly with the fund may call the fund at 1-877-721-1926 Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. (Eastern Time). Shareholders who hold shares through a Service Agent should contact the Service Agent for further assistance or for information regarding the Service Agent’s default method for calculating basis and procedures for electing to use an alternative method. Shareholders should consult their tax advisers concerning the tax consequences of applying the average basis method or electing another method of basis calculation.

Backup Withholding. The fund may be required in certain circumstances to apply backup withholding on dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds payable to non-corporate shareholders who fail to provide the fund with their correct taxpayer identification number or to make required certifications, or who have been notified by the IRS that they are subject to backup withholding. The backup withholding rate is currently 28% and is scheduled to increase to 31% in 2013. Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amount withheld may be credited against a shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liabilities. Backup withholding will not be applied to payments that have already been subject to the 30% withholding tax described below under “Non-U.S. Shareholders.”

Notices. Shareholders will receive, if appropriate, various written notices after the close of the fund’s taxable year regarding the U.S. federal income tax status of certain dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds that were paid (or that are treated as having been paid) by the fund to its shareholders during the preceding taxable year.

Other Taxes. Dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds may also be subject to additional state, local and foreign taxes depending on each shareholder’s particular situation.

Non-U.S. Shareholders

Ordinary dividends and certain other payments made by the fund to non-U.S. shareholders are generally subject to withholding tax at a 30% rate (or such lower rate as may be determined in accordance with any applicable treaty). In order to obtain a reduced rate of withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will be required to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN certifying its entitlement to benefits under a treaty. The withholding tax does not apply to dividends paid to a non-U.S. shareholder who provides a Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the non-U.S. shareholder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States. Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax as if the non-U.S. shareholder were a U.S. shareholder. A non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or a lower treaty rate). A non-U.S. shareholder who fails to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN or other applicable form may be subject to backup withholding at the appropriate rate.

The 30% withholding tax generally will not apply to distributions of the excess of net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses or to redemption proceeds.

Distributions paid after December 31, 2013 and redemption payments paid after December 31, 2014 to a shareholder that is a “foreign financial institution” as defined in Section 1471 of the Code and that does not meet the requirements imposed on foreign financial institutions by Section 1471 will generally be subject to withholding tax at a 30% rate notwithstanding the status of any such amounts as capital gain dividends, short-term capital gain dividends or interest-related dividends. Distributions paid after December 31, 2013 and redemption payments paid after December 31, 2014 to a non-U.S. shareholder that is not a foreign financial institution will generally be subject to such withholding tax if the shareholder fails to make certain required certifications. The extent, if any, to which such withholding tax may be reduced or eliminated by an applicable tax treaty is unclear.

The foregoing is only a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax consequences (and, where noted, state and local tax consequences) affecting the fund and its shareholders. Current and prospective shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisers with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the fund.

THE TRUST

The certificate of trust to establish Legg Mason Partners Income Trust (referred to in this section as the “Trust”) was filed with the State of Maryland on October 4, 2006. As of April 16, 2007, the fund was redomiciled as a series of the Trust. Immediately prior to such redomiciliation, the fund was reorganized on April 16, 2007 as a series of Legg Mason Partners Income Funds, a Massachusetts business trust. Prior to the reorganization, the fund was a series of Legg Mason Partners Funds, Inc., a Maryland corporation.

The Trust is a Maryland statutory trust. A Maryland statutory trust is an unincorporated business association that is established under, and governed by, Maryland law. Maryland law provides a statutory framework for the powers, duties, rights and obligations of the trustees and shareholders of the statutory trust, while the more specific powers, duties, rights and obligations of the trustees and the shareholders are determined by the trustees as set forth in the trust’s declaration of trust. Some of the more significant provisions of the Trust’s declaration of trust (the “Declaration”) are described below.

Shareholder Voting

The Declaration provides for shareholder voting as required by the 1940 Act or other applicable laws but otherwise permits, consistent with Maryland law, actions by the Trustees without seeking the consent of shareholders. The Trustees may, without shareholder approval, amend the Declaration or authorize the merger or consolidation of the Trust into another trust or entity, reorganize the Trust or any series or class into another trust or entity or a series or class of another entity, sell all or substantially all of the assets of the Trust or any series or class to another entity, or a series or class of another entity, or terminate the Trust or any series or class.

The fund is not required to hold an annual meeting of shareholders, but the fund will call special meetings of shareholders whenever required by the 1940 Act or by the terms of the Declaration. The Declaration provides for “dollar-weighted voting” which means that a shareholder’s voting power is determined, not by the number of shares he or she owns, but by the dollar value of those shares determined on the record date. All shareholders of record of all series and classes of the Trust vote together, except where required by the 1940 Act to vote separately by series or by class, or when the Trustees have determined that a matter affects only the interests of one or more series or classes of shares.

Election and Removal of Trustees

The Declaration provides that the Trustees may establish the number of Trustees and that vacancies on the Board may be filled by the remaining Trustees, except when election of Trustees by the shareholders is required under the 1940 Act. Trustees are then elected by a plurality of votes cast by shareholders at a meeting at which a quorum is present. The Declaration also provides that a mandatory retirement age may be set by action of two thirds of the Trustees and that Trustees may be removed, with or without cause, by a vote of shareholders holding two-thirds of the voting power of the Trust, or by a vote of two-thirds of the remaining Trustees. The provisions of the Declaration relating to the election and removal of Trustees may not be amended without the approval of two-thirds of the Trustees.

Amendments to the Declaration

The Trustees are authorized to amend the Declaration without the vote of shareholders, but no amendment may be made that impairs the exemption from personal liability granted in the Declaration to persons who are or have been shareholders, Trustees, officers or, employees of the Trust or that limits the rights to indemnification or insurance provided in the Declaration with respect to actions or omissions of persons entitled to indemnification under the Declaration prior to the amendment.

Issuance and Redemption of Shares

The fund may issue an unlimited number of shares for such consideration and on such terms as the Trustees may determine. Shareholders are not entitled to any appraisal, preemptive, conversion, exchange or similar rights, except as the Trustees may determine. The fund may involuntarily redeem a shareholder’s shares upon certain conditions as may be determined by the Trustees, including, for example, if the shareholder fails to provide the fund with identification required by law, or if the fund is unable to verify the information received from the shareholder. Additionally, as discussed below, shares may be redeemed in connection with the closing of small accounts.

Disclosure of Shareholder Holdings

The Declaration specifically requires shareholders, upon demand, to disclose to the fund information with respect to the direct and indirect ownership of shares in order to comply with various laws or regulations, and the fund may disclose such ownership if required by law or regulation, or as the Trustees otherwise decide.

Small Accounts

The Declaration provides that the fund may close out a shareholder’s account by redeeming all of the shares in the account if the account falls below a minimum account size (which may vary by class) that may be set by the Trustees from time to time. Alternately, the Declaration permits the fund to assess a fee for small accounts (which may vary by class) and redeem shares in the account to cover such fees, or convert the shares into another share class that is geared to smaller accounts.

