M A R C H 6 PROSPECTUS MetWest Total Return Bond Fund (I Share: MWTIX; I-2 Share: MWTTX; M Share: MWTRX; Admin Share: MWTNX; Plan Share: MWTSX) MetWest Unconstrained Bond Fund (I Share: MWCIX; M Share: MWCRX; Plan Share: MWCPX) Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLC Investment Adviser As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has not approved or disapproved these securities or determined if this Prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Funds’ annual and semi-annual shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail, unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports will be made available on the Funds’ website (www.TCW.com), and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website link to access the report. If you already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Funds or your financial intermediary electronically by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) if you invest through a financial intermediary, or by calling (800) 241-4671 if you invest directly with the Funds. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all Funds held directly with the Funds’ transfer agent or through your financial intermediary. MW-FUNDP_0719
Transcript
M A R C H 6
PROSPECTUS
MetWest Total Return Bond Fund(I Share: MWTIX; I-2 Share: MWTTX; M Share: MWTRX; Admin Share: MWTNX; Plan Share:MWTSX)
MetWest Unconstrained Bond Fund(I Share: MWCIX; M Share: MWCRX; Plan Share: MWCPX)
Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLCInvestment Adviser
As with all mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has not approved or disapproved these securities or determined ifthis Prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Funds’annual and semi-annual shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail, unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports.Instead, the reports will be made available on the Funds’ website (www.TCW.com), and you will be notified by mail each time a report isposted and provided with a website link to access the report.
If you already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action.You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Funds or your financial intermediary electronically bycontacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank) if you invest through a financial intermediary, or by calling(800) 241-4671 if you invest directly with the Funds. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all Funds held directly with theFunds’ transfer agent or through your financial intermediary.
MW-FUNDP_0719
METROPOLITAN WEST FUNDS
Supplement dated July 8, 2020 to
(i) the Prospectus dated July 29, 2019, as supplemented, for the Metropolitan WestAlphaTrak 500 Fund, Metropolitan West Corporate Bond Fund, Metropolitan West FlexibleIncome Fund, Metropolitan West Floating Rate Income Fund, Metropolitan West High Yield
Bond Fund, Metropolitan West Intermediate Bond Fund, Metropolitan West InvestmentGrade Credit Fund, Metropolitan West Low Duration Bond Fund, Metropolitan West
Strategic Income Fund and Metropolitan West Ultra Short Bond Fund, and
(ii) the Prospectus dated March 6, 2020for the Metropolitan West Total Return Bond Fund and Metropolitan West Unconstrained
Bond Fund
To current and prospective shareholders in each series of the Metropolitan West Funds(those series, collectively, the “Funds”):
Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLC, the investment adviser to each Fund (the “Adviser”), isinvestigating and working to resolve a cybersecurity incident that has affected it and its affiliatedparent company and related investment advisers (collectively with the Adviser, “TCW”). As part ofthis investigation, TCW has engaged third-party cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to addressthe incident. TCW has implemented a series of containment and remediation measures to resolve thisissue.
The incident did impact some of TCW’s computer systems, but the Adviser so far has been able tomaintain its critical business activities, including trading and portfolio management for the Funds.
TCW currently does not believe that the Funds have been materially affected by this incident. TheFunds have continued to process purchases and redemptions without interruption, and have calculatedtheir daily net asset values per share as required. All assets of the Funds are held with their third-partybank custodian. That custodian was not affected by this incident.
TCW takes the security of your data extremely seriously and regularly reviews its systems to protectthem against these types of incidents. TCW’s investigation is ongoing, and it is possible that furtherunexpected problems may be discovered. However, TCW does not have indications at this stage thatFund or shareholder data was stolen.
We know how important your trust is in TCW, and TCW is taking steps to further enhance its securityprogram to help prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
Please retain this Supplement with your Prospectuses for future reference.
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METROPOLITAN WEST FUNDS
Supplement dated May 5, 2020 to(i) the Prospectus dated July 29, 2019, as supplemented (the “July 29, 2019 Prospectus”), for the Metropolitan
West AlphaTrak 500 Fund, Metropolitan West Corporate Bond Fund, Metropolitan West Flexible Income Fund,Metropolitan West Floating Rate Income Fund, Metropolitan West High Yield Bond Fund, Metropolitan WestIntermediate Bond Fund, Metropolitan West Investment Grade Credit Fund, Metropolitan West Low Duration
Bond Fund, Metropolitan West Strategic Income Fund and Metropolitan West Ultra Short Bond Fund, and(ii) the Prospectus dated March 6, 2020 (the “March 6, 2020 Prospectus”) for the Metropolitan West Total
Return Bond Fund and Metropolitan West Unconstrained Bond Fund (the July 29, 2019 Prospectus and theMarch 6, 2020 Prospectus together, the “Prospectuses”)
Disclosure relating to all series of Metropolitan West Funds (each such series, a “Fund”):
Effective immediately, the following disclosure is added under “Principal Risks” in the summary portion of theProspectuses for each Fund:
• Public Health Emergency Risks: the risk that pandemics and other public health emergencies, includingoutbreaks of infectious diseases such as the current outbreak of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), canresult, and in the case of COVID-19 is resulting, in market volatility and disruption, and materially andadversely impact economic conditions in ways that cannot be predicted, all of which could result insubstantial investment losses. Containment efforts and related restrictive actions by governments andbusinesses have significantly diminished and disrupted global economic activity across many industries.Less developed countries and their health systems may be more vulnerable to these impacts. The ultimateimpact of COVID-19 or other health emergencies on global economic conditions and businesses isimpossible to predict accurately. Ongoing and potential additional material adverse economic effects ofindeterminate duration and severity are possible. The resulting adverse impact on the value of an investmentin the Fund could be significant and prolonged.
In addition, effective immediately, the following row is added to the table under “Principal Risks” on page 76 ofthe July 29, 2019 Prospectus:
AlphaTrak500 Fund
CorporateBondFund
FlexibleIncomeFund
Floating RateIncome Fund
High YieldBond Fund
IntermediateBond Fund
Public Health Emergency Risk and Impact ofthe Coronavirus (COVID-19)
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
In addition, effective immediately, the following row is added to table under “Principal Risks” on page 77 of theJuly 29, 2019 Prospectus:
InvestmentGrade
Credit Fund
LowDuration
Bond Fund
StrategicIncomeFund
Total ReturnBond Fund
Ultra ShortBond Fund
UnconstrainedBond Fund
Public Health Emergency Risk andImpact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
In addition, effective immediately, the following row is added to table under “Principal Risks” on page 16 of theMarch 26, 2020 Prospectus:
Total Return Bond Fund Unconstrained Bond Fund
Public Health Emergency Risk andImpact of the Coronavirus(COVID-19)
✓ ✓
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In addition, effective immediately, the following disclosure is added under “Principal Risks” on page 86 of theJuly 29, 2019 Prospectus and on page 23 of the March 6, 2020 Prospectus:
Public Health Emergencies Risk and Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19)Pandemics and other local, national, and international public health emergencies, including outbreaks ofinfectious diseases such as SARS, H1N1/09 Flu, the Avian Flu, Ebola and the current outbreak of the novelcoronavirus (“COVID-19”), can result, and in the case of COVID-19 is resulting, in market volatility anddisruption, and any similar future emergencies may materially and adversely impact economic production andactivity in ways that cannot be predicted, all of which could result in substantial investment losses.
The World Health Organization officially declared in March 2020 that the COVID-19 outbreak formallyconstitutes a “pandemic.” This outbreak has caused a worldwide public health emergency, straining healthcareresources and resulting in extensive and growing numbers of infections, hospitalizations and deaths. In an effortto contain COVID-19, local, regional, and national governments, as well as private businesses and otherorganizations, have imposed and continue to impose severely restrictive measures, including instituting local andregional quarantines, restricting travel (including closing certain international borders), prohibiting publicactivity (including “stay-at-home,” “shelter-in-place,” and similar orders), and ordering the closure of a widerange of offices, businesses, schools, and other public venues. Consequently, COVID-19 has significantlydiminished and disrupted global economic production and activity of all kinds and has contributed to bothvolatility and a severe decline in financial markets. Among other things, these unprecedented developments haveresulted in: (i) material reductions in demand across most categories of consumers and businesses; (ii) dislocation(or, in some cases, a complete halt) in the credit and capital markets; (iii) labor force and operational disruptions;(iv) slowing or complete idling of certain supply chains and manufacturing activity; and (v) strain anduncertainty for businesses and households, with a particularly acute impact on industries dependent on travel andpublic accessibility, such as transportation, hospitality, tourism, retail, sports, and entertainment.
The ultimate impact of COVID-19 (and of the resulting precipitous decline and disruption in economic andcommercial activity across many of the world’s economies) on global economic conditions, and on theoperations, financial condition, and performance of any particular market, industry or business, is impossible topredict. However, ongoing and potential additional materially adverse effects, including further global, regionaland local economic downturns (including recessions) of indeterminate duration and severity, are possible. Theextent of COVID-19’s impact will depend on many factors, including the ultimate duration and scope of thepublic health emergency and the restrictive countermeasures being undertaken, as well as the effectiveness ofother governmental, legislative, and financial and monetary policy interventions designed to mitigate the crisisand address its negative externalities, all of which are evolving rapidly and may have unpredictable results. Evenif COVID-19’s spread is substantially contained, it will be difficult to assess what the longer-term impacts of anextended period of unprecedented economic dislocation and disruption will be on future economic developments,the health of certain markets, industries and businesses, and commercial and consumer behavior.
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis and any other public health emergency could have a significant adverse impact onour investments and result in significant investment losses. The extent of the impact on business operations andperformance of market participants and the companies in which we invest depends and will continue to dependon many factors, virtually all of which are highly uncertain and unpredictable, and this impact may include orlead to: (i) significant reductions in revenue and growth; (ii) unexpected operational losses and liabilities;(iii) impairments to credit quality; and (iv) reductions in the availability of capital. These same factors may limitour ability to source, research, and execute new investments, as well as to sell investments in the future, andgovernmental mitigation actions may constrain or alter existing financial, legal, and regulatory frameworks inways that are adverse to the investment strategies we intend to pursue, all of which could materially diminish ourability to fulfill investment objectives. They may also impair the ability of the companies in which we invest ortheir counterparties to perform their respective obligations under debt instruments and other commercialagreements (including their ability to pay obligations as they become due), potentially leading to defaults withuncertain consequences, including the potential for defaults by borrowers under debt instruments held in a
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client’s portfolio. In addition, an extended period of remote working by the employees of the companies in whichwe invest subjects those companies to additional operational risks, including heightened cybersecurity risk.Remote working environments may be less secure and more susceptible to cyberattacks that seek to exploit theCOVID-19 pandemic, and the operational damage of any such events could potentially disrupt our business andreduce the value of our investments. The operations of securities markets may also be significantly impacted, oreven temporarily or permanently halted, as a result of government quarantine measures, restrictions on travel andmovement, remote-working requirements, and other factors related to a public health emergency, including thepotential adverse impact on the health of any such entity’s personnel. These measures may also hinder normalbusiness operations by impairing usual communication channels and methods, hampering the performance ofadministrative functions such as processing payments and invoices, and diminishing the ability to make accurateand timely projections of financial performance. Because our ability to execute transactions on behalf of theFunds is dependent upon the timely performance of multiple third parties, any interruptions in the businessoperations of those third parties could impair our ability to effectively implement a Fund’s investment strategies.
In addition, effective immediately, the following disclosure is added as the seventh and final paragraph under“Principal Risks – Emerging Markets Risk” in on page 81 of the July 29, 2019 Prospectus and on page 19 ofthe March 6, 2020 Prospectus:
Among other risks of investing in emerging and developing market countries are the variable quality andreliability of financial information and related audits of companies. In some cases, financial information andrelated audits can be unreliable and not subject to verification. Auditing firms in some of these markets are notsubject to independent inspection or oversight of audit quality. This can result in investment decisions beingmade based on flawed or misleading information. Additionally, investors may have substantial difficulties inbringing legal actions to enforce or protect investors’ rights, which can increase the risks of loss.
Please retain this Supplement with your Prospectuses for future reference.
Investment ObjectiveThe Total Return Bond Fund seeks to maximize long-termtotal return.
Fees and Expenses of the FundThe table below describes the fees and expenses that you maypay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may payadditional fees to broker-dealers or other financial inter-mediaries for the purchase of Class I, Class I-2 or PlanClass shares of the Fund.
Shareholder Fees (Fees paid directly from your investment)
None.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (Expenses that you payeach year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Total AnnualFundOperatingExpenses 0.67% 0.44% 0.49% 0.78% 0.37%
1 The I-2 Class shares are a new class of shares of the Fund with aninception date of March 6, 2020, and therefore the operating expensesshown for this class are based on anticipated fees and expenses for thecurrent fiscal year.
2 For the Administrative Class Shares, includes up to 0.20% chargedunder the Shareholder Servicing Plan. The Fund is authorized tocompensate broker-dealers and other third-party intermediaries up to0.10% (10 basis points) of the M and I and up to 0.15% (15 basispoints) of the I-2 Class assets serviced by those intermediaries forshareholder services.
ExampleThis example is intended to help you compare the cost ofinvesting in the Fund with the cost of investing in othermutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem
all of your shares at the end of those periods. The examplealso assumes that your investment has a 5% return each yearand that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same.Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based onthese assumptions your costs would be:
1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 YearsClass M $68 $214 $373 $835Class I $45 $141 $246 $555Class I-2 $50 $157 $274 $616Administrative Class $80 $249 $433 $966Plan Class $38 $119 $208 $468
Portfolio TurnoverThe Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, whenit buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). Ahigher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transactioncosts and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares areheld in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflectedin annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affectthe Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year,the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 255% of the averagevalue of its portfolio.
Principal Investment StrategiesThe Fund pursues its objective by investing, under normalcircumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in investmentgrade fixed income securities or unrated securitiesdetermined by the Adviser to be of comparable quality. Up to20% of the Fund’s net assets may be invested in securitiesrated below investment grade (commonly known as “junkbonds”) or unrated securities determined by the Adviser to beof comparable quality. The Fund also invests, under normalcircumstances, at least 80% of its net assets, plus anyborrowings for investment purposes, in fixed income secu-rities it regards as bonds. A bond is a security or instrumenthaving one or more of the following characteristics: a fixed-income security, a security issued at a discount to its facevalue, a security that pays interest or a security with a statedprincipal amount that requires repayment of some or all ofthat principal amount to the holder of the security. The term“bond” is interpreted broadly by the Adviser as an instrumentor security evidencing a promise to pay some amount ratherthan evidencing the corporate ownership of equity, unlessthat equity represents an indirect or derivative interest in oneor more bonds. Under normal circumstances, the Fund’sportfolio duration is two to eight years and the Fund’s
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dollar-weighted average maturity ranges from two to fifteenyears. Duration is a measure of the expected life of a fixedincome security that is used to determine the sensitivity of asecurity to changes in interest rates.
The Fund invests in the U.S. and abroad, including emergingmarkets, and may purchase securities of varying maturitiesissued by domestic and foreign corporations and govern-ments. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its assets in foreignsecurities that are denominated in U.S. dollars. The Fund mayinvest up to 15% of its assets in securities of foreign issuersthat are not denominated in U.S. dollars. The Fund mayinvest up to 10% of its assets in emerging market securities.The Adviser focuses the Fund’s portfolio holdings in areas ofthe bond market that the Adviser believes to be relativelyundervalued, based on its analysis of quality, sector, couponor maturity, and that the Adviser believes offer attractiveprospective risk-adjusted returns compared to other seg-ments of the bond market.
The Fund’s investments include various types of bonds anddebt securities, including corporate bonds, notes, mortgage-related and asset-backed securities (including collateralizeddebt obligations, which in turn include collateralized bondobligations and collateralized loan obligations), bank loans,U.S. and non-U.S. money market securities, municipal secu-rities, derivatives including credit default swaps and otherswaps, futures, options and currency forward contracts,defaulted debt securities, private placements and restrictedsecurities. The Fund’s fixed income investments may haveinterest rates that are fixed, variable or floating.
Derivatives are used in an effort to hedge investments, for riskmanagement, or to increase income or gains for the Fund.The Fund may also seek to obtain market exposure to thesecurities in which it invests by entering into a series of pur-chase and sale contracts or by using other investmenttechniques.
The Fund may normally short sell up to 25% of the value ofits total assets.
Principal RisksBecause the Fund holds securities with fluctuating marketprices, the value of the Fund’s shares will vary as its portfoliosecurities increase or decrease in value. Therefore, the valueof your investment in the Fund could go down as well as up.You can lose money by investing in the Fund.
The principal risks affecting the Fund that can cause a declinein value are:
• Debt Securities Risk: the risk that the value of a debt secu-rity may increase or decrease as a result of various factors,including changes in interest rates, actual or perceivedinability or unwillingness of issuers to make principal orinterest payments, market fluctuations and illiquidity in thedebt securities market.
• Market Risk: the risk that returns from the securities inwhich the Fund invests may underperform returns from thegeneral securities markets or other types of securities.
• Interest Rate Risk: the risk that debt securities may declinein value because of changes in interest rates.
• Credit Risk: the risk that an issuer may default in the pay-ment of principal and/or interest on a security.
• Price Volatility Risk: the risk that the value of the Fund’sinvestment portfolio will change as the prices of itsinvestments go up or down.
• Issuer Risk: the risk that the value of a security may declinefor reasons directly related to the issuer, such as manage-ment performance, financial leverage and reduced demandfor the issuer’s goods or services.
• Liquidity Risk: the risk that lack of a ready market orrestrictions on resale may limit the ability of the Fund tosell a security at an advantageous time or price. In addition,the Fund, by itself or together with other accounts man-aged by the Adviser, may hold a position in a security thatis large relative to the typical trading volume for that secu-rity, which can make it difficult for the Fund to dispose ofthe position at an advantageous time or price. Over recentyears, the fixed-income markets have grown more than theability of dealers to make markets, which can further con-strain liquidity and increase the volatility of portfolio valu-ations. High levels of redemptions in bond funds inresponse to market conditions could cause greater lossesas a result. Regulations such as the Volcker Rule or futureregulations may further constrain the ability of market par-ticipants to create liquidity, particularly in times ofincreased market volatility. The liquidity of the Fund’sassets may change over time.
