As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 29, 2019
1933 Act File No. 002-90946
1940 Act File No. 811-04015
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION | ||
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 | ||
FORM N-1A | ||
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT of 1933 |
o | |
POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 312 | x | |
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940 |
o | |
AMENDMENT NO. 315 | x | |
EATON VANCE MUTUAL FUNDS TRUST | ||
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter) | ||
Two International Place, Boston, Massachusetts 02110 | ||
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) | ||
(617) 482-8260 | ||
(Registrant’s Telephone Number) | ||
MAUREEN A. GEMMA | ||
Two International Place, Boston, Massachusetts 02110 | ||
(Name and Address of Agent for Service) |
Stock Portfolio and Tax-Managed Growth Portfolio have also executed this Registration Statement.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1
Class A Shares - ETTGX Class B Shares - EMTGX Class C Shares - ECTGX Class I Shares - EITMX
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2
Class A Shares - EXTGX Class B Shares - EYTGX Class C Shares - EZTGX Class I Shares - EITGX
Prospectus Dated
May 1, 2019
Important Note. Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of each Fund’s 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 (http://www.eatonvance.com/funddocuments), and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website address 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. If you are a direct investor, you may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Funds electronically by signing up for e-Delivery at eatonvance.com/edelivery. If you own your shares through a financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank), you must contact your financial intermediary to sign up.
You may elect to receive all future Fund shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you are a direct investor, you can inform the Funds that you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports by calling 1-800-262-1122. If you own these shares through a financial intermediary, you must contact your financial intermediary or follow instructions included with this disclosure, if applicable, to elect to continue to receive paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all Eaton Vance funds held directly or to all funds held through your financial intermediary, as applicable.
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.
This Prospectus contains
important information about the Funds and the services
available to shareholders. Please save it for reference.
Table of Contents
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 2 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Fund Summaries
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1
Investment Objective
The Fund's investment objective is to achieve long-term, after-tax returns for shareholders through investing in a diversified portfolio of equity securities.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. Investors may also pay commissions or other fees to their financial intermediary when they buy and hold shares of the Fund, which are not reflected below. You may qualify for a reduced sales charge on purchases of Class A shares if you invest, or agree to invest over a 13-month period, at least $50,000 in Eaton Vance funds. Certain financial intermediaries also may offer variations in Fund sales charges to their customers as described in Appendix A – Financial Intermediary Sales Charge Variations in this Prospectus. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial intermediary and in Sales Charges beginning on page 24 of this Prospectus and page 22 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) | Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I |
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) | 5.75% | None | None | None |
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of the lower of net asset value at purchase or redemption) | None | 5.00% | 1.00% | None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) (1) | Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I |
Management Fees | 0.43% | 0.43% | 0.43% | 0.43% |
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | 0.25% | 1.00% | 1.00% | None |
Other Expenses | 0.11 % | 0.11 % | 0.11 % | 0.11 % |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.79% | 1.54% | 1.54% | 0.54% |
(1) | Expenses in the table above and Example below reflect the expenses of the Fund and Tax-Managed Growth Portfolio (the “Portfolio”), the Fund’s master Portfolio. |
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the operating expenses remain the same and that any expense reimbursement arrangement remains in place for the contractual period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” the portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 1% of the average value of its portfolio.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 3 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Principal Investment Strategies
Shares of the Fund are currently not available to new investors. The Fund invests primarily in common stocks of growth companies that are considered by the investment adviser to be high in quality and attractive in their long-term investment prospects. The Fund seeks to invest primarily in established companies with characteristics of above average growth, predictability and stability. The Fund employs a “growth at a reasonable price” investing style, seeking to acquire companies that the portfolio managers believe are reasonably priced in relation to their fundamental value. The Fund invests in a broadly diversified selection of equity securities and Fund holdings will represent a number of different industries. Although it invests primarily in domestic securities, the Fund may invest up to 25% of assets in foreign securities, some of which may be issued by companies domiciled in emerging market countries. As an alternative to holding foreign stocks directly, the Fund may invest in U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign companies that trade on U.S. exchanges or in the over-the-counter market (including depositary receipts that evidence ownership in underlying foreign stocks). Under normal conditions, stocks generally are acquired with the expectation of being held for the long-term, often five years or more. The Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), a type of pooled investment vehicle, in order to manage cash positions or seek exposure to certain markets or market sectors. The Fund may also invest in publicly traded real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and lend its securities.
Buy and sell decisions are made by balancing investment considerations and tax considerations, and taking into account the taxes payable by shareholders in connection with distributions of investment income and net realized gains. The Fund seeks to minimize income distributions and distributions of realized short-term gains that are taxed as ordinary income, as well as distributions of realized long-term gains (taxed as long-term capital gains). Investment decisions are made primarily on the basis of fundamental research. The portfolio managers utilize information provided by, and the expertise of, the investment adviser’s research staff in making investment decisions. In selecting stocks, the portfolio managers consider (among other factors) a company’s earnings or cash flow capabilities, dividend prospects and tax treatment of a company’s dividends, the strength of the company’s business franchises and estimates of the company’s net value. The portfolio managers intend to manage risk by maintaining a broad issuer and industry diversification and by utilizing fundamental analysis of risk/return characteristics in securities selection. In addition to rigorous fundamental research, the portfolio managers use various risk tools to help manage and monitor the portfolio’s risk profile as well as individual stock valuation, volatility and other risk characteristics. A security may be sold when the portfolio managers believe it is fully valued, as a result of price declines that reach certain levels, other securities are identified to displace a current holding, or fundamentals deteriorate.
The Fund currently invests its assets in the Portfolio, a separate registered investment company with the same investment objective and policies as the Fund.
Investing in the Portfolio enables the Fund to participate in a large and well-established investment portfolio without being exposed to potential tax liability for unrealized gains accrued prior to the Fund’s inception. In addition to cash subscriptions, the Portfolio accepts contributions of securities from investors. As a general matter, the Portfolio does not intend to sell appreciated securities contributed to the Portfolio even if they are expected to decline in value, but may in the discretion of the portfolio managers seek to manage its exposure to these securities by using hedging techniques. The Portfolio follows the practice of distributing securities to meet redemptions by investors in the Portfolio that contributed securities.
Principal Risks
Market Risk. The value of investments held by the Fund may increase or decrease in response to economic, political and financial events (whether real, expected or perceived) in the U.S. and global markets. The frequency and magnitude of such changes in value cannot be predicted. Certain securities and other investments held by the Fund may experience increased volatility, illiquidity, or other potentially adverse effects in reaction to changing market conditions. Actions taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve or foreign central banks to stimulate or stabilize economic growth, such as decreases or increases in short-term interest rates, could cause high volatility in markets.
Equity Securities Risk. The value of equity securities and related instruments may decline in response to adverse changes in the economy or the economic outlook; deterioration in investor sentiment; interest rate, currency, and commodity price fluctuations; adverse geopolitical, social or environmental developments; issuer and sector-specific considerations; or other factors. Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of stocks. If the stock market declines in value, the value of the Fund’s equity securities will also likely decline. Although prices can rebound, there is no assurance that values will return to previous levels.
Growth Risk. Because the Fund normally invests primarily in stocks of growth companies, it is subject to the risk of underperforming the overall stock market during periods in which stocks of such companies are out of favor and generate lower returns than the market as a whole.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 4 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Tax-Managed Investing Risk. Market conditions may limit the Fund’s ability to generate tax losses or to generate dividend income taxed at favorable tax rates. The Fund’s tax-managed strategy may cause the Fund to hold a security in order to achieve more favorable tax-treatment or to sell a security in order to create tax losses. The Fund’s ability to utilize various tax-management techniques may be curtailed or eliminated by tax legislation, regulation or interpretations. Although the Fund expects that a smaller portion of its total return will consist of taxable distributions to shareholders as compared to equity mutual funds that are managed without regard to tax considerations, there can be no assurance about the size of taxable distributions to shareholders.
Foreign Investment Risk. Foreign investments can be adversely affected by political, economic and market developments abroad, including the imposition of economic and other sanctions by the United States or another country. Foreign markets may be smaller, less liquid and more volatile than the major markets in the United States, and as a result, Fund share values may be more volatile. Trading in foreign markets typically involves higher expense than trading in the United States. The Fund may have difficulties enforcing its legal or contractual rights in a foreign country. Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks associated with investing directly in foreign instruments.
Emerging Markets Investment Risk. Investment markets in emerging market countries are typically smaller, less liquid and more volatile than developed markets, and emerging market securities often involve greater risks than developed market securities.
Currency Risk. Exchange rates for currencies fluctuate daily. The value of foreign investments may be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in currency exchange rates in relation to the U.S. dollar. Currency markets generally are not as regulated as securities markets and currency transactions are subject to settlement, custodial and other operational risks.
ETF Risk. ETFs are subject to the risks of investing in the underlying securities or other investments. ETF shares may trade at a premium or discount to net asset value and are subject to secondary market trading risks. In addition, the Fund will bear a pro rata portion of the operating expenses of an ETF in which it invests. Other pooled investment vehicles generally are subject to risks similar to those of ETFs.
Real Estate Risk. Real estate investments are subject to risks associated with owning real estate, including declines in real estate values, increases in property taxes, fluctuations in interest rates, limited availability of mortgage financing, decreases in revenues from underlying real estate assets, declines in occupancy rates, changes in government regulations affecting zoning, land use, and rents, environmental liabilities, and risks related to the management skill and creditworthiness of the issuer. Companies in the real estate industry may also be subject to liabilities under environmental and hazardous waste laws, among others. REITs must satisfy specific requirements for favorable tax treatment and can involve unique risks in addition to the risks generally affecting the real estate industry. Changes in underlying real estate values may have an exaggerated effect to the extent that investments are concentrated in particular geographic regions or property types.
Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves a possible delay in recovery of the loaned securities or a possible loss of rights in the collateral if the borrower fails financially. The Fund could also lose money if the value of the collateral decreases.
Liquidity Risk. The Fund is exposed to liquidity risk when trading volume, lack of a market maker or trading partner, large position size, market conditions, or legal restrictions impair its ability to sell particular investments or to sell them at advantageous market prices. Consequently, the Fund may have to accept a lower price to sell an investment or continue to hold it or keep the position open, sell other investments to raise cash or give up an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on the Fund’s performance. These effects may be exacerbated during times of financial or political stress.
Risks Associated with Active Management. The success of the Fund’s investment strategy depends on portfolio management’s successful application of analytical skills and investment judgment. Active management involves subjective decisions.
General Fund Investing Risks. The Fund is not a complete investment program and there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. It is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund is designed to be a long-term investment vehicle and is not suited for short-term trading. Investors in the Fund should have a long-term investment perspective and be able to tolerate potentially sharp declines in value. Purchase and redemption activities by Fund shareholders may impact the management of the Fund and its ability to achieve its investment objective(s). In addition, the redemption by one or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders of their holdings in the Fund could have an adverse impact on the remaining shareholders in the Fund. The Fund relies on various service providers, including the investment adviser, in its operations and is susceptible to operational, information security and related events (such as cyber or hacking attacks) that may affect the service providers or the services that they provide to the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 5 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and how the Fund’s average annual returns over time compare with those of a broad-based securities market index. The returns in the bar chart are for Class A shares and do not reflect a sales charge. If the sales charge was reflected, the returns would be lower. Past performance (both before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated Fund performance information can be obtained by visiting www.eatonvance.com.
For the ten years ended December 31, 2018, the highest quarterly total return for Class A was 15.02% for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, and the lowest quarterly return was -14.13% for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.
These returns reflect the maximum sales charge for Class A (5.75%) and any applicable contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) for Class B and Class C. Investors cannot invest directly in an Index.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on a shareholder’s tax situation and the actual characterization of distributions, and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to shareholders who hold shares in tax-deferred accounts or to shares held by non-taxable entities. After-tax returns for other Classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Class A shares. Return After Taxes on Distributions for a period may be the same as Return Before Taxes for that period because no taxable distributions were made during that period. Also, Return After Taxes on Distributions and the Sale of Fund Shares for a period may be greater than or equal to Return After Taxes on Distributions for the same period because of losses realized on the sale of Fund shares.
Management
Investment Adviser. Boston Management and Research (“BMR”).
Portfolio Managers
Lewis R. Piantedosi, Vice President of BMR, has managed the Portfolio since May 2006.
Michael A. Allison, Vice President of BMR, has managed the Portfolio since March 2008.
Yana S. Barton, Vice President of BMR, has managed the Portfolio since March 2008.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Shares of the Fund are currently not available for sale to new investors. Existing Fund investors may purchase, redeem or exchange Fund shares on any business day, which is any day the New York Stock Exchange is open for business. Existing Fund investors may purchase, redeem or exchange Fund shares either through your financial intermediary or (except for purchases of Class C shares by accounts with no specified financial intermediary) directly from the Fund either by writing to the Fund, P.O. Box 9653, Providence, RI 02940-9653, or by calling 1-800-262-1122. There is no minimum for subsequent investments.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 6 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Tax Information
If your shares are held in a taxable account, the Fund’s distributions will be taxed to you as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are exempt from taxation. If your shares are held in a tax-advantaged account, you will generally be taxed only upon withdrawals from the account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund’s shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank) (collectively, “financial intermediaries”), the Fund, its principal underwriter and its affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 7 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2
Investment Objective
The Fund's investment objective is to achieve long-term, after-tax returns for shareholders through investing in a diversified portfolio of equity securities.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. Investors may also pay commissions or other fees to their financial intermediary when they buy and hold shares of the Fund, which are not reflected below. You may qualify for a reduced sales charge on purchases of Class A shares if you invest, or agree to invest over a 13-month period, at least $50,000 in Eaton Vance funds. Certain financial intermediaries also may offer variations in Fund sales charges to their customers as described in Appendix A – Financial Intermediary Sales Charge Variations in this Prospectus. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial intermediary and in Sales Charges beginning on page 24 of this Prospectus and page 22 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) | Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I |
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) | 5.75% | None | None | None |
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of the lower of net asset value at purchase or redemption) | None | 5.00% | 1.00% | None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) (1) | Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I |
Management Fees | 0.58% | 0.58% | 0.58% | 0.58% |
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | 0.25% | 1.00% | 1.00% | None |
Other Expenses | 0.11 % | 0.11 % | 0.11 % | 0.11 % |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.94% | 1.69% | 1.69% | 0.69% |
(1) | Expenses in the table above and Example below reflect the expenses of the Fund and Tax-Managed Growth Portfolio (the “Portfolio”), the Fund’s master Portfolio. |
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the operating expenses remain the same and that any expense reimbursement arrangement remains in place for the contractual period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” the portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 1% of the average value of its portfolio.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 8 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund invests primarily in common stocks of growth companies that are considered by the investment adviser to be high in quality and attractive in their long-term investment prospects. The Fund seeks to invest primarily in established companies with characteristics of above average growth, predictability and stability. The Fund employs a “growth at a reasonable price” investing style, seeking to acquire companies that the portfolio managers believe are reasonably priced in relation to their fundamental value. The Fund invests in a broadly diversified selection of equity securities and Fund holdings will represent a number of different industries. Although it invests primarily in domestic securities, the Fund may invest up to 25% of assets in foreign securities, some of which may be issued by companies domiciled in emerging market countries. As an alternative to holding foreign stocks directly, the Fund may invest in U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign companies that trade on U.S. exchanges or in the over-the-counter market (including depositary receipts that evidence ownership in underlying foreign stocks). Under normal conditions, stocks generally are acquired with the expectation of being held for the long-term, often five years or more. The Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), a type of pooled investment vehicle, in order to manage cash positions or seek exposure to certain markets or market sectors. The Fund may also invest in publicly traded real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and lend its securities.
Buy and sell decisions are made by balancing investment considerations and tax considerations, and taking into account the taxes payable by shareholders in connection with distributions of investment income and net realized gains. The Fund seeks to minimize income distributions and distributions of realized short-term gains that are taxed as ordinary income, as well as distributions of realized long-term gains (taxed as long-term capital gains). Investment decisions are made primarily on the basis of fundamental research. The portfolio managers utilize information provided by, and the expertise of, the investment adviser’s research staff in making investment decisions. In selecting stocks, the portfolio managers consider (among other factors) a company’s earnings or cash flow capabilities, dividend prospects and tax treatment of a company’s dividends, the strength of the company’s business franchises and estimates of the company’s net value. The portfolio managers intend to manage risk by maintaining a broad issuer and industry diversification and by utilizing fundamental analysis of risk/return characteristics in securities selection. In addition to rigorous fundamental research, the portfolio managers use various risk tools to help manage and monitor the portfolio’s risk profile as well as individual stock valuation, volatility and other risk characteristics. A security may be sold when the portfolio managers believe it is fully valued, as a result of price declines that reach certain levels, other securities are identified to displace a current holding, or fundamentals deteriorate.
The Fund currently invests its assets in the Portfolio, a separate registered investment company with the same investment objective and policies as the Fund.
Investing in the Portfolio enables the Fund to participate in a large and well-established investment portfolio without being exposed to potential tax liability for unrealized gains accrued prior to the Fund’s inception. In addition to cash subscriptions, the Portfolio accepts contributions of securities from investors. As a general matter, the Portfolio does not intend to sell appreciated securities contributed to the Portfolio even if they are expected to decline in value, but may in the discretion of the portfolio managers seek to manage its exposure to these securities by using hedging techniques. The Portfolio follows the practice of distributing securities to meet redemptions by investors in the Portfolio that contributed securities.
Principal Risks
Market Risk. The value of investments held by the Fund may increase or decrease in response to economic, political and financial events (whether real, expected or perceived) in the U.S. and global markets. The frequency and magnitude of such changes in value cannot be predicted. Certain securities and other investments held by the Fund may experience increased volatility, illiquidity, or other potentially adverse effects in reaction to changing market conditions. Actions taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve or foreign central banks to stimulate or stabilize economic growth, such as decreases or increases in short-term interest rates, could cause high volatility in markets.
Equity Securities Risk. The value of equity securities and related instruments may decline in response to adverse changes in the economy or the economic outlook; deterioration in investor sentiment; interest rate, currency, and commodity price fluctuations; adverse geopolitical, social or environmental developments; issuer and sector-specific considerations; or other factors. Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of stocks. If the stock market declines in value, the value of the Fund’s equity securities will also likely decline. Although prices can rebound, there is no assurance that values will return to previous levels.
Growth Risk. Because the Fund normally invests primarily in stocks of growth companies, it is subject to the risk of underperforming the overall stock market during periods in which stocks of such companies are out of favor and generate lower returns than the market as a whole.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 9 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Tax-Managed Investing Risk. Market conditions may limit the Fund’s ability to generate tax losses or to generate dividend income taxed at favorable tax rates. The Fund’s tax-managed strategy may cause the Fund to hold a security in order to achieve more favorable tax-treatment or to sell a security in order to create tax losses. The Fund’s ability to utilize various tax-management techniques may be curtailed or eliminated by tax legislation, regulation or interpretations. Although the Fund expects that a smaller portion of its total return will consist of taxable distributions to shareholders as compared to equity mutual funds that are managed without regard to tax considerations, there can be no assurance about the size of taxable distributions to shareholders.
Foreign Investment Risk. Foreign investments can be adversely affected by political, economic and market developments abroad, including the imposition of economic and other sanctions by the United States or another country. Foreign markets may be smaller, less liquid and more volatile than the major markets in the United States, and as a result, Fund share values may be more volatile. Trading in foreign markets typically involves higher expense than trading in the United States. The Fund may have difficulties enforcing its legal or contractual rights in a foreign country. Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks associated with investing directly in foreign instruments.
Emerging Markets Investment Risk. Investment markets in emerging market countries are typically smaller, less liquid and more volatile than developed markets, and emerging market securities often involve greater risks than developed market securities.
Currency Risk. Exchange rates for currencies fluctuate daily. The value of foreign investments may be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in currency exchange rates in relation to the U.S. dollar. Currency markets generally are not as regulated as securities markets and currency transactions are subject to settlement, custodial and other operational risks.
ETF Risk. ETFs are subject to the risks of investing in the underlying securities or other investments. ETF shares may trade at a premium or discount to net asset value and are subject to secondary market trading risks. In addition, the Fund will bear a pro rata portion of the operating expenses of an ETF in which it invests. Other pooled investment vehicles generally are subject to risks similar to those of ETFs.
Real Estate Risk. Real estate investments are subject to risks associated with owning real estate, including declines in real estate values, increases in property taxes, fluctuations in interest rates, limited availability of mortgage financing, decreases in revenues from underlying real estate assets, declines in occupancy rates, changes in government regulations affecting zoning, land use, and rents, environmental liabilities, and risks related to the management skill and creditworthiness of the issuer. Companies in the real estate industry may also be subject to liabilities under environmental and hazardous waste laws, among others. REITs must satisfy specific requirements for favorable tax treatment and can involve unique risks in addition to the risks generally affecting the real estate industry. Changes in underlying real estate values may have an exaggerated effect to the extent that investments are concentrated in particular geographic regions or property types.
Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves a possible delay in recovery of the loaned securities or a possible loss of rights in the collateral if the borrower fails financially. The Fund could also lose money if the value of the collateral decreases.
Liquidity Risk. The Fund is exposed to liquidity risk when trading volume, lack of a market maker or trading partner, large position size, market conditions, or legal restrictions impair its ability to sell particular investments or to sell them at advantageous market prices. Consequently, the Fund may have to accept a lower price to sell an investment or continue to hold it or keep the position open, sell other investments to raise cash or give up an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on the Fund’s performance. These effects may be exacerbated during times of financial or political stress.
Risks Associated with Active Management. The success of the Fund’s investment strategy depends on portfolio management’s successful application of analytical skills and investment judgment. Active management involves subjective decisions.
General Fund Investing Risks. The Fund is not a complete investment program and there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. It is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund is designed to be a long-term investment vehicle and is not suited for short-term trading. Investors in the Fund should have a long-term investment perspective and be able to tolerate potentially sharp declines in value. Purchase and redemption activities by Fund shareholders may impact the management of the Fund and its ability to achieve its investment objective(s). In addition, the redemption by one or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders of their holdings in the Fund could have an adverse impact on the remaining shareholders in the Fund. The Fund relies on various service providers, including the investment adviser, in its operations and is susceptible to operational, information security and related events (such as cyber or hacking attacks) that may affect the service providers or the services that they provide to the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 10 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and how the Fund’s average annual returns over time compare with those of a broad-based securities market index. The returns in the bar chart are for Class A shares and do not reflect a sales charge. If the sales charge was reflected, the returns would be lower. Past performance (both before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated Fund performance information can be obtained by visiting www.eatonvance.com.
For the ten years ended December 31, 2018, the highest quarterly total return for Class A was 15.07% for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, and the lowest quarterly return was -14.17% for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.
These returns reflect the maximum sales charge for Class A (5.75%) and any applicable contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) for Class B and Class C. Investors cannot invest directly in an Index.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on a shareholder’s tax situation and the actual characterization of distributions, and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to shareholders who hold shares in tax-deferred accounts or to shares held by non-taxable entities. After-tax returns for other Classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Class A shares. Return After Taxes on Distributions for a period may be the same as Return Before Taxes for that period because no taxable distributions were made during that period. Also, Return After Taxes on Distributions and the Sale of Fund Shares for a period may be greater than or equal to Return After Taxes on Distributions for the same period because of losses realized on the sale of Fund shares.
Management
Investment Adviser. Boston Management and Research (“BMR”).
Portfolio Managers
Lewis R. Piantedosi, Vice President of BMR, has managed the Portfolio since May 2006.
Michael A. Allison, Vice President of BMR, has managed the Portfolio since March 2008.
Yana S. Barton, Vice President of BMR, has managed the Portfolio since March 2008.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase, redeem or exchange Fund shares on any business day, which is any day the New York Stock Exchange is open for business. Class B shares are only available for purchase upon exchange from another Eaton Vance fund or through reinvestment of distributions. You may purchase, redeem or exchange Fund shares either through your financial intermediary or (except for purchases of Class C shares by accounts with no specified financial intermediary) directly from the Fund either by writing to the Fund, P.O. Box 9653, Providence, RI 02940-9653, or by calling 1-800-262-1122. The minimum initial purchase or exchange into the Fund is $1,000 for each class (with the exception of Class I) and $250,000 for Class I (waived in certain circumstances). There is no minimum for subsequent investments.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 11 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Tax Information
If your shares are held in a taxable account, the Fund’s distributions will be taxed to you as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are exempt from taxation. If your shares are held in a tax-advantaged account, you will generally be taxed only upon withdrawals from the account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund’s shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank) (collectively, “financial intermediaries”), the Fund, its principal underwriter and its affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 12 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Investment Objectives & Principal Policies and Risks
The investment objective and principal investment policies and risks of each Fund are described in its Fund Summary. Set forth below is additional information about such policies and risks, as well as information about other types of investments and practices in which each Fund may engage from time to time, unless otherwise noted. Each Fund seeks its objective by investing in the corresponding Portfolio. References to the Fund below are to each Fund and the Portfolio. See also “Strategies and Risks” in the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).
Definitions. As used herein, the following terms have the indicated meaning: “1940 Act” means the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended; “1933 Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended; “Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; “ERISA” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended; and “investment adviser” means the Fund’s investment adviser but if the Fund is sub-advised, it refers to the sub-adviser(s) providing day-to-day management with respect to the investments or strategies discussed.
Tax-Managed Investing. Most mutual funds focus on pre-tax returns and largely ignore shareholder tax considerations. By contrast, the Fund approaches its investments from the perspective of a taxpaying shareholder. Taxes on investment may be minimized by investing primarily in lower-yielding securities and/or stocks that pay dividends that qualify for favorable federal tax treatment. Qualified dividend income received by individual shareholders is taxed at rates equivalent to the federal long-term capital gains rate, rather than the tax rate applicable to ordinary income, provided certain holding periods and other conditions are satisfied. Qualified dividend income generally includes dividends from domestic corporations and dividends from foreign corporations that meet certain specified criteria. The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in stocks and other securities that generate income taxable at ordinary income rates. For any year, so long as the Fund’s fully taxable ordinary income and net realized short-term gains are offset by expenses of the Fund, all of the Fund’s income distributions would be characterized as tax-favored dividends. Taxes on realized capital gains are minimized by minimizing the sale of security holdings with large accumulated gains and avoiding net realized short-term capital gains. Other techniques may include selecting the most tax-favored share lots when selling appreciated stocks, and when appropriate, selling stocks trading below cost to realize losses. Selective use of tax-advantaged hedging techniques as an alternative to taxable sales may also be used.
The Fund’s tax-managed strategy may cause the Fund to hold a security in order to achieve more favorable tax-treatment or to sell a security in order to create tax losses. The Fund’s ability to utilize various tax-management techniques may be curtailed or eliminated in the future by tax legislation or regulation. There can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to minimize taxable distributions to investors and a portion of the Fund’s distributions may be taxable.
Equity Securities. Equity securities include: common stocks; preferred stocks, including convertible and contingent convertible preferred stocks; equity interests in trusts, partnerships, joint ventures and other unincorporated entities or enterprises; depositary receipts, rights and warrants in underlying equity interests; and other securities that are treated as equity for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The Fund cannot predict the income it might receive from equity securities because issuers generally have discretion as to the payment of any dividends or distributions.
The value of equity securities and related instruments may decline in response to adverse changes in the economy or the economic outlook; deterioration in investor sentiment; interest rate, currency, and commodity price fluctuations; adverse geopolitical, social or environmental developments; issuer- and sector-specific considerations; and other factors. Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of stocks. If the stock market declines, the value of Fund shares will also likely decline. Although stock prices can rebound, there is no assurance that values will return to previous levels.
Foreign Investments. Investments in foreign issuers could be affected by factors not present in the United States, including expropriation, armed conflict, confiscatory taxation, lack of uniform accounting and auditing standards, less publicly available financial and other information, and potential difficulties in enforcing contractual obligations. Because foreign issuers may not be subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standard practices and requirements and regulatory measures comparable to those in the United States, there may be less publicly available information about such foreign issuers. Settlements of securities transactions in foreign countries are subject to risk of loss, may be delayed and are generally less frequent than in the United States, which could affect the liquidity of the Fund’s assets. Evidence of ownership of certain foreign investments may be held outside the United States, and the Fund may be subject to the risks associated with the holding of such property overseas.
Foreign issuers may become subject to sanctions imposed by the United States or another country, which could result in the immediate freeze of the foreign issuers’ assets or securities. The imposition of such sanctions could impair the market value of the securities of such foreign issuers and limit the Fund’s ability to buy, sell, receive or deliver the securities. Trading in certain foreign markets is also subject to liquidity risks.
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Political events in foreign countries may cause market disruptions. In June 2016, the United Kingdom approved a referendum to leave the European Union (“EU”) (“Brexit”). There is significant market uncertainty regarding Brexit’s ramifications, and the range and potential implications of possible political, regulatory, economic, and market outcomes in the EU and beyond are difficult to predict. If one or more countries leave the EU or the EU dissolves, the world’s securities markets likely will be significantly disrupted.
As an alternative to holding foreign-traded investments, the Fund may invest in U.S. dollar-denominated investments of foreign companies that trade on U.S. exchanges or in the U.S. over-the-counter market including depositary receipts, such as American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”), which evidence ownership of shares of a foreign issuer and are alternatives to directly purchasing the underlying foreign securities in their national markets and currencies. However, they continue to be subject to many of the risks associated with investing directly in foreign securities. These risks include the political and economic risks of the underlying issuer’s country, as well as in the case of depositary receipts traded on foreign markets, currency risk. Depositary receipts may be sponsored or unsponsored. Unsponsored depositary receipts are established without the participation of the issuer. As a result, available information concerning the issuer of an unsponsored depository receipt may not be as current as for sponsored depositary receipts, and the prices of unsponsored depositary receipts may be more volatile than if such instruments were sponsored by the issuer. Unsponsored depositary receipts may involve higher expenses, may not pass through voting or other shareholder rights and may be less liquid. Unless otherwise stated in Fund Summaries, such investments are not subject to any stated limitation on investing in foreign securities.
Emerging Markets Investments. The risks of foreign investments can be more significant in emerging markets. Emerging markets may offer higher potential for gains and losses than investments in the developed markets of the world. Political and economic structures in emerging market countries generally lack the social, political and economic stability of developed countries, which may affect the value of the Fund’s investments in these countries and also the ability of the Fund to access markets in such countries. Governmental actions can have a significant effect on the economic conditions in emerging market countries, which also may adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments. The laws of emerging market countries relating to the limited liability of corporate shareholders, fiduciary duties of officers and directors, and bankruptcy of state enterprises are generally less developed than or different from such laws in the United States. It may be more difficult to obtain a judgment in the courts of these countries than it is in the United States. Disruptions due to work stoppages and trading improprieties in foreign securities markets have caused such markets to close. If extended closings were to occur in stock markets where the Fund is heavily invested, the Fund’s ability to redeem Fund shares could become impaired. In such circumstances, the Fund may have to sell more liquid securities than it would otherwise choose to sell. Emerging market securities are also subject to speculative trading, which contributes to their volatility.
Foreign Currencies. The value of foreign assets and currencies as measured in U.S. dollars may be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in foreign currency rates and exchange control regulations, application of foreign tax laws (including withholding tax), governmental administration of economic or monetary policies (in this country or abroad), and relations between nations and trading. Foreign currencies also are subject to settlement, custodial and other operational risks. Currency exchange rates can be affected unpredictably by intervention, or the failure to intervene, by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks or by currency controls or political developments in the United States or abroad. If the U.S. dollar rises in value relative to a foreign currency, a security denominated in that foreign currency will be worth less in U.S. dollars. If the U.S. dollar decreases in value relative to a foreign currency, a security denominated in that foreign currency will be worth more in U.S. dollars. A devaluation of a currency by a country’s government or banking authority will have a significant impact on the value of any investments denominated in that currency. Costs are incurred in connection with conversions between currencies.
Derivatives. Generally, derivatives can be characterized as financial instruments whose performance is derived at least in part from the performance of an underlying reference instrument. Derivative instruments may be acquired in the United States or abroad consistent with the Fund’s investment strategy and may include the various types of exchange-traded and over-the-counter (“OTC”) instruments described herein and other instruments with substantially similar characteristics and risks. Fund obligations created pursuant to derivative instruments may give rise to leverage, which would subject the Fund to the requirements described under “Asset Coverage” in the Fund’s SAI. The Fund may invest in a derivative transaction if it is permitted to own, invest in, or otherwise have economic exposure to the reference instrument. A reference instrument could be a security, instrument, index, currency, commodity, economic indicator or event (“reference instruments”). The Fund may engage in derivative transactions to seek to protect against price declines, to enhance returns or as a substitute for purchasing or selling securities.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 14 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
The Fund may trade in the specific types and/or combinations of derivative transactions listed below.
Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks, including adverse or unexpected movements in the price of the reference instrument, and counterparty, liquidity, market, tax and leverage risks. Certain derivatives may also be subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. In addition, derivatives also involve the risk that changes in their value may not correlate perfectly with the assets, rates, indices or instruments they are designed to hedge or closely track. Use of derivative instruments may cause the realization of higher amounts of short-term capital gains (generally taxed at ordinary income tax rates) than if such instruments had not been used. Success in using derivative instruments to hedge portfolio assets depends on the degree of price correlation between the derivative instruments and the hedged asset. Imperfect correlation may be caused by several factors, including temporary price disparities among the trading markets for the derivative instrument, the reference instrument and the Fund’s assets. To the extent that a derivative instrument is intended to hedge against an event that does not occur, the Fund may realize losses.
OTC derivative instruments involve an additional risk in that the issuer or counterparty may fail to perform its contractual obligations. Some derivative instruments are not readily marketable or may become illiquid under adverse market conditions. In addition, during periods of market volatility, an option or commodity exchange or swap execution facility or clearinghouse may suspend or limit trading in an exchange-traded derivative instrument, which may make the contract temporarily illiquid and difficult to price. Commodity exchanges may also establish daily limits on the amount that the price of a futures contract or futures option can vary from the previous day’s settlement price. Once the daily limit is reached, no trades may be made that day at a price beyond the limit. This may prevent the closing out of positions to limit losses. The staff of the SEC takes the position that certain purchased OTC options, and assets used as cover for written OTC options, are illiquid. The ability to terminate OTC derivative instruments may depend on the cooperation of the counterparties to such contracts. For thinly traded derivative instruments, the only source of price quotations may be the selling dealer or counterparty. In addition, certain provisions of the Code limit the use of derivative instruments. Derivatives permit the Fund to increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, to which its portfolio is exposed in much the same way as the Fund can increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, of its portfolio by making investments in specific securities. There can be no assurance that the use of derivative instruments will benefit the Fund.
The U.S. and non-U.S. derivatives markets have undergone substantial changes in recent years as a result of changes under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) in the United States and regulation changes in Europe, Asia and other non-U.S. jurisdictions. In particular, the Dodd-Frank Act and related regulations require many derivatives to be cleared and traded on an exchange, expand entity registration requirements, impose business conduct requirements on counterparties, and impose other regulatory requirements that will continue to change derivatives markets as regulations are implemented. Additional future regulation of the derivatives markets may make the use of derivatives more costly, may limit the availability or reduce the liquidity of derivatives, and may impose limits or restrictions on the counterparties with which the Fund engages in derivative transactions. Fund management cannot predict the effects of any new governmental regulation that may be implemented, and future regulation may impair the effectiveness of the Fund’s derivative transactions and its ability to achieve its investment objectives.
Options. Options may be traded on an exchange and OTC. By buying a put option on a particular instrument, the Fund acquires a right to sell the underlying instrument at the exercise price. By buying a put option on an index, the Fund acquires a right to receive the cash difference between the strike price of the option and the index price at expiration. A purchased put position also typically can be sold at any time by selling at prevailing market prices. Purchased put options generally are expected to limit the Fund's risk of loss through a decline in the market value of the underlying security or index until the put option expires. When buying a put option, the Fund pays a premium to the seller of the option. If the price of the underlying security or index is above the exercise price of the option as of the option valuation date, the option expires worthless and the Fund will not be able to recover the option premium paid to the seller. The Fund may purchase uncovered put options on securities, meaning it will not own the securities underlying the option.
The Fund may also write (i.e., sell) put options. The Fund will receive a premium for selling a put option, which may increase the Fund's return. In selling a put option on a security, the Fund has the obligation to buy the security at an agreed upon price if the price of such instrument decreases below the exercise price. By selling a put option on an index, the Fund has an obligation to make a payment to the buyer to the extent that the value of the index decreases below the exercise price as of the option valuation date. If the value of the underlying security or index on the option’s expiration date is above the exercise price, the option will generally expire worthless and the Fund, as option seller, will have no obligation to the option holder.
The Fund may purchase call options. By purchasing a call option on a security, the Fund has the right to buy the security at the option’s exercise price. By buying a call option on an index, the Fund acquires the right to receive the cash difference between the market price of the index and strike price at expiration. Call options typically can be exercised any time prior to option maturity or, sold at the prevailing market price.
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The Fund may also write (i.e., sell) a call option on a security or index in return for a premium. A call written on a security obligates the Fund to deliver the underlying security at the option exercise price. Written index call options obligate the Fund to make a cash payment to the buyer at expiration if the market price of the index is above the option strike price. Calls typically can also be bought back by the Fund at prevailing market prices and the Fund also may enter into closing purchase transactions with respect to written call options. The Fund may write call options on securities that it owns (so-called covered calls) and also may write uncovered call options. With respect to written covered calls, the Fund may sell the underlying security prior to entering into a closing purchase transaction on up to 5% of its net assets within three days of such transaction. The Fund may also engage in various types of option strategies using put and/or call options.
The Fund’s options positions are marked to market daily. The value of options is affected by changes in the value and dividend rates of their underlying instruments, changes in interest rates, changes in the actual or perceived volatility of the relevant index or market and the remaining time to the options’ expiration, as well as trading conditions in the options market. The hours of trading for options may not conform to the hours during which the underlying instruments are traded. To the extent that the options markets close before markets for the underlying instruments, significant price and rate movements can take place in the markets that would not be reflected concurrently in the options markets.
The Fund's ability to sell the instrument underlying a call option may be limited while the option is in effect unless the Fund enters into a closing purchase transaction. Uncovered call options have speculative characteristics and are riskier than covered call options because there is no underlying instrument held by the Fund that can act as a partial hedge. As the seller of a covered call option or an index call option, the Fund may forego, during the option’s life, the opportunity to profit from increases in the market value of the underlying instrument covering the call option above the sum of the premium received by the Fund and the exercise price of the call. The Fund also retains the risk of loss, minus the option premium received, should the price of the underlying instrument decline.
Participants in OTC markets are typically not subject to the same credit evaluation and regulatory oversight as are members of “exchange-based” markets. OTC option contracts generally carry greater liquidity risk than exchange-traded contracts. This risk may be increased in times of financial stress, if the trading market for OTC options becomes restricted. The ability of the Fund to transact business with any one or a number of counterparties may increase the potential for losses to the Fund, due to the lack of any independent evaluation of the counterparties or their financial capabilities, and the absence of a regulated market to facilitate settlement of the options.
Futures Contracts. Futures are standardized, exchange-traded contracts. Futures contracts on securities obligate a purchaser to take delivery, and a seller to make delivery, of a specific amount of the financial instrument called for in the contract at a specified future date at a specified price. An index futures contract obligates the purchaser to take, and a seller to deliver, an amount of cash equal to a specific dollar amount times the difference between the value of a specific index at the close of the last trading day of the contract and the price at which the agreement is made. No physical delivery of the underlying securities in the index is made. It is the practice of holders of futures contracts to close out their positions on or before the expiration date by use of offsetting contract positions, and physical delivery of financial instruments or delivery of cash, as applicable, is thereby avoided. An option on a futures contract gives the holder the right to enter into a specified futures contract.
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts. A forward foreign currency exchange contract (“currency forward”) involves an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. These contracts may be bought or sold to protect against an adverse change in the relationship between currencies or to increase exposure to a particular foreign currency.
Certain currency forwards may be individually negotiated and privately traded, exposing them to credit and counterparty risks. The precise matching of the currency forward amounts and the value of the instruments denominated in the corresponding currencies will not generally be possible. In addition, it may not be possible to hedge against long-term currency changes. Currency forwards are subject to the risk of political and economic factors applicable to the countries issuing the underlying currencies. Furthermore, unlike trading in most other types of instruments, there is no systematic reporting of last sale information with respect to the foreign currencies underlying currency forwards. As a result, available information may not be complete.
Equity Swaps. Equity swaps involve the exchange by the Fund with another party of their respective returns as calculated on a notional amount of an equity index (such as the S&P 500 Index), basket of equity securities, or individual equity security.
Short Sales. The Fund may engage in short sales on securities or a basket or index of securities. A short sale on an individual security typically involves the sale of a security that is borrowed from a broker or other institution to complete the sale. When making a short sale, the Fund must segregate liquid assets with a broker or the custodian equal to (or otherwise cover) its obligations under the short sale. Generally, securities held in a segregated account cannot be sold unless they are replaced with other liquid assets. This may limit the Fund’s investment flexibility, as well as its ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations. The seller of a short position generally realizes a profit from the transaction if the proceeds it receives on the short sale exceed the cost of purchasing the securities sold short in the market, but will generally realize a loss if the cost of closing the short position exceeds the proceeds from the short sale. The Fund pays interest or dividend expense with respect to securities sold short.
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If the Fund does not own the securities sold short, the short sale exposes the Fund to the risk that it will be required to purchase securities to replace the borrowed securities (also known as “covering” the short position) at a time when the securities sold short have appreciated in value, thus resulting in a loss. There is no assurance that a security sold short will decline in value or make a profit for the Fund. In addition, there is no guarantee that any security needed to cover the short position will be available for purchase. Short selling carries a risk that the counterparty to the short sale may fail to honor its contract terms, causing a loss to the Fund. If the Fund invests the proceeds received for selling securities short in other investments, the Fund is employing a form of leverage.
Restricted Securities. The Fund may invest in securities that are legally restricted as to resale (such as those issued in private placements), including commercial paper issued pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act and securities eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144A thereunder. The Fund may incur additional expense when disposing of restricted securities, including all or a portion of the cost to register the securities. The Fund also may acquire securities through private placements under which it may agree to contractual restrictions on the resale of such securities that are in addition to applicable legal restrictions.
Restricted securities may be difficult to value properly and may involve greater risks than securities that are not subject to restrictions on resale. It may be difficult to sell restricted securities at a price representing fair value until such time as the securities may be sold publicly. Under adverse market or economic conditions or in the event of adverse changes in the financial condition of the issuer, the Fund could find it more difficult to sell such securities when the investment adviser believes it advisable to do so or may be able to sell such securities only at prices lower than if such securities were more widely held. Holdings of restricted securities may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers become uninterested in purchasing them. Restricted securities may involve a high degree of business and financial risk, which may result in substantial losses.
Pooled Investment Vehicles. The Fund may invest in pooled investment vehicles. Pooled investment vehicles are open- and closed-end investment companies unaffiliated with the investment adviser, open-end investment companies affiliated with the investment adviser and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any management fees and expenses paid by unaffiliated and certain affiliated pooled investment vehicles in which it invests. If such fees exceed 0.01%, the costs associated with such investments will be reflected under Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses in the Fund’s Annual Fund Operating Expenses table(s) in its Fund Summary. Requirements of the 1940 Act may limit the Fund’s ability to invest in other investment companies, including ETFs, unless the investment company has received an exemptive order from the SEC on which the Fund may rely.
Pooled investment vehicles are subject to the risks of investing in the underlying securities or other instruments that they own. The market for common shares of closed-end investment companies and ETFs, which are generally traded on an exchange and may be traded at a premium or discount to net asset value, is affected by the demand for those securities, regardless of the value of such fund’s underlying securities. In addition, the Fund will bear a pro rata portion of the operating expenses of a pooled investment vehicle in which it invests.
Real Estate Investments. Companies primarily engaged in the real estate industry and other real estate-related investments may include publicly traded real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) or real estate operating companies that either own properties or make construction or mortgage loans, real estate developers, companies with substantial real estate holdings and other companies whose products and services are related to the real estate industry, such as lodging operators, brokers, property management companies, building supply manufacturers, mortgage lenders, or mortgage servicing companies. REITs tend to be small to medium-sized companies, and may include equity REITs and mortgage REITs. The value of a REIT can depend on the structure of and cash flow generated by the REIT. REITs are pooled investment vehicles that have expenses of their own, so the Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of those expenses. The Fund will not own real estate directly.
Real estate investments are subject to special risks including changes in real estate values, property taxes, interest rates, cash flow of underlying real estate assets, occupancy rates, government regulations affecting zoning, land use, and rents, and the management skill and creditworthiness of the issuer. Companies in the real estate industry may also be subject to liabilities under environmental and hazardous waste laws, among others. Changes in underlying real estate values may have an exaggerated effect to the extent that investments concentrate in particular geographic regions or property types.
Equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the REIT, while mortgage REITs may be affected by the quality of any credit extended. Further, equity and mortgage REITs are dependent upon management skills and generally may not be diversified. Equity and mortgage REITs are also subject to heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by borrowers, and self-liquidations. In addition, equity and mortgage REITs could possibly fail to qualify for tax-free pass through of income or to maintain their exemptions from registration under the 1940 Act. The above factors may also adversely affect a borrower’s or a lessee’s ability to meet its obligations to a REIT. In the event of a default by a borrower or lessee, a REIT may experience delays in enforcing its rights as a mortgagee or lessor and may incur substantial costs associated with protecting its investments.
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Shares of REITs may trade less frequently and, therefore, are subject to more erratic price movements than securities of larger issuers. REITs are also subject to credit, market, liquidity and interest rate risks.
REITs may issue debt securities to fund their activities. The value of these debt securities may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the REIT, the creditworthiness of the REIT, interest rates, and tax and regulatory requirements, among other things.
Securities Lending. The Fund may lend its portfolio securities to broker-dealers and other institutional borrowers. During the existence of a loan, the Fund will continue to receive the equivalent of the interest paid by the issuer on the securities loaned, or all or a portion of the interest on investment of the collateral, if any. The Fund may pay lending fees to such borrowers. Loans will only be made to firms that have been approved by the investment adviser, and the investment adviser or the securities lending agent will periodically monitor the financial condition of such firms while such loans are outstanding. Securities loans will only be made when the investment adviser believes that the expected returns, net of expenses, justify the attendant risks. Securities loans currently are required to be secured continuously by collateral in cash, cash equivalents (such as money market instruments) or other liquid securities held by the custodian and maintained in an amount at least equal to the market value of the securities loaned. The Fund may engage in securities lending to generate income. Distributions of any income received from securities lending will be taxable as ordinary income. Upon return of the loaned securities, the Fund would be required to return the related collateral to the borrower and may be required to liquidate portfolio securities in order to do so. The Fund may lend up to one-third of the value of its total assets or such other amount as may be permitted by law.
As with other extensions of credit, there are risks of delay in recovery or even loss of rights in the securities loaned if the borrower of the securities fails financially. To the extent that the portfolio securities acquired with such collateral have decreased in value, it may result in the Fund realizing a loss at a time when it would not otherwise do so. As such, securities lending may introduce leverage into the Fund. The Fund also may incur losses if the returns on securities that it acquires with cash collateral are less than the applicable rebate rates paid to borrowers and related administrative costs.
Counterparty Risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the Fund does business (such as trading, securities lending or as a derivatives counterparty), or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any instruments that the Fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial condition and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause the value of Fund shares to decline or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the Fund. Counterparty risk is increased for contracts with longer maturities.
Leverage. Certain types of Fund transactions may give rise to economic leverage, which represents a non-cash exposure to the underlying asset, index, rate or instrument. Leverage can increase both the risk and return potential of the Fund.
The Fund is required to segregate liquid assets or otherwise cover the Fund’s obligation created by a transaction that may give rise to leverage. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet segregation requirements. Leverage may cause the Fund’s share price to be more volatile than if it had not been leveraged, as certain types of leverage may exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. The loss on leveraged investments may substantially exceed the initial investment.
Borrowing. The Fund is permitted to borrow for temporary purposes (such as to satisfy redemption requests, to remain fully invested in anticipation of expected cash inflows and to settle transactions). Any borrowings by the Fund are subject to the requirements of the 1940 Act. Borrowings are also subject to the terms of any credit agreement between the Fund and lender(s). Fund borrowings may be equal to as much as 33 1 / 3 % of the value of the Fund’s total assets (including such borrowings) less the Fund’s liabilities (other than borrowings). The Fund will not purchase additional investment securities while outstanding borrowings exceed 5% of the value of its total assets.
In addition, the Fund will be required to maintain a specified level of asset coverage with respect to all borrowings and may be required to sell some of its holdings to reduce debt and restore coverage at times when it may not be advantageous to do so. The rights of the lender to receive payments of interest and repayments of principal of any borrowings made by the Fund under a credit facility are senior to the rights of holders of shares with respect to the payment of dividends or upon liquidation. In the event of a default under a credit arrangement, the lenders may have the right to cause a liquidation of the collateral (i.e., sell Fund assets) and, if any such default is not cured, the lenders may be able to control the liquidation as well.
Cash and Money Market Instruments. The Fund may invest in cash or money market instruments, including high quality short-term instruments or an affiliated investment company that invests in such instruments. During unusual market conditions, the Fund may invest up to 100% of its assets in cash or money market instruments temporarily, which may be inconsistent with its investment objective(s) and other policies.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 18 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Money market instruments may be adversely affected by market and economic events, such as a sharp rise in prevailing short-term interest rates; adverse developments in the banking industry, which issues or guarantees many money market instruments; adverse economic, political or other developments affecting issuers of money market instruments; changes in the credit quality of issuers; and default by a counterparty.
ReFlow Liquidity Program. The Fund may participate in the ReFlow liquidity program, which is designed to provide an alternative liquidity source for mutual funds experiencing net redemptions of their shares. Pursuant to the program, ReFlow Fund, LLC (“ReFlow”) provides participating mutual funds with a source of cash to meet net shareholder redemptions by standing ready each business day to purchase fund shares up to the value of the net shares redeemed by other shareholders that are to settle the next business day. Following purchases of fund shares, ReFlow then generally redeems those shares when the fund experiences net sales, at the end of a maximum holding period determined by ReFlow (currently 14 days) or at other times at ReFlow’s discretion. While ReFlow holds fund shares, it will have the same rights and privileges with respect to those shares as any other shareholder. For use of the ReFlow service, a fund pays a fee to ReFlow each time it purchases fund shares, calculated by applying to the purchase amount a fee rate determined through an automated daily auction among participating mutual funds. The current minimum fee rate is 0.20% of the value of the fund shares purchased by ReFlow although the fund may submit a bid at a higher fee rate if it determines that doing so is in the best interest of fund shareholders. Such fee is allocated among a fund’s share classes based on relative net assets. ReFlow’s purchases of fund shares through the liquidity program are made on an investment-blind basis without regard to the fund’s objective, policies or anticipated performance. In accordance with federal securities laws, ReFlow is prohibited from acquiring more than 3% of the outstanding voting securities of a fund. ReFlow will purchase Class I shares of the Fund at net asset value and will not be subject to any investment minimum applicable to such shares. ReFlow will periodically redeem its entire share position in the Fund and request that such redemption be met in kind in accordance with the Fund’s redemption-in-kind policies described under “Redeeming Shares” below. Investments in the Fund by ReFlow in connection with the ReFlow liquidity program are not subject to the two round-trips within 90 days limitation described in “Restrictions on Excessive Trading and Market Timing” below. The investment adviser believes that the program assists in stabilizing the Fund’s net assets to the benefit of the Fund and its shareholders. To the extent the Fund’s net assets do not decline, the investment adviser may also benefit.
Investing in the Portfolio. Investing in the Portfolio enables the Fund to participate in a large and well-established investment portfolio without being exposed to potential tax liability for unrealized gains accrued prior to the Fund’s inception. Securities with large accumulated gains that have been contributed by other investors in the Portfolio or acquired by the Portfolio constitute a substantial portion of the assets of the Portfolio. If contributed securities are sold, the gains accumulated prior to their contribution will be allocated to the contributing investors and not to the Fund or its shareholders. If securities acquired by the Portfolio before the Fund’s inception are sold, gains accumulated prior to the Fund’s inception will be allocated to other investors in the Portfolio and not to the Fund or its shareholders. As a general matter, the Portfolio does not intend to sell appreciated securities contributed to the Portfolio even if expected to decline in value, but may instead seek to manage its exposure to these securities by using hedging techniques as appropriate. The Portfolio follows the practice of distributing securities to meet redemptions by investors in the Portfolio that contributed securities. The Portfolio’s ability to select the securities used to meet such redemptions is limited. These limitations could affect the performance of the Portfolio, and, therefore, the Fund. As described under “Redeeming Shares”, redemptions by the Fund’s shareholders are generally paid solely in cash, but the Fund may, at the request of a redeeming shareholder, meet a redemption in whole or in part by distributing securities withdrawn from the Portfolio as selected by the investment adviser.
Investing in a Portfolio. Each Fund invests its assets in the Portfolio. This enables the Fund to pool its assets with other investors with substantially the same investment objective and policies that also invest in the same Portfolio, resulting in efficiencies in management and administration that can lower Fund costs and enhance shareholder returns.
The ability of the Fund to meet its investment objective is directly related to the ability of its corresponding Portfolio to meet its objective. Other investors in the Portfolio may have different expense structures and may be offered and sold on different terms than the Fund. As a result, the Fund’s performance may differ from that of other investors in the same Portfolio, including other Eaton Vance-sponsored funds. Contribution and withdrawal activities by other Portfolio investors may impact the management of the Portfolio and its ability to achieve its investment objective. A large withdrawal by one Portfolio investor could have an adverse effect on other Portfolio investors. Eaton Vance or its affiliate serves as investment adviser and/or administrator to the Fund and Portfolio. Therefore, conflicts may arise as Eaton Vance fulfills its responsibilities to the Fund and the Portfolio.
As a Portfolio investor, the Fund may be asked to vote on certain Portfolio matters (such as changes in certain Portfolio investment restrictions). When necessary, the Fund will hold a meeting of its shareholders to consider Portfolio matters and then vote its interest in the Portfolio in proportion to the votes cast by its shareholders. The Fund can withdraw its Portfolio investment at any time without shareholder approval.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 19 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
The Board may discontinue the Fund’s investment in a Portfolio if it determines that it is in the best interest of the Fund and its shareholders to do so. In such an event, the Board would consider what action might be taken, including investing Fund assets in another pooled investment entity or retaining an investment adviser to manage Fund assets in accordance with its investment objective(s). The Fund’s investment performance and expense ratio may be affected if its investment structure is changed or if another Portfolio investor withdraws all or a portion of its investment in the Portfolio.
Liquidity Risk. The Fund is exposed to liquidity risk when trading volume, lack of a market maker, or legal restrictions impair the Fund’s ability to sell particular investments or close derivative positions at an advantageous market price. Trading opportunities are also more limited for securities and other instruments that are not widely held or are traded in less developed markets. These factors may make it more difficult to sell or buy a security at a favorable price or time. Consequently, the Fund may have to accept a lower price to sell an investment or continue to hold it or keep the position open, sell other investments to raise cash or abandon an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on the Fund’s performance. It also may be more difficult to value less liquid investments. These effects may be exacerbated during times of financial or political stress. Increased Fund redemption activity also may increase liquidity risk due to the need of the Fund to sell portfolio investments and may negatively impact Fund performance.
The Fund will not acquire any illiquid investment if, immediately after the acquisition, the Fund will have invested more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments. Illiquid investments means any investments that the Fund’s investment adviser reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in seven calendar days or less under then-current market conditions without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment.
Cybersecurity Risk. With the increased use of technologies by Fund service providers to conduct business, such as the Internet, the Fund is susceptible to operational, information security and related risks. In general, cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events. Cyber attacks include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems (e.g., through “hacking” or malicious software coding) for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. Cyber attacks may also be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access, such as causing denial-of-service attacks on websites (i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users). Cybersecurity failures or breaches by the Fund’s investment adviser or administrator and other service providers (including, but not limited to, the custodian or transfer agent), and the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations potentially resulting in financial losses, interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its net asset value, impediments to trading, the inability of Fund shareholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. While various Fund service providers have established business continuity plans and risk management systems intended to identify and mitigate cyber attacks, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems put in place by service providers to the Fund and issuers in which the Fund invests.
General. The Fund's investment objective may not be changed without shareholder approval. Certain other policies may be changed without shareholder approval. The Fund might not use all of the strategies and techniques or invest in all of the types of securities described in this Prospectus or the SAI. While at times the Fund may use alternative investment strategies in an effort to limit its losses, it may choose not to do so.
The Fund’s annual operating expenses are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets and may change as Fund assets increase and decrease over time. Purchase and redemption activities by Fund shareholders may impact the management of the Fund and its ability to achieve its investment objective. In addition, the redemption by one or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders of their holdings in the Fund could have an adverse impact on the remaining shareholders in the Fund. Mutual funds, investment advisers, other market participants and many securities markets are subject to rules and regulations and the jurisdiction of one or more regulators. Changes to applicable rules and regulations could have an adverse effect on securities markets and market participants, as well as on the Fund’s ability to execute its investment strategy. With the increased use of technologies by Fund service providers, such as the Internet, to conduct business, the Fund is susceptible to operational, information security and related risks.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 20 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Management and Organization
Management. The Portfolio’s investment adviser is Boston Management and Research (“BMR”), an indirect subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp. (“EVC”). Eaton Vance Management (“Eaton Vance”) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EVC. Eaton Vance and BMR have offices at Two International Place, Boston, MA 02110. Eaton Vance and its predecessor organizations have been managing assets since 1924 and managing mutual funds since 1931. Eaton Vance and its affiliates currently manage over $455 billion on behalf of mutual funds, institutional clients and individuals.
Each Fund’s semiannual shareholder report covering the fiscal period ended June 30 provides information regarding the basis of the Trustees’ approval of the Portfolio’s investment advisory agreement.
The investment adviser manages the investments of the Portfolio pursuant to an investment advisory agreement. Each Fund is allocated its pro rata share of the advisory fee paid by the Portfolio. Under its investment advisory agreement with the Portfolio, BMR receives a monthly investment advisory fee as follows:
Average Daily Net Assets for the Month |
Annual Fee Rate*
(for each level) |
Up to $500 million | 0.6250% |
$500 million but less than $1 billion | 0.5625% |
$1 billion but less than $1.5 billion | 0.5000% |
$1.5 billion but less than $7 billion | 0.4375% |
$7 billion but less than $10 billion | 0.4250% |
$10 billion but less than $15 billion | 0.4125% |
$15 billion but less than $20 billion | 0.4000% |
$20 billion but less than $25 billion | 0.3900% |
$25 billion and over | 0.3800% |
* | Pursuant to a fee reduction agreement effective April 23, 2007. |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the effective annual rate of investment advisory fee paid to BMR, based on average daily net assets of the Portfolio, was 0.43%.
Lewis R. Piantedosi, Michael A. Allison and Yana S. Barton act as co-portfolio managers of the Portfolio. Mr. Piantedosi became co-portfolio manager of the Portfolio on May 1, 2006. Mr. Allison and Ms. Barton became co-portfolio managers of the Portfolio on March 1, 2008. Messrs. Piantedosi and Allison and Ms. Barton are Vice Presidents of Eaton Vance and BMR. Messrs. Piantedosi and Allison and Ms. Barton have been managing Eaton Vance portfolios for over five years.
The Statement of Additional Information provides additional information about each portfolio manager’s compensation, other accounts managed by each portfolio manager, and each portfolio manager’s ownership of Fund shares.
Eaton Vance serves as the administrator of each Fund, providing each Fund with administrative services and related office facilities. Under its administrative agreement with Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2, Eaton Vance receives a monthly administrative fee equal to 0.15% annually of the average daily net assets of the Fund. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 paid administration fees to Eaton Vance of 0.15% of the Fund's average daily net assets. Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 pays no administration fee to Eaton Vance.
Eaton Vance provides sub-transfer agency and related services to Eaton Vance mutual funds pursuant to a Sub-Transfer Agency Support Services Agreement. For its services under the agreement, Eaton Vance receives an aggregate fee from such funds equal to its actual expenses incurred in performing such services.
Organization. Each Fund is a series of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, a Massachusetts business trust. Each Fund offers multiple classes of shares. Each Class represents a pro rata interest in a Fund but is subject to different expenses and rights. The Funds do not hold annual shareholder meetings but may hold special meetings for matters that require shareholder approval (such as electing or removing Trustees, approving management or advisory contracts or changing investment policies that may only be changed with shareholder approval).
Because the Funds use this combined Prospectus, a Fund could be held liable for a misstatement or omission made about another Fund.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 21 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Valuing Shares
Each Fund values its shares once each day only when the New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) is open for trading (typically Monday through Friday), as of the close of regular trading on the Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m. eastern time). If trading on the Exchange is halted for the day before the scheduled close of regular trading each Fund’s net asset value per share generally will still be calculated as of the scheduled close of regular trading on the Exchange. The purchase price of Fund shares is their net asset value (plus any applicable sales charge), which is derived from the value of Fund holdings, including the Fund’s interest in any Portfolio, as applicable. When purchasing or redeeming Fund shares through a financial intermediary, your financial intermediary must receive your order by the close of regular trading on the Exchange in order for the purchase price or the redemption price to be based on that day’s net asset value per share. It is the financial intermediary’s responsibility to transmit orders promptly. Each Fund may accept purchase and redemption orders as of the time of their receipt by certain financial intermediaries (or their designated intermediaries).
The Board has adopted procedures for valuing investments (the “Procedures”) and has delegated to the investment adviser(s) the daily valuation of such investments. Pursuant to the Procedures, securities and other investments held by a Fund are generally valued at market value. Exchange-listed investments (including certain derivatives) are normally valued at last sale or closing prices. Exchange-traded options are valued at the mean of the bid and asked prices at valuation time as reported by the Options Price Reporting Authority for U.S. listed options, or by the relevant exchange or board of trade for non-U.S. listed options. Non-exchange traded derivatives are normally valued on the basis of quotes obtained from brokers and dealers or independent pricing services. Most loans and other debt obligations are valued using prices supplied by one or more pricing services.
An instrument’s “fair value” is the amount that the owner might reasonably expect to receive for the instrument upon its current sale in the ordinary course of business. Under certain limited circumstances, a Fund may use fair value pricing if, for example, market prices or a pricing service's prices (as applicable) are unavailable or deemed unreliable, or if events occur after the close of a securities market (usually a foreign market) and before portfolio assets are valued that cause or are likely to cause a market quotation to be unavailable or unreliable, such as corporate actions, regulatory news, or natural disasters or governmental actions that may affect investments in a particular sector, country or region. In addition, for foreign equity securities and total return swaps and futures contracts on foreign indices that meet certain criteria, the Board has approved the use of a fair value service that values such investments to reflect market trading that occurs after the close of the applicable foreign markets of comparable securities or other investments that have a strong correlation to the fair valued investments. An investment that is fair valued may be valued at a price higher or lower than (i) actual market quotations, (ii) the value determined by other funds using their own fair valuation procedures, or (iii) the price at which the investment could have been sold during the period in which fair valuation was used with respect to such investment to calculate a Fund’s NAV. Because foreign investments held by a Fund, if any, may trade on days when Fund shares are not priced, the value of such investments, and thus the net asset value of a Fund’s shares, can change on days when Fund shares cannot be redeemed or purchased. Eaton Vance has established a Valuation Committee that oversees the valuation of investments.
Purchasing Shares
Set forth below is information about the manner in which each Fund offers shares. A financial intermediary may offer Fund shares subject to variations in or elimination of the Fund sales charges (“variations”), provided such variations are described in this Prospectus. All variations described in Appendix A are applied by, and the responsibility of, the identified financial intermediary. Sales charge variations may apply to purchases, sales, exchanges and reinvestments of Fund shares and a shareholder transacting in Fund shares through an intermediary identified on Appendix A should read the terms and conditions of Appendix A carefully. See also “Shareholder Account Features – ‘Street Name’ Accounts.” For the variations applicable to shares offered through certain financial intermediaries, please see Appendix A – Financial Intermediary Sales Charge Variations. A variation that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not applicable to shares held directly with a Fund or through another intermediary.
You may purchase shares through your financial intermediary or by mailing an account application form to the transfer agent (see back cover for address). Purchase orders will be executed at the net asset value (plus any applicable sales charge) next determined after their receipt in proper form (meaning that the order is complete and contains all necessary information) by a Fund’s transfer agent. A Fund’s transfer agent or your financial intermediary must receive your purchase in proper form no later than the close of regular trading on the Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m. eastern time) for your purchase to be effected at that day’s net asset value. If you purchase shares through a financial intermediary, that intermediary may charge you a fee for executing the purchase for you.
Each Fund may suspend the sale of its shares at any time and any purchase order may be refused for any reason. The funds sponsored by the Eaton Vance organization (the “Eaton Vance funds”) generally do not accept investments from residents of the European Union or Switzerland. The funds also do not accept investments from other non-U.S. residents, provided that a fund may accept investments from certain non-U.S. investors at the discretion of the principal underwriter. The Funds do not issue share certificates.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 22 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
As used throughout this Prospectus, the term “employer sponsored retirement plan” includes the following: an employer sponsored pension or profit sharing plan that qualifies under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (such as a 401(k) plan, money purchase pension, profit sharing and defined benefit plan); ERISA covered 403(b) plan; Taft-Hartley multi-employer plan; and non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements that operate in a similar manner to a qualified retirement plan (including 457 plans and executive deferred compensation arrangements). Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”) are not employer sponsored retirement plans for purposes of this definition.
Class A, Class B and Class C Shares
Your initial investment must be at least $1,000. Class B shares are only available for purchase upon exchange from another Eaton Vance fund or through reinvestment of distributions. After your initial investment, additional investments may be made in any amount at any time by sending a check payable to the order of the Fund or the transfer agent directly to the transfer agent (see back cover for address). Please include your name and account number and the name of the Fund and Class of shares with each investment. Each Fund no longer accepts direct purchases of Class C shares by accounts for which no broker-dealer or other financial intermediary is specified. Any direct purchase received by a Fund's transfer agent for Class C shares for such accounts will automatically be invested in Class A shares.
The minimum initial investment amount and Fund policy of redeeming accounts with low account balances are waived for bank automated investing accounts, certain group purchase plans (including employer sponsored retirement plans and proprietary fee-based programs sponsored by financial intermediaries) and for persons affiliated with Eaton Vance, its affiliates and certain Fund service providers (as described in the SAI).
Class I Shares
Your initial investment must be at least $250,000, except as noted below. Class I shares are offered to clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge such clients an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Class I shares through a no-load network or platform. Such clients may include individuals, corporations, endowments, foundations and employer sponsored retirement plans. Class I shares may also be available through brokerage platforms of broker-dealer firms that have agreements with a Fund’s principal underwriter to offer Class I shares solely when acting as an agent for the investor. An investor acquiring Class I shares through such platforms may be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker. Each Fund offers other share classes that have different fees and expenses. Class I shares also are offered to investment and institutional clients of Eaton Vance and its affiliates and certain persons affiliated with Eaton Vance.
The Class I minimum initial investment is waived for persons affiliated with Eaton Vance, its affiliates and certain Fund service providers (as described in the SAI) and the ReFlow Liquidity Program. The minimum initial investment also is waived for: (i) permitted exchanges; (ii) employer sponsored retirement plans; (iii) corporations, endowments and foundations with assets of at least $100 million; (iv) Class I shares purchased through the brokerage platforms described above; and (v) accounts of clients of financial intermediaries who (a) charge an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (b) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Class I shares through a no-load network or platform (in each case, as described above), provided the total value of such accounts invested in Class I shares of Eaton Vance funds is at least $250,000 (or is anticipated by the principal underwriter to reach $250,000).
Class I shares may be purchased through a financial intermediary or by requesting your bank to transmit immediately available funds (Federal Funds) by wire. To make an initial investment by wire, you must complete an account application and telephone Eaton Vance Shareholder Services at 1-800-262-1122 to be assigned an account number. You may request an account application by calling 1-800-262-1122 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time). Shareholder Services must be advised by telephone of each additional investment by wire.
Subsequent Investments. Subsequent investments of any amount may be made at any time, including through automatic investment each month or quarter from your bank account. You may make automatic investments of $50 or more each month or each quarter from your bank account provided such investments equal a minimum of $200 per year. You can establish bank automated investing on the account application or by providing written instructions to the Fund’s transfer agent. Please call 1-800-262-1122 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time) for further information.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 23 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
You also may make additional investments by accessing your account via the Eaton Vance website at www.eatonvance.com. The trade date of purchases made through the Internet from a pre-designated bank account will be the day the purchase is requested through the Eaton Vance website (provided the request is on a business day and submitted no later than the close of regular trading on the Exchange). For more information about purchasing shares through the Internet, please call 1-800-262-1122 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time).
Inactive Accounts. In accordance with state “unclaimed property” (also known as “escheatment”) laws, your Fund shares may legally be considered abandoned and required to be transferred to the relevant state if no account activity or contact with the Fund or your financial intermediary occurs within a specified period of time. Please initiate contact a least once per calendar year and maintain a current and valid mailing address on record for your account. For more information, please see https://funds.eatonvance.com/mutual-funds-and-abandoned-property.php or please contact us at 1-800-262-1122.
Restrictions on Excessive Trading and Market Timing. The Funds are not intended for excessive trading or market timing. Market timers seek to profit by rapidly switching money into a fund when they expect the share price of the fund to rise and taking money out of the fund when they expect those prices to fall. By realizing profits through short-term trading, shareholders that engage in rapid purchases and sales (including exchanges, if permitted) of a fund’s shares may dilute the value of shares held by long-term shareholders. Volatility resulting from excessive purchases and sales of fund shares, especially involving large dollar amounts, may disrupt efficient portfolio management. In particular, excessive purchases and sales of a fund’s shares may cause a fund to have difficulty implementing its investment strategies, may force the fund to sell portfolio securities at inopportune times to raise cash or may cause increased expenses (such as increased brokerage costs, realization of taxable capital gains without attaining any investment advantage or increased administrative costs).
A fund that invests all or a portion of its assets in foreign securities may be susceptible to a time zone arbitrage strategy in which shareholders attempt to take advantage of fund share prices that may not reflect developments in a foreign securities market that occur after the close of such market but prior to the pricing of fund shares. In addition, a fund that invests in securities that are, among other things, thinly traded, traded infrequently or illiquid, is susceptible to the risk that the current market price for such securities may not accurately reflect current market values. A shareholder may seek to engage in short-term trading to take advantage of these pricing differences (commonly referred to as “price arbitrage”). The investment adviser is authorized to use the fair value of a security if prices are unavailable or are deemed unreliable (see “Valuing Shares”). The use of fair value pricing and the restrictions on excessive trading and market timing described below are intended to reduce a shareholder’s ability to engage in price or time zone arbitrage to the detriment of the Funds.
The Boards of the Eaton Vance funds have adopted policies to discourage short-term trading and market timing and to seek to minimize their potentially detrimental effects. Pursuant to these policies, an Eaton Vance fund shareholder who, through one or more accounts, completes two round-trips within 90 days generally will be deemed to be market timing or trading excessively in fund shares. “Two round-trips within 90 days” means either (1) a purchase of fund shares followed by a redemption of fund shares followed by a purchase followed by a redemption or (2) a redemption of fund shares followed by a purchase of fund shares followed by a redemption followed by a purchase, in either case with the final transaction in the sequence occurring within 90 days of the initial transaction in the sequence. Purchases and redemptions subject to the limitation include those made by exchanging to or from another fund. Under the policies, the Board may delegate to a Fund, or to its principal underwriter, sub-transfer agent or other service provider (each, a “delegate”) the responsibility to reject or cancel a purchase order, suspend or terminate an exchange privilege or terminate the ability of an investor to invest in the Eaton Vance funds if the Fund or its delegate determines that a proposed transaction involves market timing or excessive trading that it believes is likely to be detrimental to the Fund. Each Fund and its delegate use reasonable efforts to detect market timing and excessive trading activity, but they cannot ensure that they will be able to identify all cases of market timing and excessive trading. Each Fund or its delegate may also reject or cancel any purchase order (including an exchange) from an investor or group of investors for any other reason. Decisions to reject or cancel purchase orders (including exchanges) in a Fund are inherently subjective and will be made in a manner believed to be in the best interest of a Fund’s shareholders. No Eaton Vance fund has any arrangement to permit market timing. Investments in each Fund by ReFlow in connection with the ReFlow liquidity program (which is described under “Investment Objectives & Principal Policies and Risks” above) are not subject to the two round-trips within 90 days limitation.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 24 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
The following fund share transactions (to the extent permitted by a fund’s prospectus) generally are exempt from the market timing and excessive trading policy described above because they generally do not raise market timing or excessive trading concerns:
· | transactions made pursuant to a systematic purchase plan or as the result of automatic reinvestment of dividends or distributions, or initiated by a Fund (e.g., for failure to meet applicable account minimums); |
· | transactions made by participants in employer sponsored retirement plans involving participant payroll or employer contributions or loan repayments, redemptions as part of plan terminations or at the direction of the plan, mandatory retirement distributions, or rollovers; |
· | model-based transactions made in model-based discretionary advisory accounts; or |
· | transactions made by an Eaton Vance fund that is structured as a “fund-of-funds,” provided the transactions are in response to fund inflows and outflows or are part of a reallocation of fund assets in accordance with its investment policies. |
It may be difficult for a Fund or its delegate to identify market timing or excessive trading in omnibus accounts traded through financial intermediaries. The Funds and its delegate have provided guidance to financial intermediaries (such as banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and retirement administrators) concerning the application of the Eaton Vance funds’ market timing and excessive trading policies to Fund shares held in omnibus accounts maintained and administered by such intermediaries, including guidance concerning situations where market timing or excessive trading is considered to be detrimental to a Fund. Each Fund or its delegate may rely on a financial intermediary’s policy to restrict market timing and excessive trading if it believes that policy is likely to prevent market timing that is likely to be detrimental to the Fund. Such policy may be more or less restrictive than a Fund’s policy. Although each Fund or its delegate reviews trading activity at the omnibus account level for activity that indicates potential market timing or excessive trading activity, the Funds and its delegate typically will not request or receive individual account data unless suspicious trading activity is identified. Each Fund and its delegate generally rely on financial intermediaries to monitor trading activity in omnibus accounts in good faith in accordance with their own or Fund policies. Each Fund and its delegate cannot ensure that these financial intermediaries will in all cases apply the policies of the Fund or their own policies, as the case may be, to accounts under their control.
Choosing a Share Class. Each Fund offers different classes of shares. The different classes of shares represent investments in the same portfolio of securities, but the classes are subject to different expenses and privileges, and will likely have different share prices due to differences in class expenses. A share class also may be subject to a sales charge. In choosing the class of shares that suits your investment needs, you should consider:
· | how long you expect to own your shares; |
· | how much you intend to invest; and |
· | the total operating expenses associated with owning each class. |
Each investor’s considerations are different. You should speak with your financial intermediary to help you decide which class of shares to purchase. Set forth below is a brief description of each class of shares offered by the Funds.
Class A shares are offered at net asset value plus a front-end sales charge of up to 5.75%. This charge is deducted from the amount you invest. The Class A sales charge is reduced for purchases of $50,000 or more. The sales charge applicable to your purchase may be reduced under the right of accumulation or a statement of intention, which are described in “Reducing or Eliminating Class A Sales Charges” under “Sales Charges” below. Some investors may be eligible to purchase Class A shares at net asset value under certain circumstances, which are also described below. Class A shares pay distribution and service fees equal to 0.25% annually of average daily net assets.
Class B shares are offered at net asset value with no front-end sales charge, but are only available for purchase upon exchange from another Eaton Vance fund or through reinvestment of distributions. If you sell your Class B shares within six years of purchase, you generally will be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge or “CDSC.” The amount of the CDSC applicable to a redemption of Class B shares decreases over six years, as described in the CDSC schedule in “Contingent Deferred Sales Charge” under “Sales Charges” below. The CDSC is deducted from your redemption proceeds. Under certain circumstances, the Class B CDSC may be waived (such as in the case of the death of the shareholder). See “CDSC Waivers” under “Sales Charges” below. Class B shares pay distribution and service fees equal to 1.00% annually of average daily net assets. Class B shares automatically convert to Class A shares eight years after purchase.
Class C shares are offered through financial intermediaries at net asset value with no front-end sales charge. If you sell your Class C shares within one year of purchase, you generally will be subject to a CDSC. The CDSC is deducted from your redemption proceeds. Under certain circumstances, the CDSC for Class C may be waived (such as certain redemptions from employer sponsored retirement plans). See “CDSC Waivers” under “Sales Charges” below. Class C shares pay distribution and service fees equal to 1.00% annually of average daily net assets. Orders
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 25 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
for Class C shares of one or more Eaton Vance funds will be refused when the total value of the purchase (including the aggregate market value of all Eaton Vance fund shares held within the purchasing shareholder’s account(s)) is $1 million or more. Investors considering cumulative purchases of $1 million or more should consider whether another Class of shares would be more appropriate and consult their financial intermediary. Each Fund no longer accepts direct purchases of Class C shares by accounts for which no broker-dealer or other financial intermediary is specified. Any direct purchase received by a Fund’s transfer agent for Class C shares for such accounts will automatically be invested in Class A shares. In addition, Class C shares held in an account for which no financial intermediary is specified and which are not subject to a CDSC will periodically be converted to Class A shares.
Class I shares are offered to clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge such clients an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Class I shares through a no-load network or platform. Such clients may include individuals, corporations, endowments, foundations and employer sponsored retirement plans. Class I shares may also be available through brokerage platforms of broker-dealer firms that have agreements with the Fund’s principal underwriter to offer Class I shares solely when acting as an agent for the investor. An investor acquiring Class I shares through such platforms may be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker. Class I shares are also offered to investment and institutional clients of Eaton Vance and its affiliates, and certain persons affiliated with Eaton Vance (including employees, officers and directors of Eaton Vance’s affiliates). Class I shares do not pay distribution or service fees.
Payments to Financial Intermediaries. In addition to payments disclosed under “Sales Charges” below, the principal underwriter, out of its own resources, may make cash payments to certain financial intermediaries who provide marketing support, transaction processing and/or administrative services and, in some cases, include some or all Eaton Vance funds in preferred or specialized selling programs. Payments made by the principal underwriter to a financial intermediary may be significant and are typically in the form of fees based on Fund sales, assets, transactions processed and/or accounts attributable to that financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries also may receive amounts from the principal underwriter in connection with educational or due diligence meetings that include information concerning Eaton Vance funds. The principal underwriter may pay or allow other promotional incentives or payments to financial intermediaries to the extent permitted by applicable laws and regulations.
Certain financial intermediaries that maintain fund accounts for the benefit of their customers provide sub-accounting, recordkeeping and/or administrative services to the Eaton Vance funds and are compensated for such services by the funds. As used in this Prospectus, the term “financial intermediary” includes any broker, dealer, bank (including bank trust departments), registered investment adviser, financial planner, a retirement plan and/or its administrator, their designated intermediaries and any other firm having a selling, administration or similar agreement with the principal underwriter or its affiliates.
Sales Charges
Class A Front-End Sales Charge. Class A shares are offered at net asset value per share plus a sales charge that is determined by the amount of your investment. The current sales charge schedule is:
Amount of Purchase |
Sales Charge
*
as a Percentage of Offering Price |
Sales Charge
*
as a Percentage of Net Amount Invested |
Dealer Commission
as a Percentage of Offering Price |
Less than $50,000 | 5.75% | 6.10% | 5.00% |
$50,000 but less than $100,000 | 4.75% | 4.99% | 4.00% |
$100,000 but less than $250,000 | 3.75% | 3.90% | 3.00% |
$250,000 but less than $500,000 | 3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
$500,000 but less than $1,000,000 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% |
$1,000,000 but less than $3,000,000 | 0.00** | 0.00** | TIERED** |
$3,000,000 or more | 0.00** | 0.00** | TIERED** |
* | Because the offering price per share is rounded to two decimal places, the actual sales charge you pay on a purchase of Class A shares may be more or less than your total purchase amount multiplied by the applicable sales charge percentage. |
** | No sales charge is payable at the time of purchase on investments of $1 million or more. The principal underwriter will pay a commission to financial intermediaries on sales of $1 million or more as follows: 1.00% on amounts of $1 million or more but less than $3 million; plus 0.75% on amounts of $3 million or more. A CDSC of 1.00% will be imposed on such investments (as described below) in the event of redemptions within 18 months of purchase. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 26 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Reducing or Eliminating Class A Sales Charges. Front-end sales charges on purchases of Class A shares may be reduced under the right of accumulation or under a statement of intention. To receive a reduced sales charge, you must inform your financial intermediary or a Fund at the time you purchase shares that you qualify for such a reduction. If you do not let your financial intermediary or the Fund know you are eligible for a reduced sales charge at the time of purchase, you will not receive the discount to which you may otherwise be entitled.
Right of Accumulation. Under the right of accumulation, the sales charge you pay is reduced if the current market value of your holdings in a Fund or any other Eaton Vance fund (based on the current maximum public offering price) plus your new purchase total $50,000 or more. Shares owned by you, your spouse and children under age twenty-one may be combined for purposes of the right of accumulation, including shares held for the benefit of any of you in omnibus or “street name” accounts. In addition, shares held in a trust or fiduciary account of which any of the foregoing persons is the sole beneficiary (including employer sponsored retirement plans and IRAs) may be combined for purposes of the right of accumulation. Shares purchased and/or owned in a SEP, SARSEP and SIMPLE IRA plan may be combined for purposes of the right of accumulation for the plan and its participants. You may be required to provide documentation to establish your ownership of shares included under the right of accumulation (such as account statements for you, your spouse and children or marriage certificates, birth certificates and/or trust or other fiduciary-related documents).
Statement of Intention. Under a statement of intention, purchases of $50,000 or more made over a 13-month period are eligible for reduced sales charges. Shares eligible under the right of accumulation (other than those included in employer sponsored retirement plans) may be included to satisfy the amount to be purchased under a statement of intention. Under a statement of intention, the principal underwriter may hold 5% of the dollar amount to be purchased in escrow in the form of shares registered in your name until you satisfy the statement or the 13-month period expires. A statement of intention does not obligate you to purchase (or a Fund to sell) the full amount indicated in the statement. If during the 13-month period you redeem any of the shares that you purchased pursuant to the statement of intention, the value of the redeemed shares will not be included for purposes of satisfying your statement of intention. For additional information about statements of intention, see “Sales Charges” in the SAI.
Class A shares are offered at net asset value (without a sales charge) to accounts of clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Class A shares through a no-load network or platform, or self-directed brokerage accounts that may or may not charge transaction fees to customers; or (iii) employer sponsored retirement plans. Class A shares also are offered at net asset value to investment and institutional clients of Eaton Vance and its affiliates; certain persons affiliated with Eaton Vance; direct purchases of shares by accounts where no financial intermediary is specified; and to certain fund service providers as described in the SAI. Class A shares are also offered at net asset value to shareholders who make a permitted direct transfer or roll-over to an Eaton Vance prototype IRA from an employer-sponsored retirement plan previously invested in Eaton Vance funds (applicable only to the portion previously invested in Eaton Vance funds), provided that sufficient documentation is provided to the transfer agent of such transfer or roll-over at the time of the account opening. Class A shares may also be purchased at net asset value pursuant to the exchange privilege and when distributions are reinvested. A financial intermediary may not, in accordance with its policies and procedures, offer one or more of the waiver categories described above and shareholders should consult their financial intermediary for more information. The Fund may eliminate, modify or add to the terms of these sales charge waivers at any time without providing notice to shareholders.
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge. Class A, Class B and Class C shares are subject to a CDSC on certain redemptions. The CDSC generally is paid to the principal underwriter. Class A shares purchased at net asset value in amounts of $1 million or more are subject to a 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within 18 months of purchase. Class C shares are subject to a 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within one year of purchase. Class B shares are subject to the following CDSC schedule:
Year of Redemption After Purchase | CDSC | CDSCs are based on the lower of the net asset value at the time of purchase or at the time of redemption. Shares acquired through the reinvestment of distributions are exempt from the CDSC. Redemptions are made first from shares that are not subject to a CDSC. | |
First or Second | 5% | ||
Third | 4% | ||
Fourth | 3% | ||
Fifth | 2% | ||
Sixth | 1% | ||
Seventh or following | 0% |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 27 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
The sales commission payable to financial intermediaries in connection with sales of Class B and Class C shares is described under “Distribution and Service Fees” below.