Series and Classes

The Declaration provides that the Trustees may establish series and classes in addition to those currently established and to determine the rights and preferences, limitations and restrictions, including qualifications for ownership, conversion and exchange features, minimum purchase and account size, expenses and charges, and other features of the series and classes. The Trustees may change any of those features, terminate any series or class, combine series with other series in the Trust, combine one or more classes of a series with another class in that series or convert the shares of one class into shares of another class.

Each share of the fund, as a series of the Trust, represents an interest in the fund only and not in the assets of any other series of the Trust.

Shareholder, Trustee and Officer Liability

The Declaration provides that shareholders are not personally liable for the obligations of the fund and requires the fund to indemnify a shareholder against any loss or expense arising from any such liability. The fund will assume the defense of any claim against a shareholder for personal liability at the request of the shareholder. The Declaration further provides that a Trustee acting in his or her capacity of Trustee is not personally liable to any person, other than the Trust or its shareholders, in connection with the affairs of the Trust. Each Trustee is required to perform his or her duties in good faith and in a manner he or she believes to be in the best interests of the Trust. All actions and omissions of Trustees are presumed to be in accordance with the foregoing standard of performance, and any person alleging the contrary has the burden of proving that allegation.

The Declaration limits a Trustee’s liability to the Trust or any shareholder to the full extent permitted under current Maryland law by providing that a Trustee is liable to the Trust or its shareholders for monetary damages only (a) to the extent that it is proved that he or she actually received an improper benefit or profit in money, property, or services or (b) to the extent that a judgment or other final adjudication adverse to the Trustee is entered in a proceeding based on a finding in the proceeding that the Trustee’s action, or failure to act, was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty and was material to the cause of action adjudicated in the proceeding. The Declaration requires the Trust to indemnify any persons who are or who have been Trustees, officers or employees of the Trust to the fullest extent permitted by law against liability and expenses in connection with any claim or proceeding in which he or she is involved by virtue of having been a Trustee, officer or employee. In making any determination as to whether any person is entitled to the advancement of expenses in connection with a claim for which indemnification is sought, such person is entitled to a rebuttable presumption that he or she did not engage in conduct for which indemnification is not available.

The Declaration provides that any Trustee who serves as chair of the Board or of a committee of the Board, lead independent Trustee, audit committee financial expert or in any other similar capacity will not be subject to any greater standard of care or liability because of such position.

Derivative Actions

The Declaration provides a detailed process for the bringing of derivative actions by shareholders in order to permit legitimate inquiries and claims while avoiding the time, expense, distraction, and other harm that can be caused to the fund or its shareholders as a result of spurious shareholder demands and derivative actions. Prior to bringing a derivative action, a demand by three unrelated shareholders must be made on the Trustees. The Declaration details information, certifications, undertakings and acknowledgements that must be included in the demand. The Trustees are not required to consider a demand that is not submitted in accordance with the requirements contained in the Declaration. The Declaration also requires that, in order to bring a derivative action, the complaining shareholders must be joined in the action by shareholders owning, at the time of the alleged wrongdoing, at the time of demand, and at the time the action is commenced, shares representing at least 5% of the voting power of the affected funds. The Trustees have a period of 90 days, which may be extended by an additional 60 days, to consider the demand. If a majority of the Trustees who are considered independent for the purposes of considering the demand determine that a suit should be maintained, then the Trust will commence the suit and the suit will proceed directly and not derivatively. If a majority of the independent Trustees determines that maintaining the suit would not be in the best interests of the fund, the Trustees are required to reject the demand and the complaining shareholders may not proceed with the derivative action unless the shareholders are able to sustain the burden of proof to a court that the decision of the Trustees not to pursue the requested action was not consistent with the standard of performance required of the Trustees in performing their duties. If a demand is rejected, the complaining shareholders will be responsible for the costs and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by the Trust in connection with the consideration of the demand, if, in the judgment of the independent Trustees, the demand was made without reasonable cause or for an improper purpose. If a derivative action is brought in violation of the Declaration, the shareholders bringing the action may be responsible for the fund’s costs, including attorneys’ fees.

The Declaration further provides that the fund shall be responsible for payment of attorneys’ fees and legal expenses incurred by a complaining shareholder only if required by law, and any attorneys’ fees that the fund is obligated to pay shall be calculated using reasonable hourly rates. The Declaration also requires that actions by shareholders against the fund be brought only in federal court in Baltimore, Maryland, or if not permitted to be brought in federal court, then in state court in Baltimore, Maryland, and that the right to jury trial be waived to the full extent permitted by law.

LEGAL MATTERS

On or about May 30, 2006, John Halebian, a purported shareholder of Western Asset / CitiSM New York Tax Free Reserves (formerly known as CitiSM New York Tax Free Reserves), a series of Legg Mason Partners Money Market Trust, formerly a series of CitiFunds Trust III (the “Subject Trust”), filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the independent trustees of the Subject Trust (Elliott J. Berv, Donald M. Carlton, A. Benton Cocanougher, Mark T. Finn, Stephen Randolph Gross, Diana R. Harrington, Susan B. Kerley, Alan G. Merten and R. Richardson Pettit).

The Subject Trust is also named in the complaint as a nominal defendant. The complaint alleges both derivative claims on behalf of the Subject Trust and class claims on behalf of a putative class of shareholders of the Subject Trust in connection with the 2005 sale of Citigroup’s asset management business to Legg Mason and the related approval of new investment advisory agreements by the trustees and shareholders. In the derivative claim, the plaintiff alleges, among other things, that the independent trustees breached their fiduciary duty to the Subject Trust and its shareholders by failing to negotiate lower fees or seek competing bids from other qualified investment advisers in connection with Citigroup’s sale to Legg Mason. In the claims brought on behalf of the putative class of shareholders, the plaintiff alleges that the independent trustees violated the proxy solicitation requirements of the 1940 Act, and breached their fiduciary duty to shareholders, by virtue of the voting procedures, including “echo voting,” used to obtain approval of the new investment advisory agreements and

statements made in a proxy statement regarding those voting procedures. The plaintiff alleges that the proxy statement was misleading because it failed to disclose that the voting procedures violated the 1940 Act. The relief sought includes an award of damages, rescission of the advisory agreement, and an award of costs and attorney fees.