• Frequent Trading Risk: the risk that frequent trading maylead to increased portfolio turnover and higher transactioncosts, which may reduce the Fund’s performance and maycause higher levels of current tax liability to shareholders ofthe Fund.
• Valuation Risk: the risk that the portfolio instruments maybe sold at prices different from the values established by
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the Fund, particularly for investments that trade in lowvolume, in volatile markets or over the counter or that arefair valued.
• Prepayment Risk: the risk that in times of declining interestrates, the Fund’s higher yielding securities may be prepaidand the Fund may have to replace them with securitieshaving a lower yield.
• Extension Risk: the risk that in times of rising interest rates,borrowers may pay off their debt obligations more slowly,causing securities considered short- or intermediate-termto become longer-term securities that fluctuate morewidely in response to changes in interest rates thanshorter-term securities.
• Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk: the risk of investing inmortgage-backed securities, including prepayment risk andextension risk. Mortgage-backed securities react differentlyto changes in interests rates than other bonds, and somemortgage-backed securities are not backed by the full faithand credit of the U.S. government.
• Asset-Backed Securities Risk: the risk of investing in asset-backed securities, including the risk of loss as a result ofthe impairment of the value of the underlying financialassets, prepayment risk and extension risk. Issuers ofasset-backed securities may have limited ability to enforcethe security interest in the underlying assets, and creditenhancements provided to support the asset-backed secu-rities, if any, may be inadequate to protect investors in theevent of default.
• U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk: the risk that the value ofU.S. Treasury obligations may decline as a result ofchanges in interest rates, certain political events in theU.S., and strained relations with certain foreign countries.
• U.S. Government Securities Risk: the risk that debt securitiesissued or guaranteed by certain U.S. government agencies,instrumentalities, and sponsored enterprises are not sup-ported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government,and as a result, investments in their securities or obligationsissued by such entities involve credit risk greater thaninvestments in other types of U.S. government securities.
• Leverage Risk: the risk that leverage may result from certaintransactions, including the use of derivatives and borrow-ing. This may impair the Fund’s liquidity, cause it to liqui-date positions at an unfavorable time, increase its volatilityor otherwise cause it not to achieve its intended result. Tothe extent required by applicable law or regulation, theFund will reduce leverage risk by either segregating anequal amount of liquid assets or “covering” the trans-actions that introduce such risk.
• Counterparty Risk: the risk that the other party to a con-tract, such as a derivatives contract, may not fulfill its con-tractual obligations.
• Derivatives Risk: the risk of investing in derivative instru-ments, which includes liquidity, interest rate, market, creditand management risks as well as risks related to mispric-ing or improper valuation. Changes in the value of aderivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlyingasset, reference rate or index, and the Fund could losemore than the principal amount invested. These invest-ments can create investment leverage and may create addi-tional risks that may subject the Fund to greater volatilityand less liquidity than investments in more traditionalsecurities.
• Swap Agreements Risk: the risk of investing in swaps,which, in addition to risks applicable to derivatives gen-erally, includes: (1) the inability to assign a swap contractwithout the consent of the counterparty; (2) potentialdefault of the counterparty to a swap for those not tradedthrough a central counterparty; (3) absence of a liquidsecondary market for any particular swap at any time; and(4) possible inability of the Fund to close out a swap trans-action at a time that otherwise would be favorable for it todo so.
• Futures Contracts Risk: the risk of investing in futures con-tracts, which includes (1) the imperfect correlation betweena futures contract and the change in market value of theunderlying instrument held by the Fund; (2) a high degreeof leverage because of the low collateral deposits normallyinvolved in futures trading; (3) possible lack of a liquidsecondary market for a futures contract and the resultinginability to close a futures contract when desired; (4) lossescaused by unanticipated market movements, which arepotentially unlimited; and (5) the inability of the Fund toexecute a trade because of the maximum permissible pricemovements exchanges may impose on futures contracts.
• Junk Bond Risk: the risk that junk bonds have a higherdegree of default risk and may be less liquid and subject togreater price volatility than investment grade bonds.
• Unrated Securities Risk: the risk that unrated securitiesmay be less liquid than comparable rated securities, andthe risk that the Adviser may not accurately evaluate thesecurity’s comparative credit rating.
• Short Sales Risk: the risk that the use of short sales, whichare speculative investments, may cause the Fund to losemoney if the value of a security does not go down as theAdviser expects. The risk of loss is theoretically unlimited ifthe value of the security sold short continues to increase. In
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addition, the use of borrowing and short sales may causethe Fund to have higher expenses (especially interest anddividend expenses) than those of other mutual funds thatdo not engage in short sales.
• Foreign Investing Risk: the risk that Fund share prices mayfluctuate with market conditions, currency exchange ratesand the economic and political climates of the foreigncountries in which the Fund invests or has exposure.Investments in foreign securities may involve greater risksthan investing in U.S. securities due to, among other fac-tors, less publicly available information, less stringent andless uniform accounting, auditing and financial reportingstandards, less liquid and more volatile markets, highertransaction and custody costs, additional taxes, lessinvestor protection, delayed or less frequent settlement,political or social instability, civil unrest, acts of terrorism,and regional economic volatility.
• Foreign Currency Risk: the risk that foreign currencies maydecline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and affect theFund’s investments in foreign currencies, in securities thatare denominated, trade and/or receive revenues in foreigncurrencies, or in derivatives that provide exposure to for-eign currencies.
• Emerging Markets Risk: the risk of investing in emergingmarket countries, which is substantial due to, among otherfactors, higher brokerage costs in certain countries; differ-ent accounting standards; thinner trading markets ascompared to those in developed countries; the possibilityof currency transfer restrictions; and the risk of expropria-tion, nationalization or other adverse political, economic orsocial developments.
• Non-U.S. Money Market Securities Risk: the risk of inves-ting in non-U.S. money market securities, which, in addi-tion to risks that are applicable to money market securitiesgenerally, such as credit risk and issuer risk, includes cur-rency risk and liquidity risk.
• Distressed and Defaulted Securities Risk: the risk that therepayment of defaulted securities and obligations of dis-tressed issuers is subject to significant uncertainties.
• Securities Selection Risk: the risk that the securities held bythe Fund may underperform those held by other fundsinvesting in the same asset class or included in bench-marks that are representative of the same asset classbecause of the portfolio managers’ choice of securities.
• Portfolio Management Risk: the risk that an investmentstrategy may fail to produce the intended results.
Please see “Principal Risks” and “Other Risks” for a moredetailed description of the risks of investing in the Fund.
Your investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is notinsured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation or any other government agency, entity, orperson.
Performance InformationThe following bar chart and table provide some indication ofthe risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart showschanges in the Fund’s performance from year to year. The barchart shows performance of the Fund’s Class M shares.Class M performance is lower than Class I and Plan Class andhigher than the Administrative Class because Class M hashigher expenses than Class I and Plan Class and lowerexpenses than the Administrative Class. The table comparesthe average annual total returns of the Fund to a broad-basedsecurities market index. Total returns would have been lowerif certain fees and expenses had not been waived orreimbursed. The inception dates of Class M shares, Class Ishares, Class I-2 shares, Administrative Class shares and PlanClass shares of the Fund are March 31, 1997, March 31, 2000,March 6, 2020, December 18, 2009 and July 29, 2011,respectively. The Fund’s past performance (before and aftertaxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund willperform in the future. Updated performance information forthe Fund is available on our website at www.tcw.com or bycalling (800) 241-4671.
Total Return Bond Fund – Class M SharesAnnual Total Returns for Years Ended 12/31
’10 ’15 ’16 ’17 ’19’18’11 ’12 ’13 ’14
11.53%
3.10%8.94%
-0.06%
5.20%11.41%
0.20%5.83%
-0.05%
2.32%
Year-to-Date Total Return of Class M Shares as of January 31,2020: 1.19%
Highest: 8.13% (quarter ended September 30, 2009)Lowest: -6.52% (quarter ended July 31, 2002)
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Average Annual Total Returns(For Periods Ended December 31, 2019)
Share Class 1 Year 5 Years 10 YearsSince
Inception
M – Before Taxes 8.95% 2.80% 4.76% 6.09%- After Taxes onDistributions 7.49% 1.67% 3.34% 3.94%
- After Taxes onDistributions andSale of Fund Shares 5.33% 1.65% 3.14% 3.85%
I – Before Taxes 9.09% 3.03% 4.98% 5.94%I-2 – Before Taxes N/A N/A N/A N/AAdministrative – Before
Taxes 8.70% 2.68% 4.59% 4.49%Plan – Before Taxes 9.23% 3.11% N/A 4.08%Barclays Capital U.S.
Aggregate BondIndex 8.72% 3.05% 3.75% 5.20%
(Class I-2 Shares of the Fund have an inception date of March 6, 2020 andtherefore have no performance history as of the date of this Prospectus.)
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highestindividual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflectthe impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returnsdepend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ fromthose shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant toinvestors who hold their fund shares through tax-deferredarrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirementaccounts. After-tax returns are shown for only Class M Shares.After-tax returns for other classes will vary. In some cases,returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund sharesmay be higher than returns before taxes because the calcu-lations assume that the investor received a tax deduction forany loss incurred on the sale of the shares.
Investment AdviserMetropolitan West Asset Management, LLC.
Portfolio Managers
NameExperience
with the FundPrimary Title with
Investment Adviser
Tad Rivelle 23 Years Founding Partner,Chief Investment
Officer and GeneralistPortfolio Manager
Stephen M. Kane,CFA
23 Years Founding Partner andGeneralist Portfolio
Manager
Laird Landmann 23 Years Founding Partner andGeneralist Portfolio
Manager
Bryan T. Whalen,CFA
15 Years Generalist PortfolioManager
Other Important Information RegardingFund SharesFor more information about purchase and sale of Fundshares, tax information, and payments to broker-dealers andother financial intermediaries, please turn to the “Summary ofOther Important Information Regarding Fund Shares” atpage 12 of this prospectus.
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Metropolitan West Unconstrained Bond Fund
Investment ObjectiveThe Unconstrained Bond Fund seeks to provide investorswith positive long-term returns irrespective of general secu-rities market conditions.
Fees and Expenses of the FundThe table below describes the fees and expenses that you maypay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may payadditional fees to broker-dealers or other financial inter-mediaries for the purchase of Class I or Plan Class shares ofthe Fund.
Shareholder Fees (Fees paid directly from your investment)
None.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (Expenses that you payeach year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Total Annual FundOperating Expenses 1.03% 0.75% 0.69%1 The Plan Class shares are a new class of shares of the Fund with an
inception date of March 6, 2020, and therefore the operating expensesshown for this class are based on anticipated fees and expenses for thecurrent fiscal year.
2 The Fund is authorized to compensate broker-dealers and other third-party intermediaries up to 0.10% (10 basis points) of the M andI Class assets serviced by those intermediaries for shareholder services.
ExampleThis example is intended to help you compare the cost ofinvesting in the Fund with the cost of investing in othermutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeemall of your shares at the end of those periods. The examplealso assumes that your investment has a 5% return each yearand that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same.Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based onthese assumptions your costs would be:
1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 YearsClass M $105 $328 $569 $1,259Class I $77 $240 $417 $930Plan Class $70 $221 $384 $859
Portfolio TurnoverThe Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, whenit buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). Ahigher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transactioncosts and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares areheld in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflectedin annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affectthe Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year,the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 43% of the averagevalue of its portfolio.
Principal Investment StrategiesThe Fund pursues its objective by utilizing a flexible invest-ment approach that allocates investments across a range ofglobal investment opportunities related to credit, currenciesand interest rates. Satisfying the Fund’s objective wouldrequire it to achieve positive total returns over a full marketcycle, i.e., a period of time generally understood to be con-tained between two consecutive periods of heightened defaultactivity within the global fixed income markets. Total returnincludes income and capital gains.
The use of the term “unconstrained” in the Fund’s namemeans that it is not limited by the types of investments in aparticular securities index. The Fund is not managed to becompared to any such index. The Fund also is unconstrainedin the sense that it is not limited to any single type of invest-ment strategy.
The portfolio management team evaluates each investmentidea based on the team’s view of, among other factors, itspotential return, its risk level and how it fits within the Fund’soverall portfolio in determining whether to buy or sell invest-ments. The Adviser allocates the Fund’s assets in responseto, among other considerations, changing market, financial,economic, and political factors and events that the Fund’sportfolio managers believe may affect the values of the Fund’sinvestments. The allocation of capital to sectors and secu-rities within each sector in the Fund is driven primarily by theAdviser’s assessment of relative value offered by each sectorand security, respectively.
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The Adviser seeks to actively manage the Fund’s risks on anon-going basis to mitigate the risks of excessive losses by theportfolio overall. In managing portfolio risk, the Adviser takesinto consideration its view of the following factors, amongothers: the potential relative performance of various marketsectors, security selection available within a given sector, therisk/reward equation for different asset classes, liquidity con-ditions in various market sectors, the shape of the yield curveand projections for changes in the yield curve, potentialfluctuations in the overall level of interest rates, and currentmonetary and fiscal policy.
The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80%of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment pur-poses, in securities and instruments it regards as bonds inthe U.S. and abroad, including emerging markets, and maypurchase securities of varying maturities issued by domesticand foreign corporations and governments. A bond is a secu-rity or instrument having one or more of the following charac-teristics: a fixed-income security, a security issued at adiscount to its face value, a security that pays interest or asecurity with a stated principal amount that requires repay-ment of some or all of that principal amount to the holder ofthe security. The term “bond” is interpreted broadly by theAdviser as an instrument or security evidencing a promise topay some amount rather than evidencing the corporateownership of equity, unless that equity represents an indirector derivative interest in one or more bonds. The Fund mayinvest in both investment grade and high yield fixed incomesecurities (commonly known as “junk bonds”), subject toinvesting no more than 50% of its total assets (measured atthe time of investment) in securities rated below investmentgrade by Moody’s, S&P or Fitch, or, if unrated, determined bythe Adviser to be of comparable quality. Under normalcircumstances, the average portfolio duration of the fixed-income portion of the Fund’s portfolio will vary from negativethree (-3) years to positive eight (8) years. Duration is ameasure of the expected life of a fixed income security that isused to determine the sensitivity of a security to changes ininterest rates. As a separate measure, there is no limit on theweighted average maturity of the Fund’s portfolio.
The Fund may invest, to the maximum extent permitted byapplicable law, in foreign securities, and up to 50% of theFund’s total assets may be invested in emerging markets andinstruments that are economically tied to emerging marketcountries. The Fund considers emerging market countries toinclude all of the countries in the J.P. Morgan EmergingMarket Bond Index (EMBI) Global Diversified, the J.P. Mor-gan Corporate Emerging Market Bond Index (CEMBI) Broad
Diversified, the J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM), the MSCI Emerging MarketsIndex and the MSCI Frontier Markets Index. Instrumentsconsidered to be economically tied to emerging market coun-tries include, without limitation, those that are principallytraded in an emerging market country, or those that areissued by: (i) an issuer organized under the laws of or main-taining a principal place of business in an emerging marketcountry, (ii) an issuer that derives or is expected to derive50% or more of its total revenues, earnings or profits frombusiness activity in an emerging market country, or thatmaintains or is expected to maintain 50% or more of itsemployees, assets, investments or operations in an emergingmarket country, or (iii) a governmental or quasi-governmentalentity of an emerging market country. The emerging marketfixed-income securities in which the Fund may invest are notsubject to any minimum credit quality standards, so long asthe value of those investments does not cause the Fund toexceed its limit on investments in securities rated belowinvestment grade.
The Fund normally limits its foreign currency exposure (fromnon-U.S. dollar-denominated securities or currencies) to 40%of its total assets. The Fund reserves the right to hedge itsexposure to foreign currencies to reduce the risk of loss fromfluctuations in currency exchange rates, but is under noobligation to do so under any circumstances.
The Fund may invest in derivative instruments, primarilycurrency and other futures, forward contracts, options, andswap agreements (typically interest rate swaps, index-linkedswaps, total return swaps and credit default swaps).Derivatives are used in an effort to hedge investments, for riskmanagement or to increase income or gains for the Fund.The Fund may invest up to 10% of its total assets in preferredstock and up to 5% in common stock of domestic and foreigncompanies.
The Fund may sell securities and other instruments shortprovided that not more than 25% of its net assets is held ascollateral for those transactions.
Principal RisksBecause the Fund holds securities with fluctuating marketprices, the value of the Fund’s shares will vary as its portfoliosecurities increase or decrease in value. Therefore, the valueof your investment in the Fund could go down as well as up.You can lose money by investing in the Fund.
7
The principal risks affecting the Fund that can cause a declinein value are:
• Debt Securities Risk: the risk that the value of a debt secu-rity may increase or decrease as a result of various factors,including changes in interest rates, actual or perceivedinability or unwillingness of issuers to make principal orinterest payments, market fluctuations and illiquidity in thedebt securities market.
• Market Risk: the risk that returns from the securities inwhich the Fund invests may underperform returns from thegeneral securities markets or other types of securities.
• Interest Rate Risk: the risk that debt securities may declinein value because of changes in interest rates.
• Credit Risk: the risk that an issuer may default in the pay-ment of principal and/or interest on a security.
• Price Volatility Risk: the risk that the value of the Fund’sinvestment portfolio will change as the prices of itsinvestments go up or down.
• Issuer Risk: the risk that the value of a security may declinefor reasons directly related to the issuer, such as manage-ment performance, financial leverage and reduced demandfor the issuer’s goods or services.
• Liquidity Risk: the risk that lack of a ready market orrestrictions on resale may limit the ability of the Fund tosell a security at an advantageous time or price. In addition,the Fund, by itself or together with other accounts man-aged by the Adviser, may hold a position in a security thatis large relative to the typical trading volume for that secu-rity, which can make it difficult for the Fund to dispose ofthe position at an advantageous time or price. Over recentyears, the fixed-income markets have grown more than theability of dealers to make markets, which can further con-strain liquidity and increase the volatility of portfolio valu-ations. High levels of redemptions in bond funds inresponse to market conditions could cause greater lossesas a result. Regulations such as the Volcker Rule or futureregulations may further constrain the ability of market par-ticipants to create liquidity, particularly in times ofincreased market volatility. The liquidity of the Fund’sassets may change over time.