CDSC Waivers. CDSCs are waived for certain redemptions pursuant to a Withdrawal Plan (see “Shareholder Account Features”) and in connection with certain redemptions from employer sponsored retirement plans or IRAs to satisfy required minimum distributions or to return excess contributions made to IRAs, if applicable. The CDSC is also waived following the death of a beneficial owner of shares (a death certificate and other applicable documents may be required). In addition, redemptions of Class C shares by certain employer sponsored retirement plans are not subject to a CDSC if the principal underwriter did not compensate such plans’ financial intermediary at the time of sale as described under “Distribution and Service Fees.”
Conversion Feature. After eight years, Class B shares automatically convert to Class A shares. Class B shares acquired through the reinvestment of distributions convert in proportion to shares not so acquired. Effective January 25, 2019 (the “Effective Date”), Class C shares of each Fund will convert automatically to Class A shares of the Fund during the month following the ten year anniversary of the purchase of such Class C shares. If a financial intermediary that maintains a Class C shareholder’s account has not tracked the holding period for Class C shares, Class C shares held as of the Effective Date will automatically convert to Class A shares 10 years after the Effective Date. In addition, Class C shares held in an account with each Fund’s transfer agent for which no financial intermediary is specified and that are not subject to a CDSC will be converted to Class A shares of the Fund periodically.
In some circumstances, the Board may determine to cease to offer and subsequently close an existing class of Fund shares. In such circumstances, the Fund may automatically convert the shares for such class into another share class, subject to prior notice to shareholders of the impacted class. Any such conversion will occur at the respective net asset value of each class as of the conversion date without the imposition of any fee or other charges by the Fund.
Distribution and Service Fees. Class A, Class B and Class C shares have in effect plans under Rule 12b-1 that allow each Fund to pay distribution fees for the sale and distribution of shares and service fees for personal and/or shareholder account services (so-called “12b-1 fees”). Class B and Class C shares pay distribution fees to the principal underwriter of 0.75% of average daily net assets annually. Because these fees are paid from Fund assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase your cost over time and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The principal underwriter generally compensates financial intermediaries on sales of Class B and Class C shares (except exchange transactions and reinvestments) in an amount equal to 4% and 1%, respectively, of the purchase price of the shares. After the first year, such financial intermediaries also receive 0.75% of the value of outstanding Class C shares sold by such financial intermediaries in annual distribution fees. With respect to purchases of Class C shares by certain employer sponsored retirement plans, the principal underwriter does not compensate the financial intermediary at the time of sale. In such cases, the financial intermediary receives 0.75% of the value of outstanding Class C shares sold by such financial intermediary in annual distribution fees immediately after the sale. Class B and Class C shares also pay service fees to the principal underwriter equal to 0.25% of average daily net assets annually. Class A shares pay distribution and service fees equal to 0.25% of average daily net assets annually. After the sale of shares, the principal underwriter generally receives the Class A distribution and service fees and the Class B and Class C service fees for one year. Thereafter financial intermediaries generally receive from the principal underwriter 0.25% annually of average daily net assets based on the value of outstanding shares sold by such financial intermediaries for personal services and maintenance of shareholder accounts performed by such intermediaries. With respect to purchases of Class A and Class C shares by certain employer sponsored retirement plans, the financial intermediary receives the above described distribution and service fees or service fees, as applicable, from the principal underwriter immediately after the sale. Distribution and service fees are subject to the limitations contained in the sales charge rule of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.
More information about Fund sales charges is available free of charge on the Eaton Vance website at www.eatonvance.com and in the SAI. Please consult the Eaton Vance website for any updates to Fund sales charge information before making a purchase of Fund shares. Please consult your financial intermediary with respect to any sales charge variations listed on Appendix A.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 28 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Redeeming Shares
You can redeem shares in any of the following ways:
By Mail | Send your request to the transfer agent (see back cover for address). The request must be signed exactly as your account is registered (for instance, a joint account must be signed by all registered owners to be accepted) and a Medallion signature guarantee may be required. Circumstances that may require a Medallion signature guarantee include, but are not limited to, requests to distribute redemption proceeds to a party other than the registered account owner(s); requests to mail redemption proceeds to an address other than the address of record; requests to distribute proceeds to a bank account not on file; requests to re-issue uncashed checks representing redemption proceeds; or transaction requests from an account beneficiary when an account owner is deceased. You can obtain a Medallion signature guarantee at banks, savings and loan institutions, credit unions, securities dealers, securities exchanges, clearing agencies and registered securities associations that participate in The Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program, Inc. (STAMP, Inc.). Only Medallion signature guarantees issued in accordance with STAMP, Inc. will be accepted. You may be asked to provide additional documents if your shares are registered in the name of a corporation, partnership or fiduciary. |
By Telephone | Certain shareholders can redeem by calling 1-800-262-1122 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time). Proceeds of a telephone redemption are generally limited to $100,000 per account (which may include shares of one or more Eaton Vance funds) and can be sent only to the account address or to a bank pursuant to prior instructions. |
By Internet | Certain shareholders can redeem by logging on to the Eaton Vance website at www.eatonvance.com. Proceeds of internet redemptions are generally limited to $100,000 per account (which may include shares of one or more Eaton Vance funds) and can be sent only to the account address or to a bank pursuant to prior instructions. |
For Additional Information | Please call 1-800-262-1122 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time). |
Through a Financial Intermediary | Your financial intermediary is responsible for transmitting the order promptly. A financial intermediary may charge a fee for this service. |
A redemption may be requested by sending a Medallion signature guaranteed letter of instruction to the transfer agent (see back cover for address) or, for telephone redemptions as described above, by calling 1-800-262-1122. Certain redemption requests, including those involving shares held by certain corporations, trusts or certain other entities and shares that are subject to certain fiduciary arrangements, may require additional documentation and may be redeemed only by mail. The Funds' transfer agent or your financial intermediary must receive your redemption in proper form (meaning that it is complete and contains all necessary information) no later than the close of regular trading on the Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m. eastern time) for your redemption to be effected at that day’s net asset value. Redemption proceeds are reduced by the amount of any applicable CDSC and any federal income and state tax required to be withheld.
Redemption proceeds typically are paid to the redeeming shareholder in cash up to two business days after the redemption, but payment could take up to seven days, as permitted by the 1940 Act for the reasons discussed below. The actual number of days following receipt of a redemption request in which the Fund typically expects to pay redemption proceeds generally will depend on how you hold your shares with the Fund.
If your shares are held in a “street name” account with a financial intermediary (see “Shareholder Account Features – ‘Street Name’ Accounts”), your intermediary will elect through National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) to settle redemptions either one business day or two business days after the redemption date and redemption proceeds normally will be wired to your financial intermediary on the settlement date pursuant to that election.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 29 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
If your shares are held directly with the Funds' transfer agent, redemptions normally will be settled in one business day after the redemption date and redemption proceeds will be sent by regular mail on such date. However, if you have given proper written authorization in advance, you may request that redemption proceeds be wired on the settlement date directly to your bank account in any bank in the United States. While not currently charged by a Fund, you may be required to pay a wire transfer fee by your bank. If you request expedited mail delivery of your redemption proceeds and the Fund is able to accommodate your request, charges may apply. You may redeem all or a portion of the shares from your account on any day the Fund is open for business, provided the amount requested is not on hold or held in escrow pursuant to a statement of intention. When you purchase by check or with ACH funds transfer, the purchase will be on hold for up to 10 days from the date of receipt. During the hold period, redemption proceeds will not be sent until the transfer agent is reasonably satisfied that the purchase payment has been collected.
Each Fund typically expects to meet redemption requests by (i) distributing any cash holdings, (ii) selling portfolio investments and/or (iii) borrowing from a bank under a line of credit. In addition to the foregoing, the Fund also may distribute securities as payment (a so-called “redemption in-kind”), in which case the redeeming shareholder may pay fees and commissions to convert the securities to cash. Unless requested by a shareholder, each Fund generally expects to limit use of redemption in-kind to stressed market conditions, but is permitted to do so in other circumstances. A shareholder who wishes to receive redemption proceeds in-kind must notify a Fund on or before submitting the redemption request by calling 1-800-262-1122. Securities distributed in a redemption in-kind would be valued pursuant to each Fund’s valuation procedures and selected by the investment adviser. If a shareholder receives securities in a redemption in-kind, the shareholder could incur brokerage or other charges in converting the securities to cash and the value of such securities would be subject to price fluctuations until sold. There can be no assurance that each Fund will manage liquidity successfully in all market environments. As a result, a Fund may not be able to pay redemption proceeds in a timely fashion because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests or other factors. Additional information about redemptions in-kind, including the procedures for submitting such redemption requests, is contained in each Fund’s SAI.
If your account value falls below $750, you may be asked either to add to your account or redeem it within 60 days. If you take no action, your account will be redeemed at net asset value and the proceeds sent to you.
Shareholder Account Features
Distributions. You may have your Fund distributions paid in one of the following ways:
• Full Reinvest Option | Distributions are reinvested in additional shares. This option will be assigned if you do not specify an option. |
• Partial Reinvest Option | Dividends are paid in cash* and capital gains are reinvested in additional shares. |
• Cash Option | Distributions are paid in cash.* |
• Exchange Option | Distributions are reinvested in additional shares of any class of another Eaton Vance fund chosen by you, subject to the terms of that fund’s prospectus. Before selecting this option, you must obtain a prospectus of the other fund and consider its objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully. |
* | If any distribution check remains uncashed for six months, Eaton Vance reserves the right to invest the amount represented by the check in Fund shares at the then-current net asset value of the Fund and all future distributions will be reinvested. |
Information about the Funds. From time to time, you may receive the following:
· | Semiannual and annual reports containing a list of portfolio holdings as of the end of the second and fourth fiscal quarters, respectively, performance information and financial statements. |
· | Periodic account statements, showing recent activity and total share balance. |
· | Tax information needed to prepare your income tax returns. |
· | Proxy materials, in the event a shareholder vote is required. |
· | Special notices about significant events affecting your Fund. |
Most fund information (including semiannual and annual reports, prospectuses and proxy statements) as well as your periodic account statements can be delivered electronically. For more information please go to www.eatonvance.com/edelivery.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 30 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
The Eaton Vance funds have established policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of portfolio holdings and other information concerning Fund characteristics. A description of these policies and procedures is provided below and additionally in the SAI. Such policies and procedures regarding disclosure of portfolio holdings are designed to prevent the misuse of material, non-public information about the funds.
Each Fund will file with the SEC a list of its portfolio holdings as of the end of the first and third fiscal quarters on Part F to each Fund’s Form N-PORT. Each Fund’s annual and semiannual reports (as filed on Form N-CSR) and each Form N-PORT may be viewed on the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov). The most recent fiscal quarter-end holdings may also be viewed on the Eaton Vance website (www.eatonvance.com). Portfolio holdings information that is filed with the SEC is posted on the Eaton Vance website approximately 60 days after the end of the quarter to which it relates. Portfolio holdings information as of each month end is posted to the website approximately one month after such month end. Each Fund also posts information about certain portfolio characteristics (such as top ten holdings and asset allocation) at least quarterly on the Eaton Vance website approximately ten business days after the period and each Fund may also post performance attribution as of a month end or more frequently if deemed appropriate.
Withdrawal Plan. You may redeem shares on a regular periodic basis by establishing a systematic withdrawal plan. Withdrawals will not be subject to any applicable CDSC if they are, in the aggregate, less than or equal to 12% annually of the greater of either the initial account balance or the current account balance. Because purchases of Class A shares are generally subject to an initial sales charge, Class A shareholders should not make withdrawals from their accounts while also making purchases.
Exchange Privilege. Each class of Fund shares may be exchanged for shares of the same Class of another Eaton Vance fund. For purposes of exchanges among Eaton Vance funds, Class A and Class I shares are deemed to be the same as Investor Class and Institutional Class shares, respectively, of other Eaton Vance funds. Exchanges are made at net asset value. If your shares are subject to a CDSC, the CDSC will continue to apply to your new shares at the same CDSC rate. For purposes of the CDSC, your shares will continue to age from the date of your original purchase of Fund shares. Except as described below, any class of shares of a fund may be exchanged for any other class of shares of that fund, provided that the shares being exchanged are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conditions for investing in the other class of shares described in the applicable prospectus are satisfied. Class C shares are not permitted to be exchanged to Class A shares unless the CDSC has expired and the exchange is made to facilitate the shareholder’s participation in a fee-based advisory program. See also Appendix A to this Prospectus.
Before exchanging, you should read the prospectus of the new fund carefully. Exchanges are subject to the terms applicable to purchases of the new fund’s shares as set forth in its prospectus. If you wish to exchange shares, write to the transfer agent (see back cover for address), log on to your account at www.eatonvance.com or call 1-800-262-1122. Periodic automatic exchanges are also available. The exchange privilege may be changed or discontinued at any time. You will receive at least 60 days’ notice of any material change to the privilege. This privilege may not be used for “market timing” and may be terminated for market timing accounts or for any other reason. For additional information, see “Restrictions on Excessive Trading and Market Timing” under “Purchasing Shares.” Ordinarily exchanges between different funds are taxable transactions for federal tax purposes, while permitted exchanges of one class for shares of another class of the same fund are not. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors regarding the applicability of federal, state, local and other taxes to transactions in Fund shares.
Telephone and Electronic Transactions. You can redeem or exchange shares by telephone as described in this Prospectus. In addition, certain transactions may be conducted through the Eaton Vance website. The transfer agent and the principal underwriter have procedures in place to authenticate telephone and electronic instructions (such as using security codes or verifying personal account information). As long as the transfer agent and principal underwriter follow reasonable procedures, they will not be responsible for unauthorized telephone or electronic transactions and you bear the risk of possible loss resulting from these transactions. You may decline the telephone redemption option on the account application. Telephone instructions are recorded. You should verify the accuracy of your confirmation statements immediately upon receipt and notify Eaton Vance Shareholder Services of any inaccuracies.
“Street Name” Accounts. If your shares are held in a “street name” account at a financial intermediary, that intermediary (and not the Fund or its transfer agent) will perform all recordkeeping, transaction processing and distribution payments. Because the Fund does not maintain an account for you, you should contact your financial intermediary to make transactions in shares, make changes in your account, or obtain account information. You will not be able to utilize a number of shareholder features, such as telephone or internet transactions, directly with a Fund and certain features may be subject to different requirements. If you transfer shares in a “street name” account to an account with another financial intermediary or to an account directly with a Fund, you should obtain historical information about your shares prior to the transfer. If you fail to provide your full account history to your new financial intermediary following a transfer, you may be ineligible for certain features of a Fund.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 31 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Procedures for Opening New Accounts. To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, federal law requires financial institutions to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each new customer who opens an account with a Fund and to determine whether such person’s name appears on government lists of known or suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations. When you open an account, the transfer agent or your financial intermediary will ask you for your name, address, date of birth (for individuals), residential or business street address (although post office boxes are still permitted for mailing) and social security number, taxpayer identification number, or other government-issued identifying number. You also may be asked to produce a copy of your driver’s license, passport or other identifying documents in order to verify your identity. In addition, it may be necessary to verify your identity by cross-referencing your identification information with a consumer report or other electronic databases. Other information or documents may be required to open accounts for corporations and other entities. Federal law prohibits a Fund and other financial institutions from opening a new account unless they receive the minimum identifying information described above. If a person fails to provide the information requested, any application by that person to open a new account will be rejected. Moreover, if the transfer agent or the financial intermediary is unable to verify the identity of a person based on information provided by that person, it may take additional steps including, but not limited to, requesting additional information or documents from the person, closing the person’s account or reporting the matter to the appropriate federal authorities. If your account is closed for this reason, your shares may be automatically redeemed at the net asset value next determined. If a Fund’s net asset value has decreased since your purchase, you will lose money as a result of this redemption. Each Fund has also designated an anti-money laundering compliance officer.
Account Questions. If you have any questions about your account or the services available, please call Eaton Vance Shareholder Services at 1-800-262-1122 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time), or write to the transfer agent (see back cover for address).
Additional Tax Information
While each Fund attempts to minimize distributions taxable as ordinary income, there can be no assurance that taxable distributions can be avoided. Distributions of investment income (other than qualified dividend income, which is described below) and net realized short-term capital gains are taxable as ordinary income. For individual shareholders, distributions of net gains from investments held for more than one year are generally taxable at long-term capital gain rates. Different classes may distribute different amounts. Taxes on distributions of capital gains are determined by how long the Portfolio or a Fund owned (or is treated as having owned) the investments that generated them, rather than how long a shareholder has owned his or her shares in a Fund. Each Fund expects to pay any required distributions annually. It may be necessary, in order to qualify for favorable tax treatment and to avoid any Fund-level tax, for a Fund to make a special income and/or capital gains distribution at the end of the calendar year. Distributions are taxable whether paid in cash or reinvested in additional Fund shares.
Distributions of investment income properly reported by a Fund as derived from “qualified dividend income” are taxed in the hands of individual shareholders at the rates applicable to long-term capital gains provided holding period and other requirements are met at the shareholder, Fund and, if applicable, Portfolio level.
Investors who purchase shares at a time when a Fund’s net asset value reflects gains that are either unrealized or realized but undistributed will pay the full price for the shares and then may receive some portion of the purchase price back as a taxable distribution. A redemption of a Fund’s shares, including an exchange for shares of another fund, is generally a taxable transaction.
The Portfolio is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. Each investor in the Portfolio, including a Fund, is allocated its proportionate share of Portfolio income, gains, losses, expenses and other tax items.
The net investment income of certain U.S. individuals, estates and trusts is subject to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax. For individuals, the tax is on the lesser of the “net investment income” and the excess of modified adjusted gross income over $200,000 (or $250,000 if married filing jointly). Net investment income includes, among other things, interest, dividends, and gross income and capital gains derived from passive activities and trading in securities or commodities. Net investment income is reduced by deductions “properly allocable” to this income.
Investments in foreign securities may be subject to foreign withholding taxes or other foreign taxes with respect to income (possibly including, in some cases, capital gains), which may decrease the yield on such securities. These taxes may be reduced or eliminated under the terms of an applicable tax treaty. Shareholders generally will not be entitled to claim a credit or deduction with respect to foreign taxes paid by a Fund or the Portfolio. In addition, investments in foreign securities or foreign currencies may increase or accelerate a Fund’s recognition of ordinary income and may affect the timing or amount of a Fund’s distributions.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 32 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Each Fund may be required to withhold, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, a portion of the dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds payable to shareholders who fail to provide such Fund with their correct taxpayer identification number or make required certifications, or who have been notified by the Internal Revenue Service that they are subject to backup withholding. Certain shareholders are exempt from backup withholding. Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amount withheld may be credited against a shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability.
Certain foreign entities may be subject to a 30% withholding tax on ordinary dividend income paid under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”). To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions subject to FATCA must agree to disclose to the relevant revenue authorities certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners and other foreign entities must certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners to a Fund. In addition, the IRS and the Department of Treasury have issued proposed regulations providing that these withholding rules will not be applicable to the gross proceeds of share redemptions or capital gain dividends the Fund pays. For more detailed information regarding FATCA withholding and compliance, please refer to the Statement of Additional Information.
Shareholders should consult with their tax advisors concerning the applicability of federal, state, local and other taxes to an investment.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 33 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights are intended to help you understand a Fund’s financial performance for the period(s) indicated. Certain information in the tables reflects the financial results for a single Fund share. The total returns in the tables represent the rate an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in a Fund (assuming reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value). This information has been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm. The reports of Deloitte & Touche LLP and each Fund’s financial statements are incorporated herein by reference and included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 | ||||||||
Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||
2018 | 2017 | |||||||
Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I | Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I | |
Net asset value - Beginning of year | $51.300 | $50.490 | $46.100 | $47.920 | $42.300 | $41.580 | $38.040 | $39.530 |
Income from operations | ||||||||
Net investment income (1) | $0.491 | $0.088 | $0.082 | $0.584 | $0.467 | $0.124 | $0.114 | $0.542 |
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | (3.192) | (3.098) | (2.832) | (2.996) | 8.982 | 8.786 | 8.047 | 8.414 |
Total income (loss) from operations | $(2.701) | $(3.010) | $(2.750) | $(2.412) | $9.449 | $8.910 | $8.161 | $8.956 |
Less distributions | ||||||||
From net investment income | $(0.449) | $— | $(0.070) | $(0.588) | $(0.449) | $— | $(0.101) | $(0.566) |
Total distributions | $(0.449) | $— | $(0.070) | $(0.588) | $(0.449) | $— | $(0.101) | $(0.566) |
Net asset value - End of year | $48.150 | $47.480 | $43.280 | $44.920 | $51.300 | $50.490 | $46.100 | $47.920 |
Total Return (2) | (5.36)% | (6.06)% | (5.99)% | (5.11)% | 22.35% | 21.43% | 21.46% | 22.67% |
Ratios/Supplemental Data | ||||||||
Net assets, end of year (000’s omitted) | $1,116,349 | $824 | $202,974 | $136,976 | $1,257,823 | $2,070 | $248,201 | $114,276 |
Ratios (As a percentage of average daily net assets): (3) | ||||||||
Expenses (4) | 0.79% | 1.54% | 1.54% | 0.54% | 0.79% | 1.54% | 1.54% | 0.54% |
Net investment income | 0.92% | 0.17% | 0.17% | 1.17% | 1.00% | 0.27% | 0.27% | 1.24% |
Portfolio Turnover of the Portfolio (5) | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% (6) | 0% (6) | 0% (6) | 0% (6) |
(See related footnotes.)
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 34 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Financial Highlights (continued)
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 | ||||||||
Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||
2016 | 2015 | |||||||
Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I | Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I | |
Net asset value - Beginning of year | $39.330 | $38.600 | $35.440 | $36.790 | $38.910 | $38.130 | $35.100 | 36.430 |
Income from operations | ||||||||
Net investment income (1) | $0.455 | $0.155 | $0.140 | $0.516 | $0.435 | $0.138 | $0.125 | $0.497 |
Net realized and unrealized gain | 2.964 | 2.883 | 2.645 | 2.776 | 0.402 | 0.382 | 0.365 | 0.381 |
Total income from operations | $3.419 | $3.038 | $2.785 | $3.292 | $0.837 | $0.520 | $0.490 | $0.878 |
Less distributions | ||||||||
From net investment income | $(0.449) | $(0.058) | $(0.185) | $(0.552) | $(0.417) | $(0.050) | $(0.150) | $(0.518) |
Total distributions | $(0.449) | $(0.058) | $(0.185) | $(0.552) | $(0.417) | $(0.050) | $(0.150) | $(0.518) |
Net asset value - End of year | $42.300 | $41.580 | $38.040 | $39.530 | $39.330 | $38.600 | $35.440 | $36.790 |
Total Return (2) | 8.68% | 7.87% | 7.85% | 8.93% | 2.15% | 1.36% | 1.40% | 2.41% |
Ratios/Supplemental Data | ||||||||
Net assets, end of year (000’s omitted) | $1,068,182 | $3,336 | $265,708 | $69,864 | $1,055,259 | $5,044 | $263,896 | $50,278 |
Ratios (As a percentage of average daily net assets): (3) | ||||||||
Expenses (4) | 0.81% | 1.56% | 1.56% | 0.56% | 0.82% | 1.57% | 1.57% | 0.56% |
Net investment income | 1.14% | 0.40% | 0.39% | 1.38% | 1.10% | 0.36% | 0.35% | 1.34% |
Portfolio Turnover of the Portfolio | 1% (5) | 1% (5) | 1% (5) | 1% (5) | 9% | 9% | 9% | 9% |
(See related footnotes.)
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 35 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Financial Highlights (continued)
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 | ||||
Year Ended December 31, | ||||
2014 | ||||
Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I | |
Net asset value - Beginning of year | $35.000 | $34.260 | $31.630 | $32.790 |
Income from operations | ||||
Net investment income (1) | $0.405 | $0.128 | $0.118 | $0.473 |
Net realized and unrealized gain | 3.913 | 3.814 | 3.515 | 3.669 |
Total income from operations | $4.318 | $3.942 | $3.633 | $4.142 |
Less distributions | ||||
From net investment income | $(0.408) | $(0.072) | $(0.163) | $(0.502) |
Total distributions | $(0.408) | $(0.072) | $(0.163) | $(0.502) |
Net asset value - End of year | $38.910 | $38.130 | $35.100 | $36.430 |
Total Return (2) | 12.33% | 11.51% | 11.48% | 12.62% |
Ratios/Supplemental Data | ||||
Net assets, end of year (000’s omitted) | $1,096,567 | $7,411 | $280,250 | $45,037 |
Ratios (As a percentage of average daily net assets): (3) | ||||
Expenses (4) | 0.83% | 1.58% | 1.58% | 0.58% |
Net investment income | 1.11% | 0.36% | 0.36% | 1.37% |
Portfolio Turnover of the Portfolio | 8% | 8% | 8% | 8% |
(See related footnotes.)
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 36 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Financial Highlights (continued)
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 | ||||||||
Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||
2018 | 2017 | |||||||
Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I | Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I | |
Net asset value - Beginning of year | $23.060 | $22.900 | $22.460 | $23.110 | $19.020 | $18.890 | $18.530 | $19.060 |
Income from operations | ||||||||
Net investment income (1) | $0.184 | $0.002 | $0.004 | $0.244 | $0.177 | $0.024 | $0.022 | $0.229 |
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | (1.432) | (1.402) | (1.384) | (1.439) | 4.035 | 3.986 | 3.912 | 4.046 |
Total income (loss) from operations | $(1.248) | $(1.400) | $(1.380) | $(1.195) | $4.212 | $4.010 | $3.934 | $4.275 |
Less distributions | ||||||||
From net investment income | $(0.162) | $— | $— | $(0.225) | $(0.172) | $— | $(0.004) | $(0.225) |
Total distributions | $(0.162) | $— | $— | $(0.225) | $(0.172) | $— | $(0.004) | $(0.225) |
Net asset value - End of year | $21.650 | $21.500 | $21.080 | $21.690 | $23.060 | $22.900 | $22.460 | $23.110 |
Total Return (2) | (5.50)% | (6.20)% | (6.14)% | (5.25)% | 22.15% | 21.23% | 21.23% | 22.44% |
Ratios/Supplemental Data | ||||||||
Net assets, end of year (000’s omitted) | $427,333 | $680 | $142,020 | $154,772 | $472,741 | $1,778 | $173,289 | $134,355 |
Ratios (As percentage of average daily net assets): (3) | ||||||||
Expenses (4) | 0.94% | 1.69% | 1.69% | 0.69% | 0.95% | 1.70% | 1.70% | 0.70% |
Net investment income | 0.77% | 0.01% | 0.02% | 1.02% | 0.84% | 0.11% | 0.11% | 1.09% |
Portfolio Turnover of the Fund (7) | — | — | — | — | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Portfolio Turnover of the Portfolio (5) | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% (6) | 0% (6) | 0% (6) | 0% (6) |
(See related footnotes.)
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 37 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Financial Highlights (continued)
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 | ||||||||
Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||
2016 | 2015 | |||||||
Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I | Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I | |
Net asset value - Beginning of year | $17.690 | $17.540 | $17.240 | $17.720 | $17.500 | $17.330 | $17.070 | $17.530 |
Income from operations | ||||||||
Net investment income (1) | $0.176 | $0.043 | $0.041 | $0.221 | $0.168 | $0.035 | $0.034 | $0.213 |
Net realized and unrealized gain | 1.326 | 1.307 | 1.289 | 1.336 | 0.187 | 0.180 | 0.176 | 0.187 |
Total income from operations | $1.502 | $1.350 | $1.330 | $1.557 | $0.355 | $0.215 | $0.210 | $0.400 |
Less distributions | ||||||||
From net investment income | $(0.172) | $— | $(0.040) | $(0.217) | $(0.165) | $(0.005) | $(0.040) | $(0.210) |
Total distributions | $(0.172) | $— | $(0.040) | $(0.217) | $(0.165) | $(0.005) | $(0.040) | $(0.210) |
Net asset value - End of year | $19.020 | $18.890 | $18.530 | $19.060 | 17.690 | $17.540 | $17.240 | $17.720 |
Total Return (2) | 8.48% | 7.70% | 7.71% | 8.77% | 2.03% | 1.24% | 1.23% | 2.28% |
Ratios/Supplemental Data | ||||||||
Net assets, end of year (000’s omitted) | $403,485 | $2,757 | $175,072 | $78,948 | $379,685 | $4,230 | $173,494 | $61,538 |
Ratios (As percentage of average daily net assets): (3) | ||||||||
Expenses (4) | 0.97% | 1.72% | 1.72% | 0.72% | 0.97% | 1.72% | 1.72% | 0.72% |
Net investment income | 0.98% | 0.24% | 0.23% | 1.23% | 0.95% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 1.20% |
Portfolio Turnover of the Portfolio | 1% (5) | 1% (5) | 1% (5) | 1% (5) | 9% | 9% | 9% | 9% |
(See related footnotes.)
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 38 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Financial Highlights (continued)
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 | ||||
Year Ended December 31, | ||||
2014 | ||||
Class A | Class B | Class C | Class I | |
Net asset value - Beginning of year | $15.750 | $15.570 | $15.370 | $15.770 |
Income from operations | ||||
Net investment income (1) | $0.155 | $0.033 | $0.031 | $0.198 |
Net realized and unrealized gain | 1.752 | 1.731 | 1.707 | 1.761 |
Total income from operations | $1.907 | $1.764 | $1.738 | $1.959 |
Less distributions | ||||
From net investment income | $(0.157) | $(0.004) | $(0.038) | $(0.199) |
Total distributions | $(0.157) | $(0.004) | $(0.038) | $(0.199) |
Net asset value - End of year | $17.500 | $17.330 | $17.070 | $17.530 |
Total Return (2) | 12.10% | 11.33% | 11.30% | 12.42% |
Ratios/Supplemental Data | ||||
Net assets, end of year (000’s omitted) | $377,644 | $6,027 | $169,638 | $52,480 |
Ratios (As percentage of average daily net assets): (3) | ||||
Expenses (4) | 0.99% | 1.74% | 1.74% | 0.74% |
Net investment income | 0.94% | 0.20% | 0.19% | 1.19% |
Portfolio Turnover of the Portfolio | 8% | 8% | 8% | 8% |
(1) | Computed using average shares outstanding. |
(2) | Returns are historical and are calculated by determining the percentage change in net asset value with all distributions reinvested and do not reflect the effect of sales charges. |
(3) | Includes the Fund’s share of the Portfolio’s allocated expenses. |
(4) | Excludes the effect of custody credits, if any, of less than 0.005%. Effective September 1, 2015, custody fee credits, which were earned on cash deposit balances, were discontinued by the custodian. |
(5) | Excludes the value of portfolio securities contributed or distributed as a result of in-kind shareholder transactions. The portfolio turnover of the Portfolio including in-kind contributions and distributions of securities was 6%, 5% and 6% for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. |
(6) | Amount is less than 0.5%. |
(7) | Excludes the value of Fund securities contributed or distributed as a result of in-kind transactions. The portfolio turnover of the Fund including in-kind contributions and distributions of securities was 3% for the year ended December 31, 2017. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 39 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Appendix A
Financial Intermediary Sales Charge Variations
As noted under “Purchasing Shares,” a financial intermediary may offer Fund shares subject to variations in or elimination of the Fund sales charges (“variations”), provided such variations are described in this Prospectus. Set forth below are the variations in sales charges applicable to shares purchased through the noted financial intermediary. All variations described below are applied by, and the responsibility of, the identified financial intermediary. Variations may apply to purchases, sales, exchanges and reinvestments of Fund shares and a shareholder transacting in Fund shares through the intermediary identified below should read the terms and conditions of the variations carefully. A variation that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not applicable to shares held directly with the Fund or through another intermediary.
Fund Purchases through Merrill Lynch
Effective April 10, 2017, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account are eligible only for the following sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this Prospectus or in the SAI.
Front-end Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares
The front-end sales charges applicable to purchases of Class A shares will be waived for:
· | Shares purchased by employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan |
· | Shares purchased by or through a 529 Plan |
· | Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program |
· | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform |
· | Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable) |
· | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the fund family) |
· | Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date |
· | Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members |
· | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement) |
CDSC Waivers on Class A, Class B and Class C Shares
The CDSC payable on redemptions of Class A, Class B and Class C will be waived in connection with:
· | Shares sold on the death or disability of the shareholder |
· | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in “Shareholder Account Features” |
· | Shares sold to return excess contributions from an IRA Account |
· | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching age 70½ |
· | Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch |
· | The sale of Fund shares acquired pursuant to the Rights of Reinstatement privilege as described above |
· | Shares held in retirement brokerage accounts, that are exchanged for a lower cost share class due to transfer to a fee based account or platform (applicable to Class A and Class C shares only) |
· | An exchange for shares of another class of the same fund through a fee-based individual retirement account on the Merrill Lynch platform. In such circumstances, Merrill Lynch will remit the portion of the CDSC to be paid to the principal underwriter equal to the number of months remaining on the CDSC period divided by the total number of months of the CDSC period |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 40 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Front-end load Discounts Available: Discounts, Rights of Accumulation & Letters of Intent
Front-end sales charges may be subject to discounts, rights of accumulation and letters of intent as follows:
· | The front-end sales charge applicable to Class A shares may be subject to breakpoint discounts for purchases in excess of $50,000 for Class A as described under “Sales Charges” |
· | Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of fund family assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible fund family assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets |
· | Letters of Intent (LOI) through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time (if applicable) |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 41 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Fund Purchases through Ameriprise Financial (Class A Sales Charge Waivers)
Effective June 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial platform or account are eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this Prospectus or in the SAI.
Front-end Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares:
· | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
· | Shares purchased through an Ameriprise Financial investment advisory program (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
· | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Ameriprise Financial’s platform (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
· | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same Fund (but not any other fund within the fund family). |
· | Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this Prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this Prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges. |
· | Employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates and their immediate family members. |
· | Shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant. |
· | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e. Rights of Reinstatement). |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 42 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Fund Purchases through Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Effective July 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in this Prospectus or SAI.
Front-end Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares available at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
· | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans |
· | Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules |
· | Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund |
· | Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account |
· | Class C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a contingent deferred sales charge and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class conversion program |
· | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 43 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Fund Purchases through Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., & Raymond James affiliates (“Raymond James”)
Effective March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this fund’s Prospectus or SAI.
Front-end sales load waivers on Class A shares available at Raymond James
· | Shares purchased in an investment advisory program. |
· | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the fund family). |
· | Employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James. |
· | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). |
· | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James. |
CDSC Waivers on Classes A and C shares available at Raymond James
· | Death or disability of the shareholder. |
· | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the fund’s Prospectus. |
· | Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account. |
· | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching age 70½ as described in the fund’s Prospectus. |
· | Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James. |
· | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-end load discounts available at Raymond James: breakpoints, and/or rights of accumulation
· | Breakpoints as described in this Prospectus. |
· | Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of fund family assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible fund family assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the rights of accumulation calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 44 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
More Information
About the Funds: More information is available in the Statement of Additional Information. The Statement of Additional Information is incorporated by reference into this Prospectus. Additional information about each Fund's and the Portfolio's investments is available in the annual and semiannual reports (collectively, the “reports”). In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected each Fund’s performance during the past fiscal year. You may obtain free copies of the Statement of Additional Information and the reports on Eaton Vance’s website at www.eatonvance.com or by contacting the principal underwriter:
Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc.
Two International Place
Boston, MA 02110
1-800-262-1122
website: www.eatonvance.com
Information about each Fund (including the Statement of Additional Information and reports) is available on the EDGAR database on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following email address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
Shareholder Inquiries: You can obtain more information from Eaton Vance Shareholder Services or the Fund transfer agent, BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc. If you own shares and would like to add to, redeem from or change your account, please write or call below:
Regular Mailing Address:
Eaton Vance Funds P.O. Box 9653 Providence, RI 02940-9653 |
Overnight Mailing Address:
Eaton Vance Funds 4400 Computer Drive Westborough, MA 01581 |
Phone Number:
1-800-262-1122 Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET |
The Funds' Investment Company Act No. is 811-04015. | |
2853 5.1.19 | © 2019 Eaton Vance Management |
Printed on recycled paper.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund
Class A Shares - EAERX
Class C Shares - ECERX Class I Shares - EIERX
Prospectus Dated
May 1, 2019
Important Note. Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund’s 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 Fund's website (http://www.eatonvance.com/funddocuments), and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website address 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. If you are a direct investor, you may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically by signing up for e-Delivery at eatonvance.com/edelivery. If you own your shares through a financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank), you must contact your financial intermediary to sign up.
You may elect to receive all future Fund shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you are a direct investor, you can inform the Fund that you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports by calling 1-800-262-1122. If you own these shares through a financial intermediary, you must contact your financial intermediary or follow instructions included with this disclosure, if applicable, to elect to continue to receive paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all Eaton Vance funds held directly or to all funds held through your financial intermediary, as applicable.
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.
Information in this Prospectus
Page | Page | ||
Fund Summary | 2 | Investment Objective & Principal Policies and Risks | 7 |
Investment Objective | 2 | Management and Organization | 14 |
Fees and Expenses of the Fund | 2 | Valuing Shares | 15 |
Portfolio Turnover | 2 | Purchasing Shares | 15 |
Principal Investment Strategies | 3 | Sales Charges | 19 |
Principal Risks | 3 | Redeeming Shares | 21 |
Performance | 5 | Shareholder Account Features | 22 |
Management | 5 | Additional Tax Information | 24 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares | 5 | Financial Highlights | 26 |
Tax Information | 5 | Appendix A – Financial Intermediary Sales Charge Variations | 28 |
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries | 6 |
This Prospectus contains
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Fund Summary
Investment Objective
The Fund's investment objective is to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of equity securities.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. Investors may also pay commissions or other fees to their financial intermediary when they buy and hold shares of the Fund, which are not reflected below. You may qualify for a reduced sales charge on purchases of Class A shares if you invest, or agree to invest over a 13-month period, at least $50,000 in Eaton Vance funds. Certain financial intermediaries also may offer variations in Fund sales charges to their customers as described in Appendix A – Financial Intermediary Sales Charge Variations in this Prospectus. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial intermediary and in Sales Charges beginning on page 19 of this Prospectus and page 21 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) | Class A | Class C | Class I |
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) | 5.75% | None | None |
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of the lower of net asset value at purchase or redemption) | None | 1.00% | None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) (1) | Class A | Class C | Class I |
Management Fees | 0.60% | 0.60% | 0.60% |
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | 0.25% | 1.00% | None |
Other Expenses | 0.25 % | 0.25 % | 0.25 % |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 1.10% | 1.85% | 0.85% |
Expense Reimbursement (2) | (0.12) % | (0.12) % | (0.12) % |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursement | 0.98% | 1.73% | 0.73% |
(1) | Expenses in the table above and the Example below reflect the expenses of the Fund and Stock Portfolio (the “Portfolio”), the Fund’s master Portfolio. |
(2) | The investment adviser and administrator have agreed to reimburse the Fund’s expenses to the extent that Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.98% for Class A shares, 1.73% for Class C shares and 0.73% for Class I shares. This expense reimbursement will continue through April 30, 2020. Any amendment to or termination of this reimbursement would require approval of the Board of Trustees. The expense reimbursement relates to ordinary operating expenses only and does not include expenses such as: brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses of unaffiliated funds, borrowing costs (including borrowing costs of any acquired funds), taxes or litigation expenses. Amounts reimbursed may be recouped by the investment adviser and administrator during the same fiscal year to the extent actual expenses are less than the contractual expense cap during such year. |
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the operating expenses remain the same and that any reimbursement arrangement remains in place for the contractual period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” the portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio's portfolio turnover rate was 90% of the average value of its portfolio.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 2 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in a diversified portfolio of common stocks (the “80% Policy”). The Fund may invest in companies with a broad range of market capitalizations, including smaller companies. The Fund generally intends to maintain investments in all or substantially all of the market sectors represented in the S&P 500 Index. Particular stocks owned will not mirror the S&P 500 Index. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its assets in foreign securities some of which may be issued by companies domiciled in developed or emerging market countries. As an alternative to holding foreign stocks directly, the Fund may invest in U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign companies that trade on U.S. exchanges or in the over-the-counter market (including depositary receipts which evidence ownership in underlying foreign stocks). The Fund may invest in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), a type of pooled investment vehicle, in order to manage cash positions or seek exposure to certain markets or market sectors. The Fund may also invest in publicly traded real estate investment trusts (“REITs”).
The Fund may engage in derivative transactions to seek return, to hedge against fluctuations in securities prices or as a substitute for the purchase or sale of securities. The Fund expects to use derivatives principally when seeking to gain exposure to equity securities by writing put options or to generate income by writing covered call options or put options. The Fund may also enter into a combination of options transactions on individual securities. Permitted derivatives include: the purchase or sale of forward or futures contracts; options on futures contracts; exchange-traded and over-the-counter options; equity collars and equity swap agreements. There is no stated limit on the Fund’s use of derivatives.
The portfolio of securities is selected primarily on the basis of fundamental research. The portfolio manager utilizes the information provided by, and the expertise of, the investment adviser’s research staff in making investment decisions. In selecting securities, the portfolio manager seeks companies that have sustainable earnings and cash flow, a strong and durable financial profile, secular and cyclical growth prospects, and the ability to maintain a competitive position within its industry. In addition, the portfolio manager employs a portfolio construction process that seeks to manage investment risk. This process includes the use of portfolio optimization tools (quantitative tools that help track the Portfolio’s fundamental characteristics such as its volatility, valuation and growth rate) and risk management techniques to assist in portfolio construction and monitoring and maintaining issuer and industry diversification among portfolio holdings. The portfolio manager may sell a security when he believes it is fully valued, the fundamentals of a company deteriorate, or to pursue alternative investment options.
The Fund currently invests its assets in the Portfolio, a separate registered investment company with the same investment objective and policies as the Fund.
Principal Risks
Market Risk. The value of investments held by the Fund may increase or decrease in response to economic, political and financial events (whether real, expected or perceived) in the U.S. and global markets. The frequency and magnitude of such changes in value cannot be predicted. Certain securities and other investments held by the Fund may experience increased volatility, illiquidity, or other potentially adverse effects in reaction to changing market conditions. Actions taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve or foreign central banks to stimulate or stabilize economic growth, such as decreases or increases in short-term interest rates, could cause high volatility in markets.
Equity Securities Risk. The value of equity securities and related instruments may decline in response to adverse changes in the economy or the economic outlook; deterioration in investor sentiment; interest rate, currency, and commodity price fluctuations; adverse geopolitical, social or environmental developments; issuer and sector-specific considerations; or other factors. Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of stocks. If the stock market declines in value, the value of the Fund’s equity securities will also likely decline. Although prices can rebound, there is no assurance that values will return to previous levels.
Foreign Investment Risk. Foreign investments can be adversely affected by political, economic and market developments abroad, including the imposition of economic and other sanctions by the United States or another country. Foreign markets may be smaller, less liquid and more volatile than the major markets in the United States, and as a result, Fund share values may be more volatile. Trading in foreign markets typically involves higher expense than trading in the United States. The Fund may have difficulties enforcing its legal or contractual rights in a foreign country. Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks associated with investing directly in foreign instruments.
Emerging Markets Investment Risk. Investment markets in emerging market countries are typically smaller, less liquid and more volatile than developed markets, and emerging market securities often involve greater risks than developed market securities.
Currency Risk. Exchange rates for currencies fluctuate daily. The value of foreign investments may be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in currency exchange rates in relation to the U.S. dollar. Currency markets generally are not as regulated as securities markets and currency transactions are subject to settlement, custodial and other operational risks.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 3 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
ETF Risk. ETFs are subject to the risks of investing in the underlying securities or other investments. ETF shares may trade at a premium or discount to net asset value and are subject to secondary market trading risks. In addition, the Fund will bear a pro rata portion of the operating expenses of an ETF in which it invests. Other pooled investment vehicles generally are subject to risks similar to those of ETFs.
Derivatives Risk. The Fund’s exposure to derivatives involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other investments. The use of derivatives can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the asset, index, rate or instrument underlying a derivative, due to failure of a counterparty or due to tax or regulatory constraints. Derivatives may create leverage in the Fund, which represents a non-cash exposure to the underlying asset, index, rate or instrument. Leverage can increase both the risk and return potential of the Fund. Derivatives risk may be more significant when derivatives are used to enhance return or as a substitute for a cash investment position, rather than solely to hedge the risk of a position held by the Fund. Use of derivatives involves the exercise of specialized skill and judgment, and a transaction may be unsuccessful in whole or in part because of market behavior or unexpected events. Changes in the value of a derivative (including one used for hedging) may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate, index or instrument. Derivative instruments traded in over-the-counter markets may be difficult to value, may be illiquid, and may be subject to wide swings in valuation caused by changes in the value of the underlying instrument. If a derivative’s counterparty is unable to honor its commitments, the value of Fund shares may decline and the Fund could experience delays in the return of collateral or other assets held by the counterparty. The loss on derivative transactions may substantially exceed the initial investment, particularly when there is no stated limit on the Fund’s use of derivatives. A derivative investment also involves the risks relating to the asset, index, rate or instrument underlying the investment.
Smaller Company Risk. The stocks of smaller, less seasoned companies are generally subject to greater price fluctuations, limited liquidity, higher transaction costs and higher investment risk than the stocks of larger, more established companies. Such companies may have limited product lines, markets or financial resources, may be dependent on a limited management group, and may lack substantial capital reserves or an established performance record. There may be generally less publicly available information about such companies than for larger, more established companies. Stocks of these companies frequently have lower trading volumes making them more volatile and potentially more difficult to value.
Real Estate Risk. Real estate investments are subject to risks associated with owning real estate, including declines in real estate values, increases in property taxes, fluctuations in interest rates, limited availability of mortgage financing, decreases in revenues from underlying real estate assets, declines in occupancy rates, changes in government regulations affecting zoning, land use, and rents, environmental liabilities, and risks related to the management skill and creditworthiness of the issuer. Companies in the real estate industry may also be subject to liabilities under environmental and hazardous waste laws, among others. REITs must satisfy specific requirements for favorable tax treatment and can involve unique risks in addition to the risks generally affecting the real estate industry. Changes in underlying real estate values may have an exaggerated effect to the extent that investments are concentrated in particular geographic regions or property types.
Liquidity Risk. The Fund is exposed to liquidity risk when trading volume, lack of a market maker or trading partner, large position size, market conditions, or legal restrictions impair its ability to sell particular investments or to sell them at advantageous market prices. Consequently, the Fund may have to accept a lower price to sell an investment or continue to hold it or keep the position open, sell other investments to raise cash or give up an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on the Fund’s performance. These effects may be exacerbated during times of financial or political stress.
Risks Associated with Active Management. The success of the Fund’s investment strategy depends on portfolio management’s successful application of analytical skills and investment judgment. Active management involves subjective decisions. The portfolio manager also uses quantitative portfolio optimization and risk management techniques in making investment decisions for the Fund. There can be no assurance that these techniques will achieve the desired results.
General Fund Investing Risks. The Fund is not a complete investment program and there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. It is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund is designed to be a long-term investment vehicle and is not suited for short-term trading. Investors in the Fund should have a long-term investment perspective and be able to tolerate potentially sharp declines in value. Purchase and redemption activities by Fund shareholders may impact the management of the Fund and its ability to achieve its investment objective(s). In addition, the redemption by one or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders of their holdings in the Fund could have an adverse impact on the remaining shareholders in the Fund. The Fund relies on various service providers, including the investment adviser, in its operations and is susceptible to operational, information security and related events (such as cyber or hacking attacks) that may affect the service providers or the services that they provide to the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 4 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and how the Fund’s average annual returns over time compare with those of a broad-based securities market index. The returns in the bar chart are for Class A shares and do not reflect a sales charge. If the sales charge was reflected, the returns would be lower. Past performance (both before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The Fund’s performance reflects the effects of expense reductions. Absent these reductions, performance would have been lower. Updated Fund performance information can be obtained by visiting www.eatonvance.com.
For the ten years ended December 31, 2018, the highest quarterly total return for Class A was 14.17% for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, and the lowest quarterly return was -15.15% for the quarter ended September 30, 2011.
These returns reflect the maximum sales charge for Class A (5.75%) and any applicable contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) for Class C. The Class C performance shown above for the period prior to October 1, 2009 (commencement of operations) is the performance of Class A shares at net asset value without adjustment for any differences in the expenses of the two classes. If adjusted for such differences, returns would be different. Investors cannot invest directly in an Index.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on a shareholder’s tax situation and the actual characterization of distributions, and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to shareholders who hold shares in tax-deferred accounts or to shares held by non-taxable entities. After-tax returns for other Classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Class A shares. Return After Taxes on Distributions for a period may be the same as Return Before Taxes for that period because no taxable distributions were made during that period. Also, Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares for a period may be greater than or equal to Return After Taxes on Distributions for the same period because of losses realized on the sale of Fund shares.
Management
Investment Adviser. Boston Management and Research (“BMR”).
Portfolio Manager. The Portfolio is managed by Charles B. Gaffney, Vice President of BMR, who has managed the Portfolio and its predecessor fund since November 2007.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase, redeem or exchange Fund shares on any business day, which is any day the New York Stock Exchange is open for business. You may purchase, redeem or exchange Fund shares either through your financial intermediary or (except for purchases of Class C shares by accounts with no specified financial intermediary) directly from the Fund either by writing to the Fund, P.O. Box 9653, Providence, RI 02940-9653, or by calling 1-800-262-1122. The minimum initial purchase or exchange into the Fund is $1,000 for each Class (with the exception of Class I) and $250,000 for Class I (waived in certain circumstances). There is no minimum for subsequent investments.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 5 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Tax Information
If your shares are held in a taxable account, the Fund’s distributions will be taxed to you as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are exempt from taxation. If your shares are held in a tax-advantaged account, you will generally be taxed only upon withdrawals from the account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund’s shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank) (collectively, “financial intermediaries”), the Fund, its principal underwriter and its affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 6 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Investment Objectives & Principal Policies and Risks
The investment objective and principal investment policies and risks of the Fund are described in its Fund Summary. Set forth below is additional information about such policies and risks, as well as information about other types of investments and practices in which the Fund may engage from time to time. The Fund seeks its investment objective by investing in the Portfolio. References to the Fund below are to the Fund and the Portfolio. See also “Strategies and Risks” in the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).
Definitions. As used herein, the following terms have the indicated meaning: “1940 Act” means the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended; “1933 Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended; “Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; “ERISA” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended; and “investment adviser” means the Fund’s investment adviser but if the Fund is sub-advised, it refers to the sub-adviser(s) providing day-to-day management with respect to the investments or strategies discussed.
Equity Securities. Equity securities include: common stocks; preferred stocks, including convertible and contingent convertible preferred stocks; equity interests in trusts, partnerships, joint ventures and other unincorporated entities or enterprises; depositary receipts, rights and warrants in underlying equity interests; and other securities that are treated as equity for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The Fund cannot predict the income it might receive from equity securities because issuers generally have discretion as to the payment of any dividends or distributions.
The value of equity securities and related instruments may decline in response to adverse changes in the economy or the economic outlook; deterioration in investor sentiment; interest rate, currency, and commodity price fluctuations; adverse geopolitical, social or environmental developments; issuer- and sector-specific considerations; and other factors. Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of stocks. If the stock market declines, the value of Fund shares will also likely decline. Although stock prices can rebound, there is no assurance that values will return to previous levels.
Foreign Investments. Investments in foreign issuers could be affected by factors not present in the United States, including expropriation, armed conflict, confiscatory taxation, lack of uniform accounting and auditing standards, less publicly available financial and other information, and potential difficulties in enforcing contractual obligations. Because foreign issuers may not be subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standard practices and requirements and regulatory measures comparable to those in the United States, there may be less publicly available information about such foreign issuers. Settlements of securities transactions in foreign countries are subject to risk of loss, may be delayed and are generally less frequent than in the United States, which could affect the liquidity of the Fund’s assets. Evidence of ownership of certain foreign investments may be held outside the United States, and the Fund may be subject to the risks associated with the holding of such property overseas.
Foreign issuers may become subject to sanctions imposed by the United States or another country, which could result in the immediate freeze of the foreign issuers’ assets or securities. The imposition of such sanctions could impair the market value of the securities of such foreign issuers and limit the Fund’s ability to buy, sell, receive or deliver the securities. Trading in certain foreign markets is also subject to liquidity risks.
Political events in foreign countries may cause market disruptions. In June 2016, the United Kingdom approved a referendum to leave the European Union (“EU”) (“Brexit”). There is significant market uncertainty regarding Brexit’s ramifications, and the range and potential implications of possible political, regulatory, economic, and market outcomes in the EU and beyond are difficult to predict. If one or more countries leave the EU or the EU dissolves, the world’s securities markets likely will be significantly disrupted.
As an alternative to holding foreign-traded investments, the Fund may invest in U.S. dollar-denominated investments of foreign companies that trade on U.S. exchanges or in the U.S. over-the-counter market including depositary receipts, such as American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”), which evidence ownership of shares of a foreign issuer and are alternatives to directly purchasing the underlying foreign securities in their national markets and currencies. However, they continue to be subject to many of the risks associated with investing directly in foreign securities. These risks include the political and economic risks of the underlying issuer’s country, as well as in the case of depositary receipts traded on foreign markets, currency risk. Depositary receipts may be sponsored or unsponsored. Unsponsored depositary receipts are established without the participation of the issuer. As a result, available information concerning the issuer of an unsponsored depository receipt may not be as current as for sponsored depositary receipts, and the prices of unsponsored depositary receipts may be more volatile than if such instruments were sponsored by the issuer. Unsponsored depositary receipts may involve higher expenses, may not pass through voting or other shareholder rights and may be less liquid.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 7 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Emerging Markets Investments. The risks of foreign investments can be more significant in emerging markets. Emerging markets may offer higher potential for gains and losses than investments in the developed markets of the world. Political and economic structures in emerging market countries generally lack the social, political and economic stability of developed countries, which may affect the value of the Fund’s investments in these countries and also the ability of the Fund to access markets in such countries. Governmental actions can have a significant effect on the economic conditions in emerging market countries, which also may adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments. The laws of emerging market countries relating to the limited liability of corporate shareholders, fiduciary duties of officers and directors, and bankruptcy of state enterprises are generally less developed than or different from such laws in the United States. It may be more difficult to obtain a judgment in the courts of these countries than it is in the United States. Disruptions due to work stoppages and trading improprieties in foreign securities markets have caused such markets to close. If extended closings were to occur in stock markets where the Fund is heavily invested, the Fund’s ability to redeem Fund shares could become impaired. In such circumstances, the Fund may have to sell more liquid securities than it would otherwise choose to sell. Emerging market securities are also subject to speculative trading, which contributes to their volatility.
Foreign Currencies. The value of foreign assets and currencies as measured in U.S. dollars may be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in foreign currency rates and exchange control regulations, application of foreign tax laws (including withholding tax), governmental administration of economic or monetary policies (in this country or abroad), and relations between nations and trading. Foreign currencies also are subject to settlement, custodial and other operational risks. Currency exchange rates can be affected unpredictably by intervention, or the failure to intervene, by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks or by currency controls or political developments in the United States or abroad. If the U.S. dollar rises in value relative to a foreign currency, a security denominated in that foreign currency will be worth less in U.S. dollars. If the U.S. dollar decreases in value relative to a foreign currency, a security denominated in that foreign currency will be worth more in U.S. dollars. A devaluation of a currency by a country’s government or banking authority will have a significant impact on the value of any investments denominated in that currency. Costs are incurred in connection with conversions between currencies.
Smaller Companies. Securities of smaller companies, which may include legally restricted securities, are generally subject to greater price fluctuations, limited liquidity, higher transaction costs and higher investment risk than the securities of larger, more established companies. Because of the absence of any public trading market for some of these investments (such as those which are legally restricted) it may be more difficult to value these investments and may take longer to liquidate these positions at fair value than would be the case for publicly traded securities.
Derivatives. Generally, derivatives can be characterized as financial instruments whose performance is derived at least in part from the performance of an underlying reference instrument. Derivative instruments may be acquired in the United States or abroad consistent with the Fund’s investment strategy and may include the various types of exchange-traded and over-the-counter (“OTC”) instruments described herein and other instruments with substantially similar characteristics and risks. Fund obligations created pursuant to derivative instruments may give rise to leverage, which would subject the Fund to the requirements described under “Asset Coverage” in the Fund’s SAI. The Fund may invest in a derivative transaction if it is permitted to own, invest in, or otherwise have economic exposure to the reference instrument. A reference instrument could be a security, instrument, index, currency, commodity, economic indicator or event (“reference instruments”). The Fund may engage in derivatives transactions to seek return, to hedge against fluctuations in securities prices, or as a substitute for the purchase or sale of securities. The Fund may trade in the specific types and/or combinations of derivative transactions listed below.
Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks, including adverse or unexpected movements in the price of the reference instrument, and counterparty, liquidity, market, tax and leverage risks. Certain derivatives may also be subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. In addition, derivatives also involve the risk that changes in their value may not correlate perfectly with the assets, rates, indices or instruments they are designed to hedge or closely track. Use of derivative instruments may cause the realization of higher amounts of short-term capital gains (generally taxed at ordinary income tax rates) than if such instruments had not been used. Success in using derivative instruments to hedge portfolio assets depends on the degree of price correlation between the derivative instruments and the hedged asset. Imperfect correlation may be caused by several factors, including temporary price disparities among the trading markets for the derivative instrument, the reference instrument and the Fund’s assets. To the extent that a derivative instrument is intended to hedge against an event that does not occur, the Fund may realize losses.
OTC derivative instruments involve an additional risk in that the issuer or counterparty may fail to perform its contractual obligations. Some derivative instruments are not readily marketable or may become illiquid under adverse market conditions. In addition, during periods of market volatility, an option or commodity exchange or swap execution facility or clearinghouse may suspend or limit trading in an exchange-traded derivative instrument, which may make the contract temporarily illiquid and difficult to price. Commodity exchanges may also establish daily limits on the amount that the price of a futures contract or futures option can vary from the previous day’s settlement price. Once the daily limit is reached, no
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 8 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
trades may be made that day at a price beyond the limit. This may prevent the closing out of positions to limit losses. The staff of the SEC takes the position that certain purchased OTC options, and assets used as cover for written OTC options, are illiquid. The ability to terminate OTC derivative instruments may depend on the cooperation of the counterparties to such contracts. For thinly traded derivative instruments, the only source of price quotations may be the selling dealer or counterparty. In addition, certain provisions of the Code limit the use of derivative instruments. Derivatives permit the Fund to increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, to which its portfolio is exposed in much the same way as the Fund can increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, of its portfolio by making investments in specific securities. There can be no assurance that the use of derivative instruments will benefit the Fund.
The U.S. and non-U.S. derivatives markets have undergone substantial changes in recent years as a result of changes under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) in the United States and regulation changes in Europe, Asia and other non-U.S. jurisdictions. In particular, the Dodd-Frank Act and related regulations require many derivatives to be cleared and traded on an exchange, expand entity registration requirements, impose business conduct requirements on counterparties, and impose other regulatory requirements that will continue to change derivatives markets as regulations are implemented. Additional future regulation of the derivatives markets may make the use of derivatives more costly, may limit the availability or reduce the liquidity of derivatives, and may impose limits or restrictions on the counterparties with which the Fund engages in derivative transactions. Fund management cannot predict the effects of any new governmental regulation that may be implemented, and future regulation may impair the effectiveness of the Fund’s derivative transactions and its ability to achieve its investment objectives.
Options. Options may be traded on an exchange and OTC. By buying a put option on a particular instrument, the Fund acquires a right to sell the underlying instrument at the exercise price. By buying a put option on an index, the Fund acquires a right to receive the cash difference between the strike price of the option and the index price at expiration. A purchased put position also typically can be sold at any time by selling at prevailing market prices. Purchased put options generally are expected to limit the Fund's risk of loss through a decline in the market value of the underlying security or index until the put option expires. When buying a put option, the Fund pays a premium to the seller of the option. If the price of the underlying security or index is above the exercise price of the option as of the option valuation date, the option expires worthless and the Fund will not be able to recover the option premium paid to the seller. The Fund may purchase uncovered put options on securities, meaning it will not own the securities underlying the option.
The Fund may also write (i.e., sell) put options. The Fund will receive a premium for selling a put option, which may increase the Fund's return. In selling a put option on a security, the Fund has the obligation to buy the security at an agreed upon price if the price of such instrument decreases below the exercise price. By selling a put option on an index, the Fund has an obligation to make a payment to the buyer to the extent that the value of the index decreases below the exercise price as of the option valuation date. If the value of the underlying security or index on the option’s expiration date is above the exercise price, the option will generally expire worthless and the Fund, as option seller, will have no obligation to the option holder.
The Fund may purchase call options. By purchasing a call option on a security, the Fund has the right to buy the security at the option’s exercise price. By buying a call option on an index, the Fund acquires the right to receive the cash difference between the market price of the index and strike price at expiration. Call options typically can be exercised any time prior to option maturity or, sold at the prevailing market price.
The Fund may also write (i.e., sell) a call option on a security or index in return for a premium. A call written on a security obligates the Fund to deliver the underlying security at the option exercise price. Written index call options obligate the Fund to make a cash payment to the buyer at expiration if the market price of the index is above the option strike price. Calls typically can also be bought back by the Fund at prevailing market prices and the Fund also may enter into closing purchase transactions with respect to written call options. The Fund may write call options on securities that it owns (so-called covered calls) and also may write uncovered options. With respect to written covered calls, the Fund may sell the underlying security prior to entering into a closing purchase transaction on up to 5% of its net assets within three days of such transaction. The Fund may also engage in various types of option strategies using put and/or call options.
The Fund’s options positions are marked to market daily. The value of options is affected by changes in the value and dividend rates of their underlying instruments, changes in interest rates, changes in the actual or perceived volatility of the relevant index or market and the remaining time to the options’ expiration, as well as trading conditions in the options market. The hours of trading for options may not conform to the hours during which the underlying instruments are traded. To the extent that the options markets close before markets for the underlying instruments, significant price and rate movements can take place in the markets that would not be reflected concurrently in the options markets.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 9 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
The Fund's ability to sell the instrument underlying a call option may be limited while the option is in effect unless the Fund enters into a closing purchase transaction. Uncovered call options have speculative characteristics and are riskier than covered call options because there is no underlying instrument held by the Fund that can act as a partial hedge. As the seller of a covered call option or an index call option, the Fund may forego, during the option’s life, the opportunity to profit from increases in the market value of the underlying instrument covering the call option above the sum of the premium received by the Fund and the exercise price of the call. The Fund also retains the risk of loss, minus the option premium received, should the price of the underlying instrument decline.
Participants in OTC markets are typically not subject to the same credit evaluation and regulatory oversight as are members of “exchange-based” markets. OTC option contracts generally carry greater liquidity risk than exchange-traded contracts. This risk may be increased in times of financial stress, if the trading market for OTC options becomes restricted. The ability of the Fund to transact business with any one or a number of counterparties may increase the potential for losses to the Fund, due to the lack of any independent evaluation of the counterparties or their financial capabilities, and the absence of a regulated market to facilitate settlement of the options.
Swaptions. Swaptions are options giving the option owner the right (but not the obligation) to enter into a swap agreement as buyer or seller, or to extend, shorten, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement at a future date on specified terms.
Depending on the terms of the particular swaption, the Fund generally will incur a greater degree of risk when it writes a swaption than it will incur when it purchases a swaption. When the Fund purchases a swaption, it risks losing only the amount of the premium it has paid should it decide to let the option expire unexercised. When the Fund writes a swaption, upon exercise of the option, the Fund will become obligated according to the terms of the underlying swap agreement.
Put option spreads involve purchasing put options at a specific strike price while also selling the same number of puts at a lower strike price. By doing so, the Fund can lower the net cost of its market hedging activities, since the premiums received from selling put options will offset, in part, the premiums paid to purchase the put options. Although less expensive than buying a standalone put option, buying a put option spread will expose the Fund to incremental loss if the value of the applicable instrument at contract expiration is below the exercise price of the put option sold.
Futures Contracts. Futures are standardized, exchange-traded contracts. Futures contracts on securities obligate a purchaser to take delivery, and a seller to make delivery, of a specific amount of the financial instrument called for in the contract at a specified future date at a specified price. An index futures contract obligates the purchaser to take, and a seller to deliver, an amount of cash equal to a specific dollar amount times the difference between the value of a specific index at the close of the last trading day of the contract and the price at which the agreement is made. No physical delivery of the underlying securities in the index is made. It is the practice of holders of futures contracts to close out their positions on or before the expiration date by use of offsetting contract positions, and physical delivery of financial instruments or delivery of cash, as applicable, is thereby avoided. An option on a futures contract gives the holder the right to enter into a specified futures contract.
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts. A forward foreign currency exchange contract (“currency forward”) involves an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. These contracts may be bought or sold to protect against an adverse change in the relationship between currencies or to increase exposure to a particular foreign currency.
Certain currency forwards may be individually negotiated and privately traded, exposing them to credit and counterparty risks. The precise matching of the currency forward amounts and the value of the instruments denominated in the corresponding currencies will not generally be possible. In addition, it may not be possible to hedge against long-term currency changes. Currency forwards are subject to the risk of political and economic factors applicable to the countries issuing the underlying currencies. Furthermore, unlike trading in most other types of instruments, there is no systematic reporting of last sale information with respect to the foreign currencies underlying currency forwards. As a result, available information may not be complete.
Equity Swaps. Equity swaps involve the exchange by the Fund with another party of their respective returns as calculated on a notional amount of an equity index (such as the S&P 500 Index), basket of equity securities, or individual equity security.
Short Sales. The Fund may engage in short sales on securities or a basket or index of securities. A short sale on an individual security typically involves the sale of a security that is borrowed from a broker or other institution to complete the sale. When making a short sale, the Fund must segregate liquid assets with a broker or the custodian equal to (or otherwise cover) its obligations under the short sale. Generally, securities held in a segregated account cannot be sold unless they are replaced with other liquid assets. This may limit the Fund’s investment flexibility, as well as its ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations. The seller of a short position generally realizes a profit from the transaction if the proceeds it receives on the short sale exceed the cost of purchasing the securities sold short in the market, but will generally realize a loss if the cost of closing the short position exceeds the proceeds from the short sale. The Fund pays interest or dividend expense with respect to securities sold short.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 10 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
If the Fund does not own the securities sold short, the short sale exposes the Fund to the risk that it will be required to purchase securities to replace the borrowed securities (also known as “covering” the short position) at a time when the securities sold short have appreciated in value, thus resulting in a loss. There is no assurance that a security sold short will decline in value or make a profit for the Fund. In addition, there is no guarantee that any security needed to cover the short position will be available for purchase. Short selling carries a risk that the counterparty to the short sale may fail to honor its contract terms, causing a loss to the Fund. If the Fund invests the proceeds received for selling securities short in other investments, the Fund is employing a form of leverage.
Real Estate Investments. Companies primarily engaged in the real estate industry and other real estate-related investments may include publicly traded real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) or real estate operating companies that either own properties or make construction or mortgage loans, real estate developers, companies with substantial real estate holdings and other companies whose products and services are related to the real estate industry, such as lodging operators, brokers, property management companies, building supply manufacturers, mortgage lenders, or mortgage servicing companies. REITs tend to be small to medium-sized companies, and may include equity REITs and mortgage REITs. The value of a REIT can depend on the structure of and cash flow generated by the REIT. REITs are pooled investment vehicles that have expenses of their own, so the Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of those expenses. The Fund will not own real estate directly.
Real estate investments are subject to special risks including changes in real estate values, property taxes, interest rates, cash flow of underlying real estate assets, occupancy rates, government regulations affecting zoning, land use, and rents, and the management skill and creditworthiness of the issuer. Companies in the real estate industry may also be subject to liabilities under environmental and hazardous waste laws, among others. Changes in underlying real estate values may have an exaggerated effect to the extent that investments concentrate in particular geographic regions or property types.
Equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the REIT, while mortgage REITs may be affected by the quality of any credit extended. Further, equity and mortgage REITs are dependent upon management skills and generally may not be diversified. Equity and mortgage REITs are also subject to heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by borrowers, and self-liquidations. In addition, equity and mortgage REITs could possibly fail to qualify for tax-free pass through of income or to maintain their exemptions from registration under the 1940 Act. The above factors may also adversely affect a borrower’s or a lessee’s ability to meet its obligations to a REIT. In the event of a default by a borrower or lessee, a REIT may experience delays in enforcing its rights as a mortgagee or lessor and may incur substantial costs associated with protecting its investments.
Shares of REITs may trade less frequently and, therefore, are subject to more erratic price movements than securities of larger issuers. REITs are also subject to credit, market, liquidity and interest rate risks.
REITs may issue debt securities to fund their activities. The value of these debt securities may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the REIT, the creditworthiness of the REIT, interest rates, and tax and regulatory requirements, among other things.
Liquidity Risk. The Fund is exposed to liquidity risk when trading volume, lack of a market maker, or legal restrictions impair the Fund’s ability to sell particular investments or close derivative positions at an advantageous market price. Trading opportunities are also more limited for securities and other instruments that are not widely held or are traded in less developed markets. These factors may make it more difficult to sell or buy a security at a favorable price or time. Consequently, the Fund may have to accept a lower price to sell an investment or continue to hold it or keep the position open, sell other investments to raise cash or abandon an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on the Fund’s performance. It also may be more difficult to value less liquid investments. These effects may be exacerbated during times of financial or political stress. Increased Fund redemption activity also may increase liquidity risk due to the need of the Fund to sell portfolio investments and may negatively impact Fund performance.
The Fund will not acquire any illiquid investment if, immediately after the acquisition, the Fund will have invested more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments. Illiquid investments means any investments that the Fund’s investment adviser reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in seven calendar days or less under then-current market conditions without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 11 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Pooled Investment Vehicles. The Fund may invest in pooled investment vehicles. Pooled investment vehicles are open- and closed-end investment companies unaffiliated with the investment adviser, open-end investment companies affiliated with the investment adviser and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any management fees and expenses paid by unaffiliated and certain affiliated pooled investment vehicles in which it invests. If such fees exceed 0.01%, the costs associated with such investments will be reflected under Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses in the Fund’s Annual Fund Operating Expenses table(s) in its Fund Summary. Requirements of the 1940 Act may limit the Fund’s ability to invest in other investment companies, including ETFs, unless the investment company has received an exemptive order from the SEC on which the Fund may rely.
Pooled investment vehicles are subject to the risks of investing in the underlying securities or other instruments that they own. The market for common shares of closed-end investment companies and ETFs, which are generally traded on an exchange and may be traded at a premium or discount to net asset value, is affected by the demand for those securities, regardless of the value of such fund’s underlying securities. In addition, the Fund will bear a pro rata portion of the operating expenses of a pooled investment vehicle in which it invests.
Preferred Stock. Preferred stock is a class of equity security that pays a specified dividend that typically must be paid before any dividends can be paid to common stockholders and takes precedence over common stock in the event of the issuer’s liquidation. Although preferred stocks represent an ownership interest in an issuer, preferred stocks generally do not have voting rights or have limited voting rights and have economic characteristics similar to fixed-income securities. Preferred stocks generally are issued with a fixed par value and pay dividends based on a percentage of that par value at a fixed or variable rate. Dividend payments on preferred stocks may be subordinate to interest payments on the issuer’s debt obligations. Certain preferred stocks may be convertible to common stock. Additionally, preferred stocks often have a liquidation value that generally equals the original purchase price of the preferred stock at the date of issuance.
Preferred stocks are subject to issuer-specific and market risks generally applicable to equity securities and credit and interest rate risks generally applicable to fixed-income securities. The value of preferred stock may react more strongly than bonds and other debt instruments to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects. Preferred stocks are considered an equity security.
Restricted Securities. The Fund may invest in securities that are legally restricted as to resale (such as those issued in private placements), including commercial paper issued pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act and securities eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144A thereunder. The Fund may incur additional expense when disposing of restricted securities, including all or a portion of the cost to register the securities. The Fund also may acquire securities through private placements under which it may agree to contractual restrictions on the resale of such securities that are in addition to applicable legal restrictions.
Restricted securities may be difficult to value properly and may involve greater risks than securities that are not subject to restrictions on resale. It may be difficult to sell restricted securities at a price representing fair value until such time as the securities may be sold publicly. Under adverse market or economic conditions or in the event of adverse changes in the financial condition of the issuer, the Fund could find it more difficult to sell such securities when the investment adviser believes it advisable to do so or may be able to sell such securities only at prices lower than if such securities were more widely held. Holdings of restricted securities may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers become uninterested in purchasing them. Restricted securities may involve a high degree of business and financial risk, which may result in substantial losses.
Securities Lending. The Fund may lend its portfolio securities to broker-dealers and other institutional borrowers. During the existence of a loan, the Fund will continue to receive the equivalent of the interest paid by the issuer on the securities loaned, or all or a portion of the interest on investment of the collateral, if any. The Fund may pay lending fees to such borrowers. Loans will only be made to firms that have been approved by the investment adviser, and the investment adviser or the securities lending agent will periodically monitor the financial condition of such firms while such loans are outstanding. Securities loans will only be made when the investment adviser believes that the expected returns, net of expenses, justify the attendant risks. Securities loans currently are required to be secured continuously by collateral in cash, cash equivalents (such as money market instruments) or other liquid securities held by the custodian and maintained in an amount at least equal to the market value of the securities loaned. The Fund may engage in securities lending to generate income. Upon return of the loaned securities, the Fund would be required to return the related collateral to the borrower and may be required to liquidate portfolio securities in order to do so. The Fund may lend up to one-third of the value of its total assets or such other amount as may be permitted by law.
As with other extensions of credit, there are risks of delay in recovery or even loss of rights in the securities loaned if the borrower of the securities fails financially. To the extent that the portfolio securities acquired with such collateral have decreased in value, it may result in the Fund realizing a loss at a time when it would not otherwise do so. As such, securities lending may introduce leverage into the Fund. The Fund also may incur losses if the returns on securities that it acquires with cash collateral are less than the applicable rebate rates paid to borrowers and related administrative costs.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 12 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Counterparty Risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the Fund does business (such as trading or as a derivative counterparty), or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any instruments that the Fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial condition and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause the value of Fund shares to decline or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the Fund. Counterparty risk is increased for contracts with longer maturities.
Borrowing. The Fund is permitted to borrow for temporary purposes (such as to satisfy redemption requests, to remain fully invested in anticipation of expected cash inflows and to settle transactions). Any borrowings by the Fund are subject to the requirements of the 1940 Act. Borrowings are also subject to the terms of any credit agreement between the Fund and lender(s). Fund borrowings may be equal to as much as 33 1 / 3 % of the value of the Fund’s total assets (including such borrowings) less the Fund’s liabilities (other than borrowings). The Fund will not purchase additional investment securities while outstanding borrowings exceed 5% of the value of its total assets.
In addition, the Fund will be required to maintain a specified level of asset coverage with respect to all borrowings and may be required to sell some of its holdings to reduce debt and restore coverage at times when it may not be advantageous to do so. The rights of the lender to receive payments of interest and repayments of principal of any borrowings made by the Fund under a credit facility are senior to the rights of holders of shares with respect to the payment of dividends or upon liquidation. In the event of a default under a credit arrangement, the lenders may have the right to cause a liquidation of the collateral (i.e., sell Fund assets) and, if any such default is not cured, the lenders may be able to control the liquidation as well.
Cash and Money Market Instruments. The Fund may invest in cash or money market instruments, including high quality short-term instruments or an affiliated investment company that invests in such instruments. During unusual market conditions, the Fund may invest up to 100% of its assets in cash or money market instruments temporarily, which may be inconsistent with its investment objective(s) and other policies.
Money market instruments may be adversely affected by market and economic events, such as a sharp rise in prevailing short-term interest rates; adverse developments in the banking industry, which issues or guarantees many money market instruments; adverse economic, political or other developments affecting issuers of money market instruments; changes in the credit quality of issuers; and default by a counterparty.
Use of Master-Feeder Structure. The Fund invests substantially all of its assets in the Portfolio, which has substantially the same investment objective and policies as the Fund. Use of this investment structure, called “master-feeder,” enables the Fund to pool its assets with other investors with substantially the same investment objective and policies that also invest in the same Portfolio, resulting in efficiencies in management and administration that can lower Fund costs and enhance investor returns.
The Portfolio seeks to transact with its investors on a basis that protects the Portfolio (and, indirectly, other investors in the Portfolio) against the costs of accommodating investor inflows and outflows. The Portfolio does this by imposing a fee (“Portfolio Transaction Fee”) on inflows and outflows by Portfolio investors, sized to cover the estimated cost to the Portfolio of, in connection with issuing interests, converting the cash and/or other instruments it receives to the desired composition and, in connection with redeeming its interests, converting Portfolio holdings to cash and or/other instruments to be distributed. Portfolio Transaction Fees apply to all investors in the Portfolio in the same manner to avoid discrimination among Portfolio investors.
The amount of Portfolio Transaction Fees may vary over time, depending on estimated trading costs, processing costs and other considerations. The Portfolio generally imposes higher Portfolio Transaction Fees on cash transactions than on in-kind contributions and distributions. In all cases, the Portfolio Transaction Fee is limited to amounts that have been authorized by the Board of Trustees and determined by Eaton Vance to be appropriate. The maximum Portfolio Transaction Fee imposed is 2% of the amount of the contribution or withdrawal.
The ability of the Fund to meet its investment objective is directly related to the ability of the associated Portfolio to meet its objective. Other investors in the Portfolio may have different expense structures, pay different total amounts of Portfolio Transaction Fees and may be offered and sold on different terms than the Fund. As a result, the Fund’s performance may differ from that of other investors in the same Portfolio, including other Eaton Vance-sponsored funds. Contribution and withdrawal activities by other Portfolio investors may impact the management of the Portfolio and its ability to achieve its investment objective. A large withdrawal by one Portfolio investor could have an adverse effect on other Portfolio investors.
As a Portfolio investor, the Fund may be asked to vote on certain Portfolio matters (such as changes in certain Portfolio investment restrictions). When necessary, the Fund will hold a meeting of its shareholders to consider Portfolio matters and then vote its interest in the Portfolio in proportion to the votes cast by its shareholders. The Fund can withdraw its Portfolio investment at any time without shareholder approval.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 13 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Cybersecurity Risk. With the increased use of technologies by Fund service providers to conduct business, such as the Internet, the Fund is susceptible to operational, information security and related risks. In general, cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events. Cyber attacks include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems (e.g., through “hacking” or malicious software coding) for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. Cyber attacks may also be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access, such as causing denial-of-service attacks on websites (i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users). Cybersecurity failures or breaches by the Fund’s investment adviser or administrator and other service providers (including, but not limited to, the custodian or transfer agent), and the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations potentially resulting in financial losses, interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its net asset value, impediments to trading, the inability of Fund shareholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. While various Fund service providers have established business continuity plans and risk management systems intended to identify and mitigate cyber attacks, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems put in place by service providers to the Fund and issuers in which the Fund invests.
General. The Fund's 80% Policy will not be changed unless shareholders are given at least 60 days’ advance written notice of the change. Unless otherwise stated, the Fund's investment objective and certain other policies may be changed without shareholder approval. Shareholders will receive 60 days' advance written notice of any material change in the investment objective. The Fund might not use all of the strategies and techniques or invest in all of the types of securities described in this Prospectus or the SAI. While at times the Fund may use alternative investment strategies in an effort to limit its losses, it may choose not to do so.
The Fund’s annual operating expenses are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets and may change as Fund assets increase and decrease over time. Purchase and redemption activities by Fund shareholders may impact the management of the Fund and its ability to achieve its investment objective. In addition, the redemption by one or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders of their holdings in the Fund could have an adverse impact on the remaining shareholders in the Fund. Mutual funds, investment advisers, other market participants and many securities markets are subject to rules and regulations and the jurisdiction of one or more regulators. Changes to applicable rules and regulations could have an adverse effect on securities markets and market participants, as well as on the Fund’s ability to execute its investment strategy. With the increased use of technologies by Fund service providers, such as the Internet, to conduct business, the Fund is susceptible to operational, information security and related risks.
Management and Organization
Management. The Portfolio’s investment adviser is Boston Management and Research (“BMR”), an indirect subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp. (“EVC”). Eaton Vance Management (“Eaton Vance”) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EVC. BMR and Eaton Vance have offices at Two International Place, Boston, MA 02110. Eaton Vance and its predecessor organizations have been managing assets since 1924 and managing mutual funds since 1931. Eaton Vance and its affiliates currently manage over $455 billion on behalf of mutual funds, institutional clients and individuals. The investment adviser manages investments pursuant to an investment advisory agreement. The Fund is allocated its pro rata share of the advisory fee paid by the Portfolio.
The Fund’s semiannual report covering the fiscal period ended June 30 provides information regarding the basis for the Trustees’ approval of the investment advisory agreement.
Under its investment advisory agreement with the Portfolio, BMR receives a monthly advisory fee as follows:
Average Daily Net Assets for the Month |
Annual Fee Rate
(for each level)* |
Up to $500 million | 0.600% |
$500 million but less than $1 billion | 0.575% |
$1 billion but less than $2.5 billion | 0.550% |
$2.5 billion but less than $5 billion | 0.530% |
$5 billion and over | 0.515% |
* | Pursuant to a fee reduction agreement effective January 1, 2016. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 14 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Prior to January 1, 2016, BMR received a monthly advisory fee as follows:
Average Daily Net Assets for the Month |
Annual Fee Rate
(for each level) |
Up to $500 million | 0.650% |
$500 million but less than $1 billion | 0.625% |
$1 billion but less than $2.5 billion | 0.600% |
$2.5 billion and over | 0.575% |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the effective annual rate of advisory fee paid to BMR, based on average daily net assets of the Portfolio, was 0.60%.
Mr. Gaffney has served as the portfolio manager of the Portfolio and its predecessor fund since November 2007. He is a Vice President of Eaton Vance and BMR and has managed other Eaton Vance portfolios for more than five years.
The Statement of Additional Information provides additional information about the portfolio manager’s compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio manager, and the portfolio manager’s ownership of Fund shares with respect to which that portfolio manager has management responsibilities.
Eaton Vance serves as the administrator of the Fund, providing the Fund with administrative services and related office facilities. Eaton Vance receives no compensation for serving as the administrator of the Fund.
Eaton Vance provides sub-transfer agency and related services to Eaton Vance mutual funds pursuant to a Sub-Transfer Agency Support Services Agreement. For its services under the agreement, Eaton Vance receives an aggregate fee from such funds equal to its actual expenses incurred in performing such services.
Organization. The Fund is a series of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, a Massachusetts business trust. The Fund offers multiple classes of shares. Each Class represents a pro rata interest in the Fund but is subject to different expenses and rights. The Fund does not hold annual shareholder meetings but may hold special meetings for matters that require shareholder approval (such as electing or removing trustees, approving management or advisory contracts or changing investment policies that may only be changed with shareholder approval).
Valuing Shares
The Fund values its shares once each day only when the New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) is open for trading (typically Monday through Friday), as of the close of regular trading on the Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m. eastern time). If trading on the Exchange is halted for the day before the scheduled close of regular trading the Fund’s net asset value per share generally will still be calculated as of the scheduled close of regular trading on the Exchange. The purchase price of Fund shares is their net asset value (plus any applicable sales charge), which is derived from the value of Fund holdings, including the Fund’s interest in any Portfolio, as applicable. When purchasing or redeeming Fund shares through a financial intermediary, your financial intermediary must receive your order by the close of regular trading on the Exchange in order for the purchase price or the redemption price to be based on that day’s net asset value per share. It is the financial intermediary’s responsibility to transmit orders promptly. The Fund may accept purchase and redemption orders as of the time of their receipt by certain financial intermediaries (or their designated intermediaries).
The Board has adopted procedures for valuing investments (the “Procedures”) and has delegated to the investment adviser(s) the daily valuation of such investments. Pursuant to the Procedures, securities and other investments held by the Fund are generally valued at market value. Exchange-listed investments (including certain derivatives) are normally valued at last sale or closing prices. Exchange-traded options are valued at the mean of the bid and asked prices at valuation time as reported by the Options Price Reporting Authority for U.S. listed options, or by the relevant exchange or board of trade for non-U.S. listed options. Non-exchange traded derivatives are normally valued on the basis of quotes obtained from brokers and dealers or independent pricing services. Most loans and other debt obligations are valued using prices supplied by one or more pricing services.