In advance of filing the complaint, Mr. Halebian’s lawyers made written demand for relief on the Board of the Subject Trust, and the Board’s independent trustees formed a demand review committee to investigate the matters raised in the demand, and subsequently in the complaint, and recommend a course of action to the Board. The committee, after a thorough review, determined that the independent trustees did not breach their fiduciary duties as alleged by Mr. Halebian, and that the action demanded by Mr. Halebian would not be in the best interests of the Subject Trust. The Board of the Subject Trust (the trustee who is an “interested person” of the Subject Trust, within the meaning of the 1940 Act, having recused himself from the matter), after receiving and considering the committee’s report and based upon the findings of the committee, subsequently also determined and, adopting the recommendation of the committee, directed counsel to move to dismiss Mr. Halebian’s complaint. A motion to dismiss was filed on October 23, 2006. Opposition papers were filed on or about December 7, 2006. The complaint was dismissed on July 31, 2007. Mr. Halebian filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On December 29, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reserved judgment after determining that the propriety of the district court’s dismissal depended upon an unsettled question of Massachusetts state law regarding the statute governing derivative proceedings was better addressed by a Massachusetts court and certified the question to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. On August 23, 2010, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court answered the certified question, concluding that a derivative action must be dismissed under applicable state law following a corporation’s independent determination, made in good faith and after reasonable inquiry, that maintenance of the derivative proceeding is not in the best interests of the corporation, regardless of whether the derivative complaint has been filed before or after the corporation’s rejection of the shareholder’s demand. On May 6, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of two of the plaintiff’s claims brought pursuant to various provisions of the 1940 Act and Massachusetts state law. With regard to the third claim, a derivative state-law claim for breach of fiduciary duty to which the certified question related and as to which the district court granted a motion to dismiss, the Second Circuit vacated the district court’s judgment and remanded with instructions to the court to convert the motion to dismiss to a motion for summary judgment, and to rule on that motion, after further discovery should the court determine that such further discovery is warranted. On August 4, 2011, the court held a status conference and granted plaintiff leave to file a motion for particularized discovery, while indicating that any attempt to amend the existing Complaint would be denied. On September 16, 2011, plaintiff filed motions for discovery and to amend the Complaint. Defendants filed oppositions to those two motions on October 27, 2011.

* * *

The foregoing speaks only as of the date of this SAI. Additional lawsuits presenting allegations and requests for relief arising out of or in connection with the foregoing matter may be filed against these and related parties in the future.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The audited financial statements of the fund (Statement of Assets and Liabilities, including the Schedule of Investments as of December 31, 2011, Statement of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2011, Statements of Changes in Net Assets for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2011, Financial Highlights for each of the years in the five-year period ended December 31, 2011, and Notes to Financial Statements along with the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, each of which is included in the Annual Report to Shareholders of the fund) are incorporated by reference into this SAI (filed on February 28, 2012; Accession Number 0001193125-12-085541).

APPENDIX A

DESCRIPTION OF RATINGS

The ratings of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group and Fitch Ratings represent their opinions as to the quality of various debt obligations. It should be emphasized, however, that ratings are not absolute standards of quality. Consequently, debt obligations with the same maturity, coupon and rating may have different yields while debt obligations of the same maturity and coupon with different ratings may have the same yield. As described by the rating agencies, ratings are generally given to securities at the time of issuances. While the rating agencies may from time to time revise such ratings, they undertake no obligation to do so.

Description of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.’s Long-Term Obligation Ratings:

Moody’s long-term ratings are opinions of the relative credit risk of financial obligations with an original maturity of one year or more. They address the possibility that a financial obligation will not be honored as promised. Such ratings use Moody’s Global Scale and reflect both the likelihood of default and any financial loss suffered in the event of default.

Aaa-Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, with minimal credit risk.

Aa-Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.

A-Obligations rated A are considered upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.

Baa-Obligations rated Baa are subject to moderate credit risk. They are considered medium grade and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics.

Ba-Obligations rated Ba are judged to have speculative elements and are subject to substantial credit risk.

B-Obligations rated B are considered speculative and are subject to high credit risk.

Caa-Obligations rated Caa are judged to be of poor standing and are subject to very high credit risk.

Ca-Obligations rated Ca are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near, default, with some prospect of recovery of principal and interest.

C-Obligations rated C are the lowest rated class and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.

Note: Moody’s appends numerical modifiers “1,” “2” and “3” to each generic rating classification from “Aa” through “Caa.” The modifier “1” indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier “2” indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier “3” indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.

Description of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.’s Short-Term Obligation Ratings:

Moody’s short-term ratings are opinions of the ability of issuers to honor short-term financial obligations. Ratings may be assigned to issuers, short-term programs or to individual short-term debt instruments. Such obligations generally have an original maturity not exceeding thirteen months, unless explicitly noted.

A-1

Moody’s employs the following designations to indicate the relative repayment ability of rated issuers:

P-1-Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-1 have a superior ability to repay short-term debt obligations.

P-2-Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-2 have a strong ability to repay short-term debt obligations.

P-3-Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-3 have an acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations.

NP-Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Not Prime do not fall within any of the Prime rating categories.

Note: Canadian issuers rated P-1 or P-2 have their short-term ratings enhanced by the senior-most long-term rating of the issuer, its guarantor or support-provider.

Description of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.’s US Municipal Ratings:

US Municipal Short-Term Obligation Ratings:

There are three rating categories for short-term municipal obligations that are considered investment grade. These ratings are designated as Municipal Investment Grade (“MIG”) and are divided into three levels–MIG 1 through MIG 3. In addition, those short-term obligations that are of speculative quality are designated “SG,” or speculative grade. MIG ratings expire at the maturity of the obligation.

MIG 1-This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by established cash flows, highly reliable liquidity support, or demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing.

MIG 2-This designation denotes strong credit quality. Margins of protection are ample, although not as large as in the preceding group.

MIG 3-This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Liquidity and cash-flow protection may be narrow, and market access for refinancing is likely to be less well-established.

SG-This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Debt instruments in this category may lack sufficient margins of protection.

US Municipal Demand Obligation Ratings:

In the case of variable rate demand obligations (“VRDOs”), a two-component rating is assigned; a long or short-term debt rating and a demand obligation rating. The first element represents Moody’s evaluation of the degree of risk associated with scheduled principal and interest payments. The second element represents Moody’s evaluation of the degree of risk associated with the ability to receive purchase price upon demand (“demand feature”), using a variation of the MIG rating scale, the Variable Municipal Investment Grade or VMIG rating.

When either the long- or short-term aspect of a VRDO is not rated, that piece is designated NR, e.g., Aaa/NR or NR/VMIG 1. VMIG rating expirations are a function of each issue’s specific structural or credit features.

VMIG 1-This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by the superior short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

A-2

VMIG 2-This designation denotes strong credit quality. Good protection is afforded by the strong short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

VMIG 3-This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Adequate protection is afforded by the satisfactory short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

SG-This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Demand features rated in this category may be supported by a liquidity provider that does not have an investment grade short-term rating or may lack the structural and/or legal protections necessary to ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

Description of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group’s Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings:

Long-term issue credit ratings are based, in varying degrees, on Standard & Poor’s analysis of the following considerations: (1) likelihood of payment-capacity and willingness of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on an obligation in accordance with the terms of the obligation; (2) nature of and provisions of the obligation; and (3) protection afforded by, and relative position of, the obligation in the event of bankruptcy, reorganization, or other arrangement under the laws of bankruptcy and other laws affecting creditors’ rights.