• Valuation Risk: the risk that the portfolio instruments maybe sold at prices different from the values established bythe Fund, particularly for investments that trade in lowvolume, in volatile markets or over the counter or that arefair valued.
• Prepayment Risk: the risk that in times of declining interestrates, the Fund’s higher yielding securities may be prepaid
and the Fund may have to replace them with securitieshaving a lower yield.
• Extension Risk: the risk that in times of rising interest rates,borrowers may pay off their debt obligations more slowly,causing securities considered short- or intermediate-termto become longer-term securities that fluctuate morewidely in response to changes in interest rates thanshorter-term securities.
• Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk: the risk of investing inmortgage-backed securities, including prepayment risk andextension risk. Mortgage-backed securities react differentlyto changes in interests rates than other bonds, and somemortgage-backed securities are not backed by the full faithand credit of the U.S. government.
• Asset-Backed Securities Risk: the risk of investing in asset-backed securities, including the risk of loss as a result ofthe impairment of the value of the underlying financialassets, prepayment risk and extension risk. Issuers ofasset-backed securities may have limited ability to enforcethe security interest in the underlying assets, and creditenhancements provided to support the asset-backed secu-rities, if any, may be inadequate to protect investors in theevent of default.
• U.S. Government Securities Risk: the risk that debt secu-rities issued or guaranteed by certain U.S. governmentagencies, instrumentalities, and sponsored enterprises arenot supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S.government, and as a result, investments in securities orobligations issued by such entities involve credit riskgreater than investments in other types of U.S. governmentsecurities.
• Junk Bond Risk: the risk that junk bonds have a higherdegree of default risk and may be less liquid and subject togreater price volatility than investment grade bonds.
• Unrated Securities Risk: the risk that unrated securitiesmay be less liquid than comparable rated securities, andthe risk that the Adviser may not accurately evaluate thesecurity’s comparative credit rating.
• Derivatives Risk: the risk of investing in derivative instru-ments, which includes liquidity, interest rate, market, creditand management risks as well as risks related to mispricingor improper valuation. Changes in the value of a derivativemay not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, refer-ence rate or index, and the Fund could lose more than theprincipal amount invested. These investments can createinvestment leverage and may create additional risks that maysubject the Fund to greater volatility and less liquidity thaninvestments in more traditional securities.
8
• Futures Contracts Risk: the risk of investing in futures con-tracts, which includes (1) the imperfect correlation betweena futures contract and the change in market value of theunderlying instrument held by the Fund; (2) a high degreeof leverage because of the low collateral deposits normallyinvolved in futures trading; (3) possible lack of a liquidsecondary market for a futures contract and the resultinginability to close a futures contract when desired; (4) lossescaused by unanticipated market movements, which arepotentially unlimited; and (5) the inability of the Fund toexecute a trade because of the maximum permissible pricemovements exchanges may impose on futures contracts.
• Swap Agreements Risk: the risk of investing in swaps,which, in addition to risks applicable to derivatives gen-erally, includes: (1) the inability to assign a swap contractwithout the consent of the counterparty; (2) potentialdefault of the counterparty to a swap for those not tradedthrough a central counterparty; (3) absence of a liquidsecondary market for any particular swap at any time; and(4) possible inability of the Fund to close out a swap trans-action at a time that otherwise would be favorable for it todo so.
• Leverage Risk: the risk that leverage may result from certaintransactions, including the use of derivatives and borrow-ing. This may impair the Fund’s liquidity, cause it to liqui-date positions at an unfavorable time, increase its volatilityor otherwise cause it not to achieve its intended result. Tothe extent required by applicable law or regulation, theFund will reduce leverage risk by either segregating anequal amount of liquid assets or “covering” the trans-actions that introduce such risk.
• Counterparty Risk: the risk that the other party to a con-tract, such as a derivatives contract, may not fulfill its con-tractual obligations.
• Short Sales Risk: the risk that the use of short sales, whichare speculative investments, may cause the Fund to losemoney if the value of a security does not go down as theAdviser expects. The risk of loss is theoretically unlimited ifthe value of the security sold short continues to increase. Inaddition, the use of borrowing and short sales may causethe Fund to have higher expenses (especially interest anddividend expenses) than those of other mutual funds thatdo not engage in short sales.
• Foreign Investing Risk: the risk that Fund share prices willfluctuate with market conditions, currency exchange ratesand the economic and political climates of the foreigncountries in which the Fund invests or has exposure.
Investments in foreign securities may involve greater risksthan investing in U.S. securities due to, among other fac-tors, less publicly available information, less stringent andless uniform accounting, auditing and financial reportingstandards, less liquid and more volatile markets, highertransaction and custody costs, additional taxes, lessinvestor protection, delayed or less frequent settlement,political or social instability, civil unrest, acts of terrorism,and regional economic volatility.
• Foreign Currency Risk: the risk that foreign currencies maydecline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and affect theFund’s investments in foreign currencies, in securities thatare denominated, trade, and/or receive revenues in foreigncurrencies, or in derivatives that provide exposure to for-eign currencies.
• Emerging Markets Risk: the risk of investing in emergingmarket countries, which is substantial due to, among otherfactors, higher brokerage costs in certain countries; differ-ent accounting standards; thinner trading markets ascompared to those in developed countries; the possibilityof currency transfer restrictions; and the risk of expropria-tion, nationalization or other adverse political, economic orsocial developments.
• Sovereign Debt Risk: the risk that investments in debt obli-gations of sovereign governments may lose value due tothe government entity’s unwillingness or inability to repayprincipal and interest when due in accordance with theterms of the debt or otherwise in a timely manner. TheFund may have limited (or no) recourse in the event of adefault because bankruptcy, moratorium and other similarlaws applicable to issuers of sovereign debt obligationsmay be substantially different from those applicable toprivate issuers and any recourse may be subject to thepolitical climate in the relevant country.
• Equity Risk: the risk that stocks and other equity securitiesgenerally fluctuate in value more than bonds and maydecline in value over short or extended periods as a resultof changes in a company’s financial condition or in overallmarket, economic and political conditions.
• Distressed and Defaulted Securities Risk: the risk that therepayment of defaulted securities and obligations of dis-tressed issuers is subject to significant uncertainties.
• Securities Selection Risk: the risk that the securities held bythe Fund may underperform those held by other fundsinvesting in the same asset class or those included inbenchmarks that are representative of the same asset classbecause of the portfolio managers’ choice of securities.
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• Portfolio Management Risk: the risk that an investmentstrategy may fail to produce the intended results. Also,because the Fund may use multiple investment strategies,it may use a strategy that produces a less favorable resultthan would have been produced by another strategy.
Please see “Principal Risks” and “Other Risks” for a moredetailed description of the risks of investing in the Fund.
Your investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and isnot insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation or any other government agency, entity, orperson.
Performance InformationThe following bar chart and table provide some indication ofthe risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart showschanges in the Fund’s performance from year to year. The barchart shows performance of the Fund’s Class M shares.Class M performance is lower than Class I performancebecause Class I has lower expenses than Class M. The tablecompares the average annual total returns of the Fund to abroad-based securities market index. Total returns wouldhave been lower if certain fees and expenses had not beenwaived or reimbursed. The inception date of Class M sharesand Class I shares of the Fund is October 1, 2011. Theinception date for the Plan Class shares is March 6, 2020. TheFund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is notnecessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in thefuture. Updated performance information for the Fund isavailable on our website at www.tcw.com or by calling(800) 241-4671.
Unconstrained Bond Fund – Class M SharesAnnual Total Returns for Year Ended 12/31
’15 ’16 ’17 ’19’18’12 ’13 ’14
3.66% 0.67%6.17%
15.77%
2.88% 3.36%
-0.03%
3.50%
Year-to-Date Total Return of Class M Shares as of January 31,2020: 0.75%
Highest: 8.34% (quarter ended December 31, 2011)Lowest: -0.94% (quarter ended June 30, 2013)
Average Annual Total Returns(For Periods Ended December 31, 2019)
Share Class 1 Year 5 YearsSince
Inception
M – Before Taxes 6.17% 2.77% 5.28%- After Taxes onDistributions 4.62% 1.59% 4.01%
- After Taxes onDistributions and Sale ofFund Shares 3.64% 1.59% 3.58%
I – Before Taxes 6.48% 3.08% 5.56%Plan – Before Taxes N/A N/A N/ABofA Merrill Lynch U.S.
LIBOR 3-Month AverageIndex 2.49% 1.38% 0.97%
(Plan Class Shares of the Fund have an inception date of March 6, 2020 andtherefore have no performance history as of the date of this Prospectus.)
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highestindividual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflectthe impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returnsdepend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ fromthose shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant toinvestors who hold their fund shares through tax-deferredarrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirementaccounts. After-tax returns are shown for only Class M Shares.After-tax returns for other classes will vary. In some cases,returns after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund sharesmay be higher than returns before taxes because the calcu-lations assume that the investor received a tax deduction forany loss incurred on the sale of the shares.
Investment AdviserMetropolitan West Asset Management, LLC.
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Portfolio Managers
NameExperience
with the FundPrimary Title with
Investment Adviser
Tad Rivelle 8 Years Founding Partner,Chief Investment
Officer and GeneralistPortfolio Manager
Stephen M. Kane,CFA
8 Years Founding Partner andGeneralist Portfolio
Manager
Laird Landmann 8 Years Founding Partner andGeneralist Portfolio
Manager
Bryan T. Whalen,CFA
8 Years Generalist PortfolioManager
Other Important Information RegardingFund SharesFor more information about purchase and sale of Fundshares, tax information, and payments to broker-dealers andother financial intermediaries, please turn to the “Summary ofOther Important Information Regarding Fund Shares” atpage 12 of this prospectus.
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Summary of Other Important InformationRegarding Fund Shares
Purchase and Sale of Fund SharesYou may purchase or redeem shares of the Funds on anybusiness day (normally any day that the New York StockExchange is open). Generally, purchase and redemptionorders for shares of the Funds are processed at the net assetvalue next calculated after an order is received by the Fund.You may conduct transactions by mail (Metropolitan WestFunds, c/o BNY Mellon Investment Servicing, P.O. Box 9793,Providence, RI 02940), or by telephone at (800) 241-4671. Youmay also purchase or redeem shares of the Funds throughyour dealer or financial advisor. Plan Class shares offered bythe Total Return Bond Fund and the Unconstrained BondFund are intended for retirement plans, including definedbenefit and defined contribution plans (which may includeparticipant-directed plans).
Purchase Minimums for Each Share ClassThe following table provides the minimum initial and sub-sequent investment requirements for each share class. Theminimums may be reduced or waived in some cases. Abroker-dealer or other financial intermediary may require ahigher minimum initial investment, or may aggregate orcombine accounts in order to allow its customers to apply alower minimum investment.
Plan ClassRegular Accounts (DefinedBenefit and DefinedContribution Plans) . . . . . . . . . . $25,000,000 $50,000
Tax InformationDividends and capital gains distributions you receive from theFund are subject to federal income taxes and may also besubject to state and local taxes, unless you are investingthrough a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan oran individual retirement account. Such tax-deferred arrange-ments may be taxed later upon withdrawal from thosearrangements.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other FinancialIntermediariesIf you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer orother financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and/or the Adviser may, directly or through the Fund’s principalunderwriter, pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund sharesand related services. These payments may create a conflict ofinterest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediaryand your salesperson to recommend the Fund over anotherinvestment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financialintermediary’s website for more information.
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Additional Fund Information
GeneralInformation about each Fund’s investment objective, princi-pal investment strategies, investment practices and principalrisk factors appears in the relevant summary section for eachFund at the beginning of the Prospectus. Each Fund’sinvestment objective is fundamental and cannot be changedwithout shareholder approval. The information belowdescribes in greater detail the investments, investmentpractices and other risks pertinent to the Funds. Some of theFunds may use the investment strategies discussed belowmore than other Funds.
Principal Investment StrategiesThe Funds have adopted a policy to provide a Fund’s share-holders with at least 60 days’ prior notice of any change in theprincipal investment strategies of that Fund.
Each Fund may engage in defensive investing, which is a delib-erate, temporary shift in portfolio strategy that may be under-taken when markets start behaving in volatile or unusual ways.Each Fund may, for temporary defensive purposes, invest asubstantial part of its assets in bonds of U.S. or foreigngovernments, certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances,high-grade commercial paper, repurchase agreements, moneymarket funds and cash. When a Fund has invested defensivelyin low risk, low return securities, it may not achieve itsinvestment objectives. References to minimum credit ratingsor quality for securities apply to the time of investment.Downgrades do not require disposition of a holding.
The Funds each invest in a diversified portfolio of fixed-income securities of varying maturities with a different portfo-lio “duration.” Duration is a measure of the expected life of afixed-income security that was developed as a more precisealternative to the concept of “term to maturity.” Durationincorporates a bond’s yield, coupon interest payments, finalmaturity, call and put features and prepayment exposure intoone measure. Traditionally, a fixed-income security’s “term tomaturity” has been used to determine the sensitivity of thesecurity’s price to changes in interest rates (which is the“interest rate risk” or “volatility” of the security). However,“term to maturity” measures only the time until a fixed-income security provides its final payment, taking no accountof the pattern of the security’s payments prior to maturity.Duration is used in the management of the Funds as a tool tomeasure interest rate risk. For example, a Fund with a
portfolio duration of 2 years would be expected to change invalue 2% for every 1% move in interest rates. For a moredetailed discussion of duration, see “Securities and Tech-niques used by the Funds — Duration” in the Statement ofAdditional Information.
Total Return Bond FundThe Fund invests in a diversified portfolio of fixed-income secu-rities of varying maturities issued by domestic and foreigncorporations and governments (and their agencies andinstrumentalities) with a portfolio duration of two to eight yearsunder normal circumstances. The meaning of “duration” isexplained under “Additional Fund Information — PrincipalInvestment Strategies.” The dollar-weighted average maturityof the Fund’s portfolio ranges from two to fifteen years. TheFund’s portfolio investments may include bonds, notes,mortgage-related and asset-backed securities (including collat-eralized debt obligations, which in turn include collateralizedbond obligations and collateralized loan obligations), bankloans, U.S. and non-U.S. money market securities, municipalsecurities, swaps (including credit default swaps) and otherderivatives (including futures, options and forward contracts),private placements, defaulted debt securities and Rule 144ASecurities. The Fund’s fixed income investments may haveinterest rates that are fixed, variable or floating.
The Adviser focuses the Fund’s portfolio holdings in areas ofthe bond market that the Adviser believes to be relativelyundervalued, based on its analysis of quality, sector, couponor maturity, and that the Adviser believes offer attractiveprospective risk-adjusted returns compared to other seg-ments of the bond market.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80%of its net assets in investment grade securities (i.e., debtsecurities rated at least Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service,Inc. (“Moody’s”), BBB- by S&P or BBB- by Fitch, or A-2 byS&P Global Ratings (“S&P”), P-2 by Moody’s or F-2 by FitchRatings, Inc. (“Fitch”) for short-term debt obligations, orunrated securities determined by the Adviser to be of com-parable quality). Up to 20% of the Fund’s net assets may beinvested in securities rated below investment grade orunrated securities determined by the Adviser to be ofcomparable quality. The Fund also invests, under normalcircumstances, at least 80% of its net assets, plus anyborrowings for investment purposes, in fixed income secu-rities it regards as bonds.
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The Fund may invest up to 25% of its assets in foreign secu-rities that are denominated in U.S. dollars. The Fund mayinvest up to 15% of its assets in securities of foreign issuersthat are not denominated in U.S. dollars. The Fund mayinvest up to 10% of its assets in emerging market securities.The Fund may invest in securities issued by entities in anycountry or region. The Fund reserves the right to hedge itsexposure to foreign currencies to reduce the risk of loss dueto fluctuations in currency exchange rates, but normally doesnot do so.
The Fund may invest in futures and options and may investup to 15% of its total assets in premiums and margins onderivative instruments such as futures and options. The Fundmay borrow from banks and or other financial institutions orthrough reverse repurchase agreements. The Fund may alsoseek to obtain similar or alternative market exposure to thesecurities in which it directly invests by instead using otherinvestment techniques such as derivatives, repurchaseagreements, reverse repurchase agreements, and dollar rolls.Please see “Securities and Techniques Used by the Funds” inthe Statement of Additional Information for additionalinformation regarding those investment types.
The Fund may normally short sell up to 25% of the value ofits total assets. The Adviser normally sells debt or equitysecurities “short” that the Adviser believes will underperformcomparable securities, drawing on analyses of earnings, tim-ing, pricing, or other factors.
Unconstrained Bond FundIn addition to the investment techniques and types of invest-ments described in the summary section of this prospectus,the Fund may also pursue its investment objective asdescribed below. Because this Fund is not constrained by thecharacteristics or performance of any particular securitiesindex or by any specific investment strategy, there can be noassurances as to which types of investments or strategies willbe emphasized at any particular time.
The Fund employs an absolute return type of investmentapproach. This means that the Fund typically compares itsperformance against short-term cash instruments, adjustingto compensate for the amount of investment risk assumed.Relative return strategies, by contrast, seek to outperform adesignated stock, bond or other market index, and measuretheir performance primarily in relation to that type of bench-mark index. The intent is that, over time, the investment per-formance of absolute return strategies typically should besubstantially independent of longer term movements in the
stock and bond market. In making investment decisions onbehalf of the Fund, the Adviser uses a variety of techniquessuch as a fundamental asset valuation model, quantitativeportfolio optimization and risk management techniques. TheAdviser seeks to invest in sectors of the markets that itbelieves offer the best risk adjusted returns and to managethe targeted volatility of the Fund. Certain investment tech-niques such as buying/selling options and futures, swaps andother derivatives may also be employed in an effort to reducethe Fund’s volatility.