An instrument’s “fair value” is the amount that the owner might reasonably expect to receive for the instrument upon its current sale in the ordinary course of business. Under certain limited circumstances, the Fund may use fair value pricing if, for example, market prices or a pricing service's prices (as applicable) are unavailable or deemed unreliable, or if events occur after the close of a securities market (usually a foreign market) and before portfolio assets are valued that cause or are likely to cause a market quotation to be unavailable or unreliable, such as corporate actions, regulatory news, or natural disasters or governmental actions that may affect investments in a particular sector, country or region. In addition, for foreign equity securities and total return swaps and futures contracts on foreign indices that meet certain criteria, the Board has approved the use of a fair value service that values such investments to reflect market trading
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 15 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
that occurs after the close of the applicable foreign markets of comparable securities or other investments that have a strong correlation to the fair valued investments. An investment that is fair valued may be valued at a price higher or lower than (i) actual market quotations, (ii) the value determined by other funds using their own fair valuation procedures, or (iii) the price at which the investment could have been sold during the period in which fair valuation was used with respect to such investment to calculate the Fund’s NAV. Because foreign investments held by the Fund, if any, may trade on days when Fund shares are not priced, the value of such investments, and thus the net asset value of the Fund’s shares, can change on days when Fund shares cannot be redeemed or purchased. Eaton Vance has established a Valuation Committee that oversees the valuation of investments.
Purchasing Shares
Set forth below is information about the manner in which the Fund offers shares. A financial intermediary may offer Fund shares subject to variations in or elimination of the Fund sales charges (“variations”), provided such variations are described in this Prospectus. All variations described in Appendix A are applied by, and the responsibility of, the identified financial intermediary. Sales charge variations may apply to purchases, sales, exchanges and reinvestments of Fund shares and a shareholder transacting in Fund shares through an intermediary identified on Appendix A should read the terms and conditions of Appendix A carefully. See also “Shareholder Account Features – ‘Street Name’ Accounts.” For the variations applicable to shares offered through certain financial intermediaries, please see Appendix A – Financial Intermediary Sales Charge Variations. A variation that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not applicable to shares held directly with the Fund or through another intermediary.
You may purchase shares through your financial intermediary or by mailing an account application form to the transfer agent (see back cover for address). Purchase orders will be executed at the net asset value (plus any applicable sales charge) next determined after their receipt in proper form (meaning that the order is complete and contains all necessary information) by the Fund’s transfer agent. The Fund’s transfer agent or your financial intermediary must receive your purchase in proper form no later than the close of regular trading on the Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m. eastern time) for your purchase to be effected at that day’s net asset value. If you purchase shares through a financial intermediary, that intermediary may charge you a fee for executing the purchase for you.
The Fund may suspend the sale of its shares at any time and any purchase order may be refused for any reason. The funds sponsored by the Eaton Vance organization (the “Eaton Vance funds”) generally do not accept investments from residents of the European Union or Switzerland. The funds also do not accept investments from other non-U.S. residents, provided that a fund may accept investments from certain non-U.S. investors at the discretion of the principal underwriter. The Fund does not issue share certificates.
As used throughout this Prospectus, the term “employer sponsored retirement plan” includes the following: an employer sponsored pension or profit sharing plan that qualifies under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (such as a 401(k) plan, money purchase pension, profit sharing and defined benefit plan); ERISA covered 403(b) plan; Taft-Hartley multi-employer plan; and non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements that operate in a similar manner to a qualified retirement plan (including 457 plans and executive deferred compensation arrangements). Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”) are not employer sponsored retirement plans for purposes of this definition.
Class A and Class C Shares
Your initial investment must be at least $1,000. After your initial investment, additional investments may be made in any amount at any time by sending a check payable to the order of the Fund or the transfer agent directly to the transfer agent (see back cover for address). Please include your name and account number and the name of the Fund and Class of shares with each investment. The Fund no longer accepts direct purchases of Class C shares by accounts for which no broker-dealer or other financial intermediary is specified. Any direct purchase received by the Fund's transfer agent for Class C shares for such accounts will automatically be invested in Class A shares.
The minimum initial investment amount and Fund policy of redeeming accounts with low account balances are waived for bank automated investing accounts, certain group purchase plans (including employer sponsored retirement plans and proprietary fee-based programs sponsored by financial intermediaries) and for persons affiliated with Eaton Vance, its affiliates and certain Fund service providers (as described in the SAI).
Class I Shares
Your initial investment must be at least $250,000, except as noted below. Class I shares are offered to clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge such clients an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Class I shares through a no-load network or platform. Such clients may include individuals, corporations, endowments, foundations and employer sponsored retirement plans. Class I shares may also be available through brokerage platforms of broker-dealer firms that have agreements with the Fund’s principal underwriter to offer Class I shares solely when acting as an agent for the investor. An investor acquiring Class I shares through such platforms may be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker. The Fund offers other share classes that have different fees and expenses. Class I shares also are offered to investment and institutional clients of Eaton Vance and its affiliates and certain persons affiliated with Eaton Vance.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 16 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
The Class I minimum initial investment is waived for persons affiliated with Eaton Vance, its affiliates and certain Fund service providers (as described in the SAI). The minimum initial investment also is waived for: (i) permitted exchanges; (ii) employer sponsored retirement plans; (iii) corporations, endowments and foundations with assets of at least $100 million; (iv) Class I shares purchased through the brokerage platforms described above; and (v) accounts of clients of financial intermediaries who (a) charge an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (b) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Class I shares through a no-load network or platform (in each case, as described above), provided the total value of such accounts invested in Class I shares of Eaton Vance funds is at least $250,000 (or is anticipated by the principal underwriter to reach $250,000).
Class I shares may be purchased through a financial intermediary or by requesting your bank to transmit immediately available funds (Federal Funds) by wire. To make an initial investment by wire, you must complete an account application and telephone Eaton Vance Shareholder Services at 1-800-262-1122 to be assigned an account number. You may request an account application by calling 1-800-262-1122 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time). Shareholder Services must be advised by telephone of each additional investment by wire.
Subsequent Investments. Subsequent investments of any amount may be made at any time, including through automatic investment each month or quarter from your bank account. You may make automatic investments of $50 or more each month or each quarter from your bank account provided such investments equal a minimum of $200 per year. You can establish bank automated investing on the account application or by providing written instructions to the Fund’s transfer agent. Please call 1-800-262-1122 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time) for further information.
You also may make additional investments by accessing your account via the Eaton Vance website at www.eatonvance.com. The trade date of purchases made through the Internet from a pre-designated bank account will be the day the purchase is requested through the Eaton Vance website (provided the request is on a business day and submitted no later than the close of regular trading on the Exchange). For more information about purchasing shares through the Internet, please call 1-800-262-1122 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time).
Inactive Accounts. In accordance with state “unclaimed property” (also known as “escheatment”) laws, your Fund shares may legally be considered abandoned and required to be transferred to the relevant state if no account activity or contact with the Fund or your financial intermediary occurs within a specified period of time. Please initiate contact a least once per calendar year and maintain a current and valid mailing address on record for your account. For more information, please see https://funds.eatonvance.com/mutual-funds-and-abandoned-property.php or please contact us at 1-800-262-1122.
Restrictions on Excessive Trading and Market Timing. The Fund is not intended for excessive trading or market timing. Market timers seek to profit by rapidly switching money into a fund when they expect the share price of the fund to rise and taking money out of the fund when they expect those prices to fall. By realizing profits through short-term trading, shareholders that engage in rapid purchases and sales (including exchanges, if permitted) of a fund’s shares may dilute the value of shares held by long-term shareholders. Volatility resulting from excessive purchases and sales of fund shares, especially involving large dollar amounts, may disrupt efficient portfolio management. In particular, excessive purchases and sales of a fund’s shares may cause a fund to have difficulty implementing its investment strategies, may force the fund to sell portfolio securities at inopportune times to raise cash or may cause increased expenses (such as increased brokerage costs, realization of taxable capital gains without attaining any investment advantage or increased administrative costs).
A fund that invests all or a portion of its assets in foreign securities may be susceptible to a time zone arbitrage strategy in which shareholders attempt to take advantage of fund share prices that may not reflect developments in a foreign securities market that occur after the close of such market but prior to the pricing of fund shares. In addition, a fund that invests in securities that are, among other things, thinly traded, traded infrequently or illiquid, is susceptible to the risk that the current market price for such securities may not accurately reflect current market values. A shareholder may seek to engage in short-term trading to take advantage of these pricing differences (commonly referred to as “price arbitrage”). The investment adviser is authorized to use the fair value of a security if prices are unavailable or are deemed unreliable (see “Valuing Shares”). The use of fair value pricing and the restrictions on excessive trading and market timing described below are intended to reduce a shareholder’s ability to engage in price or time zone arbitrage to the detriment of the Fund.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 17 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
The Boards of the Eaton Vance funds have adopted policies to discourage short-term trading and market timing and to seek to minimize their potentially detrimental effects. Pursuant to these policies, an Eaton Vance fund shareholder who, through one or more accounts, completes two round-trips within 90 days generally will be deemed to be market timing or trading excessively in fund shares. “Two round-trips within 90 days” means either (1) a purchase of fund shares followed by a redemption of fund shares followed by a purchase followed by a redemption or (2) a redemption of fund shares followed by a purchase of fund shares followed by a redemption followed by a purchase, in either case with the final transaction in the sequence occurring within 90 days of the initial transaction in the sequence. Purchases and redemptions subject to the limitation include those made by exchanging to or from another fund. Under the policies, the Board may delegate to the Fund, or to its principal underwriter, sub-transfer agent or other service provider (each, a “delegate”) the responsibility to reject or cancel a purchase order, suspend or terminate an exchange privilege or terminate the ability of an investor to invest in the Eaton Vance funds if the Fund or its delegate determines that a proposed transaction involves market timing or excessive trading that it believes is likely to be detrimental to the Fund. The Fund and its delegate use reasonable efforts to detect market timing and excessive trading activity, but they cannot ensure that they will be able to identify all cases of market timing and excessive trading. The Fund or its delegate may also reject or cancel any purchase order (including an exchange) from an investor or group of investors for any other reason. Decisions to reject or cancel purchase orders (including exchanges) in the Fund are inherently subjective and will be made in a manner believed to be in the best interest of the Fund’s shareholders. No Eaton Vance fund has any arrangement to permit market timing.
The following fund share transactions (to the extent permitted by a fund’s prospectus) generally are exempt from the market timing and excessive trading policy described above because they generally do not raise market timing or excessive trading concerns:
· | transactions made pursuant to a systematic purchase plan or as the result of automatic reinvestment of dividends or distributions, or initiated by the Fund (e.g., for failure to meet applicable account minimums); |
· | transactions made by participants in employer sponsored retirement plans involving participant payroll or employer contributions or loan repayments, redemptions as part of plan terminations or at the direction of the plan, mandatory retirement distributions, or rollovers; |
· | model-based transactions made in model-based discretionary advisory accounts; or |
· | transactions made by an Eaton Vance fund that is structured as a “fund-of-funds,” provided the transactions are in response to fund inflows and outflows or are part of a reallocation of fund assets in accordance with its investment policies. |
It may be difficult for the Fund or its delegate to identify market timing or excessive trading in omnibus accounts traded through financial intermediaries. The Fund and its delegate have provided guidance to financial intermediaries (such as banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and retirement administrators) concerning the application of the Eaton Vance funds’ market timing and excessive trading policies to Fund shares held in omnibus accounts maintained and administered by such intermediaries, including guidance concerning situations where market timing or excessive trading is considered to be detrimental to the Fund. The Fund or its delegate may rely on a financial intermediary’s policy to restrict market timing and excessive trading if it believes that policy is likely to prevent market timing that is likely to be detrimental to the Fund. Such policy may be more or less restrictive than the Fund’s policy. Although the Fund or its delegate reviews trading activity at the omnibus account level for activity that indicates potential market timing or excessive trading activity, the Fund and its delegate typically will not request or receive individual account data unless suspicious trading activity is identified. The Fund and its delegate generally rely on financial intermediaries to monitor trading activity in omnibus accounts in good faith in accordance with their own or Fund policies. The Fund and its delegate cannot ensure that these financial intermediaries will in all cases apply the policies of the Fund or their own policies, as the case may be, to accounts under their control.
Choosing a Share Class. The Fund offers different classes of shares. The different classes of shares represent investments in the same portfolio of securities, but the classes are subject to different expenses and privileges, and will likely have different share prices due to differences in class expenses. A share class also may be subject to a sales charge. In choosing the class of shares that suits your investment needs, you should consider:
· | how long you expect to own your shares; |
· | how much you intend to invest; and |
· | the total operating expenses associated with owning each class. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 18 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Each investor’s considerations are different. You should speak with your financial intermediary to help you decide which class of shares to purchase. Set forth below is a brief description of each class of shares offered by the Fund.
Class A shares are offered at net asset value plus a front-end sales charge of up to 5.75%. This charge is deducted from the amount you invest. The Class A sales charge is reduced for purchases of $50,000 or more. The sales charge applicable to your purchase may be reduced under the right of accumulation or a statement of intention, which are described in “Reducing or Eliminating Class A Sales Charges” under “Sales Charges” below. Some investors may be eligible to purchase Class A shares at net asset value under certain circumstances, which are also described below. Class A shares pay distribution and service fees equal to 0.25% annually of average daily net assets.
Class C shares are offered through financial intermediaries at net asset value with no front-end sales charge. If you sell your Class C shares within one year of purchase, you generally will be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge or “CDSC.” The CDSC is deducted from your redemption proceeds. Under certain circumstances, the CDSC for Class C may be waived (such as certain redemptions from employer sponsored retirement plans). See “CDSC Waivers” under “Sales Charges” below. Class C shares pay distribution and service fees equal to 1.00% annually of average daily net assets. Orders for Class C shares of one or more Eaton Vance funds will be refused when the total value of the purchase (including the aggregate market value of all Eaton Vance fund shares held within the purchasing shareholder’s account(s)) is $1 million or more. Investors considering cumulative purchases of $1 million or more should consider whether another Class of shares would be more appropriate and consult their financial intermediary. The Fund no longer accepts direct purchases of Class C shares by accounts for which no broker-dealer or other financial intermediary is specified. Any direct purchase received by the Fund’s transfer agent for Class C shares for such accounts will automatically be invested in Class A shares. In addition, Class C shares held in an account for which no financial intermediary is specified and which are not subject to a CDSC will periodically be converted to Class A shares.
Class I shares are offered to clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge such clients an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Class I shares through a no-load network or platform. Such clients may include individuals, corporations, endowments, foundations and employer sponsored retirement plans. Class I shares may also be available through brokerage platforms of broker-dealer firms that have agreements with the Fund’s principal underwriter to offer Class I shares solely when acting as an agent for the investor. An investor acquiring Class I shares through such platforms may be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker. Class I shares are also offered to investment and institutional clients of Eaton Vance and its affiliates, and certain persons affiliated with Eaton Vance (including employees, officers and directors of Eaton Vance’s affiliates). Class I shares do not pay distribution or service fees.
Payments to Financial Intermediaries. In addition to payments disclosed under “Sales Charges” below, the principal underwriter, out of its own resources, may make cash payments to certain financial intermediaries who provide marketing support, transaction processing and/or administrative services and, in some cases, include some or all Eaton Vance funds in preferred or specialized selling programs. Payments made by the principal underwriter to a financial intermediary may be significant and are typically in the form of fees based on Fund sales, assets, transactions processed and/or accounts attributable to that financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries also may receive amounts from the principal underwriter in connection with educational or due diligence meetings that include information concerning Eaton Vance funds. The principal underwriter may pay or allow other promotional incentives or payments to financial intermediaries to the extent permitted by applicable laws and regulations.
Certain financial intermediaries that maintain fund accounts for the benefit of their customers provide sub-accounting, recordkeeping and/or administrative services to the Eaton Vance funds and are compensated for such services by the funds. As used in this Prospectus, the term “financial intermediary” includes any broker, dealer, bank (including bank trust departments), registered investment adviser, financial planner, a retirement plan and/or its administrator, their designated intermediaries and any other firm having a selling, administration or similar agreement with the principal underwriter or its affiliates.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 19 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Sales Charges
Class A Front-End Sales Charge. Class A shares are offered at net asset value per share plus a sales charge that is determined by the amount of your investment. The current sales charge schedule is:
Amount of Purchase |
Sales Charge
*
as a Percentage of Offering Price |
Sales Charge
*
as a Percentage of Net Amount Invested |
Dealer Commission
as a Percentage of Offering Price |
Less than $50,000 | 5.75% | 6.10% | 5.00% |
$50,000 but less than $100,000 | 4.75% | 4.99% | 4.00% |
$100,000 but less than $250,000 | 3.75% | 3.90% | 3.00% |
$250,000 but less than $500,000 | 3.00% | 3.09% | 2.50% |
$500,000 but less than $1,000,000 | 2.00% | 2.04% | 1.75% |
$1,000,000 but less than $3,000,000 | 0.00** | 0.00** | TIERED** |
$3,000,000 or more | 0.00** | 0.00** | TIERED** |
* | Because the offering price per share is rounded to two decimal places, the actual sales charge you pay on a purchase of Class A shares may be more or less than your total purchase amount multiplied by the applicable sales charge percentage. |
** | No sales charge is payable at the time of purchase on investments of $1 million or more. The principal underwriter will pay a commission to financial intermediaries on sales of $1 million or more as follows: 1.00% on amounts of $1 million or more but less than $3 million; plus 0.75% on amounts of $3 million or more. A CDSC of 1.00% will be imposed on such investments (as described below) in the event of redemptions within 18 months of purchase. |
Reducing or Eliminating Class A Sales Charges. Front-end sales charges on purchases of Class A shares may be reduced under the right of accumulation or under a statement of intention. To receive a reduced sales charge, you must inform your financial intermediary or the Fund at the time you purchase shares that you qualify for such a reduction. If you do not let your financial intermediary or the Fund know you are eligible for a reduced sales charge at the time of purchase, you will not receive the discount to which you may otherwise be entitled.
Right of Accumulation. Under the right of accumulation, the sales charge you pay is reduced if the current market value of your holdings in the Fund or any other Eaton Vance fund (based on the current maximum public offering price) plus your new purchase total $50,000 or more. Shares owned by you, your spouse and children under age twenty-one may be combined for purposes of the right of accumulation, including shares held for the benefit of any of you in omnibus or “street name” accounts. In addition, shares held in a trust or fiduciary account of which any of the foregoing persons is the sole beneficiary (including employer sponsored retirement plans and IRAs) may be combined for purposes of the right of accumulation. Shares purchased and/or owned in a SEP, SARSEP and SIMPLE IRA plan may be combined for purposes of the right of accumulation for the plan and its participants. You may be required to provide documentation to establish your ownership of shares included under the right of accumulation (such as account statements for you, your spouse and children or marriage certificates, birth certificates and/or trust or other fiduciary-related documents).
Statement of Intention. Under a statement of intention, purchases of $50,000 or more made over a 13-month period are eligible for reduced sales charges. Shares eligible under the right of accumulation (other than those included in employer sponsored retirement plans) may be included to satisfy the amount to be purchased under a statement of intention. Under a statement of intention, the principal underwriter may hold 5% of the dollar amount to be purchased in escrow in the form of shares registered in your name until you satisfy the statement or the 13-month period expires. A statement of intention does not obligate you to purchase (or the Fund to sell) the full amount indicated in the statement. If during the 13-month period you redeem any of the shares that you purchased pursuant to the statement of intention, the value of the redeemed shares will not be included for purposes of satisfying your statement of intention. For additional information about statements of intention, see “Sales Charges” in the SAI.
Class A shares are offered at net asset value (without a sales charge) to accounts of clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Class A shares through a no-load network or platform, or self-directed brokerage accounts that may or may not charge transaction fees to customers; or (iii) employer sponsored retirement plans. Class A shares also are offered at net asset value to investment and institutional clients of Eaton Vance and its affiliates; certain persons affiliated with Eaton Vance; direct purchases of shares by accounts where no financial intermediary is specified; and to certain fund service providers as described in the SAI. Class A shares are also offered at net asset value to shareholders who make a permitted direct transfer or roll-over to an Eaton Vance prototype IRA from an employer-sponsored retirement plan previously invested in Eaton Vance funds (applicable only to the portion
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 20 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
previously invested in Eaton Vance funds), provided that sufficient documentation is provided to the transfer agent of such transfer or roll-over at the time of the account opening. Class A shares may also be purchased at net asset value pursuant to the exchange privilege and when distributions are reinvested. A financial intermediary may not, in accordance with its policies and procedures, offer one or more of the waiver categories described above and shareholders should consult their financial intermediary for more information. The Fund may eliminate, modify or add to the terms of these sales charge waivers at any time without providing notice to shareholders.
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge. Class A and Class C shares are subject to a CDSC on certain redemptions. The CDSC generally is paid to the principal underwriter. Class A shares purchased at net asset value in amounts of $1 million or more are subject to a 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within 18 months of purchase. Class C shares are subject to a 1.00% CDSC if redeemed within one year of purchase. CDSCs are based on the lower of the net asset value at the time of purchase or at the time of redemption. Shares acquired through the reinvestment of distributions are exempt from the CDSC. Redemptions are made first from shares that are not subject to a CDSC.
The sales commission payable to financial intermediaries in connection with sales of Class C shares is described under “Distribution and Service Fees” below.
CDSC Waivers. CDSCs are waived for certain redemptions pursuant to a Withdrawal Plan (see “Shareholder Account Features”) and in connection with certain redemptions from employer sponsored retirement plans or IRAs to satisfy required minimum distributions or to return excess contributions made to IRAs, if applicable. The CDSC is also waived following the death of a beneficial owner of shares (a death certificate and other applicable documents may be required). In addition, redemptions of Class C shares by certain employer sponsored retirement plans are not subject to a CDSC if the principal underwriter did not compensate such plans' financial intermediary at the time of sale as described under “Distribution and Service Fees.”
Conversion Feature. Effective January 25, 2019 (the “Effective Date”), Class C shares of the Fund will convert automatically to Class A shares of the Fund during the month following the ten year anniversary of the purchase of such Class C shares. If a financial intermediary that maintains a Class C shareholder’s account has not tracked the holding period for Class C shares, Class C shares held as of the Effective Date will automatically convert to Class A shares 10 years after the Effective Date. In addition, Class C shares held in an account with the Fund’s transfer agent for which no financial intermediary is specified and that are not subject to a CDSC will be converted to Class A shares of the Fund periodically.
In some circumstances, the Board may determine to cease to offer and subsequently close an existing class of Fund shares. In such circumstances, the Fund may automatically convert the shares for such class into another share class, subject to prior notice to shareholders of the impacted class. Any such conversion will occur at the respective net asset value of each class as of the conversion date without the imposition of any fee or other charges by the Fund.
Distribution and Service Fees. Class A and Class C shares have in effect plans under Rule 12b-1 that allow the Fund to pay distribution fees for the sale and distribution of shares and service fees for personal and/or shareholder account services (so-called “12b-1 fees”). Class C shares pay distribution fees to the principal underwriter of 0.75% of average daily net assets annually. Because these fees are paid from Fund assets on an ongoing basis, they will increase your cost over time and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. The principal underwriter generally compensates financial intermediaries on sales of Class C shares (except exchange transactions and reinvestments) in an amount equal to 1% of the purchase price of the shares. After the first year, such financial intermediaries also receive 0.75% of the value of outstanding Class C shares sold by such financial intermediaries in annual distribution fees. With respect to purchases of Class C shares by certain employer sponsored retirement plans, the principal underwriter does not compensate the financial intermediary at the time of sale. In such cases, the financial intermediary receives 0.75% of the value of outstanding Class C shares sold by such financial intermediary in annual distribution fees immediately after the sale. Class C shares also pay service fees to the principal underwriter equal to 0.25% of average daily net assets annually. Class A shares pay distribution and service fees equal to 0.25% of average daily net assets annually. After the sale of shares, the principal underwriter generally receives the Class A distribution and service fees and the Class C service fees for one year. Thereafter financial intermediaries generally receive from the principal underwriter 0.25% annually of average daily net assets based on the value of outstanding shares sold by such financial intermediaries for personal services and maintenance of shareholder accounts performed by such intermediaries. With respect to purchases of Class A and Class C shares by certain employer sponsored retirement plans, the financial intermediary receives the above described distribution and service fees or service fees, as applicable, from the principal underwriter immediately after the sale. Distribution and service fees are subject to the limitations contained in the sales charge rule of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.
More information about Fund sales charges is available free of charge on the Eaton Vance website at www.eatonvance.com and in the SAI. Please consult the Eaton Vance website for any updates to Fund sales charge information before making a purchase of Fund shares. Please consult your financial intermediary with respect to any sales charge variations listed on Appendix A.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 21 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Redeeming Shares
You can redeem shares in any of the following ways:
By Mail | Send your request to the transfer agent (see back cover for address). The request must be signed exactly as your account is registered (for instance, a joint account must be signed by all registered owners to be accepted) and a Medallion signature guarantee may be required. Circumstances that may require a Medallion signature guarantee include, but are not limited to, requests to distribute redemption proceeds to a party other than the registered account owner(s); requests to mail redemption proceeds to an address other than the address of record; requests to distribute proceeds to a bank account not on file; requests to re-issue uncashed checks representing redemption proceeds; or transaction requests from an account beneficiary when an account owner is deceased. You can obtain a Medallion signature guarantee at banks, savings and loan institutions, credit unions, securities dealers, securities exchanges, clearing agencies and registered securities associations that participate in The Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program, Inc. (STAMP, Inc.). Only Medallion signature guarantees issued in accordance with STAMP, Inc. will be accepted. You may be asked to provide additional documents if your shares are registered in the name of a corporation, partnership or fiduciary. |
By Telephone | Certain shareholders can redeem by calling 1-800-262-1122 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time). Proceeds of a telephone redemption are generally limited to $100,000 per account (which may include shares of one or more Eaton Vance funds) and can be sent only to the account address or to a bank pursuant to prior instructions. |
By Internet | Certain shareholders can redeem by logging on to the Eaton Vance website at www.eatonvance.com. Proceeds of internet redemptions are generally limited to $100,000 per account (which may include shares of one or more Eaton Vance funds) and can be sent only to the account address or to a bank pursuant to prior instructions. |
For Additional Information | Please call 1-800-262-1122 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time). |
Through a Financial Intermediary | Your financial intermediary is responsible for transmitting the order promptly. A financial intermediary may charge a fee for this service. |
A redemption may be requested by sending a Medallion signature guaranteed letter of instruction to the transfer agent (see back cover for address) or, for telephone redemptions as described above, by calling 1-800-262-1122. Certain redemption requests, including those involving shares held by certain corporations, trusts or certain other entities and shares that are subject to certain fiduciary arrangements, may require additional documentation and may be redeemed only by mail. The Fund's transfer agent or your financial intermediary must receive your redemption in proper form (meaning that it is complete and contains all necessary information) no later than the close of regular trading on the Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m. eastern time) for your redemption to be effected at that day’s net asset value. Redemption proceeds are reduced by the amount of any applicable CDSC and any federal income and state tax required to be withheld.
Redemption proceeds typically are paid to the redeeming shareholder in cash up to two business days after the redemption, but payment could take up to seven days, as permitted by the 1940 Act for the reasons discussed below. The actual number of days following receipt of a redemption request in which the Fund typically expects to pay redemption proceeds generally will depend on how you hold your shares with the Fund.
If your shares are held in a “street name” account with a financial intermediary (see “Shareholder Account Features – ‘Street Name’ Accounts”), your intermediary will elect through National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) to settle redemptions either one business day or two business days after the redemption date and redemption proceeds normally will be wired to your financial intermediary on the settlement date pursuant to that election.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 22 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
If your shares are held directly with the Fund's transfer agent, redemptions normally will be settled in one business day after the redemption date and redemption proceeds will be sent by regular mail on such date. However, if you have given proper written authorization in advance, you may request that redemption proceeds be wired on the settlement date directly to your bank account in any bank in the United States. While not currently charged by the Fund, you may be required to pay a wire transfer fee by your bank. If you request expedited mail delivery of your redemption proceeds and the Fund is able to accommodate your request, charges may apply. You may redeem all or a portion of the shares from your account on any day the Fund is open for business, provided the amount requested is not on hold or held in escrow pursuant to a statement of intention. When you purchase by check or with ACH funds transfer, the purchase will be on hold for up to 10 days from the date of receipt. During the hold period, redemption proceeds will not be sent until the transfer agent is reasonably satisfied that the purchase payment has been collected.
The Fund typically expects to meet redemption requests by (i) distributing any cash holdings, (ii) selling portfolio investments and/or (iii) borrowing from a bank under a line of credit. In addition to the foregoing, the Fund also may distribute securities as payment (a so-called “redemption in-kind”), in which case the redeeming shareholder may pay fees and commissions to convert the securities to cash. Unless requested by a shareholder, the Fund generally expects to limit use of redemption in-kind to stressed market conditions, but is permitted to do so in other circumstances. A shareholder who wishes to receive redemption proceeds in-kind must notify the Fund on or before submitting the redemption request by calling 1-800-262-1122. Securities distributed in a redemption in-kind would be valued pursuant to the Fund’s valuation procedures and selected by the investment adviser. If a shareholder receives securities in a redemption in-kind, the shareholder could incur brokerage or other charges in converting the securities to cash and the value of such securities would be subject to price fluctuations until sold. There can be no assurance that the Fund will manage liquidity successfully in all market environments. As a result, the Fund may not be able to pay redemption proceeds in a timely fashion because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests or other factors. Additional information about redemptions in-kind, including the procedures for submitting such redemption requests, is contained in the Fund’s SAI.
If your account value falls below $750, you may be asked either to add to your account or redeem it within 60 days. If you take no action, your account will be redeemed at net asset value and the proceeds sent to you.
Shareholder Account Features
Distributions. You may have your Fund distributions paid in one of the following ways:
• Full Reinvest Option | Distributions are reinvested in additional shares. This option will be assigned if you do not specify an option. |
• Partial Reinvest Option | Dividends are paid in cash* and capital gains are reinvested in additional shares. |
• Cash Option | Distributions are paid in cash.* |
• Exchange Option | Distributions are reinvested in additional shares of any class of another Eaton Vance fund chosen by you, subject to the terms of that fund’s prospectus. Before selecting this option, you must obtain a prospectus of the other fund and consider its objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully. |
* | If any distribution check remains uncashed for six months, Eaton Vance reserves the right to invest the amount represented by the check in Fund shares at the then-current net asset value of the Fund and all future distributions will be reinvested. |
Information about the Fund. From time to time, you may receive the following:
· | Semiannual and annual reports containing a list of portfolio holdings as of the end of the second and fourth fiscal quarters, respectively, performance information and financial statements. |
· | Periodic account statements, showing recent activity and total share balance. |
· | Tax information needed to prepare your income tax returns. |
· | Proxy materials, in the event a shareholder vote is required. |
· | Special notices about significant events affecting your Fund. |
Most fund information (including semiannual and annual reports, prospectuses and proxy statements) as well as your periodic account statements can be delivered electronically. For more information please go to www.eatonvance.com/edelivery.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 23 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
The Eaton Vance funds have established policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of portfolio holdings and other information concerning Fund characteristics. A description of these policies and procedures is provided below and additionally in the SAI. Such policies and procedures regarding disclosure of portfolio holdings are designed to prevent the misuse of material, non-public information about the funds.
The Fund will file with the SEC a list of its portfolio holdings as of the end of the first and third fiscal quarters on Part F to the Fund’s Form N-PORT. The Fund’s annual and semiannual reports (as filed on Form N-CSR) and each Form N-PORT may be viewed on the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov). The most recent fiscal quarter-end holdings may also be viewed on the Eaton Vance website (www.eatonvance.com). Portfolio holdings information that is filed with the SEC is posted on the Eaton Vance website approximately 60 days after the end of the quarter to which it relates. Portfolio holdings information as of each month end is posted to the website approximately one month after such month end. The Fund also posts information about certain portfolio characteristics (such as top ten holdings and asset allocation) at least quarterly on the Eaton Vance website approximately ten business days after the period and the Fund may also post performance attribution as of a month end or more frequently if deemed appropriate.
Withdrawal Plan. You may redeem shares on a regular periodic basis by establishing a systematic withdrawal plan. Withdrawals will not be subject to any applicable CDSC if they are, in the aggregate, less than or equal to 12% annually of the greater of either the initial account balance or the current account balance. Because purchases of Class A shares are generally subject to an initial sales charge, Class A shareholders should not make withdrawals from their accounts while also making purchases.
Exchange Privilege. Each class of Fund shares may be exchanged for shares of the same Class of another Eaton Vance fund. For purposes of exchanges among Eaton Vance funds, Class A and Class I shares are deemed to be the same as Investor Class and Institutional Class shares, respectively, of other Eaton Vance funds. Exchanges are made at net asset value. If your shares are subject to a CDSC, the CDSC will continue to apply to your new shares at the same CDSC rate. For purposes of the CDSC, your shares will continue to age from the date of your original purchase of Fund shares. Except as described below, any class of shares of a fund may be exchanged for any other class of shares of that fund, provided that the shares being exchanged are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conditions for investing in the other class of shares described in the applicable prospectus are satisfied. Class C shares are not permitted to be exchanged to Class A shares unless the CDSC has expired and the exchange is made to facilitate the shareholder's participation in a fee-based advisory program. See also Appendix A to this Prospectus.
Before exchanging, you should read the prospectus of the new fund carefully. Exchanges are subject to the terms applicable to purchases of the new fund’s shares as set forth in its prospectus. If you wish to exchange shares, write to the transfer agent (see back cover for address), log on to your account at www.eatonvance.com or call 1-800-262-1122. Periodic automatic exchanges are also available. The exchange privilege may be changed or discontinued at any time. You will receive at least 60 days’ notice of any material change to the privilege. This privilege may not be used for “market timing” and may be terminated for market timing accounts or for any other reason. For additional information, see “Restrictions on Excessive Trading and Market Timing” under “Purchasing Shares.” Ordinarily exchanges between different funds are taxable transactions for federal tax purposes, while permitted exchanges of one class for shares of another class of the same fund are not. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors regarding the applicability of federal, state, local and other taxes to transactions in Fund shares.
Telephone and Electronic Transactions. You can redeem or exchange shares by telephone as described in this Prospectus. In addition, certain transactions may be conducted through the Eaton Vance website. The transfer agent and the principal underwriter have procedures in place to authenticate telephone and electronic instructions (such as using security codes or verifying personal account information). As long as the transfer agent and principal underwriter follow reasonable procedures, they will not be responsible for unauthorized telephone or electronic transactions and you bear the risk of possible loss resulting from these transactions. You may decline the telephone redemption option on the account application. Telephone instructions are recorded. You should verify the accuracy of your confirmation statements immediately upon receipt and notify Eaton Vance Shareholder Services of any inaccuracies.
“Street Name” Accounts. If your shares are held in a “street name” account at a financial intermediary, that intermediary (and not the Fund or its transfer agent) will perform all recordkeeping, transaction processing and distribution payments. Because the Fund does not maintain an account for you, you should contact your financial intermediary to make transactions in shares, make changes in your account, or obtain account information. You will not be able to utilize a number of shareholder features, such as telephone or internet transactions, directly with the Fund and certain features may be subject to different requirements. If you transfer shares in a “street name” account to an account with another financial intermediary or to an account directly with the Fund, you should obtain historical information about your shares prior to the transfer. If you fail to provide your full account history to your new financial intermediary following a transfer, you may be ineligible for certain features of the Fund.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 24 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Procedures for Opening New Accounts. To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, federal law requires financial institutions to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each new customer who opens an account with the Fund and to determine whether such person’s name appears on government lists of known or suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations. When you open an account, the transfer agent or your financial intermediary will ask you for your name, address, date of birth (for individuals), residential or business street address (although post office boxes are still permitted for mailing) and social security number, taxpayer identification number, or other government-issued identifying number. You also may be asked to produce a copy of your driver’s license, passport or other identifying documents in order to verify your identity. In addition, it may be necessary to verify your identity by cross-referencing your identification information with a consumer report or other electronic databases. Other information or documents may be required to open accounts for corporations and other entities. Federal law prohibits the Fund and other financial institutions from opening a new account unless they receive the minimum identifying information described above. If a person fails to provide the information requested, any application by that person to open a new account will be rejected. Moreover, if the transfer agent or the financial intermediary is unable to verify the identity of a person based on information provided by that person, it may take additional steps including, but not limited to, requesting additional information or documents from the person, closing the person’s account or reporting the matter to the appropriate federal authorities. If your account is closed for this reason, your shares may be automatically redeemed at the net asset value next determined. If the Fund’s net asset value has decreased since your purchase, you will lose money as a result of this redemption. The Fund has also designated an anti-money laundering compliance officer.
Account Questions. If you have any questions about your account or the services available, please call Eaton Vance Shareholder Services at 1-800-262-1122 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time), or write to the transfer agent (see back cover for address).
Additional Tax Information
The Fund expects to pay distributions annually. Distributions may not be paid if Fund (and Class) expenses exceed Fund income for the period. Different Classes of the Fund will generally distribute different amounts. The Fund intends to distribute any net realized capital gains, if any, annually. It may also be necessary, in order to qualify for favorable tax treatment and to avoid any Fund-level tax, for the Fund to make a special income and/or capital gains distribution at the end of the calendar year. The Fund expects to send shareholders a statement each February showing the tax status of all distributions.
Distributions of the Fund’s investment income (other than “qualified dividend income” as described below) and net realized short-term capital gains generally will be taxed as ordinary income. Distributions of any net gains from investments held for more than one year will be taxed as long-term capital gains. Taxes on distributions of capital gains are determined by how long the Portfolio or Fund owned (or is treated as having owned) the investments that generated them, rather than how long a shareholder has owned his or her shares in the Fund. Distributions of investment income properly reported by the Fund as derived from “qualified dividend income” (as further described in the Statement of Additional Information) will be taxable to shareholders at the rates applicable to long-term capital gain provided holding period and other requirements are met at the shareholder, Fund and, if applicable, Portfolio level. Over time, distributions by the Fund can generally be expected to include ordinary income, qualified dividend income and capital gain distributions taxable as long-term capital gains. A portion of the Fund’s income distributions may be eligible for the dividends-received deduction for corporations. The Fund’s distributions will be taxable as described above whether they are paid in cash or reinvested in additional shares. A return of capital generally will not be taxable to shareholders but will reduce the cost basis of a shareholder’s shares and result in a higher reported capital gain or a lower reported capital loss when those shares are redeemed.
Investors who purchase shares at a time when the Fund’s net asset value reflects gains that are either unrealized or realized but not distributed will pay the full price for the shares and then may receive some portion of the purchase price back as a taxable distribution. A redemption of Fund shares, including an exchange for shares of another fund, generally is a taxable transaction.
The Portfolio is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. Each investor in the Portfolio, including the Fund, is allocated its proportionate share of Portfolio income, gains, losses, expenses and other tax items. The Internal Revenue Code provides that the Portfolio’s distributions of appreciated property generally do not result in recognition by the Portfolio of capital gains on the distributed property. If appreciated securities held by the Portfolio are sold, the resulting capital gains will be allocated among investors in the Portfolio in proportion to their allocable share of the appreciation. Portfolio gains accumulated prior to the Fund’s investment in the Portfolio will generally not be allocated to the Fund or its shareholders.
The net investment income of certain U.S. individuals, estates and trusts is subject to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax. For individuals, the tax is on the lesser of the “net investment income” and the excess of modified adjusted gross income over $200,000 (or $250,000 if married filing jointly). Net investment income includes, among other things, interest, dividends, and gross income and capital gains derived from passive activities and trading in securities or commodities. Net investment income is reduced by deductions “properly allocable” to this income.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 25 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
The Portfolio’s investments in foreign securities may be subject to foreign withholding taxes or other foreign taxes with respect to income (possibly including, in some cases, capital gains) which may decrease the yield on such securities. These taxes may be reduced or eliminated under the terms of an applicable tax treaty. Shareholders generally will not be entitled to claim a credit or deduction with respect to foreign taxes paid by the Portfolio. In addition, investments in foreign securities or foreign currencies may increase or accelerate the Fund’s recognition of ordinary income and may affect the timing or amount of the Fund’s distributions.
The Fund may be required to withhold, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, a portion of the dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds payable to shareholders who fail to provide the Fund with their correct taxpayer identification number or make required certifications, or who have been notified by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) that they are subject to backup withholding. Certain shareholders are exempt from backup withholding. Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amount withheld may be credited against a shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability.
Certain foreign entities may be subject to a 30% withholding tax on ordinary dividend income paid under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”). To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions subject to FATCA must agree to disclose to the relevant revenue authorities certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners and other foreign entities must certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners to the Fund. In addition, the IRS and the Department of Treasury have issued proposed regulations providing that these withholding rules will not be applicable to the gross proceeds of share redemptions or capital gain dividends the Fund pays. For more detailed information regarding FATCA withholding and compliance, please refer to the Statement of Additional Information.
Shareholders should consult with their tax advisors concerning the applicability of federal, state, local and other taxes to an investment.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 26 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights are intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the period(s) indicated. Certain information in the table reflects the financial results for a single Fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value). This information has been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm. The report of Deloitte & Touche LLP and the Fund’s financial statements are incorporated herein by reference and included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
Year Ended December 31, | ||||||
2018 | 2017 | |||||
Class A | Class C | Class I | Class A | Class C | Class I | |
Net asset value - Beginning of year | $17.490 | $17.100 | $17.490 | $15.740 | $15.420 | $15.750 |
Income (Loss) From Operations | ||||||
Net investment income (loss) (1) | $0.144 | $0.008 | $0.190 | $0.178 | $0.050 | $0.219 |
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | (1.133) | (1.096) | (1.132) | 2.933 | 2.851 | 2.931 |
Total income (loss) from operations | $(0.989) | $(1.088) | $(0.942) | $3.111 | $2.901 | $3.150 |
Less Distributions | ||||||
From net investment income | $(0.145) | $(0.010) | $(0.192) | $(0.168) | $(0.028) | $(0.217) |
From net realized gain | (1.637) | (1.623) | (1.637) | (1.191) | (1.191) | (1.191) |
Total distributions | $(1.782) | $(1.633) | $(1.829) | $(1.359) | $(1.219) | $(1.408) |
Portfolio transaction fee, net (1) | $0.001 | $0.001 | $0.001 | $(0.002) | $(0.002) | $(0.002) |
Net asset value - End of year | $14.720 | $14.380 | $14.720 | $17.490 | $17.100 | $17.490 |
Total Return (2)(3) | (5.89)% | (6.60)% | (5.63)% | 19.91% | 18.94% | 20.14% |
Ratios/Supplemental Data | ||||||
Net assets, end of year (000’s omitted) | $42,087 | $11,627 | $29,455 | $51,999 | $16,196 | $35,068 |
Ratios (as a percentage of average daily net assets): (4) | ||||||
Expenses (3) | 0.98% | 1.73% | 0.73% | 0.98% | 1.73% | 0.73% |
Net investment income | 0.80% | 0.05% | 1.06% | 1.05% | 0.30% | 1.28% |
Portfolio Turnover of the Portfolio | 90% | 90% | 90% | 101% | 101% | 101% |
(See related footnotes.)
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 27 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Financial Highlights (continued)
Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||
2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |||||||
Class A | Class C | Class I | Class A | Class C | Class I | Class A | Class C | Class I | |
Net asset value - Beginning of year | $15.160 | $14.870 | $15.170 | $15.680 | $15.420 | $15.680 | $15.850 | $15.640 | $15.850 |
Income (Loss) From Operations | |||||||||
Net investment income (loss) (1) | $0.193 | $0.076 | $0.233 | $0.129 | $0.009 | $0.172 | $0.095 | $(0.029) | $0.126 |
Net realized and unrealized gain | 0.834 | 0.813 | 0.834 | 0.584 | 0.580 | 0.590 | 1.722 | 1.697 | 1.729 |
Total income from operations | $1.027 | $0.889 | $1.067 | $0.713 | $0.589 | $0.762 | $1.817 | $1.668 | $1.855 |
Less Distributions | |||||||||
From net investment income | $(0.140) | $(0.034) | $(0.180) | $(0.107) | $(0.013) | $(0.146) | $(0.073) | $— | $(0.111) |
From net realized gain | (0.311) | (0.309) | (0.311) | (1.126) | (1.126) | (1.126) | (1.914) | (1.888) | (1.914) |
Total distributions | $(0.451) | $(0.343) | $(0.491) | $(1.233) | $(1.139) | $(1.272) | $(1.987) | $(1.888) | $(2.025) |
Portfolio transaction fee, net (1) | $0.004 | $0.004 | $0.004 | $— | $— | $— | $— | $— | $— |
Net asset value - End of year | $15.740 | $15.420 | $15.750 | $15.160 | $14.870 | $15.170 | $15.680 | $15.420 | $15.680 |
Total Return (2)(3) | 6.80% | 6.00% | 7.05% | 4.51% | 3.77% | 4.83% | 11.99% | 11.16% | 12.24% |
Ratios/Supplemental Data | |||||||||
Net assets, end of year (000’s omitted) | $58,620 | $15,370 | $28,121 | $55,496 | $14,986 | $20,457 | $50,826 | $11,683 | $12,760 |
Ratios (as a percentage of average daily net assets): (4) | |||||||||
Expenses (3) | 0.98% | 1.73% | 0.73% | 1.05% | 1.80% | 0.80% | 1.22% | 1.96% | 0.97% |
Net investment income (loss) | 1.26% | 0.51% | 1.51% | 0.81% | 0.06% | 1.07% | 0.57% | (0.18)% | 0.75% |
Portfolio Turnover of the Portfolio | 118% | 118% | 118% | 96% | 96% | 96% | 109% | 109% | 109% |
(1) | Computed using average shares outstanding. |
(2) | Returns are historical and are calculated by determining the percentage change in net asset value with all distributions reinvested and do not reflect the effect of sales charges, if applicable. |
(3) | The administrator waived its fees and/or reimbursed certain operating expenses (equal to 0.12%, 0.13%, 0.12%, 0.14% and 0.13% of average daily net assets for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively). Absent the waivers and reimbursement, total return would be lower. |
(4) | Includes the Fund’s share of the Portfolio’s allocated expenses. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 28 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Appendix A
Financial Intermediary Sales Charge Variations
As noted under “Purchasing Shares,” a financial intermediary may offer Fund shares subject to variations in or elimination of the Fund sales charges (“variations”), provided such variations are described in this Prospectus. Set forth below are the variations in sales charges applicable to shares purchased through the noted financial intermediary. All variations described below are applied by, and the responsibility of, the identified financial intermediary. Variations may apply to purchases, sales, exchanges and reinvestments of Fund shares and a shareholder transacting in Fund shares through the intermediary identified below should read the terms and conditions of the variations carefully. A variation that is specific to a particular financial intermediary is not applicable to shares held directly with the Fund or through another intermediary.
Fund Purchases through Merrill Lynch
Effective April 10, 2017, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account are eligible only for the following sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this Prospectus or in the SAI.
Front-end Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares
The front-end sales charges applicable to purchases of Class A shares will be waived for:
· | Shares purchased by employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan |
· | Shares purchased by or through a 529 Plan |
· | Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program |
· | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform |
· | Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable) |
· | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the fund family) |
· | Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date |
· | Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members |
· | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement) |
CDSC Waivers on Class A and Class C Shares
The CDSC payable on redemptions of Class A and Class C will be waived in connection with:
· | Shares sold on the death or disability of the shareholder |
· | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in “Shareholder Account Features” |
· | Shares sold to return excess contributions from an IRA Account |
· | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching age 70½ |
· | Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch |
· | The sale of Fund shares acquired pursuant to the Rights of Reinstatement privilege as described above |
· | Shares held in retirement brokerage accounts, that are exchanged for a lower cost share class due to transfer to a fee based account or platform (applicable to Class A and Class C shares only) |
· | An exchange for shares of another class of the same fund through a fee-based individual retirement account on the Merrill Lynch platform. In such circumstances, Merrill Lynch will remit the portion of the CDSC to be paid to the principal underwriter equal to the number of months remaining on the CDSC period divided by the total number of months of the CDSC period |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 29 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Front-end load Discounts Available: Discounts, Rights of Accumulation & Letters of Intent
Front-end sales charges may be subject to discounts, rights of accumulation and letters of intent as follows:
· | The front-end sales charge applicable to Class A shares may be subject to breakpoint discounts for purchases in excess of $50,000 for Class A as described under “Sales Charges” |
· | Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of fund family assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible fund family assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets |
· | Letters of Intent (LOI) through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time (if applicable) |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 30 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Fund Purchases through Ameriprise Financial (Class A Sales Charge Waivers)
Effective June 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through an Ameriprise Financial platform or account are eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this Prospectus or in the SAI.
Front-end Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares:
· | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs. |
· | Shares purchased through an Ameriprise Financial investment advisory program (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
· | Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Ameriprise Financial’s platform (if an Advisory or similar share class for such investment advisory program is not available). |
· | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same Fund (but not any other fund within the fund family). |
· | Shares exchanged from Class C shares of the same fund in the month of or following the 10-year anniversary of the purchase date. To the extent that this Prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to such shares following a shorter holding period, that waiver will apply to exchanges following such shorter period. To the extent that this Prospectus elsewhere provides for a waiver with respect to exchanges of Class C shares for load waived shares, that waiver will also apply to such exchanges. |
· | Employees and registered representatives of Ameriprise Financial or its affiliates and their immediate family members. |
· | Shares purchased by or through qualified accounts (including IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 401(k)s, 403(b) TSCAs subject to ERISA and defined benefit plans) that are held by a covered family member, defined as an Ameriprise financial advisor and/or the advisor’s spouse, advisor’s lineal ascendant (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, great grandmother, great grandfather), advisor’s lineal descendant (son, step-son, daughter, step-daughter, grandson, granddaughter, great grandson, great granddaughter) or any spouse of a covered family member who is a lineal descendant. |
· | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e. Rights of Reinstatement). |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 31 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Fund Purchases through Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Effective July 1, 2018, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in this Prospectus or SAI.
Front-end Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares available at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
· | Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans |
· | Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules |
· | Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund |
· | Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account |
· | Class C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a contingent deferred sales charge and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class conversion program |
· | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 32 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Fund Purchases through Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., & Raymond James affiliates (“Raymond James”)
Effective March 1, 2019, shareholders purchasing fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in this fund’s Prospectus or SAI.
Front-end sales load waivers on Class A shares available at Raymond James
· | Shares purchased in an investment advisory program. |
· | Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the fund family). |
· | Employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James. |
· | Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). |
· | A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James. |
CDSC Waivers on Classes A and C shares available at Raymond James
· | Death or disability of the shareholder. |
· | Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the fund’s Prospectus. |
· | Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account. |
· | Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching age 70½ as described in the fund’s Prospectus. |
· | Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James. |
· | Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement. |
Front-end load discounts available at Raymond James: breakpoints, and/or rights of accumulation
· | Breakpoints as described in this Prospectus. |
· | Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of fund family assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible fund family assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the rights of accumulation calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 33 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
More Information
About the Fund: More information is available in the Statement of Additional Information. The Statement of Additional Information is incorporated by reference into this Prospectus. Additional information about the Portfolio’s investments is available in the annual and semiannual reports (collectively, the “reports”). In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during the past fiscal year. You may obtain free copies of the Statement of Additional Information and the reports on Eaton Vance’s website at www.eatonvance.com or by contacting the principal underwriter:
Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc.
Two International Place
Boston, MA 02110
1-800-262-1122
website: www.eatonvance.com
Information about the Fund (including the Statement of Additional Information and reports) is available on the EDGAR database on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following email address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
Shareholder Inquiries: You can obtain more information from Eaton Vance Shareholder Services or the Fund transfer agent, BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc. If you own shares and would like to add to, redeem from or change your account, please write or call below:
Regular Mailing Address:
Eaton Vance Funds P.O. Box 9653 Providence, RI 02940-9653 |
Overnight Mailing Address:
Eaton Vance Funds 4400 Computer Drive Westborough, MA 01581 |
Phone Number:
1-800-262-1122 Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET |
The Fund's Investment Company Act No. is 811-04015. | |
21031 5.1.19 | © 2019 Eaton Vance Management |
Printed on recycled paper.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund
Investor Class Shares - EAPCX
Institutional
Class Shares - EIPCX
Prospectus Dated
May 1, 2019
Important Note. Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the Fund’s 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 Fund's website (http://www.eatonvance.com/ppafunddocuments), and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website address 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. If you are a direct investor, you may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the Fund electronically by signing up for e-Delivery at eatonvance.com/edelivery. If you own your shares through a financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank), you must contact your financial intermediary to sign up.
You may elect to receive all future Fund shareholder reports in paper free of charge. If you are a direct investor, you can inform the Fund that you wish to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports by calling 1-800-260-0761. If you own these shares through a financial intermediary, you must contact your financial intermediary or follow instructions included with this disclosure, if applicable, to elect to continue to receive paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all Eaton Vance funds held directly or to all funds held through your financial intermediary, as applicable.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have not approved or disapproved these securities or determined if this Prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
Information in this Prospectus
Page | Page | ||
Fund Summary | 2 | Investment Objective & Principal Policies and Risks | 7 |
Investment Objective | 2 | Management and Organization | 12 |
Fees and Expenses of the Fund | 2 | Valuing Shares | 13 |
Portfolio Turnover | 2 | Purchasing Shares | 14 |
Principal Investment Strategies | 2 | Sales Charges | 17 |
Principal Risks | 3 | Redeeming Shares | 18 |
Performance | 5 | Shareholder Account Features | 19 |
Management | 5 | Additional Tax Information | 21 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares | 5 | Financial Highlights | 22 |
Tax Information | 5 | ||
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries | 6 |
This Prospectus contains
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Fund Summary
Investment Objective
The Fund's investment objective is to seek total return.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. Investors may also pay commissions or other fees to their financial intermediary when they buy and hold shares of the Fund, which are not reflected below.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) | Investor Class | Institutional Class |
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) | None | None |
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of the lower of net asset value at time of purchase or redemption) | None | None |
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) | Investor Class | Institutional Class |
Management Fees of the Fund and Subsidiary | 0.55% | 0.55% |
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees | 0.25% | None |
Other Expenses (of the Fund and Subsidiary) | ||
Other Expenses of the Fund | 0.15% | 0.15% |
Other Expenses of the Subsidiary | 0.03 % | 0.03 % |
Total Other Expenses | 0.18 % | 0.18 % |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 0.98% | 0.73% |
Expense Reimbursement (1) | (0.08) % | (0.08) % |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursement | 0.90% | 0.65% |
(1) | The investment adviser and administrator and sub-adviser have agreed to reimburse the Fund’s expenses to the extent that Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses exceed 0.90% for Investor Class shares and 0.65% for Institutional Class shares. This expense reimbursement will continue through April 30, 2020. Any amendment to or termination of this reimbursement would require approval of the Board of Trustees. The expense reimbursement relates to ordinary operating expenses only and does not include expenses such as: brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses of unaffiliated funds, borrowing costs (including borrowing costs of any acquired funds), taxes or litigation expenses. Amounts reimbursed may be recouped by the investment adviser and administrator and sub-adviser during the same fiscal year to the extent actual expenses are less than the contractual expense cap during such year. |
Example. This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the operating expenses remain the same and that any expense reimbursement arrangement remains in place for the contractual period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | |
Investor Class shares | $92 | $304 | $534 | $1,194 |
Institutional Class shares | $66 | $225 | $398 | $899 |
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” the portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 2 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund invests primarily in commodity-linked derivative instruments backed by a portfolio of fixed-income securities. The Fund’s portfolio of fixed-income securities is generally comprised of U.S. Treasury bills and money market securities. The average portfolio duration of the Fund’s fixed-income portfolio will vary and under normal market conditions is not expected to exceed one year. Commodity-linked derivative instruments include commodity index-linked swap agreements, futures, and commodity index-linked notes, that provide exposure to the investment returns of the commodities markets, without investing directly in physical commodities. The Fund seeks to gain exposure to the commodity markets, in whole or in part, through investments in PSC Commodity Subsidiary, Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Fund organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (the “Subsidiary”) with the same investment objective and principal investment strategies as the Fund.
The commodity-linked derivative instruments in which the Fund invests are intended to provide returns based on the performance of a particular commodity or particular basket of commodities. There is no stated limit on the Fund’s use of derivatives. The Fund attempts to provide a diversified exposure to a variety of commodities. In this pursuit, the Fund may maintain large overweight or underweight commodity positions versus the Bloomberg Commodity Index Total Return (the “Index”). Similarly, the Fund may hold underweight or overweight positions in particular sectors of the commodities markets versus the Index.
The Fund seeks to employ a top-down, disciplined and rules-based investment process that emphasizes broad exposure among individual commodities and commodity sectors. This rules-based strategy utilizes targeted allocation and systematic rebalancing to attempt to exploit certain quantitative and behavioral characteristics of the commodity asset class to generate alpha (i.e. excess returns versus the index). Commodity exposures are selected based on factors such as volatility, liquidity, diversification, and perceived risk and potential benefit. Commodity target weights are created to attempt to reduce concentration risk relative to the Index. The frequency of rebalancing depends on the correlation and volatility of the individual commodity. Rules-based rebalancing bands are set around target weights to attempt to minimize trading cost.
Principal Risks
Market Risk. The value of investments held by the Fund may increase or decrease in response to economic, political and financial events (whether real, expected or perceived) in the U.S. and global markets. The frequency and magnitude of such changes in value cannot be predicted. Certain securities and other investments held by the Fund may experience increased volatility, illiquidity, or other potentially adverse effects in reaction to changing market conditions. Actions taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve or foreign central banks to stimulate or stabilize economic growth, such as decreases or increases in short-term interest rates, could cause high volatility in markets. No active trading market may exist for certain investments, which may impair the ability of the Fund to sell or to realize the current valuation of such investments in the event of the need to liquidate such assets. Fixed-income markets may experience periods of relatively high volatility in an environment where U.S. treasury yields are rising.
Commodity-Related Investments Risk. The value of commodity investments will generally be affected by overall market movements and factors specific to a particular industry or commodity, which may include weather, embargoes, tariffs, and health, political, international and regulatory developments. Economic and other events (whether real or perceived) can reduce the demand for commodities, which may reduce market prices and cause the value of the Fund’s commodity investments to fall. The frequency and magnitude of such changes are unpredictable. Exposure to commodities and commodity markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. No active trading market may exist for certain commodity investments, which may impair the ability of the Fund to sell or to realize the full value of such investments in the event of the need to liquidate such investments. In addition, adverse market conditions may impair the liquidity of actively traded commodity investments. Commodity index-linked notes may be structured such that their performance deviates significantly from the underlying index or instrument.
As noted above, the Fund expects to invest in the Subsidiary, which invests in commodity-related investments, as well as other permitted instruments. The Subsidiary is subject to the laws of the Cayman Islands and is not subject to U.S. laws, including securities laws and their protections and provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”). Because the Subsidiary is not registered under U.S. federal securities laws, it may not be able to negotiate terms with its counterparties that are equivalent to those of a registered fund. As a result, the Subsidiary may have greater exposure to those counterparties than a registered fund. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Subsidiary to operate as described, and could adversely affect the Fund’s investment approach. In addition, commodity-related investments generally generate income that is not qualifying income for purposes of meeting source of income tests applicable to mutual funds under the Code. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has issued proposed regulations effectively providing that the Subsidiary’s realized annual net profit, if any, will constitute “qualifying income” only to the extent it is timely and currently repatriated to the Fund (notwithstanding any previously issued private letter ruling or advice from counsel). As the Fund intends to satisfy the source of income tests under the Code, its ability to invest in commodity-related investments may become limited, and the Fund may incur transaction and other costs to comply with any new or additional guidance from the IRS. The tax treatment of commodity-related investments and income from the Subsidiary may be adversely affected by future legislation, Treasury Regulations and/or guidance issued by the IRS that could affect the character, timing and/or amount of the Fund’s taxable income or any gains and distributions made by the Fund.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 3 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Tracking Error Risk. Tracking error risk refers to the risk that the Fund’s performance may not match or correlate to that of the commodities or basket of commodities it attempts to track, either on a daily or aggregate basis. Factors such as Fund expenses, imperfect correlation between the Fund’s investments and the commodities or basket of commodities, rounding of share prices, changes to the composition of the commodities or basket of commodities, regulatory policies, high portfolio turnover rate and the use of leverage all contribute to tracking error. Tracking error risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than expected.
Derivatives Risk. The Fund’s exposure to derivatives involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other investments. The use of derivatives can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the asset, index, rate or instrument underlying a derivative, due to failure of a counterparty or due to tax or regulatory constraints. Derivatives may create leverage in the Fund, which represents a non-cash exposure to the underlying asset, index, rate or instrument. Leverage can increase both the risk and return potential of the Fund. Derivatives risk may be more significant when derivatives are used to enhance return or as a substitute for a cash investment position, rather than solely to hedge the risk of a position held by the Fund. Use of derivatives involves the exercise of specialized skill and judgment, and a transaction may be unsuccessful in whole or in part because of market behavior or unexpected events. Changes in the value of a derivative (including one used for hedging) may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate, index or instrument. Derivative instruments traded in over-the-counter markets may be difficult to value, may be illiquid, and may be subject to wide swings in valuation caused by changes in the value of the underlying instrument. If a derivative’s counterparty is unable to honor its commitments, the value of Fund shares may decline and the Fund could experience delays in the return of collateral or other assets held by the counterparty. The loss on derivative transactions may substantially exceed the initial investment, particularly when there is no stated limit on the Fund’s use of derivatives. A derivative investment also involves the risks relating to the asset, index, rate or instrument underlying the investment.
Leverage Risk. Certain fund transactions may give rise to leverage. Leverage can result from a non-cash exposure to an asset, index, rate or instrument. Leverage can increase both the risk and return potential of the Fund. The Fund is required to segregate liquid assets or otherwise cover the Fund’s obligation created by a transaction that may give rise to leverage. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet segregation requirements. Leverage may cause the Fund’s share price to be more volatile than if it had not been leveraged, as certain types of leverage may exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. The loss on leveraged investments may substantially exceed the initial investment.
Interest Rate Risk. In general, the value of income securities will fluctuate based on changes in interest rates. The value of these securities is likely to increase when interest rates fall and decline when interest rates rise. Generally, securities with longer durations are more sensitive to changes in interest rates than shorter duration securities, causing them to be more volatile. Conversely, fixed income securities with shorter durations will be less volatile but may provide lower returns than fixed income securities with longer durations. In a rising interest rate environment, the duration of income securities that have the ability to be prepaid or called by the issuer may be extended. In a declining interest rate environment, the proceeds from prepaid or maturing instruments may have to be reinvested at a lower interest rate.
Sector Risk. Because the Fund may have significant investments in a particular sector of the commodities markets (such as agricultural, energy, livestock, precious metals, industrial metals and others), the value of Fund shares may be affected by events that adversely affect that sector and may fluctuate more than that of a fund that invests more broadly.
Liquidity Risk. The Fund is exposed to liquidity risk when trading volume, lack of a market maker or trading partner, large position size, market conditions, or legal restrictions impair its ability to sell particular investments or to sell them at advantageous market prices. Consequently, the Fund may have to accept a lower price to sell an investment or continue to hold it or keep the position open, sell other investments to raise cash or give up an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on the Fund’s performance. These effects may be exacerbated during times of financial or political stress.
Rules-Based Management Risks. The sub-adviser uses proprietary investment techniques and analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, seeking to achieve its investment objective while minimizing exposure to security-specific risk. The strategy seeks to take advantage of certain quantitative and behavioral market characteristics identified by the sub-adviser, utilizing a rules-based process and disciplined rebalancing model. The Fund’s strategy has not been independently tested or validated, and there can be no assurance that it will achieve the desired results.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 4 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
General Fund Investing Risks. The Fund is not a complete investment program and there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. It is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund is designed to be a long-term investment vehicle and is not suited for short-term trading. Investors in the Fund should have a long-term investment perspective and be able to tolerate potentially sharp declines in value. Purchase and redemption activities by Fund shareholders may impact the management of the Fund and its ability to achieve its investment objective(s). In addition, the redemption by one or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders of their holdings in the Fund could have an adverse impact on the remaining shareholders in the Fund. The Fund relies on various service providers, including the investment adviser, in its operations and is susceptible to operational, information security and related events (such as cyber or hacking attacks) that may affect the service providers or the services that they provide to the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and how the Fund’s average annual returns over time compare with those of a broad-based securities market index. The returns in the bar chart are for Investor Class shares. Past performance (both before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The Fund’s performance reflects the effects of expense reductions. Absent these reductions, performance would have been lower. Updated Fund performance information can be obtained by visiting www.eatonvance.com.
During the period from December 31, 2011 to December 31, 2018, the highest quarterly total return for Investor Class was 10.80% for the quarter ended September 30, 2012, and the lowest quarterly return was -12.10% for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.
Institutional Class commenced operations on May 25, 2011. The Investor Class performance shown above for the period prior to January 3, 2012 (commencement of operations) is the performance of Institutional Class shares at net asset value without adjustment for any differences in expenses of the two classes. If adjusted for such differences, returns would be different. Investors cannot invest directly in an Index.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on a shareholder’s tax situation and the actual characterization of distributions, and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to shareholders who hold shares in tax-deferred accounts or to shares held by non-taxable entities. After-tax returns for other Classes of shares will vary from the after-tax returns presented for Investor Class shares. Return After Taxes on Distributions for a period may be the same as Return Before Taxes for that period because no taxable distributions were made during that period. Also, Return After Taxes on Distributions and the Sale of Fund Shares for a period may be greater than or equal to Return After Taxes on Distributions for the same period because of losses realized on the sale of Fund shares.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 5 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Management
Investment Adviser. Eaton Vance Management (“Eaton Vance”).
Investment Sub-Adviser. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC (“Parametric”).
Portfolio Managers
Gregory J. Liebl, Portfolio Manager at Parametric’s Minneapolis Investment Center, has managed the Fund since May 2018.
Thomas C. Seto, Head of Investment Management at Parametric’s Seattle Investment Center, has managed the Fund since its inception in May 2011.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase, redeem or exchange Fund shares on any business day, which is any day the New York Stock Exchange is open for business. You may purchase, redeem or exchange Fund shares either through your financial intermediary or directly from the Fund either by writing to the Fund, P.O. Box 9653, Providence, RI 02940-9653, or by calling 1-800-260-0761. The minimum initial purchase or exchange into the Fund is $1,000 for Investor Class and $50,000 for Institutional Class (waived in certain circumstances). There is no minimum for subsequent investments.
Tax Information
If your shares are held in a taxable account, the Fund’s distributions will be taxed to you as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are exempt from taxation. If your shares are held in a tax-advantaged account, you will generally be taxed only upon withdrawals from the account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the Fund’s shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank) (collectively, “financial intermediaries”), the Fund, its principal underwriter and its affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 6 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Investment Objective & Principal Policies and Risks
The investment objective and principal investment policies and risks of the Fund are described in its Fund Summary. Set forth below is additional information about such policies and risks, as well as information about other types of investments and practices in which the Fund may engage from time to time. See also “Strategies and Risks” in the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).
Definitions. As used herein, the following terms have the indicated meaning: “1940 Act” means the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended; “1933 Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended; “Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; “ERISA” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended; and “investment adviser” means the Fund’s investment adviser but if the Fund is sub-advised, it refers to the sub-adviser(s) providing day-to-day management with respect to the investments or strategies discussed.
Commodities-Related Investments. Commodity-related investments include, but are not limited to, commodities contracts, commodity futures or options thereon (investments in contracts for the future purchase or sale of commodities); commodity exchange-traded funds (exchange-traded funds that track the price of a single commodity, such as gold or oil, or a basket of commodities); commodity exchange traded notes (non-interest paying debt instruments whose price fluctuates (by contractual commitment) with an underlying commodities index); total return swaps based on a commodity index (permitting one party to receive/pay the total return on a commodity index against payment/receipt of an agreed upon spread/interest rate); commodity-linked notes (providing a return based on a formula referenced to a commodity index); sovereign issued oil warrants (a sovereign obligation the coupon on which is contingent on the price of oil); precious metals; and any other commodities-related investment permitted by law. Commodities-related investments may be used to gain exposure to a particular type of commodity, basket of commodities, commodity market or commodity index, or to hedge such exposures or a position in a commodity producing country.
The risks associated with investing in commodities include regulatory, health, economic and political developments, weather events and natural disasters, pestilence, market disruptions and the fact that commodity prices may have greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The prices of energy, industrial metals, precious metals, agriculture, and livestock sector commodities may fluctuate widely due to factors such as changes in value, supply and demand and governmental regulatory policies. The metals sector can be affected by sharp price volatility over short periods caused by global economic, financial and political factors, resource availability, government regulation, economic cycles, changes in inflation or expectations about inflation, interest rates, currency fluctuations, metal sales by governments, central banks or international agencies, investment speculation and fluctuation in supply and demand. Commodity-related investments are often offered by companies in the financial services sector, including the banking, brokerage, and insurance sectors. As a result, events affecting issuers in the financial services sector may cause the Fund’s share value to fluctuate. Although investments in commodities typically move in different directions than traditional equity and fixed-income securities, when the value of those traditional securities is declining due to adverse economic conditions, there is no guarantee that these investments will perform differently, and at certain times the price movements of commodity-related investments have been parallel to those of equity and fixed-income securities.
Subsidiary Investments. The Subsidiary is permitted to invest in commodity-related investments as well as other permitted securities. The Subsidiary is not subject to U.S. laws, including securities laws and their protections. The Subsidiary is subject to the laws of the Cayman Islands, which can be affected by developments in that country. The Subsidiary is operated in accordance with the investment restrictions applicable to the investment companies registered under U.S. federal securities laws, but is not subject to the same provisions of the Code as is the Fund. For tax purposes, all income or net capital gain from the Subsidiary is treated as ordinary income to the Fund.
The Fund will be exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary’s investments. Because the Subsidiary is not registered under U.S. federal securities laws, it may not be able to negotiate terms with its counterparties that are equivalent to those a registered fund may negotiate. As a result, the Subsidiary may have greater exposure to those counterparties than a registered fund. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Subsidiary to operate as described in the Fund’s Prospectus and SAI, and could adversely affect the Fund’s investment approach.
In order for the Fund to satisfy tax requirements applicable to regulated investment companies, the Fund must derive at least 90 percent of its gross income each taxable year from certain qualifying sources of income. Commodity-related investments generally generate income that is not from a qualified source for purposes of meeting this 90 percent test. The rules regarding the extent to which income, if any, realized by a wholly-owned non-U.S. subsidiary (such as the Subsidiary) of the Fund and included in the Fund's annual income for U.S. federal income purposes, but that is not timely and currently repatriated to the Fund, will constitute qualifying income are unclear and currently under consideration. Based on advice from tax counsel, the Fund intends to take the position that income from its investments in the Subsidiary will constitute qualifying income for purposes of qualifying as a regulated investment company. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has issued proposed regulations providing that income earned by non-U.S. wholly-owned subsidiaries of a regulated investment company and included in such regulated investment company’s gross income constitutes qualifying income only to the extent such income is timely and currently repatriated to the regulated investment company. If the proposed regulations were finalized in their current form, annual net profit, if any, realized by the Subsidiary and included
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 7 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
in the income of the Fund would constitute qualifying income only to the extent it is timely and currently repatriated to the Fund. Should the IRS make a determination, issue guidance, or take other action that adversely affects the tax treatment of investing in the Subsidiary, it could limit the Fund’s ability to invest in commodity-related investments, the Fund may incur transaction and other costs to comply with any new or additional guidance from the IRS, and such action could bear adversely on the Fund’s ability to satisfy the requirements for qualification as a regulated investment company. The tax treatment of commodity-related investments and income from the Subsidiary may be adversely affected by future legislation, Treasury Regulations and/or guidance issued by the IRS that could affect the character, timing and/or amount of the Fund’s taxable income or any gains and distributions made by the Fund.
Fixed-Income Securities and Other Debt Instruments. Fixed-income securities and other debt instruments include all types of fixed and floating-rate bonds and notes, such as convertible securities and other hybrid securities (other than preferred stock); corporate commercial paper; mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities; inflation-indexed bonds issued by both governments and corporations; structured notes, including “indexed” securities; loans; loan participations and assignments; delayed funding loans and revolving credit facilities; and bank certificates of deposit, fixed time deposits, bank deposits (or investments structured to provide the same type of exposure) and bankers’ acceptances of foreign and domestic banks and other debt instruments. Fixed-income securities and other debt instruments are issued by: foreign governments or their subdivisions, agencies and government-sponsored enterprises; sovereign entities; international agencies or supranational entities; the U.S. Government, its agencies or government-sponsored enterprises (or guaranteed thereby); central or quasi-sovereign banks and U.S. and foreign corporations. Fixed-income securities and other debt instruments include deep discount bonds, such as zero coupon bonds, deferred interest bonds, bonds or securities on which the interest is payable in-kind (“PIK securities”), which are debt obligations that are issued at a significant discount from face value, and securities purchased on a forward commitment or when-issued basis. While zero coupon bonds do not make periodic payments of interest, deferred interest bonds provide for a period of delay before the regular payment of interest begins. PIK securities provide that the issuer thereof may, at its option, pay interest in cash or in the form of additional securities.
Derivatives. Generally, derivatives can be characterized as financial instruments whose performance is derived at least in part from the performance of an underlying reference instrument. Derivative instruments may be acquired in the United States or abroad consistent with the Fund’s investment strategy and may include the various types of exchange-traded and over-the-counter (“OTC”) instruments described herein and other instruments with substantially similar characteristics and risks. Fund obligations created pursuant to derivative instruments may give rise to leverage, which would subject the Fund to the requirements described under “Asset Coverage” in the Fund’s SAI. The Fund may invest in a derivative transaction if it is permitted to own, invest in, or otherwise have economic exposure to the reference instrument. A reference instrument could be a security, instrument, index, currency, commodity, economic indicator or event (“reference instruments”). The Fund uses derivatives to provide returns based on the performance of a particular commodity or particular basket of commodities. The Fund may trade in the specific types and/or combinations of derivative transactions listed below.
Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks, including adverse or unexpected movements in the price of the reference instrument, and counterparty, liquidity, market, tax and leverage risks. Certain derivatives may also be subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. In addition, derivatives also involve the risk that changes in their value may not correlate perfectly with the assets, rates, indices or instruments they are designed to hedge or closely track. Use of derivative instruments may cause the realization of higher amounts of short-term capital gains (generally taxed at ordinary income tax rates) than if such instruments had not been used. Success in using derivative instruments to hedge portfolio assets depends on the degree of price correlation between the derivative instruments and the hedged asset. Imperfect correlation may be caused by several factors, including temporary price disparities among the trading markets for the derivative instrument, the reference instrument and the Fund’s assets. To the extent that a derivative instrument is intended to hedge against an event that does not occur, the Fund may realize losses.
OTC derivative instruments involve an additional risk in that the issuer or counterparty may fail to perform its contractual obligations. Some derivative instruments are not readily marketable or may become illiquid under adverse market conditions. In addition, during periods of market volatility, an option or commodity exchange or swap execution facility or clearinghouse may suspend or limit trading in an exchange-traded derivative instrument, which may make the contract temporarily illiquid and difficult to price. Commodity exchanges may also establish daily limits on the amount that the price of a futures contract or futures option can vary from the previous day’s settlement price. Once the daily limit is reached, no trades may be made that day at a price beyond the limit. This may prevent the closing out of positions to limit losses. The staff of the SEC takes the position that certain purchased OTC options, and assets used as cover for written OTC options, are illiquid. The ability to terminate OTC derivative instruments may depend on the cooperation of the counterparties to such contracts. For thinly traded derivative instruments, the only source of price quotations may be the selling dealer or counterparty. In addition, certain provisions of the Code limit the use of derivative instruments. Derivatives permit the Fund to increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, to which its portfolio is exposed in much the same way as the Fund can increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, of its portfolio by making investments in specific securities. There can be no assurance that the use of derivative instruments will benefit the Fund.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 8 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
The U.S. and non-U.S. derivatives markets have undergone substantial changes in recent years as a result of changes under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) in the United States and regulation changes in Europe, Asia and other non-U.S. jurisdictions. In particular, the Dodd-Frank Act and related regulations require many derivatives to be cleared and traded on an exchange, expand entity registration requirements, impose business conduct requirements on counterparties, and impose other regulatory requirements that will continue to change derivatives markets as regulations are implemented. Additional future regulation of the derivatives markets may make the use of derivatives more costly, may limit the availability or reduce the liquidity of derivatives, and may impose limits or restrictions on the counterparties with which the Fund engages in derivative transactions. Fund management cannot predict the effects of any new governmental regulation that may be implemented, and future regulation may impair the effectiveness of the Fund’s derivative transactions and its ability to achieve its investment objectives.
Commodity-Linked Notes. Leveraged or unleveraged commodity-linked notes, or “structured notes,” are derivative instruments the interest rate or principal of which is linked to the performance of a commodity index or indices, the value of particular commodities or commodity futures contracts, or a subset of commodities and commodities futures contracts. The terms of the instrument may be “structured” by the purchaser and the borrower issuing the note. A portion of the value of these instruments may be derived from the value of the commodity, futures contract, index or other economic variable. Certain issuers of structured notes may be deemed to be investment companies as defined in the 1940 Act. As a result, the Fund’s investments in these products may be subject to limits applicable to investments in investment companies and may be subject to restrictions contained in the 1940 Act.
The value of these structured notes will rise or fall in response to changes in the commodity index or indices, the value of particular commodities or commodity futures contracts, or a subset of commodities and commodities futures contracts. These notes expose the Fund to counterparty risk and economic movements in commodity prices. In addition, these notes are often leveraged, increasing the volatility of each note’s market value relative to changes in the commodity index, underlying commodity, or commodity futures contract. The terms of commodity-linked notes may provide that in certain circumstances no principal is due at maturity. Therefore, at the maturity of the note, the Fund may receive more or less principal than it originally invested. The Fund might receive interest payments on the note that are more or less than the stated coupon interest amounts.
Futures Contracts. Futures are standardized, exchange-traded contracts. Futures contracts on securities obligate a purchaser to take delivery, and a seller to make delivery, of a specific amount of the financial instrument called for in the contract at a specified future date at a specified price. An index futures contract obligates the purchaser to take, and a seller to deliver, an amount of cash equal to a specific dollar amount times the difference between the value of a specific index at the close of the last trading day of the contract and the price at which the agreement is made. No physical delivery of the underlying securities in the index is made. It is the practice of holders of futures contracts to close out their positions on or before the expiration date by use of offsetting contract positions, and physical delivery of financial instruments or delivery of cash, as applicable, is thereby avoided. An option on a futures contract gives the holder the right to enter into a specified futures contract.
Commodities Index-Linked Swaps. Commodity index-linked swap agreements involve the exchange by the Fund with another party of payments dependent upon the price of the underlying commodity index. Commodity index -linked swaps may be used to obtain exposure to a particular commodity or commodity index without owning or taking physical custody of such commodity.
Counterparty Risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the Fund does business (such as trading or as a derivatives counterparty), or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any instruments that the Fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial condition and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause the value of Fund shares to decline or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the Fund. Counterparty risk is increased for contracts with longer maturities.
Credit Risk. Rating agencies are private services that provide ratings of the credit quality of certain investments. In evaluating creditworthiness, the investment adviser considers ratings assigned by rating agencies. Credit ratings issued by rating agencies are based on a number of factors including, but not limited to, the issuer’s financial condition and the rating agency’s credit analysis, if applicable, at the time of rating. The ratings assigned are not absolute standards of credit quality and do not evaluate market risks or necessarily reflect the issuer’s current financial condition or the volatility or liquidity of the security. An issuer’s current financial condition may be better or worse than the current rating indicates. A credit rating may have a modifier (such as plus, minus or a numerical modifier) to denote its relative status within the rating. The presence of a modifier does not change the security credit rating (for example, BBB- and Baa3 are within the investment grade rating) for purposes of the Fund’s investment limitations.
Duration. Duration measures the time-weighted expected cash flows of a fixed-income security, which can determine its sensitivity to changes in the general level of interest rates. Duration differs from maturity in that it considers a security’s coupon payments in addition to the amount of time until the security matures. As the value of a security changes over time, so will its duration. Various techniques may be used to shorten or lengthen Fund duration.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 9 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Interest Rate Risk. In general, the value of income securities will fluctuate based on changes in interest rates. The value of these securities is likely to increase when interest rates fall and decline when interest rates rise. Generally, securities with longer durations are more sensitive to changes in interest rates than shorter duration securities, causing them to be more volatile. Conversely, fixed income securities with shorter durations will be less volatile but may provide lower returns than fixed income securities with longer durations. In a rising interest rate environment, the duration of income securities that have the ability to be prepaid or called by the issuer may be extended. In a declining interest rate environment, the proceeds from prepaid or maturing instruments may have to be reinvested at a lower interest rate.
Leverage. Certain types of Fund transactions may give rise to economic leverage, which represents a non-cash exposure to the underlying asset, index, rate or instrument. Leverage can increase both the risk and return potential of the Fund.
The Fund is required to segregate liquid assets or otherwise cover the Fund’s obligation created by a transaction that may give rise to leverage. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations or to meet segregation requirements. Leverage may cause the Fund’s share price to be more volatile than if it had not been leveraged, as certain types of leverage may exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. The loss on leveraged investments may substantially exceed the initial investment.
Liquidity Risk. The Fund is exposed to liquidity risk when trading volume, lack of a market maker, or legal restrictions impair the Fund’s ability to sell particular investments or close derivative positions at an advantageous market price. Trading opportunities are also more limited for securities and other instruments that are not widely held or are traded in less developed markets. These factors may make it more difficult to sell or buy a security at a favorable price or time. Consequently, the Fund may have to accept a lower price to sell an investment or continue to hold it or keep the position open, sell other investments to raise cash or abandon an investment opportunity, any of which could have a negative effect on the Fund’s performance. It also may be more difficult to value less liquid investments. These effects may be exacerbated during times of financial or political stress. Increased Fund redemption activity also may increase liquidity risk due to the need of the Fund to sell portfolio investments and may negatively impact Fund performance.
The Fund will not acquire any illiquid investment if, immediately after the acquisition, the Fund will have invested more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments. Illiquid investments means any investments that the Fund’s investment adviser reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in seven calendar days or less under then-current market conditions without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment.
Forward Commitments and When-Issued Securities. The Fund may purchase securities on a “forward commitment” or “when-issued” basis (meaning securities are purchased or sold with payment and delivery taking place in the future). In such a transaction, the Fund is securing what is considered to be an advantageous price and yield at the time of entering into the transaction.
The yield on a comparable security when the transaction is consummated may vary from the yield on the security at the time that the forward commitment or when-issued transaction was made. From the time of entering into the transaction until delivery and payment is made at a later date, the securities that are the subject of the transaction are subject to market fluctuations. In forward commitment or when-issued transactions, if the seller or buyer, as the case may be, fails to consummate the transaction, the counterparty may miss the opportunity of obtaining a price or yield considered to be advantageous. Forward commitment or when-issued transactions may be expected to occur a month or more before delivery is due. No payment or delivery is made, however, until payment is received or delivery is made from the other party to the transaction. These transactions may create leverage in the Fund.
U.S. Treasury and Government Securities. U.S. Treasury securities (“Treasury Securities”) include U.S. Treasury obligations that differ in their interest rates, maturities and times of issuance. U.S. Government agency securities (“Agency Securities”) include obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies or instrumentalities and government-sponsored enterprises. Agency Securities may be guaranteed by the U.S. Government or they may be backed by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury, the discretionary authority of the U.S. Government to purchase the obligations, or the credit of the agency, instrumentality or enterprise.
Government-sponsored enterprises, such as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”), the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), the Federal Home Loan Banks (“FHLBs”), the Private Export Funding Corporation (“PEFCO”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), the Federal Farm Credit Banks (“FFCB”) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (“TVA”), although chartered or sponsored by Congress, are not funded by congressional appropriations and the debt and mortgage-backed securities issued by them are neither guaranteed nor issued by the U.S. Government. Treasury Securities and Agency Securities also include any security or agreement collateralized or otherwise secured by Treasury Securities or Agency Securities, respectively.