Issue ratings are an assessment of default risk, but may incorporate an assessment of relative seniority or ultimate recovery in the event of default. Junior obligations are typically rated lower than senior obligations, to reflect the lower priority in bankruptcy, as noted above. (Such differentiation may apply when an entity has both senior and subordinated obligations, secured and unsecured obligations, or operating company and holding company obligations.)

AAA-An obligation rated “AAA” has the highest rating assigned by Standard & Poor’s. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong.

AA-An obligation rated “AA” differs from the highest-rated obligations only to a small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is very strong.

A-An obligation rated “A” is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher-rated categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is still strong.

BBB-An obligation rated “BBB” exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

BB, B, CCC, CC, and C-Obligations rated “BB,” “B,” “CCC,” “CC” and “C” are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. “BB” indicates the least degree of speculation and “C” the highest. While such obligations will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposures to adverse conditions.

BB-An obligation rated “BB” is less vulnerable to nonpayment than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, which could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

B-An obligation rated “B” is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated “BB,” but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

A-3

CCC-An obligation rated “CCC” is currently vulnerable to nonpayment, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. In the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

CC-An obligation rated “CC” is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment.

C-A “C” rating is assigned to obligations that are currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment, obligations that have payment arrearages allowed by the terms of the documents, or obligations of an issuer that is the subject of a bankruptcy petition or similar action which have not experienced a payment default. Among others, the “C” rating may be assigned to subordinated debt, preferred stock or other obligations on which cash payments have been suspended in accordance with the instrument’s terms or when preferred stock is the subject of a distressed exchange offer, whereby some or all of the issue is either repurchased for an amount of cash or replaced by other instruments having a total value that is less than par.

D-An obligation rated “D” is in payment default. The “D” rating category is used when payments on an obligation, including a regulatory capital instrument, are not made on the date due even if the applicable grace period has not expired, unless Standard & Poor’s believes that such payments will be made during such grace period. The “D” rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action if payments on an obligation are jeopardized. An obligation’s rating is lowered to “D” upon completion of a distressed exchange offer, whereby some or all of the issue is either repurchased for an amount of cash or replaced by other instruments having a total value that is less than par.

Plus (+) or Minus (–): The ratings from “AA” to “CCC” may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (–) sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories.

NR: This indicates that no rating has been requested, that there is insufficient information on which to base a rating, or that Standard & Poor’s does not rate a particular obligation as a matter of policy.

Description of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group’s Short-Term Issue Credit Ratings:

Short-term ratings are generally assigned to those obligations considered short-term in the relevant market. In the U.S., for example, that means obligations with an original maturity date of no more than 365 days—including commercial paper. Short-term ratings are also used to indicate the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to put features on long-term obligations. The result is a dual rating, in which the short-term rating addresses the put feature, in addition to the usual long-term rating.

A-1—A short-term obligation rated “A-1” is rated in the highest category by Standard & Poor’s. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is strong. Within this category, certain obligations are designated with a plus sign (+). This indicates that the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on these obligations is extremely strong.

A-2—A short-term obligation rated “A-2” is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher rating categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is satisfactory.

A-3—A short-term obligation rated “A-3” exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

B—A short-term obligation rated “B” is regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. Ratings of “B-1,” “B-2” and “B-3” may be assigned to indicate finer distinctions within the “B” category. The obligor

A-4

currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation; however, it faces major ongoing uncertainties which could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

B-1—A short-term obligation rated “B-1” is regarded as having significant speculative characteristics, but the obligor has a relatively stronger capacity to meet its financial commitments over the short-term compared to other speculative-grade obligors.

B-2—A short-term obligation rated “B-2” is regarded as having significant speculative characteristics, and the obligor has an average speculative-grade capacity to meet its financial commitments over the short-term compared to other speculative-grade obligors.

B-3—A short-term obligation rated “B-3” is regarded as having significant speculative characteristics, and the obligor has a relatively weaker capacity to meet its financial commitments over the short-term compared to other speculative-grade obligors.

C—A short-term obligation rated “C” is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

D—A short-term obligation rated “D” is in payment default. The “D” rating category is used when payments on an obligation, including a regulatory capital instrument, are not made on the date due even if the applicable grace period has not expired, unless Standard & Poor’s believes that such payments will be made during such grace period. The “D” rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action if payments on an obligation are jeopardized.

Description of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group’s Municipal Short-Term Note Ratings Definitions:

A Standard & Poor’s U.S. municipal note rating reflects Standard & Poor’s opinion about the liquidity factors and market access risks unique to the notes. Notes due in three years or less will likely receive a note rating. Notes with an original maturity of more than three years will most likely receive a long-term debt rating. In determining which type of rating, if any, to assign, Standard & Poor’s has indicated that its analysis will review the following considerations: (1) amortization schedule—the larger the final maturity relative to other maturities, the more likely it will be treated as a note; and (2) source of payment—the more dependent the issue is on the market for its refinancing, the more likely it will be treated as a note.

Note rating symbols are as follows:

SP-1—Strong capacity to pay principal and interest. An issue determined to possess a very strong capacity to pay debt service is given a plus (+) designation.

SP-2—Satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest, with some vulnerability to adverse financial and economic changes over the term of the notes.

SP-3—Speculative capacity to pay principal and interest.

Description of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group’s Dual Ratings:

Standard & Poor’s assigns “dual” ratings to all debt issues that have a put option or demand feature as part of their structure. The first rating addresses the likelihood of repayment of principal and interest as due, and the second rating addresses only the demand feature. The long-term rating symbols are used for bonds to denote the long-term maturity and the short term rating symbols for the put option (for example, “AAA/A-1+”). With U.S. municipal short-term demand debt, note rating symbols are used with the short-term issue credit rating symbols (for example, “SP-1+/A-1+”).

A-5

Description of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group’s Active Qualifiers (Currently applied and/or outstanding)

i: This subscript is used for issues in which the credit factors, terms, or both, that determine the likelihood of receipt of payment of interest are different from the credit factors, terms or both that determine the likelihood of receipt of principal on the obligation. The “i” subscript indicates that the rating addresses the interest portion of the obligation only. The “i” subscript will always be used in conjunction with the “p” subscript, which addresses likelihood of receipt of principal. For example, a rated obligation could be assigned ratings of “AAAp NRi” indicating that the principal portion is rated “AAA” and the interest portion of the obligation is not rated.