The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80%of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment pur-poses, in securities and instruments it regards as bonds inthe U.S. and abroad, including emerging markets, and maypurchase securities of varying maturities issued by domesticand foreign corporations and governments. A “bond” as usedin the name of the Fund is a security or instrument havingone or more of the following characteristics: a fixed-incomesecurity, a security issued at a discount to its face value, asecurity that pays interest or a security with a stated principalamount that requires repayment of some or all of that princi-pal amount to the holder of the security. The term bond isinterpreted broadly by the Adviser as an instrument or secu-rity evidencing a promise to pay some amount rather thanevidencing the corporate ownership of equity, unless thatequity represents an indirect or derivative interest in one ormore bonds. Bonds for this purpose also include instrumentsthat are intended to provide one or more of the characteristicsof a direct investment in one or more bonds.
The Fund may invest up to 50% of its total assets (measuredat the time of investment) in securities rated below invest-ment grade by Moody’s, S&P or Fitch or unrated securitiesdetermined by the Adviser to be of comparable quality.
The Fund may use certain types of investments and investingtechniques that are described in more detail in the Statementof Additional Information.
The Fund may invest, to the maximum extent permitted byapplicable law, in securities of foreign issuers. The Fund’sforeign currency exposure (from investments in securities offoreign issuers that are not denominated in U.S. dollars) isnormally limited to a maximum of 40% of the Fund’s totalassets. The Fund may invest up to 50% of its total assets inemerging market securities. The Fund may invest in securitiesissued by entities in any country or region. The emergingmarket fixed income securities in which the Fund may investare not subject to any minimum credit quality standards, so
14
long as the value of those investments does not cause theFund to exceed its limit on investments in securities ratedbelow investment grade.
The Fund may sell securities and other instruments shortprovided that not more than 25% of its net assets is held ascollateral for those transactions. The Adviser normally sellsdebt or equity securities “short” that the Adviser believes willunderperform comparable securities, drawing on analyses ofearnings, timing, pricing, or other factors.
The Fund invests in a diversified portfolio of fixed-incomesecurities of varying maturities issued by domestic and for-eign corporations and governments (and their agencies andinstrumentalities) with the average portfolio duration of thefixed-income portion of the Fund’s portfolio varying fromnegative three (-3) years to positive eight (8) years undernormal circumstances. The meaning of “duration” isexplained under “Additional Fund Information — PrincipalInvestment Strategies.” There is no limit on the weightedaverage maturity of the Fund’s portfolio.
The Fund may enter into various types of swap agreements asnoted previously. These can include, for example, credit
default, interest rate, total return, index and currency exchangerate swap agreements. These transactions attempt to obtain aparticular return when it is considered desirable to do so,possibly at a lower cost to a Fund than if the Fund hadinvested directly in an instrument that yielded that desiredreturn. Swap agreements are two-party contracts entered intoprimarily by institutional investors, where there is any agree-ment to exchange the returns on particular investments.Whether a Fund’s use of swap agreements will be successfulin furthering its investment objectives will depend on theAdviser’s ability to predict correctly whether certain types ofinvestments are likely to produce greater returns than otherinvestments. Credit default swaps involve parties effectivelybuying or selling protection with respect to whether an eventof default by a selected entity (or entities) will occur. Interestrate swaps involve the exchange of interest payments by theFund with another party, such as an exchange of floating ratepayments for fixed interest rate payments. A total return swapis the generic name for any swap where one party agrees topay the other the “total return” of a defined underlying asset,usually in return for receiving a stream of cash flows. Totalreturn swaps are most commonly used with equity indices,single stocks, bonds and defined portfolios of loans andmortgages.
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Principal Risks
All the Funds are affected by changes in the economy, or insecurities and other markets. There is also the possibility thatinvestment decisions the Adviser makes with respect to theinvestments of the Funds will not accomplish what they weredesigned to achieve or that the investments will have dis-appointing performance.
Risk is the chance that you will lose money on your invest-ment or that it will not earn as much as you expect. In gen-eral, the greater the risk, the more money your investmenthas the potential to earn for you — and the more you canlose. Because the Funds hold securities with fluctuatingmarket prices, the value of each Fund’s shares will vary as itsportfolio securities increase or decrease in value. Therefore,the value of your investment in a Fund could go down as wellas up.
Your investment in a Fund is not a bank deposit, and it is notinsured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation or any other government agency, entity, or per-son. You can lose money by investing in a Fund. When yousell your shares of a Fund, they could be worth more or lessthan what you paid for them.
The following tables summarize the principal risks of investingin each Fund. Your Investment In A Fund May Be Subject (inVarying Degrees) To These Risks As Well As Other Risks. EachFund May Be More Susceptible To Some Of The Risks ThanOthers. Risks not marked for a particular Fund may, however,still apply to some extent to that Fund at various times.
Asset-Backed Securities RiskAsset-backed securities are bonds or notes backed by a dis-crete pool of financial assets such as credit card receivables,automobile receivables and student loans. The impairment ofthe value of the financial assets underlying an asset-backedsecurity, such as the non-payment of loans, may result in areduction in the value of such asset-backed security. Certainasset-backed securities do not have the benefit of the samesecurity interest in the underlying financial assets as domortgage-backed securities, nor are they provided govern-ment guarantees of repayment. Accordingly, issuers of asset-backed securities may have limited ability to enforce thesecurity interest in the underlying assets, and creditenhancements provided to support the asset-backed secu-rities, if any, may be inadequate to protect investors in theevent of default. For example, credit card receivables aregenerally unsecured, and the debtors are entitled to the pro-tection of a number of state and federal consumer credit laws,many of which give such debtors the right to set off certainamounts owed on the credit cards, thereby reducing the bal-ance due. In addition, some issuers of automobile receivablespermit the servicers to retain possession of the underlyingobligations. If the servicer were to sell these obligations toanother party, there is a risk that the purchaser would acquirean interest superior to that of the holders of the relatedautomobile receivables. Asset-backed securities are also
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subject to prepayment risk in a declining interest rateenvironment and extension risk in a rising interest rateenvironment.
Certain Funds may invest in collateralized debt obligations(“CDOs”), which are debt instruments backed solely by apool of other debt securities. CDOs include collateralizedbond obligations (“CBOs”), collateralized loan obligations(“CLOs”) and other similarly structured securities. CBOs andCLOs are types of asset-backed securities. A CBO is a trusttypically collateralized by a diversified pool of high-risk, belowinvestment grade fixed income securities. A CLO is a trusttypically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include,among others, domestic and foreign senior secured loans,senior unsecured loans, and subordinate corporate loans, andmay include loans that are rated below investment grade orequivalent unrated loans. CDOs may charge managementfees and administrative expenses.
The risks of an investment in a CBO, CLO, or other CDOdepend largely on the type of the collateral securities (whichwould have the risks described elsewhere in this Prospectusfor that type of security) and the class of the CBO, CLO orother CDO in which a Fund invests. Some CBOs, CLOs andother CDOs have credit ratings, but are typically issued invarious classes with various priorities. Normally, CBOs, CLOsand other CDOs are privately offered and sold (that is, notregistered under the federal securities laws) and may becharacterized by a Fund as illiquid securities, but an activedealer market may exist for CBOs, CLOs and other CDOs thatqualify for Rule 144A transactions. In addition to the normalinterest rate, default and other risks of fixed income securitiesdiscussed elsewhere in this Prospectus, CBOs, CLOs andother CDOs carry additional risks, including the possibilitythat distributions from collateral securities will not beadequate to make interest or other payments, the collateralmay decline in value or default, a Fund may invest in CBOs,CLOs or other CDOs that are subordinate to other classes,volatility in values, and the complex structure of the securitymay not be fully understood at the time of investment, whichmay result in disputes with the issuer or produce unexpectedinvestment results.
Counterparty RiskCounterparty risk refers to the risk that the other party to acontract, such as individually negotiated or over-the-counterderivatives (e.g., swap agreements that are not centrallycleared and participations in loan obligations), will not fulfillits contractual obligations, which may cause losses or addi-tional costs to a Fund or cause a Fund to experience delays inrecovering its assets.
Credit RiskCredit risk refers to the risk that an issuer may default in thepayment of principal and/or interest on a security. Financialstrength and solvency of an issuer are the primary factorsinfluencing credit risk. In addition, lack of or inadequacy ofcollateral or credit enhancements for a fixed income securitymay affect its credit risk. Credit risk of a security may changeover time, and securities which are rated by ratings agenciesare often reviewed and may be subject to downgrade. How-ever, ratings are only opinions of the agencies issuing themand are not absolute guarantees as to quality.
Debt Securities RiskDebt securities are subject to various risks. Debt securitiesare subject to two primary (but not exclusive) types of risk:credit risk and interest rate risk. These risks can affect a debtsecurity’s price volatility to varying degrees, depending uponthe nature of the instrument. Other factors, such as marketfluctuations and the depth and liquidity of the market for anindividual or class of debt security, can also affect the value ofa debt security and, hence, the market value of a Fund.
Derivatives RiskThe Funds may invest in derivatives, which are financialinstruments whose performance is derived, at least in part,from the performance of an underlying instrument, such as acurrency, security, commodity, interest rate or index. TheFunds invest in futures, options and swaps, but may useother types of financial derivatives. The various derivativeinstruments that the Funds may use are described in moredetail here and under “Derivative Instruments” in the State-ment of Additional Information. The Funds typically usederivatives as a substitute for directly investing in an under-lying asset and/or as part of a strategy designed to reduceexposure to other risks, such as interest rate or currency risk.The Funds also may use derivatives for leverage, in whichcase their use would involve leverage risk.
The Funds’ use of derivative instruments involves risks dif-ferent from, and possibly greater than, the risks associatedwith investing directly in securities and other traditionalinvestments. Derivatives are subject to a number of risksdescribed elsewhere in this section, such as liquidity risk,interest rate risk, market risk, credit risk and managementrisk. They also involve the risk of mispricing or impropervaluation and the risk that changes in the value of thederivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlyingasset, rate or index. If a Fund invests in a derivative instru-ment it could lose more than the principal amount invested.
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Also, suitable derivative transactions may not be available inall circumstances and there can be no assurance that a Fundwill engage in these transactions to reduce exposure to otherrisks when that would be beneficial.
The Funds’ participation in the options or futures markets, aswell as the use of various swap instruments, involves invest-ment risks and transaction costs to which a Fund would notbe subject absent the use of these strategies. If the Adviser’spredictions of movements in the direction of the securitiesand interest rate markets are inaccurate, the adverse con-sequences to a Fund may leave the Fund in a worse positionthan if such strategies were not used. Risks inherent in theuse of options, futures contracts and options on futures con-tracts include: (i) dependence on the Adviser’s ability to pre-dict correctly movements in the direction of interest rates andsecurities prices; (ii) imperfect correlation between the priceof options and futures contracts and options thereon andmovements in the prices of the securities being hedged;(iii) the fact that skills needed to use these strategies aredifferent from those needed to select portfolio securities;(iv) the absence of a liquid secondary market for any partic-ular instrument at any time; (v) the possible need to deferclosing out certain hedged positions to avoid adverse taxconsequences; and (vi) the possible inability of a Fund topurchase or sell a portfolio security at a time that otherwisewould be favorable for it to do so, or the possible need for aFund to sell the security at a disadvantageous time, due tothe requirement that the Fund maintain “cover” or collateralsecurities in connection with futures transactions and certainoptions. A Fund could lose the entire amount it invests infutures and other derivatives. The loss from investing in cer-tain derivatives is potentially unlimited. There also is noassurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for futurescontracts and options in which a Fund may invest. Each Fundlimits its investments in futures contracts so that the notionalvalue (meaning the stated contract value) of the futures con-tracts does not exceed the net assets of that Fund.Derivatives, such as swaps, forward contracts andnon-deliverable forward contracts, are subject to regulationunder the U.S. Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and ConsumerProtection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and other laws or regu-lations in Europe and other foreign jurisdictions. Under theDodd-Frank Act, certain derivatives have become subject tonew and increased margin requirements, which in somecases has increased the costs to the Funds of tradingderivatives and may reduce returns to shareholders in theFunds.
Distressed and Defaulted Securities RiskA security held by a Fund may default, or the issuer of a secu-rity held by a Fund may become distressed, after the Fund’sinvestment. The Flexible Income Fund, Floating Rate incomeFund, High Yield Bond Fund, Intermediate Bond Fund, LowDuration Bond Fund, Strategic Income Fund, Total ReturnBond Fund, and Unconstrained Bond Fund may invest insecurities that are distressed or defaulted at the time ofinvestment. Repayment of defaulted securities and obliga-tions of distressed issuers (including insolvent issuers orissuers in payment or covenant default, in workout orrestructuring or in bankruptcy or solvency proceedings) issubject to significant uncertainties. A Fund will generally notreceive interest payments on distressed or defaulted secu-rities and may incur costs to protect its investment. In addi-tion, distressed or defaulted securities involve the substantialrisk that principal will not be repaid. A Fund may incur addi-tional expenses to the extent it is required to seek recoveryupon a default in the payment of principal of or interest on itsportfolio holdings. In any reorganization or liquidation pro-ceeding relating to a portfolio company, a Fund may lose itsentire investment or may be required to accept cash or secu-rities with a value less than its original investment. Distressedor defaulted securities and any securities received in anexchange for such securities may be subject to restrictions onresale. Investments in defaulted securities and obligations ofdistressed issuers are considered speculative.
Emerging Markets RiskThe risks described under “Principal Risks — Foreign Inves-ting Risk” also apply to emerging market securities, and therisks of investing in emerging market countries tend to begreater as compared to the risks of investing in more devel-oped countries.
Investing in emerging and developing market countriesinvolves substantial risk due to, among other factors, higherbrokerage costs in certain countries; different accountingstandards; thinner trading markets as compared to those indeveloped countries; the possibility of currency transferrestrictions; and the risk of expropriation, nationalization orother adverse political, economic or social developments.
Political and economic structures in some emerging anddeveloping market countries may be undergoing significantevolution and rapid development, and such countries maylack the social, political and economic stability characteristicsof developed countries. Some of these countries have in thepast failed to recognize private property rights and have at
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times nationalized or expropriated the assets of privatecompanies. Such social, political and economic instabilitycould disrupt the financial markets in which the Funds investand adversely affect the value of their investment portfolios.
The securities markets of emerging and developing marketcountries can be substantially smaller, less developed, lessliquid and more volatile than the major securities markets inthe U.S. and other developed nations. The limited size ofmany securities markets in emerging and developing marketcountries and limited trading volume in issuers compared tothe volume in U.S. securities or securities of issuers in otherdeveloped countries could cause prices to be erratic for rea-sons other than factors that affect the quality of the securities.For example, limited market size may cause prices to beunduly influenced by traders who control large positions.Adverse publicity and investors’ perceptions, whether or notbased on fundamental analysis, may decrease the value andliquidity of portfolio securities, especially in these markets.
In addition, emerging and developing market countries’exchanges and broker-dealers are generally subject to lessgovernment and exchange regulation than their counterpartsin developed countries. Brokerage commissions, dealer con-cessions, custodial expenses and other transaction costs aregenerally higher in emerging and developing market countriesthan in developed countries. As a result, funds that invest inemerging and developing market countries generally haveoperating expenses that are higher than funds investing inmore established market regions.
Currencies of emerging and developing market countriesexperience devaluations relative to the U.S. dollar from timeto time. A devaluation of the currency in which investmentportfolio securities are denominated will negatively impact thevalue of those securities in U.S. dollar terms. Emerging anddeveloping market countries have and may in the futureimpose foreign currency controls and repatriation controls.
Equity RiskEquity securities may include common stock, preferred stockor other securities representing an ownership interest or theright to acquire an ownership interest in an issuer. Equity riskis the risk that stocks and other equity securities generallyfluctuate in value more than bonds and may decline in valueover short or extended periods. The value of stocks and otherequity securities may be affected by changes in an issuer’sfinancial condition, factors that affect a particular industry orindustries, such as labor shortages or an increase in pro-duction costs and competitive conditions within an industry,
or as a result of changes in overall market, economic andpolitical conditions that are not specifically related to a com-pany or industry, such as real or perceived adverse economicconditions, changes in the general outlook for corporate earn-ings, changes in interest or currency rates or generallyadverse investor sentiment.
Preferred Securities are subject to issuer-specific and marketrisks applicable generally to equity securities. Preferred secu-rities may pay fixed or adjustable rates of return. In addition, acompany’s preferred securities generally pay dividends onlyafter the company makes required payments to holders of itsbonds and other debt. For this reason, the value of preferredsecurities will usually react more strongly than bonds andother debt to actual or perceived changes in the company’sfinancial condition or prospects. Preferred securities ofsmaller companies may be more vulnerable to adverse devel-opments than preferred stock of larger companies.
Extension RiskExtension risk is the risk that in times of rising interest rates,borrowers may pay off their debt obligations more slowly,causing securities considered short- or intermediate-term tobecome longer-term securities that fluctuate more widely inresponse to changes in interest rates than shorter-term secu-rities. This may cause the market value of such securities todecline and will also delay the Fund’s ability to reinvest pro-ceeds at higher interest rates. Extension risk applies primarilyto mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities.
Foreign Currency RiskFunds that invest in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in for-eign securities that are denominated, trade and/or receiverevenues in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies are subject to therisk that those foreign currencies may decline in value relativeto the U.S. dollar. In the case of currency hedging positions, aFund is subject to the risk that the U.S. dollar may decline invalue relative to the currency being hedged. Currencyexchange rates may fluctuate significantly and unpredictably.As a result, a Fund’s investments in foreign currencies, inforeign securities that are denominated, trade, and/or receiverevenues in foreign currencies, or in derivatives that provideexposure to foreign currencies may reduce the returns of theFunds.
Foreign Investing RiskInvestments in foreign securities may involve greater risksthan investing in U.S. securities.
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As compared to U.S. companies, foreign issuers generallydisclose less financial and other information publicly and aresubject to less stringent and less uniform accounting, audit-ing and financial reporting standards. Foreign countries typi-cally impose less thorough regulations on brokers, dealers,stock exchanges, corporate insiders and listed companiesthan does the U.S., and foreign securities markets may beless liquid and more volatile than U.S. markets. Investmentsin foreign securities generally involve higher costs thaninvestments in U.S. securities, including higher transactionand custody costs as well as additional taxes imposed by for-eign governments. In addition, security trading practicesabroad may offer less protection to investors such as theFunds. Political or social instability, civil unrest, acts of terror-ism and regional economic volatility are other potential risksthat could impact an investment in a foreign security. Settle-ment of transactions in some foreign markets may be delayedor may be less frequent than in the U.S., which could affectthe liquidity of a Fund’s portfolio.