Because of their high credit quality and market liquidity, U.S. Treasury and Agency Securities generally provide a lower current return than obligations of other issuers. While the U.S. Government has provided financial support to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the past, there can be no assurance that it will support these or other government-sponsored enterprises in the future.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 10 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Pooled Investment Vehicles. The Fund may invest in pooled investment vehicles. Pooled investment vehicles are open- and closed-end investment companies unaffiliated with the investment adviser, open-end investment companies affiliated with the investment adviser and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any management fees and expenses paid by unaffiliated and certain affiliated pooled investment vehicles in which it invests. If such fees exceed 0.01%, the costs associated with such investments will be reflected under Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses in the Fund’s Annual Fund Operating Expenses table(s) in its Fund Summary. Requirements of the 1940 Act may limit the Fund’s ability to invest in other investment companies, including ETFs, unless the investment company has received an exemptive order from the SEC on which the Fund may rely.
Pooled investment vehicles are subject to the risks of investing in the underlying securities or other instruments that they own. The market for common shares of closed-end investment companies and ETFs, which are generally traded on an exchange and may be traded at a premium or discount to net asset value, is affected by the demand for those securities, regardless of the value of such fund’s underlying securities. In addition, the Fund will bear a pro rata portion of the operating expenses of a pooled investment vehicle in which it invests.
Cash and Money Market Instruments. The Fund may invest in cash or money market instruments, including high quality short-term instruments or an affiliated investment company that invests in such instruments. During unusual market conditions, the Fund may invest up to 100% of its assets in cash or money market instruments temporarily, which may be inconsistent with its investment objective(s) and other policies.
Money market instruments may be adversely affected by market and economic events, such as a sharp rise in prevailing short-term interest rates; adverse developments in the banking industry, which issues or guarantees many money market instruments; adverse economic, political or other developments affecting issuers of money market instruments; changes in the credit quality of issuers; and default by a counterparty.
Restricted Securities. The Fund may invest in securities that are legally restricted as to resale (such as those issued in private placements), including commercial paper issued pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act and securities eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144A thereunder. The Fund may incur additional expense when disposing of restricted securities, including all or a portion of the cost to register the securities. The Fund also may acquire securities through private placements under which it may agree to contractual restrictions on the resale of such securities that are in addition to applicable legal restrictions.
Restricted securities may be difficult to value properly and may involve greater risks than securities that are not subject to restrictions on resale. It may be difficult to sell restricted securities at a price representing fair value until such time as the securities may be sold publicly. Under adverse market or economic conditions or in the event of adverse changes in the financial condition of the issuer, the Fund could find it more difficult to sell such securities when the investment adviser believes it advisable to do so or may be able to sell such securities only at prices lower than if such securities were more widely held. Holdings of restricted securities may increase the level of Fund illiquidity if eligible buyers become uninterested in purchasing them. Restricted securities may involve a high degree of business and financial risk, which may result in substantial losses.
Borrowing. The Fund is permitted to borrow for temporary purposes (such as to satisfy redemption requests, to remain fully invested in anticipation of expected cash inflows and to settle transactions). Any borrowings by the Fund are subject to the requirements of the 1940 Act. Borrowings are also subject to the terms of any credit agreement between the Fund and lender(s). Fund borrowings may be equal to as much as 33 1 /3% of the value of the Fund’s total assets (including such borrowings) less the Fund’s liabilities (other than borrowings). The Fund will not purchase additional investment securities while outstanding borrowings exceed 5% of the value of its total assets.
In addition, the Fund will be required to maintain a specified level of asset coverage with respect to all borrowings and may be required to sell some of its holdings to reduce debt and restore coverage at times when it may not be advantageous to do so. The rights of the lender to receive payments of interest and repayments of principal of any borrowings made by the Fund under a credit facility are senior to the rights of holders of shares with respect to the payment of dividends or upon liquidation. In the event of a default under a credit arrangement, the lenders may have the right to cause a liquidation of the collateral (i.e., sell Fund assets) and, if any such default is not cured, the lenders may be able to control the liquidation as well.
Converting to Master-Feeder Structure. The Fund may invest all of its investable assets in an open-end management investment company (“master fund”) with substantially the same investment objective, policies and restrictions as the Fund. Any such master fund would be advised by the Fund’s investment adviser (or an affiliate) and the Fund would not pay directly any advisory fee with respect to the assets so invested. The Fund may initiate investments in a master fund at any time without shareholder approval.
Cybersecurity Risk. With the increased use of technologies by Fund service providers to conduct business, such as the Internet, the Fund is susceptible to operational, information security and related risks. In general, cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events. Cyber attacks include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems (e.g., through “hacking” or malicious software coding) for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. Cyber attacks may also be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access, such as causing denial-of-service attacks on websites (i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users). Cybersecurity failures or breaches by the Fund’s investment adviser or administrator and other service providers (including, but not limited to, the custodian or transfer agent), and the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations potentially resulting in financial losses, interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its net asset value, impediments to trading, the inability of Fund shareholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. While various Fund service providers have established business continuity plans and risk management systems intended to identify and mitigate cyber attacks, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems put in place by service providers to the Fund and issuers in which the Fund invests.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 11 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
General. Unless otherwise stated, the Fund's investment objective and certain other policies may be changed without shareholder approval. Shareholders will receive 60 days' advance written notice of any material change in the investment objective. The Fund might not use all of the strategies and techniques or invest in all of the types of securities described in this Prospectus or the SAI. While at times the Fund may use alternative investment strategies in an effort to limit its losses, it may choose not to do so. In determining compliance with the requirement that the Fund invest primarily in commodity-linked derivative instruments backed by a portfolio of long and short positions in fixed income securities, the net notional value of long and short derivative positions is included.
The Fund’s annual operating expenses are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets and may change as Fund assets increase and decrease over time. Purchase and redemption activities by Fund shareholders may impact the management of the Fund and its ability to achieve its investment objective. In addition, the redemption by one or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders of their holdings in the Fund could have an adverse impact on the remaining shareholders in the Fund. Mutual funds, investment advisers, other market participants and many securities markets are subject to rules and regulations and the jurisdiction of one or more regulators. Changes to applicable rules and regulations could have an adverse effect on securities markets and market participants, as well as on the Fund’s ability to execute its investment strategy. With the increased use of technologies by Fund service providers, such as the Internet, to conduct business, the Fund is susceptible to operational, information security and related risks.
Management and Organization
Management. The investment adviser of the Fund is Eaton Vance Management (“Eaton Vance”), with offices at Two International Place, Boston, MA 02110. Eaton Vance and its predecessor organizations have been managing assets since 1924 and managing mutual funds since 1931. Eaton Vance and its affiliates currently manage over $455 billion on behalf of mutual funds, institutional clients and individuals. Eaton Vance manages the investments of the Fund and provides administrative services and related office facilities.
Pursuant to a sub-advisory agreement, Eaton Vance has delegated the investment management of the Fund to Parametric, an indirect, majority-owned subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp., with offices at 800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2800, Seattle, WA 98104. Eaton Vance pays Parametric a portion of the advisory fee for sub-advisory services provided to the Fund.
The Fund’s semiannual shareholder report covering the fiscal period ended June 30 provides information regarding the basis for the Trustees’ approval of the Fund’s investment advisory and administrative and sub-advisory agreements.
Under its investment advisory and administrative agreement with the Fund, Eaton Vance receives a monthly fee as follows:
Average Daily Net Assets for the Month |
Annual Fee Rate*
(for each level) |
Up to $1 billion | 0.550% |
$1 billion but less than $2.5 billion | 0.525% |
$2.5 billion but less than $5 billion | 0.505% |
$5 billion and over | 0.490% |
* Pursuant to a fee reduction agreement dated November 1, 2016, Eaton Vance contractually agreed to reduce its investment advisory and administration fee as stated above. These contractual reductions cannot be terminated or modified without Trustee and shareholder approval.
Prior to November 1, 2016, Eaton Vance received a monthly investment advisory and administration agreement fee as follows:
Average Daily Net Assets |
Annual Fee Rate
(for each level) |
up to $500 million | 0.600% |
$500 million but less than $1 billion | 0.575% |
$1 billion but less than $2.5 billion | 0.550% |
$2.5 billion but less than $5 billion | 0.530% |
$5 billion and over | 0.515% |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the effective annual rate of the advisory fee paid to Eaton Vance, based on consolidated average daily net assets of the Fund, was 0.55%.
The Fund is managed by a team of portfolio managers from Parametric, who are primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio. The members of the team are Gregory J. Liebl and Thomas C. Seto. Mr. Seto has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since May 25, 2011 (commencement of operations) and Mr. Liebl has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since May 1, 2018. Mr. Seto has held the position of Head of Investment Management at Parametric’s Seattle Investment Center since June 2014 and was previously Director of Portfolio Management at Parametric for more than five years. He has managed other Eaton Vance funds for more than five years. Mr. Liebl is a Portfolio Manager at Parametric’s Minneapolis Investment Center and has been an employee of Parametric for more than five years.
The Statement of Additional Information provides additional information about each portfolio manager’s compensation, other accounts managed by each portfolio manager, and each portfolio manager’s ownership of Fund shares.
Eaton Vance provides sub-transfer agency and related services to Eaton Vance mutual funds pursuant to a Sub-Transfer Agency Support Services Agreement. For its services under the agreement, Eaton Vance receives an aggregate fee from such funds equal to its actual expenses incurred in performing such services.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 12 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Organization. The Fund is a series of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, a Massachusetts business trust. The Fund offers multiple classes of shares. Each Class represents a pro rata interest in the Fund but is subject to different expenses and rights. The Fund does not hold annual shareholder meetings but may hold special meetings for matters that require shareholder approval (such as electing or removing Trustees, approving management or advisory contracts or changing investment policies that may only be changed with shareholder approval).
Valuing Shares
The Fund values its shares once each day only when the New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) is open for trading (typically Monday through Friday), as of the close of regular trading on the Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m. eastern time). If trading on the Exchange is halted for the day before the scheduled close of regular trading the Fund’s net asset value per share generally will still be calculated as of the scheduled close of regular trading on the Exchange. The purchase price of Fund shares is their net asset value (plus any applicable sales charge), which is derived from the value of Fund holdings, including the Fund’s interest in any Portfolio and/or any Subsidiary, as applicable. When purchasing or redeeming Fund shares through a financial intermediary, your financial intermediary must receive your order by the close of regular trading on the Exchange in order for the purchase price or the redemption price to be based on that day’s net asset value per share. It is the financial intermediary’s responsibility to transmit orders promptly. The Fund may accept purchase and redemption orders as of the time of their receipt by certain financial intermediaries (or their designated intermediaries).
The Board has adopted procedures for valuing investments (the “Procedures”), which have also been adopted by any Subsidiary, and has delegated to the investment adviser(s) the daily valuation of such investments. Pursuant to the Procedures, securities and other investments held by the Fund are generally valued at market value. Exchange-listed investments (including certain derivatives) are normally valued at last sale or closing prices. Exchange-traded options are valued at the mean of the bid and asked prices at valuation time as reported by the Options Price Reporting Authority for U.S. listed options, or by the relevant exchange or board of trade for non-U.S. listed options. Non-exchange traded derivatives are normally valued on the basis of quotes obtained from brokers and dealers or independent pricing services. Most loans and other debt obligations are valued using prices supplied by one or more pricing services. Shares of the Subsidiary will be valued at their net asset value.
An instrument’s “fair value” is the amount that the owner might reasonably expect to receive for the instrument upon its current sale in the ordinary course of business. Under certain limited circumstances, the Fund may use fair value pricing if, for example, market prices or a pricing service's prices (as applicable) are unavailable or deemed unreliable, or if events occur after the close of a securities market (usually a foreign market) and before portfolio assets are valued that cause or are likely to cause a market quotation to be unavailable or unreliable, such as corporate actions, regulatory news, or natural disasters or governmental actions that may affect investments in a particular sector, country or region. In addition, for foreign equity securities and total return swaps and futures contracts on foreign indices that meet certain criteria, the Board has approved the use of a fair value service that values such investments to reflect market trading that occurs after the close of the applicable foreign markets of comparable securities or other investments that have a strong correlation to the fair valued investments. An investment that is fair valued may be valued at a price higher or lower than (i) actual market quotations, (ii) the value determined by other funds using their own fair valuation procedures, or (iii) the price at which the investment could have been sold during the period in which fair valuation was used with respect to such investment to calculate the Fund’s NAV. Because foreign investments held by the Fund or the Subsidiary, as applicable, if any, may trade on days when Fund shares are not priced, the value of such investments, and thus the net asset value of the Fund’s shares, can change on days when Fund shares cannot be redeemed or purchased. Eaton Vance has established a Valuation Committee that oversees the valuation of investments.
Purchasing Shares
You may purchase shares through your financial intermediary or by mailing an account application form to the transfer agent (see back cover for address). Purchase orders will be executed at the net asset value next determined after their receipt in proper form (meaning that the order is complete and contains all necessary information) by the Fund’s transfer agent. The Fund’s transfer agent or your financial intermediary must receive your purchase in proper form no later than the close of regular trading on the Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m. eastern time) for your purchase to be effected at that day’s net asset value. If you purchase shares through a financial intermediary, that intermediary may charge you a fee for executing the purchase for you.
The Fund may suspend the sale of its shares at any time and any purchase order may be refused for any reason. The funds sponsored by the Eaton Vance organization (the “Eaton Vance funds”) generally do not accept investments from residents of the European Union or Switzerland. The funds also do not accept investments from other non-U.S. residents, provided that a fund may accept investments from certain non-U.S. investors at the discretion of the principal underwriter. The Fund does not issue share certificates.
As used throughout this Prospectus, the term “employer sponsored retirement plan” includes the following: an employer sponsored pension or profit sharing plan that qualifies under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (such as a 401(k) plan, money purchase pension, profit sharing and defined benefit plan); ERISA covered 403(b) plan; Taft-Hartley multi-employer plan; and non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements that operate in a similar manner to a qualified retirement plan (including 457 plans and executive deferred compensation arrangements). Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”) are not employer sponsored retirement plans for purposes of this definition.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 13 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Investor Class Shares
Your initial investment must be at least $1,000. After your initial investment, additional investments may be made in any amount at any time by sending a check payable to the order of the Fund or the transfer agent directly to the transfer agent (see back cover for address). Please include your name and account number and the name of the Fund and Class of shares with each investment.
The minimum initial investment amount and Fund policy of redeeming accounts with low account balances are waived for bank automated investing accounts, certain group purchase plans (including employer sponsored retirement plans and proprietary fee-based programs sponsored by financial intermediaries) and for persons affiliated with Eaton Vance, its affiliates and certain Fund service providers (as described in the SAI).
Institutional Class Shares
Your initial investment must be at least $50,000, except as noted below. Institutional Class shares are offered to clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge such clients an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Institutional Class shares through a no-load network or platform. Such clients may include individuals, corporations, endowments, foundations and employer sponsored retirement plans. Institutional Class shares may also be available through brokerage platforms of broker-dealer firms that have agreements with the Fund’s principal underwriter to offer Institutional Class shares solely when acting as an agent for the investor. An investor acquiring Institutional Class shares through such platforms may be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker. The Fund offers another share class that has different fees and expenses. Institutional Class shares also are offered to investment and institutional clients of Eaton Vance and its affiliates and certain persons affiliated with Eaton Vance.
The Institutional Class minimum initial investment is waived for persons affiliated with Eaton Vance, its affiliates and certain Fund service providers (as described in the SAI). The minimum initial investment also is waived for: (i) permitted exchanges; (ii) employer sponsored retirement plans; (iii) corporations, endowments and foundations with assets of at least $100 million; (iv) Institutional Class shares purchased through the brokerage platforms described above; and (v) accounts of clients of financial intermediaries who (a) charge an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (b) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Institutional Class shares through a no-load network or platform (in each case, as described above), provided the total value of such accounts invested in Institutional Class shares of Eaton Vance funds is at least $50,000 (or is anticipated by the principal underwriter to reach $50,000).
Institutional Class shares may be purchased through a financial intermediary or by requesting your bank to transmit immediately available funds (Federal Funds) by wire. To make an initial investment by wire, you must complete an account application and telephone Eaton Vance Shareholder Services at 1-800-260-0761 to be assigned an account number. You may request an account application by calling 1-800-260-0761 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time). Shareholder Services must be advised by telephone of each additional investment by wire.
Subsequent Investments. Subsequent investments of any amount may be made at any time, including through automatic investment each month or quarter from your bank account. You may make automatic investments of $50 or more each month or each quarter from your bank account provided such investments equal a minimum of $200 per year. You can establish bank automated investing on the account application or by providing written instructions to the Fund’s transfer agent. Please call 1-800-260-0761 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time) for further information.
You also may make additional investments by accessing your account via the Eaton Vance website at www.eatonvance.com. The trade date of purchases made through the Internet from a pre-designated bank account will be the day the purchase is requested through the Eaton Vance website (provided the request is on a business day and submitted no later than the close of regular trading on the Exchange). For more information about purchasing shares through the Internet, please call 1-800-260-0761 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time).
Inactive Accounts. In accordance with state “unclaimed property” (also known as “escheatment”) laws, your Fund shares may legally be considered abandoned and required to be transferred to the relevant state if no account activity or contact with the Fund or your financial intermediary occurs within a specified period of time. Please initiate contact a least once per calendar year and maintain a current and valid mailing address on record for your account. For more information, please see https://funds.eatonvance.com/mutual-funds-and-abandoned-property.php or please contact us at 1-800-260-0761.
Restrictions on Excessive Trading and Market Timing. The Fund is not intended for excessive trading or market timing. Market timers seek to profit by rapidly switching money into a fund when they expect the share price of the fund to rise and taking money out of the fund when they expect those prices to fall. By realizing profits through short-term trading, shareholders that engage in rapid purchases and sales (including exchanges, if permitted) of a fund’s shares may dilute
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 14 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
the value of shares held by long-term shareholders. Volatility resulting from excessive purchases and sales of fund shares, especially involving large dollar amounts, may disrupt efficient portfolio management. In particular, excessive purchases and sales of a fund’s shares may cause a fund to have difficulty implementing its investment strategies, may force the fund to sell portfolio securities at inopportune times to raise cash or may cause increased expenses (such as increased brokerage costs, realization of taxable capital gains without attaining any investment advantage or increased administrative costs).
A fund that invests all or a portion of its assets in foreign securities may be susceptible to a time zone arbitrage strategy in which shareholders attempt to take advantage of fund share prices that may not reflect developments in a foreign securities market that occur after the close of such market but prior to the pricing of fund shares. In addition, a fund that invests in securities that are, among other things, thinly traded, traded infrequently or illiquid, is susceptible to the risk that the current market price for such securities may not accurately reflect current market values. A shareholder may seek to engage in short-term trading to take advantage of these pricing differences (commonly referred to as “price arbitrage”). The investment adviser(s) and sub-adviser(s) are authorized to use the fair value of a security if prices are unavailable or are deemed unreliable (see “Valuing Shares”). The use of fair value pricing and the restrictions on excessive trading and market timing described below are intended to reduce a shareholder’s ability to engage in price or time zone arbitrage to the detriment of the Fund.
The Boards of the Eaton Vance funds have adopted policies to discourage short-term trading and market timing and to seek to minimize their potentially detrimental effects. Pursuant to these policies, an Eaton Vance fund shareholder who, through one or more accounts, completes two round-trips within 90 days generally will be deemed to be market timing or trading excessively in fund shares. “Two round-trips within 90 days” means either (1) a purchase of fund shares followed by a redemption of fund shares followed by a purchase followed by a redemption or (2) a redemption of fund shares followed by a purchase of fund shares followed by a redemption followed by a purchase, in either case with the final transaction in the sequence occurring within 90 days of the initial transaction in the sequence. Purchases and redemptions subject to the limitation include those made by exchanging to or from another fund. Under the policies, the Board may delegate to the Fund, or to its principal underwriter, sub-transfer agent or other service provider (each, a “delegate”) the responsibility to reject or cancel a purchase order, suspend or terminate an exchange privilege or terminate the ability of an investor to invest in the Eaton Vance funds if the Fund or its delegate determines that a proposed transaction involves market timing or excessive trading that it believes is likely to be detrimental to the Fund. The Fund and its delegate use reasonable efforts to detect market timing and excessive trading activity, but they cannot ensure that they will be able to identify all cases of market timing and excessive trading. The Fund or its delegate may also reject or cancel any purchase order (including an exchange) from an investor or group of investors for any other reason. Decisions to reject or cancel purchase orders (including exchanges) in the Fund are inherently subjective and will be made in a manner believed to be in the best interest of the Fund’s shareholders. No Eaton Vance fund has any arrangement to permit market timing.
The following fund share transactions (to the extent permitted by a fund’s prospectus) generally are exempt from the market timing and excessive trading policy described above because they generally do not raise market timing or excessive trading concerns:
· | transactions made pursuant to a systematic purchase plan or as the result of automatic reinvestment of dividends or distributions, or initiated by the Fund (e.g., for failure to meet applicable account minimums); |
· | transactions made by participants in employer sponsored retirement plans involving participant payroll or employer contributions or loan repayments, redemptions as part of plan terminations or at the direction of the plan, mandatory retirement distributions, or rollovers; |
· | model-based transactions made in model-based discretionary advisory accounts; or |
· | transactions made by an Eaton Vance fund that is structured as a “fund-of-funds,” provided the transactions are in response to fund inflows and outflows or are part of a reallocation of fund assets in accordance with its investment policies. |
It may be difficult for the Fund or its delegate to identify market timing or excessive trading in omnibus accounts traded through financial intermediaries. The Fund and its delegate have provided guidance to financial intermediaries (such as banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and retirement administrators) concerning the application of the Eaton Vance funds’ market timing and excessive trading policies to Fund shares held in omnibus accounts maintained and administered by such intermediaries, including guidance concerning situations where market timing or excessive trading is considered to be detrimental to the Fund. The Fund or its delegate may rely on a financial intermediary’s policy to restrict market timing and excessive trading if it believes that policy is likely to prevent market timing that is likely to be detrimental to the Fund. Such policy may be more or less restrictive than the Fund’s policy. Although the Fund or its delegate reviews trading activity at the omnibus account level for activity that indicates potential market timing or excessive trading activity, the Fund and its delegate typically will not request or receive individual account data unless suspicious trading activity is identified. The Fund and its delegate generally rely on financial intermediaries to monitor trading activity in omnibus accounts in good faith in accordance with their own or Fund policies. The Fund and its delegate cannot ensure that these financial intermediaries will in all cases apply the policies of the Fund or their own policies, as the case may be, to accounts under their control.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 15 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Choosing a Share Class. The Fund offers different classes of shares. The different classes of shares represent investments in the same portfolio of securities, but the classes are subject to different expenses and privileges, and will likely have different share prices due to differences in class expenses. A share class also may be subject to a sales charge. In choosing the class of shares that suits your investment needs, you should consider:
· | how long you expect to own your shares; |
· | how much you intend to invest; and |
· | the total operating expenses associated with owning each class. |
Each investor’s considerations are different. You should speak with your financial intermediary to help you decide which class of shares to purchase. Set forth below is a brief description of each class of shares offered by the Fund.
Investor Class shares are offered at net asset value. Investor Class shares pay distribution and service fees equal to 0.25% annually of average daily net assets.
Institutional Class shares are offered to clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge such clients an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Institutional Class shares through a no-load network or platform. Such clients may include individuals, corporations, endowments, foundations and employer sponsored retirement plans. Institutional Class shares may also be available through brokerage platforms of broker-dealer firms that have agreements with the Fund’s principal underwriter to offer Institutional Class shares solely when acting as an agent for the investor. An investor acquiring Institutional Class shares through such platforms may be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker. Institutional Class shares are also offered to investment and institutional clients of Eaton Vance and its affiliates, and certain persons affiliated with Eaton Vance (including employees, officers and directors of Eaton Vance’s affiliates). Institutional Class shares do not pay distribution or service fees.
Payments to Financial Intermediaries. In addition to payments disclosed under “Sales Charges” below, the principal underwriter, out of its own resources, may make cash payments to certain financial intermediaries who provide marketing support, transaction processing and/or administrative services and, in some cases, include some or all Eaton Vance funds in preferred or specialized selling programs. Payments made by the principal underwriter to a financial intermediary may be significant and are typically in the form of fees based on Fund sales, assets, transactions processed and/or accounts attributable to that financial intermediary. Financial intermediaries also may receive amounts from the principal underwriter in connection with educational or due diligence meetings that include information concerning Eaton Vance funds. The principal underwriter may pay or allow other promotional incentives or payments to financial intermediaries to the extent permitted by applicable laws and regulations.
Certain financial intermediaries that maintain fund accounts for the benefit of their customers provide sub-accounting, recordkeeping and/or administrative services to the Eaton Vance funds and are compensated for such services by the funds. As used in this Prospectus, the term “financial intermediary” includes any broker, dealer, bank (including bank trust departments), registered investment adviser, financial planner, a retirement plan and/or its administrator, their designated intermediaries and any other firm having a selling, administration or similar agreement with the principal underwriter or its affiliates.
Sales Charges
Investor and Institutional Class shares are offered at net asset value per share.
Conversion Feature. In some circumstances, the Board may determine to cease to offer and subsequently close an existing class of Fund shares. In such circumstances, the Fund may automatically convert the shares for such class into another share class, subject to prior notice to shareholders of the impacted class. Any such conversion will occur at the respective net asset value of each class as of the conversion date without the imposition of any fee or other changes by the Fund.
Distribution and Service Fees. Investor Class shares have in effect a plan under Rule 12b-1 that allows the Fund to pay distribution fees for the sale and distribution of shares and service fees for personal and/or shareholder account services (so-called “12b-1 fees”). Investor Class shares pay distribution and service fees equal to 0.25% of average daily net assets annually. After the sale of shares, the principal underwriter generally receives the distribution and service fees for one year. Thereafter financial intermediaries generally receive from the principal underwriter 0.25% annually of average daily net assets based on the value of shares sold by such financial intermediaries for shareholder servicing performed by such intermediaries. With respect to purchases of Investor Class shares by certain employer sponsored retirement plans, the financial intermediary receives the above described distribution and service fees from the principal underwriter immediately after the sale. Distribution and service fees are subject to the limitations contained in the sales charge rule of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.
More information is available free of charge on the Eaton Vance website at www.eatonvance.com and in the SAI. Please consult the Eaton Vance website before making a purchase of Fund shares.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 16 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Redeeming Shares
You can redeem shares in any of the following ways:
By Mail | Send your request to the transfer agent (see back cover for address). The request must be signed exactly as your account is registered (for instance, a joint account must be signed by all registered owners to be accepted) and a Medallion signature guarantee may be required. Circumstances that may require a Medallion signature guarantee include, but are not limited to, requests to distribute redemption proceeds to a party other than the registered account owner(s); requests to mail redemption proceeds to an address other than the address of record; requests to distribute proceeds to a bank account not on file; requests to re-issue uncashed checks representing redemption proceeds; or transaction requests from an account beneficiary when an account owner is deceased. You can obtain a Medallion signature guarantee at banks, savings and loan institutions, credit unions, securities dealers, securities exchanges, clearing agencies and registered securities associations that participate in The Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program, Inc. (STAMP, Inc.). Only Medallion signature guarantees issued in accordance with STAMP, Inc. will be accepted. You may be asked to provide additional documents if your shares are registered in the name of a corporation, partnership or fiduciary. |
By Telephone | Certain shareholders can redeem by calling 1-800-260-0761 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time). Proceeds of a telephone redemption are generally limited to $100,000 per account (which may include shares of one or more Eaton Vance funds) and can be sent only to the account address or to a bank pursuant to prior instructions. |
By Internet | Certain shareholders can redeem by logging on to the Eaton Vance website at www.eatonvance.com. Proceeds of internet redemptions are generally limited to $100,000 per account (which may include shares of one or more Eaton Vance funds) and can be sent only to the account address or to a bank pursuant to prior instructions. |
For Additional Information | Please call 1-800-260-0761 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time). |
Through a Financial Intermediary | Your financial intermediary is responsible for transmitting the order promptly. A financial intermediary may charge a fee for this service. |
A redemption may be requested by sending a Medallion signature guaranteed letter of instruction to the transfer agent (see back cover for address) or, for telephone redemptions as described above, by calling 1-800-260-0761. Certain redemption requests, including those involving shares held by certain corporations, trusts or certain other entities and shares that are subject to certain fiduciary arrangements, may require additional documentation and may be redeemed only by mail. The Fund's transfer agent or your financial intermediary must receive your redemption in proper form (meaning that it is complete and contains all necessary information) no later than the close of regular trading on the Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m. eastern time) for your redemption to be effected at that day’s net asset value. Redemption proceeds are reduced by the amount of any federal income and state tax required to be withheld.
Redemption proceeds typically are paid to the redeeming shareholder in cash up to two business days after the redemption, but payment could take up to seven days, as permitted by the 1940 Act for the reasons discussed below. The actual number of days following receipt of a redemption request in which the Fund typically expects to pay redemption proceeds generally will depend on how you hold your shares with the Fund.
If your shares are held in a “street name” account with a financial intermediary (see “Shareholder Account Features – ‘Street Name’ Accounts”), your intermediary will elect through National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) to settle redemptions either one business day or two business days after the redemption date and redemption proceeds normally will be wired to your financial intermediary on the settlement date pursuant to that election.
If your shares are held directly with the Fund's transfer agent, redemptions normally will be settled in one business day after the redemption date and redemption proceeds will be sent by regular mail on such date. However, if you have given proper written authorization in advance, you may request that redemption proceeds be wired on the settlement date directly to your bank account in any bank in the United States. While not currently charged by the Fund, you may be required to pay a wire transfer fee by your bank. If you request expedited mail delivery of your redemption proceeds and
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 17 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
the Fund is able to accommodate your request, charges may apply. You may redeem all or a portion of the shares from your account on any day the Fund is open for business, provided the amount requested is not on hold. When you purchase by check or with ACH funds transfer, the purchase will be on hold for up to 10 days from the date of receipt. During the hold period, redemption proceeds will not be sent until the transfer agent is reasonably satisfied that the purchase payment has been collected.
The Fund typically expects to meet redemption requests by (i) distributing any cash holdings, (ii) selling portfolio investments and/or (iii) borrowing from a bank under a line of credit. In addition to the foregoing, the Fund also may distribute securities as payment (a so-called “redemption in-kind”), in which case the redeeming shareholder may pay fees and commissions to convert the securities to cash. Unless requested by a shareholder, the Fund generally expects to limit use of redemption in-kind to stressed market conditions, but is permitted to do so in other circumstances. A shareholder who wishes to receive redemption proceeds in-kind must notify the Fund on or before submitting the redemption request by calling 1-800-260-0761. Securities distributed in a redemption in-kind would be valued pursuant to the Fund’s valuation procedures and selected by the investment adviser. If a shareholder receives securities in a redemption in-kind, the shareholder could incur brokerage or other charges in converting the securities to cash and the value of such securities would be subject to price fluctuations until sold. There can be no assurance that the Fund will manage liquidity successfully in all market environments. As a result, the Fund may not be able to pay redemption proceeds in a timely fashion because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests or other factors. Additional information about redemptions in-kind, including the procedures for submitting such redemption requests, is contained in the Fund’s SAI.
If your account value falls below $750, you may be asked either to add to your account or redeem it within 60 days. If you take no action, your account will be redeemed at net asset value and the proceeds sent to you.
Shareholder Account Features
Distributions. You may have your Fund distributions paid in one of the following ways:
• Full Reinvest Option | Distributions are reinvested in additional shares. This option will be assigned if you do not specify an option. |
• Partial Reinvest Option | Dividends are paid in cash* and capital gains are reinvested in additional shares. |
• Cash Option | Distributions are paid in cash.* |
• Exchange Option | Distributions are reinvested in additional shares of any class of another Eaton Vance fund chosen by you, subject to the terms of that fund’s prospectus. Before selecting this option, you must obtain a prospectus of the other fund and consider its objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully. |
* | If any distribution check remains uncashed for six months, Eaton Vance reserves the right to invest the amount represented by the check in Fund shares at the then-current net asset value of the Fund and all future distributions will be reinvested. |
Information about the Fund. From time to time, you may receive the following:
· | Semiannual and annual reports containing a list of portfolio holdings as of the end of the second and fourth fiscal quarters, respectively, performance information and financial statements. |
· | Periodic account statements, showing recent activity and total share balance. |
· | Tax information needed to prepare your income tax returns. |
· | Proxy materials, in the event a shareholder vote is required. |
· | Special notices about significant events affecting your Fund. |
Most fund information (including semiannual and annual reports, prospectuses and proxy statements) as well as your periodic account statements can be delivered electronically. For more information please go to www.eatonvance.com/edelivery.
The Eaton Vance funds have established policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of portfolio holdings and other information concerning Fund characteristics. A description of these policies and procedures is provided below and additionally in the SAI. Such policies and procedures regarding disclosure of portfolio holdings are designed to prevent the misuse of material, non-public information about the funds.
The Fund will file with the SEC a list of its portfolio holdings as of the end of the first and third fiscal quarters on Part F to the Fund’s Form N-PORT. The Fund’s annual and semiannual reports (as filed on Form N-CSR) and each Form N-PORT may be viewed on the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov). The most recent fiscal quarter-end holdings may also be viewed on the Eaton Vance website (www.eatonvance.com). Portfolio holdings information that is filed with the SEC is posted on the Eaton Vance website
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 18 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
approximately 60 days after the end of the quarter to which it relates. Portfolio holdings information as of each month end is posted to the website approximately one month after such month end. The Fund also posts information about certain portfolio characteristics (such as top ten holdings and asset allocation) at least quarterly on the Eaton Vance website approximately ten business days after the period and the Fund may also post performance attribution as of a month end or more frequently if deemed appropriate.
Withdrawal Plan. You may redeem shares on a regular periodic basis by establishing a systematic withdrawal plan.
Exchange Privilege. Each class of Fund shares may be exchanged for shares of the same Class of another Eaton Vance fund. For purposes of exchanges among Eaton Vance funds, Class A and Class I shares are deemed to be the same as Investor Class and Institutional Class shares, respectively, of other Eaton Vance funds. Exchanges are made at net asset value. If your shares are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge or “CDSC”, the CDSC will continue to apply to your new shares at the same CDSC rate. For purposes of the CDSC, your shares will continue to age from the date of your original purchase of Fund shares. Any class of shares of a fund may be exchanged for any other class of shares of that fund, provided that the shares being exchanged are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conditions for investing in the other class of shares described in the applicable prospectus are satisfied. Class C shares are not permitted to be exchanged to Class A shares unless the CDSC has expired and the exchange is made to facilitate the shareholder's participation in a fee-based advisory program.
Before exchanging, you should read the prospectus of the new fund carefully. Exchanges are subject to the terms applicable to purchases of the new fund’s shares as set forth in its prospectus. If you wish to exchange shares, write to the transfer agent (see back cover for address), log on to your account at www.eatonvance.com or call 1-800-260-0761. Periodic automatic exchanges are also available. The exchange privilege may be changed or discontinued at any time. You will receive at least 60 days’ notice of any material change to the privilege. This privilege may not be used for “market timing” and may be terminated for market timing accounts or for any other reason. For additional information, see “Restrictions on Excessive Trading and Market Timing” under “Purchasing Shares.” Ordinarily exchanges between different funds are taxable transactions for federal tax purposes, while permitted exchanges of one class for shares of another class of the same fund are not. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors regarding the applicability of federal, state, local and other taxes to transactions in Fund shares.
Telephone and Electronic Transactions. You can redeem or exchange shares by telephone as described in this Prospectus. In addition, certain transactions may be conducted through the Eaton Vance website. The transfer agent and the principal underwriter have procedures in place to authenticate telephone and electronic instructions (such as using security codes or verifying personal account information). As long as the transfer agent and principal underwriter follow reasonable procedures, they will not be responsible for unauthorized telephone or electronic transactions and you bear the risk of possible loss resulting from these transactions. You may decline the telephone redemption option on the account application. Telephone instructions are recorded. You should verify the accuracy of your confirmation statements immediately upon receipt and notify Eaton Vance Shareholder Services of any inaccuracies.
“Street Name” Accounts. If your shares are held in a “street name” account at a financial intermediary, that intermediary (and not the Fund or its transfer agent) will perform all recordkeeping, transaction processing and distribution payments. Because the Fund does not maintain an account for you, you should contact your financial intermediary to make transactions in shares, make changes in your account, or obtain account information. You will not be able to utilize a number of shareholder features, such as telephone or internet transactions, directly with the Fund and certain features may be subject to different requirements. If you transfer shares in a “street name” account to an account with another financial intermediary or to an account directly with the Fund, you should obtain historical information about your shares prior to the transfer. If you fail to provide your full account history to your new financial intermediary following a transfer, you may be ineligible for certain features of the Fund.
Procedures for Opening New Accounts. To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, federal law requires financial institutions to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each new customer who opens an account with the Fund and to determine whether such person’s name appears on government lists of known or suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations. When you open an account, the transfer agent or your financial intermediary will ask you for your name, address, date of birth (for individuals), residential or business street address (although post office boxes are still permitted for mailing) and social security number, taxpayer identification number, or other government-issued identifying number. You also may be asked to produce a copy of your driver’s license, passport or other identifying documents in order to verify your identity. In addition, it may be necessary to verify your identity by cross-referencing your identification information with a consumer report or other electronic databases. Other information or documents may be required to open accounts for corporations and other entities. Federal law prohibits the Fund and other financial institutions from opening a new account unless they receive the minimum identifying information described above. If a person fails to provide the information requested, any application by that person to open a new account will be rejected. Moreover, if the transfer agent or the financial intermediary is unable to verify the identity of a person based on information provided by that person, it may take additional steps including, but not limited to, requesting additional information or documents from the person, closing the person’s account or reporting the matter to the appropriate federal authorities. If your account is closed for this reason, your shares may be automatically redeemed at the net asset value next determined. If the Fund’s net asset value has decreased since your purchase, you will lose money as a result of this redemption. The Fund has also designated an anti-money laundering compliance officer.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 19 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Account Questions. If you have any questions about your account or the services available, please call Eaton Vance Shareholder Services at 1-800-260-0761 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (eastern time), or write to the transfer agent (see back cover for address).
Additional Tax Information
The Fund expects to pay any distributions at least once annually and intends to distribute any net capital gains annually, if any. It may also be necessary, in order to qualify for favorable tax treatment and to avoid any Fund-level tax, for the Fund to make a special income and/or capital gains distribution at the end of the calendar year. Different classes may distribute different amounts. Distributions cannot be assured, and the amount of each distribution may vary. The Fund’s distributions in any year may differ from annual net investment income and net gains.
Distributions of investment income and net gains from investments held for one year or less generally will be taxable as ordinary income. Distributions of any net gains from investments held for more than one year are generally taxable as long-term capital gains. Taxes on distributions of capital gains are determined by how long the Fund owned (or is treated as having owned) the investments that generated the gains, rather than how long a shareholder has owned his or her shares in the Fund. A majority of the Fund’s distributions may be taxed as ordinary income. The Fund’s distributions are taxable whether they are paid in cash or reinvested in additional shares.
Investors who purchase shares at a time when the Fund’s net asset value reflects gains that are either unrealized or realized but undistributed will pay the full price for the shares and then may receive some portion of the purchase price back as a taxable distribution. A redemption of Fund shares, including an exchange for shares of another fund, is generally a taxable transaction.
The net investment income of certain U.S. individuals, estates and trusts is subject to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax. For individuals, the tax is on the lesser of the “net investment income” and the excess of modified adjusted gross income over $200,000 (or $250,000 if married filing jointly). Net investment income includes, among other things, interest, dividends, and gross income and capital gains derived from passive activities and trading in securities or commodities. Net investment income is reduced by deductions “properly allocable” to this income.
One of the requirements for favorable tax treatment as a regulated investment company under the Code is that the Fund derives at least 90% of its gross income from certain qualifying sources of income. Commodity-related investments made directly by a regulated investment company would generally generate income that is not from a qualified source for purposes of meeting this 90 percent test. Pursuant to final regulations issued by the IRS and Department of Treasury, income, if any, realized by a wholly-owned non-U.S. subsidiary (such as the Subsidiary) of the Fund and included in the Fund's annual income for U.S. federal income purposes will constitute qualifying income to the extent that it is either (i) timely and currently repatriated to the Fund or (ii) derived with respect to the Fund’s business of investing in stock, securities or currencies.
Investments in foreign securities may be subject to foreign withholding taxes or other foreign taxes with respect to income (possibly including, in some cases, capital gains), which may decrease the yield on those securities. These taxes may be reduced or eliminated under the terms of an applicable tax treaty. Shareholders generally will not be entitled to claim a credit or deduction with respect to such foreign taxes paid. In addition, investments in foreign securities or foreign currencies may increase or accelerate the Fund’s recognition of ordinary income and may affect the timing or amount of the Fund’s distributions.
The Fund may be required to withhold, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, a portion of the dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds payable to shareholders who fail to provide the Fund with their correct taxpayer identification number or make required certifications, or who have been notified by the Internal Revenue Service that they are subject to backup withholding. Certain shareholders are exempt from backup withholding. Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amount withheld may be credited against a shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability.
Certain foreign entities may be subject to a 30% withholding tax on ordinary dividend income paid under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”). To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions subject to FATCA must agree to disclose to the relevant revenue authorities certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners and other foreign entities must certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners to the Fund. In addition, the IRS and the Department of Treasury have issued proposed regulations providing that these withholding rules will not be applicable to the gross proceeds of share redemptions or capital gain dividends the Fund pays. For more detailed information regarding FATCA withholding and compliance, please refer to the Statement of Additional Information.
Shareholders should consult with their tax advisors concerning the applicability of federal, state, local and other taxes to an investment.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 20 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Financial Highlights
The financial highlights are intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the period(s) indicated. Certain information in the tables reflects the financial results for a single Fund share. The total returns in the tables represent the rate an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value). This information has been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm. The report of Deloitte & Touche LLP and the Fund’s financial statements are incorporated herein by reference and included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.
(See related footnotes.)
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 21 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
Financial Highlights (continued)
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | ||||
Year Ended December 31, | ||||
2015 | 2014 | |||
Investor Class | Institutional Class | Investor Class | Institutional Class | |
Net asset value - Beginning of year | $6.440 | $6.480 | $7.560 | $7.590 |
Income (Loss) From Operations | ||||
Net investment loss (1) | $(0.042) | $(0.030) | $(0.067) | $(0.048) |
Net realized and unrealized loss | (1.398) | (1.410) | (1.053) | (1.062) |
Total loss from operations | $(1.440) | $(1.440) | $(1.120) | $(1.110) |
Net asset value - End of year | $5.000 | $5.040 | $6.440 | $6.480 |
Total Return (2)(3) | (22.36)% | (22.22)% | (14.81)% | (14.62)% |
Ratios/Supplemental Data | ||||
Net assets, end of year (000’s omitted) | $9,579 | $97,359 | $2,047 | $88,761 |
Ratios (as a percentage of average daily net assets): | ||||
Expenses (3)(4) | 0.95% | 0.70% | 0.98% | 0.73% |
Net investment loss | (0.74)% | (0.51)% | (0.88)% | (0.63)% |
Portfolio Turnover (5) | 573% | 573% | 1,232% | 1,232% |
(1) | Computed using average shares outstanding. |
(2) | Returns are historical and are calculated by determining the percentage change in net asset value with all distributions reinvested and do not reflect the effect of sales charges, if any. |
(3) | The investment adviser and administrator and sub-adviser reimbursed certain operating expenses (equal to 0.08%, 0.09%, 0.19%, 0.29% and 0.26% of average daily net assets for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively). Absent this reimbursement, total return would be lower. |
(4) | Excludes the effect of custody fee credits, if any, of less than 0.005%. Effective September 1, 2015, custody fee credits, which were earned on cash deposit balances, were discontinued by the custodian. |
(5) | Excluding the Fund’s investment in exchange-traded notes, which are used as temporary cash investments but offer commodity exposure, the portfolio turnover would be 0%. |
(6) | Amount represents less than $(0.0005) per share. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 22 | Prospectus dated May 1, 2019 |
More Information
About the Fund: More information is available in the Statement of Additional Information. The Statement of Additional Information is incorporated by reference into this Prospectus. Additional information about the Fund’s investments is available in the annual and semiannual reports (collectively, the “reports”). In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during the past fiscal year. You may obtain free copies of the Statement of Additional Information and the reports on Eaton Vance’s website at www.eatonvance.com or by contacting the principal underwriter:
Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc.
Two International Place
Boston, MA 02110
1-800-260-0761
website: www.eatonvance.com
Information about the Fund (including the Statement of Additional Information and reports) is available on the EDGAR database on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following email address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
Shareholder Inquiries: You can obtain more information from Eaton Vance Shareholder Services or the Fund transfer agent, BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc. If you own shares and would like to add to, redeem from or change your account, please write or call below:
Regular Mailing Address:
Eaton Vance Funds P.O. Box 9653 Providence, RI 02940-9653 |
Overnight Mailing Address:
Eaton Vance Funds 4400 Computer Drive Westborough, MA 01581 |
Phone Number:
1-800-260-0761 Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET |
The Fund's Investment Company Act No. is 811-04015. | |
5743 5.1.19 | © 2019 Eaton Vance Management |
Printed on recycled paper.
STATEMENT OF
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
May 1, 2019
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1
Class A Shares - ETTGX Class B Shares - EMTGX Class C Shares - ECTGX Class I Shares - EITMX
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2
Class A Shares - EXTGX Class B Shares - EYTGX Class C Shares - EZTGX Class I Shares - EITGX
Two International Place
Boston, Massachusetts 02110
1-800-262-1122
This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) provides general information about the Funds and their corresponding Portfolio. The Funds and the Portfolio are diversified, open-end management investment companies. Each Fund is a series of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust. Capitalized terms used in this SAI and not otherwise defined have the meanings given to them in the Prospectus.
This SAI contains additional information about:
Page | Page | |||
Strategies and Risks | 2 | Sales Charges | 22 | |
Investment Restrictions | 4 | Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings and Related Information | 25 | |
Management and Organization | 5 | Taxes | 26 | |
Investment Advisory and Administrative Services | 16 | Portfolio Securities Transactions | 34 | |
Other Service Providers | 19 | Financial Statements | 37 | |
Calculation of Net Asset Value | 20 | Additional Information About Investment Strategies | 37 | |
Purchasing and Redeeming Shares | 21 | |||
Appendix A: Class A Fees and Ownership | 69 | Appendix D: Class I Ownership | 72 | |
Appendix B: Class B Fees and Ownership | 70 | Appendix E: Eaton Vance Funds Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures | 73 | |
Appendix C: Class C Fees and Ownership | 71 | Appendix F: Adviser Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures | 75 |
Although each Fund offers only its shares of beneficial interest, it is possible that a Fund might become liable for a misstatement or omission in this SAI regarding another Fund because the Funds use this combined SAI.
This SAI is NOT a prospectus and is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only if preceded or accompanied by the Fund Prospectus dated May 1, 2019, as supplemented from time to time, which is incorporated herein by reference. This SAI should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus, which may be obtained by calling 1-800-262-1122.
© 2019 Eaton Vance Management
Definitions
The following terms that may be used in this SAI have the meaning set forth below:
“1940 Act” means the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended;
“1933 Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended;
“Board” means Board of Trustees or Board of Directors, as applicable;
“CEA” means Commodity Exchange Act;
“CFTC” means the Commodity Futures Trading Commission;
“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;
“Eaton Vance family of funds” means all registered investment companies advised or administered by Eaton Vance Management (“Eaton Vance”) or Boston Management and Research (“BMR”);
“Eaton Vance funds” means the mutual funds advised by Eaton Vance or BMR;
“Exchange” means the New York Stock Exchange;
“FINRA” means the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.;
“Fund” means the Fund or Funds listed on the cover of this SAI unless stated otherwise;
“investment adviser” means the investment adviser identified in the prospectus and, with respect to the implementation of the Fund’s investment strategies (including as described under “Taxes”) and portfolio securities transactions, any sub-adviser identified in the prospectus;
“IRS” means the Internal Revenue Service;
“Portfolio” means a registered investment company (other than the Fund) sponsored by the Eaton Vance organization in which one or more Funds and other investors may invest substantially all or any portion of their assets as described in the prospectus, if applicable;
“Subsidiary” means a wholly-owned subsidiary that certain Funds may have established to pursue their investment objective. No Fund described in this SAI has established a Subsidiary;
“SEC” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and
“Trust” means Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, of which the Fund is a series.
STRATEGIES AND RISKS
The Fund prospectus identifies the types of investments in which the Fund will principally invest in seeking its investment objective(s) and the principal risks associated therewith. The categories checked in the table below are all of the investments the Fund is permitted to make, including its principal investments and the investment practices the Fund (either directly or through one or more Portfolios as may be described in the prospectus) is permitted to engage in. To the extent that an investment type or practice listed below is not identified in the Fund prospectus as a principal investment strategy, the Fund generally expects to invest less than 5% of its total assets in such investment type. If a particular investment type or practice that is checked and listed below but not referred to in the prospectus becomes a more significant part of the Fund’s strategy, the prospectus may be amended to disclose that investment type or practice. “Fund” as used herein and under “Additional Information About Investment Strategies” refers to the Fund and its corresponding Portfolio. Information about the various investment types and practices and the associated risks checked below is included in alphabetical order in this SAI under “Additional Information about Investment Strategies.”
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 2 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Investment Type | Permitted for or Relevant to the Portfolio: |
Asset-Backed Securities (“ABS”) | |
Auction Rate Securities | |
Build America Bonds | |
Call and Put Features on Securities | |
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (“CMOs”) | |
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (“CMBS”) | |
Commodity-Related Investments | |
Common Stocks | √ |
Contingent Convertible Securities | √ |
Convertible Securities | √ |
Credit Linked Securities | |
Derivative Instruments and Related Risks | √ |
Derivative-Linked and Commodity-Linked Hybrid Instruments | |
Direct Investments | √ |
Emerging Market Investments | √ |
Equity Investments | √ |
Equity-Linked Securities | |
Event-Linked Instruments | |
Exchange-Traded Funds (“ETFs”) | √ |
Exchange-Traded Notes (“ETNs”) | |
Fixed-Income Securities | |
Foreign Currency Transactions | √ |
Foreign Investments | √ |
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts | √ |
Forward Rate Agreements | |
Futures Contracts | √ |
Hybrid Securities | √ |
Illiquid Securities | √ |
Indexed Securities | |
Inflation-Indexed (or Inflation-Linked) Bonds | |
Junior Loans | |
Liquidity or Protective Put Agreements | |
Loans | |
High Yield Securities | |
Master Limited Partnerships (“MLPs”) | √ |
Cash Equivalents | √ |
Mortgage-Backed Securities (“MBS”) |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 3 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Investment Type | Permitted for or Relevant to the Portfolio: |
Mortgage Dollar Rolls | |
Municipal Lease Obligations (“MLOs”) | |
Municipal Obligations | |
Option Contracts | √ |
Pooled Investment Vehicles | √ |
Preferred Stock | √ |
Real Estate Investments | √ |
Repurchase Agreements | |
Residual Interest Bonds | |
Restricted Securities | √ |
Reverse Repurchase Agreements | |
Rights and Warrants | √ |
Royalty Bonds | |
Senior Loans | |
Short Sales | √ |
Stripped Securities | |
Structured Notes | |
Swap Agreements | √ |
Swaptions | √ |
Trust Certificates | |
U.S. Government Securities | |
Unlisted Securities | |
Variable Rate Instruments | |
When-Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery and Forward Commitments | |
Zero Coupon Bonds, Deep Discounts and Payment In-Kind (“PIK”) Securities |
Other Disclosures Regarding Investment Practices | Permitted for or Relevant to the Portfolio: |
Asset Coverage | √ |
Average Effective Maturity | |
Borrowing for Investment Purposes | |
Borrowing for Temporary Purposes | √ |
Cybersecurity Risk | √ |
Diversified Status | √ |
Dividend Capture Trading | |
Duration | |
Investing in a Portfolio | √ |
Investments in the Subsidiary | |
Operational Risk | √ |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 4 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Other Disclosures Regarding Investment Practices | Permitted for or Relevant to the Portfolio: |
Option Strategy | |
Participation in the ReFlow Liquidity Program (1) | √ |
Portfolio Turnover | √ |
Securities Lending | √ |
Short-Term Trading | |
Significant Exposure to Health Sciences Companies | |
Significant Exposure to Smaller Companies | |
Significant Exposure to Utilities and Financial Service Sectors | |
Tax-Managed Investing | √ |
(1) | A Fund investing in the Portfolio may participate in the ReFlow Liquidity Program. |
INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS
The following investment restrictions of each Fund are designated as fundamental policies and as such cannot be changed without the approval of the holders of a majority of a Fund’s outstanding voting securities, which as used in this SAI means the lesser of: (a) 67% of the shares of a Fund present or represented by proxy at a meeting if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding shares are present or represented at the meeting; or (b) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of a Fund. Accordingly, each Fund may not:
(1) | Borrow money or issue senior securities except as permitted by the 1940 Act; |
(2) | Purchase any securities or evidences of interest therein on “margin,” that is to say in a transaction in which it has borrowed all or a portion of the purchase price and pledged the purchased securities or evidences of interest therein as collateral for the amount so borrowed; |
(3) | Engage in the underwriting of securities; |
(4) | Buy or sell real estate (although it may purchase and sell securities which are secured by real estate and securities of companies which invest or deal in real estate), commodities or commodity contracts for the purchase or sale of physical commodities; |
(5) | Make loans to other persons, except by (a) the acquisition of debt securities and making portfolio investments, (b) entering into repurchase agreements and (c) lending portfolio securities; |
(6) | With respect to 75% of its total assets, invest more than 5% of its total assets (taken at current value) in the securities of any one issuer, or invest in more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer, except obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities and except securities of other investment companies; or |
(7) | Concentrate its investments in any particular industry, but, if deemed appropriate for the Fund’s objective, up to (but less than) 25% of the value of its assets may be invested in any one industry. |
Each Fund’s borrowing policy is consistent with Section 18(f) of the 1940 Act, which states that it shall be unlawful for any registered open-end company to issue any class of senior security or to sell any senior security of which it is the issuer, except that any such registered company shall be permitted to borrow from any bank; provided, that immediately after any such borrowing there is an asset coverage of at least 300% for all borrowings of such registered company; and provided further, that in the event that such asset coverage shall at any time fall below 300% such registered company shall, within three days thereafter (not including Sundays and holidays) or such longer period as the SEC may prescribe by rules and regulations, reduce the amount of its borrowings to an extent that the asset coverage of such borrowings shall be at least 300%.
Notwithstanding its investment policies and restrictions, each Fund may, in compliance with the requirements of the 1940 Act, invest: (i) all of its investable assets in an open-end management investment company with substantially the same investment objective(s), policies and restrictions as the Fund; or (ii) in more than one open-end management investment company sponsored by Eaton Vance or its affiliates, provided any such company has investment objective(s), policies and restrictions that are consistent with those of the Fund.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 5 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The Portfolio has adopted substantially the same fundamental investment restrictions as the foregoing investment restrictions adopted by each Fund; such restrictions cannot be changed without the approval of a “majority of the outstanding voting securities” of a Portfolio.
In addition, to the extent a registered open-end investment company acquires securities of a fund in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(G) under the 1940 Act, such acquired fund shall not acquire any securities of a registered open-end investment company in reliance on Sections 12(d)(1)(F) or 12(d)(1)(G) under the 1940 Act.
The following nonfundamental investment policy has been adopted by each Fund and the Portfolio. A nonfundamental investment policy may be changed by the Board with respect to a Fund without approval by the Fund’s shareholders or, with respect to the Portfolio, without approval of the Fund or its other investors. Each Fund and the Portfolio will not:
· | make short sales of securities or maintain a short position, unless at all times when a short position is open (i) it owns an equal amount of such securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable, without payment of any further consideration, for securities of the same issue as, and equal in amount to, the securities sold short or (ii) it holds in a segregated account cash or other liquid securities (to the extent required under the 1940 Act) in an amount equal to the current market value of the securities sold short, and unless not more than 25% of its net assets (taken at current value) is held as collateral for such sales at any one time. |
Whenever an investment policy or investment restriction set forth in the Prospectus or this SAI states a requirement with respect to the percentage of assets that may be invested in any security or other asset, or describes a policy regarding quality standards, such percentage limitation or standard shall be determined immediately after and as a result of the acquisition by a Fund or the Portfolio of such security or asset. Accordingly, unless otherwise noted, any later increase or decrease resulting from a change in values, assets or other circumstances or any subsequent rating change made by a rating service (or as determined by the investment adviser if the security is not rated by a rating agency), will not compel a Fund or the Portfolio to dispose of such security or other asset. However, a Fund and the Portfolio must always be in compliance with the borrowing policy set forth above.
MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION
Fund Management. The Trustees of the Trust are responsible for the overall management and supervision of the affairs of the Trust. The Trustees of the Portfolio are responsible for the overall management and supervision of the Portfolio. The Board members and officers of the Trust and the Portfolio are listed below. Except as indicated, each individual has held the office shown or other offices in the same company for the last five years. Board members and officers of the Trust and the Portfolio hold indefinite terms of office. The “noninterested Trustees” consist of those Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust and the Portfolio, as that term is defined under the 1940 Act. The business address of each Board member and officer is Two International Place, Boston, Massachusetts 02110. As used in this SAI, “EVC” refers to Eaton Vance Corp., “EV” refers to Eaton Vance, Inc., “Eaton Vance” refers to Eaton Vance Management and “EVD” refers to Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. (see “Principal Underwriter” under “Other Service Providers”). EVC and EV are the corporate parent and trustee, respectively, of Eaton Vance and BMR. Each officer affiliated with Eaton Vance may hold a position with other Eaton Vance affiliates that is comparable to his or her position with Eaton Vance listed below.
Name and Year of Birth | Trust/Portfolio Position(s) | Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years
and Other Relevant Experience |
Number of Portfolios
in Fund Complex Overseen By Trustee (1) |
Other Directorships Held
During Last Five Years (2) |
|||||
Interested Trustee | ||||||||||
THOMAS E. FAUST JR.
1958 |
Trustee | Since 2007 | Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of EVC, Director and President of EV, Chief Executive Officer and President of Eaton Vance and BMR, and Director of EVD. Trustee and/or officer of 172 registered investment companies. Mr. Faust is an interested person because of his positions with BMR, Eaton Vance, EVC, EVD and EV, which are affiliates of the Trust and Portfolio. | 172 | Director of EVC and Hexavest Inc. (investment management firm). |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 6 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Name and Year of Birth | Trust/Portfolio Position(s) | Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years
and Other Relevant Experience |
Number of Portfolios
in Fund Complex Overseen By Trustee (1) |
Other Directorships Held
During Last Five Years (2) |
|||||
Noninterested Trustees | ||||||||||
MARK R. FETTING
1954 |
Trustee | Since 2016 | Private investor. Formerly held various positions at Legg Mason, Inc. (investment management firm) (2000-2012), including President, Chief Executive Officer, Director and Chairman (2008-2012), Senior Executive Vice President (2004-2008) and Executive Vice President (2001-2004). Formerly, President of Legg Mason family of funds (2001-2008). Formerly, Division President and Senior Officer of Prudential Financial Group, Inc. and related companies (investment management firm) (1991-2000). | 172 | None | |||||
CYNTHIA E. FROST
1961 |
Trustee | Since 2014 | Private investor. Formerly, Chief Investment Officer of Brown University (university endowment) (2000-2012). Formerly, Portfolio Strategist for Duke Management Company (university endowment manager) (1995-2000). Formerly, Managing Director, Cambridge Associates (investment consulting company) (1989-1995). Formerly, Consultant, Bain and Company (management consulting firm) (1987-1989). Formerly, Senior Equity Analyst, BA Investment Management Company (1983-1985). | 172 | None | |||||
GEORGE J. GORMAN
1952 |
Trustee | Since 2014 | Principal at George J. Gorman LLC (consulting firm). Formerly, Senior Partner at Ernst & Young LLP (a registered public accounting firm) (1974-2009). | 172 | Formerly, Trustee of the BofA Funds Series Trust (11 funds) (2011-2014) and of the Ashmore Funds (9 funds) (2010-2014). | |||||
VALERIE A. MOSLEY
1960 |
Trustee | Since 2014 | Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Valmo Ventures (a consulting and investment firm). Former Partner and Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Investment Strategist at Wellington Management Company, LLP (investment management firm) (1992-2012). Former Chief Investment Officer, PG Corbin Asset Management (1990-1992). Formerly worked in institutional corporate bond sales at Kidder Peabody (1986-1990). | 172 | Director of Envestnet, Inc. (provider of intelligent systems for wealth management and financial wellness) (since 2018). Director of Dynex Capital, Inc. (mortgage REIT) (since 2013). |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 7 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Name and Year of Birth | Trust/Portfolio Position(s) | Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years
and Other Relevant Experience |
Number of Portfolios
in Fund Complex Overseen By Trustee (1) |
Other Directorships Held
During Last Five Years (2) |
|||||
WILLIAM H. PARK
1947 |
Chairperson of the Board and Trustee | Chairperson of the Board since 2016 and Trustee since 2003 | Private investor. Formerly, Consultant (management and transactional) (2012-2014). Formerly, Chief Financial Officer, Aveon Group, L.P. (investment management firm) (2010-2011). Formerly, Vice Chairman, Commercial Industrial Finance Corp. (specialty finance company) (2006-2010). Formerly, President and Chief Executive Officer, Prizm Capital Management, LLC (investment management firm) (2002-2005). Formerly, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, United Asset Management Corporation (investment management firm) (1982-2001). Formerly, Senior Manager, Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) (a registered public accounting firm) (1972-1981). | 172 | None | |||||
HELEN FRAME PETERS
1948 |
Trustee | Since 2008 | Professor of Finance, Carroll School of Management, Boston College. Formerly, Dean, Carroll School of Management, Boston College (2000-2002). Formerly, Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income, Scudder Kemper Investments (investment management firm) (1998-1999). Formerly, Chief Investment Officer, Equity and Fixed Income, Colonial Management Associates (investment management firm) (1991-1998). | 172 | None | |||||
KEITH QUINTON
1958 |
Trustee | Since 2018 | Independent Investment Committee Member at New Hampshire Retirement System (since 2017). Advisory Committee member at Northfield Information Services, Inc. (risk management analytics provider) (since 2016). Formerly, Portfolio Manager and Senior Quantitative Analyst at Fidelity Investments (investment management firm) (2001-2014). | 172 | Director of New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank (since 2016). | |||||
MARCUS L. SMITH
1966 |
Trustee | Since 2018 | Member of Posse Boston Advisory Board (foundation) (since 2015); Trustee at University of Mount Union (since 2008). Formerly, Portfolio Manager at MFS Investment Management (investment management firm) (1994-2017). | 172 | Director of MSCI Inc. (global provider of investment decision support tools) (since 2017). Formerly, Director of DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (logistics real estate company) (2017-2018). | |||||
SUSAN J. SUTHERLAND
1957 |
Trustee | Since 2015 | Private investor. Formerly, Associate, Counsel and Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (law firm) (1982-2013). | 172 | Formerly, Director of Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd. (global provider of customized insurance and reinsurance products) (2013-2015). |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 8 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Name and Year of Birth | Trust/Portfolio Position(s) | Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years
and Other Relevant Experience |
Number of Portfolios
in Fund Complex Overseen By Trustee (1) |
Other Directorships Held
During Last Five Years (2) |
|||||
SCOTT E. WENNERHOLM
1959 |
Trustee | Since 2016 | Formerly, Trustee at Wheelock College (postsecondary institution) (2012-2018). Formerly, Consultant at GF Parish Group (executive recruiting firm) (2016-2017). Formerly, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President at BNY Mellon Asset Management (investment management firm) (2005-2011). Formerly, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Natixis Global Asset Management (investment management firm) (1997-2004). Formerly, Vice President at Fidelity Investments Institutional Services (investment management firm) (1994-1997). | 172 | None |
(1) | Includes both master and feeder funds in a master-feeder structure. |
(2) | During their respective tenures, the Trustees (except for Mmes. Frost and Sutherland and Messrs. Fetting, Gorman, Quinton, Smith and Wennerholm) also served as Board members of one or more of the following funds (which operated in the years noted): eUnits TM 2 Year U.S. Market Participation Trust: Upside to Cap / Buffered Downside (launched in 2012 and terminated in 2014); and eUnits TM 2 Year U.S. Market Participation Trust II: Upside to Cap / Buffered Downside (launched in 2012 and terminated in 2014). However, Ms. Mosley did not serve as a Board member of eUnits TM 2 Year U.S. Market Participation Trust: Upside to Cap / Buffered Downside (launched in 2012 and terminated in 2014). |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 9 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The Board has general oversight responsibility with respect to the business and affairs of the Trust and each Fund. The Board has engaged an investment adviser and (if applicable) a sub-adviser(s) (collectively the “adviser”) to manage each Fund and an administrator to administer each Fund and is responsible for overseeing such adviser and administrator and other service providers to the Trust and each Fund. The Board is currently composed of eleven Trustees, including ten Trustees who are not “interested persons” of a Fund, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act (each a “noninterested Trustee”). In addition to six regularly scheduled meetings per year, the Board holds special meetings or informal conference calls to discuss specific matters that may require action prior to the next regular meeting. As discussed below, the Board has established five committees to assist the Board in performing its oversight responsibilities.
The Board has appointed a noninterested Trustee to serve in the role of Chairperson. The Chairperson’s primary role is to participate in the preparation of the agenda for meetings of the Board and the identification of information to be presented to the Board with respect to matters to be acted upon by the Board. The Chairperson also presides at all meetings of the Board and acts as a liaison with service providers, officers, attorneys, and other Board members generally between meetings. The Chairperson may perform such other functions as may be requested by the Board from time to time. In addition, the Board may appoint a noninterested Trustee to serve in the role of Vice-Chairperson. The Vice-Chairperson has the power and authority to perform any or all of the duties and responsibilities of the Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson and/or as requested by the Chairperson. Except for any duties specified herein or pursuant to the Trust’s Declaration of Trust or By-laws, the designation of Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson does not impose on such noninterested Trustee any duties, obligations or liability that is greater than the duties, obligations or liability imposed on such person as a member of the Board, generally. The Portfolio has the same leadership structure as the Trust.
Each Fund and the Trust are subject to a number of risks, including, among others, investment, compliance, operational, and valuation risks. Risk oversight is part of the Board’s general oversight of each Fund and the Trust and is addressed as part of various activities of the Board and its Committees. As part of its oversight of each Fund and the Trust, the Board directly, or through a Committee, relies on and reviews reports from, among others, Fund management, the adviser, the administrator, the principal underwriter, the Chief Compliance Officer (the “CCO”), and other Fund service providers responsible for day-to-day oversight of Fund investments, operations and compliance to assist the Board in identifying and understanding the nature and extent of risks and determining whether, and to what extent, such risks can or should be mitigated. The Board also interacts with the CCO and with senior personnel of the adviser, administrator, principal underwriter and other Fund service providers and provides input on risk management issues during meetings of the Board and its Committees. Each of the adviser, administrator, principal underwriter and the other Fund service providers has its own, independent interest and responsibilities in risk management, and its policies and methods for carrying out risk management functions will depend, in part, on its individual priorities, resources and controls. It is not possible to identify all of the risks that may affect a Fund or to develop processes and controls to eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects. Moreover, it is necessary to bear certain risks (such as investment-related risks) to achieve each Fund’s goals.
The Board, with the assistance of management and with input from the Board's various committees, reviews investment policies and risks in connection with its review of Fund performance. The Board has appointed a Fund CCO who oversees the implementation and testing of the Fund compliance program and reports to the Board regarding compliance matters for the Funds and their principal service providers. In addition, as part of the Board’s periodic review of the advisory, subadvisory (if applicable), distribution and other service provider agreements, the Board may consider risk management aspects of their operations and the functions for which they are responsible. With respect to valuation, the Board approves and periodically reviews valuation policies and procedures applicable to valuing each Fund’s shares. The administrator, the investment adviser and the sub-adviser (if applicable) are responsible for the implementation and day-to-day administration of these valuation policies and procedures and provides reports to the Audit Committee of the Board and the Board regarding these and related matters. In addition, the Audit Committee of the Board or the Board receives reports periodically from the independent public accounting firm for the Funds regarding tests performed by such firm on the valuation of all securities, as well as with respect to other risks associated with mutual funds. Reports received from service providers, legal counsel and the independent public accounting firm assist the Board in performing its oversight function. The Portfolio has the same risk oversight approach as the Funds and the Trust.
The Trust’s Declaration of Trust does not set forth any specific qualifications to serve as a Trustee. The Charter of the Governance Committee also does not set forth any specific qualifications, but does set forth certain factors that the Committee may take into account in considering noninterested Trustee candidates. In general, no one factor is decisive in the selection of an individual to join the Board. Among the factors the Board considers when concluding that an individual should serve on the Board are the following: (i) knowledge in matters relating to the mutual fund industry; (ii) experience as a director or senior officer of public companies; (iii) educational background; (iv) reputation for high ethical standards and professional integrity; (v) specific financial, technical or other expertise, and the extent to which such expertise would complement the Board members’ existing mix of skills, core competencies and qualifications; (vi) perceived ability to contribute to the ongoing functions of the Board, including the ability and commitment to attend meetings regularly and work collaboratively with other members of the Board; (vii) the ability to qualify as a noninterested Trustee for purposes of the 1940 Act and any other actual or potential conflicts of interest involving the individual and the Fund; and (viii) such other factors as the Board determines to be relevant in light of the existing composition of the Board.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 10 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Among the attributes or skills common to all Board members are their ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the other members of the Board, management, sub-advisers, other service providers, counsel and independent registered public accounting firms, and to exercise effective and independent business judgment in the performance of their duties as members of the Board. Each Board member’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively has been attained through the Board member’s business, consulting, public service and/or academic positions and through experience from service as a member of the Boards of the Eaton Vance family of funds (“Eaton Vance Fund Boards”) (and/or in other capacities, including for any predecessor funds), public companies, or non-profit entities or other organizations as set forth below. Each Board member’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively also has been enhanced by his or her educational background, professional training, and/or other life experiences.
In respect of each current member of the Board, the individual’s substantial professional accomplishments and experience, including in fields related to the operations of registered investment companies, were a significant factor in the determination that the individual should serve as a member of the Board. The following is a summary of each Board member’s particular professional experience and additional considerations that contributed to the Board’s conclusion that he or she should serve as a member of the Board:
Thomas E. Faust Jr. Mr. Faust has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2007. He is currently Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of EVC, Director and President of EV, Chief Executive Officer and President of Eaton Vance and BMR, and Director of EVD. Mr. Faust has served as a Director of Hexavest Inc. since 2012 and of SigFig Wealth Management LLC since 2016. Mr. Faust previously served as an equity analyst, portfolio manager, Director of Equity Research and Management and Chief Investment Officer of Eaton Vance from 1985-2007. He holds B.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mr. Faust has been a Chartered Financial Analyst since 1988.
Mark R. Fetting. Mr. Fetting has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2016. He has over 30 years of experience in the investment management industry as an executive and in various leadership roles. From 2000 through 2012, Mr. Fetting served in several capacities at Legg Mason, Inc., including most recently serving as President, Chief Executive Officer, Director and Chairman from 2008 to his retirement in 2012. He also served as a Director/Trustee and Chairman of the Legg Mason family of funds from 2008-2012 and Director/Trustee of the Royce family of funds from 2001-2012. From 2001 through 2008, Mr. Fetting also served as President of the Legg Mason family of funds. From 1991 through 2000, Mr. Fetting served as Division President and Senior Officer of Prudential Financial Group, Inc. and related companies. Early in his professional career, Mr. Fetting was a Vice President at T. Rowe Price and served in leadership roles within the firm’s mutual fund division from 1981-1987.
Cynthia E. Frost . Ms. Frost has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2014 and is the Chairperson of the Portfolio Management Committee. From 2000 through 2012, Ms. Frost was the Chief Investment Officer of Brown University, where she oversaw the evaluation, selection and monitoring of the third party investment managers who managed the university’s endowment. From 1995 through 2000, Ms. Frost was a Portfolio Strategist for Duke Management Company, which oversaw Duke University’s endowment. Ms. Frost also served in various investment and consulting roles at Cambridge Associates from 1989-1995, Bain and Company from 1987-1989 and BA Investment Management Company from 1983-1985. She serves as a member of the investment committee of The MCNC Endowment.
George J. Gorman . Mr. Gorman has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2014 and is the Chairperson of the Audit Committee. From 1974 through 2009, Mr. Gorman served in various capacities at Ernst & Young LLP, including as a Senior Partner in the Asset Management Group (from 1988) specializing in managing engagement teams responsible for auditing mutual funds registered with the SEC, hedge funds and private equity funds. Mr. Gorman also has experience serving as an independent trustee of other mutual fund complexes, including the Bank of America Money Market Funds Series Trust from 2011-2014 and the Ashmore Funds from 2010-2014.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 11 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Valerie A. Mosley. Ms. Mosley has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2014 and is the Chairperson of the Governance Committee. She currently owns and manages a consulting and investment firm, Valmo Ventures and is a Director of Progress Investment Management Company, a manager of emerging managers. From 1992 through 2012, Ms. Mosley served in several capacities at Wellington Management Company, LLP, an investment management firm, including as a Partner, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Investment Strategist. Ms. Mosley also served as Chief Investment Officer at PG Corbin Asset Management from 1990-1992 and worked in institutional corporate bond sales at Kidder Peabody from 1986-1990. Ms. Mosley is a Director of Dynex Capital, Inc., a mortgage REIT, where she serves on the board’s audit and investment committees, and a Director of Envestnet, Inc., a provider of intelligent systems for wealth management and financial wellness. She also serves as a trustee or board member of several major non-profit organizations and endowments, including New Profit, a non-profit venture philanthropy fund. She is a member of the Risk Audit Committee of the United Auto Workers Retiree Medical Benefits Trust and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of New York State Common Retirement Fund. She is also an advisor to New Technology Ventures, a venture capital firm.
William H. Park. Mr. Park has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2003 and is the Independent Chairperson of the Board. Mr. Park was formerly a consultant from 2012-2014 and formerly the Chief Financial Officer of Aveon Group, L.P. from 2010-2011. Mr. Park also served as Vice Chairman of Commercial Industrial Finance Corp. from 2006-2010, as President and Chief Executive Officer of Prizm Capital Management, LLC from 2002-2005, as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of United Asset Management Corporation from 1982-2001 and as Senior Manager of Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) from 1972-1981.
Helen Frame Peters. Dr. Peters has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2008. Dr. Peters is currently a Professor of Finance at Carroll School of Management, Boston College and was formerly Dean of Carroll School of Management from 2000-2002. Dr. Peters was previously a Director of BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. from 2004-2011. In addition, Dr. Peters was the Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income at Scudder Kemper Investments from 1998-1999 and Chief Investment Officer, Equity and Fixed Income at Colonial Management Associates from 1991-1998. Dr. Peters also served as a Trustee of SPDR Index Shares Funds and SPDR Series Trust from 2000-2009 and as a Director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston from 2007-2009.
Keith Quinton. Mr. Quinton has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since October 1, 2018. He had over thirty years of experience in the investment industry before retiring from Fidelity Investments in 2014. Prior to joining Fidelity, Mr. Quinton was a vice president and quantitative analyst at MFS Investment Management from 2000-2001. From 1997 through 2000, he was a senior quantitative analyst at Santander Global Advisors and, from 1995 through 1997, Mr. Quinton was senior vice president in the quantitative equity research department at Putnam Investments. Prior to joining Putnam Investments, Mr. Quinton served in various investment roles at Eberstadt Fleming, Falconwood Securities Corporation and Drexel Burnham Lambert, where he began his career in the investment industry as a senior quantitative analyst in 1983. Mr. Quinton currently serves as an Independent Investment Committee Member of the New Hampshire Retirement System, a five member committee that manages investments based on the investment policy and asset allocation approved by the board of trustees, and as a Director of the New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank.
Marcus L. Smith. Mr. Smith has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since October 1, 2018. Since 2017, Mr. Smith has been a Director of MSCI Inc., a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, where he serves on the Audit Committee. From 2017 through 2018, he served as a Director of DCT Industrial Trust Inc., a leading logistics real estate company, where he served as a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance and Audit Committees. From 1994 through 2017, Mr. Smith served in several capacities at MFS Investment Management, an investment management firm, where he managed the MFS Institutional International Fund for 17 years and the MFS Concentrated International Fund for 10 years. In addition to his portfolio management duties, Mr. Smith served as Director of Equity, Canada from 2012-2017, Director of Equity, Asia from 2010-2012, and Director of Asian Equity Research from 2005-2010. Prior to joining MFS, Mr. Smith was a senior consultant at Andersen Consulting (now known as Accenture) from 1988-1992. Mr. Smith served as a United States Army Reserve Officer from 1987-1992. He has also been a trustee of the University of Mount Union since 2008 and has served as the chairman of the finance committee since 2015. Mr. Smith currently sits on the Boston advisory board of the Posse Foundation and the Harvard Medical School Advisory Council on Education.
Susan J. Sutherland. Ms. Sutherland has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2015 and is the Chairperson of the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee. She is also a Director of Ascot Group Limited and certain of its subsidiaries. Ascot Group Limited, through its related businesses including Syndicate 1414 at Lloyd’s of London, is a leading global underwriter of specialty property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. Ms. Sutherland was a Director of Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd., a global provider of customized reinsurance and insurance
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products, from 2013 until its sale in 2015 and of Hagerty Holding Corp., a leading provider of specialized automobile and marine insurance from 2015-2018. From 1982 through 2013, Ms. Sutherland was an associate, counsel and then a partner in the Financial Institutions Group of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where she primarily represented U.S. and international insurance and reinsurance companies, investment banks and private equity firms in insurance-related corporate transactions. In addition, Ms. Sutherland is qualified as a Governance Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors and has also served as a board member of prominent non-profit organizations.
Scott E. Wennerholm. Mr. Wennerholm has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2016 and is the Chairperson of the Contract Review Committee. He has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry in various leadership and executive roles. Mr. Wennerholm served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President at BNY Mellon Asset Management from 2005-2011. He also served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Natixis Global Asset Management from 1997-2004 and was a Vice President at Fidelity Investments Institutional Services from 1994-1997. In addition, Mr. Wennerholm served as a Trustee at Wheelock College, a postsecondary institution from 2012-2018.
The Board(s) of the Trust and the Portfolio has several standing Committees, including the Governance Committee, the Audit Committee, the Portfolio Management Committee, the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee and the Contract Review Committee. Each of the Committees are comprised of only noninterested Trustees.
Mmes. Mosley (Chairperson), Frost, Peters and Sutherland, and Messrs. Fetting, Gorman, Park, Quinton, Smith and Wennerholm are members of the Governance Committee. The purpose of the Governance Committee is to consider, evaluate and make recommendations to the Board with respect to the structure, membership and operation of the Board and the Committees thereof, including the nomination and selection of noninterested Trustees and a Chairperson of the Board and the compensation of such persons. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Governance Committee convened seven times.
The Governance Committee will, when a vacancy exists, consider a nominee for Trustee recommended by a shareholder, provided that such recommendation is submitted in writing to the Trust’s Secretary at the principal executive office of the Trust. Such recommendations must be accompanied by biographical and occupational data on the candidate (including whether the candidate would be an “interested person” of the Trust), a written consent by the candidate to be named as a nominee and to serve as Trustee if elected, record and ownership information for the recommending shareholder with respect to the Trust, and a description of any arrangements or understandings regarding recommendation of the candidate for consideration.
Messrs. Gorman (Chairperson), Park and Wennerholm and Ms. Mosley are members of the Audit Committee. The Board has designated Messrs. Gorman and Park, each a noninterested Trustee, as audit committee financial experts. The Audit Committee’s purposes are to (i) oversee each Fund's and the Portfolio's accounting and financial reporting processes, its internal control over financial reporting, and, as appropriate, the internal control over financial reporting of certain service providers; (ii) oversee or, as appropriate, assist Board oversight of the quality and integrity of each Fund's and the Portfolio's financial statements and the independent audit thereof; (iii) oversee, or, as appropriate, assist Board oversight of, each Fund's and the Portfolio's compliance with legal and regulatory requirements that relate to each Fund's and the Portfolio's accounting and financial reporting, internal control over financial reporting and independent audits; (iv) approve prior to appointment the engagement and, when appropriate, replacement of the independent registered public accounting firm, and, if applicable, nominate the independent registered public accounting firm to be proposed for shareholder ratification in any proxy statement of a Fund; (v) evaluate the qualifications, independence and performance of the independent registered public accounting firm and the audit partner in charge of leading the audit; and (vi) prepare, as necessary, audit committee reports consistent with the requirements of applicable SEC and stock exchange rules for inclusion in the proxy statement of a Fund. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Audit Committee convened thirteen times.
Messrs. Wennerholm (Chairperson), Fetting, Gorman, Park, Quinton and Smith, and Mmes. Frost, Mosley, Peters and Sutherland are members of the Contract Review Committee. The purposes of the Contract Review Committee are to consider, evaluate and make recommendations to the Board concerning the following matters: (i) contractual arrangements with each service provider to the Funds and the Portfolio, including advisory, sub-advisory, transfer agency, custodial and fund accounting, distribution services and administrative services; (ii) any and all other matters in which any service provider (including Eaton Vance or any affiliated entity thereof) has an actual or potential conflict of interest with the interests of the Funds, the Portfolio or investors therein; and (iii) any other matter appropriate for review by the noninterested Trustees, unless the matter is within the responsibilities of the other Committees of the Board. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Contract Review Committee convened seven times.
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Mmes. Frost (Chairperson), Mosley and Peters and Messrs. Fetting and Smith are members of the Portfolio Management Committee. The purposes of the Portfolio Management Committee are to: (i) assist the Board in its oversight of the portfolio management process employed by the Funds and the Portfolio and their investment adviser and sub-adviser(s), if applicable, relative to the Funds’ and the Portfolio's stated objective(s), strategies and restrictions; (ii) assist the Board in its oversight of the trading policies and procedures and risk management techniques applicable to the Funds and the Portfolio; and (iii) assist the Board in its monitoring of the performance results of all funds and portfolios, giving special attention to the performance of certain funds and portfolios that it or the Board identifies from time to time. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Portfolio Management Committee convened seven times.
Ms. Sutherland (Chairperson) and Messrs. Gorman, Quinton and Wennerholm are members of the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee. The purposes of the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee are to: (i) assist the Board in its oversight role with respect to compliance issues and certain other regulatory matters affecting the Funds and the Portfolio; (ii) serve as a liaison between the Board and the Funds’ and the Portfolio's CCO; and (iii) serve as a “qualified legal compliance committee” within the rules promulgated by the SEC. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee convened nine times.
Share Ownership. The following table shows the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned by each Trustee in each Fund and in the Eaton Vance family of funds overseen by the Trustee as of December 31, 2018. Interests in a Portfolio cannot be purchased by a Trustee.
Dollar Range of Equity Securities Beneficially Owned by | |||||||||||
Fund Name |
Thomas E.
Faust Jr. (1) |
Mark R.
Fetting (2) |
Cynthia E.
Frost (2) |
George J.
Gorman (2) |
Valerie A.
Mosley (2) |
William H.
Park (2) |
Helen Frame
Peters (2) |
Keith
Quinton (2)(3 ) |
Marcus
L.
Smith (2)(3) |
Susan J.
Sutherland (2) |
Scott E.
Wennerholm (2) |
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 |
Over
$100,000 |
None | None | None | None |
$50,001 -
$100,000 |
None | None | None | None | None |
Aggregate Dollar Range of
Equity Securities Beneficially Owned in Funds Overseen by Trustee in the Eaton Vance Family of Funds |
Over
$100,000 |
Over
$100,000 |
Over
$100,000 |
Over
$100,000 |
Over
$100,000 |
Over
$100,000 |
Over
$100,000 |
Over
$100,000 |
Over
$100,000 |
Over
$100,000 (4) |
Over
$100,000 (4) |
(1) | Interested Trustee. |
(2) | Noninterested Trustees. |
(3) | Messrs. Quinton and Smith began serving as Trustees effective October 1, 2018. |
(4) | Includes shares which may be deemed beneficially owned through the Trustee Deferred Compensation Plan. |
As of December 31, 2018, no noninterested Trustee or any of their immediate family members owned beneficially or of record any class of securities of EVC, EVD, any sub-adviser, if applicable, or any person controlling, controlled by or under common control with EVC or EVD or any sub-adviser, if applicable, collectively (“Affiliated Entity”).