L: Ratings qualified with “L” apply only to amounts invested up to federal deposit insurance limits.

p: This subscript is used for issues in which the credit factors, the terms, or both, that determine the likelihood of receipt of payment of principal are different from the credit factors, terms or both that determine the likelihood of receipt of interest on the obligation. The “p” subscript indicates that the rating addresses the principal portion of the obligation only. The “p” subscript will always be used in conjunction with the “i” subscript, which addresses likelihood of receipt of interest. For example, a rated obligation could be assigned ratings of “AAAp NRi” indicating that the principal portion is rated “AAA” and the interest portion of the obligation is not rated.

pi: Ratings with a “pi” subscript are based on an analysis of an issuer’s published financial information, as well as additional information in the public domain. They do not, however, reflect in-depth meetings with an issuer’s management and therefore may be based on less comprehensive information than ratings without a “pi” subscript. Ratings with a “pi” subscript are reviewed annually based on a new year’s financial statements, but may be reviewed on an interim basis if a major event occurs that may affect the issuer’s credit quality.

preliminary: Preliminary ratings, with the “prelim” qualifier, may be assigned to obligors or obligations, including financial programs, in the circumstances described below. Assignment of a final rating is conditional on the receipt by Standard & Poor’s of appropriate documentation. Standard & Poor’s reserves the right not to issue a final rating. Moreover, if a final rating is issued, it may differ from the preliminary rating. (1) Preliminary ratings may be assigned to obligations, most commonly structured and project finance issues, pending receipt of final documentation and legal opinions. (2) Preliminary ratings are assigned to Rule 415 Shelf Registrations. As specific issues, with defined terms, are offered from the master registration, a final rating may be assigned to them in accordance with Standard & Poor’s policies. (3) Preliminary ratings may be assigned to obligations that will likely be issued upon the obligor’s emergence from bankruptcy or similar reorganization, based on late-stage reorganization plans, documentation and discussions with the obligor. Preliminary ratings may also be assigned to the obligors. These ratings consider the anticipated general credit quality of the reorganized or post-bankruptcy issuer as well as attributes of the anticipated obligation(s). (4) Preliminary ratings may be assigned to entities that are being formed or that are in the process of being independently established when, in Standard & Poor’s opinion, documentation is close to final. Preliminary ratings may also be assigned to these entities’ obligations. (5) Preliminary ratings may be assigned when a previously unrated entity is undergoing a well-formulated restructuring, recapitalization, significant financing or other transformative event, generally at the point that investor or lender commitments are invited. The preliminary rating may be assigned to the entity and to its proposed obligation(s). These preliminary ratings consider the anticipated general credit quality of the obligor, as well as attributes of the anticipated obligation(s), assuming successful completion of the transformative event. Should the transformative event not occur, Standard & Poor’s would likely withdraw these preliminary ratings. (6) A preliminary recovery rating may be assigned to an obligation that has a preliminary issue credit rating.

t: This symbol indicates termination structures that are designed to honor their contracts to full maturity or, should certain events occur, to terminate and cash settle all their contracts before their final maturity date.

unsolicited: Unsolicited ratings are those credit ratings assigned at the initiative of Standard & Poor’s and not at the request of the issuer or its agents.

A-6

Description of Fitch Ratings’ Corporate Finance Long-Term Obligation Ratings:

Ratings of individual securities or financial obligations of a corporate issuer address relative vulnerability to default on an ordinal scale. In addition, for financial obligations in corporate finance, a measure of recovery given default on that liability is also included in the rating assessment. This notably applies to covered bonds ratings, which incorporate both an indication of the probability of default and of the recovery given a default of this debt instrument.

The relationship between issuer scale and obligation scale assumes an historical average recovery of between 30% and 50% on the senior, unsecured obligations of an issuer. As a result, individual obligations of entities, such as corporations, are assigned ratings higher, lower, or the same as that entity’s issuer rating or Issuer Default Rating. At the lower end of the ratings scale, Fitch Ratings now additionally publishes explicit Recovery Ratings in many cases to complement issuer and obligation ratings.

AAA-Highest credit quality. “AAA” ratings denote the lowest expectation of credit risk. They are assigned only in cases of exceptionally strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.

AA-Very high credit quality. “AA” ratings denote expectations of very low credit risk. They indicate very strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.

A-High credit quality. “A” ratings denote expectations of low credit risk. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered strong. This capacity may, nevertheless, be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic conditions than is the case for higher ratings.

BBB-Good credit quality. “BBB” ratings indicate that expectations of credit risk are currently low. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered adequate but adverse business or economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity.

BB-Speculative. “BB” ratings indicate an elevated vulnerability to credit risk, particularly in the event of adverse changes in business or economic conditions over time; however, business or financial alternatives may be available to allow financial commitments to be met.

B-Highly speculative. “B” ratings indicate that material credit risk is present.

CCC-Substantial credit risk. “CCC” ratings indicate that substantial credit risk is present.

CC-Very high levels of credit risk. “CC” ratings indicate very high levels of credit risk.

C-Exceptionally high levels of credit risk. “C” indicates exceptionally high levels of credit risk.

Defaulted obligations typically are not assigned “D” ratings, but are instead rated in the “B” to “C” rating categories, depending upon their recovery prospects and other relevant characteristics. This approach better aligns obligations that have comparable overall expected loss but varying vulnerability to default and loss.

Note: The modifiers “+” or “-” may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within major rating categories. Such suffixes are not added to the “AAA” obligation rating category, or to corporate finance obligation ratings in the categories below “B.”

Description of Fitch Ratings’ Structured, Project & Public Finance Long-Term Obligation Ratings:

Ratings of structured finance, project finance and public finance obligations on the long-term scale, including the financial obligations of sovereigns, consider the obligations’ relative vulnerability to default. These ratings are typically assigned to an individual security or tranche in a transaction and not to an issuer.

A-7

AAA-Highest credit quality. “AAA” ratings denote the lowest expectation of default risk. They are assigned only in cases of exceptionally strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.

AA-Very high credit quality. “AA” ratings denote expectations of very low default risk. They indicate very strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.

A-High credit quality. “A” ratings denote expectations of low default risk. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered strong. This capacity may, nevertheless, be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic conditions than is the case for higher ratings.

BBB-Good credit quality. “BBB” ratings indicate that expectations of default risk are currently low. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered adequate but adverse business or economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity.

BB-Speculative. “BB” ratings indicate an elevated vulnerability to default risk, particularly in the event of adverse changes in business or economic conditions over time.

B-Highly speculative. “B” ratings indicate that material default risk is present, but a limited margin of safety remains. Financial commitments are currently being met; however, capacity for continued payment is vulnerable to deterioration in the business and economic environment.

CCC-Substantial credit risk. “CCC” ratings indicate that default is a real possibility.

CC-Very high levels of credit risk. “CC” ratings indicate that default of some kind appears probable.

C-Exceptionally high levels of credit risk. “C” ratings indicate that default appears imminent or inevitable.