The European financial markets have continued to experiencevolatility because of concerns about economic downturns andabout high and rising government debt levels of several coun-tries in the European Union (“EU”) and Europe generally.These events have adversely affected the exchange rate of theEuro and the European securities markets, and may spread toother countries in Europe, including countries that do not usethe Euro. These events may affect the value and liquidity ofcertain of the Funds’ investments. Responses to the financialproblems by EU governments, central banks and others,including austerity measures and reforms, may not work, mayresult in social unrest and may limit future growth and eco-nomic recovery or have other unintended consequences.Further defaults or restructurings by governments and othersof their debt could have additional adverse effects on econo-mies, financial markets and asset valuations around theworld.
In a public referendum in June 2016, the United Kingdom(“UK”) voted to leave the EU (a process now commonlyreferred to as “Brexit”). In a public referendum in June 2016,the United Kingdom (“UK”) voted to leave the EU (a processnow commonly referred to as “Brexit”). On March 29, 2017,the UK delivered its formal notice of withdrawal from the EUto the European Council. On January 31, 2020, the UK offi-cially withdrew from the EU and entered into a transitionperiod until December 31, 2020, during which the UK willeffectively remain in the EU from an economic perspectivebut will no longer have political representation on the EU par-liament. During the transition period, the UK and EU will seek
to negotiate and finalize a new trade agreement. It is possiblethat the transition period could be extended for up to twoyears. There is considerable uncertainty surrounding theoutcome of the negotiations for a new trade agreement, andthe impact of Brexit on the UK, the EU and the broader globaleconomy may be significant. As a result of the political divi-sions within the UK and between the UK and the EU that thereferendum vote and the negotiations have highlighted andthe uncertain consequences of a Brexit, the UK and Europeaneconomies and the broader global economy could be sig-nificantly impacted, which may result in increased volatilityand illiquidity, and potentially lower economic growth onmarkets in the UK, Europe and globally, which could poten-tially have an adverse effect on the value of the Fund’sinvestments. Brexit may also cause additional member statesto contemplate departing from the EU, which would likelyperpetuate political and economic instability in the region andcause additional market disruption in global financialmarkets.
Frequent Trading RiskFrequent trading of portfolio securities may produce capitalgains, which are taxable to shareholders when distributed. Asa result, frequent trading may cause higher levels of currenttax liability to shareholders in a Fund. Frequent trading willlead to increased portfolio turnover and increase the totalamount of commissions or mark-ups to broker-dealers that aFund pays when it buys and sells securities, which mayreduce the Fund’s performance.
Futures Contracts RiskInvesting in futures contracts involves various risks, including(1) the imperfect correlation between a futures contract andthe change in market value of the underlying instrument heldby the Fund; (2) a high degree of leverage because of the lowcollateral deposits normally involved in futures trading;(3) possible lack of a liquid secondary market for a futurescontract and the resulting inability to close a futures contractwhen desired; (4) losses caused by unanticipated marketmovements, which are potentially unlimited; and (5) theinability of the Fund to execute a trade because of the max-imum permissible price movements exchanges may imposeon futures contracts.
Interest Rate RiskInterest rate risk is the potential for a decline in bond pricesdue to rising interest rates. In general, bond prices varyinversely with interest rates. The change in a bond’s pricedepends on several factors, including the bond’s maturity
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date. The degree to which a bond’s price will change as aresult of changes in interest rates is measured by its“duration.” For example, the price of a bond with a 5-yearduration would be expected under normal market conditionsto decrease 5% for every 1% increase in interest rates. Gen-erally, bonds with longer maturities have a greater durationand thus are subject to greater price volatility from changes ininterest rates. Adjustable rate instruments also react to inter-est rate changes in a similar manner although generally to alesser degree (depending, however, on the characteristics ofthe reset terms, including the index chosen, frequency of resetand reset caps or floors, among other things). It is possiblethat there will be less governmental action in the future tomaintain low interest rates. The negative impact on fixedincome securities from interest rate increases, regardless ofthe cause, could be swift and significant, which could result insignificant losses by the Funds, even if anticipated by theAdviser.
Interest rates in the United States and many parts of theworld, including certain European countries, are at or nearhistorically low levels. The Federal Reserve Board (the“Federal Reserve”) raised its benchmark interest rate severaltimes in 2018 as the U.S. labor market strengthened andeconomic activity accelerated and has since lowered itsbenchmark rate three times in 2019 as signs of economicweakness have appeared. It is possible that the FederalReserve may change its benchmark rate again in the nearfuture.
Changing interest rates may have unpredictable effects onfixed income and related markets, may result in heightenedmarket volatility and may detract from Fund performance tothe extent that the Fund is exposed to interest rates. Duringperiods of low interest rates, a Fund may be unable to main-tain positive returns. Increases in interest rates may reduceliquidity for certain Fund investments, which could cause thevalue of a Fund’s investments and share price to decline.Interest rate increases may also lead to heightened Fundredemption activity, which may cause a Fund to lose value asa result of the costs that it incurs in turning over its portfolioand may lower its performance. A Fund that invests inderivatives tied to fixed income markets may be more sub-stantially exposed to these risks than a Fund that does notinvest in those derivatives.
Issuer RiskThe value of securities held by a Fund may decline for anumber of reasons directly related to an issuer, such aschanges in the financial condition of the issuer, management
performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for theissuer’s goods or services. The amount of dividends paid withrespect to equity securities, or the ability of an issuer to makepayments in connection with debt securities, may decline forreasons that relate to the issuer, such as changes in an issu-er’s financial condition or a decision by the issuer to pay alower dividend, or for reasons that relate to the broaderfinancial system. In addition, there may be limited publicinformation available for the Adviser to evaluate foreignissuers.
Junk Bond RiskDebt securities that are rated below investment grade arecommonly known as high yield securities or “junk bonds.”Junk bonds (including low-rated and comparable unratedsecurities), while generally offering higher yields than invest-ment grade securities with similar maturities, involve greaterrisks, including the possibility of default or bankruptcy. Junkbonds are regarded as speculative with respect to an issuer’scapacity to pay interest and to repay principal. They are usu-ally issued by companies without long track records of salesand earnings, or by companies with questionable creditstrength. They may also be issued by highly leveragedcompanies, which may be less able to meet their contractualobligations than a less leveraged company. These bonds havea higher degree of default risk and may be less liquid thanhigher-rated bonds. These securities may be subject togreater price volatility due to such factors as specific issuerdevelopments, interest rate sensitivity, and negative percep-tions of junk bonds generally. In addition, junk bonds tend tobe less marketable than higher-quality debt securities becausethe market for them is not as broad or active. The potentiallack of a liquid secondary market may have an adverse effecton the market price of, and a Fund’s ability to sell, particularsecurities, and may make it more difficult for the Adviser toaccurately value certain high yield securities held by a Fund.
Leverage RiskLeverage created from certain types of transactions or instru-ments, such as borrowing, engaging in reverse repurchaseagreements, entering into futures contracts or forward cur-rency contracts, engaging in forward commitment trans-actions and investing in leveraged or unleveraged commodityindex-linked notes, may impair a Fund’s liquidity, cause it toliquidate positions at an unfavorable time, increase its vola-tility or otherwise cause it not to achieve its intended result.During periods of adverse market conditions, the use ofleverage may cause a Fund to lose more money than wouldhave been the case if leverage was not used. To the extent
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required by applicable law or regulation, the Funds will reduceleverage risk by either segregating an equal amount of liquidassets or “covering” the transactions that introduce such risk.
Liquidity RiskA Fund’s investments in illiquid securities may reduce thereturns of the Fund because it may not be able to sell the illi-quid securities at an advantageous time or price. Investmentsin high yield securities, foreign securities, derivatives or othersecurities with substantial market and/or credit risk tend tohave the greatest exposure to liquidity risk. Certain invest-ments in private placements and Rule 144A Securities may beconsidered illiquid investments.
Furthermore, reduced number and capacity of dealers andother counterparties to “make markets” in fixed income secu-rities, in connection with the growth of the fixed incomemarkets, may increase liquidity risk with respect to a Fund’sinvestments in fixed income securities. When there is no will-ing buyer and investments cannot be readily sold, a Fund mayhave to sell them at a lower price or may not be able to sellthe securities at all, each of which would have a negativeeffect on the Fund’s performance. These securities may alsobe difficult to value and their values may be more volatilebecause of liquidity risk. Increased Fund redemption activity,which may occur in a rising interest rate environment or forother reasons, may negatively impact Fund performance andincrease liquidity risk due to the need of the Fund to sell port-folio securities. Regulations such as the Volcker Rule or futureregulations may further constrain the ability of market partic-ipants to create liquidity, particularly in times of increasedmarket volatility. The liquidity of a Fund’s assets may changeover time.
Below investment grade mortgage-backed securities are sub-ject to additional liquidity risks, which are discussed aboveunder “Principal Risks – Below Investment Grade Mortgage-Backed Securities.”
Market RiskVarious market risks can affect the price or liquidity of anissuer’s securities in which a Fund may invest. Returns fromthe securities in which a Fund invests may underperformreturns from the various general securities markets or differ-ent asset classes. Different types of securities tend to gothrough cycles of outperformance and underperformance incomparison to the general securities markets. Adverse eventsoccurring with respect to an issuer’s performance or financialposition can depress the value of the issuer’s securities. The
liquidity in a market for a particular security will affect its valueand may be affected by factors relating to the issuer, as wellas the depth of the market for that security. Other marketrisks that can affect value include a market’s current attitudesabout types of securities, market reactions to political oreconomic events, including litigation, and tax and regulatoryeffects (including lack of adequate regulations for a market orparticular type of instrument).
Instability in the financial markets has led the U.S. govern-ment to take a number of unprecedented actions designed tosupport certain financial institutions and segments of thefinancial markets that have experienced extreme volatility, andin some cases a lack of liquidity. Federal, state, and othergovernments, their regulatory agencies, or self-regulatoryorganizations may take actions that affect the regulation ofthe securities in which a Fund invests or the issuers of suchsecurities in ways that are unforeseeable. Legislation or regu-lation may also change the way in which the Funds are regu-lated. Such legislation or regulation could limit or preclude aFund’s ability to achieve its investment objective.
Mortgage-Backed Securities RiskMortgage-backed securities represent participation interestsin pools of mortgage loans purchased from individual lendersby a federal agency or originated and issued by private lend-ers. Mortgage-backed securities are subject to prepaymentrisk, which is the risk that in times of declining interest rates,an issuer of mortgage-backed securities or other debt secu-rities may be able to repay principal prior to the security’smaturity, causing a Fund to have to reinvest in securities witha lower yield or higher risk of default and reducing a Fund’sincome or return potential. Mortgage-backed securities arealso subject to extension risk, which is the risk that in times ofrising interest rates, borrowers may pay off their debt obliga-tions more slowly, causing the market value of such securitiesto decline and delaying a Fund’s ability to reinvest proceeds athigher interest rates.
Because of prepayment risk and extension risk, mortgage-backed securities react differently to changes in interest ratesthan other bonds, and the values of some mortgage-backedsecurities may expose a Fund to a lower rate of return uponreinvestment of principal. When interest rates rise, the valueof mortgage-related securities generally will decline; however,when interest rates are declining, the value of mortgage-related securities with prepayment features may not increaseas much as other fixed income securities. The rate ofprepayments on underlying mortgages will affect the priceand volatility of a mortgage-related security, and may shorten
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or extend the effective maturity of the security beyond whatwas anticipated at the time of purchase. If unanticipated ratesof prepayment on underlying mortgages increase the effectivematurity of a mortgage-related security, the volatility of thesecurity can be expected to increase. The value of these secu-rities may fluctuate in response to the market’s perception ofthe creditworthiness of the issuers.
Additionally, although mortgages and mortgage-related secu-rities are generally supported by some form of government orprivate guarantee and/or insurance, there is no assurancethat private guarantors or insurers will meet their obligations.Certain mortgage-backed securities are issued or guaranteedby U.S. government agencies or U.S. government-sponsoredentities. While mortgage-backed securities issued byGovernment National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae)are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government,mortgage-backed securities issued by various U.S.government-sponsored entities, such as Federal Home LoanMortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the FederalNational Mortgage Corporation (Fannie Mae), are not backedby the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Althoughthe U.S. government has provided financial support to FannieMae and Freddie Mac, there is no assurance that the U.S.government will do so in the future.
Non-U.S. Money Market Securities RiskMoney market securities are generally subject to credit risk,which is the risk that an issuer will default in the payment ofprincipal and/or interest on a security, and the risk that asecurity’s value may decline for reasons directly related to theissuer, such as management performance, financial leverageand condition of the business. Foreign money-market secu-rities are additionally subject to currency risk, in that foreigncurrencies may decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar andaffect a Fund’s investments in such securities, and they mayhave less liquidity than similar U.S. securities.
Portfolio Management RiskPortfolio management risk is the risk that an investment strat-egy may fail to produce the intended results. There can be noassurance that a Fund will achieve its investment objective.The Adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value andpotential appreciation of particular securities may prove to beincorrect, and the Adviser may not anticipate actual marketmovements or the impact of economic conditions generally.No matter how well a portfolio manager evaluates marketconditions, the securities a portfolio manager chooses mayfail to produce the intended result, and you could lose moneyon your investment in a Fund.
Prepayment RiskPrepayment risk arises when interest rates fall because certainobligations will be paid off by the obligor more quickly thanoriginally anticipated, and the Fund may have to invest theproceeds in securities with lower yields. In periods of fallinginterest rates, the rate of prepayments tends to increase asborrowers are more likely to pay off debt and refinance at newlower rates. During these periods, reinvestment of theprepayment proceeds will generally be at lower rates of returnthan the return on the assets that were prepaid. Prepaymentreduces the yield to maturity and the average life of thesecurity.
Price Volatility RiskThe value of a Fund’s investment portfolio will change as theprices of its investments go up or down. Different parts of themarket and different types of securities can react differently todevelopments. Issuer, political or economic developmentscan affect a single issuer, issuers within an industry or eco-nomic sector or geographic region or market as a whole.
Prices of most securities tend to be more volatile in the short-term. Therefore, if you trade frequently or redeem in the short-term, you are more likely to incur a loss than an investor whoholds investments for the longer-term. The fewer the numberof issuers in which a Fund invests, the greater the potentialvolatility of its portfolio.
Securities Selection RiskThe specific securities held in a Fund’s investment portfoliomay underperform those held by other funds investing in thesame asset class or those included in benchmarks that arerepresentative of the same asset class because of a portfoliomanager’s choice of securities.
Short Sales RisksThe Adviser may cause a Fund to sell a debt or equity securityshort (that is, without owning it) and to borrow the samesecurity from a broker or other institution to complete thesale. The Adviser may use short sales when it believes a secu-rity is overvalued or as a partial hedge against a position in arelated security of the same issuer held by a Fund. If the valueof the security sold short increases, a Fund would lose moneybecause it will need to replace the borrowed security by pur-chasing it at a higher price. The potential loss is unlimited. (Ifthe short sale was intended as a hedge against anotherinvestment, the loss on the short sale may be fully or partiallyoffset by gains in that other investment.)
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A lender may request that the borrowed securities be returnedon short notice; if that occurs at a time when other short sell-ers of the subject security are receiving similar requests, a“short squeeze” can occur. This means that a Fund might becompelled, at the most disadvantageous time, to replaceborrowed securities previously sold short, with purchases onthe open market at prices significantly greater than those atwhich the securities were sold short. Short selling also mayproduce higher than normal portfolio turnover and result inincreased transaction costs to the Fund.
Each Fund also may make short sales “against-the-box,” inwhich the Fund sells short securities it owns. A Fund willincur transaction costs, including interest expenses, in con-nection with opening, maintaining and closing short salesagainst-the-box, which result in a “constructive sale,” requiringthe Fund to recognize any taxable gain from the transaction.
Sovereign Debt RiskThe Funds may invest in sovereign debt. Investment in sover-eign debt can involve a high degree of risk. Legal protectionsavailable with respect to corporate issuers (e.g., bankruptcy,liquidation and reorganization laws) do not generally apply togovernmental entities or sovereign debt. Accordingly, creditorseniority rights, claims to collateral and similar rights mayprovide limited protection and may be unenforceable. Thegovernmental entity that controls the repayment of sovereigndebt may not be able or willing to repay the principal and/orinterest when due in accordance with the terms of such debt.A government entity’s willingness or ability to repay principaland interest due in a timely manner may be affected by,among other factors, its cash flow situation, the extent of itsforeign reserves, the availability of sufficient foreign exchangeon the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debtservice burden to the economy as a whole, the governmentalentity’s policy toward the International Monetary Fund, andthe political constraints to which a governmental entity maybe subject. A Fund may have limited recourse to compelpayment in the event of a default.
Swap Agreements RiskSwap agreements are two-party contracts entered into primar-ily by institutional investors for periods ranging from a fewweeks to more than a year. Swap transactions attempt toobtain a particular return when it is considered desirable todo so, possibly at a lower cost to a Fund than if the Fund hadinvested directly in an instrument that yielded that desiredreturn. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to
exchange the returns earned on specific assets, such as thereturn on, or increase in value of, a particular dollar amountinvested at a particular interest rate, in a particular foreigncurrency, or in a “basket” of securities representing a partic-ular index. Whether a Fund’s use of swap agreements will besuccessful in furthering its investment objectives will dependon the Adviser’s ability to predict correctly whether certaintypes of investments are likely to produce greater returns thanother investments.
Credit default swaps involve parties effectively buying or sell-ing protection with respect to whether an event of default by aselected entity (or entities) will occur. Interest rate swapsinvolve the exchange of interest payments by a Fund withanother party, such as an exchange of floating rate paymentsfor fixed interest rate payments. A total return swap is thegeneric name for any swap where one party agrees to pay theother the “total return” of a defined underlying asset, usuallyin return for receiving a stream of cash flows. Total returnswaps are most commonly used with indices, single stocks,bonds and defined portfolios of loans and mortgages.