During the calendar years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2018, no noninterested Trustee (or their immediate family members) had:
(1) | Any direct or indirect interest in any Affiliated Entity; |
(2) | Any direct or indirect material interest in any transaction or series of similar transactions with (i) the Trust or any fund; (ii) another fund managed or distributed by any Affiliated Entity; (iii) any Affiliated Entity; or (iv) an officer of any of the above; or |
(3) | Any direct or indirect relationship with (i) the Trust or any fund; (ii) another fund managed or distributed by any Affiliated Entity; (iii) any Affiliated Entity; or (iv) an officer of any of the above. |
During the calendar years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2018, no officer of any Affiliated Entity served on the Board of Directors of a company where a noninterested Trustee of the Trust or the Portfolio or any of their immediate family members served as an officer.
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Noninterested Trustees may elect to defer receipt of all or a percentage of their annual fees in accordance with the terms of a Trustees Deferred Compensation Plan (the “Deferred Compensation Plan”). Under the Deferred Compensation Plan, an eligible Board member may elect to have all or a portion of his or her deferred fees invested in the shares of one or more funds in the Eaton Vance family of funds, and the amount paid to the Board members under the Deferred Compensation Plan will be determined based upon the performance of such investments. Deferral of Board members’ fees in accordance with the Deferred Compensation Plan will have a negligible effect on the assets, liabilities, and net income of a participating fund or portfolio, and do not require that a participating Board member be retained. There is no retirement plan for Board members.
The fees and expenses of the Trustees of the Trust and the Portfolio are paid by the Funds (and other series of the Trust) and the Portfolio, respectively. A Board member who is a member of the Eaton Vance organization receives no compensation from the Trust or the Portfolio. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Trustees of the Trust and Portfolio earned the following compensation in their capacities as Board members from the Trust and Portfolio. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Board members earned the following compensation in their capacities as members of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards (1) :
(1) | As of May 1, 2019, the Eaton Vance fund complex consists of 172 registered investment companies or series thereof. Messrs. Quinton and Smith began serving as Trustees effective October 1, 2018, and thus the compensation figures listed for the Trust, the Portfolio and the Trust and Fund Complex are estimated based on the amounts each would have received if they had been Trustees for the full fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 and for the full calendar year ended December 31, 2018. Harriett Tee Taggart retired as a Trustee effective December 31, 2018. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Ms. Taggart received Trustee fees of $23,927 from the Trust and $10,654 from the Portfolio. For the calendar year ended December 31, 2018, she received $338,125 from the Trust and Fund Complex. |
(2) | The Trust consisted of 34 Funds as of December 31, 2018. |
(3) | Includes $773 of deferred compensation. |
(4) | Includes $11,260 of deferred compensation. |
(5) | Includes $3,198 of deferred compensation. |
(6) | Includes $24,000 of deferred compensation. |
(7) | Includes $352,119 of deferred compensation. |
(8) | Includes $100,000 of deferred compensation. |
Fund Organization
Trust. Each Fund is a series of the Trust, which was organized under Massachusetts law on May 7, 1984 as a trust with transferable shares, commonly referred to as a “Massachusetts business trust” and is operated as an open-end management investment company. The Trust may issue an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest (no par value per share) in one or more series (such as a Fund). The Trustees of the Trust have divided the shares of a Fund into multiple classes. Each class represents an interest in a Fund, but is subject to different expenses, rights and privileges. The Trustees have the authority under the Declaration of Trust to create additional classes of shares with differing rights and privileges. When issued and outstanding, shares are fully paid and nonassessable by the Trust. Shareholders of the Trust are entitled to one vote for each full share held. Fractional shares may be voted proportionately. Shares of all Funds in the Trust will be voted together with respect to the election or removal of Trustees and on other matters affecting all Funds similarly. On matters affecting only a particular Fund, all shareholders of the affected Fund will vote together as a single class, except that only shareholders of a particular class may vote on matters affecting only that class. Shares have no preemptive or conversion rights and are freely transferable. In the event of the liquidation of a Fund, shareholders of each class are entitled to share pro rata in the net assets attributable to that class available for distribution to shareholders.
As permitted by Massachusetts law, there will normally be no meetings of shareholders for the purpose of electing Trustees unless and until such time as less than a majority of the Trustees of the Trust holding office have been elected by shareholders. In such an event the Trustees then in office will call a shareholders’ meeting for the election of Trustees. Except for the foregoing circumstances and unless removed by action of the shareholders in accordance with the Trust’s
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By-laws, the Trustees shall continue to hold office and may appoint successor Trustees. The Trust’s By-laws provide that any Trustee may be removed with or without cause, by (i) the affirmative vote of holders of two-thirds of the shares or, (ii) the affirmative vote of, or written instrument, signed by at least two-thirds of the remaining Trustees, provided however, that the removal of any noninterested Trustee shall additionally require the affirmative vote of, or a written instrument executed by, at least two-thirds of the remaining noninterested Trustees. No person shall serve as a Trustee if shareholders holding two-thirds of the outstanding shares have removed him or her from that office either by a written declaration filed with the Trust’s custodian or by votes cast at a meeting called for that purpose. The By-laws further provide that under certain circumstances the shareholders may call a meeting to remove a Trustee and that the Trust is required to provide assistance in communication with shareholders about such a meeting.
The Trust’s Declaration of Trust may be amended by the Trustees when authorized by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust, the financial interests of which are affected by the amendment. The Trustees may also amend the Declaration of Trust without the vote or consent of shareholders to change the name of the Trust or any series, if they deem it necessary to conform it to applicable federal or state laws or regulations, or to make such other changes (such as reclassifying series or classes of shares or restructuring the Trust) provided such changes do not have a materially adverse effect on the financial interests of shareholders. The Trust’s By-laws provide that the Trust will indemnify its Trustees and officers against liabilities and expenses incurred in connection with any litigation or proceeding in which they may be involved because of their offices with the Trust. However, no indemnification will be provided to any Trustee or officer for any liability to the Trust or shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office.
The Trust’s Declaration of Trust provides that any legal proceeding brought by or on behalf of a shareholder seeking to enforce any provision of, or based upon any matter arising out of, related to or in connection with, the Declaration of Trust, the Trust, any Fund or Class or the shares of any Fund must be brought exclusively in the United States District Court for Massachusetts or, if such court does not have jurisdiction for the matter, then in the Superior Court of Suffolk County for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If a shareholder brings a claim in another venue and the venue is subsequently changed through legal process to the foregoing Federal or state court, then the shareholder will be required to reimburse the Trust and other persons for the expenses incurred in effecting the change in venue.
The Trust’s Declaration of Trust also provides that, except to the extent explicitly permitted by Federal law, a shareholder may not bring or maintain a court action on behalf of the Trust or any Fund or class of shares (commonly referred to as a derivative claim) without first making demand on the Trustees requesting the Trustees to bring the action. Within 90 days of receipt of the demand, the Trustees will consider the merits of the claim and determine whether commencing or maintaining an action would be in the best interests of the Trust or the affected Fund or Class. Any decision by the Trustees to bring, maintain or settle, or to not bring, maintain or settle the action, will be final and binding upon shareholders and therefore no action may be brought or maintained after a decision is made to reject a demand. In addition, the Trust’s Declaration of Trust provides that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, each shareholder acknowledges and agrees that any alleged injury to the Trust’s property, any diminution in the value of a shareholder’s shares and any other claim arising out of or relating to an allegation regarding the actions, inaction or omissions of or by the Trustees, the officers of the Trust or the investment adviser of a Fund is a legal claim belonging only to the Trust and not to the shareholders individually and, therefore, that any such claim is subject to the demand requirement for derivative claims referenced above.
The Trust or any series or class thereof may be terminated by: (1) the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than two-thirds of the shares outstanding and entitled to vote at any meeting of shareholders of the Trust or the appropriate series or class thereof, or by an instrument or instruments in writing without a meeting, consented to by the holders of two-thirds of the shares of the Trust or a series or class thereof, provided, however, that, if such termination is recommended by the Trustees, the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust or a series or class thereof entitled to vote thereon shall be sufficient authorization; or (2) by the approval of a majority of the Trustees then in office, to be followed by a written notice to shareholders.
Under Massachusetts law, if certain conditions prevail, shareholders of a Massachusetts business trust (such as the Trust) could be deemed to have personal liability for the obligations of the Trust. Numerous investment companies registered under the 1940 Act have been formed as Massachusetts business trusts, and management is not aware of an instance where such liability has been imposed. The Trust’s Declaration of Trust contains an express disclaimer of liability on the part of Fund shareholders and the Trust’s By-laws provide that the Trust shall assume the defense on behalf of any Fund shareholders. The Declaration of Trust also contains provisions limiting the liability of a series or class to that series or class. Moreover, the Trust’s By-laws also provide for indemnification out of Fund property of any shareholder held personally liable solely by reason of being or having been a shareholder for all loss or expense arising from such liability. The assets of each Fund are readily marketable and will ordinarily substantially exceed its liabilities. In light of the nature of each Fund’s business and the nature of its assets, management believes that the possibility of the Fund’s liability exceeding its assets, and therefore the shareholder’s risk of personal liability, is remote.
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Portfolio Organization. The Portfolio was organized as a trust with transferable interests, commonly referred to as a “Massachusetts business trust” on December 14, 2009 and intends to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes. Prior to that date the Portfolio was organized as a New York trust on October 23, 1995. In accordance with the Declaration of Trust of the Portfolio, there will normally be no meetings of the investors for the purpose of electing Trustees unless and until such time as less than a majority of the Trustees of the Portfolio holding office have been elected by investors. In such an event the Trustees of the Portfolio then in office will call an investors’ meeting for the election of Trustees. Except for the foregoing circumstances and unless removed by action of the investors in accordance with the Portfolio’s Declaration of Trust, the Trustees shall continue to hold office and may appoint successor Trustees.
The Portfolio’s Declaration of Trust provides that any Trustee may be removed, with or without cause, by (i) the affirmative vote of investors holding two-thirds of the outstanding interests or, (ii) the affirmative vote of, or a written instrument executed by, at least two-thirds of the remaining Trustees, provided however, that the removal of any noninterested Trustee shall additionally require the affirmative vote of, or a written instrument executed by, at least two-thirds of the remaining noninterested Trustees. The Portfolio’s By-laws provide that the Portfolio will indemnify its Trustees and officers against liabilities and expenses incurred in connection with any litigation or proceeding in which they may be involved because of their offices with the Portfolio. However, no indemnification will be provided to any Trustee or officer for any liability to the Portfolio or interestholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office.
The Portfolio’s Declaration of Trust provides that any legal proceeding brought by or on behalf of an investor seeking to enforce any provision of, or based upon any matter arising out of, related to or in connection with, the Declaration of Trust, the Portfolio or the interests of the Portfolio must be brought exclusively in the United States District Court for Massachusetts or, if such court does not have jurisdiction for the matter, then in the Superior Court of Suffolk County for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If an investor brings a claim in another venue and the venue is subsequently changed through legal process to the foregoing Federal or state court, then the investor will be required to reimburse the Portfolio and other persons for the expenses incurred in effecting the change in venue.
The Portfolio’s Declaration of Trust also provides that, except to the extent explicitly permitted by Federal law, an investor may not bring or maintain a court action on behalf of the Portfolio (commonly referred to as a derivative claim) without first making demand on the Trustees requesting the Trustees to bring the action. Within 90 days of receipt of the demand, the Trustees will consider the merits of the claim and determine whether commencing or maintaining an action would be in the best interests of the Portfolio. Any decision by the Trustees to bring, maintain or settle, or to not bring, maintain or settle the action, will be final and binding upon investors and therefore no action may be brought or maintained after a decision is made to reject a demand. In addition, the Portfolio’s Declaration of Trust provides that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, each investor acknowledges and agrees that any alleged injury to the Portfolio’s property, any diminution in the value of an investor’s interests and any other claim arising out of or relating to an allegation regarding the actions, inaction or omissions of or by the Trustees, the officers of the Portfolio or the investment adviser of the Portfolio is a legal claim belonging only to the Portfolio and not to the investors individually and, therefore, that any such claim is subject to the demand requirement for derivative claims referenced above.
Under Massachusetts law, if certain conditions prevail, shareholders of a Massachusetts business trust (such as the Portfolio) could be deemed to have personal liability for the obligations of the Portfolio. Numerous investment companies registered under the 1940 Act have been formed as Massachusetts business trusts, and management is not aware of an instance where such liability has been imposed. The Portfolio’s Declaration of Trust contains an express disclaimer of liability on the part of Portfolio interestholders and the By-laws provide that the Portfolio shall assume the defense on behalf of any Portfolio interestholders. Moreover, the By-laws also provide for indemnification out of Portfolio property of any interestholder held personally liable solely by reason of being or having been an interestholder for all loss or expense arising from such liability. The assets of the Portfolio are readily marketable and will ordinarily substantially exceed its liabilities. In light of the nature of the Portfolio’s business and the nature of its assets, management believes that the possibility of the Portfolio’s liability exceeding its assets, and therefore the interestholder’s risk of personal liability, is remote.
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Each Fund may be required to vote on matters pertaining to the Portfolio. When required by law to do so, a Fund will hold a meeting of Fund shareholders and will vote its interest in the Portfolio for or against such matters proportionately to the instructions to vote for or against such matters received from Fund shareholders. A Fund shall vote shares for which it receives no voting instructions in the same proportion as the shares for which it receives voting instructions. Other investors in the Portfolio may alone or collectively acquire sufficient voting interests in the Portfolio to control matters relating to the operation of the Portfolio, which may require the Fund to withdraw its investment in the Portfolio or take other appropriate action. Any such withdrawal could result in a distribution “in kind” of portfolio securities (as opposed to a cash distribution from the Portfolio). If securities are distributed, a Fund could incur brokerage, tax or other charges in converting the securities to cash. In addition, the distribution in kind may result in a less diversified portfolio of investments or adversely affect the liquidity of a Fund. Notwithstanding the above, there are other means for meeting shareholder redemption requests, such as borrowing.
Proxy Voting Policy. The Board adopted a proxy voting policy and procedures (the “Fund Policy”), pursuant to which the Board has delegated proxy voting responsibility to the investment adviser and adopted the proxy voting policies and procedures of the investment adviser (the “Adviser Policies”). An independent proxy voting service has been retained to assist in the voting of Fund proxies through the provision of vote analysis, implementation and recordkeeping and disclosure services. The members of the Board will review a fund's or portfolio's proxy voting records from time to time and will annually consider approving the Adviser Policies for the upcoming year. For a copy of the Fund Policy and Adviser Policies, see Appendix E and Appendix F, respectively. Pursuant to certain provisions of the 1940 Act and certain exemptive orders relating to funds investing in other funds, a fund or portfolio may be required or may elect to vote its interest in another fund in the same proportion as the holders of all other shares of that fund. Information on how a fund or portfolio voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available (1) without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-262-1122, and (2) on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
INVESTMENT ADVISORY AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
Investment Advisory Services. The investment adviser manages the investments and affairs of the Portfolio and provides related office facilities and personnel subject to the supervision of the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees. The investment adviser furnishes investment research, advice and supervision, furnishes an investment program and determines what securities will be purchased, held or sold by the Portfolio and what portion, if any, of the Portfolio’s assets will be held uninvested. The Investment Advisory Agreement requires the investment adviser to pay the compensation and expenses of all officers and Trustees who are members of the investment adviser's organization and all personnel of the investment adviser performing services relating to research and investment activities.
For a description of the compensation that the Portfolio pays the investment adviser, see the Prospectus. The Portfolio’s Board of Trustees has agreed to accept a reduction of the advisory fee as detailed in the Prospectus, which cannot be terminated or modified without Trustee and shareholder consent.
As of December 31, 2018, the Portfolio had net assets of $16,016,045,754. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, the investment advisory fee for the Portfolio totaled $74,466,314, $61,878,014 and $50,540,735, respectively.
The Investment Advisory Agreement with the investment adviser continues in effect from year to year so long as such continuance is approved at least annually (i) by the vote of a majority of the noninterested Trustees of the Portfolio cast in person at a meeting specifically called for the purpose of voting on such approval and (ii) by the Board of Trustees of the Portfolio or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Portfolio. The Agreement may be terminated at any time without penalty on sixty (60) days’ written notice by the Board of either party, or by vote of the majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Portfolio, and the Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment. The Agreement provides that the investment adviser may render services to others. The Agreement also provides that the investment adviser shall not be liable for any loss incurred in connection with the performance of its duties, or action taken or omitted under the Agreement, in the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of its obligations and duties thereunder, or for any losses sustained in the acquisition, holding or disposition of any security or other investment. The Agreement is not intended to, and does not, confer upon any person not a party to it any right, benefit or remedy of any nature.
Information About BMR and Eaton Vance. BMR and Eaton Vance are business trusts organized under the laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. EV serves as trustee of BMR and Eaton Vance. EV and Eaton Vance are wholly-owned subsidiaries of EVC, a Maryland corporation and publicly-held holding company. BMR is an indirect subsidiary of EVC. EVC through its subsidiaries and affiliates engages primarily in investment management, administration and marketing activities. The Directors of EVC are Thomas E. Faust Jr., Ann E. Berman, Leo I. Higdon, Jr., Paula A. Johnson,
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 18 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Brian D. Langstraat, Dorothy E. Puhy, Winthrop H. Smith, Jr. and Richard A. Spillane, Jr. All shares of the outstanding Voting Common Stock of EVC are deposited in a Voting Trust, the Voting Trustees of which are Mr. Faust, Craig R. Brandon, Daniel C. Cataldo, Michael A. Cirami, Cynthia J. Clemson, James H. Evans, Maureen A. Gemma, Laurie G. Hylton, Mr. Langstraat, Frederick S. Marius, David C. McCabe, Scott H. Page, Edward J. Perkin, Lewis R. Piantedosi, Charles B. Reed, Craig P. Russ, John L. Shea, Eric A. Stein, Payson F. Swaffield, Michael W. Weilheimer, R. Kelly Williams and Matthew J. Witkos (all of whom are officers of Eaton Vance or its affiliates). The Voting Trustees have unrestricted voting rights for the election of Directors of EVC. All of the outstanding voting trust receipts issued under said Voting Trust are owned by certain of the officers of BMR and Eaton Vance who may also be officers, or officers and Directors of EVC and EV. As indicated under “Management and Organization,” all of the officers of the Trust (as well as Mr. Faust who is also a Trustee) hold positions in the Eaton Vance organization.
Code of Ethics. The investment adviser, principal underwriter, and each Fund and the Portfolio have adopted Codes of Ethics governing personal securities transactions pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. Under the Codes, employees of the investment adviser and the principal underwriter may purchase and sell securities (including securities held or eligible for purchase by a Fund or the Portfolio) subject to the provisions of the Codes and certain employees are also subject to pre-clearance, reporting requirements and/or other procedures.
Portfolio Managers. The portfolio managers (each referred to as a “portfolio manager”) of the Portfolio are listed below. The following table shows, as of the Portfolio’s most recent fiscal year end, the number of accounts each portfolio manager managed in each of the listed categories and the total assets (in millions of dollars) in the accounts managed within each category. The table also shows the number of accounts with respect to which the advisory fee is based on the performance of the account, if any, and the total assets (in millions of dollars) in those accounts.
Number of
All Accounts |
Total Assets of
All Accounts |
Number of Accounts
Paying a Performance Fee |
Total Assets of Accounts
Paying a Performance Fee |
|
Michael A. Allison | ||||
Registered Investment Companies | 16 | $28,382.9 | 0 | $0 |
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles | 14 | $19,890.7 (3) | 0 | $0 |
Other Accounts | 10 | $13.6 | 0 | $0 |
Yana S. Barton (1) | ||||
Registered Investment Companies | 5 | $17,396.5 | 0 | $0 |
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles | 15 | $19,907.2 (3) | 0 | $0 |
Other Accounts | 7 | $184.8 | 0 | $0 |
Lewis R. Piantedosi (1)(2) | ||||
Registered Investment Companies | 6 | $17,841.1 | 0 | $0 |
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles | 12 | $14,055.9 (3) | 0 | $0 |
Other Accounts | 7 | $184.8 | 0 | $0 |
(1) | This portfolio manager provides advisory services for certain of the “Other Accounts” on a nondiscretionary or model basis. For “Other Accounts” that are part of a wrap account program, the number of accounts is the number of sponsors for which the portfolio manager provides advisory services rather than the number of individual customer accounts within each wrap account program. The assets managed may include assets advised on a nondiscretionary or model basis. |
(2) | This portfolio manager serves as portfolio manager of one or more registered investment companies that invests or may invest in one or more underlying registered investment companies in the Eaton Vance family of funds or other pooled investment vehicles sponsored by Eaton Vance. The underlying investment companies may be managed by this portfolio manager or another portfolio manager. |
(3) | Certain of these “Other Pooled Investment Vehicles” invest a substantial portion of their assets in a registered investment company in the Eaton Vance family of funds and/or in a separate pooled investment vehicle sponsored by Eaton Vance which may be managed by this portfolio manager or another portfolio manager. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 19 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The following table shows the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned in a Fund by its portfolio manager(s) as of the Funds’ most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 and in the Eaton Vance family of funds as of December 31, 2018. Interests in the Portfolio cannot be purchased by a portfolio manager.
Fund Name and
Portfolio Managers |
Dollar Range of Equity Securities
Beneficially Owned in the Fund |
Aggregate Dollar Range of
Equity Securities Beneficially Owned in the Eaton Vance Family of Funds |
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 | ||
Michael A. Allison | None | $500,001 - $1,000,000 |
Yana S. Barton | None | Over $1,000,000 |
Lewis R. Piantedosi | None | Over $1,000,000 |
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 | ||
Michael A. Allison | $10,001 - $50,000 | $500,001 - $1,000,000 |
Yana S. Barton | $10,001 - $50,000 | Over $1,000,000 |
Lewis R. Piantedosi | $100,001 - $500,000 | Over $1,000,000 |
It is possible that conflicts of interest may arise in connection with a portfolio manager’s management of the Portfolio’s investments on the one hand and the investments of other accounts for which a portfolio manager is responsible on the other. For example, a portfolio manager may have conflicts of interest in allocating management time, resources and investment opportunities among the Portfolio and other accounts he or she advises. In addition, due to differences in the investment strategies or restrictions between the Portfolio and the other accounts, the portfolio manager may take action with respect to another account that differs from the action taken with respect to the Portfolio. In some cases, another account managed by a portfolio manager may compensate the investment adviser based on the performance of the securities held by that account. The existence of such a performance based fee may create additional conflicts of interest for the portfolio manager in the allocation of management time, resources and investment opportunities. Whenever conflicts of interest arise, the portfolio manager will endeavor to exercise his or her discretion in a manner that he or she believes is equitable to all interested persons. The investment adviser has adopted several policies and procedures designed to address these potential conflicts including a code of ethics and policies that govern the investment adviser's trading practices, including among other things the aggregation and allocation of trades among clients, brokerage allocations, cross trades and best execution.
Compensation Structure for BMR. Compensation of the investment adviser's portfolio managers and other investment professionals has the following primary components: (1) a base salary, (2) an annual cash bonus, (3) annual non-cash compensation consisting of options to purchase shares of EVC nonvoting common stock and/or restricted shares of EVC nonvoting common stock that generally are subject to a vesting schedule and (4) (for equity portfolio managers) a Deferred Alpha Incentive Plan, which pays a deferred cash award tied to future excess returns in certain equity strategy portfolios. The investment adviser’s investment professionals also receive certain retirement, insurance and other benefits that are broadly available to the investment adviser’s employees. Compensation of the investment adviser’s investment professionals is reviewed primarily on an annual basis. Cash bonuses, stock-based compensation awards, and adjustments in base salary are typically paid or put into effect at or shortly after the October 31st fiscal year end of EVC.
Method to Determine Compensation. The investment adviser compensates its portfolio managers based primarily on the scale and complexity of their portfolio responsibilities and the total return performance of managed funds and accounts versus the benchmark(s) stated in the prospectus, as well as an appropriate peer group (as described below). In addition to rankings within peer groups of funds on the basis of absolute performance, consideration may also be given to relative risk-adjusted performance. Risk-adjusted performance measures include, but are not limited to, the Sharpe ratio (Sharpe ratio uses standard deviation and excess return to determine reward per unit of risk). Performance is normally based on periods ending on the September 30th preceding fiscal year end. Fund performance is normally evaluated primarily versus peer groups of funds as determined by Lipper Inc. and/or Morningstar, Inc. When a fund’s peer group as determined by Lipper or Morningstar is deemed by the investment adviser’s management not to provide a fair comparison, performance may instead be evaluated primarily against a custom peer group or market index. In evaluating the performance of a fund and its manager, primary emphasis is normally placed on three-year performance, with secondary consideration of performance over longer and shorter periods. For funds that are tax-managed or otherwise
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 20 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
have an objective of after-tax returns, performance is measured net of taxes. For other funds, performance is evaluated on a pre-tax basis. For funds with an investment objective other than total return (such as current income), consideration will also be given to the fund’s success in achieving its objective. For managers responsible for multiple funds and accounts, investment performance is evaluated on an aggregate basis, based on averages or weighted averages among managed funds and accounts. Funds and accounts that have performance-based advisory fees are not accorded disproportionate weightings in measuring aggregate portfolio manager performance. A portion of the compensation payable to equity portfolio managers and investment professionals will be determined based on the ability of one or more accounts managed by such manager, that are not advised by CRM, to achieve a specified target average annual gross return over a three year period in excess of the account benchmark. The cash award to be payable at the end of the three year term will be established at the inception of the term and will be adjusted positively or negatively to the extent that the average annual gross return varies from the specified target return.
The compensation of portfolio managers with other job responsibilities (such as heading an investment group or providing analytical support to other portfolios) will include consideration of the scope of such responsibilities and the managers’ performance in meeting them.
The investment adviser seeks to compensate portfolio managers commensurate with their responsibilities and performance, and competitive with other firms within the investment management industry. The investment adviser participates in investment-industry compensation surveys and utilizes survey data as a factor in determining salary, bonus and stock-based compensation levels for portfolio managers and other investment professionals. Salaries, bonuses and stock-based compensation are also influenced by the operating performance of the investment adviser and its parent company. The overall annual cash bonus pool is generally based on a substantially fixed percentage of pre-bonus adjusted operating income. While the salaries of the investment adviser’s portfolio managers are comparatively fixed, cash bonuses and stock-based compensation may fluctuate significantly from year to year, based on changes in manager performance and other factors as described herein. For a high performing portfolio manager, cash bonuses and stock-based compensation may represent a substantial portion of total compensation.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Registration. Effective December 31, 2012, the CFTC adopted certain regulatory changes that subject registered investment companies and advisers to regulation by the CFTC if a fund invests more than a prescribed level of its assets in certain CFTC-regulated instruments (including futures, certain options and swaps agreements) or markets itself as providing investment exposure to such instruments. Each Fund has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act. Accordingly neither the Funds nor the investment adviser with respect to the operation of the Funds is subject to CFTC regulation. Because of their management of other strategies, Eaton Vance and BMR are registered with the CFTC as commodity pool operators. Eaton Vance and BMR are also registered as commodity trading advisors. The CFTC has neither reviewed nor approved each Fund's investment strategies or this SAI.
Administrative Services. As indicated in the Prospectus, Eaton Vance serves as administrator of each Fund. Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 is authorized to pay Eaton Vance an annual fee in the amount of 0.15% of average daily net assets for providing administrative services to the Fund. Eaton Vance does not currently receive a fee from Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1. Under the Amended and Restated Administrative Services Agreement, Eaton Vance has been engaged to administer each Fund’s affairs, subject to the supervision of the Board, and shall furnish office space and all necessary office facilities, equipment and personnel for administering the affairs of each Fund.
The following table sets forth the net assets of Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 at December 31, 2018 and the administrative fees paid for the three fiscal years ended December 31, 2018.
Administrative Fees Paid for Fiscal Years Ended | ||||
Fund | Net Assets at 12/31/18 | 12/31/18 | 12/31/17 | 12/31/16 |
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 | $724,804,829 | $1,201,511 | $1,071,479 | $931,231 |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 21 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Sub-Transfer Agency Support Services. Eaton Vance provides sub-transfer agency and related services to Eaton Vance mutual funds pursuant to a Sub-Transfer Agency Support Services Agreement. Under the agreement, Eaton Vance provides: (1) specified sub-transfer agency services; (2) compliance monitoring services; and (3) intermediary oversight services. For the services it provides, Eaton Vance receives an aggregate annual fee equal to the actual expenses incurred by Eaton Vance in the performance of such services. Each Fund pays a pro rata share of such fee. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Eaton Vance earned the following pursuant to the agreement:
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 | Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 |
$221,146 | $76,083 |
Expenses. Each Fund and the Portfolio are responsible for all expenses not expressly stated to be payable by another party (such as expenses required to be paid pursuant to an agreement with the investment adviser, the principal underwriter or the administrator). In the case of expenses incurred by the Trust, each Fund is responsible for its pro rata share of those expenses. Pursuant to the Amended and Restated Multiple Class Plan for Eaton Vance Funds, Fund expenses are allocated to each class on a pro rata basis, except that distribution and service fees are allocated exclusively to the class that incurs them.
OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS
Principal Underwriter. Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. (“EVD”), Two International Place, Boston, MA 02110 is the principal underwriter of each Fund. The principal underwriter acts as principal in selling shares under a Distribution Agreement with the Trust. The expenses of printing copies of prospectuses used to offer shares and other selling literature and of advertising are borne by the principal underwriter. The fees and expenses of qualifying and registering and maintaining qualifications and registrations of a Fund and its shares under federal and state securities laws are borne by the Fund. The Distribution Agreement is renewable annually by the members of the Board (including a majority of the noninterested Trustees who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Distribution Agreement or any applicable Distribution Plan), may be terminated on sixty days’ notice either by such Trustees or by vote of a majority of the outstanding Fund shares or on six months’ notice by the principal underwriter and is automatically terminated upon assignment. The principal underwriter distributes shares on a “best efforts” basis under which it is required to take and pay for only such shares as may be sold. EVD is a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of EVC. Mr. Faust is also a Director of EVD. EVD also serves as placement agent for the Portfolio.
Custodian. State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”), State Street Financial Center, One Lincoln Street, Boston, MA 02111, serves as custodian to each Fund and the Portfolio. State Street has custody of all cash and securities representing a Fund’s interest in the Portfolio, has custody of the Portfolio’s assets, maintains the general ledger of the Portfolio and each Fund and computes the daily net asset value of interests in the Portfolio and the net asset value of shares of each Fund. In such capacity it attends to details in connection with the sale, exchange, substitution, transfer or other dealings with each Fund and the Portfolio’s investments, receives and disburses all funds and performs various other ministerial duties upon receipt of proper instructions from the Trust and the Portfolio. State Street also provides services in connection with the preparation of shareholder reports and the electronic filing of such reports with the SEC. EVC and its affiliates and their officers and employees from time to time have transactions with various banks, including State Street. It is Eaton Vance’s opinion that the terms and conditions of such transactions were not and will not be influenced by existing or potential custodial or other relationships between each Fund or the Portfolio and such banks.
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. Deloitte & Touche LLP, 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116, independent registered public accounting firm, audits each Fund's and the Portfolio's financial statements and provides other audit, tax and related services.
Transfer Agent. BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc., P.O. Box 9653, Providence, RI 02940-9653, serves as transfer and dividend disbursing agent for each Fund.
CALCULATION OF NET ASSET VALUE
The net asset value of the Fund is determined by State Street (as agent and custodian) by subtracting the liabilities of the Fund from the value of its total assets. The Fund is closed for business and will not issue a net asset value on the following business holidays and any other business day that the Exchange is closed: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The Fund’s net asset value per share is readily accessible on the Eaton Vance website (www.eatonvance.com).
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 22 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Each Portfolio investor may add to or reduce its investment in the Portfolio on each day the Exchange is open for trading (“Portfolio Business Day”) as of the close of regular trading on the Exchange (the “Portfolio Valuation Time”). The value of each investor’s interest in the Portfolio will be determined by multiplying the net asset value of the Portfolio by the percentage, determined on the prior Portfolio Business Day, which represented that investor’s share of the aggregate interests in the Portfolio on such prior day. Any additions or withdrawals for the current Portfolio Business Day will then be recorded. Each investor’s percentage of the aggregate interest in the Portfolio will then be recomputed as a percentage equal to a fraction (i) the numerator of which is the value of such investor’s investment in the Portfolio as of the Portfolio Valuation Time on the prior Portfolio Business Day plus or minus, as the case may be, the amount of any additions to or withdrawals from the investor’s investment in the Portfolio on the current Portfolio Business Day and (ii) the denominator of which is the aggregate net asset value of the Portfolio as of the Portfolio Valuation Time on the prior Portfolio Business Day plus or minus, as the case may be, the amount of the net additions to or withdrawals from the aggregate investment in the Portfolio on the current Portfolio Business Day by all investors in the Portfolio. The percentage so determined will then be applied to determine the value of the investor’s interest in the Portfolio for the current Portfolio Business Day.
The Board has approved procedures pursuant to which investments are valued for purposes of determining the Fund’s net asset value. Listed below is a summary of the methods generally used to value investments (some or all of which may be held by the Fund) under the procedures.
· | Equity securities (including common stock, exchange-traded funds, closed end funds, preferred equity securities, exchange-traded notes and other instruments that trade on recognized stock exchanges) are valued at the last sale, official close, or if there are no reported sales, at the mean between the bid and asked price on the primary exchange on which they are traded. |
· | Most debt obligations are valued on the basis of market valuations furnished by a pricing service or at the mean of the bid and asked prices provided by recognized broker/dealers of such securities. The pricing service may use a pricing matrix to determine valuation. |
· | Short-term instruments with remaining maturities of less than 397 days are valued on the basis of market valuations furnished by a pricing service or based on dealer quotations. |
· | Foreign securities and currencies are valued in U.S. dollars based on foreign currency exchange quotations supplied by a pricing service. |
· | Senior and Junior Loans are valued on the basis of prices furnished by a pricing service. The pricing service uses transactions and market quotations from brokers in determining values. |
· | Futures contracts are valued at the settlement or closing price on the primary exchange or board of trade on which they are traded. |
· | Exchange-traded options are valued at the mean of the bid and asked prices. Over-the-counter options are valued based on quotations obtained from a pricing service or from a broker (typically the counterparty to the option). |
· | Non-exchange traded derivatives (including swap agreements, forward contracts and equity participation notes) are generally valued on the basis of valuations provided by a pricing service or using quotes provided by a broker/dealer (typically the counterparty) or, for total return swaps, based on market index data. |
· | Precious metals are valued at the New York Composite mean quotation. |
· | Liabilities with a payment or maturity date of 364 days or less are stated at their principal value and longer dated liabilities generally will be carried at their fair value. |
· | Valuations of foreign equity securities and total return swaps and exchange-traded futures contracts on non-North American equity indices are generally based on fair valuation provided by a pricing service. |
Investments which are unable to be valued in accordance with the foregoing methodologies are valued at fair value using methods determined in good faith by or at the direction of the members of the Board. Such methods may include consideration of relevant factors, including but not limited to (i) the type of security and, the existence of any contractual restrictions on the security’s disposition; (ii) the price and extent of public trading in similar securities of the issuer or of comparable companies or entities; (iii) quotations or relevant information obtained from broker-dealers or other market participants; (iv) information obtained from the issuer, analysts, and/or the appropriate stock exchange (for exchange-traded securities); (v) an analysis of the company’s or entity’s financial statements; (vi) an evaluation of the forces that influence the issuer and the market(s) in which the security is purchased and sold; (vii) any transaction involving the issuer of such securities; and (viii) any other factors deemed relevant by the investment adviser. For purposes of fair valuation, the portfolio managers of one Eaton Vance fund that invests in Senior and Junior Loans may not possess the same information about a Senior or Junior Loan as the portfolio managers of another Eaton Vance fund. As such, at times the fair value of a Loan determined by certain Eaton Vance portfolio managers may vary from the fair value of the same Loan determined by other portfolio managers.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 23 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
PURCHASING AND REDEEMING SHARES
Additional Information About Purchases. Fund shares are offered for sale only in states where they are registered. The Eaton Vance funds generally do not accept investments from residents of the European Union or Switzerland, although may do so to the extent that the Eaton Vance funds may be lawfully offered in a relevant jurisdiction (including at the initiative of the investor). Fund shares are continuously offered through financial intermediaries which have entered into agreements with the principal underwriter. Fund shares are sold at the public offering price, which is the net asset value plus the initial sales charge, if any. The Fund receives the net asset value. The principal underwriter receives the sales charge, all or a portion of which may be reallowed to the financial intermediaries responsible for selling Fund shares. The sales charge table for Class A shares in the Prospectus is applicable to purchases of Class A shares of a Fund alone or in combination with purchases of certain other funds offered by the principal underwriter, made at a single time by (i) an individual, or an individual, his or her spouse and their children under the age of twenty-one, purchasing shares for his or their own account, and (ii) a trustee or other fiduciary purchasing shares for a single trust estate or a single fiduciary account. The table is also presently applicable to (1) purchases of Class A shares pursuant to a written Statement of Intention; or (2) purchases of Class A shares pursuant to the Right of Accumulation and declared as such at the time of purchase. See “Sales Charges.”
Class I Share Purchases. Class I shares are available for purchase by clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge such clients an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Class I shares through a no-load network or platform. Such clients may include individuals, corporations, endowments, foundations and employer sponsored retirement plans. Class I shares may also be available through brokerage platforms of broker-dealer firms that have agreements with a Fund’s principal underwriter to offer Class I shares solely when acting as an agent for the investor. An investor acquiring Class I shares through such platforms may be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker. Class I shares also are offered to investment and institutional clients of Eaton Vance and its affiliates; certain persons affiliated with Eaton Vance and its affiliates; current and retired members of Eaton Vance Fund Boards; employees of Eaton Vance and its affiliates and such persons’ spouses, parents, siblings and lineal descendants and their beneficial accounts.
Waiver of Investment Minimums. In addition to waivers described in the Prospectus, minimum investment amounts are waived for individual plan participants in an employer sponsored retirement plan, current and retired members of Eaton Vance Fund Boards, clients (including custodial, agency, advisory and trust accounts), current and retired officers and employees of Eaton Vance, its affiliates and other investment advisers and sub-advisers to the Eaton Vance family of funds, and for such persons’ spouses, parents, siblings and lineal descendants and their beneficial accounts. The minimum initial investment amount is also waived for officers and employees of a Fund’s custodian and transfer agent and in connection with the merger (or similar transaction) of an investment company (or series or class thereof) or personal holding company with a Fund (or class thereof). Investments in a Fund by ReFlow in connection with the ReFlow liquidity program are also not subject to the minimum investment amount.
Suspension of Sales. The Trust may, in its absolute discretion, suspend, discontinue or limit the offering of one or more of its classes of shares at any time. In determining whether any such action should be taken, the Trust’s management intends to consider all relevant factors, including (without limitation) the size of a Fund or class, the investment climate and market conditions and the volume of sales and redemptions of shares. The Class A, Class B and Class C Distribution Plans may continue in effect and payments may be made under the Plans following any such suspension, discontinuance or limitation of the offering of shares; however, there is no obligation to continue any Plan for any particular period of time. Suspension of the offering of shares would not, of course, affect a shareholder’s ability to redeem shares.
Additional Information About Redemptions. The right to redeem shares of a Fund can be suspended and the payment of the redemption price deferred when the Exchange is closed (other than for customary weekend and holiday closings), during periods when trading on the Exchange is restricted as determined by the SEC, or during any emergency as determined by the SEC which makes it impracticable for the Portfolio to dispose of its securities or value its assets, or during any other period permitted by order of the SEC for the protection of investors.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 24 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Due to the high cost of maintaining small accounts, the Trust reserves the right to redeem accounts with balances of less than $750. Prior to such a redemption, shareholders will be given 60 days’ written notice to make an additional purchase. No CDSC or redemption fees, if applicable, will be imposed with respect to such involuntary redemptions.
As disclosed in the Prospectus, each Fund typically expects to meet redemption requests by (i) distributing any cash holdings, (ii) selling portfolio investments and/or (iii) borrowing from a bank under a line of credit. In addition to the foregoing, each Fund also may distribute securities as payment (a so-called “redemption in-kind”), in which case the redeeming shareholder may pay fees and commissions to convert the securities to cash. Unless requested by a shareholder, each Fund expects to limit use of redemption in-kind to stressed market conditions, but is permitted to do so in other circumstances. Any redemption in-kind would be made in accordance with policies adopted by each Fund, which allow the Fund to distribute securities pro rata or as selected by the investment adviser.
Each Fund participates in a joint credit facility arrangement with other Eaton Vance funds and may borrow amounts available thereunder for temporary purposes, such as meeting redemptions. See “Additional Information about Investment Strategies - Borrowing for Temporary Purposes” herein. Each Fund also has exemptive relief to participate in an interfund lending program with other Eaton Vance funds. Such program is not operational as of the date of this SAI.
In connection with requests to re-issue uncashed checks representing redemption proceeds, the Fund reserves the right to require the redeeming shareholder to provide Medallion signature guaranteed wire instructions for delivery of redemption proceeds. Redemption proceeds represented by an uncashed check will not earn interest or other return during such time.
As noted above, each Fund may pay the redemption price of shares of a Fund, either totally or partially, by a distribution in-kind of securities. All requests for redemptions in-kind must be in good order. Provided the redemption request is received by the Fund not later than 12:00 p.m. (eastern time) on the day of the redemption, the Fund may in its discretion, if requested by a redeeming shareholder, provide the redeeming shareholders with an estimate of the securities to be distributed. Any difference between the redemption value of the distributed securities and the value of the Fund shares redeemed will be settled in cash. Securities distributed in a redemption in-kind would be valued pursuant to a Fund’s valuation procedures and selected by the investment adviser. If a shareholder receives securities in a redemption in-kind, the shareholder could incur brokerage or other charges in converting the securities to cash and the value of such securities would be subject to price fluctuations until sold.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan. The transfer agent will send to the shareholder regular monthly or quarterly payments of any permitted amount designated by the shareholder based upon the value of the shares held. The checks will be drawn from share redemptions and hence, may require the recognition of taxable gain or loss. Income dividends and capital gains distributions in connection with withdrawal plan accounts will be credited at net asset value as of the ex-dividend date for each distribution. Continued withdrawals in excess of current income will eventually use up principal, particularly in a period of declining market prices. A shareholder may not have a withdrawal plan in effect at the same time he or she has authorized Bank Automated Investing or is otherwise making regular purchases of Fund shares. The shareholder, the transfer agent or the principal underwriter may terminate the withdrawal plan at any time without penalty.
Other Information. A Fund’s net asset value per share is normally rounded to two decimal places. In certain situations (such as a merger, share split or a purchase or sale of shares that represents a significant portion of a share class), the administrator may determine to extend the calculation of the net asset value per share to additional decimal places to ensure that neither the value of the Fund nor a shareholder’s shares is diluted materially as the result of a purchase or sale or other transaction.
SALES CHARGES
Dealer Commissions. The principal underwriter may, from time to time, at its own expense, provide additional incentives to financial intermediaries which employ registered representatives who sell Fund shares and/or shares of other funds distributed by the principal underwriter. In some instances, such additional incentives may be offered only to certain financial intermediaries whose representatives sell or are expected to sell significant amounts of shares. In addition, the principal underwriter may from time to time increase or decrease the sales commissions payable to financial intermediaries. The principal underwriter may allow, upon notice to all financial intermediaries with whom it has agreements, discounts up to the full sales charge during the periods specified in the notice. During periods when the discount includes the full sales charge, such financial intermediaries may be deemed to be underwriters as that term is defined in the 1933 Act.
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Purchases at Net Asset Value. Class A shares may be sold at net asset value (without a sales charge) to clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge such clients an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Class A shares through a no-load network or platform; current and retired members of Eaton Vance Fund Boards; to clients (including custodial, agency, advisory and trust accounts) and current and former Directors, officers and employees of Eaton Vance, its affiliates and other investment advisers and sub-advisers of Eaton Vance sponsored funds; and to such persons’ spouses, parents, siblings and lineal descendants and their beneficial accounts. Such shares may also be issued at net asset value (1) in connection with the merger (or similar transaction) of an investment company (or series or class thereof) or personal holding company with a Fund (or class thereof), (2) to HSAs (Health Savings Accounts) and to employer sponsored retirement plans and trusts used to fund those plans, (3) to officers and employees of a Fund’s custodian and transfer agent, (4) in connection with the ReFlow liquidity program and (5) direct purchases of shares by accounts where no financial intermediary is specified. Class A shares may also be sold at net asset value to registered representatives and employees of financial intermediaries. Class A shares are also offered at net asset value to shareholders who make a permitted direct transfer or roll-over to an Eaton Vance prototype individual retirement account (“IRA”) from an employer-sponsored retirement plan previously invested in Eaton Vance funds (applicable only to the portion previously invested in Eaton Vance funds), provided that sufficient documentation is provided to the transfer agent of such transfer or roll-over at the time of the account opening. Sales charges generally are waived because either (i) there is no sales effort involved in the sale of shares or (ii) the investor is paying a fee (other than the sales charge) to the financial intermediary involved in the sale. Any new or revised sales charge or CDSC waiver will be prospective only. A financial intermediary may not, in accordance with its policies and procedures, offer one or more of the waiver categories described above and shareholders should consult their financial intermediary for more information.
CDSC Waiver. CDSCs will be waived in connection with redemptions from employer sponsored retirement plans or IRAs to satisfy required minimum distributions by applying the rate required to be withdrawn under the applicable rules and regulations of the IRS to the balance of shares in your account. CDSCs will also be waived in connection with returning excess contributions made to IRAs.
Statement of Intention. If it is anticipated that $50,000 or more of Class A shares and shares of other funds exchangeable for Class A shares of another Eaton Vance fund will be purchased within a 13-month period, the Statement of Intention section of the account application should be completed so that shares may be obtained at the same reduced sales charge as though the total quantity were invested in one lump sum. Shares eligible for the right of accumulation (see below) as of the date of the statement and purchased during the 13-month period will be included toward the completion of the statement. If you make a statement of intention, the transfer agent is authorized to hold in escrow sufficient shares (5% of the dollar amount specified in the statement) which can be redeemed to make up any difference in sales charge on the amount intended to be invested and the amount actually invested. A statement of intention does not obligate the shareholder to purchase or the Fund to sell the full amount indicated in the statement.
If the amount actually purchased during the 13-month period is less than that indicated in the statement, the shareholder will be requested to pay the difference between the sales charge applicable to the shares purchased and the sales charge paid under the statement of intention. If the payment is not received in 20 days, the appropriate number of escrowed shares will be redeemed in order to realize such difference. Shareholders will not receive a lower sales charge if total purchases during the 13-month period are large enough to qualify for a lower sales charge than that applicable to the amount specified in the statement. If the sales charge rate changes during the 13-month period, all shares purchased or charges assessed after the date of such change will be subject to the then applicable sales charge.
Right of Accumulation. Under the right of accumulation, the applicable sales charge level is calculated by aggregating the dollar amount of the current purchase and the value (calculated at the maximum current offering price) of shares owned by the shareholder. The sales charge on the shares being purchased will then be applied at the rate applicable to the aggregate. Share purchases eligible for the right of accumulation are described under “Sales Charges” in the Prospectus. For any such discount to be made available at the time of purchase a purchaser or his or her financial intermediary must provide the principal underwriter (in the case of a purchase made through a financial intermediary) or the transfer agent (in the case of an investment made by mail) with sufficient information to permit verification that the purchase order qualifies for the accumulation privilege. Confirmation of the order is subject to such verification. The right of accumulation privilege may be amended or terminated at any time as to purchases occurring thereafter.
Conversion Feature. Class B shares held for eight years will automatically convert to Class A shares. For purposes of this conversion, all distributions paid on Class B shares which the shareholder elects to reinvest in Class B shares will be considered to be held in a separate sub-account. Upon the conversion of Class B shares not acquired through the reinvestment of distributions, a pro rata portion of the Class B shares held in the sub-account will also convert to Class A shares. This portion will be determined by the ratio that the Class B shares being converted bears to the total of Class B shares (excluding shares acquired through reinvestment) in the account. This conversion feature is subject to the continuing availability of a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service or an opinion of counsel that the conversion is not taxable for federal income tax purposes.
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Effective January 25, 2019 (the “Effective Date”), Class C shares will automatically convert to Class A shares during the month following the ten year anniversary of the purchase of such Class C shares. If the financial intermediary that maintains a Class C shareholder’s account has not tracked the holding period for Class C shares, Class C shares held as of the Effective Date will automatically convert to Class A shares 10 years after the Effective Date. Such conversion shall be effected on the basis of the relative NAVs per share of the two classes without the imposition of any sales charge, fee or other charge. For purposes of this conversion, all distributions paid on such Class C shares which the shareholder elects to reinvest in Class C shares will be considered to be held in a separate sub-account. Upon the conversion of Class C shares not acquired through the reinvestment of distributions, a pro rata portion of the Class C shares held in the sub-account will also convert to such Class A shares. This portion will be determined by the ratio that such Class C shares being converted bears to the total of Class C shares (excluding shares acquired through reinvestment) in the account.
Distribution Plans
The Trust has in effect a compensation-type Distribution Plan for Class A shares (the “Class A Plan”) adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Class A Plan is designed to (i) finance activities which are primarily intended to result in the distribution and sales of Class A shares and to make payments in connection with the distribution of such shares and (ii) pay service fees for personal services and/or the maintenance of shareholder accounts to the principal underwriter, financial intermediaries and other persons. The distribution and service fees payable under the Class A Plan shall not exceed 0.25% of the average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares for any fiscal year. Class A distribution and service fees are paid monthly in arrears. For the distribution and service fees paid by Class A shares, see Appendix A.
The Trust also has in effect a compensation-type Distribution Plan for Class B and Class C shares (the “Class B and Class C Plans”) adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. Pursuant to the Class B and Class C Plans, Class B and Class C pay the principal underwriter a distribution fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate not exceeding 0.75% of its average daily net assets to finance the distribution of its shares. Such fees compensate the principal underwriter for the sales commissions paid by it to financial intermediaries on the sale of shares, for other distribution expenses (such as personnel, overhead, travel, printing and postage) and for interest expense. The principal underwriter is entitled to receive all distribution fees and CDSCs paid or payable with respect to Class B and Class C shares, provided that no such payments will be made that would cause Class C shares of each Fund and Class B shares of Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 to exceed the maximum sales charge permitted by FINRA Rule 2341(d) or Class B shares of Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 to exceed a maximum sales charge of 5% as determined in accordance with such Rule.
The Class B and Class C Plans also authorize the payment of service fees to the principal underwriter, financial intermediaries and other persons in amounts not exceeding an annual rate of 0.25% of its average daily net assets for personal services, and/or the maintenance of shareholder accounts. For Class B, this fee is paid monthly in arrears based on the value of shares sold by such persons. For Class C, financial intermediaries currently generally receive (a) a service fee (except on exchange transactions and reinvestments) at the time of sale equal to 0.25% of the purchase price of Class C shares sold by such intermediaries, and (b) monthly service fees approximately equivalent to 1/12 of 0.25% of the value of Class C shares sold by such intermediaries. During the first year after a purchase of Class C shares, the principal underwriter will retain the service fee as reimbursement for the service fee payment made to financial intermediaries at the time of sale (if applicable). For the service fees paid, see Appendix B and Appendix C.
The Board believes that each Plan will be a significant factor in the expected growth of each Fund’s assets, and will result in increased investment flexibility and advantages which have benefitted and will continue to benefit the Fund and its shareholders. The Eaton Vance organization may profit by reason of the operation of a Plan through an increase in Fund assets and if at any point in time the aggregate amounts received by the principal underwriter pursuant to a Plan exceeds the total expenses incurred in distributing Fund shares. For sales commissions and CDSCs, if applicable, see Appendix A, Appendix B and Appendix C.
A Plan continues in effect from year to year so long as such continuance is approved at least annually by the vote of both a majority of (i) the noninterested Trustees of the Trust who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or any agreements related to the Plan (the “Plan Trustees”) and (ii) all of the Trustees then in office. A Plan may be terminated at any time by vote of a majority of the Plan Trustees or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting
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securities of the applicable Class. Quarterly Board member review of a written report of the amount expended under the Plan and the purposes for which such expenditures were made is required. A Plan may not be amended to increase materially the payments described therein without approval of the shareholders of the affected Class and the Board. So long as a Plan is in effect, the selection and nomination of the noninterested Trustees shall be committed to the discretion of such Trustees. The Trustees, including the Plan Trustees, initially approved the current Plan(s) on April 22, 2013 for each Fund. Any Board member who is an “interested” person of the Trust has an indirect financial interest in a Plan because his or her employer (or affiliates thereof) receives distribution and/or service fees under the Plan or agreements related thereto.
DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS AND RELATED INFORMATION
The Board has adopted policies and procedures (the “Policies”) with respect to the disclosure of information about portfolio holdings of each Fund. See the Funds' Prospectus for information on disclosure made in filings with the SEC and/or posted on the Eaton Vance website (www.eatonvance.com) and disclosure of certain portfolio characteristics. Pursuant to the Policies, information about portfolio holdings of a Fund may also be disclosed as follows:
· | Confidential disclosure for a legitimate Fund purpose: Portfolio holdings may be disclosed, from time to time as necessary, for a legitimate business purpose of a Fund, believed to be in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders, provided there is a duty or an agreement that the information be kept confidential. Any such confidentiality agreement includes provisions intended to impose a duty not to trade on the non-public information. The Policies permit disclosure of portfolio holdings information to the following: 1) affiliated and unaffiliated service providers that have a legal or contractual duty to keep such information confidential, such as employees of the investment adviser (including portfolio managers and, in the case of a Portfolio, the portfolio manager of any account that invests in the Portfolio), the administrator, custodian, transfer agent, principal underwriter, etc. described herein and in the Prospectus; 2) other persons who owe a fiduciary or other duty of trust or confidence to the Fund (such as Fund legal counsel and independent registered public accounting firm); or 3) persons to whom the disclosure is made in advancement of a legitimate business purpose of a Fund and who have expressly agreed in writing to maintain the disclosed information in confidence and to use it only in connection with the legitimate business purpose underlying the arrangement. To the extent applicable to an Eaton Vance fund, such persons may include securities lending agents which may receive information from time to time regarding selected holdings which may be loaned by a Fund, in the event a Fund is rated, credit rating agencies (Moody’s Investor Services, Inc. and S&P Global Ratings), analytical service providers engaged by the investment adviser (SS&C Advent, Bloomberg L.P., Evare, FactSet, McMunn Associates, Inc., MSCI/Barra and The Yield Book, Inc.), proxy evaluation vendors (Institutional Shareholder Servicing, Inc.), pricing services (The Thomas Reuters Pricing Service Mark-to-Market Pricing Service, WM/Reuters Information Services and Non-Deliverable Forward Rates Service, IHS Markit, FT Interactive Data Corp., Securities Evaluations, Inc., SuperDerivatives and StatPro.), which receive information as needed to price a particular holding, translation services, third-party reconciliation services, lenders under Fund credit facilities (Citibank, N.A. and its affiliates), consultants and other product evaluators (Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC) and, for purposes of facilitating portfolio transactions, financial intermediaries and other intermediaries (national and regional municipal bond dealers and mortgage-backed securities dealers). These entities receive portfolio information on an as needed basis in order to perform the service for which they are being engaged. If required in order to perform their duties, this information will be provided in real time or as soon as practical thereafter. Additional categories of disclosure involving a legitimate business purpose may be added to this list upon the authorization of a Fund’s Board. In addition to the foregoing, disclosure of portfolio holdings may be made to a Fund’s investment adviser as a seed investor in a fund, in order for the adviser or its parent to satisfy certain reporting obligations and reduce its exposure to market risk factors associated with any such seed investment. Also, in connection with a redemption in-kind, the redeeming shareholders may be required to agree to keep the information about the securities to be so distributed confidential, except to the extent necessary to dispose of the securities. |
· | Historical portfolio holdings information: From time to time, each Fund may be requested to provide historic portfolio holdings information or certain characteristics of portfolio holdings that have not been made public previously. In such case, the requested information may be provided if: the information is requested for due diligence or another legitimate purpose; the requested portfolio holdings or portfolio characteristics are for a period that is no more recent than the date of the portfolio holdings or portfolio characteristics posted to the Eaton Vance website; and the dissemination of the requested information is reviewed and approved in accordance with the Policies. |
The Funds, the investment adviser and principal underwriter will not receive any monetary or other consideration in connection with the disclosure of information concerning a Fund’s portfolio holdings.
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The Policies may not be waived, or exception made, without the consent of the CCO of the Funds. The CCO may not waive or make exception to the Policies unless such waiver or exception is consistent with the intent of the Policies, which is to ensure that disclosure of portfolio information is in the best interest of Fund shareholders. In determining whether to permit a waiver of or exception to the Policies, the CCO will consider whether the proposed disclosure serves a legitimate purpose of a Fund, whether it could provide the recipient with an advantage over Fund shareholders or whether the proposed disclosure gives rise to a conflict of interest between a Fund’s shareholders and its investment adviser, principal underwriter or other affiliated person. The CCO will report all waivers of or exceptions to the Policies to the Board at their next meeting. The Board may impose additional restrictions on the disclosure of portfolio holdings information at any time.
The Policies are designed to provide useful information concerning a Fund to existing and prospective Fund shareholders while at the same time inhibiting the improper use of portfolio holdings information in trading Fund shares and/or portfolio securities held by the Portfolio. However, there can be no assurance that the provision of any portfolio holdings information is not susceptible to inappropriate uses (such as the development of “market timing” models), particularly in the hands of highly sophisticated investors, or that it will not in fact be used in such ways beyond the control of the Funds.
TAXES
The following is a summary of some of the tax consequences affecting a Fund and its shareholders. As used below, “the Fund” refers to the Fund(s) listed on the cover of this SAI, except as otherwise noted. The summary does not address all of the special tax rules applicable to certain classes of investors, such as individual retirement accounts and employer sponsored retirement plans, tax-exempt entities, foreign investors, insurance companies and financial institutions. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors with respect to special tax rules that may apply in their particular situations, as well as the federal, state, local, and, where applicable, foreign tax consequences of investing in the Fund.
Taxation of the Fund. The Fund, as a series of the Trust, is treated as a separate entity for federal income tax purposes. The Fund has elected to be treated and intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Code. Accordingly, the Fund intends to satisfy certain requirements relating to sources of its income and diversification of its assets and to distribute substantially all of its net investment income (including tax-exempt income, if any) and net short-term and long-term capital gains (after reduction by any available capital loss carryforwards) in accordance with the timing requirements imposed by the Code, so as to maintain its RIC status and to avoid paying any federal income tax. Based on advice of counsel, the Fund generally will not recognize gain or loss on its distribution of appreciated securities in shareholder-initiated redemptions of its shares. If the Fund qualifies for treatment as a RIC and satisfies the above-mentioned distribution requirements, it will not be subject to federal income tax on income paid to its shareholders in the form of dividends or capital gain distributions. The Fund qualified as a RIC for its most recent taxable year.
The Fund also seeks to avoid the imposition of a federal excise tax on its ordinary income and capital gain net income. However, if the Fund fails to distribute in a calendar year substantially all of its ordinary income for such year and substantially all of its capital gain net income for the one-year period ending October 31 (or later if the Fund is permitted to so elect and so elects), plus any retained amount from the prior year, the Fund will be subject to a 4% excise tax on the undistributed amounts. In order to avoid incurring a federal excise tax obligation, the Code requires that the Fund distribute (or be deemed to have distributed) by December 31 of each calendar year (i) at least 98% of its ordinary income (excluding tax-exempt income, if any) for such year, (ii) at least 98.2% of its capital gain net income (which is the excess of its realized capital gains over its realized capital losses), generally computed on the basis of the one-year period ending on October 31 of such year, after reduction by any available capital loss carryforwards, and (iii) 100% of any income and capital gains from the prior year (as previously computed) that were not distributed out during such year and on which the Fund paid no federal income tax. If the Fund fails to meet these requirements it will be subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax on the undistributed amounts. Under current law, provided that the Fund qualifies as a RIC (and, where applicable, the Portfolio is treated as a partnership for Massachusetts and federal tax purposes), the Fund should not be liable for any applicable state income, corporate excise or franchise tax.
If the Fund does not qualify as a RIC for any taxable year, the Fund’s taxable income will be subject to corporate income taxes, and all distributions from earnings and profits, including distributions of tax-exempt income and net capital gain (if any), will be taxable to the shareholder as dividend income. However, such distributions may be eligible (i) to be treated as qualified dividend income in the case of shareholders taxed as individuals and (ii) for the dividends-received deduction in the case of corporate shareholders. In addition, in order to re-qualify for taxation as a RIC, the Fund may be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest, and make substantial distributions.
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In certain situations, the Fund may, for a taxable year, elect to defer all or a portion of its net capital losses (or if there is no net capital loss, then any net long-term or short-term capital loss) realized after October and its late-year ordinary losses (which includes the sum of the excess of post-October foreign currency and passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) losses over post-October foreign currency and PFIC gains plus the excess of post-December ordinary losses over post-December ordinary income) realized after December until the next taxable year in computing its investment company taxable income and net capital gain, which will defer the recognition of such realized losses. Such deferrals and other rules regarding gains and losses realized after October (or December) may affect the tax character of shareholder distributions.
Taxation of the Portfolio. If the Fund invests its assets in the Portfolio, the Portfolio normally must satisfy the applicable source of income and asset diversification requirements under Subchapter M of the Code in order for the Fund to also satisfy these requirements. For federal income tax purposes, the Portfolio intends to be treated as a partnership that is not a “publicly traded partnership” and, as a result, will not be subject to federal income tax. The Fund, as an investor in the Portfolio, will be required to take into account in determining its federal income tax liability its allocable share of such Portfolio’s income, gains, losses, deductions and credits, without regard to whether it has received any distributions from such Portfolio. The Portfolio will allocate at least annually among its investors, including the Fund, the Portfolio’s net investment income, net realized capital gains and losses, and any other items of income, gain, loss, deduction or credit. For purposes of applying the requirements of the Code regarding qualification as a RIC, the Fund (i) will be deemed to own its proportionate share of each of the assets of the Portfolio and (ii) will be entitled to the gross income of the Portfolio attributable to such share. Under current law, provided that the Portfolio is treated as a partnership for Massachusetts and federal tax purposes, the Portfolio should not be liable for any income, corporate excise or franchise tax in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Taxation of the Subsidiary. See the definition of “Subsidiary” under “Definitions” at the front of this SAI for information about whether any Fund and/or Portfolio (if applicable) described herein has established a Subsidiary. The Subsidiary is classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The Fund intends to take the position that income from its investments in the Subsidiary will constitute qualifying income for purposes of qualifying as a regulated investment company. Under Treasury regulations, “subpart F income” (as defined below) included in the Fund’s annual income for U.S. federal income purposes will constitute qualifying income to the extent it is either (i) timely and currently repatriated or (ii) derived with respect to the Fund’s business of investing in stock, securities or currencies. If the Fund were to earn non-qualifying income from any source including the Subsidiary in excess of 10% of its gross income for any taxable year, it would fail to qualify as a RIC for that year, unless the Fund were eligible to cure and cured such failure by paying a Fund-level tax equal to the full amount of such excess.
Foreign corporations, such as the Subsidiary, will generally not be subject to U.S. federal income taxation unless they are deemed to be engaged in a U.S. trade or business. It is expected that the Subsidiary will conduct it activities in a manner so as to meet the requirements of a safe harbor under Section 864(b)(2) of the Code under which the Subsidiary may engage in trading in stocks or securities or certain commodities without being deemed to be engaged in a U.S. trade or business. However, if certain of the Subsidiary's activities were determined not to be of the type described in the safe harbor (which is not expected), then the activities of the Subsidiary may constitute a U.S. trade or business, and would be taxed as such.
The Subsidiary is treated as a controlled foreign corporation (“CFC”) for tax purposes and the Fund is treated as a “U.S. shareholder” of the Subsidiary. As a result, the Fund is required to include in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes all of the Subsidiary's “subpart F income,” whether or not such income is distributed by the Subsidiary. It is expected that all of the Subsidiary's income will be “subpart F income.” The Fund’s recognition of the Subsidiary's “subpart F income” will increase the Fund’s tax basis in the Subsidiary. Distributions by the Subsidiary to the Fund will be tax-free to the extent of its previously undistributed “subpart F income,” and will correspondingly reduce the Fund's tax basis in the Subsidiary. “Subpart F income” is generally treated as ordinary income, regardless of the character of the Subsidiary's underlying income. If a net loss is realized by the Subsidiary, such loss is not generally available to offset the income earned by the Fund.
Tax Consequences of Certain Investments. The following summary of the tax consequences of certain types of investments applies to the Fund and the Portfolio, as appropriate. References below to “the Fund” are to any Fund or Portfolio that can engage in the particular practice as described in the prospectus or SAI.
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Securities Acquired at Market Discount or with Original Issue Discount. Investment in securities acquired in zero coupon, deferred interest, payment-in-kind and certain other securities with original issue discount, generally may cause the Fund to realize income prior to the receipt of cash payments with respect to these securities. Such income will be accrued daily by the Fund and, in order to avoid a tax payable by the Fund, the Fund may be required to liquidate securities that it might otherwise have continued to hold in order to generate cash so that the Fund may make required distributions to its shareholders. Subject to the discussion below regarding Section 451 of the Code, (i) generally any gain recognized on the disposition of, and any partial payment of principal on, a debt security having market discount is treated as ordinary income to the extent the gain, or principal payment, does not exceed the “accrued market discount” on such debt security, (ii) alternatively, the fund may elect to accrue market discount currently, in which case the fund will be required to include the accrued market discount in the Fund's income (as ordinary income) and thus distribute it over the term of the debt security, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, upon partial or full repayment or disposition of the debt security, and (iii) the rate at which the market discount accrues, and thus is included in the Fund's income, will depend upon which of the permitted accrual methods the Fund elects. Notwithstanding the foregoing, effective for taxable years beginning after 2017, Section 451 of the Code generally requires any accrual method taxpayer to take into account items of gross income no later than the time at which such items are taken into account as revenue in the taxpayer's financial statements. The application of Section 451 to the accrual of market discount is currently unclear; however, the Treasury Department has issued a notice stating that it intends to issue proposed regulations providing that Section 451 does not apply to accrued market discount. Subject to the issuance of any such regulations, if Section 451 were to apply to the accrual of market discount, the Fund would be required to include in income any market discount as it takes the same into account on its financial statements.
Lower Rated or Defaulted Securities. Investments in securities that are at risk of, or are in, default present special tax issues for the Fund. Tax rules are not entirely clear about issues such as when the Fund may cease to accrue interest, original issue discount or market discount, when and to what extent deductions may be taken for bad debts or worthless securities and how payments received on obligations in default should be allocated between principal and income.
Municipal Obligations. Any recognized gain or income attributable to market discount on long-term tax-exempt municipal obligations (i.e., obligations with a term of more than one year) purchased after April 30, 1993 (except to the extent of a portion of the discount attributable to original issue discount), is taxable as ordinary income. A long-term debt obligation is generally treated as acquired at a market discount if purchased after its original issue at a price less than (i) the stated principal amount payable at maturity, in the case of an obligation that does not have original issue discount or (ii) in the case of an obligation that does have original issue discount, the sum of the issue price and any original issue discount that accrued before the obligation was purchased, subject to a de minimis exclusion.
From time to time proposals have been introduced before Congress for the purpose of restricting or eliminating the federal income tax exemption for interest on certain types of municipal obligations, and it can be expected that similar proposals may be introduced in the future. As a result of any such future legislation, the availability of municipal obligations for investment by the Fund and the value of the securities held by it may be affected. It is possible that events occurring after the date of issuance of municipal obligations, or after the Fund’s acquisition of such an obligation, may result in a determination that the interest paid on that obligation is taxable, even retroactively.
If the Fund seeks income exempt from state and/or local taxes, information about such taxes is contained in an appendix to this SAI (see the Table of Contents).
Tax Credit Bonds. If the Fund holds, directly or indirectly, one or more tax credit bonds issued on or before December 31, 2017 (including Build America Bonds, clean renewable energy bonds and other qualified tax credit bonds) on one or more applicable dates during a taxable year and the Fund satisfies the minimum distribution requirement, the Fund may elect to permit its shareholders to claim a tax credit on their income tax returns equal to each shareholder’s proportionate share of tax credits from the applicable bonds that otherwise would be allowed to the Fund. In such a case, shareholders must include in gross income (as interest) their proportionate share of the income attributable to their proportionate share of those offsetting tax credits. A shareholder’s ability to claim a tax credit associated with one or more tax credit bonds may be subject to certain limitations imposed by the Code. Even if the Fund is eligible to pass through tax credits to shareholders, the Fund may choose not to do so.
Derivatives. The Fund’s investments in options, futures contracts, hedging transactions, forward contracts (to the extent permitted) and certain other transactions may be subject to special tax rules (including mark-to-market, constructive sale, straddle, wash sale, short sale and other rules), the effect of which may be to accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund securities, convert capital gain into ordinary income and convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and character of Fund distributions.
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Investments in so-called “section 1256 contracts,” such as regulated futures contracts, most foreign currency forward contracts traded in the interbank market and options on most stock indices, are subject to special tax rules. All section 1256 contracts held by the Fund at the end of its taxable year are required to be marked to their market value, and any unrealized gain or loss on those positions will be included in the Fund’s income as if each position had been sold for its fair market value at the end of the taxable year. The resulting gain or loss will be combined with any gain or loss realized by the Fund from positions in section 1256 contracts closed during the taxable year. Provided such positions were held as capital assets and were not part of a “hedging transaction” nor part of a “straddle,” 60% of the resulting net gain or loss will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss, and 40% of such net gain or loss will be treated as short-term capital gain or loss, regardless of the period of time the positions were actually held by the Fund. Unless an election is made, net 1256 gain or loss on forward currency contracts will be treated as ordinary income or loss.
Fund positions in index options that do not qualify as “section 1256 contracts” under the Code generally will be treated as equity options governed by Code Section 1234. Pursuant to Code Section 1234, if a written option expires unexercised, the premium received by the Fund is short-term capital gain to the Fund. If the Fund enters into a closing transaction with respect to a written option, the difference between the premium received and the amount paid to close out its position is short-term capital gain or loss. If an option written by the Fund that is not a “section 1256 contract” is cash settled, any resulting gain or loss will be short-term capital gain. For an option purchased by the Fund that is not a “section 1256 contract”, any gain or loss resulting from sale of the option will be a capital gain or loss, and will be short-term or long-term, depending upon the holding period for the option. If the option expires, the resulting loss is a capital loss and is short-term or long-term, depending upon the holding period for the option. If a put option written by the Fund is exercised and physically settled, the premium received is treated as a reduction in the amount paid to acquire the underlying securities, increasing the gain or decreasing the loss to be realized by the Fund upon sale of the securities. If a call option written by the Fund is exercised and physically settled, the premium received is included in the sale proceeds, increasing the gain or decreasing the loss realized by the Fund at the time of option exercise.
As a result of entering into swap contracts, the Fund may make or receive periodic net payments. The Fund may also make or receive a payment when a swap is terminated prior to maturity through an assignment of the swap or other closing transaction. Periodic net payments will generally constitute ordinary income or deductions, while termination of a swap will generally result in capital gain or loss (which will be a long-term capital gain or loss if the Fund has been a party to a swap for more than one year). With respect to certain types of swaps, the Fund may be required to currently recognize income or loss with respect to future payments on such swaps or may elect under certain circumstances to mark such swaps to market annually for tax purposes as ordinary income or loss.
Short Sales. In general, gain or loss on a short sale is recognized when the Fund closes the sale by delivering the borrowed property to the lender, not when the borrowed property is sold. Gain or loss from a short sale is generally considered to be capital gain or loss to the extent that the property used to close the short sale constitutes a capital asset in the Fund’s hands. Except with respect to certain situations where the property used to close a short sale has a long-term holding period on the date of the short sale, special rules generally treat the gains on short sales as short-term capital gains. These rules may also terminate the running of the holding period of “substantially identical property” held by the Fund. Moreover, a loss on a short sale will be treated as a long-term capital loss if, on the date of the short sale, “substantially identical property” has been held by the Fund for more than one year. In general, the Fund will not be permitted to deduct payments made to reimburse the lender of securities for dividends paid on borrowed stock if the short sale is closed on or before the 45th day after the short sale is entered.
Constructive Sales. The Fund may recognize gain (but not loss) from a constructive sale of certain “appreciated financial positions” if the Fund enters into a short sale, offsetting notional principal contract, or forward contract transaction with respect to the appreciated position or substantially identical property. Appreciated financial positions subject to this constructive sale treatment include interests (including options and forward contracts and short sales) in stock and certain other instruments. Constructive sale treatment does not apply if the transaction is closed out not later than thirty days after the end of the taxable year in which the transaction was initiated, and the underlying appreciated securities position is held unhedged for at least the next sixty days after the hedging transaction is closed.
Gain or loss on a short sale will generally not be realized until such time as the short sale is closed. However, as described above in the discussion of constructive sales, if the Fund holds a short sale position with respect to securities that have appreciated in value, and it then acquires property that is the same as or substantially identical to the property sold short, the Fund generally will recognize gain on the date it acquires such property as if the short sale were closed on
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such date with such property. Similarly, if the Fund holds an appreciated financial position with respect to securities and then enters into a short sale with respect to the same or substantially identical property, the Fund generally will recognize gain as if the appreciated financial position were sold at its fair market value on the date it enters into the short sale. The subsequent holding period for any appreciated financial position that is subject to these constructive sale rules will be determined as if such position were acquired on the date of the constructive sale.
Foreign Investments and Currencies. The Fund’s investments in foreign securities may be subject to foreign withholding taxes or other foreign taxes with respect to income (possibly including, in some cases, capital gains), which would decrease the Fund’s income on such securities. These taxes may be reduced or eliminated under the terms of an applicable U.S. income tax treaty. If more than 50% of Fund assets at year end consists of the debt and equity securities of foreign corporations, the Fund may elect to permit shareholders to claim a credit or deduction on their income tax returns for their pro rata portion of qualified taxes paid by the Fund to foreign countries. If the election is made, shareholders will include in gross income from foreign sources their pro rata share of such taxes. A shareholder’s ability to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of foreign taxes paid by the Fund may be subject to certain limitations imposed by the Code (including a holding period requirement applied at the Fund level, shareholder level and, if applicable, Portfolio level), as a result of which a shareholder may not get a full credit or deduction for the amount of such taxes. In particular, the Fund or Portfolio, if applicable, must own a dividend-paying stock for more than 15 days during the 31-day period beginning 15 days prior to the ex-dividend date in order to pass through to shareholders a credit or deduction for any foreign withholding tax on a dividend paid with respect to such stock. Likewise, shareholders must hold their Fund shares (without protection from risk or loss) on the ex-dividend date and for at least 15 additional days during the 31-day period beginning 15 days prior to the ex-dividend date to be eligible to claim the foreign tax with respect to a given dividend. Shareholders who do not itemize deductions on their federal income tax returns may claim a credit (but no deduction) for such taxes. Individual shareholders subject to the alternative minimum tax (“AMT”) may not deduct such taxes for AMT purposes.
Transactions in foreign currencies, foreign currency-denominated debt securities and certain foreign currency options, futures contracts, forward contracts and similar instruments (to the extent permitted) may give rise to ordinary income or loss to the extent such income or loss results from fluctuations in the value of the foreign currency. Under Section 988 of the Code, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the time the Fund accrues income or receivables or expenses or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time the Fund actually collects such income or pays such liabilities are generally treated as ordinary income or ordinary loss.
Investments in PFICs could subject the Fund to U.S. federal income tax or other charges on certain distributions from such companies and on disposition of investments in such companies; however, the tax effects of such investments may be mitigated by making an election to mark such investments to market annually or treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund”. If the Fund were to invest in a PFIC and elect to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” under the Code, the Fund might be required to include in income each year a portion of the ordinary earnings and net capital gains of the qualified electing fund, even if not distributed to the Fund, and such amounts would be subject to the distribution requirements described above. In order to make this election, the Fund would be required to obtain certain annual information from the PFICs in which it invests, which may be difficult or impossible to obtain. Alternatively, if the Fund were to make a mark-to-market election with respect to a PFIC, the Fund would be treated as if it had sold and repurchased the PFIC stock at the end of each year. In such case, the Fund would report any such gains as ordinary income and would deduct any such losses as ordinary losses to the extent of previously recognized gains. This election must be made separately for each PFIC, and once made, would be effective for all subsequent taxable years unless revoked with the consent of the IRS. The Fund may be required to recognize income in excess of the distributions it receives from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock in any particular year. As a result, the Fund may have to distribute this “phantom” income and gain to satisfy the distribution requirement and to avoid imposition of the 4% excise tax.
U.S. Government Securities. Distributions paid by the Fund that are derived from interest on obligations of the U.S. Government and certain of its agencies and instrumentalities (but generally not distributions of capital gains realized upon the disposition of such obligations) may be exempt from state and local income taxes. The Fund generally intends to advise shareholders of the extent, if any, to which its distributions consist of such interest. Shareholders are urged to consult their tax advisers regarding the possible exclusion of such portion of their dividends for state and local income tax purposes.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”). Any investment by the Fund in equity securities of a REIT qualifying as such under Subchapter M of the Code may result in the Fund’s receipt of cash in excess of the REIT’s earnings; if the Fund distributes these amounts, these distributions could constitute a return of capital to Fund shareholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Dividends received by the Fund from a REIT will not qualify for the corporate dividends-received deduction and generally will not constitute qualified dividend income.
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Pursuant to proposed regulations on which the Fund may rely, distributions by the Fund to its shareholders that the Fund properly reports as “section 199A dividends,” as defined and subject to certain conditions described below, are treated as qualified REIT dividends in the hands of non-corporate shareholders. Non-corporate shareholders are permitted a federal income tax deduction equal to 20% of qualified REIT dividends received by them, subject to certain limitations. Very generally, a “section 199A dividend” is any dividend or portion thereof that is attributable to certain dividends received by a RIC from REITs, to the extent such dividends are properly reported as such by the regulated investment company in a written notice to its shareholders. A section 199A dividend is treated as a qualified REIT dividend only if the shareholders receiving such dividend holds the dividend-paying regulated investment company shares for at least 46 days of the 91-day period beginning 45 days before the shares become ex-dividend, and is not under an obligation to make related payments with respect to a position in substantially similar or related property. The Fund is permitted to report such part of its dividends as section 199A dividends as are eligible, but is not required to do so.
Subject to any future regulatory guidance to the contrary, any distribution of income attributable to qualified publicly traded partnership income from a Fund’s investment in a qualified publicly traded partnership will not qualify for the deduction that would be available to a non-corporate shareholder were the shareholder to own such qualified publicly traded partnership interest directly.
Inflation-Indexed Bonds. Periodic adjustments for inflation to the principal amount of an inflation-indexed bond may give rise to original issue discount, which will be includable in the Fund’s gross income (see “Securities Acquired at Market Discount or with Original Issue Discount” above). Also, if the principal value of an inflation-indexed bond is adjusted downward due to inflation, amounts previously distributed in the taxable year may be characterized in some circumstances as a return of capital (see “Taxation of Fund Shareholders” below).
Taxation of Fund Shareholders. Subject to the discussion of distributions of tax-exempt income below, Fund distributions of investment income and net gains from investments held for one year or less will be taxable as ordinary income. Fund distributions of any net gains from investments held for more than one year are generally taxable as long-term capital gains. Taxes on distributions of capital gains are determined by how long the Fund or, if applicable, the Portfolio owned (or is treated as having owned) the investments that generated the gains, rather than how long a shareholder has owned his or her shares in the Fund. Dividends and distributions on the Fund’s shares are generally subject to federal income tax as described herein to the extent they are made out of the Fund’s earnings and profits, even though such dividends and distributions may economically represent a return of a particular shareholder’s investment. Such distributions are likely to occur in respect of shares purchased at a time when the Fund’s net asset value reflects gains that are either unrealized, or realized but not distributed. Such realized gains may be required to be distributed even when the Fund’s net asset value also reflects unrealized losses.
Distributions paid by the Fund during any period may be more or less than the amount of net investment income and capital gains actually earned during the period. If the Fund makes a distribution to a shareholder in excess of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits in any taxable year, the excess distribution will be treated as a return of capital. A return of capital is not taxable, but it reduces a shareholder’s tax basis in its shares, thus reducing any loss or increasing any gain on a subsequent taxable disposition by the shareholder of its shares. A shareholder’s tax basis cannot go below zero and any return of capital distributions in excess of a shareholder’s tax basis will be treated as capital gain.
Ordinarily, shareholders are required to take taxable distributions by the Fund into account in the year in which the distributions are made. However, for federal income tax purposes, dividends that are declared by the Fund in October, November or December as of a record date in such month and actually paid in January of the following year will be treated as if they were paid on December 31 of the year declared. Therefore, such dividends will generally be taxable to a shareholder in the year declared rather than in the year paid.
The amount of distributions payable by the Fund may vary depending on general economic and market conditions, the composition of investments, current management strategy and Fund operating expenses. The Fund will inform shareholders of the tax character of distributions annually to facilitate shareholder tax reporting.
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The Fund may elect to retain its net capital gain, in which case the Fund will be taxed thereon (except to the extent of any available capital loss carryovers) at regular corporate tax rates. In such a case, it is expected that the Fund also will elect to have shareholders of record on the last day of its taxable year treated as if each received a distribution of its pro rata share of such gain, with the result that each shareholder will be required to report its pro rata share of such gain on its tax return as long-term capital gain, will receive a refundable tax credit for its pro rata share of tax paid by the Fund on the gain, and will increase the tax basis for its shares by an amount equal to the deemed distribution less the tax credit.
Any Fund distribution, other than dividends that are declared by the Fund on a daily basis, will have the effect of reducing the per share net asset value of Fund shares by the amount of the distribution. If a shareholder buys shares when the Fund has unrealized or realized but not yet distributed ordinary income or capital gains, the shareholder will pay full price for the shares and then may receive a portion back as a taxable distribution even though such distribution may economically represent a return of the shareholder’s investment.
Tax-Exempt Income. Distributions by the Fund of net tax-exempt interest income that are properly reported as “exempt-interest dividends” may be treated by shareholders as interest excludable from gross income for federal income tax purposes under Section 103(a) of the Code. In order for the Fund to be entitled to pay the tax-exempt interest income as exempt-interest dividends to its shareholders, the Fund must satisfy certain requirements, including the requirement that, at the close of each quarter of its taxable year, at least 50% of the value of its total assets consists of obligations the interest on which is exempt from regular federal income tax under Code Section 103(a). Interest on certain municipal obligations may be taxable for purposes of the federal AMT for non-corporate taxpayers and for state and local purposes. Fund shareholders are required to report tax-exempt interest on their federal income tax returns.
Tax-exempt distributions received from the Fund are taken into account in determining, and may increase, the portion of social security and certain railroad retirement benefits that may be subject to federal income tax. Interest on indebtedness incurred by a shareholder to purchase or carry Fund shares that distributes exempt-interest dividends will not be deductible for U.S. federal income tax purposes in proportion to the percentage that the Fund’s distributions of exempt interest dividends bears to all of the Fund’s distributions, excluding properly reported capital gain dividends. If a shareholder receives exempt interest dividends with respect to any Fund share and if the share is held by the shareholder for six months or less, then any loss on the sale or exchange of the share may, to the extent of the exempt-interest dividends, be disallowed. Furthermore, a portion of any exempt-interest dividend paid by the Fund that represents income derived from certain revenue or private activity bonds held by the Fund may not retain its tax-exempt status in the hands of a shareholder who is a “substantial user” of a facility financed by such bonds, or a “related person” thereof. In addition, the receipt of dividends and distributions from the Fund may affect a foreign corporate shareholder’s federal “branch profits” tax liability and the federal “excess net passive income” tax liability of a shareholder of a Subchapter S corporation. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors as to whether they are (i) “substantial users” with respect to a facility or “related” to such users within the meaning of the Code or (ii) subject to a federal AMT, the federal “branch profits” tax, or the federal “excess net passive income” tax.