D-Default. “D” ratings indicate a default. Default generally is defined as one of the following: (1) failure to make payment of principal and/or interest under the contractual terms of the rated obligation; (2) the bankruptcy filings, administration, receivership, liquidation or other winding-up or cessation of the business of an issuer/obligor; or (3) the coercive exchange of an obligation, where creditors were offered securities with diminished structural or economic terms compared with the existing obligation.

Structured Finance Defaults-“Imminent” default, categorized under “C,” typically refers to the occasion where a payment default has been intimated by the issuer, and is all but inevitable. “Imminent” default alternatively refers to the case where an issuer has formally announced a coercive debt exchange, but the date of the exchange still lies several days or weeks in the immediate future.

Additionally, in structured finance transactions, where analysis indicates that an instrument is irrevocably impaired such that it is not expected to pay interest and/or principal in full in accordance with the terms of the obligation’s documentation during the life of the transaction, but where no payment default in accordance with the terms of the documentation is imminent, the obligation will typically be rated in the “C” category.

Structured Finance Write-downs-Where an instrument has experienced an involuntary and, in Fitch Ratings’ opinion, irreversible “write-down” of principal (i.e., other than through amortization, and resulting in a loss to the investor), a credit rating of “D” will be assigned to the instrument. Where Fitch Ratings believes the “write-down” may prove to be temporary (and the loss may be “written up” again in future if and when performance improves), then a credit rating of “C” will typically be assigned. Should the “write-down” then later be reversed, the credit rating will be raised to an appropriate level for that instrument. Should the “write-down” later be deemed irreversible, the credit rating will be lowered to “D.”

A-8

Notes: In the case of structured and project finance, while the ratings do not address the loss severity given default of the rated liability, loss severity assumptions on the underlying assets are nonetheless typically included as part of the analysis. Loss severity assumptions are used to derive pool cash flows available to service the rated liability.

In the case of public finance, the ratings also do not address the loss given default of the rated liability, focusing instead on the vulnerability to default of the rated liability.

The modifiers “+” or “-” may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within major rating categories. Such suffixes are not added to the “AAA” Long-Term Rating category, or categories below “B.”

Description of Fitch Ratings’ Corporate, Public and Structured Finance Short-Term Obligation Ratings:

A short-term issuer or obligation rating is based in all cases on the short-term vulnerability to default of the rated entity or security stream and relates to the capacity to meet financial obligations in accordance with the documentation governing the relevant obligation. Short-Term Ratings are assigned to obligations whose initial maturity is viewed as “short term” based on market convention. Typically, this means up to 13 months for corporate, sovereign, and structured obligations, and up to 36 months for obligations in U.S. public finance markets.

F1-Highest short-term credit quality. Indicates the strongest intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments; may have an added “+” to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.

F2-Good short-term credit quality. Good intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments.

F3-Fair short-term credit quality. The intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is adequate.

B-Speculative short-term credit quality. Minimal capacity for timely payment of financial commitments, plus heightened vulnerability to near term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.

C-High short-term default risk. Default is a real possibility.

RD-Restricted default. Indicates an entity that has defaulted on one or more of its financial commitments, although it continues to meet other financial obligations. Or, the default of a specific short-term obligation.

D-Default. Indicates a broad-based default event for an entity, or the default of all short-term obligations.

Notes to Fitch Ratings’ Long-Term and Short-Term Obligation Ratings:

Rating Watch: Rating Watches indicate that there is a heightened probability of a rating change and the likely direction of such a change. These are designated as “Positive,” indicating a potential upgrade, “Negative,” for a potential downgrade, or “Evolving,” if ratings may be raised, lowered or affirmed. However, ratings that are not on Rating Watch can be raised or lowered without being placed on Rating Watch first, if circumstances warrant such an action.

A Rating Watch is typically event-driven and, as such, it is generally resolved over a relatively short period. The event driving the Watch may be either anticipated or have already occurred, but in both cases, the exact rating implications remain undetermined. The Watch period is typically used to gather further information and/or subject the information to further analysis. Additionally, a Watch may be used where the rating implications are already clear, but where a triggering event (e.g., shareholder or regulatory approval) exists. The Watch will typically extend to cover the period until the triggering event is resolved or its outcome is predictable with a high enough degree of certainty to permit resolution of the Watch.

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Rating Watches can be employed by all analytical groups and are applied to the ratings of individual entities and/or individual instruments. At the lowest categories of speculative grade (“CCC,” “CC” and “C”) the high volatility of credit profiles may imply that almost all ratings should carry a Watch. Watches are nonetheless only applied selectively in these categories, where a committee decides that particular events or threats are best communicated by the addition of the Watch designation.

Rating Outlook: Rating Outlooks indicate the direction a rating is likely to move over a one- to two-year period. They reflect financial or other trends that have not yet reached the level that would trigger a rating action, but which may do so if such trends continue. The majority of Outlooks are generally Stable, which is consistent with the historical migration experience of ratings over a one- to two-year period. Positive or Negative rating Outlooks do not imply that a rating change is inevitable and, similarly, ratings with Stable Outlooks can be raised or lowered without a prior revision to the Outlook, if circumstances warrant such an action. Occasionally, where the fundamental trend has strong, conflicting elements of both positive and negative, the Rating Outlook may be described as Evolving.

Outlooks are currently applied on the long-term scale to issuer ratings in corporate finance (including sovereigns, industrials, utilities, financial institutions and insurance companies) and public finance outside the U.S.; to issue ratings in public finance in the U.S.; to certain issues in project finance; to Insurer Financial Strength Ratings; to issuer and/or issue ratings in a number of National Rating scales; and to the ratings of structured finance transactions. Outlooks are not applied to ratings assigned on the short-term scale and are applied selectively to ratings in the “CCC,” “CC” and “C” categories. Defaulted ratings typically do not carry an Outlook.

Expected Ratings: Where a rating is referred to as “expected,” alternatively referred to as “expects to rate” or suffixed as (EXP), this indicates that a full rating has been assigned based upon Fitch Ratings’ expectations regarding final documentation, typically based upon a review of the final draft documentation provided by the issuer. No other conditionality pertains to an expected rating. While expected ratings typically convert to final ratings within a short time, as determined by the issuer’s decisions regarding timing of transaction closure, in the period between assignment of an expected rating and a final rating, expected ratings may be raised, lowered or placed on Rating Watch, as with final ratings.

Program Ratings: Program ratings assigned to corporate and public finance note issuance programs (e.g., medium-term note programs) relate only to standard issues made under the program concerned; it should not be assumed that these ratings apply to every issue made under the program.

“Interest-Only” Ratings: Interest-only ratings are assigned to interest strips. These ratings do not address the possibility that a security holder might fail to recover some or all of its initial investment due to voluntary or involuntary principal repayments.

“Principal-Only” Ratings: Principal-only ratings address the likelihood that a security holder will receive its initial principal investment either before or by the scheduled maturity date.