Risks inherent in the use of swaps of any kind include:(1) swap contracts may not be assigned without the consentof the counterparty; (2) potential default of the counterpartyto the swap if it is not subject to centralized clearing;(3) absence of a liquid secondary market for any particularswap at any time; and (4) possible inability of a Fund to closeout the swap transaction at a time that otherwise would befavorable for it to do so.
Certain types of over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives, such asvarious types of swaps, are required to be cleared through acentral clearing organization that is substituted as thecounterparty to each side of the transaction. Each party will berequired to maintain its positions through a clearing broker.Although central clearing generally is expected to reducecounterparty risk, it creates additional risks. A clearing brokeror organization may not be able to perform its obligations.Cleared derivatives transactions may be more expensive tomaintain than OTC transactions, or require a Fund to depositincreased margin. A transaction may be subject tounanticipated close-out by the clearing organization or aclearing broker. A Fund may be required to indemnify a swapexecution facility or a broker that executes cleared swapsagainst losses or costs that may be incurred as a result of theFund’s transactions. A Fund also is subject to the risk that noclearing member is willing to clear a transaction entered intoby the Fund.
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The U.S. and foreign governments have adopted andimplemented, or are in the process of adopting andimplementing, regulations governing derivatives markets,including clearing, margin, reporting, and registrationrequirements. The ultimate impact of the regulations remainsunclear. The effect of the regulations could be, among otherthings, to restrict a Fund’s ability to engage in swap trans-actions or increase the costs of those transactions.
Unrated Securities RisksA Fund may purchase unrated securities (which are not ratedby a rating agency) if the Adviser determines that the securityis of comparable quality to a rated security that the Fund maypurchase. Unrated securities may be less liquid than com-parable rated securities and involve the risk that the Advisermay not accurately evaluate the security’s comparative creditrating. Analysis of creditworthiness of issuers of high yieldsecurities may be more complex than for issuers of higher-quality fixed income securities. To the extent that a Fundinvests in high yield and/or unrated securities, the Fund’ssuccess in achieving its investment objective may dependmore heavily on the Adviser’s creditworthiness analysis than ifthe Fund invested exclusively in higher-quality and ratedsecurities.
U.S. Government Securities RiskSome U.S. government securities, such as Treasury bills,notes, and bonds and mortgage-backed securities guaranteedby Ginnie Mae, are supported by the full faith and credit of theUnited States, while others are supported by the right of theissuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury, by the discretionaryauthority of the U.S. government to purchase the agency’sobligations, or by the credit of the issuing agency,instrumentality, or enterprise only.
In addition, certain governmental entities have been subjectto regulatory scrutiny regarding their accounting policies andpractices and other concerns that may result in legislation,changes in regulatory oversight and/or other consequencesthat could adversely affect the credit quality, availability orinvestment character of securities issued or guaranteed bythese entities.
In recent periods, the values of U.S. government securitieshave been affected substantially by increased demand forthem around the world. Changes in the demand for U.S.
government securities may occur at any time and may resultin increased volatility in the values of those securities.
U.S. Treasury Obligations RiskWhile credit risk for U.S. Treasury obligations is generallyconsidered low, U.S. Treasury obligations are subject to inter-est rate risk, particularly for those with longer terms. In addi-tion, certain political events in the U.S., such as a prolongedgovernment shut down, may cause investors to lose con-fidence in the U.S. government and may cause the value ofU.S. Treasury obligations to decline. A significant portion ofU.S. Treasury obligations is held by foreign governments,including China, Japan, Ireland and Brazil. Strained relationswith these foreign countries may result in the sale of U.S.Treasury obligations by these foreign governments, causingthe value of U.S. Treasury obligations to decline.
Valuation RiskPortfolio instruments may be sold at prices different from thevalues established by the Fund, particularly for investmentsthat trade in low volume, in volatile markets or over the coun-ter or that are fair valued. Portfolio securities may be valuedusing techniques other than market quotations in circum-stances described under “Net Asset Value and Fair ValuePricing.” This is more likely for certain types of derivativessuch as swaps. The value established for a portfolio securitymay be different than the value that would be producedthrough the use of another methodology or if it had beenpriced using market quotations. Portfolio securities that arevalued using techniques other than market quotations,including “fair valued” securities, may be subject to greaterfluctuation in their value from one day to the next than wouldbe the case if market quotations were used. A Fund may fromtime to time purchase an “odd lot” or smaller quantity of asecurity that trades at a discount to the price of a “round lot”or larger quantity preferred for trading by institutional invest-ors. If a Fund is able to combine an odd lot purchase with anexisting holding to make a round lot or larger position in thesecurity, the Fund may be able to immediately increase thevalue of the security purchased, in accordance with its valu-ation procedures. There is no assurance that the Fund couldsell a portfolio security for the value established for it at anytime and it is possible that the Fund would incur a lossbecause a portfolio security is sold at a discount to its estab-lished value.
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Other Risks
Borrowing and Use of Leverage RisksEach Fund may borrow money from banks and engage inreverse repurchase transactions for temporary or emergencypurposes. A Fund may borrow from broker-dealers and otherinstitutions to leverage a transaction, provided that the bor-rowing is fully collateralized. Total bank borrowings may notexceed 10% of the value of a Fund’s assets, except in the caseof the Corporate Bond Fund, Flexible Income Fund, FloatingRate Income Fund, High Yield Bond Fund, Investment GradeCredit Fund, Strategic Income Fund, and UnconstrainedBond Fund, for which total bank borrowings may not exceedone-third of the value of the Fund’s assets. A Fund also mayleverage its portfolio through margin borrowing and othertechniques in an effort to increase total return. Althoughleverage creates an opportunity for increased income andgain, it also creates certain risks. For example, leveraging maymagnify changes in the net asset values of a Fund’s sharesand in its portfolio yield. Although margin borrowing will befully collateralized, a Fund’s assets may change in value whilethe borrowing is outstanding. Leveraging creates interestexpenses that can exceed the income from the assetsretained.
Cybersecurity RiskInformation and technology systems relied upon by theFunds, the Adviser, the Funds’ service providers (including,but not limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, transferagents, administrators, distributors and other financialintermediaries) and/or the issuers of securities in which aFund invests may be vulnerable to damage or interruptionfrom computer viruses, network failures, computer and tele-communication failures, infiltration by unauthorized persons,security breaches, usage errors, power outages and cata-strophic events such as fires, tornadoes, floods, hurricanesand earthquakes. Although the Adviser has implementedmeasures to manage risks relating to these types of events, ifthese systems are compromised, become inoperable forextended periods of time or cease to function properly, sig-nificant investment may be required to fix or replace them.The failure of these systems and/or of disaster recovery planscould cause significant interruptions in the operations of theFunds, the Adviser, the Funds’ service providers and/orissuers of securities in which a Fund invests and may result ina failure to maintain the security, confidentiality or privacy ofsensitive data, including personal information relating toinvestors (and the beneficial owners of investors). Such a
failure could also harm the reputation of the Funds, theAdviser, the Funds’ service providers and/or issuers of secu-rities in which a Fund invests, subject such entities and theirrespective affiliates to legal claims or otherwise affect theirbusiness and financial performance. There is also a risk thatcybersecurity breaches may not be detected, and the Fundsand their shareholders could be negatively impacted as aresult.
Event RiskEvent risk is the risk that corporate issuers may undergorestructurings, such as mergers, leveraged buyouts, take-overs, or similar events financed by increased debt. As aresult of the added debt, the credit quality and market value ofa company’s bonds and/or other debt securities may declinesignificantly.
Financial Services Sector RiskCompanies in the financial services sector may be affected bythe overall economic conditions as well as by factors partic-ular to the financial services sector. Financial servicescompanies are subject to extensive government regulations,which may change frequently and may adversely affect thescope of their activities, place restrictions on the amountsand types of loans and other financial commitments they canmake, limit the interest rates and fees they can charge, andprescribe the amount of capital they must maintain. In addi-tion, the profitability of businesses in the financial servicessector depends heavily on the availability and cost of capitaland may fluctuate significantly in response to changes ininterest rates and may be negatively impacted by credit ratingdowngrades and decreased liquidity in the credit market.Businesses in the financial services sector often operate withsubstantial financial leverage.
Frequent Purchases and Redemptions of Fund SharesRisksFrequent purchases and redemptions of a Fund’s shares maypresent certain risks for the Fund and its shareholders. Theserisks may include, among other things, dilution in the value ofFund shares held by long-term shareholders, interference withthe efficient management of the Fund’s portfolios andincreased brokerage and administrative costs. A Fund mayhave difficulty implementing long-term investment strategiesif it is unable to anticipate what portion of its assets it should
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retain in cash to provide liquidity to its shareholders. Also,excessive purchases and sales or exchanges of a Fund’sshares may force a Fund to maintain a disadvantageouslylarge cash position to accommodate short duration tradingactivity. Further, excessive purchases and sales or exchangesof a Fund’s shares may force the Fund to sell portfolio secu-rities at inopportune times to raise cash to accommodatefrequent trading activity, and could result in increasedbrokerage, tax, administrative costs or other expenses. It isanticipated that the Ultra Short Bond Fund and the LowDuration Bond Fund are less likely to be adversely affectedunder normal circumstances, and the other Funds are morelikely to be significantly affected, by frequent purchases andsales.
Certain of the Funds may invest in non-U.S. securities; accord-ingly, there is an additional risk of undetected frequent trad-ing in a Fund’s shares by investors who attempt to take unfairadvantage of the Fund’s need to value its portfolio holdingsthat are traded in markets with closing times different thanwhen the Fund calculates its net asset value, also known astime zone arbitrage. In addition, because certain of the Fundssignificantly invest in high yield bonds, and because thesesecurities are often infrequently traded, investors may seek totrade Fund shares in an effort to benefit from their under-standing of the value of these securities (referred to as pricearbitrage).
Investors seeking to engage in disruptive trading practicesmay deploy a variety of strategies to avoid detection and,despite the efforts of the Funds to prevent disruptive trading,there is no guarantee that the Funds or their agents will beable to identify such investors or curtail their trading practi-ces. The ability of the Funds and their agents to detect andcurtail excessive trading or short duration trading practicesmay also be limited by operational systems and technologicallimitations. In addition, the Funds receive purchase, exchangeand redemption orders through financial intermediaries.These financial intermediaries include, but are not limited to,entities such as broker-dealers, insurance company separateaccounts, and retirement plan administrators. The Fundscannot always know or reasonably detect excessive tradingwhich may be facilitated by these intermediaries or by the useof omnibus account arrangements. Omnibus accounts arecommon forms of holding Fund shares. Entities utilizing suchomnibus account arrangements may not identify customers’trading activity in shares of a Fund on an individual basis.Consequently, although the Fund has procedures and agree-ments in place intended to detect excessive trading, it may
not always be able to detect frequent or excessive trading inFund shares attributable to a particular investor who effectspurchase and/or exchange activity in Fund shares through abroker, dealer or other financial intermediary acting in anomnibus capacity. Also, there may exist multiple tiers of theseentities, each utilizing an omnibus account arrangement thatmay further compound the difficulty to the Funds of detectingexcessive or short duration trading activity in Fund shares. Inseeking to prevent disruptive trading practices in the Funds,the Funds consider the information actually available to themat the time. While each of these financial intermediaries mayhave individual policies concerning frequent or excessive trad-ing, each intermediary has different policies. The Funds arenot able to fully assess the effectiveness of its financial inter-mediaries’ policies concerning frequent or excessive trading.If investing through intermediaries, investors should inquireat that intermediary what frequent purchase and redemptionpolicies will be applied to their investments.
Inside Information RisksA Fund’s portfolio managers may seek to avoid exposure tomaterial non-public information about the issuers of floatingrate loans being considered for purchased by the Fund.Although that inside information could enhance the portfoliomanagers’ ability to evaluate a potential investment, it wouldalso impair the Fund’s ability to trade that issuer’s securitiesin compliance with federal securities laws.
LIBOR RiskLIBOR is used extensively in the U.S. and globally as a“benchmark” or “reference rate” for various commercial andfinancial contracts, including corporate and municipal bonds,bank loans, asset-backed and mortgage-related securities,interest rate swaps and other derivatives. For example, debtsecurities in which a Fund invests may pay interest at floatingrates based on LIBOR or may be subject to interest caps orfloors based on LIBOR. A Fund’s derivative investments mayalso reference LIBOR. In addition, issuers of instruments inwhich a Fund invests may obtain financing at floating ratesbased on LIBOR, and a Fund may use leverage or borrowingsbased on LIBOR. In July 2017, the head of the United King-dom Financial Conduct Authority announced the intention tophase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. There is cur-rently no definitive information regarding the future utilizationof LIBOR or of any particular replacement reference rate.Abandonment of or modifications to LIBOR could haveadverse impacts on newly issued financial instruments andexisting financial instruments that reference LIBOR.
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The expected discontinuation of LIBOR could have a sig-nificant impact on the financial markets and may present amaterial risk for certain market participants, includinginvestment companies such as the Funds. Abandonment ofor modifications to LIBOR could lead to significant short- andlong-term uncertainty and market instability. The risks asso-ciated with this discontinuation and transition may be
exacerbated if the work necessary to effect an orderly tran-sition to an alternative reference rate is not completed in atimely manner. It remains uncertain how such changes wouldbe implemented and the effects such changes would have onthe Funds, issuers of instruments in which the Funds invest,and the financial markets generally.
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Management of the Funds
The AdviserMetropolitan West Asset Management, LLC, with principaloffices at 865 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California90017, acts as the investment adviser to the Funds and gen-erally administers the affairs of the Trust. Subject to the direc-tion and control of the Board of Trustees, the Advisersupervises and arranges the purchase and sale of securitiesand other assets held in the portfolios of the Funds. TheAdviser was founded in 1996, and is a wholly-owned sub-sidiary of TCW Asset Management Company LLC, which is awholly-owned subsidiary of The TCW Group, Inc. (“TCWGroup”). The Adviser, together with TCW Group and its othersubsidiaries, which provide a variety of trust, investmentmanagement and investment advisory services, had approx-imately $217 billion under management or committed tomanagement, including $182 billion of U.S. fixed incomeinvestments, as of December 31, 2019.
Portfolio ManagersThe portfolio managers who have primary responsibility forthe day-to-day management of the Funds’ portfolios are listedbelow, together with their biographical information for thepast five years. The portfolio managers select and makeinvestments for the Funds as a team, using a consensusapproach. The Statement of Additional Information providesadditional information about the portfolio managers’compensation, other accounts managed by the portfoliomanagers and the portfolio managers’ ownership of secu-rities in the Funds.
Tad Rivelle Chief Investment Officer andGroup Managing Director of theAdviser, has been with theAdviser since August 1996.Mr. Rivelle manages the TotalReturn Bond Fund and theUnconstrained Bond Fund.
Stephen M. Kane, CFA Group Managing Director of theAdviser, has been with theAdviser since August 1996.Mr. Kane manages the TotalReturn Bond Fund and theUnconstrained Bond Fund.
Laird R. Landmann Group Managing Director of theAdviser, has been with theAdviser since August 1996.Mr. Landmann manages theTotal Return Bond Fund and theUnconstrained Bond Fund.
Bryan T. Whalen, CFA Group Managing Director of theAdviser, has been with theAdviser since 2004. Mr. Whalenmanages the Total Return BondFund and the UnconstrainedBond Fund.
Management Fees and Other ExpensesManagement Fees. Each Fund pays the Adviser a monthly feefor providing investment advisory services.
The following fees were the amounts paid to the Adviser forthe fiscal year ended March 31, 2019: 0.35% for the TotalReturn Bond Fund and 0.65% for the Unconstrained BondFund. A discussion of the basis for the Board of Trustees’approval of the management agreement is available in theFunds’ Semi-Annual Report for the period ended Sep-tember 30, 2019.
The Investment Management Agreement permits the Adviserto recoup fees it did not charge and Fund expenses it paid,provided that those amounts are recouped within three yearsof being reduced or paid. The Adviser may recoup reducedfees and expenses only within three years, provided that therecoupment does not cause the Fund’s annual expense ratioto exceed the lesser of (i) the expense limitation applicable atthe time of that fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement, or(ii) the expense limitation in effect at the time of recoupment.See “Operating Expenses Agreement” below for additionalinformation.
Operating Expenses Agreement. Pursuant to an operatingexpenses agreement between the Adviser and the Trust, onbehalf of the Funds (the “Operating Expenses Agreement”),the Adviser has agreed to waive its investment managementfee and/or reimburse the operating expenses of each Fund tothe extent such Fund’s operating expenses (excluding taxes,
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interest, brokerage commissions, dividends on securities soldshort, acquired fund fees and expenses, and extraordinaryexpenses) exceed, in the aggregate, the rate per annum, as setforth below. The Operating Expenses Agreement will remainin effect until July 31, 2021. In the event that the OperatingExpenses Agreement is not renewed for an additionalone-year term, total annual fund operating expenses would beas disclosed in the table under “Fees and Expenses of theFund” included in each Fund’s summary section.
Includes Rule 12b-1 fees paid by Class M and Administrativeshares of the Funds. There are no Rule 12b-1 fees assessablefor Class I or Plan Class shares of the Funds.
Rule 12b-1 Fee. The Funds’ Class M and AdministrativeClass shares have a Share Marketing Plan or “Rule 12b-1Plan” under which they may finance activities primarilyintended to sell shares, provided the categories of expensesare approved in advance by the Board of Trustees of theFunds and the expenses paid under the plan were incurredwithin the last 12 months and accrued while the plan is ineffect. Expenditures by a Fund under the plan may not exceed0.25% of its average net assets annually (all of which mayinclude fees for shareholder services provided by third-partyintermediaries not included in the shareholder servicingexpenses described below). Because these fees are paid outof a Fund’s assets on an on-going basis, over time these feeswill increase the cost of your investment and may cost youmore than paying other types of sales charges. Currently, theBoard is limiting these fees for the Total Return Bond Fund to0.21%.