Qualified Dividend Income. “Qualified dividend income” received by an individual is generally taxed at the rates applicable to long-term capital gain. In order for a dividend received by Fund shareholders to be qualified dividend income, the Fund or, if applicable, the Portfolio must meet holding period and other requirements with respect to the dividend-paying stock in its portfolio and the shareholder must meet holding period and other requirements with respect to the Fund’s shares. A dividend will not be treated as qualified dividend income (at either the Fund or shareholder level) (1) if the dividend is received with respect to any share of stock held for fewer than 61 days during the 121-day period beginning at the date which is 60 days before the date on which such share becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend (or, in the case of certain preferred stock, 91 days during the 181-day period beginning 90 days before such date), (2) to the extent that the recipient is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property, (3) if the recipient elects to have the dividend income treated as investment interest, or (4) if the dividend is received from a foreign corporation that is (a) not eligible for the benefits of a comprehensive income tax treaty with the U.S. (with the exception of dividends paid on stock of such a foreign corporation readily tradable on an established securities market in the U.S.) or (b) treated as a PFIC. Payments in lieu of dividends, such as payments pursuant to securities lending arrangements, also do not qualify to be treated as qualified dividend income. In general, distributions of investment income properly reported by the Fund as derived from qualified dividend income will be treated as qualified dividend income by a shareholder taxed as an individual provided the shareholder meets the holding period and other requirements described above with respect to the Fund’s shares. In any event, if the aggregate qualified dividends received by the Fund during any taxable year are 95% or more of its gross income, then 100% of the Fund’s dividends (other than properly reported capital gain dividends) will be eligible to be treated as qualified dividend income. For this purpose, the only gain with respect to the sale of stocks and securities included in the term “gross income” is the excess of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss.
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Dividends Received Deduction for Corporations. A portion of distributions made by the Fund which are derived from dividends from U.S. corporations may qualify for the dividends-received deduction (“DRD”) for corporations. The DRD is reduced to the extent the Fund shares with respect to which the dividends are received are treated as debt-financed under the Code and is eliminated if the shares are deemed to have been held for less than a minimum period, generally more than 45 days (more than 90 days in the case of certain preferred stock) during the 91-day period beginning 45 days before the ex-dividend date (during the 181-day period beginning 90 days before such date in the case of certain preferred stock) or if the recipient is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property. Receipt of certain distributions qualifying for the DRD may result in reduction of the tax basis of the corporate shareholder’s shares. Payments in lieu of dividends, such as payments pursuant to securities lending arrangements, also do not qualify for the DRD.
Recognition of Unrelated Business Taxable Income by Tax-Exempt Shareholders. Under current law, tax-exempt investors generally will not recognize unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) from distributions from the Fund. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a tax-exempt shareholder could recognize UBTI if shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of a tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of Code section 514(b). In addition, certain types of income received by the Fund from REITs, real estate mortgage investment conduits (“REMICs”), taxable mortgage pools or other investments may cause the Fund to designate some or all of its distributions as “excess inclusion income.” To Fund shareholders such excess inclusion income may: (1) constitute income taxable as UBTI for those shareholders who would otherwise be tax-exempt such as individual retirement accounts, employer sponsored retirement plans and certain charitable entities; (2) not be offset by otherwise allowable deductions for tax purposes; (3) not be eligible for reduced U.S. withholding for non-U.S. shareholders even from tax treaty countries; and (4) cause the Fund to be subject to tax if certain “disqualified organizations” as defined by the Code are Fund shareholders.
Sale, Redemption or Exchange of Fund Shares. Generally, upon the sale, redemption or (if permitted) exchange of Fund shares, a shareholder will realize a taxable gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and the shareholder’s basis in the shares. Such gain or loss will be treated as capital gain or loss if the shares are capital assets in the shareholder’s hands, and generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year, and short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less.
Any loss realized upon the sale or other disposition of Fund shares with a tax holding period of six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any Fund distributions treated as long-term capital gain with respect to such shares. In addition, all or a portion of a loss realized on a sale or other disposition of Fund shares may be disallowed under “wash sale” rules to the extent the shareholder acquired other shares of the same Fund (whether through the reinvestment of distributions or otherwise) within the period beginning 30 days before the date of sale or other disposition of the loss shares and ending 30 days after such date. Any disallowed loss will result in an adjustment to the shareholder’s tax basis in some or all of the other shares acquired. See the prospectus for information regarding any permitted exchange of Fund shares.
Sales charges paid upon a purchase of shares subject to a front-end sales charge cannot be taken into account for purposes of determining gain or loss on a redemption or exchange of the shares before the 91st day after their purchase to the extent a sales charge is reduced or eliminated in a subsequent acquisition of Fund shares (or shares of another fund) on or before January 31 of the following calendar year pursuant to the reinvestment or exchange privilege. Any disregarded amounts will result in an adjustment to the shareholder’s tax basis in some or all of any other shares acquired.
Applicability of Medicare Contribution Tax. The Code imposes a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on net investment income of certain U.S. individuals, estates and trusts. For individuals, the tax is on the lesser of the “net investment income” and the excess of modified adjusted gross income over $200,000 (or $250,000 if married filing jointly). Net investment income includes, among other things, interest, dividends, and gross income and capital gains derived from passive activities and trading in securities or commodities. Net investment income is reduced by deductions “properly allocable” to this income.
Back-Up Withholding for U.S. Shareholders. Amounts paid by the Fund to individuals and certain other shareholders who have not provided the Fund with their correct taxpayer identification number (“TIN”) and certain certifications required by the IRS as well as shareholders with respect to whom the Fund has received certain information from the IRS or a broker, may be subject to “backup” withholding of federal income tax arising from the Fund’s taxable dividends and other distributions as well as the proceeds of redemption transactions (including repurchases and exchanges). An individual’s TIN is generally his or her social security number. Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amount withheld may be credited against a shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability.
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Taxation of Foreign Shareholders. In general, dividends (other than capital gain dividends and exempt-interest dividends) paid to a shareholder that is not a “U.S. person” within the meaning of the Code (a “foreign person” or “foreign shareholder”) are subject to withholding of U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 30% (or lower applicable treaty rate). The withholding tax does not apply to regular dividends paid to a foreign person who provides an IRS Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the foreign person’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States. Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax as if the foreign person were a U.S. shareholder. A non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate). A foreign person who fails to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E, or other applicable form may be subject to backup withholding at the appropriate rate. A foreign shareholder would generally be exempt from U.S. federal income tax, including withholding tax, on gains realized on the sale of shares of the Fund, net capital gain dividends, exempt interest dividends, and amounts retained by the Fund that are reported as undistributed capital gains.
Properly reported dividends are generally exempt from U.S. federal withholding tax where they (i) are paid in respect of the Fund’s “qualified net interest income” (generally, the Fund’s U.S. source interest income, other than certain contingent interest and interest from obligations of a corporation or partnership in which the Fund is at least a 10% shareholder, reduced by expenses that are allocable to such income) or (ii) are paid in respect of the Fund’s “qualified short-term capital gains” (generally, the excess of the Fund’s net short-term capital gain over the Fund’s long-term capital loss for such taxable year). However, depending on its circumstances, the Fund may report all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as such qualified net interest income or as qualified short-term capital gains and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder would need to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E, or substitute Form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary could withhold even if the Fund designates the payment as qualified net interest income or qualified short-term capital gain. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts.
Distributions that the Fund reports as “short-term capital gain dividends” or “long-term capital gain dividends” will not be treated as such to a recipient foreign shareholder if the distribution is attributable to gain from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation and the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property exceeded certain levels. Instead, if the foreign shareholder has not owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of distribution, such distributions will be subject to 30% (or lower applicable treaty rate) withholding by the Fund and will be treated as ordinary dividends to the foreign shareholder; if the foreign shareholder owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the distribution, such distribution will be treated as real property gain subject to 21% withholding tax and could subject the foreign shareholder to U.S. filing requirements. The rules described in this paragraph, other than the withholding rules, will apply notwithstanding the Fund’s participation or a foreign shareholder’s participation in a wash sale transaction or the payment of a substitute dividend.
Additionally, if the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels, a foreign shareholder realizing gains upon redemption from the Fund could be subject to the 21% withholding tax and U.S. filing requirements unless the foreign person had not held more than 5% of the Fund’s outstanding shares at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the redemption.
The same rules apply with respect to distributions to a foreign shareholder from the Fund and redemptions of a foreign shareholder’s interest in the Fund attributable to a REIT’s distribution to the Fund of gain from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation, if the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels.
Provided that 50% or more of the value of the Fund’s stock is held by U.S. shareholders, distributions of U.S. real property interests (including securities in a U.S. real property holding corporation, unless such corporation is regularly traded on an established securities market and the Fund has held 5% or less of the outstanding shares of the corporation during the five-year period ending on the date of distribution), in redemption of a foreign shareholder’s shares of the Fund will cause the Fund to recognize gain. If the Fund is required to recognize gain, the amount of gain recognized will be equal to the fair market value of such interests over the Fund’s adjusted basis to the extent of the greatest foreign ownership percentage of the Fund during the five-year period ending on the date of redemption.
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In the case of foreign non-corporate shareholders, the Fund may be required to backup withhold U.S. federal income tax on distributions that are otherwise exempt from withholding tax unless such shareholders furnish the Fund with proper notification of their foreign status.
Shares of the Fund held by a non-U.S. shareholder at death will be considered situated within the United States and subject to the U.S. estate tax.
Compliance with FATCA. A 30% withholding tax is imposed on U.S.-source dividends, interest and other income items, including those paid by the Fund, paid to (i) foreign financial institutions including non-U.S. investment funds unless they agree to collect and disclose to the IRS information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders and (ii) certain other foreign entities, unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. If a payment by the Fund is subject to withholding under FATCA, the Fund is required to withhold even if such payment would otherwise be exempt from withholding under the rules applicable to foreign shareholders described above (e.g., dividends attributable to qualified net interest income and dividends attributable to tax-exempt interest income). The IRS and the Department of Treasury have issued proposed regulations providing that these withholding rules will not be applicable to the gross proceeds of share redemptions or capital gain dividends the Funds pays. To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions will need to either enter into agreements with the IRS that state that they will provide the IRS information, including the names, addresses and taxpayer identification numbers of direct and indirect U.S. account holders, comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts, report to the IRS certain information with respect to U.S. accounts maintained, agree to withhold tax on certain payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to account holders who fail to provide the required information, and determine certain other information as to their account holders or, in the event that an applicable intergovernmental agreement and implementing legislation are adopted, agree to provide certain information to other revenue authorities for transmittal to the IRS. Other foreign entities will need to either provide the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner or certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership unless certain exceptions apply or agree to provide certain information to other revenue authorities for transmittal to the IRS. Non-U.S. shareholders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible implications of these requirements on their investment in the Fund.
Requirements of Form 8886. Under Treasury Regulations, if a shareholder realizes a loss on disposition of the Fund’s shares of at least $2 million in any single taxable year or $4 million in any combination of taxable years for an individual shareholder or at least $10 million in any single taxable year or $20 million in any combination of taxable years for a corporate shareholder, the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a RIC are not excepted. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances. Under certain circumstances, certain tax-exempt entities and their managers may be subject to excise tax if they are parties to certain reportable transactions.
Other Taxes. Dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds may also be subject to additional state, local and foreign taxes depending on each shareholder’s particular situation.
Changes in Taxation. The taxation of the Fund, the Portfolio, the Subsidiary and shareholders may be adversely affected by future legislation, Treasury Regulations, IRS revenue procedures and/or guidance issued by the IRS.
PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
Decisions concerning the execution of portfolio security transactions, including the selection of the market and the broker-dealer firm, are made by the investment adviser. The Portfolio is responsible for the expenses associated with its portfolio transactions. The investment adviser is also responsible for the execution of transactions for all other accounts managed by it. The investment adviser places the portfolio security transactions for execution with one or more broker-dealer firms. The investment adviser uses its best efforts to obtain execution of portfolio security transactions at prices which in the investment adviser’s judgment are advantageous to the client and at a reasonably competitive spread or (when a disclosed commission is being charged) at reasonably competitive commission rates. In seeking such execution, the investment adviser will use its best judgment in evaluating the terms of a transaction, and will give consideration to various relevant factors, including without limitation the full range and quality of the broker-dealer firm’s services, responsiveness of the firm to the investment adviser, the size and type of the transaction, the nature and character of the market for the security, the confidentiality, speed and certainty of effective execution required for the transaction, the general execution and operational capabilities of the broker-dealer firm, the reputation, reliability, experience and financial condition of the firm, the value and quality of the services rendered by the firm in this and other transactions, and the
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amount of the spread or commission, if any. In addition, the investment adviser may consider the receipt of Research Services (as defined below), provided it does not compromise the investment adviser’s obligation to seek best overall execution for a Portfolio and is otherwise in compliance with applicable law. The investment adviser may engage in portfolio brokerage transactions with a broker-dealer firm that sells shares of Eaton Vance funds, provided such transactions are not directed to that firm as compensation for the promotion or sale of such shares.
Transactions on stock exchanges and other agency transactions involve the payment of negotiated brokerage commissions. Such commissions vary among different broker-dealer firms, and a particular broker-dealer may charge different commissions according to such factors as the difficulty and size of the transaction and the volume of business done with such broker-dealer. Transactions in foreign securities often involve the payment of brokerage commissions, which may be higher than those in the United States. There is generally no stated commission in the case of securities traded in the over-the-counter markets including transactions in fixed-income securities which are generally purchased and sold on a net basis (i.e., without commission) through broker-dealers and banks acting for their own account rather than as brokers. Such firms attempt to profit from such transactions by buying at the bid price and selling at the higher asked price of the market for such obligations, and the difference between the bid and asked price is customarily referred to as the spread. Fixed-income transactions may also be transacted directly with the issuer of the obligations. In an underwritten offering the price paid often includes a disclosed fixed commission or discount retained by the underwriter or dealer. Although spreads or commissions paid on portfolio security transactions will, in the judgment of the investment adviser, be reasonable in relation to the value of the services provided, commissions exceeding those which another firm might charge may be paid to broker-dealers who were selected to execute transactions on behalf of the investment adviser’s clients in part for providing brokerage and research services to the investment adviser as permitted by applicable law.
Pursuant to the safe harbor provided in Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Section 28(e)”) and to the extent permitted by other applicable law, a broker or dealer who executes a portfolio transaction on behalf of the investment adviser client may receive a commission that is in excess of the amount of commission another broker or dealer would have charged for effecting that transaction if the investment adviser determines in good faith that such compensation was reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services provided. This determination may be made on the basis of either that particular transaction or on the basis of the overall responsibility which the investment adviser and its affiliates have for accounts over which they exercise investment discretion. “Research Services” as used herein includes any and all brokerage and research services to the extent permitted by Section 28(e) and other applicable law. Generally, Research Services may include, but are not limited to, such matters as research, analytical and quotation services, data, information and other services products and materials which assist the investment adviser in the performance of its investment responsibilities. More specifically, Research Services may include general economic, political, business and market information, industry and company reviews, evaluations of securities and portfolio strategies and transactions, technical analysis of various aspects of the securities markets, recommendations as to the purchase and sale of securities and other portfolio transactions, certain financial, industry and trade publications, certain news and information services, and certain research oriented computer software, data bases and services. Any particular Research Service obtained through a broker-dealer may be used by the investment adviser in connection with client accounts other than those accounts which pay commissions to such broker-dealer, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Any such Research Service may be broadly useful and of value to the investment adviser in rendering investment advisory services to all or a significant portion of its clients, or may be relevant and useful for the management of only one client’s account or of a few clients’ accounts, or may be useful for the management of merely a segment of certain clients’ accounts, regardless of whether any such account or accounts paid commissions to the broker-dealer through which such Research Service was obtained. The investment adviser evaluates the nature and quality of the various Research Services obtained through broker-dealer firms and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, may attempt to allocate sufficient portfolio security transactions to such firms to ensure the continued receipt of Research Services which the investment adviser believes are useful or of value to it in rendering investment advisory services to its clients. The investment adviser may also receive brokerage and Research Services from underwriters and dealers in fixed-price offerings, when permitted under applicable law.
Research Services provided by (and produced by) broker-dealers that execute portfolio transactions or from affiliates of executing broker-dealers are referred to as “Proprietary Research.” Except for trades executed in jurisdictions where such consideration is not permissible, the investment adviser may and does consider the receipt of Proprietary Research Services as a factor in selecting broker dealers to execute client portfolio transactions, provided it does not compromise the investment adviser’s obligation to seek best overall execution. In jurisdictions where permissible, the investment adviser also may consider the receipt of Research Services under so called “client commission arrangements” or “commission sharing arrangements” (both referred to as “CCAs”) as a factor in selecting broker dealers to execute transactions, provided it does not compromise the investment adviser’s obligation to seek best overall execution. Under a
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 39 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
CCA arrangement, the investment adviser may cause client accounts to effect transactions through a broker-dealer and request that the broker-dealer allocate a portion of the commissions paid on those transactions to a pool of commission credits that are paid to other firms that provide Research Services to the investment adviser. Under a CCA, the broker-dealer that provides the Research Services need not execute the trade. Participating in CCAs may enable the investment adviser to consolidate payments for research using accumulated client commission credits from transactions executed through a particular broker-dealer to periodically pay for Research Services obtained from and provided by other firms, including other broker-dealers that supply Research Services. The investment adviser believes that CCAs offer the potential to optimize the execution of trades and the acquisition of a variety of high quality Research Services that the investment adviser might not be provided access to absent CCAs. The investment adviser will only enter into and utilize CCAs to the extent permitted by Section 28(e) and other applicable law.
Fund trades executed by an affiliate of the investment adviser licensed in the United Kingdom may implicate laws of the United Kingdom, including rules of the UK Financial Conduct Authority, which govern client trading commissions and Research Services (“UK Law”). Broadly speaking, under UK Law the investment adviser may not accept any good or service when executing an order unless that good or service either is directly related to the execution of trades on behalf of its clients/customers or amounts to the provision of substantive research (as defined under UK Law). These requirements may also apply with respect to orders in connection with which the investment adviser receives goods and services under a CCA or other bundled brokerage arrangement. Fund trades may also implicate UK Law requiring the investment adviser to direct any research portion of a brokerage commission to an account controlled by the investment adviser.
The investment companies sponsored by the investment adviser or its affiliates also may allocate brokerage commissions to acquire information relating to the performance, fees and expenses of such companies and other investment companies, which information is used by the members of the Board of such companies to fulfill their responsibility to oversee the quality of the services provided to various entities, including the investment adviser, to such companies. Such companies may also pay cash for such information.
Securities considered as investments for the Portfolio may also be appropriate for other investment accounts managed by the investment adviser or its affiliates. Whenever decisions are made to buy or sell securities by the Portfolio and one or more of such other accounts simultaneously, the investment adviser will allocate the security transactions (including “new” issues) in a manner which it believes to be equitable under the circumstances. As a result of such allocations, there may be instances where the Portfolio will not participate in a transaction that is allocated among other accounts. If an aggregated order cannot be filled completely, allocations will generally be made on a pro rata basis. An order may not be allocated on a pro rata basis where, for example: (i) consideration is given to portfolio managers who have been instrumental in developing or negotiating a particular investment; (ii) consideration is given to an account with specialized investment policies that coincide with the particulars of a specific investment; (iii) pro rata allocation would result in odd-lot or de minimis amounts being allocated to a portfolio or other client; or (iv) where the investment adviser reasonably determines that departure from a pro rata allocation is advisable. While these aggregation and allocation policies could have a detrimental effect on the price or amount of the securities available to the Portfolio from time to time, it is the opinion of the members of the Board that the benefits from the investment adviser organization outweigh any disadvantage that may arise from exposure to simultaneous transactions.
The following table shows brokerage commissions paid during the three fiscal years ended December 31, 2018, as well as the amount of Portfolio security transactions for the most recent fiscal year (if any) that were directed to firms that provided some Research Services to the investment adviser or its affiliates (see above), and the commissions paid in connection therewith. Each Fund did not pay any amount in brokerage commissions to affiliated brokers during the past three fiscal years.
Fiscal Year End | Brokerage Commissions Paid |
Amount of Transactions
Directed to Firms Providing Research |
Commissions Paid on
Transactions Directed to Firms Providing Research |
December 31, 2018 | $227,102 | $291,388,885 | $145.737 |
December 31, 2017 | $50,155 | ||
December 31, 2016 | $74,054 |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 40 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Portfolio held securities of its “regular brokers or dealers,” as that term is defined in Rule 10b-1 of the 1940 Act. The value of such securities as of the Portfolio’s fiscal year end was as follows:
Fund and/or Portfolio | Regular Broker or Dealer (or Parent) | Aggregate Value |
Tax-Managed Growth Portfolio | JP Morgan | $345,811,040 |
Wells Fargo & Co. | $232,712,110 | |
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | $112,936,992 | |
Morgan Stanley | $101,265,386 | |
Bank of America Corp. | $68,036,141 | |
Citigroup, Inc. | $44,750,724 | |
Ameriprise Financial, Inc. | $22,538,388 | |
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. | $22,290,422 | |
LPL Financial Holdings, Inc. | $13,167,199 | |
SEI Investments Co | $6,930,000 | |
Raymond James Financial, Inc. | $1,119,350 | |
UBS Group AG | $111 |
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The audited financial statements of, and the report of the independent registered public accounting firm for each Fund appear in its annual report to shareholders and are incorporated by reference into this SAI. A copy of each annual report accompanies this SAI.
Householding. Consistent with applicable law, duplicate mailings of shareholder reports and certain other Fund information to shareholders residing at the same address may be eliminated.
The Trust(s) incorporates by reference the audited financial information and the reports of the independent registered public accounting firm for the Funds and the Portfolio listed below for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, as previously filed electronically with the SEC:
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2
Tax-Managed Growth Portfolio
(Accession No. 0001193125-19-053757)
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 41 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 42 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Auction Rate Securities | Auction rate securities, such as auction preferred shares of closed-end investment companies, are preferred securities and debt securities with dividends/coupons based on a rate set at auction. The auction is usually held weekly for each series of a security, but may be held less frequently. The auction sets the rate, and securities may be bought and sold at the auction. Provided that the auction mechanism is successful, auction rate securities normally permit the holder to sell the securities in an auction at par value at specified intervals. The dividend is reset by a “Dutch” auction in which bids are made by broker-dealers and other institutions for a certain amount of securities at a specified minimum yield. The dividend rate set by the auction is the lowest interest or dividend rate that covers all securities offered for sale. While this process is designed to permit auction rate securities to be traded at par value, there is the risk that an auction will fail due to insufficient demand for the securities. Security holders that submit sell orders in a failed auction may not be able to sell any or all of the shares for which they have submitted sell orders. Security holders may sell their shares at the next scheduled auction, subject to the same risk that the subsequent auction will not attract sufficient demand for a successful auction to occur. Broker-dealers may also try to facilitate secondary trading in the auction rate securities, although such secondary trading may be limited and may only be available for shareholders willing to sell at a discount. Since mid-February 2008, existing markets for certain auction rate securities have become generally illiquid and investors have not been able to sell their securities through the regular auction process. It is uncertain when or whether there will be a revival of investor interest in purchasing securities sold through auctions. There may be limited or no active secondary markets for many auction rate securities. Auction rate securities that do trade in a secondary market may trade at a significant discount from their liquidation preference. There have been a number of governmental investigations and regulatory settlements involving certain broker-dealers with respect to their prior activities involving auction rate securities. |
Valuations of such securities is highly speculative, however, dividends on auction rate preferred securities issued by a closed-end fund may be reported, generally on Form 1099, as exempt from federal income tax to the extent they are attributable to tax-exempt interest income earned by the Fund on the securities and distributed to holders of the preferred securities, provided that the preferred securities are treated as equity securities for federal income tax purposes, and the closed-end fund complies with certain requirements under the Code. Investments in auction rate preferred securities of closed-end funds are subject to limitations on investments in other U.S. registered investment companies, which limitations are prescribed by the 1940 Act. | |
Average Effective Maturity | Average effective maturity is a weighted average of all the maturities of bonds owned by the Fund. Average effective maturity takes into consideration all mortgage payments, puts and adjustable coupons. In the event the Fund invests in multiple Portfolios, its average weighted maturity is the sum of its allocable share of the average weighted maturity of each of the Portfolios in which it invests, which is determined by multiplying the Portfolio’s average weighted maturity by the Fund’s percentage ownership of that Portfolio. |
Borrowing for Investment Purposes | Successful use of a borrowing strategy depends on the investment adviser’s ability to predict correctly interest rates and market movements. There is no assurance that a borrowing strategy will be successful. Upon the expiration of the term of the Fund’s existing credit arrangement, the lender may not be willing to extend further credit to the Fund or may be willing to do so at an increased cost to the Fund. If the Fund is not able to extend its credit arrangement, it may be required to liquidate holdings to repay amounts borrowed from the lender. Borrowing to increase investments generally will magnify the effect on the Fund’s net asset value of any increase or decrease in the value of the security purchased with the borrowings. Successful use of a borrowing strategy depends on the investment adviser’s ability to predict correctly interest rates and market movements. There can be no assurance that the use of borrowings will be successful. In connection with its borrowings, the Fund will be required to maintain specified asset coverage with respect to such borrowings by both the 1940 Act and the terms of its credit facility with the lender. The Fund may be required to dispose of portfolio investments on unfavorable terms if market fluctuations or other factors reduce the required asset coverage to less than the prescribed amount. Borrowings involve additional expense to the Fund. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 43 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Borrowing for Temporary Purposes | The Fund may borrow for temporary purposes (such as to satisfy redemption requests, to remain fully invested in advance of the settlement of share purchases, and to settle transactions). The Fund’s ability to borrow is subject to its terms and conditions of its credit arrangements, which in some cases may limit the Fund’s ability to borrow under the arrangement. The Fund will be required to maintain a specified level of asset coverage with respect to all borrowings and may be required to sell some of its holdings to reduce debt and restore coverage at times when it may not be advantageous to do so. The rights of the lender to receive payments of interest and repayments of principal of any borrowings made by the Fund under a credit arrangement are senior to the rights of holders of shares, with respect to the payment of dividends or upon liquidation. In the event of a default under a credit arrangement, the lenders may have the right to cause a liquidation of the collateral (i.e., sell Fund assets) and, if any such default is not cured, the lenders may be able to control the liquidation as well. Credit arrangements are subject to annual renewal, which cannot be assured. If the Fund does not have the ability to borrow for temporary purposes, it may be required to sell securities at inopportune times to meet short-term liquidity needs. Because the Fund is a party to a joint credit arrangement, it may be unable to borrow some or all of its requested amounts at any particular time. Borrowings involve additional expense to the Fund. |
Build America Bonds | Build America Bonds are taxable municipal obligations issued pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “Act”) or other legislation providing for the issuance of taxable municipal debt on which the issuer receives federal support. Enacted in February 2009, the Act authorizes state and local governments to issue taxable bonds on which, assuming certain specified conditions are satisfied, issuers may either (i) receive reimbursement from the U.S. Treasury with respect to its interest payments on the bonds (“direct pay” Build America Bonds); or (ii) provide tax credits to investors in the bonds (“tax credit” Build America Bonds). Unlike most other municipal obligations, interest received on Build America Bonds is subject to federal income tax and may be subject to state income tax. Under the terms of the Act, issuers of direct pay Build America Bonds are entitled to receive reimbursement from the U.S. Treasury currently equal to 35% (or 45% in the case of Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds) of the interest paid. Holders of tax credit Build America Bonds can receive a federal tax credit currently equal to 35% of the coupon interest received. The Fund may invest in “principal only” strips of tax credit Build America Bonds, which entitle the holder to receive par value of such bonds if held to maturity. The Fund does not expect to receive (or pass through to shareholders) tax credits as a result of its investments. The federal interest subsidy or tax credit continues for the life of the bonds. Build America Bonds are an alternative form of financing to state and local governments whose primary means for accessing the capital markets has been through issuance of tax-free municipal bonds. Build America Bonds can appeal to a broader array of investors than the high income U.S. taxpayers that have traditionally provided the market for municipal bonds. Build America Bonds may provide a lower net cost of funds to issuers. Pursuant to the terms of the Act, the issuance of Build America Bonds ceased on December 31, 2010. As a result, the availability of such bonds is limited and the market for the bonds and/or their liquidity may be affected. |
Call and Put Features on Securities | Issuers of securities may reserve the right to call (redeem) the securities. If an issuer redeems a security with a call right during a time of declining interest rates, the holder of the security may not be able to reinvest the proceeds in securities providing the same investment return as provided by the securities redeemed. Some securities may have “put” or “demand” features that allow early redemption by the holder. Longer term fixed-rate securities may give the holder a right to request redemption at certain times (often annually after the lapse of an intermediate term). This “put” or “demand” feature enhances a security’s liquidity by shortening its effective maturity and enables the security to trade at a price equal to or very close to par. If a demand feature terminates prior to being exercised, the holder of the security would be subject to the longer maturity of the security, which could experience substantially more volatility. Securities with a “put” or “demand” feature are more defensive than conventional long term securities (protecting to some degree against a rise in interest rates) while providing greater opportunity than comparable intermediate term securities, because they can be retained if interest rates decline. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 44 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (“CMOs”) | CMOs are backed by a pool of mortgages or mortgage loans. The key feature of the CMO structure is the prioritization of the cash flows from the pool of mortgages among the several classes, or tranches, of the CMO, thereby creating a series of obligations with varying rates and maturities. Senior CMO classes will typically have priority over residual CMOs as to the receipt of principal and or interest payments on the underlying mortgages. CMOs also issue sequential and parallel pay classes, including planned amortization and target amortization classes, and fixed and floating rate CMO tranches. CMOs issued by U.S. government agencies are backed by agency mortgages, while privately issued CMOs may be backed by either government agency mortgages or private mortgages. Payments of principal and interest are passed through to each CMO tranche at varying schedules resulting in bonds with different coupons, effective maturities and sensitivities to interest rates. Parallel pay CMOs are structured to provide payments of principal on each payment date to more than one class, concurrently on a proportionate or disproportionate basis. Sequential pay CMOs generally pay principal to only one class at a time while paying interest to several classes. CMOs generally are secured by an assignment to a trustee under the indenture pursuant to which the bonds are issued as collateral consisting of a pool of mortgages. Payments with respect to the underlying mortgages generally are made to the trustee under the indenture. CMOs are designed to be retired as the underlying mortgages are repaid. In the event of sufficient early prepayments on such mortgages, the class or series of CMO first to mature generally will be retired prior to maturity. Therefore, although in most cases the issuer of CMOs will not supply additional collateral in the event of such prepayments, there will be sufficient collateral to secure CMOs that remain outstanding. Floating rate CMO tranches carry interest rates that are tied in a fixed relationship to an index subject to an upper limit, or “cap,” and sometimes to a lower limit, or “floor.” CMOs may be less liquid and may exhibit greater price volatility than other types of mortgage- or asset-backed securities. |
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (“CMBS”) | CMBS include securities that reflect an interest in, and are secured by, mortgage loans on commercial real property, such as hotels, office buildings, retail stores, hospitals and other commercial buildings. CMBS may have a lower repayment uncertainty than other mortgage-related securities because commercial mortgage loans generally prohibit or impose penalties on prepayment of principal. The risks of investing in CMBS reflect the risks of investing in the real estate securing the underlying mortgage loans, including the effects of local and other economic conditions on real estate markets, the ability of tenants to make loan payment, and the ability of a property to attract and retain tenants. CMBS may be less liquid and may exhibit greater price volatility than other types of mortgage- or asset-backed securities. |
Commodity-Related Investments | The value of commodities investments will generally be affected by overall market movements and factors specific to a particular industry or commodity, which may include weather, embargoes, tariffs, and health, political, international and regulatory developments. Economic and other events (whether real or perceived) can reduce the demand for commodities, which may reduce market prices and cause the value of Fund shares to fall. The frequency and magnitude of such changes cannot be predicted. Exposure to commodities and commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. No active trading market may exist for certain commodities investments, which may impair the ability of the Fund to sell or to realize the full value of such investments in the event of the need to liquidate such investments. In addition, adverse market conditions may impair the liquidity of actively traded commodities investments. Certain types of commodities instruments (such as total return swaps and commodity-linked notes) are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the instrument will not perform or will be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument. To the extent commodity-related investments are held through the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary is not subject to U.S. laws (including securities laws) and their protections. The Subsidiary is subject to the laws of the Cayman Islands, a foreign jurisdiction, and can be affected by developments in that jurisdiction. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 45 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Certain commodities are subject to limited pricing flexibility because of supply and demand factors. Others are subject to broad price fluctuations as a result of the volatility of the prices for certain raw materials and the instability of supplies of other materials. These additional variables may create additional investment risks and result in greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The commodities that underlie commodity futures contracts and commodity swaps may be subject to additional economic and non-economic variables, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs, and international economic, political and regulatory developments. Unlike the financial futures markets, in the commodity futures markets there are costs of physical storage associated with purchasing the underlying commodity. The price of the commodity futures contract will reflect the storage costs of purchasing the physical commodity, including the time value of money invested in the physical commodity. To the extent that the storage costs for an underlying commodity change while the Fund is invested in futures contracts on that commodity, the value of the futures contract may change proportionately. | |
In the commodity futures markets, producers of the underlying commodity may decide to hedge the price risk of selling the commodity by selling futures contracts today to lock in the price of the commodity at delivery tomorrow. In order to induce speculators to purchase the other side of the same futures contract, the commodity producer generally must sell the futures contract at a lower price than the expected future spot price. Conversely, if most hedgers in the futures market are purchasing futures contracts to hedge against a rise in prices, then speculators will only sell the other side of the futures contract at a higher futures price than the expected future spot price of the commodity. The changing nature of the hedgers and speculators in the commodity markets will influence whether futures prices are above or below the expected future spot price, which can have significant implications for the Fund. If the nature of hedgers and speculators in futures markets has shifted when it is time for the Fund to reinvest the proceeds of a maturing contract in a new futures contract, the Fund might reinvest at higher or lower futures prices, or choose to pursue other investments. | |
Common Stocks | Common stock represents an equity ownership interest in the issuing corporation. Holders of common stock generally have voting rights in the issuer and are entitled to receive common stock dividends when, as and if declared by the corporation’s board of directors. Common stock normally occupies the most subordinated position in an issuer’s capital structure. Returns on common stock investments consist of any dividends received plus the amount of appreciation or depreciation in the value of the stock. |
Although common stocks have historically generated higher average returns than fixed-income securities over the long term and particularly during periods of high or rising concerns about inflation, common stocks also have experienced significantly more volatility in returns and may not maintain their real value during inflationary periods. An adverse event, such as an unfavorable earnings report, may depress the value of a particular common stock. Also, the prices of common stocks are sensitive to general movements in the stock market and a drop in the stock market may depress the price of common stocks. Common stock prices fluctuate for many reasons, including changes in investors’ perceptions of the financial condition of an issuer or the general condition of the relevant stock market, or when political or economic events affecting the issuer occur. In addition, common stock prices may be sensitive to rising interest rates as the costs of capital rise and borrowing costs increase. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 46 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Contingent Convertible Securities | Contingent convertible securities (sometimes referred to as “CoCos”) are convertible securities with loss absorption characteristics. These securities provide for mandatory conversion into common stock of the issuer under certain circumstances. The mandatory conversion may be automatically triggered, for instance, if a company fails to meet the capital minimum with respect to the security, the company’s regulator makes a determination that the security should convert or the company receives specified levels of extraordinary public support. Since the common stock of the issuer may not pay a dividend, investors in these instruments could experience a reduced income rate, potentially to zero; and conversion would deepen the subordination of the investor, hence worsening standing in a bankruptcy. In addition, some such instruments have a set stock conversion rate that would cause an automatic write-down of capital if the price of the stock is below the conversion price on the conversion date. Under similar circumstances, the liquidation value of certain types of contingent convertible securities may be adjusted downward to below the original par value. The write down of the par value would occur automatically and would not entitle the holders to seek bankruptcy of the company. In certain circumstances, contingent convertible securities may write down to zero and investors could lose the entire value of the investment, even as the issuer remains in business. CoCos may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a predetermined price. See also “Hybrid Securities.” |
Convertible Securities | A convertible security is a bond, debenture, note, preferred security, or other security that entitles the holder to acquire common stock or other equity securities of the same or a different issuer. A convertible security entitles the holder to receive interest paid or accrued or the dividend paid on such security until the convertible security matures or is redeemed, converted or exchanged. Before conversion, convertible securities have characteristics similar to nonconvertible income securities in that they ordinarily provide a stable stream of income with generally higher yields than those of common stocks of the same or similar issuers, but lower yields than comparable nonconvertible securities. The value of a convertible security is influenced by changes in interest rates, with investment value declining as interest rates increase and increasing as interest rates decline. The credit standing of the issuer and other factors also may have an effect on the convertible security’s investment value. A convertible security ranks senior to common stock in a corporation’s capital structure but is usually subordinated to comparable nonconvertible securities. Convertible securities may be purchased for their appreciation potential when they yield more than the underlying securities at the time of purchase or when they are considered to present less risk of principal loss than the underlying securities. Generally speaking, the interest or dividend yield of a convertible security is somewhat less than that of a non-convertible security of similar quality issued by the same company. A convertible security may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a price established in the convertible security’s governing instrument. |
Convertible securities are issued and traded in a number of securities markets. Even in cases where a substantial portion of the convertible securities held by the Fund are denominated in U.S. dollars, the underlying equity securities may be quoted in the currency of the country where the issuer is domiciled. As a result, fluctuations in the exchange rate between the currency in which the debt security is denominated and the currency in which the share price is quoted will affect the value of the convertible security. With respect to convertible securities denominated in a currency different from that of the underlying equity securities, the conversion price may be based on a fixed exchange rate established at the time the securities are issued, which may increase the effects of currency risk. | |
Holders of convertible securities generally have a claim on the assets of the issuer prior to the common stockholders but may be subordinated to other debt securities of the same issuer. Certain convertible debt securities may provide a put option to the holder, which entitles the holder to cause the securities to be redeemed by the issuer at a premium over the stated principal amount of the debt securities under certain circumstances. Certain convertible securities may include loss absorption characteristics that make the securities more equity-like. This is particularly true of convertible securities issued by companies in the financial services sector. See “Contingent Convertible Securities.” |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 47 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Synthetic convertible securities may include either cash-settled convertibles or manufactured convertibles. Cash-settled convertibles are instruments that are created by the issuer and have the economic characteristics of traditional convertible securities but may not actually permit conversion into the underlying equity securities in all circumstances. As an example, a private company may issue a cash-settled convertible that is convertible into common stock only if the company successfully completes a public offering of its common stock prior to maturity and otherwise pays a cash amount to reflect any equity appreciation. Manufactured convertibles are created by the investment adviser or another party by combining separate securities that possess one of the two principal characteristics of a convertible security, i.e. , fixed-income (“fixed-income component”) or a right to acquire equity securities (“convertibility component”). The fixed-income component is achieved by investing in nonconvertible fixed-income securities, such as nonconvertible bonds, preferred securities and money market instruments. The convertibility component is achieved by investing in call options, warrants, or other securities with equity conversion features (“equity features”) granting the holder the right to purchase a specified quantity of the underlying stocks within a specified period of time at a specified price or, in the case of a stock index option, the right to receive a cash payment based on the value of the underlying stock index. A manufactured convertible differs from traditional convertible securities in several respects. Unlike a traditional convertible security, which is a single security that has a unitary market value, a manufactured convertible is comprised of two or more separate securities, each with its own market value. Therefore, the total “market value” of such a manufactured convertible is the sum of the values of its fixed-income component and its convertibility component. More flexibility is possible in the creation of a manufactured convertible than in the purchase of a traditional convertible security. Because many corporations have not issued convertible securities, the investment adviser may combine a fixed-income instrument and an equity feature with respect to the stock of the issuer of the fixed-income instrument to create a synthetic convertible security otherwise unavailable in the market. The investment adviser may also combine a fixed-income instrument of an issuer with an equity feature with respect to the stock of a different issuer when the investment adviser believes such a manufactured convertible would better promote the Fund’s objective than alternative investments. For example, the investment adviser may combine an equity feature with respect to an issuer’s stock with a fixed-income security of a different issuer in the same industry to diversify the Fund’s credit exposure, or with a U.S. Treasury instrument to create a manufactured convertible with a higher credit profile than a traditional convertible security issued by that issuer. A manufactured convertible also is a more flexible investment in that its two components may be purchased separately and, upon purchasing the separate securities, “combined” to create a manufactured convertible. For example, the Fund may purchase a warrant for eventual inclusion in a manufactured convertible while postponing the purchase of a suitable bond to pair with the warrant pending development of more favorable market conditions. The value of a manufactured convertible may respond to certain market fluctuations differently from a traditional convertible security with similar characteristics. For example, in the event the Fund created a manufactured convertible by combining a short-term U.S. Treasury instrument and a call option on a stock, the manufactured convertible would be expected to outperform a traditional convertible of similar maturity that is convertible into that stock during periods when Treasury instruments outperform corporate fixed-income securities and underperform during periods when corporate fixed-income securities outperform Treasury instruments. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 48 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
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Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks, including adverse or unexpected movements in the price of the reference instrument, and counterparty, credit, interest rate, leverage, liquidity, market and tax risks. Use of derivative instruments may cause the realization of higher amounts of short-term capital gains (generally taxed at ordinary income tax rates) than if such instruments had not been used. Success in using derivative instruments to hedge portfolio assets depends on the degree of price correlation between the derivative instruments and the hedged asset. Derivatives also involve the risk that changes in their value may not correlate perfectly with the assets, rates or indices they are designed to hedge or closely track. Imperfect correlation may be caused by several factors, including temporary price disparities among the trading markets for the derivative instrument, the reference instrument and the Fund’s assets. To the extent that a derivative instrument is intended to hedge against an event that does not occur, the Fund may realize losses. | |
OTC derivative instruments involve an additional risk in that the issuer or counterparty may fail to perform its contractual obligations. Some derivative instruments are not readily marketable or may become illiquid under adverse market conditions. In addition, during periods of market volatility, an option or commodity exchange or swap execution facility or clearinghouse may suspend or limit trading in an exchange-traded derivative instrument, which may make the contract temporarily illiquid and difficult to price. Commodity exchanges may also establish daily limits on the amount that the price of a futures contract or futures option can vary from the previous day’s settlement price. Once the daily limit is reached, no trades may be made that day at a price beyond the limit. This may prevent the closing out of positions to limit losses. The staff of the SEC takes the position that certain purchased OTC options, and assets used as cover for written OTC options, are illiquid. The ability to terminate OTC derivative instruments may depend on the cooperation of the counterparties to such contracts. For thinly traded derivative instruments, the only source of price quotations may be the selling dealer or counterparty. In addition, certain provisions of the Code limit the use of derivative instruments. Derivatives permit the Fund to increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, to which its portfolio is exposed in much the same way as the Fund can increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, of its portfolio by making investments in specific securities. There can be no assurance that the use of derivative instruments will benefit the Fund. | |
The regulation of derivatives has undergone substantial change in recent years and such change may continue. In particular, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), and regulations proposed to be promulgated thereunder require many derivatives to be cleared and traded on an exchange, expand entity registration requirements, impose business conduct requirements on dealers that enter into swaps with a pension plan, endowment, retirement plan or government entity, and require banks to move some derivatives trading units to a non-guaranteed affiliate separate from the deposit-taking bank or divest them altogether. Although the CFTC has released final rules relating to clearing, reporting, recordkeeping, required margin and registration requirements under the legislation, many of the provisions are subject to further final rule making, and thus its ultimate impact remains unclear. See also “Swap Agreements” herein. New regulations and the implementation of existing regulations could, among other things, restrict the Fund’s ability to engage in derivatives transactions (for example, by making certain types of derivatives transactions no longer available to the Fund) and/or increase the costs of such derivatives transactions (for example, by increasing margin or capital requirements), and the Fund may be unable to fully execute its investment strategies as a result. | |
The SEC may propose regulations that, if adopted, could significantly change the manner in which a Fund must segregate assets to cover its future obligations. A proposed regulation may restrict its ability to enter into derivative transactions for speculative or hedging purposes and may require the Fund’s Board to adopt a derivative risk management and governance framework. These regulations could also limit the ability of a Fund to use these instruments as part of its investment management strategy, increase the costs of using these instruments or make them less effective. Limits or restrictions applicable to the counterparties with which a Fund engages in derivative transactions also could prevent the Fund from using these instruments or affect the pricing or other factors relating to these instruments, or may change the availability of certain investments. |
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Certain hybrid instruments may provide exposure to the commodities markets. These are derivative securities with one or more commodity-linked components that have payment features similar to commodity futures contracts, commodity options, or similar instruments. Commodity-linked hybrid instruments may be either equity or debt securities, leveraged or unleveraged, and are considered hybrid instruments because they have both security and commodity-like characteristics. A portion of the value of these instruments may be derived from the value of a commodity, futures contract, index or other economic variable. The Fund will invest only in commodity-linked hybrid instruments that qualify under applicable rules of the CFTC for an exemption from the provisions of the CEA. Certain issuers of structured products such as hybrid instruments may be deemed to be investment companies as defined in the 1940 Act. As a result, the Fund’s investments in these products may be subject to limits applicable to investments in investment companies and may be subject to restrictions contained in the 1940 Act. | |
Direct Investments | Direct investments include (i) the private purchase from an enterprise of an equity interest in the enterprise in the form of shares of common stock or equity interests in trusts, partnerships, joint ventures or similar enterprises, and (ii) the purchase of such an equity interest in an enterprise from a principal investor in the enterprise. At the time of making a direct investment, the Fund will enter into a shareholder or similar agreement with the enterprise and one or more other holders of equity interests in the enterprise. These agreements may, in appropriate circumstances, provide the ability to appoint a representative to the board of directors or similar body of the enterprise and for eventual disposition of the investment in the enterprise. Such a representative would be expected to monitor the investment and protect the Fund’s rights in the investment and would not be appointed for the purpose of exercising management or control of the enterprise. |
Diversified Status | With respect to 75% of its total assets, an investment company that is registered with the SEC as a “diversified” fund: (1) may not invest more than 5% of its total assets in the securities of any one issuer (except obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities and securities of other investment companies); and (2) may not own more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer. |
Dividend Capture Trading | In a typical dividend capture trade, the Fund would buy a stock prior to its ex-dividend date and sell the stock at a point either on or after the ex-dividend date. The use of a dividend capture trading strategy exposes the Fund to higher portfolio turnover, increased trading costs and potential for capital loss or gain, particularly in the event of significant short-term price movements of stocks subject to dividend capture trading. |
Duration | Duration measures the time-weighted expected cash flows of a fixed-income security, which can determine its sensitivity to changes in the general level of interest rates. Securities with longer durations generally tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with shorter durations. A mutual fund with a longer dollar-weighted average duration generally can be expected to be more sensitive to interest rate changes than a fund with a shorter dollar-weighted average duration. Duration differs from maturity in that it considers a security’s coupon payments in addition to the amount of time until the security matures. Various techniques may be used to shorten or lengthen Fund duration. As the value of a security changes over time, so will its duration. The duration of a Fund that invests in underlying funds is the sum of its allocable share of the duration of each of the underlying funds in which it invests, which is determined by multiplying the underlying fund’s duration by the Fund’s percentage ownership of that underlying fund. |
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Emerging Market Investments | The risks described under “Foreign Investments” herein generally are heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets. Also, investments in securities of issuers domiciled in countries with emerging capital markets may involve certain additional risks that do not generally apply to investments in securities of issuers in more developed capital markets, such as (i) low or non-existent trading volume, resulting in a lack of liquidity and increased volatility in prices for such securities, as compared to securities of comparable issuers in more developed capital markets; (ii) uncertain national policies and social, political and economic instability, increasing the potential for expropriation of assets, confiscatory taxation, high rates of inflation or unfavorable diplomatic developments; (iii) possible fluctuations in exchange rates, differing legal systems and the existence or possible imposition of exchange controls, custodial restrictions or other foreign or U.S. governmental laws or restrictions applicable to such investments; (iv) national policies that may limit investment opportunities, such as restrictions on investment in issuers or industries deemed sensitive to national interests; and (v) the lack or relatively early development of legal structures governing private and foreign investments and private property. Trading practices in emerging markets also may be less developed, resulting in inefficiencies relative to trading in more developed markets, which may result in increased transaction costs. |
Repatriation of investment income, capital and proceeds of sales by foreign investors may require governmental registration and/or approval in emerging market countries. There can be no assurance that repatriation of income, gain or initial capital from these countries will occur. In addition to withholding taxes on investment income, some countries with emerging markets may impose differential capital gains taxes on foreign investors. | |
Political and economic structures in emerging market countries may undergo significant evolution and rapid development, and these countries may lack the social, political and economic stability characteristic of more developed countries. In such a dynamic environment, there can be no assurance that any or all of these capital markets will continue to present viable investment opportunities. In the past, governments of such nations have expropriated substantial amounts of private property, and most claims of the property owners have never been fully settled. There is no assurance that such expropriations will not reoccur. In such an event, it is possible that the entire value of an investment in the affected market could be lost. In addition, unanticipated political or social developments may affect the value of investments in these countries and the availability of additional investments. The small size and inexperience of the securities markets in certain of these countries and the limited volume of trading in securities in these countries may make investments in the countries illiquid and more volatile than investments in developed markets. | |
Also, there may be less publicly available information about issuers in emerging markets than would be available about issuers in more developed capital markets, and such issuers may not be subject to accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and requirements comparable to those to which U.S. companies are subject. In certain countries with emerging capital markets, reporting standards vary widely. As a result, traditional investment measurements used in the United States, such as price/earnings ratios, may not be applicable. Certain emerging market securities may be held by a limited number of persons. This may adversely affect the timing and pricing of the acquisition or disposal of securities. The prices at which investments may be acquired may be affected by trading by persons with material non-public information and by securities transactions by brokers in anticipation of transactions in particular securities. | |
Practices in relation to settlement of securities transactions in emerging markets involve higher risks than those in developed markets, in part because brokers and counterparties in such markets may be less well capitalized, and custody and registration of assets in some countries may be unreliable. The possibility of fraud, negligence, undue influence being exerted by the issuer or refusal to recognize ownership exists in some emerging markets. As an alternative to investing directly in emerging markets, exposure may be obtained through derivative investments. | |
The foregoing risks may be even greater in frontier markets. Frontier markets are countries with investable stock markets that are less established than those in the emerging markets. The economies of frontier market countries generally are smaller than those of traditional emerging market countries, and frontier capital markets and legal systems are typically less developed. |
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Equity Investments | Equity investments include common stocks; preferred stocks; depositary receipts; equity interests in trusts, partnerships, joint ventures and other unincorporated entities or enterprises; convertible and contingent convertible preferred stocks; rights and warrants and other securities that are treated as equity for U.S. federal income tax purposes (see “Preferred Stock” and “Hybrid Securities”). Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of stocks. |
Equity-Linked Securities | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. Equity-linked securities are privately issued securities whose investment results are designed to correspond generally to the performance of a specified stock index or “basket” of securities, or sometimes a single stock. These securities are used for many of the same purposes as derivative instruments and share many of the same risks. Equity-linked securities may be considered illiquid and thus subject to the Fund’s restrictions on investments in illiquid securities. |
Event-Linked Instruments | The Fund may obtain event-linked exposure by investing in “event-linked bonds”, “event-linked swaps” or other “event-linked instruments”. Event-linked instruments are obligations for which the return of capital and dividend/interest payments are contingent on, or formulaically related to, the non-occurrence of a pre-defined “trigger” event. For some event-linked instruments, the trigger event’s magnitude may be based on losses to a company or industry, industry indexes or readings of scientific instruments rather than specified actual losses. Examples of trigger events include hurricanes, earthquakes, weather-related phenomena, or statistics relating to such events. |
Some event-linked instruments are referred to as “catastrophe bonds.” Catastrophe bonds entitle a Fund to receive principal and interest payments so long as no trigger event occurs of the description and magnitude specified by the instrument. If a trigger event occurs, the Fund may lose a portion of its entire principal invested in the bond. | |
Event-linked instruments may be sponsored by government agencies, insurance companies or reinsurers and issued by special purpose corporations or other off-shore or on-shore entities (such special purpose entities are created to accomplish a narrow and well-defined objective, such as the issuance of a note in connection with a specific reinsurance transaction). Typically, event-linked instruments are issued by off-shore entities and may be non-dollar denominated. As a result, the Fund may be subject to currency risk. | |
Often, event-linked instruments provide for extensions of maturity that are mandatory or optional at the discretion of the issuer or sponsor, in order to process and audit loss claims in those cases where a trigger event has, or possibly has, occurred. An extension of maturity may increase the instrument’s volatility and potentially make it more difficult to value. In addition, pricing of event-linked instruments is subject to the added uncertainty caused by the inability to generally predict whether, when or where a natural disaster or other triggering event will occur. If a trigger event occurs, the Fund may lose all or a portion of its investment in an event-linked instrument or the notional amount of an event-linked swap. Such losses may be substantial. Event-linked instruments carry large uncertainties and major risk exposures to adverse conditions. In addition to the specified trigger events, event-linked instruments also may expose the Fund to issuer, credit, counterparty, restricted securities, liquidity, and valuation risks as well as exposures to specific geographic areas, adverse regulatory or jurisdictional interpretations, and adverse tax consequences. Event-linked instruments are generally rated below investment grade or the unrated equivalent and have the same or similar risks as high yield debt securities (also known as junk bonds) and are subject to the risk that the Fund may lose some or all of its investment in such instruments if the particular trigger occurs. Event-linked instruments may be rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating agency, but are often unrated. Frequently, the issuer of an event-linked instrument will use an independent risk model to calculate the probability and economic consequences of a trigger event. |
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The Fund may invest in event-linked instruments in one or more of three ways: may purchase event-linked instruments when initially offered; may purchase event-linked instruments in the secondary, over-the-counter market; or may gain indirect exposure to event-linked instruments using derivatives. As the market for event-linked instruments evolves, the Fund may invest in new types of event-linked instruments. However, there can be no assurance that a liquid market in these instruments will develop. Lack of a liquid market may impose the risk of higher transaction costs and the possibility that the Fund may be forced to liquidate positions when it would not be advantageous to do so. | |
Event-linked instruments typically are restricted to qualified institutional buyers and, therefore, are not subject to registration with the SEC or any state securities commission and are not always listed on any national securities exchange. The amount of public information available with respect to event-linked instruments is generally less extensive than that which is available for issuers of registered or exchange listed securities. There can be no assurance that future regulatory determinations will not adversely affect the overall market for event-linked instruments. | |
Exchange-Traded Funds (“ETFs”) | ETFs are pooled investment vehicles that are designed to provide investment results corresponding to an index. These indexes may be either broad-based, sector or international. ETFs usually are units of beneficial interest in an investment trust or represent undivided ownership interests in a portfolio of securities (or commodities), in each case with respect to a portfolio of all or substantially all of the component securities of, and in substantially the same weighting as, the relevant benchmark index. ETFs are designed to provide investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the component securities (or commodities) of the benchmark index. An ETF generally reflects the risks of the underlying securities of the index it is designed to track. ETFs are listed on an exchange and trade in the secondary market on a per-share basis. The values of ETFs are subject to change as the values of their respective component securities (or commodities) fluctuate according to market volatility. Investments in ETFs may not exactly match the performance of a direct investment in the respective indices to which they are intended to correspond due to the temporary unavailability of certain index securities in the secondary market or other extraordinary circumstances, such as discrepancies with respect to the weighting of securities. Typically, the ETF bears its own operational expenses, which are deducted from its assets. To the extent that the Fund invests in ETFs, the Fund must bear these expenses in addition to the expenses of its own operation. |
Exchange-Traded Notes (“ETNs”) | ETNs are senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt securities whose returns are linked to the performance of a particular market benchmark or strategy minus applicable fees. ETNs are traded on an exchange during normal trading hours. However, investors can also hold the ETN until maturity. At maturity, the issuer pays to the investor a cash amount equal to the principal amount, subject to the day’s market benchmark or strategy factor. |
ETNs do not make periodic coupon payments or provide principal protection. ETNs are subject to credit risk and the value of the ETN may drop due to a downgrade in the issuer’s credit rating, despite the underlying market benchmark or strategy remaining unchanged. The value of an ETN may also be influenced by time to maturity, level of supply and demand for the ETN, volatility and lack of liquidity in underlying assets, changes in the applicable interest rates, changes in the issuer’s credit rating, and economic, legal, political, or geographic events that affect the referenced underlying asset. When the Fund invests in ETNs it will bear its proportionate share of any fees and expenses borne by the ETN. The Fund’s decision to sell its ETN holdings may be limited by the availability of a secondary market. In addition, although an ETN may be listed on an exchange, the issuer may not be required to maintain the listing and there can be no assurance that a secondary market will exist for an ETN. | |
ETNs are subject to tax risk. No assurance can be given that the IRS will accept, or a court will uphold, how the Fund characterizes and treats ETNs for tax purposes. Further, the IRS and Congress are considering proposals that would change the timing and character of income and gains from ETNs. | |
An ETN that is tied to a specific market benchmark or strategy may not be able to replicate and maintain exactly the composition and relative weighting of securities, commodities or other components in the applicable market benchmark or strategy. Some ETNs that use leverage can, at times, be relatively illiquid and, thus, they may be difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price. Leveraged ETNs are subject to the same risk as other instruments that use leverage in any form. |
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The market value of ETN shares may differ from that of their market benchmark or strategy. This difference in price may be due to the fact that the supply and demand in the market for ETN shares at any point in time is not always identical to the supply and demand in the market for the securities, commodities or other components underlying the market benchmark or strategy that the ETN seeks to track. As a result, there may be times when an ETN share trades at a premium or discount to its market benchmark or strategy. | |
Fixed-Income Securities | Fixed-income securities include bonds, preferred, preference and convertible securities, notes, debentures, asset-backed securities (including those backed by mortgages), loan participations and assignments, equipment lease certificates, equipment trust certificates and conditional sales contracts. Generally, issuers of fixed-income securities pay investors periodic interest and repay the amount borrowed either periodically during the life of the security and/or at maturity. Some fixed-income securities, such as zero coupon bonds, do not pay current interest, but are purchased at a discount from their face values, and values accumulate over time to face value at maturity. The market prices of fixed-income securities fluctuate depending on such factors as interest rates, credit quality and maturity. In general, market prices of fixed-income securities decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Fixed-income securities are subject to risk factors such as sensitivity to interest rate and real or perceived changes in economic conditions, payment expectations, liquidity and valuation. Fixed-income securities with longer maturities (for example, over ten years) are more affected by changes in interest rates and provide less price stability than securities with short-term maturities (for example, one to ten years). Fixed-income securities bear the risk of principal and interest default by the issuer, which will be greater with higher yielding, lower grade securities. During an economic downturn, the ability of issuers to service their debt may be impaired. The rating assigned to a fixed-income security by a rating agency does not reflect assessment of the volatility of the security’s market value or of the liquidity of an investment in the securities. Credit ratings are based largely on the issuer’s historical financial condition and a rating agency’s investment analysis at the time of rating, and the rating assigned to any particular security is not necessarily a reflection of the issuer’s current financial condition. Credit quality can change from time to time, and recently issued credit ratings may not fully reflect the actual risks posed by a particular high yield security. If relevant to the Fund(s) in this SAI, corporate bond ratings are described in an appendix to the SAI (see the table of contents). Preferred stock and certain other hybrid securities may pay a fixed-dividend rate, but may be considered equity securities for purposes of a Fund’s investment restrictions (see “Preferred Stock” and “Hybrid Securities”). |
Foreign Currency Transactions | As measured in U.S. dollars, the value of assets denominated in foreign currencies may be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in foreign currency rates and exchange control regulations. Currency exchange rates can also be affected unpredictably by intervention by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks, or the failure to intervene, or by currency controls or political developments in the United States or abroad. If the U.S. dollar rises in value relative to a foreign currency, a security denominated in that foreign currency will be worth less in U.S. dollars. If the U.S. dollar decreases in value relative to a foreign currency, a security denominated in that foreign currency will be worth more in U.S. dollars. A devaluation of a currency by a country’s government or banking authority will have a significant impact on the value of any investments denominated in that currency. Foreign currency exchange transactions may be conducted on a spot ( i.e. , cash) basis at the spot rate prevailing in the foreign currency exchange market or through entering into derivative currency transactions (see “Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts,” “Option Contracts,” “Futures Contracts” and “Swap Agreements – Currency Swaps” herein). Currency transactions are subject to the risk of a number of complex political and economic factors applicable to the countries issuing the underlying currencies. Furthermore, unlike trading in most other types of instruments, there is no systematic reporting of last sale information with respect to the foreign currencies underlying the derivative currency transactions. As a result, available information may not be complete. In an over-the-counter trading environment, there are no daily price fluctuation limits. |
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Foreign Investments | Investing in securities issued by companies whose principal business activities are outside the United States may involve significant risks not present in domestic investments. For example, because foreign companies may not be subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, practices and requirements and regulatory measures comparable to those applicable to U.S. companies, there may be less publicly available information about a foreign company than about a domestic company. Volume and liquidity in most foreign debt markets is less than in the United States and securities of some foreign companies are less liquid and more volatile than securities of comparable U.S. companies. There is generally less government supervision and regulation of securities exchanges, broker-dealers and listed companies than in the United States. In addition, with respect to certain foreign countries, there is the possibility of nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, currency blockage, political or social instability, or diplomatic developments, which could affect investments in those countries. Any of these actions could adversely affect securities prices, impair the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell foreign securities, or transfer the Fund’s assets or income back to the United States, or otherwise adversely affect Fund operations. In the event of nationalization, expropriation or confiscation, the Fund could lose its entire investment in that country. |
Other potential foreign market risks include exchange controls, difficulties in valuing securities, defaults on foreign government securities, and difficulties of enforcing favorable legal judgments in foreign courts. Moreover, individual foreign economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross national product, reinvestment of capital, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency, and balance of payments position. Certain economies may rely heavily on particular industries or foreign capital and are more vulnerable to diplomatic developments, the imposition of economic sanctions against a particular country or countries, changes in international trading patterns, trade barriers, and other protectionist or retaliatory measures. Foreign securities markets, while growing in volume and sophistication, are generally not as developed as those in the United States. Foreign countries may not have the infrastructure or resources to respond to natural and other disasters that interfere with economic activities, which may adversely affect issuers located in such countries. | |
Settlement and clearance procedures in certain foreign markets differ significantly from those in the United States. Payment for securities before delivery may be required and in some countries delayed settlements are customary, which increases the Fund’s risk of loss. The Fund generally holds its foreign securities and related cash in foreign banks and securities depositories. Some foreign banks and securities depositories may be recently organized or new to the foreign custody business. In addition, there may be limited or no regulatory oversight over their operations. Also, the laws of certain countries may put limits on the Fund’s ability to recover its assets if a foreign bank, depository or issuer of a security or any of their agents goes bankrupt. Certain countries may require withholding on dividends paid on portfolio securities and on realized capital gains. | |
In addition, it is often more expensive to buy, sell and hold securities in certain foreign markets than in the United States. Foreign brokerage commissions are generally higher than commissions on securities traded in the United States and may be non-negotiable. The fees paid to foreign banks and securities depositories generally are higher than those charged by U.S. banks and depositories. The increased expense of investing in foreign markets reduces the amount earned on investments and typically results in a higher operating expense ratio for the Fund as compared to investment companies that invest only in the United States. |
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Depositary receipts (including American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts “GDRs”)) are certificates evidencing ownership of shares of a foreign issuer and are alternatives to directly purchasing the underlying foreign securities in their national markets and currencies. However, they continue to be subject to many of the risks associated with investing directly in foreign securities. These risks include the political and economic risks of the underlying issuer’s country, as well as in the case of depositary receipts traded on foreign markets, exchange risk. Depositary receipts may be sponsored or unsponsored. Unsponsored depositary receipts are established without the participation of the issuer. As a result, available information concerning the issuer of an unsponsored depository receipt may not be as current as for sponsored depositary receipts, and the prices of unsponsored depositary receipts may be more volatile than if such instruments were sponsored by the issuer. Unsponsored depositary receipts may involve higher expenses, may not pass through voting or other shareholder rights and they may be less liquid. | |
Unless otherwise provided in the Prospectus, in determining the domicile of an issuer, the investment adviser may consider the domicile determination of the Fund’s benchmark index or a leading provider of global indexes and may take into account such factors as where the company’s securities are listed, and where the company is legally organized, maintains principal corporate offices and/or conducts its principal operations. | |
In June 2016, the United Kingdom approved a referendum to leave the European Union (“Brexit”). There is significant market uncertainty regarding Brexit’s ramifications, and the range and potential implications of possible political, regulatory, economic, and market outcomes are difficult to predict. Political events, including nationalist unrest in Europe, uncertainties surrounding the sovereign debt of a number of European Union (“EU”) countries and the viability of the EU itself, also may cause market disruptions. If one or more countries leave the EU or the EU dissolves, the world’s securities markets likely will be significantly disrupted. Moreover, the uncertainty about the ramifications of Brexit may cause significant volatility and/or declines in the value of the Euro and the British pound. Brexit may cause greater market volatility and illiquidity, currency fluctuations, deterioration in economic activity, a decrease in business confidence, and increased likelihood of a recession in the United Kingdom. | |
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. A forward foreign currency exchange contract involves an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. These contracts may be bought or sold to protect against an adverse change in the relationship between currencies or to increase exposure to a particular foreign currency. Cross-hedging may be done by using forward contracts in one currency (or basket of currencies) to hedge against fluctuations in the value of instruments denominated in a different currency (or the basket of currencies and the underlying currency). Use of a different foreign currency (for hedging or non-hedging purposes) magnifies exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are individually negotiated and privately traded so they are dependent upon the creditworthiness of the counterparty. The precise matching of the forward contract amounts and the value of the instruments denominated in the corresponding currencies will not generally be possible. In addition, it may not be possible to hedge against long-term currency changes. |
When a currency is difficult to hedge or to hedge against the U.S. dollar, the Fund may enter into a forward contract to sell a currency whose changes in value are generally considered to be linked to such currency. Currency transactions can result in losses if the currency being hedged fluctuates in value to a degree or in a direction that is not anticipated. In addition, there is the risk that the perceived linkage between various currencies may not be present or may not be present during the particular time the hedge is in place. If the Fund purchases a bond denominated in a foreign currency with a higher interest rate than is available on U.S. bonds of a similar maturity, the additional yield on the foreign bond could be substantially reduced or lost if the Fund were to enter into a direct hedge by selling the foreign currency and purchasing the U.S. dollar. |
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Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 59 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Hybrid Securities | Hybrid securities generally possess certain characteristics of both equity and debt securities. These securities may at times behave more like equity than debt, or vice versa. Preferred stocks, convertible securities, trust preferred securities and certain debt obligations are types of hybrid securities. The investment adviser has sole discretion to determine whether an investment has hybrid characteristics and generally will consider the instrument’s preference over the issuer’s common shares, the term of the instrument at the time of issuance and/or the tax character of the instrument’s distributions. Debt instrument with a preference over common shares and a perpetual term or a term at issuance of thirty years or more generally are considered by the investment adviser to be hybrid securities. Hybrid securities generally do not have voting rights or have limited voting rights. Because hybrid securities have both debt and equity characteristics, their values vary in response to many factors, including general market and economic conditions, issuer-specific events, changes in interest rates, credit spreads and the credit quality of the issuer, and, for convertible securities, factors affecting the securities into which they convert. Hybrid securities may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a predetermined price. Hybrid securities may pay a fixed or variable rate of interest or dividends. The prices and yields of nonconvertible hybrid securities generally move with changes in interest rates and the issuer’s credit quality, similar to the factors affecting debt securities. If the issuer of a hybrid security experiences financial difficulties, the value of such security may be adversely affected similar to the issuer’s outstanding common stock or subordinated debt instruments. Trust preferred securities are issued by a special purpose trust that holds the subordinated debt of a company and, as such, are subject to the risks associated with such debt obligation. See also “Preferred Stock,” “Convertible Securities” and “Contingent Convertible Securities.” |
Illiquid Securities | Certain securities are considered illiquid or restricted due to a limited trading market, legal or contractual restrictions on resale or transfer, or are otherwise illiquid because they cannot be sold or disposed of in seven calendar days or less under then-current market conditions without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. Such illiquid securities include commercial paper issued pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act and securities eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144A thereunder. Section 4(a)(2) and Rule 144A securities may, however, be treated as liquid by the investment adviser pursuant to procedures adopted by the Board, which require consideration of factors such as trading activity, availability of market quotations and number of dealers willing to purchase the security. Even if determined to be liquid, Rule 144A securities may increase the level of portfolio illiquidity if eligible buyers become uninterested in purchasing such securities. |
It may be difficult to sell illiquid securities at a price representing fair value until such time as the securities may be sold publicly. It also may be more difficult to determine the fair value of such securities for purposes of computing the Fund’s net asset value. Where registration is required, a considerable period of time may elapse between a decision to sell the securities and the time when the Fund would be permitted to sell. Thus, the Fund may not be able to obtain as favorable a price as that prevailing at the time of the decision to sell. The Fund may incur additional expense when disposing of illiquid securities, including all or a portion of the cost to register the securities. The Fund also may acquire securities through private placements under which it may agree to contractual restrictions on the resale of such securities that are in addition to applicable legal restrictions. Such restrictions might prevent the sale of such securities at a time when such sale would otherwise be desirable. | |
At times, a portion of the Fund’s assets may be invested in securities as to which the Fund, by itself or together with other accounts managed by the investment adviser and its affiliates, holds a major portion or all of such securities. Under adverse market or economic conditions or in the event of adverse changes in the financial condition of the issuer, the Fund could find it more difficult to sell such securities when the investment adviser believes it advisable to do so or may be able to sell such securities only at prices lower than if such securities were more widely held. It may also be more difficult to determine the fair value of such securities for purposes of computing the Fund’s net asset value. See also “Restricted Securities.” |
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Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 61 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
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Loans | Loans may be primary, direct investments or investments in loan assignments or participation interests. A loan assignment represents a portion or the entirety of a loan and a portion of the entirety of a position previously attributable to a different lender. The purchaser of an assignment typically succeeds to all the rights and obligations under the loan agreement and has the same rights and obligations as the assigning investor. However, assignments through private negotiations may cause the purchaser of an assignment to have different and more limited rights than those held by the assigning investor. Loan participation interests are interests issued by a lender or other entity and represent a fractional interest in a loan. The Fund typically will have a contractual relationship only with the financial institution that issued the participation interest. As a result, the Fund may have the right to receive payments of principal, interest and any fees to which it is entitled only from the financial institution and only upon receipt by such entity of such payments from the borrower. In connection with purchasing a participation interest, the Fund generally will have no right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement, nor any rights with respect to any funds acquired by other investors through set-off against the borrower and the Fund may not directly benefit from the collateral supporting the loan in which it has purchased the participation interest. As a result, the Fund may assume the credit risk of both the borrower and the financial institution issuing the participation interest. In the event of the insolvency of the entity issuing a participation interest, the Fund may be treated as a general creditor of such entity. |
Loans may be originated by a lending agent, such as a financial institution or other entity, on behalf of a group or “syndicate” of loan investors (the “Loan Investors”). In such a case, the agent administers the terms of the loan agreement and is responsible for the collection of principal, and interest payments from the borrower and the apportionment of these payments to the Loan Investors. Failure by the agent to fulfill its obligations may delay or adversely affect receipt of payment by the Fund. Furthermore, unless under the terms of a loan agreement or participation (as applicable) the Fund has direct recourse against the borrower, the Fund must rely on the Agent and the other Loan Investors to pursue appropriate remedies against the borrower. | |
Loan investments may be made at par or at a discount or premium to par. The interest payable on a loan may be fixed or floating rate, and paid in cash or in-kind. In connection with transactions in loans, the Fund may be subject to facility or other fees. Loans may be secured by specific collateral or other assets of the borrower, guaranteed by a third party, unsecured or subordinated. During the term of a loan, the value of any collateral securing the loan may decline in value, causing the loan to be under collateralized. Collateral may consist of assets that may not be readily liquidated, and there is no assurance that the liquidation of such assets would satisfy fully a borrower’s obligations under the loan. In addition, if a loan is foreclosed, the Fund could become part owner of the collateral and would bear the costs and liabilities associated with owning and disposing of such collateral. | |
A lender’s repayment and other rights primarily are determined by governing loan, assignment or participation documents, which (among other things) typically establish the priority of payment on the loan relative to other indebtedness and obligations of the borrower. A borrower typically is required to comply with certain covenants contained in a loan agreement between the borrower and the holders of the loan. The types of covenants included in loan agreements generally vary depending on market conditions, the creditworthiness of the issuer, and the nature of the collateral securing the loan. Loans with fewer covenants that restrict activities of the borrower may provide the borrower with more flexibility to take actions that may be detrimental to the loan holders and provide fewer investor protections in the event covenants are breached. The Fund may experience relatively greater realized or unrealized losses or delays and expense in enforcing its rights with respect to loans with fewer restrictive covenants. Loans to entities located outside of the U.S. (including to sovereign entities) may have substantially different lender protections and covenants as compared to loans to U.S. entities and may involve greater risks. In the event of bankruptcy, applicable law may impact a lender’s ability to enforce its rights. The Fund may have difficulties and incur expense enforcing its rights with respect to non-U.S. loans and such loans could be subject to bankruptcy laws that are materially different than in the U.S. Sovereign entities may be unable or unwilling to meet their obligations under a loan due to budgetary limitations or economic or political changes within the country. |
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Investing in loans involves the risk of default by the borrower or other party obligated to repay the loan. In the event of insolvency of the borrower or other obligated party, the Fund may be treated as a general creditor of such entity unless it has rights that are senior to that of other creditors or secured by specific collateral or assets of the borrower. Fixed-rate loans are also subject to the risk that their value will decline in a rising interest rate environment. This risk is mitigated for floating-rate loans, where the interest rate payable on the loan resets periodically by reference to a base lending rate. The base lending rate usually is the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), the Federal Reserve federal funds rate, the prime rate or other base lending rates used by commercial lenders. LIBOR usually is an average of the interest rates quoted by several designated banks as the rates at which they pay interest to major depositors in the London interbank market on U.S. dollar-denominated deposits. | |
Many financial instruments use or may use a floating rate based on LIBOR, which is the offered rate for short-term Eurodollar deposits between major international banks. On July 27, 2017, the head of the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced a desire to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. Due to this announcement, there remains uncertainty regarding the future utilization of LIBOR and the nature of any replacement rate. As such, the potential effect of a transition away from LIBOR on the Fund or the financial instruments in which the Fund invests cannot yet be determined. | |
The Fund will take whatever action it considers appropriate in the event of anticipated financial difficulties, default or bankruptcy of the borrower or other entity obligated to repay a loan. Such action may include: (i) retaining the services of various persons or firms (including affiliates of the investment adviser) to evaluate or protect any collateral or other assets securing the loan or acquired as a result of any such event; (ii) managing (or engaging other persons to manage) or otherwise dealing with any collateral or other assets so acquired; and (iii) taking such other actions (including, but not limited to, payment of operating or similar expenses relating to the collateral) as the investment adviser may deem appropriate to reduce the likelihood or severity of loss on the Fund’s investment and/or maximize the return on such investment. The Fund will incur additional expenditures in taking protective action with respect to loans in (or anticipated to be in) default and assets securing such loans. In certain circumstances, the Fund may receive equity or equity-like securities from a borrower to settle the loan or may acquire an equity interest in the borrower. Representatives of the Fund also may join creditor or similar committees relating to loans. | |
Lenders can be sued by other creditors and the debtor and its shareholders. Losses could be greater than the original loan amount and occur years after the loan’s recovery. If a borrower becomes involved in bankruptcy proceedings, a court may invalidate the Fund’s security interest in any loan collateral or subordinate the Fund’s rights under the loan agreement to the interests of the borrower’s unsecured creditors or cause interest previously paid to be refunded to the borrower. There are also other events, such as the failure to perfect a security interest due to faulty documentation or faulty official filings, which could lead to the invalidation of the Fund’s security interest in loan collateral. If any of these events occur, the Fund’s performance could be negatively affected. | |
Interests in loans generally are not listed on any national securities exchange or automated quotation system and no active market may exist for many loans, making them illiquid. As described below, a secondary market exists for many Senior Loans, but it may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods. | |
From time to time the investment adviser and its affiliates may borrow money from various banks in connection with their business activities. Such banks may also sell interests in loans to or acquire them from the Fund or may be intermediate participants with respect to loans in which the Fund owns interests. Such banks may also act as agents for loans held by the Fund. |
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To the extent that legislation or state or federal regulators that regulate certain financial institutions impose additional requirements or restrictions with respect to the ability of such institutions to make loans, particularly in connection with highly leveraged transactions, the availability of loans for investment may be adversely affected. Further, such legislation or regulation could depress the market value of loans. | |
For additional disclosures relating to Junior and Senior Loans, see “Junior Loans” and “Senior Loans” herein. | |
Lower Rated Investments | Lower rated investments (commonly referred to as “junk”) are of below investment grade quality and generally provide greater income potential and/or increased opportunity for capital appreciation than higher quality investments but they also typically entail greater potential price volatility and principal and income risk. Lower rated investments are regarded as predominantly speculative with respect to the entity’s continuing ability to make timely principal and interest payments. Also, their yields and market values may fluctuate more than higher rated investments. Fluctuations in value do not affect the cash income from lower rated investments, but are reflected in the Fund’s net asset value. The greater risks and fluctuations in yield and value occur, in part, because investors generally perceive issuers of lower rated and unrated investments to be less creditworthy. The secondary market for lower rated investments may be less liquid than the market for higher grade investments. |
Master Limited Partnerships (“MLPs”) | MLPs are publicly-traded limited partnership interests or units. An MLP that invests in a particular industry (e.g., oil and gas) will be harmed by detrimental economic events within that industry. As partnerships, MLPs may be subject to less regulation (and less protection for investors) under state laws than corporations. In addition, MLPs may be subject to state taxation in certain jurisdictions, which may reduce the amount of income paid by an MLP to its investors. Effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act generally allows individuals and certain other non-corporate entities, such as partnerships, a deduction for 20% of “qualified publicly traded partnership income” such as income from MLPs. However, the new law does not include any provision for a regulated investment company to pass the character of its qualified publicly traded partnership income through to its shareholders. As a result, an investor who invests directly in MLPs will be able to receive the benefit of that deduction, while a shareholder of the Fund will not. |
Money Market Instruments | Money market instruments include short term, high quality, U.S. dollar denominated instruments such as commercial paper, certificates of deposit and bankers’ acceptances issued by U.S. or foreign banks, and Treasury bills and other obligations with a maturity of one year or less, including those issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies and instrumentalities. See “U.S. Government Securities” below. Certificates of deposit or time deposits are certificates issued against funds deposited in a commercial bank, are for a definite period of time, earn a specified rate of return, and are normally negotiable. Bankers’ acceptances are short-term credit instruments used to finance the import, export, transfer or storage of goods. They are termed “accepted” when a bank guarantees their payment at maturity. |
The obligations of foreign branches of U.S. banks may be general obligations of the parent bank in addition to the issuing branch, or may be limited by the terms of a specific obligation and by governmental regulation. Payment of interest and principal upon these obligations may also be affected by governmental action in the country of domicile of the branch (generally referred to as sovereign risk). In addition, evidence of ownership of portfolio securities may be held outside of the U.S. and generally will be subject to the risks associated with the holding of such property overseas. Various provisions of U.S. law governing the establishment and operation of domestic branches do not apply to foreign branches of domestic banks. The obligations of U.S. branches of foreign banks may be general obligations of the parent bank in addition to the issuing branch, or may be limited by the terms of a specific obligation and by federal and state regulation as well as by governmental action in the country in which the foreign bank has its head office. |
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Money market instruments are often acquired directly from the issuers thereof or otherwise are normally traded on a net basis (without commission) through broker-dealers and banks acting for their own account. Such firms attempt to profit from such transactions by buying at the bid price and selling at the higher asked price of the market, and the difference is customarily referred to as the spread. Money market instruments may be adversely affected by market and economic events, such as a sharp rise in prevailing short-term interest rates; adverse developments in the banking industry, which issues or guarantees many money market securities; adverse economic, political or other developments affecting domestic issuers of money market securities; changes in the credit quality of issuers; and default by a counterparty. These securities may be subject to federal income, state income and/or other taxes. Instead of investing in money market instruments directly, the Fund may invest in an affiliated money market fund (such as Eaton Vance Cash Reserves Fund, LLC, which is managed by Eaton Vance) or an unaffiliated money market fund. During unusual market conditions, the Fund may invest up to 100% of its assets in cash or cash equivalents temporarily, which may be inconsistent with its investment objective(s) and other policies. | |
Mortgage-Backed Securities (“MBS”) | MBS are “pass through” securities, meaning that a pro rata share of regular interest and principal payments, as well as unscheduled early prepayments, on the underlying mortgage pool is passed through monthly to the holder. MBS may include conventional mortgage pass through securities, participation interests in pools of adjustable and fixed rate mortgage loans, stripped securities (described herein), floating rate mortgage-backed securities and certain classes of multiple class CMOs. MBS pay principal to the holder over their term, which differs from other forms of debt securities that normally provide for principal payment at maturity or specified call dates. MBS are subject to the general risks associated with investing in real estate securities; that is, they may lose value if the value of the underlying real estate to which a pool of mortgages relates declines. In addition, investments in MBS involve certain specific risks, including the failure of a party to meet its commitments under the related operative documents, adverse interest rate changes, and the effects of prepayments on mortgage cash flows and that any guarantee or other structural feature, if present, is insufficient to enable the timely payment of interest and principal on the MBS. Although certain MBS are guaranteed as to timely payment of interest and principal by a government-sponsored enterprise, the market price for such securities is not guaranteed and will fluctuate. Certain MBS may be purchased on a when-issued basis subject to certain limitations and requirements. |
There are currently four types of MBS: (1) those issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities, such as the Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), the Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“FHLMC”); (2) those issued by private issuers that represent an interest in or are collateralized by pass through securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities; (3) those issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities without a government guarantee, such as credit risk transfer bonds; and (4) those issued by private issuers that represent an interest in or are collateralized by whole mortgage loans or pass through securities without a government guarantee but that usually have some form of private credit enhancement. Privately issued MBS are structured similar to GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC MBS, and are issued by originators of, or investors in, mortgage loans, including depositary institutions, mortgage banks and special purpose subsidiaries of the foregoing. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 66 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
GNMA Certificates and FNMA Mortgage-Backed Certificates are MBS representing part ownership of a pool of mortgage loans. GNMA loans (issued by lenders such as mortgage bankers, commercial banks and savings and loan associations) are either insured by the Federal Housing Administration or guaranteed by the Veterans Administration. A pool of such mortgages is assembled and, after being approved by GNMA, is offered to investors through securities dealers. Once such pool is approved by GNMA, the timely payment of interest and principal on the Certificates issued representing such pool is guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. GNMA is a wholly owned U.S. Government corporation within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. FNMA, a federally chartered corporation owned entirely by private stockholders, purchases both conventional and federally insured or guaranteed residential mortgages from various entities, including savings and loan associations, savings banks, commercial banks, credit unions and mortgage bankers, and packages pools of such mortgages in the form of pass-through securities generally called FNMA Mortgage-Backed Certificates, which are guaranteed as to timely payment of principal and interest by FNMA but are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government; however, they are supported by the right of FNMA to borrow from the U.S. Treasury Department. | |
FHLMC, a corporate instrumentality of the U.S. Government created by Congress for the purposes of increasing the availability of mortgage credit for residential housing, issues participation certificates (“PCs”) representing undivided interest in FHLMC’S mortgage portfolio. While FHLMC guarantees the timely payment of interest and ultimate collection of the principal of its PCs, its PCs are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. FHLMC PCs differ from GNMA Certificates in that the mortgages underlying the PCs are monthly “conventional” mortgages rather than mortgages insured or guaranteed by a federal agency or instrumentality. However, in several other respects, such as the monthly pass-through of interest and principal (including unscheduled prepayments) and the unpredictability of future unscheduled prepayments on the underlying mortgage pools, FHLMC PCs are similar to GNMA Certificates. | |