“Rate of Return” Ratings: Ratings also may be assigned to gauge the likelihood of an investor receiving a certain predetermined internal rate of return without regard to the precise timing of any cash flows.

Paid-In-Full: This tranche has reached maturity, regardless of whether it was amortized or called early. As the issue no longer exists, it is therefore no longer rated. Indicated in rating databases with the symbol “PIF.”

NR: A designation of “Not Rated” or “NR” is used to denote securities not rated by Fitch where Fitch has rated some, but not all, securities comprising an issuance capital structure.

Withdrawn: The rating has been withdrawn and the issue or issuer is no longer rated by Fitch Ratings. Indicated in rating databases with the symbol “WD.”

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APPENDIX B

Western Asset Management Company

Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures

Policy

As a fixed income only manager, the occasion to vote proxies is very rare. However, the Firm has adopted and implemented policies and procedures that we believe are reasonably designed to ensure that proxies are voted in the best interest of clients, in accordance with our fiduciary duties and SEC Rule 206(4)-6 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”). In addition to SEC requirements governing advisers, our proxy voting policies reflect the long-standing fiduciary standards and responsibilities for ERISA accounts. Unless a manager of ERISA assets has been expressly precluded from voting proxies, the Department of Labor has determined that the responsibility for these votes lies with the Investment Manager.

While the guidelines included in the procedures are intended to provide a benchmark for voting standards, each vote is ultimately cast on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the Firm’s contractual obligations to our clients and all other relevant facts and circumstances at the time of the vote (such that these guidelines may be overridden to the extent the Firm deems appropriate).

In exercising its voting authority, Western Asset will not consult or enter into agreements with officers, directors or employees of Legg Mason Inc. or any of its affiliates (other than Western Asset Management Company Limited) regarding the voting of any securities owned by its clients.

Procedure

Responsibility and Oversight

The Western Asset Legal and Compliance Department (“Compliance Department”) is responsible for administering and overseeing the proxy voting process. The gathering of proxies is coordinated through the Corporate Actions area of Investment Support (“Corporate Actions”). Research analysts and portfolio managers are responsible for determining appropriate voting positions on each proxy utilizing any applicable guidelines contained in these procedures.

Client Authority

The Investment Management Agreement for each client is reviewed at account start-up for proxy voting instructions. If an agreement is silent on proxy voting, but contains an overall delegation of discretionary authority or if the account represents assets of an ERISA plan, Western Asset will assume responsibility for proxy voting. The Legal and Compliance Department maintains a matrix of proxy voting authority.

Proxy Gathering

Registered owners of record, client custodians, client banks and trustees (“Proxy Recipients”) that receive proxy materials on behalf of clients should forward them to Corporate Actions. Proxy Recipients for new clients (or, if Western Asset becomes aware that the applicable Proxy Recipient for an existing client has changed, the Proxy Recipient for the existing client) are notified at start-up of appropriate routing to Corporate Actions of proxy materials received and reminded of their responsibility to forward all proxy materials on a timely basis. If Western Asset personnel other than Corporate Actions receive proxy materials, they should promptly forward the materials to Corporate Actions.

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Proxy Voting

Once proxy materials are received by Corporate Actions, they are forwarded to the Legal and Compliance Department for coordination and the following actions:

a. Proxies are reviewed to determine accounts impacted.

b. Impacted accounts are checked to confirm Western Asset voting authority.

c. Legal and Compliance Department staff reviews proxy issues to determine any material conflicts of interest. (See conflicts of interest section of these procedures for further information on determining material conflicts of interest.)

d. If a material conflict of interest exists, (i) to the extent reasonably practicable and permitted by applicable law, the client is promptly notified, the conflict is disclosed and Western Asset obtains the client’s proxy voting instructions, and (ii) to the extent that it is not reasonably practicable or permitted by applicable law to notify the client and obtain such instructions (e.g., the client is a mutual fund or other commingled vehicle or is an ERISA plan client), Western Asset seeks voting instructions from an independent third party.

e. Legal and Compliance Department staff provides proxy material to the appropriate research analyst or portfolio manager to obtain their recommended vote. Research analysts and portfolio managers determine votes on a case-by-case basis taking into account the voting guidelines contained in these procedures. For avoidance of doubt, depending on the best interest of each individual client, Western Asset may vote the same proxy differently for different clients. The analyst’s or portfolio manager’s basis for their decision is documented and maintained by the Legal and Compliance Department.

f. Legal and Compliance Department staff votes the proxy pursuant to the instructions received in (d) or (e) and returns the voted proxy as indicated in the proxy materials.

Timing

Western Asset personnel act in such a manner to ensure that, absent special circumstances, the proxy gathering and proxy voting steps noted above can be completed before the applicable deadline for returning proxy votes.

Recordkeeping

Western Asset maintains records of proxies voted pursuant to Section 204-2 of the Advisers Act and ERISA DOL Bulletin 94-2. These records include:

A copy of Western Asset’s policies and procedures.

Copies of proxy statements received regarding client securities.

A copy of any document created by Western Asset that was material to making a decision how to vote proxies.

Each written client request for proxy voting records and Western Asset’s written response to both verbal and written client requests.

A proxy log including:

Issuer name;

Exchange ticker symbol of the issuer’s shares to be voted;

Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures (“CUSIP”) number for the shares to be voted;

A brief identification of the matter voted on;

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Whether the matter was proposed by the issuer or by a shareholder of the issuer;

Whether a vote was cast on the matter;

A record of how the vote was cast; and

Whether the vote was cast for or against the recommendation of the issuer’s management team.

Records are maintained in an easily accessible place for five years, the first two in Western Asset’s offices.

Disclosure

Western Asset’s proxy policies are described in the firm’s Part II of Form ADV. Clients will be provided a copy of these policies and procedures upon request. In addition, upon request, clients may receive reports on how their proxies have been voted.

Conflicts of Interest

All proxies are reviewed by the Legal and Compliance Department for material conflicts of interest. Issues to be reviewed include, but are not limited to:

1. Whether Western (or, to the extent required to be considered by applicable law, its affiliates) manages assets for the company or an employee group of the company or otherwise has an interest in the company;

2. Whether Western or an officer or director of Western or the applicable portfolio manager or analyst responsible for recommending the proxy vote (together, “Voting Persons”) is a close relative of or has a personal or business relationship with an executive, director or person who is a candidate for director of the company or is a participant in a proxy contest; and

3. Whether there is any other business or personal relationship where a Voting Person has a personal interest in the outcome of the matter before shareholders.

Voting Guidelines

Western Asset’s substantive voting decisions turn on the particular facts and circumstances of each proxy vote and are evaluated by the designated research analyst or portfolio manager. The examples outlined below are meant as guidelines to aid in the decision making process.