Shareholder Servicing Plan. The Funds’ Board of Trustees hasadopted a Shareholder Servicing Plan that allows a Fund topay to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries a feefor shareholder services provided to Fund shareholders whoinvest in the Administrative Class shares of the Fund through
the intermediary. The fee is payable under the Plan at anannual rate not to exceed 0.25% of the particular Fund’saverage daily net assets attributable to the AdministrativeShare class but the Adviser has undertaken to limit theseexpenses for the current fiscal year to 0.20% of the Fund’saverage daily net assets invested through the intermediary.Because these fees are paid out of the Fund’s assets by hold-ers of the Administrative Class shares, over time these feeswill increase the cost of those shareholders’ investment.
Other Shareholder Servicing Expenses Paid By the Funds. EachFund is authorized to compensate each broker-dealer andother third-party intermediary up to 0.10% (10 basis points)of the assets serviced for that Fund by that intermediary forshareholder services to each Fund and its shareholders whohave invested in the I Share or M Share class. The TotalReturn Bond Fund is authorized to compensate each broker-dealer and other third-party intermediary up to 0.15% (15basis points) of the assets serviced for the Fund by thatintermediary for shareholder services to the Fund and itsshareholders who have invested in the I-2 Share class. PlanClass shares do not make payments to broker-dealers orother financial intermediaries. Service payments with respectto the Administrative Class shares are paid instead throughthe Shareholder Servicing Plan. These services constitutesub-recordkeeping, sub-transfer agent or similar services andare similar in scope to services provided by the transfer agentto a Fund. These expenses represent amounts paid by a Fundto intermediaries for those services to the extent their fees arenot covered through amounts paid under the Rule 12b-1 Plan.These amounts may be adjusted, subject to approval by theBoard of Trustees. These expenses paid would remain subjectto any overall expense limitations applicable to that Fund.
Compensation of Other Parties. The Adviser may, at its ownexpense and out of its own legitimate profits or otherresources, pay additional compensation to third parties suchas (but not limited to) broker-dealers, investment advisers,retirement plan administrators, or other financial inter-mediaries that have entered into a distribution, service orother type of arrangement with the Adviser, the distributor orthe Funds (“Authorized Firms”). These are payments overand above other types of shareholder servicing and dis-tribution payments described elsewhere in this Prospectus.
Payments may relate to selling and/or servicing activities,such as: access to an intermediary’s customers or network;recordkeeping services; aggregating, netting and trans-mission of orders; generation of sales and other informationalmaterials; individual or broad-based marketing and sales
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activities; wholesale activity; conferences; retention of assets;new sales of Fund shares; and a wide range of other activities.Compensation amounts generally vary, and can include vari-ous initial and on-going payments. Additional compensationmay also be paid to broker-dealers who offer certain Funds aspart of a special preferred-list or other preferred treatmentprogram.
The Adviser does not direct the Funds’ portfolio securitiestransactions, or otherwise compensate broker-dealers inconnection with any Fund’s portfolio transactions, in consid-eration of sales of Fund shares.
The Adviser also may pay financial consultants for productsand/or services such as: (i) performance analytical software,(ii) attendance at, or sponsorship of, professional confer-ences, (iii) product evaluations and other types of investmentconsulting and (iv) asset/liability studies and other types ofretirement plan consulting. The Adviser may also providenon-cash compensation to financial consultants, includingoccasional gifts, meals, or other entertainment. These activ-ities may create, or could be viewed as creating, an incentivefor such consultants or their employees or associated personsto recommend or sell shares of the Funds to their clientinvestors.
Authorized Firms and consultants that receive these varioustypes of payments may have a conflict of interest in recom-mending or selling the Funds rather than other mutual fundsto their client investors, particularly if these payments exceedthe amounts paid by other mutual funds.
The Adviser also manages individual investment advisoryaccounts. The Adviser reduces the fees charged to individual
advisory accounts by the amount of the investment advisoryfee charged to that portion of the client’s assets invested inany Fund.
The Transfer Agent and AdministratorBNY Mellon Investment Servicing serves as transfer agentand administrator to the Trust and also provides accountingservices pursuant to servicing agreements. The businessaddress of BNY Mellon Investment Servicing is 760 MooreRoad, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406-1212.
The UnderwriterTCW Funds Distributors LLC (the “Distributor”), 865 SouthFigueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017, serves as thenon-exclusive distributor of each class of the Funds’ sharespursuant to a Distribution Agreement (the “DistributionAgreement”) with the Trust, which is subject to annualapproval by the Board after its initial two-year term. Shares ofthe Funds are offered and sold on a continuous basis. TheDistribution Agreement is terminable without penalty with 60days’ notice, by the Board of Trustees, by vote of holders of amajority of the Trust’s shares, or by the Distributor. The Dis-tributor receives no compensation from the Funds for dis-tribution of the Funds’ shares except payments pursuant tothe Trust’s distribution plan adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1under the 1940 Act as described above. The Distributor isaffiliated with the Adviser.
Disclosure of Portfolio HoldingsA description of the Funds’ policies regarding disclosure ofportfolio holdings can be found in the Statement of Addi-tional Information.
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How to Purchase Shares
Regular Purchases
The following table provides the Funds’ minimum initial andsubsequent investment requirements for each share class.The minimums may be reduced or waived in some cases. ThePlan Class shares are intended for retirement plans, includingdefined benefit and defined contribution plans (which mayinclude participant-directed plans).
The price at which the Funds’ shares are bought or sold iscalled the net asset value per share, or “NAV.” The NAV iscomputed once daily as of the close of regular trading on theNew York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), generally 4:00 p.m.Eastern Time, on each day that the NYSE is open for trading.In addition to Saturday and Sunday, the NYSE is closed onthe days that the following holidays are observed: New Year’sDay, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Fri-day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day,Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Shares cannot be pur-chased by wire transactions on days when banks are closed.The Funds may close early on business days that the Secu-rities Industry and Financial Markets Association recom-mends that the bond markets close early.
The price for each share you buy will be the NAV calculatedafter your request is received in good order by the Fund. “Ingood order” means that payment for your purchase and allthe information needed to complete your order must bereceived by the Fund before your order is processed. If yourorder is received before the close of regular trading on theNYSE (generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on a day the Funds’NAVs are calculated, the price you pay will be that day’s NAV.If your order is received after the close of regular trading onthe NYSE, the price you pay will be the next NAV calculated.
The Trust and the Transfer Agent reserve the right to rejectany order and to waive the minimum investment require-ments for investments through certain fund networks or otherfinancial intermediaries and for employees and affiliates ofthe Adviser or the Trust. In such cases, the minimums asso-ciated with the policies and programs of the fund network orother financial intermediary will apply. (In certain cases, thefund network or other financial intermediary also may waiveits minimum investment requirements; the Adviseroccasionally may be involved in the fund network or otherfinancial intermediary’s decision to waive its minimuminvestment requirements, but does not control that decision.)This means that investors through various financial inter-mediaries may face different (or even substantially reduced)investment minimums than those affecting your investment.The Funds reserve the right to redeem accounts inadvertentlyopened with less than the minimum initial investment. TheFunds at their sole discretion may impose an annual $25account servicing fee for below minimum accounts; certainbelow minimum accounts may not be charged that servicingfee.
You may invest in any Fund by wiring the amount to beinvested to Metropolitan West Funds.
Bank Name: Bank of New York MellonABA No. 011001234Credit: A/C 000073-4454
BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc. asAgent for Metropolitan West Funds
Further Credit: Shareholder NameShareholder Fund/Account Number
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Your bank may impose a fee for investments by wire. TheFund or the Transfer Agent will not be responsible for theconsequences of delays, including delays in the banking orFederal Reserve wire systems. Wires received after the closeof the NYSE will be considered received by the next businessday.
To ensure proper credit, before wiring any funds you must call(800) 241-4671 to notify us of the wire and to get an accountnumber assigned if the wire is an initial investment. Also, ifthe wire represents an initial investment, you must mail anapplication form, by regular mail, to the Transfer Agent. Whensending applications, checks, or other communications to theTransfer Agent via regular mail, send to:
Metropolitan West Fundsc/o BNY Mellon Investment ServicingP.O. Box 9793Providence, RI 02940
If you are sending applications, checks or other communica-tions to the Transfer Agent via overnight mail services, sendto:
Metropolitan West Fundsc/o BNY Mellon Investment Servicing4400 Computer DriveWestborough, MA 01581-1722
Make your check payable to Metropolitan West Funds (Fundname). The Funds cannot accept third party checks, starterchecks, credit cards, credit card checks, cash or cash equiv-alents (i.e., cashier’s check, bank draft, money order or trav-elers’ check).
Checks should be drawn on a U.S. bank and must be payablein U.S. dollars. Shares of a Fund will be purchased by theTransfer Agent or an authorized sub-agent for your account atthe net asset value next determined after receipt of your wireor check. If a check is not honored by your bank, you will beliable for any loss sustained by the Fund, as well as a $20service charge imposed by the Transfer Agent. Forms foradditional contributions by check or change of address areprovided on account statements.
The Trust may accept orders from selected brokers, dealersand other qualified institutions, with payment made to theFund at a later time. The Adviser is responsible for insuringthat such payment is made on a timely basis. You may becharged a fee if you buy or sell Fund shares through a brokeror agent.
The Trust does not consider the U.S. Postal Service or otherindependent delivery service to be its agent. Therefore,deposit in the mail or other service does not constitutereceipt by the Transfer Agent.
The Trust may stop offering shares completely or may offershares only on a limited basis, for a period of time or perma-nently.
The Trust generally does not permit non-U.S. residents topurchase shares of the Funds. The Trust may, at its sole dis-cretion, make exceptions to this policy on a case-by-casebasis.
Purchases By Payment in KindIn certain situations, Fund shares may be purchased by ten-dering payment in kind in the form of securities. Any secu-rities used to buy Fund shares must be readily marketable,their acquisition consistent with the Fund’s objective andotherwise acceptable to the Adviser. Prior to making such apurchase, you should call the Adviser to determine if thesecurities you wish to use to make a purchase are appro-priate. The Funds reserve the right to reject the offer of anypayment in kind.
Purchases By Automatic Investment PlanOnce an account has been opened, you can make additionalpurchases of shares of the Funds through an AutomaticInvestment Plan. The Automatic Investment Plan is onlyavailable for Class M shares. The Automatic Investment Planprovides a convenient method to have monies deducteddirectly from your bank account for investment into theFunds. You can make automatic monthly, quarterly or annualpurchases of $100 or more into the Fund or Funds des-ignated on the enclosed Account Application. The Funds mayalter, modify or terminate the Automatic Investment Plan atany time. To begin participating in the Automatic InvestmentPlan, please complete the automatic investment plan sectionfound on the Account Application or contact the Funds at(800) 241-4671.
Purchases Through an Investment Broker or DealerYou may buy and sell shares of the Funds through certainbrokers (and their agents) that have made arrangements withthe Funds to sell their shares. When you place your order withsuch a broker or its authorized agent, your order is treated asif you had placed it directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent,and you will pay or receive the next price calculated by theFunds. The broker (or agent) holds your shares in an
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omnibus account in the broker’s (or agent’s) name, and thebroker (or agent) maintains your individual ownershiprecords. The Funds may pay the broker or its agent for main-taining these records as well as providing other shareholderservices. The broker (or its agent) may charge you a fee forhandling your order. The broker (or agent) is responsible forprocessing your order correctly and promptly, keeping youadvised regarding the status of your individual account, con-firming your transactions and ensuring that you receive cop-ies of the Funds’ prospectus.
Current and prospective investors purchasing shares of aFund through a broker-dealer should be aware that a trans-action charge may be imposed by broker-dealers that makethe Fund’s shares available, and there will not be such atransaction charge if shares of the Fund are purchaseddirectly from the Fund.
Identity Verification Procedures NoticeThe USA PATRIOT Act and federal regulations require finan-cial institutions, including mutual funds, to adopt certainpolicies and programs to prevent money laundering activities,including procedures to verify the identity of all investorsopening new accounts. When completing the New AccountApplication, you will be required to supply the Funds withcertain information for all persons owning or permitted to acton an account. This information includes date of birth, tax-payer identification number and street address. If you areopening the account in the name of a legal entity (e.g.,partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corpo-ration, etc.), you must also supply the identity of the beneficialowners. Until such verification is made, the Funds maytemporarily limit additional share purchases. In addition, the
Funds may limit additional share purchases or close anaccount if they are unable to verify a customer’s identity. Asrequired by law, the Funds may employ various procedures,such as comparing the information to fraud databases orrequesting additional information or documentation fromyou, to ensure that the information supplied by you is correct.
Net Asset Value and Fair Value PricingThe NAV per share is the value of the Fund’s assets, less itsliabilities, divided by the number of shares of the Fund out-standing. The value of a Fund’s portfolio securities isdetermined on the basis of the market value of such secu-rities or, if market quotations are not readily available, at fairvalue under guidelines established by the Board of Trustees.Securities and other assets for which reliable market quota-tions are not readily available will be valued at their fair valueas determined by the Adviser under the guidelines estab-lished by, and under the general supervision and responsi-bility of, the Board. The Adviser may determine the fair valuefor securities that are thinly traded, illiquid, or where theAdviser believes that the prices provided by a pricing serviceare not accurate or are not available. Fair value pricing isintended to be used as necessary in order to accurately valuethe Funds’ portfolio securities and their respective net assetvalues. The Statement of Additional Information furtherdescribes the most common techniques used by the Funds tofair value their securities.
The daily NAV may not reflect the closing market price for allfutures contracts held by the Funds because the markets forcertain futures will close shortly after the time net asset valueis calculated. See “Net Asset Value” in the Statement ofAdditional Information for further information.
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How to Redeem Shares
Regular Redemptions
You may redeem shares at any time by delivering instructionsby regular mail to the Transfer Agent or selected brokers,dealers and other qualified institutions. If you would like tosend a request to redeem shares to the Transfer Agent viaregular mail, send to:
Metropolitan West Fundsc/o BNY Mellon Investment ServicingP.O. Box 9793Providence, RI 02940
If you are sending a request via overnight mail services, sendto:
Metropolitan West Fundsc/o BNY Mellon Investment Servicing4400 Computer DriveWestborough, MA 01581-1722
The redemption request should identify the Fund and theaccount number, specify the number of shares or dollaramount to be redeemed and be signed by all registered own-ers exactly as the account is registered. Your request will notbe accepted unless it contains all required documents. Theshares will be redeemed at NAV next determined after receiptof the request by the Transfer Agent or other agent of theFunds. A redemption of shares is a sale of shares and youmay realize a taxable gain or loss.
If the proceeds of any redemption (a) exceed $50,000, (b) arepaid to a person other than the owner of record, or (c) aresent to an address or bank account other than shown on theTransfer Agent’s records, the signature(s) on the redemptionrequest must be a medallion signature guarantee. A med-allion signature guarantee may be obtained from a domesticbank or trust company, broker, dealer, clearing agency, sav-ings association, or other financial institution which is partic-ipating in a medallion program recognized by the SecuritiesTransfer Association. The three recognized medallion pro-grams are Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program(STAMP), Stock Exchanges Medallion Program (SEMP) andNew York Stock Exchange, Inc. Medallion Signature Program(NYSE MSP).
Additional documentation may be required for theredemption of shares held in corporate, partnership or fidu-ciary accounts. If you have any questions, please contact theFunds in advance by calling (800) 241-4671.
Redemptions will be processed only on a day during whichthe NYSE is open for business. If you purchase shares bycheck or money order and later decide to sell them, yourproceeds from that redemption will be withheld until theFunds are sure that your check has cleared. This could takeup to 15 calendar days after your purchase order.
Exchanges of SharesYou are permitted to exchange your shares in a Fund forshares of another Fund in the Trust, provided that the shareclass is the same in the two Funds involved in the exchange,the shares may legally be sold in the state of your residenceand the Fund is open to new investors. You must also selectthe appropriate box on the Account Application. The sharesyou are exchanging must have a current value of at least theminimum investment requirement for that class ($5,000 forregular accounts and $1,000 for Individual RetirementAccounts of Class M, $2,500 for regular accounts and $1,000for Individual Retirement Accounts of the AdministrativeClass, $3,000,000 for Class I and $25,000,000 for the PlanClass). Class I-2 shares are currently only offered for the TotalReturn Bond Fund. An exchange of shares is treated forFederal income tax purposes as a redemption or sale ofshares and any gain or loss may be subject to income tax.Shares exchanged for shares of another Fund will be priced attheir respective net asset values.
The exchange privilege is not intended as a vehicle for short-term trading. Excessive exchange activity may interfere withportfolio management and have an adverse effect on allshareholders. Administrators, trustees or sponsors of retire-ment plans may also impose redemption fees on suchexchanges.
The Funds also reserve the right to revise or terminate theexchange privilege, limit the amount or number of exchangesor reject any exchange. The Fund into which you would like toexchange may also reject your exchange. These actions may
35
apply to all shareholders or only to those shareholders whoseexchanges the Adviser determines are likely to have a negativeeffect on the Funds.
Systematic Withdrawal PlanIf you own or are purchasing shares of the Funds having acurrent value of at least $10,000 for Class M and Admin-istrative Class and $100,000 for Class I and Class I-2, you mayparticipate in a Systematic Withdrawal Plan. The SystematicWithdrawal Plan provides for automatic redemptions of atleast $100 on a monthly for Class M and AdministrativeClass, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis via AutomaticClearing House (ACH). This electronic transfer could takethree to five business days to settle. You may establish a Sys-tematic Withdrawal Plan by completing the appropriate sec-tion on the Account Application or by calling the Funds at(800) 241-4671. Notice of all changes concerning theSystematic Withdrawal Plan must be received by the TransferAgent at least two weeks prior to the next scheduled payment.Further information regarding this Plan and its requirementscan be obtained by contacting the Funds at (800) 241-4671.The Systematic Withdrawal Plan is not available for the PlanClass shares.
Telephone TransactionsYou may redeem shares by telephone and have the proceedswired to the bank account as stated on the Transfer Agent’srecords. You may also exchange shares by telephone. In orderto redeem or exchange shares by telephone, you must selectthe appropriate box on the Account Application. In order toarrange for telephone redemptions or exchanges or changepayment instructions after an account has been opened or tochange the bank account or address designated to receiveredemption proceeds, a written request must be sent to theTrust. The request must be signed by each shareholder of theaccount with the signature guarantees as described above.Once this feature has been requested, shares may beredeemed or exchanged by calling the Transfer Agent at (800)241-4671 and giving the account name, account number, andamount of the redemption or exchange. Joint accountsrequire only one shareholder to call. If redemption proceedsare to be mailed or wired to the shareholder’s bank account,the bank involved must be a commercial bank located withinthe United States.
If you redeem your shares by telephone and request wirepayment, payment of the redemption proceeds will normallybe made in Federal funds on the next business day. The
redemption order must be received by the Transfer Agentbefore the relevant Fund’s net asset value is calculated for theday. There may be a charge of up to $10 for all wireredemptions. IF YOU EFFECT TRANSACTIONS VIA WIRETRANSFER YOU MAY BE REQUIRED TO PAY FEES,INCLUDING THE WIRE FEE AND OTHER FEES THAT WILLBE DEDUCTED DIRECTLY FROM REDEMPTION PRO-CEEDS.
The Funds reserve the right to reject any telephoneredemption or exchange request and the redemption orexchange privilege may be modified or terminated at any timeon 30-days’ notice to shareholders. In an effort to preventunauthorized or fraudulent redemption or exchange requestsby telephone, the Trust and the Transfer Agent employreasonable procedures specified by the Funds to confirm thatsuch instructions are genuine. Among the procedures used todetermine authenticity, if you are electing to redeem orexchange by telephone you will be required to provide youraccount number or other identifying information. All suchtelephone transactions will be digitally recorded and you willreceive a confirmation in writing. The Trust may implementother procedures from time to time. If reasonable proceduresare not implemented, the Trust and/or the Transfer Agentmay be liable for any loss due to unauthorized or fraudulenttransactions. In all other cases, the shareholder is liable forany loss for unauthorized transactions. In periods of severemarket or economic conditions, the telephone redemption orexchange of shares may be difficult to implement and youshould redeem shares by writing to the Transfer Agent at theaddress listed above. If for any other reason you are unable toredeem or exchange by telephone, you should redeem orexchange shares by writing to the Transfer Agent at theaddress listed above.
PaymentsAfter the Transfer Agent has received the redemption requestand all proper documents, payment for shares tendered willgenerally be made within (i) one to three business days forredemptions made by wire, and (ii) three to five businessdays for ACH redemptions. Redemption payments by checkwill generally be issued on the business day following theredemption date; however, actual receipt of the check by theredeeming investor will be subject to postal delivery sched-ules and timing. Payment may be delayed under unusual cir-cumstances, consistent with the 1940 Act, and may take up toseveral weeks when made partly in-kind with marketablesecurities.
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Methods Used to Meet Redemption RequestsUnder normal circumstances, each Fund typically expects tomeet redemptions with other positive cash flows. When thatcash is not available, each Fund seeks to maintain its portfo-lio weightings by selling a cross section of the Fund’s hold-ings to meet redemptions, while also factoring in tradingcosts.
Under certain circumstances, including under stressed mar-ket conditions, there are additional tools that each Fund mayuse in order to meet redemptions, including advancing thesettlement of market trades with counterparties to matchinvestor redemption payments or delaying settlement of aninvestor’s transaction to match trade settlement, within regu-latory requirements. Under unusual circumstances, a Fundmay also borrow money (subject to certain regulatoryconditions) through a bank line of credit, including a jointcommitted credit facility, or inter-fund borrowing from affili-ated mutual funds, in order to meet redemption requests.
If the Board of Trustees determines that it would be detri-mental to the best interests of the remaining shareholders ofthe Fund to make payment wholly in cash, the Fund may paythe redemption price in part by a distribution in kind of readilymarketable securities from the portfolio of the Fund, in lieu ofcash. The Trust has elected to be governed by Rule 18f-1 underthe 1940 Act, pursuant to which the Fund is obligated toredeem shares solely in cash up to the lesser of $250,000 orone percent of the net asset value of the Fund during any90-day period for any one shareholder. Should redemptions byany shareholder exceed such limitation the Fund will have theoption of redeeming the excess in cash or in kind. If shares areredeemed in kind, the redeeming shareholder would incurbrokerage costs in converting the assets into cash.
Redemptions of Accounts Below Minimum AmountThe Funds may redeem all of your shares at net asset value(calculated on the preceding business day) if the balance ofyour account falls below a certain minimum amount as aresult of a transfer or redemption (and not marketfluctuations). The minimum amount is $500 for Class Mshares, $3,000,000 for Class I and Class I-2 shares, $500 forAdministrative Class shares and $25,000,000 for PlanClass shares. The Funds will notify you in writing and you willhave 60 days to increase your account balance before yourshares are redeemed.
Conversion of Shares Between ClassesYou are permitted to convert shares between Class M,Class I, Class I-2 and Plan Class Shares, provided that your
investment meets the minimum initial investment and anyother requirements in the other class, and that the shares ofthe other class are eligible for sale in your state of residence.Further information about conversion of shares betweenclasses may be found in the Statement of AdditionalInformation.
Trading LimitsThe Funds are not intended to serve as vehicles for frequenttrading activity because such trading may disrupt manage-ment of the Funds. In addition, such trading activity canincrease expenses as a result of increased trading and trans-action costs, forced and unplanned portfolio turnover, lostopportunity costs, and large asset swings that decrease theFunds’ ability to provide maximum investment returns to allshareholders. In addition, certain trading activity thatattempts to take advantage of inefficiencies in the valuation ofthe Funds’ securities holdings may dilute the interests of theremaining shareholders. This in turn can have an adverseeffect on the Funds’ performance.
The Trust reserves the right to refuse any purchase orexchange request that could adversely affect a Fund or itsoperations, including those from any individual or group who,in the Trust’s view, is likely to engage in excessive materialtrading. If a purchase or exchange order into shares of a Fundis rejected, the potential investor will not benefit from anysubsequent increase in the net asset value of that Fund.Future purchases into a Fund may be barred if a shareholdereffects more than two round trips in shares of that Fund(meaning exchanges or redemptions following a purchase) inexcess of certain de minimis limits within a 30 day period.Shareholders effecting a round trip transaction in shares of aFund in excess of the relevant de minimis threshold morethan once within the above-referenced 30-day period mayreceive a communication from the Fund warning that theshareholder is in danger of violating the Trust’s FrequentTrading Policy. Exceptions to these trading limits may bemade only upon approval of the Funds’ Chief ComplianceOfficer or his designee, and such exceptions are reported tothe Board of Trustees on a quarterly basis. This policy may berevised from time to time by the officers of the Trust in con-sultation with the Board of Trustees without prior notice.
These restrictions do not apply to certain asset allocationprograms (including mutual funds that invest in other mutualfunds for asset allocation purposes, and not for short-termtrading), to omnibus accounts (except to the extent noted inthe next paragraph) maintained by brokers and other financialintermediaries (including 401(k) or other group retirement
37
accounts, although restrictions on Fund share transactionscomparable to those set forth in the previous paragraph havebeen applied to the Adviser’s retirement savings program),and to involuntary transactions and automatic investmentprograms, such as dividend reinvestment, or transactionspursuant to the Funds’ systematic investment or withdrawalprogram.
In an attempt to detect and deter excessive trading in omni-bus accounts, the Trust or its agents may require inter-mediaries to impose restrictions on the trading activity ofaccounts traded through those intermediaries. The Funds’ability to impose restrictions with respect to accounts tradedthrough particular intermediaries may vary depending on thesystems capabilities, applicable contractual and legalrestrictions, and cooperation of those intermediaries. TheTrust, however, cannot always identify or reasonably detectexcessive trading that may be facilitated by financial inter-mediaries or made difficult to identify through the use ofomnibus accounts by those intermediaries that transmitpurchase, exchange and redemption orders to the Funds, andthus the Funds may have difficulty curtailing such activity.
In addition, the Trust reserves the right to:
• change or discontinue its exchange privilege, or temporarilysuspend this privilege during unusual market conditions,to the extent permitted under applicable SEC rules; and
• delay sending out redemption proceeds for up to sevendays (generally only applies in cases of large redemptions,excessive trading or during unusual market conditions).
Reports to ShareholdersEach Fund’s fiscal year ends on March 31. Each Fund willissue to its shareholders semi-annual and annual reports. Inaddition, you will receive monthly statements of the status ofyour account reflecting all transactions having taken placewithin that month. In order to reduce the Funds’ expenses,the Trust will try to identify related shareholders in a house-hold and send only one copy of the annual or semi-annualreport and prospectus per household. Information regardingthe tax status of income dividends and capital gains dis-tributions will be mailed to shareholders by the deadlineestablished by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Account taxinformation will also be sent to the IRS.
Withholdings; ReportingThe Funds may be required to withhold Federal income taxfrom proceeds of redemptions if you are subject to backupwithholding. Failure to provide a certified tax identificationnumber at the time an account is opened will cause tax to bewithheld. The Funds also may be required to reportredemptions to the IRS.
38
Dividends and Tax Status
The Funds expect to declare dividends daily and pay themmonthly to shareholders. Dividends normally begin to accrueon the next business day after payment for shares.
Distributions from net realized short-term gains, if any, anddistributions from any net capital gains realized throughOctober 31st of each year and not previously paid out will bepaid out after that date. Each Fund may also pay supple-mental distributions after the end of the Fund’s fiscal year.Dividends and distributions are paid in full and fractionalshares of each Fund based on the net asset value per share atthe close of business on the ex-dividend date, unless yourequest, in writing to the Trust, payment in cash. Dis-tributions are treated the same for tax purposes whetherreceived in cash or reinvested. The Trust will notify you afterthe close of its fiscal year of both the dollar amount and thetax status of that year’s distributions.
All dividends from net investment income (other than quali-fied dividend income) together with distributions of short-term capital gains will be taxable as ordinary income eventhough paid to you in additional shares. Any net capital gains(“capital gains distributions”) distributed are taxable as therelevant type of capital gains regardless of the length of timeyou have owned your shares. Distributions of investment
income designated as derived from “qualified dividendincome” will be taxed under federal law in the hands ofindividuals at the rates applicable to long -term capital gain,provided certain requirements are met. State and local taxesmay also apply. Dividends, interest and gains received by aFund may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposedby foreign countries. Tax conventions between certain coun-tries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate these foreign taxes.
Distributions will be taxable in the year in which they arereceived, except for certain distributions received in January,which will be taxable as if received the prior December. Youwill be informed annually of the amount and nature of theFund’s distributions, including the portions, if any, that qual-ify for the dividends-received deduction. These distributionsmay be capital gain distributions and/or a return of capital.
Additional information about taxes is set forth in the State-ment of Additional Information. The foregoing discussion hasbeen prepared by the management of the Funds, and is notintended to be a complete description of all tax implicationsof an investment in a Fund. You should consult your ownadvisors concerning the application of federal, state and localtax laws to your particular situations.
39
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand each Fund’s financial performance for the past five years of theFund’s operations or period from inception if less than five years. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fundshare. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned on an investment in the Fund(assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). With respect to the information provided for a fiscal year or as of afiscal year end, this information has been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, whose Report of Independent Registered PublicAccounting Firm, along with the financial statements and financial highlights of each Fund, are included in the annual report,which is available upon request. The information provided for the six-month period ended September 30, 2019 is unaudited. Thefinancial statements and financial highlights of each Fund for the six months ended September 30, 2019 are included in the semi-annual report, which is also available upon request.
Because the Total Return Bond Fund has not issued I-2 Class Shares and the Unconstrained Bond Fund has not issued PlanClass Shares as of the date of this Prospectus, financial highlights are not available those share classes.
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Financial Highlights
Total Return Bond FundClass M
Six Months EndedSeptember 30,
2019(Unaudited)
Year EndedMarch 31,
2019
Year EndedMarch 31,
2018
Year EndedMarch 31,
2017
Year EndedMarch 31,
2016
Year EndedMarch 31,
2015
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period . . $ 10.64 $ 10.46 $ 10.57 $ 10.83 $ 11.02 $ 10.68
Income from Investment Operations:Net investment income1 . . . . . . . . . . . 0.14 0.28 0.21 0.18 0.18 0.19Net realized and unrealized gain/
Ratios/Supplemental Data:Net Assets, end of period (in thousands) . . . . . . $1,594,837 $1,011,637 $975,897 $768,125 $291,168 $281,479Ratio of Expenses to Average Net Assets
Ratios/Supplemental Data:Net Assets, end of period (in thousands) . . . . . . $332,922 $454,968 $642,999 $1,460,884 $827,053 $738,090Ratio of Expenses to Average Net Assets
Ratios/Supplemental Data:Net Assets, end of period (in thousands) . . . $2,950,898 $2,651,631 $2,627,294 $1,996,550 $1,395,583 $1,299,022Ratio of Expenses to Average Net Assets
5 Includes recoupment of past waived fees. Excluding the recoupment of past waived fees, the ratio would have been 0.76%.
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More information on each Fund is available, free of charge, upon request by calling (800) 241-4671, or on the Internet atwww.TCW.com, including the following:
Annual/Semiannual ReportsAdditional information about each Fund’s investments is in the Funds’ annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In theFunds’ annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected eachFund’s performance during its last fiscal year.
Statement of Additional Information (SAI)The SAI provides more details about each Fund and its policies. A current SAI is on file with the SEC, is incorporated by reference,and is legally considered a part of this Prospectus.
Shareholder Account InformationFor additional information, such as transaction and account inquiries:
Call (800) 241-4671, or send your request to:
METROPOLITAN WEST FUNDS865 SOUTH FIGUEROA STREET
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90017(800) 241-4671
You can obtain copies of reports and other information about the Funds (including the SAI) on EDGAR Database on the SEC’swebsite at www.sec.gov or by electronic request to [email protected]. A fee will be charged for making copies.
Investment Company Act File No. 811-07989
Page 1 of 2
PRIVACY POLICY
The TCW Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries TCW Investment Management Company LLC TCW Asset Management Company LLC Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLC TCW Funds, Inc. Sepulveda Management LLC TCW Strategic Income Fund, Inc. TCW Direct Lending LLC Metropolitan West Funds TCW Direct Lending VII LLC
Effective November 2018
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
At TCW, we recognize the importance of keeping information about you secure and confidential. We do not sell or share your nonpublic personal and financial information with marketers or others outside our affiliated group of companies. We carefully manage information among our affiliated group of companies to safeguard your privacy and to provide you with consistently excellent service. We are providing this notice to you to comply with the requirements of Regulation S-P, "Privacy of Consumer Financial Information," issued by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
OUR PRIVACY POLICY
We, The TCW Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, the TCW Funds, Inc., TCW Strategic Income Fund, Inc., the Metropolitan West Funds, Sepulveda Management LLC, and TCW Direct Lending (collectively, "TCW") are committed to protecting the nonpublic personal and financial information of our customers and consumers who obtain or seek to obtain financial products or services primarily for personal, family or household purposes. We fulfill our commitment by establishing and implementing policies and systems to protect the security and confidentiality of this information. In our offices, we limit access to nonpublic personal and financial information about you to those TCW personnel who need to know the information in order to provide products or services to you. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect your nonpublic personal and financial information.
CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT
We may collect the following types of nonpublic personal and financial information about you from the following sources: • Your name, address and identifying numbers, and other personal and financial information, from you and from identification
cards and papers you submit to us, on applications, subscription agreements or other forms or communications. • Information about your account balances and financial transactions with us, our affiliated entities, or nonaffiliated third parties,
from our internal sources, from affiliated entities and from nonaffiliated third parties. • Information about your account balances and financial transactions and other personal and financial information, from
consumer credit reporting agencies or other nonaffiliated third parties, to verify information received from you or others.
Page 2 of 2
CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION WE DISCLOSE TO NONAFFILIATED THIRD PARTIES
We may disclose your name, address and account and other identifying numbers, as well as information about your pending or past transactions and other personal financial information, to nonaffiliated third parties, for our everyday business purposes such as necessary to execute, process, service and confirm your securities transactions and mutual fund transactions, to administer and service your account and commingled investment vehicles in which you are invested, to market our products and services through joint marketing arrangements or to respond to court orders and legal investigations. We may disclose nonpublic personal and financial information concerning you to law enforcement agencies, federal regulatory agencies, self-regulatory organizations or other nonaffiliated third parties, if required or requested to do so by a court order, judicial subpoena or regulatory inquiry. We do not otherwise disclose your nonpublic personal and financial information to nonaffiliated third parties, except where we believe in good faith that disclosure is required or permitted by law. Because we do not disclose your nonpublic personal and financial information to nonaffiliated third parties, our Customer Privacy Policy does not contain opt-out provisions.
CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION WE DISCLOSE TO OUR AFFILIATED ENTITIES
• We may disclose your name, address and account and other identifying numbers, account balances, information about your
pending or past transactions and other personal financial information to our affiliated entities for any purpose. • We regularly disclose your name, address and account and other identifying numbers, account balances and information
about your pending or past transactions to our affiliates to execute, process and confirm securities transactions or mutual fund transactions for you, to administer and service your account and commingled investment vehicles in which you are invested, or to market our products and services to you.
INFORMATION ABOUT FORMER CUSTOMERS
We do not disclose nonpublic personal and financial information about former customers to nonaffiliated third parties unless required or requested to do so by a court order, judicial subpoena or regulatory inquiry, or otherwise where we believe in good faith that disclosure is required or permitted by law.
QUESTIONS
Should you have any questions about our Customer Privacy Policy, please contact us by email or by regular mail at the address at the end of this policy.
REMINDER ABOUT TCW'S FINANCIAL PRODUCTS
Financial products offered by The TCW Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, the TCW Funds, Inc., TCW Strategic Income Fund, Inc., the Metropolitan West Funds, Sepulveda Management LLC, and TCW Direct Lending. • Are not guaranteed by a bank;
• Are not obligations of The TCW Group, Inc. or of its subsidiaries;
• Are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and
• Are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of the principal amount committed or invested, and earnings thereon.
THE TCW GROUP, INC. SEPULVEDA MANAGEMENT LLC
TCW FUNDS, INC. TCW DIRECT LENDING LLC
TCW STRATEGIC INCOME FUND, INC. TCW DIRECT LENDING VII LLC
METROPOLITAN WEST FUNDS
Attention: Privacy Officer | 865 South Figueroa St. Suite 1800 | Los Angeles, CA 90017 | email: [email protected]