While it is not possible to accurately predict the life of a particular issue of MBS, the actual life of any such security is likely to be substantially less than the final maturities of the mortgage loans underlying the security. This is because unscheduled early prepayments of principal on MBS will result from the prepayment, refinancings or foreclosure of the underlying mortgage loans in the mortgage pool. Prepayments of MBS may not be able to be reinvested at the same interest rate. Because of the regular scheduled payments of principal and the early unscheduled prepayments of principal, MBS are less effective than other types of obligations as a means of “locking-in” attractive long-term interest rates. As a result, this type of security may have less potential for capital appreciation during periods of declining interest rates than other U.S. Government securities of comparable maturities, although many issues of MBS may have a comparable risk of decline in market value during periods of rising interest rates. If MBS are purchased at a premium above their par value, a scheduled payment of principal and an unscheduled prepayment of principal, which would be made at par, will accelerate the realization of a loss equal to that portion of the premium applicable to the payment or prepayment. If MBS have been purchased at a discount from their par value, both a scheduled payment of principal and an unscheduled prepayment of principal will increase current returns and will accelerate the recognition of income, which, when distributed to Fund shareholders, will be taxable as ordinary income. | |
Mortgage Dollar Rolls | In a mortgage dollar roll, the Fund sells MBS for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts to repurchase substantially similar (same type, coupon and maturity) MBS on a specified future date. During the roll period, the Fund forgoes principal and interest paid on the MBS. The Fund is compensated by the difference between the current sales price and the lower forward price for the future purchase (often referred to as the “drop”) as well as by the interest earned on the cash proceeds of the initial sales. Cash proceeds may be invested in instruments that are permissible investments for the Fund. The use of mortgage dollar rolls is a speculative technique involving leverage. A “covered roll” is a specific type of dollar roll for which there is an offsetting cash position or permissible liquid assets earmarked or in a segregated account to secure the obligation for the forward commitment to buy MBS, or a cash equivalent security position that matures on or before the forward settlement date of the dollar roll transaction. The Fund will only enter into covered rolls. Covered rolls are not treated as a borrowing or other senior security and will be excluded from the calculation of the Fund’s borrowings and other senior securities. |
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Municipal Lease Obligations (“MLOs”) | MLOs are obligations in the form of a lease, installment purchase or conditional sales contract (which typically provide for the title to the leased asset to pass to the governmental issuer) that is issued by state or local governments to acquire equipment and facilities. Interest income from MLOs is generally exempt from local and state taxes in the state of issuance. MLOs, like other municipal debt obligations, are subject to the risk of non-payment. Although MLOs do not constitute general obligations of the issuer for which the issuer’s unlimited taxing power is pledged, a lease obligation is frequently backed by the issuer’s covenant to budget for, appropriate and make the payments due under the lease obligation. However, certain lease obligations contain “non-appropriation” clauses, which provide that the issuer has no obligation to make lease or installment purchase payments in future years unless money is appropriated for such purpose on a yearly basis. Although “non-appropriation” lease obligations may be secured by the leased property, disposition of the property in the event of foreclosure might prove difficult. Participations in municipal leases are undivided interests in a portion of the total obligation. Participations entitle their holders to receive a pro rata share of all payments under the lease. |
MLOs and participations therein represent a type of financing that may not have the depth of marketability associated with more conventional securities and, as such, they may be less liquid than conventional securities. Certain MLOs may be deemed illiquid for the purpose of the Fund’s limitation on investments in illiquid securities, unless determined by the investment adviser, pursuant to guidelines adopted by the Board, to be liquid securities. The investment adviser will consider an MLO to be liquid if it is rated investment grade (being an MLO rated BBB or Baa or higher) by a nationally recognized statistical ratings organization or is insured by an insurer rated investment grade. If an MLO or participation does not meet the foregoing criteria, then the investment adviser will consider the MLO to be illiquid unless it conducts an analysis of relevant factors and concludes that the MLO is liquid. In conducting such an analysis, the investment adviser will consider the factors it believes are relevant to the marketability of the obligation, to the extent that information regarding such factor is available to the investment adviser and pertinent to the liquidity determination, which may include: (1) the willingness of dealers to bid for the obligation; (2) the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the obligation and the number of other potential buyers; (3) the frequency of trades and quotes for the obligation; (4) the nature of the marketplace trades, including the time needed to dispose of the obligation, the method of soliciting offers, and the mechanics of transfer; (5) the willingness of the governmental issuer to continue to appropriate funds for the payment of the obligation; (6) how likely or remote an event of non-appropriation may be, which depends in varying degrees on a variety of factors, including those relating to the general creditworthiness of the governmental issuer, its dependence on its continuing access to the credit markets, and the importance to the issuer of the equipment, property or facility covered by the lease or contract; (7) an assessment of the likelihood that the lease may or may not be cancelled; and (8) other factors and information unique to the obligation in determining its liquidity. | |
The ability of issuers of MLOs to make timely lease payments may be adversely impacted in general economic downturns and as relative governmental cost burdens are allocated and reallocated among federal, state and local governmental units. Such non-payment would result in a reduction of income from and value of the obligation. Issuers of MLOs might seek protection under the bankruptcy laws. In the event of bankruptcy of such an issuer, holders of MLOs could experience delays and limitations with respect to the collection of principal and interest on such MLOs and may not, in all circumstances, be able to collect all principal and interest to which it is entitled. To enforce its rights in the event of a default in lease payments, the Fund might take possession of and manage the assets securing the issuer’s obligations on such securities or otherwise incur costs to protect its rights, which may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect the net asset value of the Fund. When the lease contains a non-appropriation clause, however, the failure to pay would not be a default and the Fund would not have the right to take possession of the assets. Any income derived from the Fund’s ownership or operation of such assets may not be tax-exempt. |
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Municipal Obligations | Municipal obligations include debt obligations issued to obtain funds for various public purposes, including the construction of a wide range of public facilities, refunding of outstanding obligations and obtaining funds for general operating expenses and loans to other public institutions and facilities. Certain types of bonds are issued by or on behalf of public authorities to finance various privately owned or operated facilities, including certain facilities for the local furnishing of electric energy or gas, sewage facilities, solid waste disposal facilities and other specialized facilities. Municipal obligations include bonds as well as tax-exempt commercial paper, project notes and municipal notes such as tax, revenue and bond anticipation notes of short maturity, generally less than three years. While most municipal bonds pay a fixed rate of interest semiannually in cash, there are exceptions. Some bonds pay no periodic cash interest, but rather make a single payment at maturity representing both principal and interest. Some bonds may pay interest at a variable or floating rate. Bonds may be issued or subsequently offered with interest coupons materially greater or less than those then prevailing, with price adjustments reflecting such deviation. Municipal obligations also include trust certificates representing interests in municipal securities held by a trustee. The trust certificates may evidence ownership of future interest payments, principal payments or both on the underlying securities. |
In general, there are three categories of municipal obligations, the interest on which is exempt from federal income tax and is not a tax preference item for purposes of the AMT: (i) certain “public purpose” obligations (whenever issued), which include obligations issued directly by state and local governments or their agencies to fulfill essential governmental functions; (ii) certain obligations issued before August 8, 1986 for the benefit of non-governmental persons or entities; and (iii) certain “private activity bonds” issued after August 7, 1986, which include “qualified Section 501(c)(3) bonds” or refundings of certain obligations included in the second category. Opinions relating to the validity of municipal bonds, exclusion of municipal bond interest from an investor’s gross income for federal income tax purposes and, where applicable, state and local income tax, are rendered by bond counsel to the issuing authorities at the time of issuance. | |
Interest on certain “private activity bonds” issued after August 7, 1986 is exempt from regular federal income tax, but such interest (including a distribution by the Fund derived from such interest) is treated as a tax preference item that could subject the recipient to or increase the recipient’s liability for the AMT. | |
The two principal classifications of municipal bonds are “general obligation” and “revenue” bonds. Issuers of general obligation bonds include states, counties, cities, towns and regional districts. The proceeds of these obligations are used to fund a wide range of public projects, including the construction or improvement of schools, highways and roads, water and sewer systems and a variety of other public purposes. The basic security of general obligation bonds is the issuer’s pledge of its faith, credit, and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest. The taxes that can be levied for the payment of debt service may be limited or unlimited as to rate and amount. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 69 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Typically, the only security for a limited obligation or revenue bond is the net revenue derived from a particular facility or class of facilities financed thereby or, in some cases, from the proceeds of a special tax or other special revenues. Revenue bonds have been issued to fund a wide variety of revenue-producing public capital projects including: electric, gas, water and sewer systems; highways, bridges and tunnels; port and airport facilities; colleges and universities; hospitals; and convention, recreational, tribal gaming and housing facilities. Although the security behind these bonds varies widely, many lower rated bonds provide additional security in the form of a debt service reserve fund that may also be used to make principal and interest payments on the issuer's obligations. In addition, some revenue obligations (as well as general obligations) are insured by a bond insurance company or backed by a letter of credit issued by a banking institution. Revenue bonds also include, for example, pollution control, health care and housing bonds, which, although nominally issued by municipal authorities, are generally not secured by the taxing power of the municipality but by the revenues of the authority derived from payments by the private entity that owns or operates the facility financed with the proceeds of the bonds. Obligations of housing finance authorities have a wide range of security features, including reserve funds and insured or subsidized mortgages, as well as the net revenues from housing or other public projects. Many of these bonds do not generally constitute the pledge of the credit of the issuer of such bonds. The credit quality of such revenue bonds is usually directly related to the credit standing of the user of the facility being financed or of an institution which provides a guarantee, letter of credit or other credit enhancement for the bond issue. The Fund may on occasion acquire revenue bonds that carry warrants or similar rights covering equity securities. Such warrants or rights may be held indefinitely, but if exercised, the Fund anticipates that it would, under normal circumstances, dispose of any equity securities so acquired within a reasonable period of time. Investing in revenue bonds may involve (without limitation) the following risks. | |
Hospital bond ratings are often based on feasibility studies that contain projections of expenses, revenues and occupancy levels. A hospital’s income available to service its debt may be influenced by demand for hospital services, management capabilities, the service area economy, efforts by insurers and government agencies to limit rates and expenses, competition, availability and expense of malpractice insurance, and Medicaid and Medicare funding. | |
Education-related bonds are comprised of two types: (i) those issued to finance projects for public and private colleges and universities, charter schools and private schools, and (ii) those representing pooled interests in student loans. Bonds issued to supply educational institutions with funding are subject to many risks, including the risks of unanticipated revenue decline, primarily the result of decreasing student enrollment, decreasing state and federal funding, or changes in general economic conditions. Additionally, higher than anticipated costs associated with salaries, utilities, insurance or other general expenses could impair the ability of a borrower to make annual debt service payments. Student loan revenue bonds are generally offered by state (or sub-state) authorities or commissions and are backed by pools of student loans. Underlying student loans may be guaranteed by state guarantee agencies and may be subject to reimbursement by the United States Department of Education through its guaranteed student loan program. Others may be private, uninsured loans made to parents or students that may be supported by reserves or other forms of credit enhancement. Cash flows supporting student loan revenue bonds are impacted by numerous factors, including the rate of student loan defaults, seasoning of the loan portfolio, and student repayment deferral periods of forbearance. Other risks associated with student loan revenue bonds include potential changes in federal legislation regarding student loan revenue bonds, state guarantee agency reimbursement and continued federal interest and other program subsidies currently in effect. | |
Transportation debt may be issued to finance the construction of airports, toll roads, highways, or other transit facilities. Airport bonds are dependent on the economic conditions of the airport’s service area and may be affected by the business strategies and fortunes of specific airlines. They may also be subject to competition from other airports and modes of transportation. Air traffic generally follows broader economic trends and is also affected by the price and availability of fuel. Toll road bonds are also affected by the cost and availability of fuel as well as toll levels, the presence of competing roads and the general economic health of an area. Fuel costs, transportation taxes and fees, and availability of fuel also affect other transportation-related securities, as do the presence of alternate forms of transportation, such as public transportation. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 70 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Industrial development bonds (“IDBs”) are normally secured only by the revenues from the project and not by state or local government tax payments, they are subject to a wide variety of risks, many of which relate to the nature of the specific project. Generally, IDBs are sensitive to the risk of a slowdown in the economy. Electric utilities face problems in financing large construction programs in an inflationary period, cost increases and delay occasioned by safety and environmental considerations (particularly with respect to nuclear facilities), difficulty in obtaining fuel at reasonable prices, and in achieving timely and adequate rate relief from regulatory commissions, effects of energy conservation and limitations on the capacity of the capital market to absorb utility debt. Water and sewer revenue bonds are generally secured by the fees charged to each user of the service. The issuers of water and sewer revenue bonds generally enjoy a monopoly status and latitude in their ability to raise rates. However, lack of water supply due to insufficient rain, run-off, or snow pack can be a concern and has led to past defaults. Further, public resistance to rate increases, declining numbers of customers in a particular locale, costly environmental litigation, and federal environmental mandates are challenges faced by issuers of water and sewer bonds. |
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The obligations of any person or entity to pay the principal of and interest on a municipal obligation are subject to the provisions of bankruptcy, insolvency and other laws affecting the rights and remedies of creditors, such as the Federal Bankruptcy Act, and laws, if any, that may be enacted by Congress or state legislatures extending the time for payment of principal or interest, or both, or imposing other constraints upon enforcement of such obligations. Certain bond structures may be subject to the risk that a taxing authority may issue an adverse ruling regarding tax-exempt status. There is also the possibility that as a result of adverse economic conditions (including unforeseen financial events, natural disasters and other conditions that may affect an issuer’s ability to pay its obligations), litigation or other conditions, the power or ability of any person or entity to pay when due principal of and interest on a municipal obligation may be materially affected or interest and principal previously paid may be required to be refunded. There have been instances of defaults and bankruptcies involving municipal obligations that were not foreseen by the financial and investment communities. The Fund will take whatever action it considers appropriate in the event of anticipated financial difficulties, default or bankruptcy of either the issuer of any municipal obligation or of the underlying source of funds for debt service. Such action may include: (i) retaining the services of various persons or firms (including affiliates of the investment adviser) to evaluate or protect any real estate, facilities or other assets securing any such obligation or acquired by the Fund as a result of any such event; (ii) managing (or engaging other persons to manage) or otherwise dealing with any real estate, facilities or other assets so acquired; and (iii) taking such other actions as the adviser (including, but not limited to, payment of operating or similar expenses of the underlying project) may deem appropriate to reduce the likelihood or severity of loss on the fund’s investment. The Fund will incur additional expenditures in taking protective action with respect to portfolio obligations in (or anticipated to be in) default and assets securing such obligations. | |
Historically, municipal bankruptcies have been rare and certain provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code governing such bankruptcy are unclear. Further, the application of state law to municipal obligation issuers could produce varying results among the states or among municipal obligation issuers within a state. These uncertainties could have a significant impact on the prices of the municipal obligations in which the Fund invests. There could be economic, business or political developments or court decisions that adversely affect all municipal obligations in the same sector. Developments such as changes in healthcare regulations, environmental considerations related to construction, construction cost increases and labor problems, failure of healthcare facilities to maintain adequate occupancy levels, and inflation can affect municipal obligations in the same sector. As the similarity in issuers of municipal obligations held by the Fund increases, the potential for fluctuations in the Fund’s share price also may increase. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 71 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The secondary market for some municipal obligations issued within a state (including issues that are privately placed with the Fund) is less liquid than that for taxable debt obligations or other more widely traded municipal obligations. No established resale market exists for certain of the municipal obligations in which the Fund may invest. The market for obligations rated below investment grade is also likely to be less liquid than the market for higher rated obligations. As a result, the Fund may be unable to dispose of these municipal obligations at times when it would otherwise wish to do so at the prices at which they are valued. Municipal obligations that are rated below investment grade but that, subsequent to the assignment of such rating, are backed by escrow accounts containing U.S. Government obligations may be determined by the investment adviser to be of investment grade quality for purposes of the Fund’s investment policies. In the case of a defaulted obligation, the Fund may incur additional expense seeking recovery of its investment. Defaulted obligations are denoted in the “Portfolio of Investments” in the “Financial Statements” included in the Fund’s reports to shareholders. The yields on municipal obligations depend on a variety of factors, including purposes of the issue and source of funds for repayment, general money market conditions, general conditions of the municipal bond market, size of a particular offering, maturity of the obligation and rating of the issue. The ratings of Moody’s, S&P and Fitch represent their opinions as to the quality of the municipal obligations which they undertake to rate, and in the case of insurers, other factors including the claims-paying ability of such insurer. It should be emphasized, however, that ratings are based on judgment and are not absolute standards of quality. Consequently, municipal obligations with the same maturity, coupon and rating may have different yields while obligations of the same maturity and coupon with different ratings may have the same yield. In addition, the market price of such obligations will normally fluctuate with changes in interest rates, and therefore the net asset value of the Fund will be affected by such changes. |
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Operational Risk | The Fund’s service providers, including the investment adviser, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the Fund. While service providers are expected to have appropriate operational risk management policies and procedures, their methods of operational risk management may differ from the Fund's in the setting of priorities, the personnel and resources available or the effectiveness of relevant controls. It also is not possible for Fund service providers to identify all of the operational risks that may affect the Fund or to develop processes and controls to completely eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 72 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Option Contracts | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. An option contract is a contract that gives the holder of the option, in return for a premium, the right to buy from (in the case of a call) or sell to (in the case of a put) the writer of the option the reference instrument underlying the option (or the cash value of the index) at a specified exercise price at any time during the term of the option. The writer of an option on a security has the obligation upon exercise of the option to deliver the reference instrument (or the cash) upon payment of the exercise price or to pay the exercise price upon delivery of the reference instrument (or the cash). Upon exercise of an index option, the writer of an option on an index is obligated to pay the difference between the cash value of the index and the exercise price multiplied by the specified multiplier for the index option. Options may be “covered,” meaning that the party required to deliver the reference instrument if the option is exercised owns that instrument (or has set aside sufficient assets to meet its obligation to deliver the instrument). Options may be listed on an exchange or traded in the OTC market. In general, exchange-traded options have standardized exercise prices and expiration dates and may require the parties to post margin against their obligations, and the performance of the parties' obligations in connection with such options is guaranteed by the exchange or a related clearing corporation. OTC options have more flexible terms negotiated between the buyer and the seller, but generally do not require the parties to post margin and are subject to counterparty risk. The ability of the Fund to transact business with any one or any number of counterparties, the lack of any independent evaluation of the counterparties or their financial capabilities, and the absence of a regulated market to facilitate settlement, may increase the potential for losses to the Fund. OTC options also involve greater liquidity risk. This risk may be increased in times of financial stress, if the trading market for OTC derivative contracts becomes limited. The staff of the SEC takes the position that certain purchased OTC options, and assets used as cover for written OTC options, are illiquid. Derivatives on economic indicators generally are offered in an auction format and are booked and settled as OTC options. Options on futures contracts are discussed herein under “Futures Contracts.” |
If a written option expires unexercised, the Fund realizes a capital gain equal to the premium received at the time the option was written. If a purchased option expires unexercised, the Fund realizes a capital loss equal to the premium paid. Prior to the earlier of exercise or expiration, an exchange traded option may be closed out by an offsetting purchase or sale of an option of the same series (type, exchange, reference instrument, exercise price, and expiration). A capital gain will be realized from a closing purchase transaction if the cost of the closing option is less than the premium received from writing the option, or, if it is more, a capital loss will be realized. If the premium received from a closing sale transaction is more than the premium paid to purchase the option, the Fund will realize a capital gain or, if it is less, the Fund will realize a capital loss. The principal factors affecting the market value of a put or a call option include supply and demand, the current market price of the reference instrument in relation to the exercise price of the option, the volatility of the reference instrument, and the time remaining until the expiration date. There can be no assurance that a closing purchase or sale transaction can be consummated when desired. | |
Straddles are a combination of a call and a put written on the same reference instrument. A straddle is deemed to be covered when sufficient assets are deposited to meet the Fund’s immediate obligations. The same liquid assets may be used to cover both the call and put options where the exercise price of the call and put are the same, or the exercise price of the call is higher than that of the put. The Fund may also buy and write call options on the same reference instrument to cover its obligations. Because such combined options positions involve multiple trades, they result in higher transaction costs and may be more difficult to open or close. In an equity collar, the Fund simultaneously writes a call option and purchases a put option on the same instrument. | |
To the extent that the Fund writes a call option on an instrument it holds and intends to use such instrument as the sole means of “covering” its obligation under the call option, the Fund has, in return for the premium on the option, given up the opportunity to profit from a price increase in the instrument above the exercise price during the option period, but, as long as its obligation under such call option continues, has retained the risk of loss should the value of the reference instrument decline. If the Fund were unable to close out such a call option, it would not be able to sell the instrument unless the option expired without exercise. Uncovered calls have speculative characteristics and are riskier than covered calls because there is no instrument or cover held by the Fund that can act as a partial hedge. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 73 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The writer of an option has no control over the time when it may be required to fulfill its obligation under the option. Once an option writer has received an exercise notice, it cannot effect a closing purchase transaction in order to terminate its obligation under the option and must deliver the underlying reference instrument at the exercise price. If a put or call option purchased by the Fund is not sold when it has remaining value, and if the market price of the underlying security remains equal to or greater than the exercise price (in the case of a put), or remains less than or equal to the exercise price (in the case of a call), the Fund will lose the premium it paid for the option. Furthermore, if trading restrictions or suspensions are imposed on options markets, the Fund may be unable to close out a position. | |
Options positions are marked to market daily. The value of options is affected by changes in the value and dividend rates of the securities underlying the option or represented in the index underlying the option, changes in interest rates, changes in the actual or perceived volatility of the relevant index or market and the remaining time to the options’ expiration, as well as trading conditions in the options market. The hours of trading for options may not conform to the hours during which the underlying securities are traded. To the extent that the options markets close before the markets for the underlying securities, significant price and rate movements can take place in the underlying markets that would not be reflected concurrently in the options markets. | |
Option Strategy | The Fund implements the Option Strategy or Enhancement Strategy, as further described under “Investment Objective & Principal Policies and Risks” in the Prospectus, whereby it writes a series of call and put option spread combinations on the S&P 500 Composite Stock Price Index (S&P 500 Index) and/or a proxy for the S&P 500 Index (such as SPDR Trust Series I units (SPDRs)). |
Participation in the ReFlow Liquidity Program | The Fund may participate in the ReFlow liquidity program, which is designed to provide an alternative liquidity source for mutual funds experiencing net redemptions of their shares. Pursuant to the program, ReFlow Fund, LLC (“ReFlow”) provides participating mutual funds with a source of cash to meet net shareholder redemptions by standing ready each business day to purchase fund shares up to the value of the net shares redeemed by other shareholders that are to settle the next business day. Following purchases of fund shares, ReFlow then generally redeems those shares when the fund experiences net sales, at the end of a maximum holding period determined by ReFlow (currently 14 days) or at other times at ReFlow’s discretion. While ReFlow holds fund shares, it will have the same rights and privileges with respect to those shares as any other shareholder. For use of the ReFlow service, a fund pays a fee to ReFlow each time it purchases fund shares, calculated by applying to the purchase amount a fee rate determined through an automated daily auction among participating mutual funds. Such fee is allocated among a fund’s share classes based on relative net assets. ReFlow’s purchases of fund shares through the liquidity program are made on an investment-blind basis without regard to the fund’s investment objective, policies or anticipated performance. In accordance with federal securities laws, ReFlow is prohibited from acquiring more than 3% of the outstanding voting securities of a fund. ReFlow will purchase Class I or Institutional Class shares (or, if applicable Class A or Investor Class shares) at net asset value and will not be subject to any sales charge (in the case of Class A shares), investment minimum or redemption fee applicable to such shares. ReFlow will periodically redeem its entire share position in the Fund and request that such redemption be met in kind in accordance with the Fund’s redemption-in-kind policies described under “Redeeming Shares” in the Prospectus. Investments in a fund by ReFlow in connection with the ReFlow liquidity program are not subject to the two round-trips within 90 days limitation described in “Restrictions on Excessive Trading and Market Timing” under “Purchasing Shares” in the Prospectus. The investment adviser believes that the program assists in stabilizing the Fund’s net assets to the benefit of the Fund and its shareholders. To the extent the Fund’s net assets do not decline, the investment adviser may also benefit. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 74 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Pooled Investment Vehicles | The Fund may invest in pooled investment vehicles including other open-end or closed-end investment companies affiliated or unaffiliated with the investment adviser, exchange-traded funds (described herein) and other collective investment pools in accordance with the requirements of the 1940 Act. Closed-end investment company securities are usually traded on an exchange. The demand for a closed-end fund’s securities is independent of the demand for the underlying portfolio assets, and accordingly, such securities can trade at a discount from, or a premium over, their net asset value. The Fund generally will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any management fees paid by a pooled investment vehicle in which it invests in addition to the investment advisory fee paid by the Fund. |
Portfolio Turnover | A change in the securities held by the Fund is known as “portfolio turnover” and generally involves expense to the Fund, including brokerage commissions or dealer markups and other transaction costs on both the sale of securities and the reinvestment of the proceeds in other securities. If sales of portfolio securities cause the Fund to realize net short-term capital gains, such gains will be taxable as ordinary income to taxable shareholders. The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate for a fiscal year is the ratio of the lesser of purchases or sales of portfolio securities to the monthly average of the value of portfolio securities − excluding securities whose maturities at acquisition were one year or less. The Fund's portfolio turnover rate is not a limiting factor when the investment adviser considers a change in the Fund's portfolio holdings. The portfolio turnover rate(s) of the Fund for recent fiscal periods is included in the Financial Highlights in the Prospectus. |
Preferred Stock | Preferred stock represents an equity interest in a corporation, company or trust that has a higher claim on the assets and earnings than common stock. Preferred stock usually has limited voting rights. Preferred stock involves credit risk, which is the risk that a preferred stock will decline in price, or fail to pay dividends when expected, because the issuer experiences a decline in its financial status. A company’s preferred stock generally pays dividends after the company makes the required payments to holders of its bonds and other debt instruments but before dividend payments are made to common stockholders. However, preferred stock may not pay scheduled dividends or dividends payments may be in arrears. The value of preferred stock may react more strongly than bonds and other debt instruments to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects. Certain preferred stocks may be convertible to common stock. See “Convertible Securities” and “Contingent Convertible Securities.” Preferred stock may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a predetermined price. Because they may make regular income payments, preferred stocks may be considered fixed-income securities for purposes of a Fund’s investment restrictions. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 75 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Real Estate Investments |
Real estate investments, including real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), are sensitive to factors, such as changes in: real estate values, property taxes, interest rates, cash flow of underlying real estate assets, occupancy rates, government regulations affecting zoning, land use, and rents, and the management skill and creditworthiness of the issuer. Companies in the real estate industry may also be subject to liabilities under environmental and hazardous waste laws, among others. Changes in underlying real estate values may have a magnified effect to the extent that investments concentrate in particular geographic regions or property types. Investments in REITs may also be adversely affected by rising interest rates. By investing in REITs, the Fund indirectly will bear REIT expenses in addition to its own expenses. Private REITs are unlisted, which may make them difficult to value and less liquid. Moreover, private REITs are generally exempt from 1933 Act registration and, as such, the amount of public information available with respect to private REITs may be less extensive than that available for publicly traded REITs. Shares of REITs may trade less frequently and, therefore, are subject to more erratic price movements than securities of larger issuers. REITs are also subject to credit, market, liquidity and interest rate risks. Effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026, the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act generally allows individuals and certain other non-corporate entities, such as partnerships, a deduction for 20% of qualified REIT dividends. Recently issued proposed regulations on which the Fund may rely allow a regulated investment company to pass the character of its qualified REIT dividends through to its shareholders provided certain holding period requirements are met. See “Taxes” below for additional information. REITs may issue debt securities to fund their activities. The value of these debt securities may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the REIT, the creditworthiness of the REIT, interest rates, and tax and regulatory requirements, among other things. |
Repurchase Agreements | Repurchase agreements involve the purchase of a security coupled with an agreement to resell at a specified date and price. In the event of the bankruptcy of the counterparty to a repurchase agreement, recovery of cash may be delayed. To the extent that, in the meantime, the value of the purchased securities may have decreased, a loss could result. Repurchase agreements that mature in more than seven days will be treated as illiquid. Unless the Prospectus states otherwise, the terms of a repurchase agreement will provide that the value of the collateral underlying the repurchase agreement will always be at least equal to the repurchase price, including any accrued interest earned on the agreement, and will be marked to market daily. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 76 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Residual Interest Bonds |
The Fund may invest in residual interest bonds in a trust that holds municipal securities. The interest rate payable on a residual interest bond bears an inverse relationship to the interest rate on another security issued by the trust. Because changes in the interest rate on the other security inversely affect the interest paid on the residual interest bond, the value and income of a residual interest bond is generally more volatile than that of a fixed rate bond. Residual interest bonds have interest rate adjustment formulas that generally reduce or, in the extreme, eliminate the interest paid to the Fund when short-term interest rates rise, and increase the interest paid to the Fund when short-term interest rates fall. Residual interest bonds have varying degrees of liquidity, and the market for these securities is relatively volatile. These securities tend to underperform the market for fixed rate bonds in a rising long-term interest rate environment, but tend to outperform the market for fixed rate bonds when long-term interest rates decline. Although volatile, residual interest bonds typically offer the potential for yields exceeding the yields available on fixed rate bonds with comparable credit quality and maturity. These securities usually permit the investor to convert the floating rate to a fixed rate (normally adjusted downward), and this optional conversion feature may provide a partial hedge against rising rates if exercised at an opportune time. While residual interest bonds expose the Fund to leverage risk because they provide two or more dollars of bond market exposure for every dollar invested, they are not subject to the Fund’s restrictions on borrowings. Under certain circumstances, the Fund may enter into a so-called shortfall and forbearance agreement relating to a residual interest bond held by the Fund. Such agreements commit the Fund to reimburse the difference between the liquidation value of the underlying security (which is the basis of the residual interest bond) and the principal amount due to the holders of the floating rate security issued in conjunction with the residual interest bond upon the termination of the trust issuing the residual interest bond. Absent a shortfall and forbearance agreement, the Fund would not be required to make such a reimbursement. If the Fund chooses not to enter into such an agreement, the residual interest bond could be terminated and the Fund could incur a loss. The Fund’s investments in residual interest bonds and similar securities described in the Prospectus and this SAI will not be considered borrowing for purposes of the Fund’s restrictions on borrowing described herein and in the Prospectus. On December 10, 2013, five U.S. federal agencies published final rules implementing section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Volcker Rule”). The Volcker Rule prohibits banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading of certain instruments and limits such entities’ investments in, and relationships with, covered funds, as defined in the rules. The Volcker Rule precludes banking entities and their affiliates from (i) sponsoring residual interest bond programs as presently structured and (ii) continuing relationships with or services for existing residual interest bond programs. The effects of the Volcker Rule may make it more difficult for the Fund to maintain current or desired levels of income. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 77 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Restricted Securities |
Restricted securities cannot be sold to the public without registration under the 1933 Act. Unless registered for sale, restricted securities can be sold only in privately negotiated transactions or pursuant to an exemption from registration. Restricted securities may be considered illiquid and subject to the Fund’s limitation on illiquid securities. Restricted securities may involve a high degree of business and financial risk which may result in substantial losses. The securities may be less liquid than publicly traded securities. Although these securities may be resold in privately negotiated transactions, the prices realized from these sales could be less than those originally paid by the Fund. The Fund may invest in restricted securities, including securities initially offered and sold without registration pursuant to Rule 144A (“Rule 144A Securities”) and securities of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers initially offered and sold outside the United States without registration with the SEC pursuant to Regulation S (“Regulation S Securities”) under the 1933 Act. Rule 144A Securities and Regulation S Securities generally may be traded freely among certain qualified institutional investors, such as the Fund, and non-U.S. persons, but resale to a broader base of investors in the United States may be permitted only in much more limited circumstances. The Fund also may purchase restricted securities that are not eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S. The Fund may acquire such securities through private placement transactions, directly from the issuer or from security holders, generally at higher yields or on terms more favorable to investors than comparable publicly traded securities. However, the restrictions on resale of such securities may make it difficult for the Fund to dispose of them at the time considered most advantageous and/or may involve expenses that would not be incurred in the sale of securities that were freely marketable. Risks associated with restricted securities include the potential obligation to pay all or part of the registration expenses in order to sell certain restricted securities. A considerable period of time may elapse between the time of the decision to sell a security and the time the Fund may be permitted to sell it under an effective registration statement and/or after an applicable waiting period. If adverse conditions were to develop during this period, the Fund might obtain a price that is less favorable than the price that was prevailing at the time it decided to sell. See also “Illiquid Securities.” |
Reverse Repurchase Agreements | Under a reverse repurchase agreement, the Fund temporarily transfers possession of a portfolio instrument to another party, such as a bank or broker-dealer, in return for cash. At the same time, the Fund agrees to repurchase the instrument at an agreed upon time (normally within seven days) and price, which reflects an interest payment. The Fund may enter into a reverse repurchase agreement for various purposes, including, but not limited to, when it is able to invest the cash acquired at a rate higher than the cost of the agreement or as a means of raising cash to satisfy redemption requests without the necessity of selling portfolio assets. In a reverse repurchase agreement, any fluctuations in the market value of either the securities transferred to another party or the securities in which the proceeds may be invested would affect the market value of the Fund’s assets. As a result, such transactions may increase fluctuations in the value of the Fund. Because reverse repurchase agreements may be considered to be the practical equivalent of borrowing funds, they constitute a form of leverage. Such agreements will be treated as subject to investment restrictions regarding “borrowings.” If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of a reverse repurchase agreement at a rate lower than the cost of the agreement, entering into the agreement will lower the Fund’s yield. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 78 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Rights and Warrants |
See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. A right is a privilege granted to existing shareholders of a corporation to subscribe for shares of a new issue of common stock before it is issued. Rights normally have a short life, usually two to four weeks, are freely transferable and entitle the holder to buy the new common stock at a lower price than the public offering price. Warrants are securities that are typically issued together with a debt security or preferred stock and that give the holder the right to buy a proportionate amount of common stock at a specified price. Warrants are freely transferable and are often traded on major exchanges. Unlike rights, warrants normally have a life that is measured in years and entitle the holder to buy common stock of a company at a price that is usually higher than the market price at the time the warrant is issued. Corporations often issue warrants to make the accompanying debt security more attractive. Warrants and rights may entail greater risks than certain other types of investments. Generally, rights and warrants do not carry the right to receive dividends or exercise voting rights with respect to the underlying securities, and they do not represent any rights in the assets of the issuer. In addition, their value does not necessarily change with the value of the underlying securities, and they cease to have value if they are not exercised on or before their expiration date. If the market price of the underlying stock does not exceed the exercise price during the life of the warrant or right, the warrant or right will expire worthless. (Canadian special warrants issued in private placements prior to a public offering are not considered warrants.) |
Royalty Bonds |
Royalty bonds include debt securities collateralized by pharmaceutical royalty interests (“Royalty Bonds”). Pharmaceutical royalty streams are created when the owner of a patent on a pharmaceutical product licenses the discovery to a larger commercial entity for further development, while maintaining a royalty interest on future sales of the product. Royalty Bonds are created when the royalty owner borrows against the royalty stream by issuing debt collateralized by the royalty. Royalty Bond investors receive interest and principal payments collateralized and funded by the stream of royalty payments. Royalty Bonds are typically offered in a private placement pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act and are restricted as to resale. Because Royalty Bonds are restricted securities and because of the proprietary nature of the underlying pharmaceutical product licenses, it may take longer to liquidate Royalty Bond positions than would be the case for other securities. Royalty Bonds are also subject to the industry risks associated with health sciences companies. |
Securities Lending | The Fund may lend its portfolio securities to major banks, broker-dealers and other financial institutions in compliance with the 1940 Act. No lending may be made with any companies affiliated with the investment adviser. These loans earn income and are collateralized by cash, securities or letters of credit. The Fund may realize a loss if it is not able to invest cash collateral at rates higher than the costs to enter into the loan. The Fund invests cash collateral in an unaffiliated money market fund that operates in compliance with the requirements of Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act and seeks to maintain a stable $1.00 net asset value per share. When the loan is closed, the lender is obligated to return the collateral to the borrower. The lender could suffer a loss if the value of the collateral is below the market value of the borrowed securities or if the borrower defaults on the loan. The lender may pay reasonable finder’s, lending agent, administrative and custodial fees in connection with its loans. The investment adviser will use its reasonable efforts to instruct the securities lending agent to terminate loans and recall securities with voting rights so that the securities may be voted in accordance with the Fund’s proxy voting policy and procedures. See “Taxes” for information on the tax treatment of payments in lieu of dividends received pursuant to securities lending arrangements. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 79 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Senior Loans | Senior Loans are loans that are senior in repayment priority to other debt of the borrower. Senior Loans generally pay interest that floats, adjusts or varies periodically based on benchmark indicators, specified adjustment schedules or prevailing interest rates. Senior Loans are often secured by specific assets or “collateral,” although they may not be secured by collateral. A Senior Loan is typically originated, negotiated and structured by a U.S. or foreign commercial bank, insurance company, finance company or other financial institution (the “Agent”) for a group of loan investors (“Loan Investors”), generally referred to as a “syndicate.” The Agent typically administers and enforces the Senior Loan on behalf of the Loan Investors in the syndicate. In addition, an institution, typically but not always the Agent, holds any collateral on behalf of the Loan Investors. Loan interests primarily take the form of assignments purchased in the primary or secondary market. Loan interests may also take the form of participation interests in, or novations of, a Senior Loan. Senior Loans primarily include senior floating rate loans and secondarily senior floating rate debt obligations (including those issued by an asset-backed pool), and interests therein. |
Loan Collateral. Borrowers generally will, for the term of the Senior Loan, pledge collateral to secure their obligation. In addition, Senior Loans may be guaranteed by or secured by assets of the borrower’s owners or affiliates. During the term of the Senior Loan, the value of collateral securing the Loan may decline in value, causing the Loan to be under-collateralized. Collateral may consist of assets that may not be readily liquidated, and there is no assurance that the liquidation of such assets would satisfy fully a borrower’s obligations under a Senior Loan. In addition, if a Senior Loan is foreclosed, the Fund could become part owner of the collateral and would bear the costs and liabilities associated with owning and disposing of such collateral. | |
Fees. The Fund may receive a facility fee when it buys a Senior Loan, and pay a facility fee when it sells a Senior Loan. On an ongoing basis, the Fund may receive a commitment fee based on the undrawn portion of the underlying line of credit portion of a Senior Loan. In certain circumstances, the Fund may receive a prepayment penalty fee upon the prepayment of a Senior Loan by a borrower or an amendment fee. | |
Loan Administration. In a typical Senior Loan, the Agent administers the terms of the loan agreement and is responsible for the collection of principal, and interest payments from the borrower and the apportionment of these payments to the Loan Investors. Failure by the Agent to fulfill its obligations may delay or adversely affect receipt of payment by the Fund. Furthermore, unless under the terms of a loan agreement or participation (as applicable) the Fund has direct recourse against the borrower, the Fund must rely on the Agent and the other Loan Investors to use appropriate remedies against the borrower. The Agent is typically responsible for monitoring compliance with covenants contained in the loan agreement based upon reports prepared by the borrower. The typical practice of an Agent or a Loan Investor in relying exclusively or primarily on reports from the borrower may involve the risk of fraud by the borrower. It is unclear whether an investment in a Senior Loan offers the securities law protections against fraud and misrepresentation. | |
A financial institution’s appointment as Agent may usually be terminated in the event that it fails to observe the requisite standard of care or becomes insolvent. A successor Agent would generally be appointed to replace the terminated Agent, and assets held by the Agent under the Loan Agreement should remain available to holders of Senior Loans. However, if assets held by the Agent for the benefit of the Fund were determined to be subject to the claims of the Agent’s general creditors, the Fund might incur certain costs and delays in realizing payment on a Senior Loan, or suffer a loss of principal and/or interest. In situations involving other Interposed Persons (as defined below), similar risks may arise. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 80 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Additional Information. The Fund may purchase and retain in its portfolio a Senior Loan where the borrower has experienced, or may be perceived to be likely to experience, credit problems, including involvement in or recent emergence from bankruptcy reorganization proceedings or other forms of debt restructuring. While such investments may provide opportunities for enhanced income as well as capital appreciation, they generally involve greater risk and may be considered speculative. The Fund may from time to time participate in ad-hoc committees formed by creditors to negotiate with the management of financially troubled borrowers. The Fund may incur legal fees as a result of such participation. In addition, such participation may restrict the Fund’s ability to trade in or acquire additional positions in a particular security when it might otherwise desire to do so. Participation by the Fund also may expose the Fund to potential liabilities under bankruptcy or other laws governing the rights of creditors and debtors. The Fund will participate in such committees only when the investment adviser believes that such participation is necessary or desirable to enforce the Fund’s rights as a creditor or to protect the value of a Senior Loan held by the Fund. | |
In some instances, other accounts managed by the investment adviser may hold other securities issued by borrowers the Senior Loans of which may be held by the Fund. These other securities may include, for example, debt securities that are subordinate to the Senior Loans held by the Fund, convertible debt or common or preferred equity securities. In certain circumstances, such as if the credit quality of the borrower deteriorates, the interests of holders of these other securities may conflict with the interests of the holders of the borrower’s Senior Loans. In such cases, the investment adviser may owe conflicting fiduciary duties to the Fund and other client accounts. The investment adviser will endeavor to carry out its obligations to all of its clients to the fullest extent possible, recognizing that in some cases, certain clients may achieve a lower economic return, as a result of these conflicting client interests, than if the investment adviser’s client accounts collectively held only a single category of the issuer’s securities. | |
The Fund may acquire warrants and other equity securities as part of a unit combining a Senior Loan and equity securities of a borrower or its affiliates. The Fund may also acquire equity securities or debt securities (including non-dollar denominated debt securities) issued in exchange for a Senior Loan or issued in connection with the debt restructuring or reorganization of a borrower, or if such acquisition, in the judgment of the investment adviser, may enhance the value of a Senior Loan or would otherwise be consistent with the Fund’s investment policies. | |
For Eaton Vance Floating Rate Portfolio, Senior Debt Portfolio and Eaton Vance VT Floating-Rate Income Fund only: The Fund will acquire participations only if the Loan Investor selling the participation, and any other persons interpositioned between the Fund and the Loan Investor (an “Interposed Person”), at the time of investment, has outstanding debt or deposit obligations rated investment grade (BBB or A-3 or higher by S&P or Baa or P- 3 or higher by Moody’s or comparably rated by another nationally recognized statistical ratings organization) or determined by the investment adviser to be of comparable quality. | |
For additional disclosure relating to investing in loans (including Senior Loans), see “Loans” above. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 81 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Short Sales | Short sales are transactions in which a party sells a security it does not own in anticipation of a decline in the market value of that security. To complete such a transaction, the party must borrow the security to make delivery to the buyer. When the party is required to return the borrowed security, it typically will purchase the security in the open market. The price at such time may be more or less than the price at which the party sold the security. Until the security is replaced, the party is required to repay the lender any dividends or interest, which accrues during the period of the loan. To borrow the security, it also may be required to pay a premium, which would increase the cost of the security sold. The net proceeds of the short sale will be retained by the broker, to the extent necessary to meet margin requirements, until the short position is closed out. Transaction costs are incurred in effecting short sales. A short seller will incur a loss as a result of a short sale if the price of the security increases between the date of the short sale and the date on which it replaces the borrowed security. A gain will be realized if the price of the security declines in price between those dates. The amount of any gain will be decreased, and the amount of any loss increased, by the amount of the premium, dividends or interest the short seller may be required to pay, if any, in connection with a short sale. Short sales may be “against the box” or uncovered. In a short sale “against the box,” at the time of the sale, the short seller owns or has the immediate and unconditional right to acquire the identical security at no additional cost. In an uncovered short sale, the short seller does not own the underlying security and, as such, losses from uncovered short sales may be significant. The Fund may sell short securities representing an index or basket of securities whose constituents the Fund holds in whole or in part. A short sale of an index or basket of securities will be a covered short sale if the underlying index or basket of securities is the same or substantially identical to securities held by the Fund. Use of short sales is limited by the Fund’s non-fundamental restriction relating thereto. |
Short-Term Trading | Fixed-income securities may be sold in anticipation of market decline (a rise in interest rates) or purchased in anticipation of a market rise (a decline in interest rates) and later sold. In addition, such a security may be sold and another purchased at approximately the same time to take advantage of what is believed to be a temporary disparity in the normal yield relationship between the two securities. Yield disparities may occur for reasons not directly related to the investment quality of particular issues or the general movement of interest rates, such as changes in the overall demand for or supply of various types of fixed-income securities or changes in the investment objectives of investors. |
Significant Exposure to Health Sciences Companies | Because the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life sciences, and health care equipment and services companies, the value of Fund shares may be affected by developments that adversely affect such companies and may fluctuate more than that of a fund that invests more broadly. Many health sciences companies are subject to substantial governmental regulations that can affect their prospects. Changes in governmental policies, such as reductions in the funding of third-party payment programs, may have a material effect on the demand for particular health care products and services. Regulatory approvals (often entailing lengthy application and testing procedures) are also generally required before new drugs and certain medical devices and procedures may be introduced. Many of the products and services of companies engaged in medical research and health care are also subject to relatively high risks of rapid obsolescence caused by progressive scientific and technological advances. Additionally, such products are subject to risks such as the appearance of toxic effects following commercial introduction and manufacturing difficulties. The enforcement of patent, trademark and other intellectual property laws will affect the value of many such companies. Health sciences companies include companies that offer limited products or services or that are at the research and developmental stage with no marketable or approved products or technologies. |
Significant Exposure to Smaller Companies | The investment risk associated with smaller companies is higher than that normally associated with larger, more established companies due to the greater business risks associated with small size, the relative age of the company, limited product lines, distribution channels and financial and managerial resources. Further, there is typically less publicly available information concerning smaller companies than for larger companies. The securities of small companies are often traded only over-the-counter and may not be traded in the volumes typical of trading on a national securities exchange. As a result, stocks of smaller companies are often more volatile than those of larger companies, which are often traded on a national securities exchange, may be more difficult and may take longer to liquidate at fair value than would be the case for the publicly traded securities of a large company. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 82 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Significant Exposure to Utilities and Financial Services Sectors | Because the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in the utilities and financial services sectors, the value of Fund shares may be affected by events that adversely affect those sectors and may fluctuate more than that of a fund with broader exposure. The utilities sector includes companies engaged in the manufacture, production, generation, transmission, sale and distribution of water, gas and electric energy. Companies in the financial services sector include, for example, commercial banks, savings and loan associations, brokerage and investment companies, insurance companies, and consumer and industrial finance companies. Companies in the utilities sector may be sensitive to changes in interest rates and other economic conditions, governmental regulation, uncertainties created by deregulation, power shortages and surpluses, the price and availability of fuel, environmental protection or energy conservation practices, the level and demand for services, and the cost and potential business disruption of technological developments. Companies in the financial services sector are also subject to extensive government regulation and can be significantly affected by the availability and cost of capital funds, changes in interest rates, the rate of corporate and consumer debt defaults, and price competition. |
Stripped Securities | Stripped Securities (“Strips”) may be issued by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities, and may also be issued by private originators or investors, including depository institutions, banks, investment banks and special purpose subsidiaries of these entities. Strips are usually structured with classes that receive different proportions of the interest and principal distributions from an underlying asset or pool of underlying assets. Strips are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, which may impact the frequency of principal payments (including prepayments) on the underlying assets or pool of underlying assets. Some structures may have a class that receives only interest from the underlying assets, an interest-only (“IO”) class, while another class may receive only principal, a principal-only (“PO”) class. IO and PO Strips may be purchased for their return and/or hedging characteristics. Because of their structure, IO Strips may move differently than typical fixed-income securities in relation to changes in interest rates. IO Strips tend to decrease in value if prepayments are greater than anticipated and increase in value if prepayments are less than anticipated. Conversely, PO Strips tend to increase in value if prepayments are greater than anticipated and decline if prepayments are less than anticipated. While the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities may guarantee the full repayment of principal on Strips they issue, repayment of interest is guaranteed only while the underlying assets or pools of assets are outstanding. To the extent the Fund invests in Strips, rapid changes in the rate of prepayments may have an adverse effect on the Fund’s performance. In addition, the secondary market for Strips may be less liquid than that for other securities. Certain Strips may also present certain operational and/or valuation risks. |
Structured Notes | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. Structured notes are derivative debt instruments, the interest rate or principal of which is determined by an unrelated indicator (for example, a currency, security, commodity or index thereof). The terms of the instrument may be “structured” by the purchaser and the borrower issuing the note. Indexed securities may include structured notes as well as securities other than debt securities, the interest rate or principal of which is determined by an unrelated indicator. Indexed securities may include a multiplier that multiplies the indexed element by a specified factor and, therefore, the value of such securities may be very volatile. The terms of structured notes and indexed securities may provide that in certain circumstances no principal is due at maturity, which may result in a loss of invested capital. Structured notes and indexed securities may be positively or negatively indexed, so that appreciation of the unrelated indicator may produce an increase or a decrease in the interest rate or the value of the structured note or indexed security at maturity may be calculated as a specified multiple of the change in the value of the unrelated indicator. Structured notes and indexed securities may entail a greater degree of market risk than other types of investments because the investor bears the risk of the unrelated indicator. Structured notes or indexed securities also may be more volatile, less liquid, and more difficult to accurately price than less complex securities and instruments or more traditional debt securities. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 83 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Swap Agreements | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. Swap agreements are two-party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors for periods ranging from a few weeks to more than one year. In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on a particular predetermined reference instrument or instruments, which can be adjusted for an interest rate factor. The gross returns to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties are generally calculated with respect to a “notional amount” ( i.e. , the return on or increase in value of a particular dollar amount invested at a particular interest rate or in a “basket” of securities representing a particular index). Other types of swap agreements may calculate the obligations of the parties to the agreement on a “net basis.” Consequently, a party’s current obligations (or rights) under a swap agreement will generally be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement based on the relative values of the positions held by each party to the agreement (the “net amount”). |
Whether the use of swap agreements will be successful will depend on the investment adviser's ability to predict correctly whether certain types of reference instruments are likely to produce greater returns than other instruments. Swap agreements may be subject to contractual restrictions on transferability and termination and they may have terms of greater than seven days. The Fund’s obligations under a swap agreement will be accrued daily (offset against any amounts owed to the Fund under the swap). Developments in the swaps market, including government regulation, could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to terminate existing swap agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such agreements, as well as to participate in swap agreements in the future. If there is a default by the counterparty to a swap, the Fund will have contractual remedies pursuant to the swap agreement, but any recovery may be delayed depending on the circumstances of the default. To limit the counterparty risk involved in swap agreements, the Fund will only enter into swap agreements with counterparties that meet certain criteria. Although there can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to do so, the Fund may be able to reduce or eliminate its exposure under a swap agreement either by assignment or other disposition, or by entering into an offsetting swap agreement with the same party or another creditworthy party. The Fund may have limited ability to eliminate its exposure under a credit default swap if the credit of the referenced entity or underlying asset has declined. | |
The swaps market was largely unregulated prior to the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act, which was enacted in 2010 in response to turmoil in the financial markets and other market events. Among other things, the Dodd-Frank Act sets forth a new regulatory framework for certain OTC derivatives, such as swaps, in which the Fund may invest. The Dodd-Frank Act requires many swap transactions to be executed on registered exchanges or through swap execution facilities, cleared through a regulated clearinghouse, and publicly reported. In addition, many market participants are now regulated as swap dealers or major swap participants and are subject to certain minimum capital and margin requirements and business conduct standards. The statutory requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act are being implemented primarily through rules and regulations adopted by the SEC and/or the CFTC. There is a prescribed phase-in period during which most of the mandated rulemaking and regulations are being implemented, and temporary exemptions from certain rules and regulations have been granted so that current trading practices will not be unduly disrupted during the transition period. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 84 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Currently, central clearing is only required for certain market participants trading certain instruments, although central clearing for additional instruments is expected to be implemented by the CFTC until the majority of the swaps market is ultimately subject to central clearing. In addition, uncleared OTC swaps are subject to regulatory collateral requirements that may adversely affect the Fund’s ability to enter into swaps in the OTC market. These developments may cause the Fund to terminate new or existing swap agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such instruments at an inopportune time. Until the mandated rulemaking and regulations are implemented completely, it will not be possible to determine the complete impact of the Dodd-Frank Act and related regulations on the Fund, and the establishment of a centralized exchange or market for swap transactions may not result in swaps being easier to value or trade. However, it is expected that swap dealers, major market participants, and swap counterparties will experience other new and/or additional regulations, requirements, compliance burdens, and associated costs. The legislation and rules yet to be promulgated and/or implemented may exert a negative effect on the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective, either through limits or requirements imposed on the Fund or its counterparties. The swap market could be disrupted or limited as a result of the implementation of this legislation, and the new requirements may increase the cost of the Fund’s investments and of doing business, which could adversely affect the ability of the Fund to buy or sell OTC derivatives. | |
Regulatory bodies outside the U.S. have also passed, proposed, or may propose in the future, legislation similar to Dodd-Frank Act or other legislation that could increase the costs of participating in, or otherwise adversely impact the liquidity of, participating in the commodities markets. In addition, regulations adopted by global prudential regulators that are now in effect require certain prudentially regulated entities and certain of their affiliates and subsidiaries (including swap dealers) to include in their derivatives contracts, terms that delay or restrict the rights of counterparties (such as the Fund) to terminate such contracts, foreclose upon collateral, exercise other default rights or restrict transfers of credit support in the event that the prudentially regulated entity and/or its affiliates are subject to certain types of resolution or insolvency proceedings. Similar regulations and laws have been adopted in non-U.S. jurisdictions that may apply to the Fund’s counterparties located in those jurisdictions. It is possible that these requirements, as well as potential additional related government regulation, could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to terminate existing derivatives contracts, exercise default rights or satisfy obligations owed to it with collateral received under such contracts. | |
Swap agreements include (but are not limited to): | |
Currency Swaps. Currency swaps involve the exchange of the rights of the parties to make or receive payments in specified currencies. Because currency swaps usually involve the delivery of the entire principal value of one designated currency in exchange for the other designated currency, the entire principal value of a currency swap is subject to the risk that the other party to the swap will default on its contractual delivery obligations. If the investment adviser is incorrect in its forecasts of market value and currency exchange rates, performance may be adversely affected. | |
Equity Swaps. An equity swap is an agreement in which at least one party’s payments are based on the rate of return of an equity security or equity index, such as the S&P 500. The other party’s payments can be based on a fixed rate, a non-equity variable rate, or even a different equity index. The Fund may enter into equity index swaps on a net basis pursuant to which the future cash flows from two reference instruments are netted out, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 85 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Credit Default Swaps. Under a credit default swap agreement, the protection “buyer” in a credit default contract is generally obligated to pay the protection “seller” an upfront or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract, provided that no credit event, such as a default, on a reference instrument has occurred. If a credit event occurs, the seller generally must pay the buyer the “par value” (full notional value) of the reference instrument in exchange for an equal face amount of the reference instrument described in the swap, or the seller may be required to deliver the related net cash amount, if the swap is cash settled. If the Fund is a buyer and no credit event occurs, the Fund may recover nothing if the swap is held through its termination date. As a seller, the Fund generally receives an upfront payment or a fixed rate of income throughout the term of the swap provided that there is no credit event. As the seller, the Fund would effectively add leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, the Fund would be subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap. The determination of a credit event under the swap agreement will depend on the terms of the agreement and may rely on the decision of persons that are not a party to the agreement. The Fund’s obligations under a credit default swap agreement will be accrued daily (offset against any amounts owed to the Fund). | |
Inflation Swaps. Inflation swaps involve the exchange by the Fund with another party of their respective commitments to pay or receive interest, e.g., an exchange of fixed rate payments for floating rate payments or an exchange of floating rate payments based on two different reference indices. By design, one of the reference indices is an inflation index, such as the Consumer Price Index. Inflation swaps can be designated as zero coupon, where both sides of the swap compound interest over the life of the swap and then the accrued interest is paid out only at the swap’s maturity. | |
Total Return Swaps. Total return swap agreements are contracts in which one party agrees to make periodic payments to another party based on the change in market value of the assets underlying the contract, which may include a specified security, basket of securities or securities indices during the specified period, in return for periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or the total return from other underlying assets. Total return swap agreements may be used to obtain exposure to a security or market without owning or taking physical custody of such security or investing directly in such market. Total return swap agreements may effectively add leverage to the Fund’s portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, the Fund would be subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap. Generally, the Fund will enter into total return swaps on a net basis (i.e., the two payment streams are netted out, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments). The net amount of the excess, if any, of the Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each total return swap will be accrued on a daily basis. If the total return swap transaction is entered into on other than a net basis, the full amount of the Fund’s obligations will be accrued on a daily basis, and the full amount of the Fund’s obligations will be segregated by the Fund in an amount equal to or greater than the market value of the liabilities under the total return swap or the amount it would have cost the Fund initially to make an equivalent direct investment, plus or minus any amount the Fund is obligated to pay or is to receive under the total return swap agreement. | |
Interest Rate Swaps, Caps and Floors. Interest rate swaps are OTC contracts in which each party agrees to make a periodic interest payment based on an index or the value of an asset in return for a periodic payment from the other party based on a different index or asset. The purchase of an interest rate floor entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index falls below a predetermined interest rate, to receive payments of interest on a notional principal amount from the party selling such interest rate floor. The purchase of an interest rate cap entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index rises above a predetermined interest rate, to receive payments of interest on a notional principal amount from the party selling such interest rate cap. The Fund usually will enter into interest rate swap transactions on a net basis (i.e., the two payment streams are netted out, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments). The net amount of the excess, if any, of the Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each interest rate swap will be accrued on a daily basis. If the interest rate swap transaction is entered into on other than a net basis, the full amount of the Fund’s obligations will be accrued on a daily basis. Certain federal income tax requirements may limit the Fund’s ability to engage in certain interest rate transactions.
Commodity Index-Linked Swaps . Commodity index-linked swap agreements involve the exchange by the Fund with another party of payments dependent upon the price of the underlying commodity index. Commodity index-linked swaps may be used to obtain exposure to a particular commodity or commodity index without owning or taking physical custody of such commodity.
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Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 86 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Swaptions | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. A swaption is a contract that gives a counterparty the right (but not the obligation) in return for payment of a premium, to enter into a new swap agreement or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement, at some designated future time on specified terms. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions. Depending on the terms of the particular option agreement, the Fund will generally incur a greater degree of risk when it writes a swaption than it will incur when it purchases a swaption. When the Fund purchases a swaption, it risks losing only the amount of the premium it has paid should it decide to let the option expire unexercised. However, when the Fund writes a swaption, upon exercise of the option the Fund will become obligated according to the terms of the underlying agreement. |
Tax-Managed Investing | Taxes are a major influence on the net returns that investors receive on their taxable investments. There are four components of the returns of a mutual fund that invests in equities that are treated differently for federal income tax purposes: price appreciation, distributions of qualified dividend income, distributions of other investment income, and distributions of realized short-term and long-term capital gains. Distributions of income other than qualified dividend income and distributions of net realized short-term gains (on stocks held for one year or less) are taxed as ordinary income. Distributions of qualified dividend income and net realized long-term gains (on stocks held for more than one year) are currently taxed at rates up to 20%. The Fund’s investment program and the tax treatment of Fund distributions may be affected by IRS interpretations of the Code and future changes in tax laws and regulations. Returns derived from price appreciation are untaxed until the shareholder disposes of his or her shares. Upon disposition, a capital gain (short-term, if the shareholder has held his or her shares for one year or less, otherwise long-term) equal to the difference between the net proceeds of the disposition and the shareholder’s adjusted tax basis is realized. |
Trust Certificates | Trust certificates are investments in a limited purpose trust or other vehicle formed under state law. Trust certificates in turn invest in instruments, such as credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, preferred securities and other securities, in order to customize the risk/return profile of a particular security. Like an investment in a bond, investments in trust certificates represent the right to receive periodic income payments (in the form of distributions) and payment of principal at the end of the term of the certificate. However, these payments are conditioned on the trust’s receipt of payments from, and the trust’s potential obligations to, the counterparties to the derivative instruments and other securities in which the trust invests. Investments in these instruments are indirectly subject to the risks associated with derivative instruments, including, among others, credit risk, default or similar event risk, counterparty risk, interest rate risk, leverage risk and management risk. It is expected that the trusts that issue credit-linked trust certificates will constitute “private” investment companies, exempt from registration under the 1940 Act. Although the trusts are typically private investment companies, they are generally not actively managed. It is also expected that the certificates will be exempt from registration under the 1933 Act. Accordingly, there may be no established trading market for the certificates and they may constitute illiquid investments. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 87 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
U.S. Government Securities | U.S. Government securities include: (1) U.S. Treasury obligations, which differ in their interest rates, maturities and times of issuance, including: U.S. Treasury bills (maturities of one year or less); U.S. Treasury notes (maturities of one year to ten years); and U.S. Treasury bonds (generally maturities of greater than ten years); and (2) obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies and instrumentalities, which are supported by any of the following: (a) the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury; (b) the right of the issuer to borrow an amount limited to a specific line of credit from the U.S. Treasury; (c) discretionary authority of the U.S. Government to purchase certain obligations of the U.S. Government agency or instrumentality; or (d) the credit of the agency or instrumentality. U.S. Government securities also include any other security or agreement collateralized or otherwise secured by U.S. Government securities. Agencies and instrumentalities of the U.S. Government include but are not limited to: Farmers Home Administration, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Federal Housing Administration, Federal Land Banks, Federal Financing Bank, Central Bank for Cooperatives, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, Farm Credit Bank System, Federal Home Loan Banks, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Federal National Mortgage Association, General Services Administration, Government National Mortgage Association, Student Loan Marketing Association, United States Postal Service, Maritime Administration, Small Business Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Washington D.C. Armory Board and any other enterprise established or sponsored by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government generally is not obligated to provide support to its instrumentalities. The principal of and/or interest on certain U.S. Government securities could be: (a) payable in foreign currencies rather than U.S. dollars; or (b) increased or diminished as a result of changes in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the value of foreign currencies. The value of such portfolio securities denominated in foreign currencies may be affected favorably by changes in the exchange rate between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. |
Unlisted Securities | Unlisted securities are neither listed on a stock exchange nor traded over-the-counter. Unlisted securities may include investments in new and early stage companies, which may involve a high degree of business and financial risk that can result in substantial losses and may be considered speculative. Such securities will generally be deemed to be illiquid. Because of the absence of any public trading market for these investments, it may take longer to liquidate these positions than would be the case for publicly traded securities. Although these securities may be resold in privately negotiated transactions, the prices realized from these sales could be less than those originally paid or less than what may be considered the fair value of such securities. Furthermore, issuers whose securities are not publicly traded may not be subject to public disclosure and other investor protection requirements applicable to publicly traded securities. If such securities are required to be registered under the securities laws of one or more jurisdictions before being resold, the Fund may be required to bear the expenses of registration. In addition, in foreign jurisdictions any capital gains realized on the sale of such securities may be subject to higher rates of foreign taxation than taxes payable on the sale of listed securities. |
Variable Rate Instruments | Variable rate instruments provide for adjustments in the interest or dividend rate payable on the instrument at specified intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, semiannually, etc.) based on market conditions, credit ratings or interest rates and the investor may have the right to “put” the security back to the issuer or its agent. Variable rate instruments normally provide that the holder can demand payment of the instrument on short notice at par with accrued interest. These instruments may be secured by letters of credit or other support arrangements provided by banks. To the extent that such letters of credit or other arrangements constitute an unconditional guarantee of the issuer’s obligations, a bank may be treated as the issuer of a security for the purposes of complying with the diversification requirements set forth in Section 5(b) of the 1940 Act and Rule 5b-2 thereunder. The Fund may use these instruments as cash equivalents pending longer term investment of its funds. The rate adjustment features may limit the extent to which the market value of the instruments will fluctuate. |
When-Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery and Forward Commitments | Securities may be purchased on a “forward commitment,” “when-issued” or “delayed delivery” basis (meaning securities are purchased or sold with payment and delivery taking place in the future beyond normal settlement times) in order to secure what is considered to be an advantageous price and yield at the time of entering into the transaction. When the Fund agrees to purchase such securities, it assumes the risk of any decline in value of the security from the date of the agreement to purchase. The Fund does not earn interest on the securities it has committed to purchase until they are paid for and delivered on the settlement date. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 88 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
From the time of entering into the transaction until delivery and payment is made at a later date, the securities that are the subject of the transaction are subject to market fluctuations. In forward commitment, when-issued or delayed delivery transactions, if the seller or buyer, as the case may be, fails to consummate the transaction, the counterparty may miss the opportunity of obtaining a price or yield considered to be advantageous. However, no payment or delivery is made until payment is received or delivery is made from the other party to the transaction. | |
Zero Coupon Bonds, Deep Discount Bonds and Payment-In-Kind (“PIK”) Securities | Zero coupon bonds are debt obligations that do not require the periodic payment of interest and are issued at a significant discount from face value. The discount approximates the total amount of interest the bonds will accrue and compound over the period until maturity at a rate of interest reflecting the market rate of the security at the time of purchase. The effect of owning debt obligations that do not make current interest payments is that a fixed yield is earned not only on the original investment but also, in effect, on all discount accretion during the life of the debt obligation. This implicit reinvestment of earnings at a fixed rate eliminates the risk of being unable to invest distributions at a rate as high as the implicit yield on the zero coupon bond, but at the same time eliminates the holder’s ability to reinvest at higher rates in the future. The Fund is required to accrue income from zero coupon bonds on a current basis, even though it does not receive that income currently in cash, and the Fund is required to distribute that income for each taxable year. Thus, the Fund may have to sell other investments to obtain cash needed to make income distributions. |
Bonds and preferred stocks that make “in-kind” payments and other securities that do not pay regular income distributions may experience greater volatility in response to interest rate changes and issuer developments. PIK securities generally carry higher interest rates compared to bonds that make cash payments of interest to reflect their payment deferral and increased credit risk. PIK securities generally involve significantly greater credit risk than coupon loans because the Fund receives no cash payments until the maturity date or a specified cash payment date. Even if accounting conditions are met for accruing income payable at a future date under a PIK bond, the issuer could still default when the collection date occurs at the maturity of or payment date for the PIK bond. PIK bonds may be difficult to value accurately because they involve ongoing judgments as to the collectability of the deferred payments and the value of any associated collateral. If the issuer of a PIK security defaults, the Fund may lose its entire investment. PIK interest has the effect of generating investment income and increasing the incentive fees, if any, payable at a compounding rate. Generally, the deferral of PIK interest increases the loan to value ratio. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 89 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX A
Class A Fees and Ownership
Sales Charges and Distribution and Service Fees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the following table shows (1) total sales charges paid by Class A, (2) sales charges paid to financial intermediaries, (3) sales charges paid to the principal underwriter, (4) approximate CDSC payments to the principal underwriter, (5) total distribution and service fees paid by Class A, and (6) distribution and service fees paid to financial intermediaries. Distribution and service fees that were not paid to financial intermediaries were retained by the principal underwriter.
For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the following total sales charges were paid on sales of Class A, of which the principal underwriter received the following amounts. The balance of such amounts was paid to financial intermediaries.
Fund |
December 31, 2017
Total Sales Charges Paid |
December 31, 2017
Sales Charges to Principal Underwriter |
December 31, 2016
Total Sales Charges Paid |
December 31, 2016
Sales Charges to Principal Underwriter |
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 | $73,377 | $18,732 | $75,375 | $17,757 |
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 | $382,792 | $53,592 | $404,288 | $49,434 |
Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities. At April 1, 2019, the Trustees and officers of the Trust, as a group, owned in the aggregate less than 1% of the outstanding shares of this Class of any Fund. In addition, as of the same date, the following person(s) held the share percentage indicated below, which was owned either (i) beneficially by such person(s) or (ii) of record by such person(s) on behalf of customers who are the beneficial owners of such shares and as to which such record owner(s) may exercise voting rights under certain limited circumstances:
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 | Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC | St. Louis, MO | 12.82% |
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. | Jacksonville, FL | 12.16% | |
National Financial Services LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 9.78% | |
Pershing LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 7.75% | |
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC | New York, NY | 7.46% | |
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 | Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC | St. Louis, MO | 16.38% |
Pershing LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 12.23% | |
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. | Jacksonville, FL | 9.66% | |
National Financial Services LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 7.93% | |
American Enterprise Investment Service | Minneapolis, MN | 6.46% | |
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC | New York, NY | 6.10% | |
Charles Schwab & Co Inc | San Francisco, CA | 5.36% | |
Raymond James | St. Petersburg, FL | 5.08% |
To the knowledge of the Trust, no other person owned of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of this Class of any Fund as of such date.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 90 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX B
Class B Fees and Ownership
Distribution and Service Fees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the following table shows (1) distribution fees paid to the principal underwriter under the Distribution Plan, (2) distribution fees paid by the principal underwriter to financial intermediaries on sales of Class B shares, (3) approximate CDSC payments to the principal underwriter, (4) service fees paid under the Distribution Plan, and (5) service fees paid to financial intermediaries. The distribution fees and service fees paid by the Funds that were not paid to financial intermediaries were retained by the principal underwriter.
Fund |
Distribution Fee
Paid to Principal Underwriter |
Distribution
Fees
Paid by Principal Underwriter to Financial Intermediaries |
CDSC Paid to
Principal Underwriter |
Service
Fees |
Service Fees
Paid to Financial Intermediaries |
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 | $11,274 | $0 | $0 | $3,758 | $3,707 |
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 | $10,007 | $0 | $0 | $3,336 | $3,281 |
Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities. At April 1, 2019, the Trustees and officers of the Trust, as a group, owned in the aggregate less than 1% of the outstanding shares of this Class of any Fund. In addition, as of the same date, the following person(s) held the share percentage indicated below, which was owned either (i) beneficially by such person(s) or (ii) of record by such person(s) on behalf of customers who are the beneficial owners of such shares and as to which such record owner(s) may exercise voting rights under certain limited circumstances:
To the knowledge of the Trust, no other person owned of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of this Class of any Fund as of such date.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 91 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX C
Class C Fees and Ownership
Distribution and Service Fees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the following table shows (1) distribution fees paid to the principal underwriter under the Distribution Plan, (2) distribution fees paid by the principal underwriter to financial intermediaries on sales of Class C shares, (3) approximate CDSC payments to the principal underwriter, (4) service fees paid under the Distribution Plan, and (5) service fees paid to financial intermediaries. The distribution fees and service fees paid by the Funds that were not paid to financial intermediaries were retained by the principal underwriter.
Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities. At April 1, 2019, the Trustees and officers of the Trust, as a group, owned in the aggregate less than 1% of the outstanding shares of this Class of any Fund. In addition, as of the same date, the following person(s) held the share percentage indicated below, which was owned either (i) beneficially by such person(s) or (ii) of record by such person(s) on behalf of customers who are the beneficial owners of such shares and as to which such record owner(s) may exercise voting rights under certain limited circumstances:
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 | Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. | Jacksonville, FL | 10.83% |
National Financial Services LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 9.87% | |
Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC | St. Louis, MO | 9.29% | |
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC | New York, NY | 8.67% | |
Pershing LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 6.18% | |
Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 | Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC | St. Louis, MO | 13.18% |
Pershing LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 12.82% | |
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. | Jacksonville, FL | 12.65% | |
Raymond James | St. Petersburg, FL | 9.20% | |
LPL Financial | San Diego, CA | 8.90% | |
National Financial Services LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 8.52% | |
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney | New York, NY | 6.83% |
To the knowledge of the Trust, no other person owned of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of this Class of any Fund as of such date.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 92 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX D
Class I Ownership
Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities. At April 1, 2019, the Trustees and officers of the Trust, as a group, owned approximately 1% of the outstanding shares of this Class of Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2. The Trustees and the officers of the Trust, as a group, owned in aggregate less than 1% of the outstanding shares of this Class in Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1. In addition, as of the same date, the following person(s) held the share percentage indicated below, which was owned either (i) beneficially by such person(s) or (ii) of record by such person(s) on behalf of customers who are the beneficial owners of such shares and as to which such record owner(s) may exercise voting rights under certain limited circumstances:
To the knowledge of the Trust, no other person owned of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of this Class of any Fund as of such date.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 93 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX E
Eaton Vance Funds
Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures
I. Overview
The Boards of Trustees (the “Board”) of the Eaton Vance Funds 1 have determined that it is in the interests of the Funds’ shareholders to adopt these written proxy voting policy and procedures (the “Policy”). For purposes of this Policy:
· | “Fund” means each registered investment company sponsored by the Eaton Vance organization; and |
· | “Adviser” means the adviser or sub-adviser responsible for the day-to-day management of all or a portion of the Fund’s assets. |
II. Delegation of Proxy Voting Responsibilities
The Board hereby delegates to the Adviser responsibility for voting the Fund’s proxies as described in this Policy. In this connection, the Adviser is required to provide the Board with a copy of its proxy voting policies and procedures (“Adviser Procedures”) and all Fund proxies will be voted in accordance with the Adviser Procedures, provided that in the event a material conflict of interest arises with respect to a proxy to be voted for the Fund (as described in Section IV below) the Adviser shall follow the process for voting such proxy as described in Section IV below.
The Adviser is required to report any material change to the Adviser Procedures to the Board in the manner set forth in Section V below. In addition, the Board will review the Adviser Procedures annually.
III. Delegation of Proxy Voting Disclosure Responsibilities
Pursuant to Rule 30b1-4 promulgated under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), the Fund is required to file Form N-PX no later than August 31st of each year. On Form N-PX, the Fund is required to disclose, among other things, information concerning proxies relating to the Fund’s portfolio investments, whether or not the Fund (or its Adviser) voted the proxies relating to securities held by the Fund and how it voted on the matter and whether it voted for or against management.
To facilitate the filing of Form N-PX for the Fund:
· | The Adviser is required to record, compile and transmit in a timely manner all data required to be filed on Form N-PX for the Fund that it manages. Such data shall be transmitted to Eaton Vance Management, which acts as administrator to the Fund (the “Administrator”) or the third party service provider designated by the Administrator; and |
· | the Administrator is required to file Form N-PX on behalf of the Fund with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) as required by the 1940 Act. The Administrator may delegate the filing to a third party service party provided each such filing is reviewed and approved by the Administrator. |
IV. Conflicts of Interest
The Board expects the Adviser, as a fiduciary to the Fund it manages, to put the interests of the Fund and its shareholders above those of the Adviser. When required to vote a proxy for the Fund, the Adviser may have material business relationships with the issuer soliciting the proxy that could give rise to a potential material conflict of interest for the Adviser. 2 In the event such a material conflict of interest arises, the Adviser, to the extent it is aware or reasonably should have been aware of the material conflict, will refrain from voting any proxies related to companies giving rise to such material conflict until it notifies and consults with the appropriate Board, or any committee, sub-committee or group of Independent Trustees identified by the Board (as long as such committee, sub-committee or group contains at least two or more Independent Trustees) (the “Board Members”), concerning the material conflict. 3 For ease of communicating with the Board Members, the Adviser is required to provide the foregoing notice to the Fund’s Chief Legal Officer who will then notify and facilitate a consultation with the Board Members.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 94 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Once the Board Members have been notified of the material conflict:
· | They shall convene a meeting to review and consider all relevant materials related to the proxies involved. This meeting shall be convened within 3 business days, provided that it an effort will be made to convene the meeting sooner if the proxy must be voted in less than 3 business days; |
· | In considering such proxies, the Adviser shall make available all materials requested by the Board Members and make reasonably available appropriate personnel to discuss the matter upon request. |
· | The Board Members will then instruct the Adviser on the appropriate course of action with respect to the proxy at issue. |
If the Board Members are unable to meet and the failure to vote a proxy would have a material adverse impact on the Fund(s) involved, the Adviser will have the right to vote such proxy, provided that it discloses the existence of the material conflict to the Chairperson of the Board as soon as practicable and to the Board at its next meeting. Any determination regarding the voting of proxies of the Fund that is made by the Board Members shall be deemed to be a good faith determination regarding the voting of proxies by the full Board.
V. Reports and Review
The Administrator shall make copies of each Form N-PX filed on behalf of the Fund available for the Boards’ review upon the Boards’ request. The Administrator (with input from the Adviser for the Fund) shall also provide any reports reasonably requested by the Board regarding the proxy voting records of the Fund.
The Adviser shall report any material changes to the Adviser Procedures to the Board as soon as practicable and the Boards will review the Adviser Procedures annually.
The Adviser also shall report any changes to the Adviser Procedures to the Fund Chief Legal Officer prior to implementing such changes in order to enable the Administrator to effectively coordinate the Fund’s disclosure relating to the Adviser Procedures.
To the extent requested by the Commission, the Policy and the Adviser Procedures shall be appended to the Fund’s statement of additional information included in its registration statement.
_____________________ |
1 | The Eaton Vance Funds may be organized as trusts or corporations. For ease of reference, the Funds may be referred to herein as Trusts and the Funds’ Board of Trustees or Board of Directors may be referred to collectively herein as the Board. |
2 | An Adviser is expected to maintain a process for identifying a potential material conflict of interest. As an example only, such potential conflicts may arise when the issuer is a client of the Adviser and generates a significant amount of fees to the Adviser or the issuer is a distributor of the Adviser’s products. |
3 | If a material conflict of interest exists with respect to a particular proxy and the proxy voting procedures of the relevant Adviser require that proxies are to be voted in accordance with the recommendation of a third party proxy voting vendor, the requirements of this Section IV shall only apply if the Adviser intends to vote such proxy in a manner inconsistent with such third party recommendation. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 95 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX F
EATON VANCE MANAGEMENT
BOSTON MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
EATON VANCE INVESTMENT COUNSEL
EATON VANCE TRUST COMPANY
EATON VANCE MANAGEMENT (INTERNATIONAL) LIMITED
EATON VANCE ADVISERS INTERNATIONAL LTD.
PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
I. Introduction
Eaton Vance Management, Boston Management and Research, Eaton Vance Investment Counsel, Eaton Vance Management (International) Limited, Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. and Eaton Vance Trust Company (each an “Adviser” and collectively the “Advisers”) have each adopted and implemented policies and procedures that each Adviser believes are reasonably designed to ensure that proxies are voted in the best interest of clients, in accordance with its fiduciary duties and, to the extent applicable, Rule 206(4)-6 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. The Advisers’ authority to vote the proxies of their clients is established by their advisory contracts or similar documentation, such as the Eaton Vance Funds Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures. These proxy policies and procedures reflect the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) requirements governing advisers and the long-standing fiduciary standards and responsibilities for ERISA accounts set out in the Department of Labor Bulletin 94-2 C.F.R. 2509.94-2 (July 29, 1994).
II. Overview
Each Adviser manages its clients’ assets with the overriding goal of seeking to provide the greatest possible return to such clients consistent with governing laws and the investment policies of each client. In pursuing that goal, each Adviser seeks to exercise its clients’ rights as shareholders of voting securities to support sound corporate governance of the companies issuing those securities with the principle aim of maintaining or enhancing the companies’ economic value.
The exercise of shareholder rights is generally done by casting votes by proxy at shareholder meetings on matters submitted to shareholders for approval (for example, the election of directors or the approval of a company’s stock option plans for directors, officers or employees). Each Adviser has established guidelines (“Guidelines”) as described below and generally will utilize such Guidelines in voting proxies on behalf of its clients. The Guidelines are largely based on those developed by the Agent (defined below) but also reflect input from the Global Proxy Group (defined below) and other Adviser investment professionals and are believed to be consistent with the views of the Adviser on the various types of proxy proposals. These Guidelines are designed to promote accountability of a company’s management and board of directors to its shareholders and to align the interests of management with those of shareholders. The Guidelines provide a framework for analysis and decision making but do not address all potential issues.
Except as noted below, each Adviser will vote any proxies received by a client for which it has sole investment discretion through a third-party proxy voting service (“Agent”) in accordance with the Guidelines in a manner that is reasonably designed to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest, as described more fully below. The Agent is currently Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. Where applicable, proxies will be voted in accordance with client-specific guidelines or, in the case of an Eaton Vance Fund that is sub-advised, pursuant to the sub-adviser’s proxy voting policies and procedures. Although an Adviser retains the services of the Agent for research and voting recommendations, the Adviser remains responsible for proxy voting decisions.
III. Roles and Responsibilities
A. Proxy Administrator
The Proxy Administrator and/or her designee coordinate the consideration of proxies referred back to the Adviser by the Agent, and otherwise administers these Procedures. In the Proxy Administrator’s absence, another employee of the Adviser may perform the Proxy Administrator’s responsibilities as deemed appropriate by the Global Proxy Group. The Proxy Administrator also may designate another employee to perform certain of the Proxy Administrator’s duties hereunder, subject to the oversight of the Proxy Administrator.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 96 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
B. Agent
The Agent is responsible for coordinating with the clients’ custodians and the Advisers to ensure that all proxy materials received by the custodians relating to the portfolio securities are processed in a timely fashion. Each Adviser shall instruct the custodian for its clients to deliver proxy ballots and related materials to the Agent. The Agent shall vote and/or refer all proxies in accordance with the Guidelines. The Agent shall retain a record of all proxy votes handled by the Agent. With respect to each Eaton Vance Fund memorialized therein, such record must reflect all of the information required to be disclosed in the Fund’s Form N-PX pursuant to Rule 30b1-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, to the extent applicable. In addition, the Agent is responsible for maintaining copies of all proxy statements received by issuers and to promptly provide such materials to an Adviser upon request.
Subject to the oversight of the Advisers, the Agent shall establish and maintain adequate internal controls and policies in connection with the provision of proxy voting services to the Advisers, including methods to reasonably ensure that its analysis and recommendations are not influenced by a conflict of interest, and shall disclose such controls and policies to the Advisers when and as provided for herein. Unless otherwise specified, references herein to recommendations of the Agent shall refer to those in which no conflict of interest has been identified. The Advisers are responsible for the ongoing oversight of the Agent as contemplated by SEC Staff Legal Bulletin No. 20 (June 30, 2014). Such oversight currently may include one or more of the following:
· | periodic review of Agent’s proxy voting platform and reporting capabilities (including recordkeeping); |
· | periodic review of a sample of ballots for accuracy and correct application of the Guidelines; |
· | periodic meetings with Agent’s client services team; |
· | periodic in-person and/or web-based due diligence meetings; |
· | receipt and review of annual certifications received from the Agent; and/or |
· | annual review of due diligence materials provided by the Agent, including review of procedures and practices regarding potential conflicts of interests. |
C. Global Proxy Group
The Adviser shall establish a Global Proxy Group which is responsible for establishing the Guidelines (described below) and reviewing such Guidelines at least annually. The Global Proxy Group shall also review recommendations to vote proxies in a manner that is contrary to the Guidelines and when the proxy relates to a conflicted company of the Adviser or the Agent as described below.
The members of the Global Proxy Group shall include the Chief Equity Investment Officer of Eaton Vance Management (“EVM”) and selected members of the Equity Departments of EVM and Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. (“EVAIL”) and EVM’s Global Income Department. The Proxy Administrator is not a voting member of the Global Proxy Group. Members of the Global Proxy Group may be changed from time to time at the Advisers’ discretion. Matters that require the approval of the Global Proxy Group may be acted upon by its member(s) available to consider the matter.
IV. Proxy Voting
A. The Guidelines
The Global Proxy Group shall establish recommendations for the manner in which proxy proposals shall be voted (the “Guidelines”). The Guidelines shall identify when ballots for specific types of proxy proposals shall be voted (1) or referred to the Adviser. The Guidelines shall address a wide variety of individual topics, including, among other matters, shareholder voting rights, anti-takeover defenses, board structures, the election of directors, executive and director compensation, reorganizations, mergers, issues of corporate social responsibility and other proposals affecting shareholder rights. In determining the Guidelines, the Global Proxy Group considers the recommendations of the Agent as well as input from the Advisers’ portfolio managers and analysts and/or other internally developed or third party research.
The Global Proxy Group shall review the Guidelines at least annually and, in connection with proxies to be voted on behalf of the Eaton Vance Funds, the Adviser will submit amendments to the Guidelines to the Fund Boards each year for approval.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 97 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
With respect to the types of proxy proposals listed below, the Guidelines will generally provide as follows:
1. Proposals Regarding Mergers and Corporate Restructurings/Disposition of Assets/Termination/Liquidation and Mergers
The Agent shall be directed to refer proxy proposals accompanied by its written analysis and voting recommendation to the Proxy Administrator and/or her designee for all proposals relating to Mergers and Corporate Restructurings.
2. Corporate Structure Matters/Anti-Takeover Defenses
As a general matter, the Advisers will normally vote against anti-takeover measures and other proposals designed to limit the ability of shareholders to act on possible transactions (except in the case of closed-end management investment companies).
3. Proposals Regarding Proxy Contests
The Agent shall be directed to refer contested proxy proposals accompanied by its written analysis and voting recommendation to the Proxy Administrator and/or her designee.
4. Social and Environmental Issues
The Advisers will vote social and environmental proposals on a “case-by-case” basis taking into consideration industry best practices and existing management policies and practices.
Interpretation and application of the Guidelines is not intended to supersede any law, regulation, binding agreement or other legal requirement to which an issuer or the Adviser may be or become subject. The Guidelines generally relate to the types of proposals that are most frequently presented in proxy statements to shareholders. In certain circumstances, an Adviser may determine to vote contrary to the Guidelines subject to the voting procedures set forth below.
