Description

This fund is designed to provide broad exposure to non-U.S. investment-grade bonds. The fund seeks to track the performance of an index that includes international government, agency, and corporate securities, mostly from developed countries, but also some emerging markets countries. Like other bond funds, the fund is subject to interest rate risk; increases in interest rates may cause the price of the bonds in the portfolio to decrease, reducing the fund’s NAV. Because it invests in non-U.S. bonds, the fund is also subject to additional risks, such as country/regional risk. The fund employs currency hedging strategies to protect against uncertainty in future exchange rates, so investment returns are expected to reflect the underlying performance of international bonds. Long-term investors who want to add an international position to their bond portfolio may wish to consider this fund as an option.With respect to 75% of its total assets, the fund may not: (1) purchase more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or (2) purchase securities of any issuer if, as a result, more than 5% of the fund’s total assets would be invested in that issuer’s securities; except as may be necessary to approximate the composition of its target index. This limitation does not apply to obligations of the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities.