(f)
This strategy is primarily comprised of Chinese convertible bonds.
(g)
This strategy is primarily comprised of global futures, US equities, ETFS, and ADRs selected using quantitative analysis to predict likely short-term price changes.
4. Derivative and Other Financial Instruments
During the period ended June 30, 2024, the fund invested in derivatives, such as but not limited to futures, currency forwards, purchased and written options, total return basket swaps and total return equity swaps for hedging, liquidity, index exposure, and active management strategies. Derivatives are used for “hedging” when TAS or a money manager seeks to protect the fund’s investments from a decline in value. Derivative strategies are also used when TAS or a money manager seeks to increase liquidity, implement a cash management strategy, invest in a particular stock, bond or segment of the market in a more efficient or less expensive way, modify the effective duration of the fund’s portfolio investments and/or for purposes of total return. Depending on the purpose for which the derivative instruments are being used, the successful use of derivative instruments may depend on, among other factors, TAS’s or the money manager’s general understanding of how derivative instruments act in relation to referenced securities or markets as well as on market conditions, all of which are out of the control of TAS or the money manager.
Financial Futures Contracts
The fund may use futures contracts, generally in one of three ways: (1) to gain exposures, both long and short, to the total returns of broad equity indices, globally; (2) to gain exposures, both long and short, to the returns of non-dollar currencies relative to the US dollar; and (3) to manage the duration of the fund’s fixed income holdings to targeted levels.
Futures contracts involve varying degrees of risk. Such risks include the imperfect correlation between the price of a derivative and that of the underlying security and the possibility of an illiquid secondary market for these securities. Futures contracts are valued at the settlement price established each day by the board of trade or exchange on which they are traded.
A financial futures contract is an agreement to purchase (long) or sell (short) an agreed amount of securities or other instrument at a set price for delivery at a future date. At the time a futures contract is purchased or sold, the fund must allocate cash or securities as a deposit payment (“initial margin”). An outstanding futures contract is valued daily, and the payment in cash of “variation margin” will be required, a process known as “marking to the market”. Each day, the fund will be required to provide (or will be entitled to receive) variation margin in an amount equal to any decline (in the case of a long futures position) or increase (in the case of a short futures position) in the contract’s value since the preceding day. The daily variation margin is recorded as a receivable or payable on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. When the contracts are closed, a realized gain or loss is recorded as net realized gain (loss) from financial futures contracts in the Statement of Operations, equal to the difference between the opening and closing values of the contracts.
US futures contracts have been designed by exchanges that have been designated as “contract markets” by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and such contracts must be executed through a futures commission merchant or brokerage firm that is a member of the relevant contract market. Futures contracts may trade on a number of exchange markets, and through their clearing corporations, the exchanges guarantee performance of the contracts as between the clearing members of the exchange, thereby reducing the risk of counterparty default. Securities designated as collateral for market value on futures contracts are noted in the Schedule of Investments.
Swap Contracts
The fund may use swaps and generally uses them in the following ways: (1) to gain exposures, both long and short, to the total returns of broad equity indices; (2) to gain exposure, both long and short, to the total returns of individual equities and bonds; and (3) to gain long-term exposures to the total returns of selected investment strategies. While swaps falling into the first and third categories are often held for multiple quarters, if not years, swaps in the second category can at times be held for shorter time periods or adjusted frequently based on the managers’ evolving views of the expected risk/reward of the trade.
At the end of the period, the fund maintained one total return swap contract to gain exposure to the total return of broad indices.
Generally, swap agreements are contracts between a fund and another party (the swap counterparty) involving the exchange of payments on specified terms over periods ranging from a few days to multiple years. A swap agreement may be negotiated bilaterally and traded OTC between the two parties (for an uncleared swap) or, in some instances, must be transacted through
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