Guidelines are grouped according to the types of proposals generally presented to shareholders. Part I deals with proposals which have been approved and are recommended by a company’s board of directors; Part II deals with proposals submitted by shareholders for inclusion in proxy statements; Part III addresses issues relating to voting shares of investment companies; and Part IV addresses unique considerations pertaining to foreign issuers.

I. Board Approved Proposals

The vast majority of matters presented to shareholders for a vote involve proposals made by a company itself that have been approved and recommended by its board of directors. In view of the enhanced corporate governance practices currently being implemented in public companies, Western Asset generally votes in support of decisions reached by independent boards of directors. More specific guidelines related to certain board-approved proposals are as follows:

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1. Matters relating to the Board of Directors

Western Asset votes proxies for the election of the company’s nominees for directors and for board-approved proposals on other matters relating to the board of directors with the following exceptions:

a. Votes are withheld for the entire board of directors if the board does not have a majority of independent directors or the board does not have nominating, audit and compensation committees composed solely of independent directors.

b. Votes are withheld for any nominee for director who is considered an independent director by the company and who has received compensation from the company other than for service as a director.

c. Votes are withheld for any nominee for director who attends less than 75% of board and committee meetings without valid reasons for absences.

d. Votes are cast on a case-by-case basis in contested elections of directors.

2. Matters relating to Executive Compensation

Western Asset generally favors compensation programs that relate executive compensation to a company’s long-term performance. Votes are cast on a case-by-case basis on board-approved proposals relating to executive compensation, except as follows:

a. Except where the firm is otherwise withholding votes for the entire board of directors, Western Asset votes for stock option plans that will result in a minimal annual dilution.

b. Western Asset votes against stock option plans or proposals that permit replacing or repricing of underwater options.

c. Western Asset votes against stock option plans that permit issuance of options with an exercise price below the stock’s current market price.

d. Except where the firm is otherwise withholding votes for the entire board of directors, Western Asset votes for employee stock purchase plans that limit the discount for shares purchased under the plan to no more than 15% of their market value, have an offering period of 27 months or less and result in dilution of 10% or less.

3. Matters relating to Capitalization

The management of a company’s capital structure involves a number of important issues, including cash flows, financing needs and market conditions that are unique to the circumstances of each company. As a result, Western Asset votes on a case-by-case basis on board-approved proposals involving changes to a company’s capitalization except where Western Asset is otherwise withholding votes for the entire board of directors.

a. Western Asset votes for proposals relating to the authorization of additional common stock.

b. Western Asset votes for proposals to effect stock splits (excluding reverse stock splits).

c. Western Asset votes for proposals authorizing share repurchase programs.

4. Matters relating to Acquisitions, Mergers, Reorganizations and Other Transactions

Western Asset votes these issues on a case-by-case basis on board-approved transactions.

5. Matters relating to Anti-Takeover Measures

Western Asset votes against board-approved proposals to adopt anti-takeover measures except as follows:

a. Western Asset votes on a case-by-case basis on proposals to ratify or approve shareholder rights plans.

b. Western Asset votes on a case-by-case basis on proposals to adopt fair price provisions.

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6. Other Business Matters

Western Asset votes for board-approved proposals approving such routine business matters such as changing the company’s name, ratifying the appointment of auditors and procedural matters relating to the shareholder meeting.

a. Western Asset votes on a case-by-case basis on proposals to amend a company’s charter or bylaws.

b. Western Asset votes against authorization to transact other unidentified, substantive business at the meeting.

II. Shareholder Proposals

SEC regulations permit shareholders to submit proposals for inclusion in a company’s proxy statement. These proposals generally seek to change some aspect of a company’s corporate governance structure or to change some aspect of its business operations. Western Asset votes in accordance with the recommendation of the company’s board of directors on all shareholder proposals, except as follows:

1. Western Asset votes for shareholder proposals to require shareholder approval of shareholder rights plans.

2. Western Asset votes for shareholder proposals that are consistent with Western Asset’s proxy voting guidelines for board-approved proposals.

3. Western Asset votes on a case-by-case basis on other shareholder proposals where the firm is otherwise withholding votes for the entire board of directors.

III. Voting Shares of Investment Companies

Western Asset may utilize shares of open or closed-end investment companies to implement its investment strategies. Shareholder votes for investment companies that fall within the categories listed in Parts I and II above are voted in accordance with those guidelines.

1. Western Asset votes on a case-by-case basis on proposals relating to changes in the investment objectives of an investment company taking into account the original intent of the fund and the role the fund plays in the clients’ portfolios.

2. Western Asset votes on a case-by-case basis all proposals that would result in increases in expenses (e.g., proposals to adopt 12b-1 plans, alter investment advisory arrangements or approve fund mergers) taking into account comparable expenses for similar funds and the services to be provided.

IV. Voting Shares of Foreign Issuers

In the event Western Asset is required to vote on securities held in non-U.S. issuers – i.e. issuers that are incorporated under the laws of a foreign jurisdiction and that are not listed on a U.S. securities exchange or the NASDAQ stock market, the following guidelines are used, which are premised on the existence of a sound corporate governance and disclosure framework. These guidelines, however, may not be appropriate under some circumstances for foreign issuers and therefore apply only where applicable.

1. Western Asset votes for shareholder proposals calling for a majority of the directors to be independent of management.

2. Western Asset votes for shareholder proposals seeking to increase the independence of board nominating, audit and compensation committees.

3. Western Asset votes for shareholder proposals that implement corporate governance standards similar to those established under U.S. federal law and the listing requirements of U.S. stock exchanges, and that do not otherwise violate the laws of the jurisdiction under which the company is incorporated.

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4. Western Asset votes on a case-by-case basis on proposals relating to (1) the issuance of common stock in excess of 20% of a company’s outstanding common stock where shareholders do not have preemptive rights, or (2) the issuance of common stock in excess of 100% of a company’s outstanding common stock where shareholders have preemptive rights.

Retirement Accounts

For accounts subject to ERISA, as well as other Retirement Accounts, Western Asset is presumed to have the responsibility to vote proxies for the client. The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued a bulletin that states that investment managers have the responsibility to vote proxies on behalf of Retirement Accounts unless the authority to vote proxies has been specifically reserved to another named fiduciary. Furthermore, unless Western Asset is expressly precluded from voting the proxies, the DOL has determined that the responsibility remains with the investment manager.

In order to comply with the DOL’s position, Western Asset will be presumed to have the obligation to vote proxies for its Retirement Accounts unless Western Asset has obtained a specific written instruction indicating that: (a) the right to vote proxies has been reserved to a named fiduciary of the client, and (b) Western Asset is precluded from voting proxies on behalf of the client. If Western Asset does not receive such an instruction, Western Asset will be responsible for voting proxies in the best interests of the Retirement Account client and in accordance with any proxy voting guidelines provided by the client.

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Legg Mason Partners Income Trust N-14Registration statement for investment companies business combination