B. Voting Procedures
Except as noted in Section V below, the Proxy Administrator and/or her designee shall instruct the Agent to vote proxies as follows:
1. Vote in Accordance with Guidelines
If the Guidelines prescribe the manner in which the proxy is to be voted, the Agent shall vote in accordance with the Guidelines, which for certain types of proposals, are recommendations of the Agent made on a case-by-case basis.
2. Seek Guidance for a Referred Item or a Proposal for which there is No Guideline
If (i) the Guidelines state that the proxy shall be referred to the Adviser to determine the manner in which it should be voted or (ii) a proxy is received for a proposal for which there is no Guideline, the Proxy Administrator and/or her designee shall consult with the analyst(s) covering the company subject to the proxy proposal and shall instruct the Agent to vote in accordance with the determination of the analyst. The Proxy Administrator and/or her designee will maintain a record of all proxy proposals that are referred by the Agent, as well as all applicable recommendations, analysis and research received and the resolution of the matter. Where more than one analyst covers a particular company and the recommendations of such analysts for voting a proposal subject to this Section IV.B.2 conflict, the Global Proxy Group shall review such recommendations and any other available information related to the proposal and determine the manner in which it should be voted, which may result in different recommendations for clients (including Funds).
3. Votes Contrary to the Guidelines or Where Agent is Conflicted
In the event an analyst with respect to companies within his or her coverage area may recommend a vote contrary to the Guidelines, the Proxy Administrator and/or her designee will provide the Global Proxy Group with the Agent’s recommendation for the Proposal along with any other relevant materials, including a description of the basis for the analyst’s recommendation via email and the Proxy Administrator and/or designee will then instruct the Agent to vote the proxy in the manner determined by the Global Proxy Group. Should the vote by the Global Proxy Group concerning one or more recommendations result in a tie, EVM’s Chief Equity Investment Officer will determine the manner in which the proxy will be voted. The Adviser will provide a report to the Boards of Trustees of the Eaton Vance Funds reflecting any votes cast on behalf of the Eaton Vance Funds contrary to the Guidelines, and shall do so quarterly. A similar process will be followed if the Agent has a conflict of interest with respect to a proxy as described in Section VI.B.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 98 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
4. Do Not Cast a Vote
It shall generally be the policy of the Advisers to take no action on a proxy for which no client holds a position or otherwise maintains an economic interest in the relevant security at the time the vote is to be cast. In addition, the Advisers may determine not to vote (i) if the economic effect on shareholders' interests or the value of the portfolio holding is indeterminable or insignificant ( e.g., proxies in connection with securities no longer held in the portfolio of a client or proxies being considered on behalf of a client that is no longer in existence); (ii) if the cost of voting a proxy outweighs the benefits ( e.g., certain international proxies, particularly in cases in which share blocking practices may impose trading restrictions on the relevant portfolio security); (iii) in markets in which shareholders' rights are limited; or (iv) the Adviser is unable to access or access timely ballots or other proxy information. Non-Votes may also result in certain cases in which the Agent's recommendation has been deemed to be conflicted, as provided for herein.
C. Securities on Loan
When a fund client participates in the lending of its securities and the securities are on loan at the record date for a shareholder meeting, proxies related to such securities generally will not be forwarded to the relevant Adviser by the fund’s custodian and therefore will not be voted. In the event that the Adviser determines that the matters involved would have a material effect on the applicable fund’s investment in the loaned securities, the Adviser will make reasonable efforts to terminate the loan in time to be able to cast such vote or exercise such consent. The Adviser shall instruct the fund’s security lending agent to refrain from lending the full position of any security held by a fund to ensure that the Adviser receives notice of proxy proposals impacting the loaned security.
V. Recordkeeping
The Advisers will maintain records relating to the proxies they vote on behalf of their clients in accordance with Section 204-2 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. Those records will include:
· | A copy of the Advisers’ proxy voting policies and procedures; |
· | Proxy statements received regarding client securities. Such proxy statements received from issuers are either in the SEC’s EDGAR database or are kept by the Agent and are available upon request; |
· | A record of each vote cast; |
· | A copy of any document created by the Advisers that was material to making a decision on how to vote a proxy for a client or that memorializes the basis for such a decision; and |
· | Each written client request for proxy voting records and the Advisers’ written response to any client request (whether written or oral) for such records. |
All records described above will be maintained in an easily accessible place for five years and will be maintained in the offices of the Advisers or their Agent for two years after they are created.
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Section V, Eaton Vance Trust Company shall maintain records relating to the proxies it votes on behalf of its clients in accordance with laws and regulations applicable to it and its activities. In addition, EVAIL shall maintain records relating to the proxies it votes on behalf of its clients in accordance with UK law.
VI. Assessment of Agent and Identification and Resolution of Conflicts with Clients
A. A ssessment of Agent
The Advisers shall establish that the Agent (i) is independent from the Advisers, (ii) has resources that indicate it can competently provide analysis of proxy issues, and (iii) can make recommendations in an impartial manner and in the best interests of the clients and, where applicable, their beneficial owners. The Advisers shall utilize, and the Agent shall comply with, such methods for establishing the foregoing as the Advisers may deem reasonably appropriate and shall do so not less than annually as well as prior to engaging the services of any new proxy voting service. The Agent shall also notify the Advisers in writing within fifteen (15) calendar days of any material change to information previously provided to an Adviser in connection with establishing the Agent’s independence, competence or impartiality.
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 99 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
B. Conflicts of Interest
As fiduciaries to their clients, each Adviser puts the interests of its clients ahead of its own. In order to ensure that relevant personnel of the Advisers are able to identify potential material conflicts of interest, each Adviser will take the following steps:
· | Quarterly, the Eaton Vance Legal and Compliance Department will seek information from the department heads of each department of the Advisers and of Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. (“EVD”) (an affiliate of the Advisers and principal underwriter of certain Eaton Vance Funds). Each department head will be asked to provide a list of significant clients or prospective clients of the Advisers or EVD. |
· | A representative of the Legal and Compliance Department will compile a list of the companies identified (the “Conflicted Companies”) and provide that list to the Proxy Administrator. |
· | The Proxy Administrator will compare the list of Conflicted Companies with the names of companies for which he or she has been referred a proxy statement (the “Proxy Companies”). If a Conflicted Company is also a Proxy Company, the Proxy Administrator will report that fact to the Global Proxy Group. |
· | If the Proxy Administrator expects to instruct the Agent to vote the proxy of the Conflicted Company strictly according to the Guidelines contained in these Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures (the “Policies”) or the recommendation of the Agent, as applicable, he or she will (i) inform the Global Proxy Group of that fact, (ii) instruct the Agent to vote the proxies and (iii) record the existence of the material conflict and the resolution of the matter. |
· | If the Proxy Administrator intends to instruct the Agent to vote in a manner inconsistent with the Guidelines, the Global Proxy Group will then determine if a material conflict of interest exists between the relevant Adviser and its clients (in consultation with the Legal and Compliance Department if needed). If the Global Proxy Group determines that a material conflict exists, prior to instructing the Agent to vote any proxies relating to these Conflicted Companies the Adviser will seek instruction on how the proxy should be voted from: |
· | The client, in the case of an individual, corporate, institutional or benefit plan client; |
· | In the case of a Fund, its board of directors, any committee, sub-committee or group of Independent Trustees (as long as such committee, sub-committee or group contains at least two or more Independent Trustees); or |
· | The adviser, in situations where the Adviser acts as a sub-adviser to such adviser. |
The Adviser will provide all reasonable assistance to each party to enable such party to make an informed decision.
If the client, Fund board or adviser, as the case may be, fails to instruct the Adviser on how to vote the proxy, the Adviser will generally instruct the Agent, through the Proxy Administrator, to abstain from voting in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety. If however, the failure of the Adviser to vote its clients’ proxies would have a material adverse economic impact on the Advisers’ clients’ securities holdings in the Conflicted Company, the Adviser may instruct the Agent, through the Proxy Administrator, to vote such proxies in order to protect its clients’ interests. In either case, the Proxy Administrator will record the existence of the material conflict and the resolution of the matter.
The Advisers shall also identify and address conflicts that may arise from time to time concerning the Agent. Upon the Advisers’ request, which shall be not less than annually, and within fifteen (15) calendar days of any material change to such information previously provided to an Adviser, the Agent shall provide the Advisers with such information as the Advisers deem reasonable and appropriate for use in determining material relationships of the Agent that may pose a conflict of interest with respect to the Agent’s proxy analysis or recommendations. Such information shall include, but is not limited to, a monthly report from the Agent detailing the Agent’s Corporate Securities Division clients and related revenue data. The Advisers shall review such information on a monthly basis. The Proxy Administrator shall instruct the Agent to refer any proxies for which a material conflict of the Agent is deemed to be present to the Proxy Administrator. Any such proxy referred by the Agent shall be referred to the Global Proxy Group for consideration accompanied by the Agent’s written analysis and voting recommendation. The Proxy Administrator will instruct the Agent to vote the proxy as recommended by the Global Proxy Group.
(1) | The Guidelines will prescribe how a proposal shall be voted or provide factors to be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Agent in recommending a vote pursuant to the Guidelines. |
Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Funds | 100 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
STATEMENT OF
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
May 1, 2019
Eaton Vance Stock Fund
Class A Shares - EAERX Class C Shares - ECERX Class I Shares - EIERX
Two International Place
Boston, Massachusetts 02110
1-800-262-1122
This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) provides general information about the Fund and its corresponding Portfolio. The Fund and Portfolio are diversified, open-end management investment companies. The Fund is a series of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust. Capitalized terms used in this SAI and not otherwise defined have the meanings given to them in the Prospectus.
This SAI contains additional information about:
Page | Page | |||
Strategies and Risks | 2 | Sales Charges | 21 | |
Investment Restrictions | 4 | Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings and Related Information | 24 | |
Management and Organization | 5 | Taxes | 25 | |
Investment Advisory and Administrative Services | 16 | Portfolio Securities Transactions | 33 | |
Other Service Providers | 18 | Financial Statements | 35 | |
Calculation of Net Asset Value | 19 | Additional Information About Investment Strategies | 36 | |
Purchasing and Redeeming Shares | 20 | |||
Appendix A: Class A Fees and Ownership | 67 | Appendix D: Eaton Vance Funds Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures | 70 | |
Appendix B: Class C Fees, Ownership | 68 | Appendix E: Adviser Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures | 72 | |
Appendix C: Class I Ownership | 69 |
This SAI is NOT a prospectus and is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only if preceded or accompanied by the Fund Prospectus dated May 1, 2019, as supplemented from time to time, which is incorporated herein by reference. This SAI should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus, which may be obtained by calling 1-800-262-1122.
© 2019 Eaton Vance Management
Definitions
The following terms that may be used in this SAI have the meaning set forth below:
“1940 Act” means the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended;
“1933 Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended;
“Board” means Board of Trustees or Board of Directors, as applicable;
“CEA” means Commodity Exchange Act;
“CFTC” means the Commodity Futures Trading Commission;
“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;
“Eaton Vance family of funds” means all registered investment companies advised or administered by Eaton Vance Management (“Eaton Vance”) or Boston Management and Research (“BMR”);
“Eaton Vance funds” means the mutual funds advised by Eaton Vance or BMR;
“Exchange” means the New York Stock Exchange;
“FINRA” means the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.;
“Fund” means the Fund or Funds listed on the cover of this SAI unless stated otherwise;
“investment adviser” means the investment adviser identified in the prospectus and, with respect to the implementation of the Fund’s investment strategies (including as described under “Taxes”) and portfolio securities transactions, any sub-adviser identified in the prospectus;
“IRS” means the Internal Revenue Service;
“Portfolio” means a registered investment company (other than the Fund) sponsored by the Eaton Vance organization in which one or more Funds and other investors may invest substantially all or any portion of their assets as described in the prospectus, if applicable;
“Subsidiary” means a wholly-owned subsidiary that certain funds may have established to pursue their investment objective. The Fund described in this SAI has not established a subsidiary;
“SEC” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and
“Trust” means Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, of which the Fund is a series.
STRATEGIES AND RISKS
The Fund prospectus identifies the types of investments in which the Fund will principally invest in seeking its investment objective(s) and the principal risks associated therewith. The categories checked in the table below are all of the investments the Fund is permitted to make, including its principal investments and the investment practices the Fund (either directly or through one or more Portfolios as may be described in the prospectus) is permitted to engage in. To the extent that an investment type or practice listed below is not identified in the Fund prospectus as a principal investment strategy, the Fund generally expects to invest less than 5% of its total assets in such investment type. If a particular investment type or practice that is checked and listed below but not referred to in the prospectus becomes a more significant part of the Fund’s strategy, the prospectus may be amended to disclose that investment type or practice. Fund as used herein and under “Additional Information About Investment Strategies” refers to the Fund and its corresponding Portfolio. Information about the various investment types and practices and the associated risks checked below is included in alphabetical order in this SAI under “Additional Information about Investment Strategies.”
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 2 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Investment Type | Permitted for or Relevant to the Portfolio |
Asset-Backed Securities (“ABS”) | |
Auction Rate Securities | |
Build America Bonds | |
Call and Put Features on Securities | |
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (“CMOs”) | |
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (“CMBS”) | |
Commodity-Related Investments | |
Common Stocks | √ |
Contingent Convertible Securities | √ |
Convertible Securities | √ |
Credit Linked Securities | |
Derivative Instruments and Related Risks | √ |
Direct Investments | √ |
Derivative-Linked and Commodity-Linked Hybrid Instruments | |
Emerging Market Investments | √ |
Equity Investments | √ |
Equity-Linked Securities | |
Event-Linked Instruments | |
Exchange-Traded Funds (“ETFs”) | √ |
Exchange-Traded Notes (“ETNs”) | |
Fixed-Income Securities | √ |
Foreign Currency Transactions | √ |
Foreign Investments | √ |
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts | √ |
Forward Rate Agreements | |
Futures Contracts | √ |
Hybrid Securities | √ |
Illiquid Securities | √ |
Indexed Securities | |
Inflation-Indexed (or Inflation-Linked) Bonds | |
Junior Loans | |
Liquidity or Protective Put Agreements | |
Loans | |
Lower Rated Investments | √ |
Master Limited Partnerships (“MLPs”) | √ |
Money Market Instruments | √ |
Mortgage-Backed Securities (“MBS”) |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 3 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Investment Type | Permitted for or Relevant to the Portfolio |
Mortgage Dollar Rolls | |
Municipal Lease Obligations (“MLOs”) | |
Municipal Obligations | |
Option Contracts | √ |
Pooled Investment Vehicles | √ |
Preferred Stock | √ |
Real Estate Investments | √ |
Repurchase Agreements | √ |
Residual Interest Bonds | |
Restricted Securities | √ |
Reverse Repurchase Agreements | |
Rights and Warrants | √ |
Royalty Bonds | |
Senior Loans | |
Short Sales | √ |
Stripped Securities | |
Structured Notes | |
Swap Agreements | √ |
Swaptions | √ |
Trust Certificates | |
U.S. Government Securities | |
Unlisted Securities | |
Variable Rate Instruments | |
When-Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery and Forward Commitments | √ |
Zero Coupon Bonds, Deep Discount Bonds and Payment In-Kind (“PIK”) Securities |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 4 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Other Disclosures Regarding Investment Practices | Permitted for or Relevant to the Portfolio |
Asset Coverage | √ |
Average Effective Maturity | |
Borrowing for Investment Purposes | |
Borrowing for Temporary Purposes | √ |
Cybersecurity Risk | √ |
Diversified Status | √ |
Dividend Capture Trading | |
Duration | |
Investing in a Portfolio | √ |
Investments in the Subsidiary | |
Operational Risk | √ |
Option Strategy | |
Participation in the ReFlow Liquidity Program* | √ |
Portfolio Turnover | √ |
Securities Lending | √ |
Short-Term Trading | |
Significant Exposure to Health Sciences Companies | |
Significant Exposure to Smaller Companies | √ |
Significant Exposure to Utilities and Financial Services Sectors | |
Tax-Managed Investing |
*A Fund investing in the Portfolio may participate in the ReFlow Liquidity Program.
INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS
The following investment restrictions of the Fund are designated as fundamental policies and as such cannot be changed without the approval of the holders of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities, which as used in this SAI means the lesser of: (a) 67% of the shares of the Fund present or represented by proxy at a meeting if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding shares are present or represented at the meeting; or (b) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund. Accordingly, the Fund may not:
(1) | Borrow money or issue senior securities, except as permitted by the 1940 Act; |
(2) | With respect to 75% of its total assets, invest more than 5% of its total assets taken at market value in the securities of any one issuer, or in more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer, except obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities and except securities of other investment companies; |
(3) | Purchase securities on margin (but the Fund may obtain such short-term credits as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of securities); |
(4) | Engage in the underwriting of securities; |
(5) | Buy or sell real estate (although it may purchase and sell securities which are secured by real estate and securities of companies which invest or deal in real estate), commodities or commodity contracts for the purchase or sale of physical commodities; |
(6) | Concentrate its investments in any particular industry, but, if deemed appropriate for the Fund’s objective, up to (but less than) 25% of the value of its assets may be invested in any one industry; or |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 5 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
(7) | Make loans to other persons, except by (a) the acquisition of debt securities and making portfolio investments, (b) entering into repurchase agreements, (c) lending portfolio securities and (d) lending cash consistent with applicable law. |
For purposes of determining industry classifications, the investment adviser considers an issuer to be in a particular industry if a third party has designated the issuer to be in that industry, unless the investment adviser is aware of circumstances that make the third party’s classification inappropriate. In such a case, the investment adviser will assign an industry classification to the issuer.
The Fund’s borrowing policy is consistent with Section 18(f) of the 1940 Act, which states that it shall be unlawful for any registered open-end company to issue any class of senior security or to sell any senior security of which it is the issuer, except that any such registered company shall be permitted to borrow from any bank; provided, that immediately after any such borrowing there is an asset coverage of at least 300% for all borrowings of such registered company; and provided further, that in the event that such asset coverage shall at any time fall below 300% such registered company shall, within three days thereafter (not including Sundays and holidays) or such longer period as the SEC may prescribe by rules and regulations, reduce the amount of its borrowings to an extent that the asset coverage of such borrowings shall be at least 300%.
The Portfolio has adopted substantially the same fundamental investment restrictions as the foregoing investment restrictions adopted by the Fund; such restrictions cannot be changed without the approval of a “majority of the outstanding voting securities” of the Portfolio.
In addition, to the extent a registered open-end investment company acquires securities of the Fund in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(G) under the 1940 Act, such Fund shall not acquire any securities of a registered open-end investment company in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(G) under the 1940 Act.
The following nonfundamental investment policy has been adopted by the Fund and Portfolio. A nonfundamental investment policy may be changed by the Board with respect to the Fund without approval by the Fund’s shareholders or, with respect to the Portfolio, without approval of the Fund or its other investors. The Fund and Portfolio will not:
· | make short sales of securities or maintain a short position, unless at all times when a short position is open (i) it owns an equal amount of such securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable, without payment of any further consideration, for securities of the same issue as, and equal in amount to, the securities sold short or (ii) it holds in a segregated account cash or other liquid securities (to the extent required under the 1940 Act) in an amount equal to the current market value of the securities sold short, and unless not more than 25% of its net assets (taken at current value) is held as collateral for such sales at any one time. |
Whenever an investment policy or investment restriction set forth in the Prospectus or this SAI states a requirement with respect to the percentage of assets that may be invested in any security or other asset, or describes a policy regarding quality standards, such percentage limitation or standard shall be determined immediately after and as a result of the acquisition by the Portfolio of such security or asset. Accordingly, unless otherwise noted, any later increase or decrease resulting from a change in values, assets or other circumstances or any subsequent rating change made by a rating service (or as determined by the investment adviser if the security is not rated by a rating agency), will not compel the Portfolio to dispose of such security or other asset. However, the Fund and Portfolio must always be in compliance with the borrowing policy set forth above.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 6 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION
Fund Management. The Trustees of the Trust are responsible for the overall management and supervision of the affairs of the Trust. The Trustees of the Portfolio are responsible for the overall management and supervision of the Portfolio. The Board members and officers of the Trust and the Portfolio are listed below. Except as indicated, each individual has held the office shown or other offices in the same company for the last five years. Board members and officers of the Trust and the Portfolio hold indefinite terms of office. The “noninterested Trustees” consist of those Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust and the Portfolio, as that term is defined under the 1940 Act. The business address of each Board member and officer is Two International Place, Boston, Massachusetts 02110. As used in this SAI, “EVC” refers to Eaton Vance Corp., “EV” refers to Eaton Vance, Inc., “Eaton Vance” refers to Eaton Vance Management and “EVD” refers to Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. (see “Principal Underwriter” under “Other Service Providers”). EVC and EV are the corporate parent and trustee, respectively, of Eaton Vance and BMR. Each officer affiliated with Eaton Vance may hold a position with other Eaton Vance affiliates that is comparable to his or her position with Eaton Vance listed below.
Name and Year of Birth | Trust/Portfolio Position(s) | Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years
and Other Relevant Experience |
Number of Portfolios
in Fund Complex Overseen By Trustee (1) |
Other Directorships Held
During Last Five Years (2) |
|||||
Interested Trustee | ||||||||||
THOMAS E. FAUST JR.
1958 |
Trustee | Of the Trust since 2007 and of the Portfolio since 2009 | Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of EVC, Director and President of EV, Chief Executive Officer and President of Eaton Vance and BMR, and Director of EVD. Trustee and/or officer of 172 registered investment companies. Mr. Faust is an interested person because of his positions with BMR, Eaton Vance, EVC, EVD and EV, which are affiliates of the Trust and Portfolio. | 172 | Director of EVC and Hexavest Inc. (investment management firm). | |||||
Noninterested Trustees | ||||||||||
MARK R. FETTING
1954 |
Trustee | Since 2016 | Private investor. Formerly held various positions at Legg Mason, Inc. (investment management firm) (2000-2012), including President, Chief Executive Officer, Director and Chairman (2008-2012), Senior Executive Vice President (2004-2008) and Executive Vice President (2001-2004). Formerly, President of Legg Mason family of funds (2001-2008). Formerly, Division President and Senior Officer of Prudential Financial Group, Inc. and related companies (investment management firm) (1991-2000). | 172 | None | |||||
CYNTHIA E. FROST
1961 |
Trustee | Since 2014 | Private investor. Formerly, Chief Investment Officer of Brown University (university endowment) (2000-2012). Formerly, Portfolio Strategist for Duke Management Company (university endowment manager) (1995-2000). Formerly, Managing Director, Cambridge Associates (investment consulting company) (1989-1995). Formerly, Consultant, Bain and Company (management consulting firm) (1987-1989). Formerly, Senior Equity Analyst, BA Investment Management Company (1983-1985). | 172 | None |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 7 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Name and Year of Birth | Trust/Portfolio Position(s) | Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years
and Other Relevant Experience |
Number of Portfolios
in Fund Complex Overseen By Trustee (1) |
Other Directorships Held
During Last Five Years (2) |
|||||
GEORGE J. GORMAN
1952 |
Trustee | Since 2014 | Principal at George J. Gorman LLC (consulting firm). Formerly, Senior Partner at Ernst & Young LLP (a registered public accounting firm) (1974-2009). | 172 | Formerly, Trustee of the BofA Funds Series Trust (11 funds) (2011-2014) and of the Ashmore Funds (9 funds) (2010-2014). | |||||
VALERIE A. MOSLEY
1960 |
Trustee | Since 2014 | Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Valmo Ventures (a consulting and investment firm). Former Partner and Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Investment Strategist at Wellington Management Company, LLP (investment management firm) (1992-2012). Former Chief Investment Officer, PG Corbin Asset Management (1990-1992). Formerly worked in institutional corporate bond sales at Kidder Peabody (1986-1990). | 172 | Director of Envestnet, Inc. (provider of intelligent systems for wealth management and financial wellness) (since 2018). Director of Dynex Capital, Inc. (mortgage REIT) (since 2013). | |||||
WILLIAM H. PARK
1947 |
Chairperson of the Board and Trustee | Chairperson of the Board since 2016, Trustee of the Trust since 2003 and of the Portfolio since 2009 | Private investor. Formerly, Consultant (management and transactional) (2012-2014). Formerly, Chief Financial Officer, Aveon Group, L.P. (investment management firm) (2010-2011). Formerly, Vice Chairman, Commercial Industrial Finance Corp. (specialty finance company) (2006-2010). Formerly, President and Chief Executive Officer, Prizm Capital Management, LLC (investment management firm) (2002-2005). Formerly, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, United Asset Management Corporation (investment management firm) (1982-2001). Formerly, Senior Manager, Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) (a registered public accounting firm) (1972-1981). | 172 | None | |||||
HELEN FRAME PETERS
1948 |
Trustee | Of the Trust since 2008 and of the Portfolio since 2009 | Professor of Finance, Carroll School of Management, Boston College. Formerly, Dean, Carroll School of Management, Boston College (2000-2002). Formerly, Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income, Scudder Kemper Investments (investment management firm) (1998-1999). Formerly, Chief Investment Officer, Equity and Fixed Income, Colonial Management Associates (investment management firm) (1991-1998). | 172 | None | |||||
KEITH QUINTON
1958 |
Trustee | Since 2018 | Independent Investment Committee Member at New Hampshire Retirement System (since 2017). Advisory Committee member at Northfield Information Services, Inc. (risk management analytics provider) (since 2016). Formerly, Portfolio Manager and Senior Quantitative Analyst at Fidelity Investments (investment management firm) (2001-2014). | 172 | Director of New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank (since 2016). |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 8 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Name and Year of Birth | Trust/Portfolio Position(s) | Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years
and Other Relevant Experience |
Number of Portfolios
in Fund Complex Overseen By Trustee (1) |
Other Directorships Held
During Last Five Years (2) |
|||||
MARCUS L. SMITH
1966 |
Trustee | Since 2018 | Member of Posse Boston Advisory Board (foundation) (since 2015); Trustee at University of Mount Union (since 2008). Formerly, Portfolio Manager at MFS Investment Management (investment management firm) (1994-2017). | 172 | Director of MSCI Inc. (global provider of investment decision support tools) (since 2017). Formerly, Director of DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (logistics real estate company) (2017-2018). | |||||
SUSAN J. SUTHERLAND
1957 |
Trustee | Since 2015 | Private investor. Formerly, Associate, Counsel and Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (law firm) (1982-2013). | 172 | Formerly, Director of Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd. (global provider of customized insurance and reinsurance products) (2013-2015). | |||||
SCOTT E. WENNERHOLM
1959 |
Trustee | Since 2016 | Formerly, Trustee at Wheelock College (postsecondary institution) (2012-2018). Formerly, Consultant at GF Parish Group (executive recruiting firm) (2016-2017). Formerly, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President at BNY Mellon Asset Management (investment management firm) (2005-2011). Formerly, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Natixis Global Asset Management (investment management firm) (1997-2004). Formerly, Vice President at Fidelity Investments Institutional Services (investment management firm) (1994-1997). | 172 | None |
(1) | Includes both master and feeder funds in a master-feeder structure. |
(2) | During their respective tenures, the Trustees (except for Mmes. Frost and Sutherland and Messrs. Fetting, Gorman, Quinton, Smith and Wennerholm) also served as Board members of one or more of the following funds (which operated in the years noted): eUnits TM 2 Year U.S. Market Participation Trust: Upside to Cap / Buffered Downside (launched in 2012 and terminated in 2014); and eUnits TM 2 Year U.S. Market Participation Trust II: Upside to Cap / Buffered Downside (launched in 2012 and terminated in 2014). However, Ms. Mosley did not serve as a Board member of eUnits TM 2 Year U.S. Market Participation Trust: Upside to Cap / Buffered Downside (launched in 2012 and terminated in 2014). |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 9 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The Board has general oversight responsibility with respect to the business and affairs of the Trust and the Fund. The Board has engaged an investment adviser and (if applicable) a sub-adviser(s) (collectively the “adviser”) to manage the Fund and an administrator to administer the Fund and is responsible for overseeing such adviser and administrator and other service providers to the Trust and the Fund. The Board is currently composed of eleven Trustees, including ten Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Fund, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act (each a “noninterested Trustee”). In addition to six regularly scheduled meetings per year, the Board holds special meetings or informal conference calls to discuss specific matters that may require action prior to the next regular meeting. As discussed below, the Board has established five committees to assist the Board in performing its oversight responsibilities.
The Board has appointed a noninterested Trustee to serve in the role of Chairperson. The Chairperson’s primary role is to participate in the preparation of the agenda for meetings of the Board and the identification of information to be presented to the Board with respect to matters to be acted upon by the Board. The Chairperson also presides at all meetings of the Board and acts as a liaison with service providers, officers, attorneys, and other Board members generally between meetings. The Chairperson may perform such other functions as may be requested by the Board from time to time. In addition, the Board may appoint a noninterested Trustee to serve in the role of Vice-Chairperson. The Vice-Chairperson has the power and authority to perform any or all of the duties and responsibilities of the Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson and/or as requested by the Chairperson. Except for any duties specified herein or pursuant to the Trust’s Declaration of Trust or By-laws, the designation of Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson does not impose on such noninterested Trustee any duties, obligations or liability that is greater than the duties, obligations or liability imposed on such person as a member of the Board, generally. The Portfolio has the same leadership structure as the Trust.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 10 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The Fund and the Trust are subject to a number of risks, including, among others, investment, compliance, operational, and valuation risks. Risk oversight is part of the Board’s general oversight of the Fund and the Trust and is addressed as part of various activities of the Board and its Committees. As part of its oversight of the Fund and the Trust, the Board directly, or through a Committee, relies on and reviews reports from, among others, Fund management, the adviser, the administrator, the principal underwriter, the Chief Compliance Officer (the “CCO”), and other Fund service providers responsible for day-to-day oversight of Fund investments, operations and compliance to assist the Board in identifying and understanding the nature and extent of risks and determining whether, and to what extent, such risks can or should be mitigated. The Board also interacts with the CCO and with senior personnel of the adviser, administrator, principal underwriter and other Fund service providers and provides input on risk management issues during meetings of the Board and its Committees. Each of the adviser, administrator, principal underwriter and the other Fund service providers has its own, independent interest and responsibilities in risk management, and its policies and methods for carrying out risk management functions will depend, in part, on its individual priorities, resources and controls. It is not possible to identify all of the risks that may affect the Fund or to develop processes and controls to eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects. Moreover, it is necessary to bear certain risks (such as investment-related risks) to achieve the Fund’s goals.
The Board, with the assistance of management and with input from the Board's various committees, reviews investment policies and risks in connection with its review of Fund performance. The Board has appointed a Fund CCO who oversees the implementation and testing of the Fund compliance program and reports to the Board regarding compliance matters for the Fund and its principal service providers. In addition, as part of the Board’s periodic review of the advisory, subadvisory (if applicable), distribution and other service provider agreements, the Board may consider risk management aspects of their operations and the functions for which they are responsible. With respect to valuation, the Board approves and periodically reviews valuation policies and procedures applicable to valuing the Fund’s shares. The administrator, the investment adviser and the sub-adviser (if applicable) are responsible for the implementation and day-to-day administration of these valuation policies and procedures and provides reports to the Audit Committee of the Board and the Board regarding these and related matters. In addition, the Audit Committee of the Board or the Board receives reports periodically from the independent public accounting firm for the Fund regarding tests performed by such firm on the valuation of all securities, as well as with respect to other risks associated with mutual funds. Reports received from service providers, legal counsel and the independent public accounting firm assist the Board in performing its oversight function. The Portfolio has the same risk oversight approach as the Fund and the Trust.
The Trust’s Declaration of Trust does not set forth any specific qualifications to serve as a Trustee. The Charter of the Governance Committee also does not set forth any specific qualifications, but does set forth certain factors that the Committee may take into account in considering noninterested Trustee candidates. In general, no one factor is decisive in the selection of an individual to join the Board. Among the factors the Board considers when concluding that an individual should serve on the Board are the following: (i) knowledge in matters relating to the mutual fund industry; (ii) experience as a director or senior officer of public companies; (iii) educational background; (iv) reputation for high ethical standards and professional integrity; (v) specific financial, technical or other expertise, and the extent to which such expertise would complement the Board members’ existing mix of skills, core competencies and qualifications; (vi) perceived ability to contribute to the ongoing functions of the Board, including the ability and commitment to attend meetings regularly and work collaboratively with other members of the Board; (vii) the ability to qualify as a noninterested Trustee for purposes of the 1940 Act and any other actual or potential conflicts of interest involving the individual and the Fund; and (viii) such other factors as the Board determines to be relevant in light of the existing composition of the Board.
Among the attributes or skills common to all Board members are their ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the other members of the Board, management, sub-advisers, other service providers, counsel and independent registered public accounting firms, and to exercise effective and independent business judgment in the performance of their duties as members of the Board. Each Board member’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively has been attained through the Board member’s business, consulting, public service and/or academic positions and through experience from service as a member of the Boards of the Eaton Vance family of funds (“Eaton Vance Fund Boards”) (and/or in other capacities, including for any predecessor funds), public companies, or non-profit entities or other organizations as set forth below. Each Board member’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively also has been enhanced by his or her educational background, professional training, and/or other life experiences.
In respect of each current member of the Board, the individual’s substantial professional accomplishments and experience, including in fields related to the operations of registered investment companies, were a significant factor in the determination that the individual should serve as a member of the Board. The following is a summary of each Board member’s particular professional experience and additional considerations that contributed to the Board’s conclusion that he or she should serve as a member of the Board:
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Thomas E. Faust Jr. Mr. Faust has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2007. He is currently Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of EVC, Director and President of EV, Chief Executive Officer and President of Eaton Vance and BMR, and Director of EVD. Mr. Faust has served as a Director of Hexavest Inc. since 2012 and of SigFig Wealth Management LLC since 2016. Mr. Faust previously served as an equity analyst, portfolio manager, Director of Equity Research and Management and Chief Investment Officer of Eaton Vance from 1985-2007. He holds B.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mr. Faust has been a Chartered Financial Analyst since 1988.
Mark R. Fetting. Mr. Fetting has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2016. He has over 30 years of experience in the investment management industry as an executive and in various leadership roles. From 2000 through 2012, Mr. Fetting served in several capacities at Legg Mason, Inc., including most recently serving as President, Chief Executive Officer, Director and Chairman from 2008 to his retirement in 2012. He also served as a Director/Trustee and Chairman of the Legg Mason family of funds from 2008-2012 and Director/Trustee of the Royce family of funds from 2001-2012. From 2001 through 2008, Mr. Fetting also served as President of the Legg Mason family of funds. From 1991 through 2000, Mr. Fetting served as Division President and Senior Officer of Prudential Financial Group, Inc. and related companies. Early in his professional career, Mr. Fetting was a Vice President at T. Rowe Price and served in leadership roles within the firm’s mutual fund division from 1981-1987.
Cynthia E. Frost . Ms. Frost has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2014 and is the Chairperson of the Portfolio Management Committee. From 2000 through 2012, Ms. Frost was the Chief Investment Officer of Brown University, where she oversaw the evaluation, selection and monitoring of the third party investment managers who managed the university’s endowment. From 1995 through 2000, Ms. Frost was a Portfolio Strategist for Duke Management Company, which oversaw Duke University’s endowment. Ms. Frost also served in various investment and consulting roles at Cambridge Associates from 1989-1995, Bain and Company from 1987-1989 and BA Investment Management Company from 1983-1985. She serves as a member of the investment committee of The MCNC Endowment.
George J. Gorman . Mr. Gorman has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2014 and is the Chairperson of the Audit Committee. From 1974 through 2009, Mr. Gorman served in various capacities at Ernst & Young LLP, including as a Senior Partner in the Asset Management Group (from 1988) specializing in managing engagement teams responsible for auditing mutual funds registered with the SEC, hedge funds and private equity funds. Mr. Gorman also has experience serving as an independent trustee of other mutual fund complexes, including the Bank of America Money Market Funds Series Trust from 2011-2014 and the Ashmore Funds from 2010-2014.
Valerie A. Mosley. Ms. Mosley has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2014 and is the Chairperson of the Governance Committee. She currently owns and manages a consulting and investment firm, Valmo Ventures and is a Director of Progress Investment Management Company, a manager of emerging managers. From 1992 through 2012, Ms. Mosley served in several capacities at Wellington Management Company, LLP, an investment management firm, including as a Partner, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Investment Strategist. Ms. Mosley also served as Chief Investment Officer at PG Corbin Asset Management from 1990-1992 and worked in institutional corporate bond sales at Kidder Peabody from 1986-1990. Ms. Mosley is a Director of Dynex Capital, Inc., a mortgage REIT, where she serves on the board’s audit and investment committees, and a Director of Envestnet, Inc., a provider of intelligent systems for wealth management and financial wellness. She also serves as a trustee or board member of several major non-profit organizations and endowments, including New Profit, a non-profit venture philanthropy fund. She is a member of the Risk Audit Committee of the United Auto Workers Retiree Medical Benefits Trust and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of New York State Common Retirement Fund. She is also an advisor to New Technology Ventures, a venture capital firm.
William H. Park. Mr. Park has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2003 and is the Independent Chairperson of the Board. Mr. Park was formerly a consultant from 2012-2014 and formerly the Chief Financial Officer of Aveon Group, L.P. from 2010-2011. Mr. Park also served as Vice Chairman of Commercial Industrial Finance Corp. from 2006-2010, as President and Chief Executive Officer of Prizm Capital Management, LLC from 2002-2005, as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of United Asset Management Corporation from 1982-2001 and as Senior Manager of Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) from 1972-1981.
Helen Frame Peters. Dr. Peters has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2008. Dr. Peters is currently a Professor of Finance at Carroll School of Management, Boston College and was formerly Dean of Carroll School of Management from 2000-2002. Dr. Peters was previously a Director of BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. from 2004-2011. In addition, Dr. Peters was the Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income at Scudder Kemper Investments from 1998-1999 and Chief Investment Officer, Equity and Fixed Income at Colonial Management Associates from 1991-1998. Dr. Peters also served as a Trustee of SPDR Index Shares Funds and SPDR Series Trust from 2000-2009 and as a Director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston from 2007-2009.
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Keith Quinton. Mr. Quinton has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since October 1, 2018. He had over thirty years of experience in the investment industry before retiring from Fidelity Investments in 2014. Prior to joining Fidelity, Mr. Quinton was a vice president and quantitative analyst at MFS Investment Management from 2000-2001. From 1997 through 2000, he was a senior quantitative analyst at Santander Global Advisors and, from 1995 through 1997, Mr. Quinton was senior vice president in the quantitative equity research department at Putnam Investments. Prior to joining Putnam Investments, Mr. Quinton served in various investment roles at Eberstadt Fleming, Falconwood Securities Corporation and Drexel Burnham Lambert, where he began his career in the investment industry as a senior quantitative analyst in 1983. Mr. Quinton currently serves as an Independent Investment Committee Member of the New Hampshire Retirement System, a five member committee that manages investments based on the investment policy and asset allocation approved by the board of trustees, and as a Director of the New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank.
Marcus L. Smith. Mr. Smith has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since October 1, 2018. Since 2017, Mr. Smith has been a Director of MSCI Inc., a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, where he serves on the Audit Committee. From 2017 through 2018, he served as a Director of DCT Industrial Trust Inc., a leading logistics real estate company, where he served as a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance and Audit Committees. From 1994 through 2017, Mr. Smith served in several capacities at MFS Investment Management, an investment management firm, where he managed the MFS Institutional International Fund for 17 years and the MFS Concentrated International Fund for 10 years. In addition to his portfolio management duties, Mr. Smith served as Director of Equity, Canada from 2012-2017, Director of Equity, Asia from 2010-2012, and Director of Asian Equity Research from 2005-2010. Prior to joining MFS, Mr. Smith was a senior consultant at Andersen Consulting (now known as Accenture) from 1988-1992. Mr. Smith served as a United States Army Reserve Officer from 1987-1992. He has also been a trustee of the University of Mount Union since 2008 and has served as the chairman of the finance committee since 2015. Mr. Smith currently sits on the Boston advisory board of the Posse Foundation and the Harvard Medical School Advisory Council on Education.
Susan J. Sutherland. Ms. Sutherland has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2015 and is the Chairperson of the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee. She is also a Director of Ascot Group Limited and certain of its subsidiaries. Ascot Group Limited, through its related businesses including Syndicate 1414 at Lloyd’s of London, is a leading global underwriter of specialty property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. Ms. Sutherland was a Director of Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd., a global provider of customized reinsurance and insurance products, from 2013 until its sale in 2015 and of Hagerty Holding Corp., a leading provider of specialized automobile and marine insurance from 2015-2018. From 1982 through 2013, Ms. Sutherland was an associate, counsel and then a partner in the Financial Institutions Group of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where she primarily represented U.S. and international insurance and reinsurance companies, investment banks and private equity firms in insurance-related corporate transactions. In addition, Ms. Sutherland is qualified as a Governance Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors and has also served as a board member of prominent non-profit organizations.
Scott E. Wennerholm. Mr. Wennerholm has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2016 and is the Chairperson of the Contract Review Committee. He has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry in various leadership and executive roles. Mr. Wennerholm served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President at BNY Mellon Asset Management from 2005-2011. He also served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Natixis Global Asset Management from 1997-2004 and was a Vice President at Fidelity Investments Institutional Services from 1994-1997. In addition, Mr. Wennerholm served as a Trustee at Wheelock College, a postsecondary institution from 2012-2018.
The Board(s) of the Trust and the Portfolio has several standing Committees, including the Governance Committee, the Audit Committee, the Portfolio Management Committee, the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee and the Contract Review Committee. Each of the Committees are comprised of only noninterested Trustees.
Mmes. Mosley (Chairperson), Frost, Peters and Sutherland, and Messrs. Fetting, Gorman, Park, Quinton, Smith and Wennerholm are members of the Governance Committee. The purpose of the Governance Committee is to consider, evaluate and make recommendations to the Board with respect to the structure, membership and operation of the Board and the Committees thereof, including the nomination and selection of noninterested Trustees and a Chairperson of the Board and the compensation of such persons. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Governance Committee convened seven times.
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The Governance Committee will, when a vacancy exists, consider a nominee for Trustee recommended by a shareholder, provided that such recommendation is submitted in writing to the Trust’s Secretary at the principal executive office of the Trust. Such recommendations must be accompanied by biographical and occupational data on the candidate (including whether the candidate would be an “interested person” of the Trust), a written consent by the candidate to be named as a nominee and to serve as Trustee if elected, record and ownership information for the recommending shareholder with respect to the Trust, and a description of any arrangements or understandings regarding recommendation of the candidate for consideration.
Messrs. Gorman (Chairperson), Park and Wennerholm and Ms. Mosley are members of the Audit Committee. The Board has designated Messrs. Gorman and Park, each a noninterested Trustee, as audit committee financial experts. The Audit Committee’s purposes are to (i) oversee the Fund's and the Portfolio's accounting and financial reporting processes, its internal control over financial reporting, and, as appropriate, the internal control over financial reporting of certain service providers; (ii) oversee or, as appropriate, assist Board oversight of the quality and integrity of the Fund's and the Portfolio's financial statements and the independent audit thereof; (iii) oversee, or, as appropriate, assist Board oversight of, the Fund's and the Portfolio's compliance with legal and regulatory requirements that relate to the Fund's and the Portfolio's accounting and financial reporting, internal control over financial reporting and independent audits; (iv) approve prior to appointment the engagement and, when appropriate, replacement of the independent registered public accounting firm, and, if applicable, nominate the independent registered public accounting firm to be proposed for shareholder ratification in any proxy statement of the Fund; (v) evaluate the qualifications, independence and performance of the independent registered public accounting firm and the audit partner in charge of leading the audit; and (vi) prepare, as necessary, audit committee reports consistent with the requirements of applicable SEC and stock exchange rules for inclusion in the proxy statement of the Fund. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Audit Committee convened thirteen times.
Messrs. Wennerholm (Chairperson), Fetting, Gorman, Park, Quinton and Smith, and Mmes. Frost, Mosley, Peters and Sutherland are members of the Contract Review Committee. The purposes of the Contract Review Committee are to consider, evaluate and make recommendations to the Board concerning the following matters: (i) contractual arrangements with each service provider to the Fund and the Portfolio, including advisory, sub-advisory, transfer agency, custodial and fund accounting, distribution services and administrative services; (ii) any and all other matters in which any service provider (including Eaton Vance or any affiliated entity thereof) has an actual or potential conflict of interest with the interests of the Fund, the Portfolio or investors therein; and (iii) any other matter appropriate for review by the noninterested Trustees, unless the matter is within the responsibilities of the other Committees of the Board. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Contract Review Committee convened seven times.
Mmes. Frost (Chairperson), Mosley and Peters and Messrs. Fetting and Smith are members of the Portfolio Management Committee. The purposes of the Portfolio Management Committee are to: (i) assist the Board in its oversight of the portfolio management process employed by the Fund and the Portfolio and their investment adviser and sub-adviser(s), if applicable, relative to the Fund’s and the Portfolio's stated objective(s), strategies and restrictions; (ii) assist the Board in its oversight of the trading policies and procedures and risk management techniques applicable to the Fund and the Portfolio; and (iii) assist the Board in its monitoring of the performance results of all funds and portfolios, giving special attention to the performance of certain funds and portfolios that it or the Board identifies from time to time. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Portfolio Management Committee convened seven times.
Ms. Sutherland (Chairperson) and Messrs. Gorman, Quinton and Wennerholm are members of the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee. The purposes of the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee are to: (i) assist the Board in its oversight role with respect to compliance issues and certain other regulatory matters affecting the Fund and the Portfolio; (ii) serve as a liaison between the Board and the Fund’s and the Portfolio's CCO; and (iii) serve as a “qualified legal compliance committee” within the rules promulgated by the SEC. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee convened nine times.
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Share Ownership. The following table shows the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned by each Trustee in the Fund and in the Eaton Vance family of funds overseen by the Trustee as of December 31, 2018. Interests in the Portfolio cannot be purchased by a Trustee.
As of December 31, 2018, no noninterested Trustee or any of their immediate family members owned beneficially or of record any class of securities of EVC, EVD, any sub-adviser, if applicable, or any person controlling, controlled by or under common control with EVC or EVD or any sub-adviser, if applicable, collectively (“Affiliated Entity”).
During the calendar years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2018, no noninterested Trustee (or their immediate family members) had:
(1) | Any direct or indirect interest in any Affiliated Entity; |
(2) | Any direct or indirect material interest in any transaction or series of similar transactions with (i) the Trust or any fund; (ii) another fund managed or distributed by any Affiliated Entity; (iii) any Affiliated Entity; or (iv) an officer of any of the above; or |
(3) | Any direct or indirect relationship with (i) the Trust or any fund; (ii) another fund managed or distributed by any Affiliated Entity; (iii) any Affiliated Entity; or (iv) an officer of any of the above. |
During the calendar years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2018, no officer of any Affiliated Entity served on the Board of Directors of a company where a noninterested Trustee of the Trust or the Portfolio or any of their immediate family members served as an officer.
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Noninterested Trustees may elect to defer receipt of all or a percentage of their annual fees in accordance with the terms of a Trustees Deferred Compensation Plan (the “Deferred Compensation Plan”). Under the Deferred Compensation Plan, an eligible Board member may elect to have all or a portion of his or her deferred fees invested in the shares of one or more funds in the Eaton Vance family of funds, and the amount paid to the Board members under the Deferred Compensation Plan will be determined based upon the performance of such investments. Deferral of Board members’ fees in accordance with the Deferred Compensation Plan will have a negligible effect on the assets, liabilities, and net income of a participating fund or portfolio, and do not require that a participating Board member be retained. There is no retirement plan for Board members.
The fees and expenses of the Trustees of the Trust and the Portfolio are paid by the Funds (and other series of the Trust) and the Portfolio, respectively. A Board member who is a member of the Eaton Vance organization receives no compensation from the Trust or the Portfolio. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Trustees of the Trust and Portfolio earned the following compensation in their capacities as Board members from the Trust and Portfolio. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Board members earned the following compensation in their capacities as members of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards (1) :
(1) | As of May 1, 2019, the Eaton Vance fund complex consists of 172 registered investment companies or series thereof. Messrs. Quinton and Smith began serving as Trustees effective October 1, 2018, and thus the compensation figures listed for the Trust, the Portfolio and the Trust and Fund Complex are estimated based on the amounts each would have received if they had been Trustees for the full fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 and for the full calendar year ended December 31, 2018. Harriett Tee Taggart retired as a Trustee effective December 31, 2018. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Ms. Taggart received Trustee fees of $23,927 from the Trust and $2,881 from the Portfolio. For the calendar year ended December 31, 2018, she received $338,125 from the Trust and Fund Complex. |
(2) | The Trust consisted of 34 Funds as of December 31, 2018. |
(3) | Includes $210 of deferred compensation. |
(4) | Includes $3,044 of deferred compensation. |
(5) | Includes $865 of deferred compensation. |
(6) | Includes $24,000 of deferred compensation. |
(7) | Includes $352,119 of deferred compensation. |
(8) | Includes $100,000 of deferred compensation. |
Fund Organization
Trust. The Fund is a series of the Trust, which was organized under Massachusetts law on May 7, 1984 as a trust with transferable shares, commonly referred to as a “Massachusetts business trust” and is operated as an open-end management investment company. Effective October 31, 2014, Eaton Vance Large-Cap Core Research Fund changed its name to Eaton Vance Stock Fund. The Trust may issue an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest (no par value per share) in one or more series (such as the Fund). The Trustees of the Trust have divided the shares of the Fund into multiple classes. Each class represents an interest in the Fund, but is subject to different expenses, rights and privileges. The Trustees have the authority under the Declaration of Trust to create additional classes of shares with differing rights and privileges. When issued and outstanding, shares are fully paid and nonassessable by the Trust. Shareholders of the Trust are entitled to one vote for each full share held. Fractional shares may be voted proportionately. Shares of all Funds in the Trust will be voted together with respect to the election or removal of Trustees and on other matters affecting all Funds similarly. On matters affecting only a particular Fund, all shareholders of the affected Fund will vote together as a single class, except that only shareholders of a particular class may vote on matters affecting only that class. Shares have no preemptive or conversion rights and are freely transferable. In the event of the liquidation of the Fund, shareholders of each class are entitled to share pro rata in the net assets attributable to that class available for distribution to shareholders.
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As permitted by Massachusetts law, there will normally be no meetings of shareholders for the purpose of electing Trustees unless and until such time as less than a majority of the Trustees of the Trust holding office have been elected by shareholders. In such an event the Trustees then in office will call a shareholders’ meeting for the election of Trustees. Except for the foregoing circumstances and unless removed by action of the shareholders in accordance with the Trust’s By-laws, the Trustees shall continue to hold office and may appoint successor Trustees. The Trust’s By-laws provide that any Trustee may be removed with or without cause, by (i) the affirmative vote of holders of two-thirds of the shares or, (ii) the affirmative vote of, or written instrument, signed by at least two-thirds of the remaining Trustees, provided however, that the removal of any noninterested Trustee shall additionally require the affirmative vote of, or a written instrument executed by, at least two-thirds of the remaining noninterested Trustees. No person shall serve as a Trustee if shareholders holding two-thirds of the outstanding shares have removed him or her from that office either by a written declaration filed with the Trust’s custodian or by votes cast at a meeting called for that purpose. The By-laws further provide that under certain circumstances the shareholders may call a meeting to remove a Trustee and that the Trust is required to provide assistance in communication with shareholders about such a meeting.
The Trust’s Declaration of Trust may be amended by the Trustees when authorized by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust, the financial interests of which are affected by the amendment. The Trustees may also amend the Declaration of Trust without the vote or consent of shareholders to change the name of the Trust or any series, if they deem it necessary to conform it to applicable federal or state laws or regulations, or to make such other changes (such as reclassifying series or classes of shares or restructuring the Trust) provided such changes do not have a materially adverse effect on the financial interests of shareholders. The Trust’s By-laws provide that the Trust will indemnify its Trustees and officers against liabilities and expenses incurred in connection with any litigation or proceeding in which they may be involved because of their offices with the Trust. However, no indemnification will be provided to any Trustee or officer for any liability to the Trust or shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office.
The Trust’s Declaration of Trust provides that any legal proceeding brought by or on behalf of a shareholder seeking to enforce any provision of, or based upon any matter arising out of, related to or in connection with, the Declaration of Trust, the Trust, any Fund or Class or the shares of any Fund must be brought exclusively in the United States District Court for Massachusetts or, if such court does not have jurisdiction for the matter, then in the Superior Court of Suffolk County for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If a shareholder brings a claim in another venue and the venue is subsequently changed through legal process to the foregoing Federal or state court, then the shareholder will be required to reimburse the Trust and other persons for the expenses incurred in effecting the change in venue.
The Trust’s Declaration of Trust also provides that, except to the extent explicitly permitted by Federal law, a shareholder may not bring or maintain a court action on behalf of the Trust or any Fund or class of shares (commonly referred to as a derivative claim) without first making demand on the Trustees requesting the Trustees to bring the action. Within 90 days of receipt of the demand, the Trustees will consider the merits of the claim and determine whether commencing or maintaining an action would be in the best interests of the Trust or the affected Fund or Class. Any decision by the Trustees to bring, maintain or settle, or to not bring, maintain or settle the action, will be final and binding upon shareholders and therefore no action may be brought or maintained after a decision is made to reject a demand. In addition, the Trust’s Declaration of Trust provides that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, each shareholder acknowledges and agrees that any alleged injury to the Trust’s property, any diminution in the value of a shareholder’s shares and any other claim arising out of or relating to an allegation regarding the actions, inaction or omissions of or by the Trustees, the officers of the Trust or the investment adviser of the Fund is a legal claim belonging only to the Trust and not to the shareholders individually and, therefore, that any such claim is subject to the demand requirement for derivative claims referenced above.
The Trust or any series or class thereof may be terminated by: (1) the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than two-thirds of the shares outstanding and entitled to vote at any meeting of shareholders of the Trust or the appropriate series or class thereof, or by an instrument or instruments in writing without a meeting, consented to by the holders of two-thirds of the shares of the Trust or a series or class thereof, provided, however, that, if such termination is recommended by the Trustees, the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust or a series or class thereof entitled to vote thereon shall be sufficient authorization; or (2) by the approval of a majority of the Trustees then in office, to be followed by a written notice to shareholders.
Under Massachusetts law, if certain conditions prevail, shareholders of a Massachusetts business trust (such as the Trust) could be deemed to have personal liability for the obligations of the Trust. Numerous investment companies registered under the 1940 Act have been formed as Massachusetts business trusts, and management is not aware of an instance where such liability has been imposed. The Trust’s Declaration of Trust contains an express disclaimer of liability on the part of Fund shareholders and the Trust’s By-laws provide that the Trust shall assume the defense on
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behalf of any Fund shareholders. The Declaration of Trust also contains provisions limiting the liability of a series or class to that series or class. Moreover, the Trust’s By-laws also provide for indemnification out of Fund property of any shareholder held personally liable solely by reason of being or having been a shareholder for all loss or expense arising from such liability. The assets of the Fund are readily marketable and will ordinarily substantially exceed its liabilities. In light of the nature of the Fund’s business and the nature of its assets, management believes that the possibility of the Fund’s liability exceeding its assets, and therefore the shareholder’s risk of personal liability, is remote.
Portfolio Organization. The Portfolio was organized as a trust with transferable interests, commonly referred to as a “Massachusetts business trust” on December 14, 2009 and intends to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes. Prior to that date, the Portfolio was organized as a New York trust on August 10, 2009. Effective October 31, 2014, Large-Cap Core Research Portfolio changed its name to Stock Portfolio. In accordance with the Declaration of Trust of the Portfolio, there will normally be no meetings of the investors for the purpose of electing Trustees unless and until such time as less than a majority of the Trustees of the Portfolio holding office have been elected by investors. In such an event the Trustees of the Portfolio then in office will call an investors’ meeting for the election of Trustees. Except for the foregoing circumstances and unless removed by action of the investors in accordance with the Portfolio’s Declaration of Trust, the Trustees shall continue to hold office and may appoint successor Trustees.
The Portfolio’s Declaration of Trust provides that any Trustee may be removed, with or without cause, by (i) the affirmative vote of investors holding two-thirds of the outstanding interests or, (ii) the affirmative vote of, or a written instrument executed by, at least two-thirds of the remaining Trustees, provided however, that the removal of any noninterested Trustee shall additionally require the affirmative vote of, or a written instrument executed by, at least two-thirds of the remaining noninterested Trustees. The Portfolio’s By-laws provide that the Portfolio will indemnify its Trustees and officers against liabilities and expenses incurred in connection with any litigation or proceeding in which they may be involved because of their offices with the Portfolio. However, no indemnification will be provided to any Trustee or officer for any liability to the Portfolio or interestholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office.
The Portfolio’s Declaration of Trust provides that any legal proceeding brought by or on behalf of an investor seeking to enforce any provision of, or based upon any matter arising out of, related to or in connection with, the Declaration of Trust, the Portfolio or the interests of the Portfolio must be brought exclusively in the United States District Court for Massachusetts or, if such court does not have jurisdiction for the matter, then in the Superior Court of Suffolk County for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If an investor brings a claim in another venue and the venue is subsequently changed through legal process to the foregoing Federal or state court, then the investor will be required to reimburse the Portfolio and other persons for the expenses incurred in effecting the change in venue.
The Portfolio’s Declaration of Trust also provides that, except to the extent explicitly permitted by Federal law, an investor may not bring or maintain a court action on behalf of the Portfolio (commonly referred to as a derivative claim) without first making demand on the Trustees requesting the Trustees to bring the action. Within 90 days of receipt of the demand, the Trustees will consider the merits of the claim and determine whether commencing or maintaining an action would be in the best interests of the Portfolio. Any decision by the Trustees to bring, maintain or settle, or to not bring, maintain or settle the action, will be final and binding upon investors and therefore no action may be brought or maintained after a decision is made to reject a demand. In addition, the Portfolio’s Declaration of Trust provides that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, each investor acknowledges and agrees that any alleged injury to the Portfolio’s property, any diminution in the value of an investor’s interests and any other claim arising out of or relating to an allegation regarding the actions, inaction or omissions of or by the Trustees, the officers of the Portfolio or the investment adviser of the Portfolio is a legal claim belonging only to the Portfolio and not to the investors individually and, therefore, that any such claim is subject to the demand requirement for derivative claims referenced above.
Under Massachusetts law, if certain conditions prevail, shareholders of a Massachusetts business trust (such as the Portfolio) could be deemed to have personal liability for the obligations of the Portfolio. Numerous investment companies registered under the 1940 Act have been formed as Massachusetts business trusts, and management is not aware of an instance where such liability has been imposed. The Portfolio’s Declaration of Trust contains an express disclaimer of liability on the part of Portfolio interestholders and the By-laws provide that the Portfolio shall assume the defense on behalf of any Portfolio interestholders. Moreover, the By-laws also provide for indemnification out of Portfolio property of any interestholder held personally liable solely by reason of being or having been an interestholder for all loss or expense arising from such liability. The assets of the Portfolio are readily marketable and will ordinarily substantially exceed its liabilities. In light of the nature of the Portfolio’s business and the nature of its assets, management believes that the possibility of the Portfolio’s liability exceeding its assets, and therefore the interestholder’s risk of personal liability, is remote.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 18 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The Fund may be required to vote on matters pertaining to the Portfolio. When required by law to do so, the Fund will hold a meeting of Fund shareholders and will vote its interest in the Portfolio for or against such matters proportionately to the instructions to vote for or against such matters received from Fund shareholders. The Fund shall vote shares for which it receives no voting instructions in the same proportion as the shares for which it receives voting instructions. Other investors in the Portfolio may alone or collectively acquire sufficient voting interests in the Portfolio to control matters relating to the operation of the Portfolio, which may require the Fund to withdraw its investment in the Portfolio or take other appropriate action. Any such withdrawal could result in a distribution “in kind” of portfolio securities (as opposed to a cash distribution from the Portfolio). If securities are distributed, the Fund could incur brokerage, tax or other charges in converting the securities to cash. In addition, the distribution in kind may result in a less diversified portfolio of investments or adversely affect the liquidity of the Fund. Notwithstanding the above, there are other means for meeting shareholder redemption requests, such as borrowing.
Proxy Voting Policy. The Board adopted a proxy voting policy and procedures (the “Fund Policy”), pursuant to which the Board has delegated proxy voting responsibility to the investment adviser and adopted the proxy voting policies and procedures of the investment adviser (the “Adviser Policies”). An independent proxy voting service has been retained to assist in the voting of Fund proxies through the provision of vote analysis, implementation and recordkeeping and disclosure services. The members of the Board will review a fund's or portfolio's proxy voting records from time to time and will annually consider approving the Adviser Policies for the upcoming year. For a copy of the Fund Policy and Adviser Policies, see Appendix D and Appendix E, respectively. Pursuant to certain provisions of the 1940 Act and certain exemptive orders relating to funds investing in other funds, a fund or portfolio may be required or may elect to vote its interest in another fund in the same proportion as the holders of all other shares of that fund. Information on how a fund or portfolio voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available (1) without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-262-1122, and (2) on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
INVESTMENT ADVISORY AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
Investment Advisory Services. The investment adviser manages the investments and affairs of the Portfolio and provides related office facilities and personnel subject to the supervision of the Trust's Board, in the case of the Fund, or the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees. The investment adviser furnishes investment research, advice and supervision, furnishes an investment program and determines what securities will be purchased, held or sold by the Portfolio and what portion, if any, of the Portfolio’s assets will be held uninvested. The Investment Advisory Agreement requires the investment adviser to pay the compensation and expenses of all officers and Trustees who are members of the investment adviser's organization and all personnel of the investment adviser performing services relating to research and investment activities.
At December 31, 2018, the Portfolio had net assets of $516,615,223. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, the Portfolio paid advisory fees of $3,712,063, $3,766,856 and $3,137,544, respectively.
The Investment Advisory Agreement with the investment adviser continues in effect from year to year so long as such continuance is approved at least annually (i) by the vote of a majority of the noninterested Trustees of the Portfolio cast in person at a meeting specifically called for the purpose of voting on such approval and (ii) by the Board of Trustees of the Portfolio or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Portfolio. The Agreement may be terminated at any time without penalty on sixty (60) days’ written notice by the Board of either party, or by vote of the majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Portfolio, and the Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment. The Agreement provides that the investment adviser may render services to others. The Agreement also provides that the investment adviser shall not be liable for any loss incurred in connection with the performance of its duties, or action taken or omitted under the Agreement, in the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of its obligations and duties thereunder, or for any losses sustained in the acquisition, holding or disposition of any security or other investment. The Agreement is not intended to, and does not, confer upon any person not a party to it any right, benefit or remedy of any nature.
Information About BMR and Eaton Vance. BMR and Eaton Vance are business trusts organized under the laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. EV serves as trustee of BMR and Eaton Vance. EV and Eaton Vance are wholly-owned subsidiaries of EVC, a Maryland corporation and publicly-held holding company. BMR is an indirect subsidiary of EVC. EVC through its subsidiaries and affiliates engages primarily in investment management, administration and marketing activities. The Directors of EVC are Thomas E. Faust Jr., Ann E. Berman, Leo I. Higdon, Jr., Paula A. Johnson, Brian D. Langstraat, Dorothy E. Puhy, Winthrop H. Smith, Jr. and Richard A. Spillane, Jr. All shares of the outstanding Voting Common Stock of EVC are deposited in a Voting Trust, the Voting Trustees of which are Mr. Faust, Craig R. Brandon, Daniel C. Cataldo, Michael A. Cirami, Cynthia J. Clemson, James H. Evans, Maureen A. Gemma, Laurie G.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 19 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Hylton, Mr. Langstraat, Frederick S. Marius, David C. McCabe, Scott H. Page, Edward J. Perkin, Lewis R. Piantedosi, Charles B. Reed, Craig P. Russ, John L. Shea, Eric A. Stein, Payson F. Swaffield, Michael W. Weilheimer, R. Kelly Williams and Matthew J. Witkos (all of whom are officers of Eaton Vance or its affiliates). The Voting Trustees have unrestricted voting rights for the election of Directors of EVC. All of the outstanding voting trust receipts issued under said Voting Trust are owned by certain of the officers of BMR and Eaton Vance who may also be officers, or officers and Directors of EVC and EV. As indicated under “Management and Organization,” all of the officers of the Trust (as well as Mr. Faust who is also a Trustee) hold positions in the Eaton Vance organization.
Code of Ethics. The investment adviser, principal underwriter, and the Fund and Portfolio have adopted Codes of Ethics governing personal securities transactions pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. Under the Codes, employees of the investment adviser and the principal underwriter may purchase and sell securities (including securities held or eligible for purchase by the Portfolio) subject to the provisions of the Codes and certain employees are also subject to pre-clearance, reporting requirements and/or other procedures.
Portfolio Manager. The portfolio manager of the Portfolio is listed below. The following table shows, as of the Portfolio’s most recent fiscal year end, the number of accounts the portfolio manager managed in each of the listed categories and the total assets (in millions of dollars) in the accounts managed within each category. The table also shows the number of accounts with respect to which the advisory fee is based on the performance of the account, if any, and the total assets (in millions of dollars) in those accounts.
Number of
All Accounts |
Total Assets of
All Accounts |
Number of Accounts
Paying a Performance Fee |
Total Assets of Accounts
Paying a Performance Fee |
|
Charles B. Gaffney | ||||
Registered Investment Companies | 9 | $3,328.8 | 0 | $0 |
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles | 0 | $0 | 0 | $0 |
Other Accounts | 1 | $1.3 | 0 | $0 |
The following table shows the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned in the Fund by its portfolio manager(s) as of the Fund’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 and in the Eaton Vance family of funds as of December 31, 2018. Interests in the Portfolio cannot be purchased by a portfolio manager.
Portfolio Manager |
Dollar Range of Equity Securities
Beneficially Owned in the Fund |
Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity
Securities Beneficially Owned in the Eaton Vance Family of Funds |
Charles B. Gaffney | $100,001 - $500,000 | Over $1,000,000 |
It is possible that conflicts of interest may arise in connection with a portfolio manager’s management of the Portfolio’s investments on the one hand and the investments of other accounts for which a portfolio manager is responsible on the other. For example, a portfolio manager may have conflicts of interest in allocating management time, resources and investment opportunities among the Portfolio and other accounts he advises. In addition, due to differences in the investment strategies or restrictions between the Portfolio and the other accounts, the portfolio manager may take action with respect to another account that differs from the action taken with respect to the Portfolio. In some cases, another account managed by a portfolio manager may compensate the investment adviser based on the performance of the securities held by that account. The existence of such a performance based fee may create additional conflicts of interest for the portfolio manager in the allocation of management time, resources and investment opportunities. Whenever conflicts of interest arise, the portfolio manager will endeavor to exercise his discretion in a manner that he believes is equitable to all interested persons. The investment adviser has adopted several policies and procedures designed to address these potential conflicts including a code of ethics and policies that govern the investment adviser's trading practices, including among other things the aggregation and allocation of trades among clients, brokerage allocations, cross trades and best execution.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 20 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Compensation Structure for BMR. Compensation of the investment adviser's portfolio managers and other investment professionals has the following primary components: (1) a base salary, (2) an annual cash bonus, (3) annual non-cash compensation consisting of options to purchase shares of EVC nonvoting common stock and/or restricted shares of EVC nonvoting common stock that generally are subject to a vesting schedule and (4) (for equity portfolio managers) a Deferred Alpha Incentive Plan, which pays a deferred cash award tied to future excess returns in certain equity strategy portfolios. The investment adviser’s investment professionals also receive certain retirement, insurance and other benefits that are broadly available to the investment adviser’s employees. Compensation of the investment adviser’s investment professionals is reviewed primarily on an annual basis. Cash bonuses, stock-based compensation awards, and adjustments in base salary are typically paid or put into effect at or shortly after the October 31st fiscal year end of EVC.
Method to Determine Compensation. The investment adviser compensates its portfolio managers based primarily on the scale and complexity of their portfolio responsibilities and the total return performance of managed funds and accounts versus the benchmark(s) stated in the prospectus, as well as an appropriate peer group (as described below). In addition to rankings within peer groups of funds on the basis of absolute performance, consideration may also be given to relative risk-adjusted performance. Risk-adjusted performance measures include, but are not limited to, the Sharpe ratio (Sharpe ratio uses standard deviation and excess return to determine reward per unit of risk). Performance is normally based on periods ending on the September 30th preceding fiscal year end. Fund performance is normally evaluated primarily versus peer groups of funds as determined by Lipper Inc. and/or Morningstar, Inc. When a fund’s peer group as determined by Lipper or Morningstar is deemed by the investment adviser’s management not to provide a fair comparison, performance may instead be evaluated primarily against a custom peer group or market index. In evaluating the performance of a fund and its manager, primary emphasis is normally placed on three-year performance, with secondary consideration of performance over longer and shorter periods. For funds that are tax-managed or otherwise have an objective of after-tax returns, performance is measured net of taxes. For other funds, performance is evaluated on a pre-tax basis. For funds with an investment objective other than total return (such as current income), consideration will also be given to the fund’s success in achieving its objective. For managers responsible for multiple funds and accounts, investment performance is evaluated on an aggregate basis, based on averages or weighted averages among managed funds and accounts. Funds and accounts that have performance-based advisory fees are not accorded disproportionate weightings in measuring aggregate portfolio manager performance. A portion of the compensation payable to equity portfolio managers and investment professionals will be determined based on the ability of one or more accounts managed by such manager, that are not advised by CRM, to achieve a specified target average annual gross return over a three year period in excess of the account benchmark. The cash award to be payable at the end of the three year term will be established at the inception of the term and will be adjusted positively or negatively to the extent that the average annual gross return varies from the specified target return.
The compensation of portfolio managers with other job responsibilities (such as heading an investment group or providing analytical support to other portfolios) will include consideration of the scope of such responsibilities and the managers’ performance in meeting them.
The investment adviser seeks to compensate portfolio managers commensurate with their responsibilities and performance, and competitive with other firms within the investment management industry. The investment adviser participates in investment-industry compensation surveys and utilizes survey data as a factor in determining salary, bonus and stock-based compensation levels for portfolio managers and other investment professionals. Salaries, bonuses and stock-based compensation are also influenced by the operating performance of the investment adviser and its parent company. The overall annual cash bonus pool is generally based on a substantially fixed percentage of pre-bonus adjusted operating income. While the salaries of the investment adviser’s portfolio managers are comparatively fixed, cash bonuses and stock-based compensation may fluctuate significantly from year to year, based on changes in manager performance and other factors as described herein. For a high performing portfolio manager, cash bonuses and stock-based compensation may represent a substantial portion of total compensation.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Registration. Effective December 31, 2012, the CFTC adopted certain regulatory changes that subject registered investment companies and advisers to regulation by the CFTC if a fund invests more than a prescribed level of its assets in certain CFTC-regulated instruments (including futures, certain options and swaps agreements) or markets itself as providing investment exposure to such instruments. The Fund has claimed an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act. Accordingly, neither the Fund nor the investment adviser with respect to the operation of the Fund is subject to CFTC regulation. Because of their management of other strategies, Eaton Vance and BMR are registered with the CFTC as commodity pool operators. Eaton Vance and BMR are also registered as commodity trading advisors. The CFTC has neither reviewed nor approved each Fund's investment strategies or this SAI.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 21 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Administrative Services. As indicated in the Prospectus, Eaton Vance serves as administrator of the Fund under an Amended and Restated Administrative Services Agreement, but currently receives no compensation for providing administrative services to the Fund. Under the Amended and Restated Administrative Services Agreement, Eaton Vance has been engaged to administer the Fund’s affairs, subject to the supervision of the Board, and shall furnish office space and all necessary office facilities, equipment and personnel for administering the affairs of the Fund.
As of December 31, 2018, the Fund had net assets of $83,167,714. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, Eaton Vance was allocated $121,418, $131,782 and $120,722, respectively, of the Fund’s operating expenses.
Sub-Transfer Agency Support Services. Eaton Vance provides sub-transfer agency and related services to Eaton Vance mutual funds pursuant to a Sub-Transfer Agency Support Services Agreement. Under the agreement, Eaton Vance provides: (1) specified sub-transfer agency services; (2) compliance monitoring services; and (3) intermediary oversight services. For the services it provides, Eaton Vance receives an aggregate annual fee equal to the actual expenses incurred by Eaton Vance in the performance of such services. The Fund pays a pro rata share of such fee. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Eaton Vance earned $9,410 from the Fund pursuant to the agreement.
Expenses. The Fund and Portfolio are responsible for all expenses not expressly stated to be payable by another party (such as expenses required to be paid pursuant to an agreement with the investment adviser, the principal underwriter or the administrator). In the case of expenses incurred by the Trust, the Fund is responsible for its pro rata share of those expenses. Pursuant to the Amended and Restated Multiple Class Plan for Eaton Vance Funds, Fund expenses are allocated to each class on a pro rata basis, except that distribution and service fees are allocated exclusively to the class that incurs them.
OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS
Principal Underwriter. Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. (“EVD”), Two International Place, Boston, MA 02110 is the principal underwriter of the Fund. The principal underwriter acts as principal in selling shares under a Distribution Agreement with the Trust. The expenses of printing copies of prospectuses used to offer shares and other selling literature and of advertising are borne by the principal underwriter. The fees and expenses of qualifying and registering and maintaining qualifications and registrations of the Fund and its shares under federal and state securities laws are borne by the Fund. The Distribution Agreement is renewable annually by the members of the Board (including a majority of the noninterested Trustees who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Distribution Agreement or any applicable Distribution Plan), may be terminated on sixty days’ notice either by such Trustees or by vote of a majority of the outstanding Fund shares or on six months’ notice by the principal underwriter and is automatically terminated upon assignment. The principal underwriter distributes shares on a “best efforts” basis under which it is required to take and pay for only such shares as may be sold. EVD is a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of EVC. Mr. Faust is also a Director of EVD. EVD also serves as placement agent for the Portfolio.
Custodian. State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”), State Street Financial Center, One Lincoln Street, Boston, MA 02111, serves as custodian to the Fund and the Portfolio. State Street has custody of all cash and securities representing the Fund’s interest in the Portfolio, has custody of the Portfolio’s assets, maintains the general ledger of the Portfolio and the Fund and computes the daily net asset value of interests in the Portfolio and the net asset value of shares of the Fund. In such capacity it attends to details in connection with the sale, exchange, substitution, transfer or other dealings with the Portfolio’s investments, receives and disburses all funds and performs various other ministerial duties upon receipt of proper instructions from the Trust and the Portfolio. State Street also provides services in connection with the preparation of shareholder reports and the electronic filing of such reports with the SEC. EVC and its affiliates and their officers and employees from time to time have transactions with various banks, including State Street. It is Eaton Vance’s opinion that the terms and conditions of such transactions were not and will not be influenced by existing or potential custodial or other relationships between the Fund or the Portfolio and such banks.
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. Deloitte & Touche LLP, 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116, independent registered public accounting firm, audits the Fund's and Portfolio's financial statements and provides other audit, tax and related services.
Transfer Agent. BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc., P.O. Box 9653, Providence, RI 02940-9653, serves as transfer and dividend disbursing agent for the Fund.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 22 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
CALCULATION OF NET ASSET VALUE
The net asset value of the Fund is determined by State Street (as agent and custodian) by subtracting the liabilities of the Fund from the value of its total assets. The Fund is closed for business and will not issue a net asset value on the following business holidays and any other business day that the Exchange is closed: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The Fund’s net asset value per share is readily accessible on the Eaton Vance website (www.eatonvance.com).
Each Portfolio investor may add to or reduce its investment in the Portfolio on each day the Exchange is open for trading (“Portfolio Business Day”) as of the close of regular trading on the Exchange (the “Portfolio Valuation Time”). The value of each investor’s interest in the Portfolio will be determined by multiplying the net asset value of the Portfolio by the percentage, determined on the prior Portfolio Business Day, which represented that investor’s share of the aggregate interests in the Portfolio on such prior day. Any additions or withdrawals for the current Portfolio Business Day will then be recorded. Each investor’s percentage of the aggregate interest in the Portfolio will then be recomputed as a percentage equal to a fraction (i) the numerator of which is the value of such investor’s investment in the Portfolio as of the Portfolio Valuation Time on the prior Portfolio Business Day plus or minus, as the case may be, the amount of any additions to or withdrawals from the investor’s investment in the Portfolio on the current Portfolio Business Day and (ii) the denominator of which is the aggregate net asset value of the Portfolio as of the Portfolio Valuation Time on the prior Portfolio Business Day plus or minus, as the case may be, the amount of the net additions to or withdrawals from the aggregate investment in the Portfolio on the current Portfolio Business Day by all investors in the Portfolio. The percentage so determined will then be applied to determine the value of the investor’s interest in the Portfolio for the current Portfolio Business Day.
The Board has approved procedures pursuant to which investments are valued for purposes of determining the Fund’s net asset value. Listed below is a summary of the methods generally used to value investments (some or all of which may be held by the Fund) under the procedures.
· | Equity securities (including common stock, exchange-traded funds, closed end funds, preferred equity securities, exchange-traded notes and other instruments that trade on recognized stock exchanges) are valued at the last sale, official close or, if there are no reported sales, at the mean between the bid and asked price on the primary exchange on which they are traded. |
· | Most debt obligations are valued on the basis of market valuations furnished by a pricing service or at the mean of the bid and asked prices provided by recognized broker/dealers of such securities. The pricing service may use a pricing matrix to determine valuation. |
· | Short-term instruments with remaining maturities of less than 397 days are valued on the basis of market valuations furnished by a pricing service or based on dealer quotations. |
· | Foreign securities and currencies are valued in U.S. dollars based on foreign currency exchange quotations supplied by a pricing service. |
· | Senior and Junior Loans are valued on the basis of prices furnished by a pricing service. The pricing service uses transactions and market quotations from brokers in determining values. |
· | Futures contracts are valued at the settlement or closing price on the primary exchange or board of trade on which they are traded. |
· | Exchange-traded options are valued at the mean of the bid and asked prices. Over-the-counter options are valued based on quotations obtained from a pricing service or from a broker (typically the counterparty to the option). |
· | Non-exchange traded derivatives (including swap agreements, forward contracts and equity participation notes) are generally valued on the basis of valuations provided by a pricing service or using quotes provided by a broker/dealer (typically the counterparty) or, for total return swaps, based on market index data. |
· | Precious metals are valued at the New York Composite mean quotation. |
· | Liabilities with a payment or maturity date of 364 days or less are stated at their principal value and longer dated liabilities generally will be carried at their fair value. |
· | Valuations of foreign equity securities and total return swaps and exchange-traded futures contracts on non-North American equity indices are generally based on fair valuation provided by a pricing service. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 23 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Investments which are unable to be valued in accordance with the foregoing methodologies are valued at fair value using methods determined in good faith by or at the direction of the members of the Board. Such methods may include consideration of relevant factors, including but not limited to (i) the type of security and, the existence of any contractual restrictions on the security’s disposition; (ii) the price and extent of public trading in similar securities of the issuer or of comparable companies or entities; (iii) quotations or relevant information obtained from broker-dealers or other market participants; (iv) information obtained from the issuer, analysts, and/or the appropriate stock exchange (for exchange-traded securities); (v) an analysis of the company’s or entity’s financial statements; (vi) an evaluation of the forces that influence the issuer and the market(s) in which the security is purchased and sold; (vii) any transaction involving the issuer of such securities; and (viii) any other factors deemed relevant by the investment adviser. For purposes of fair valuation, the portfolio managers of one Eaton Vance fund that invests in Senior and Junior Loans may not possess the same information about a Senior or Junior Loan as the portfolio managers of another Eaton Vance fund. As such, at times the fair value of a Loan determined by certain Eaton Vance portfolio managers may vary from the fair value of the same Loan determined by other portfolio managers.
PURCHASING AND REDEEMING SHARES
Additional Information About Purchases. Fund shares are offered for sale only in states where they are registered. The Eaton Vance funds generally do not accept investments from residents of the European Union or Switzerland, although may do so to the extent that the Eaton Vance funds may be lawfully offered in a relevant jurisdiction (including at the initiative of the investor). Fund shares are continuously offered through financial intermediaries which have entered into agreements with the principal underwriter. Fund shares are sold at the public offering price, which is the net asset value plus the initial sales charge, if any. The Fund receives the net asset value. The principal underwriter receives the sales charge, all or a portion of which may be reallowed to the financial intermediaries responsible for selling Fund shares. The sales charge table for Class A shares in the Prospectus is applicable to purchases of Class A shares of the Fund alone or in combination with purchases of certain other funds offered by the principal underwriter, made at a single time by (i) an individual, or an individual, his or her spouse and their children under the age of twenty-one, purchasing shares for his or their own account, and (ii) a trustee or other fiduciary purchasing shares for a single trust estate or a single fiduciary account. The table is also presently applicable to (1) purchases of Class A shares pursuant to a written Statement of Intention; or (2) purchases of Class A shares pursuant to the Right of Accumulation and declared as such at the time of purchase. See “Sales Charges.”
Class I Share Purchases. Class I shares are available for purchase by clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge such clients an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Class I shares through a no-load network or platform. Such clients may include individuals, corporations, endowments, foundations and employer sponsored retirement plans. Class I shares may also be available through brokerage platforms of broker-dealer firms that have agreements with a Fund’s principal underwriter to offer Class I shares solely when acting as an agent for the investor. An investor acquiring Class I shares through such platforms may be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker. Class I shares also are offered to investment and institutional clients of Eaton Vance and its affiliates; certain persons affiliated with Eaton Vance and its affiliates; current and retired members of Eaton Vance Fund Boards; employees of Eaton Vance and its affiliates and such persons’ spouses, parents, siblings and lineal descendants and their beneficial accounts.
Waiver of Investment Minimums. In addition to waivers described in the Prospectus, minimum investment amounts are waived for individual plan participants in an employer sponsored retirement plan, current and retired members of Eaton Vance Fund Boards, clients (including custodial, agency, advisory and trust accounts), current and retired officers and employees of Eaton Vance, its affiliates and other investment advisers and sub-advisers to the Eaton Vance family of funds, and for such persons’ spouses, parents, siblings and lineal descendants and their beneficial accounts. The minimum initial investment amount is also waived for officers and employees of a Fund’s custodian and transfer agent and in connection with the merger (or similar transaction) of an investment company (or series or class thereof) or personal holding company with the Fund (or class thereof). Investments in a Fund by ReFlow in connection with the ReFlow liquidity program are also not subject to the minimum investment amount.
Suspension of Sales. The Trust may, in its absolute discretion, suspend, discontinue or limit the offering of one or more of its classes of shares at any time. In determining whether any such action should be taken, the Trust’s management intends to consider all relevant factors, including (without limitation) the size of the Fund or class, the investment climate and market conditions and the volume of sales and redemptions of shares. The Class A and Class C Distribution Plans may continue in effect and payments may be made under the Plans following any such suspension, discontinuance or limitation of the offering of shares; however, there is no obligation to continue any Plan for any particular period of time. Suspension of the offering of shares would not, of course, affect a shareholder’s ability to redeem shares.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 24 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Additional Information About Redemptions. The right to redeem shares of the Fund can be suspended and the payment of the redemption price deferred when the Exchange is closed (other than for customary weekend and holiday closings), during periods when trading on the Exchange is restricted as determined by the SEC, or during any emergency as determined by the SEC which makes it impracticable for the Portfolio to dispose of its securities or value its assets, or during any other period permitted by order of the SEC for the protection of investors.
Due to the high cost of maintaining small accounts, the Trust reserves the right to redeem accounts with balances of less than $750. Prior to such a redemption, shareholders will be given 60 days’ written notice to make an additional purchase. No CDSC or redemption fees, if applicable, will be imposed with respect to such involuntary redemptions.
As disclosed in the Prospectus, the Fund typically expects to meet redemption requests by (i) distributing any cash holdings, (ii) selling portfolio investments and/or (iii) borrowing from a bank under a line of credit. In addition to the foregoing, the Fund also may distribute securities as payment (a so-called “redemption in-kind”), in which case the redeeming shareholder may pay fees and commissions to convert the securities to cash. Unless requested by a shareholder, the Fund expects to limit use of redemption in-kind to stressed market conditions, but is permitted to do so in other circumstances. Any redemption in-kind would be made in accordance with policies adopted by the Fund, which allow the Fund to distribute securities pro rata or as selected by the investment adviser.
The Fund participates in a joint credit facility arrangement with other Eaton Vance funds and may borrow amounts available thereunder for temporary purposes, such as meeting redemptions. See “Additional Information about Investment Strategies - Borrowing for Temporary Purposes” herein. The Fund also has exemptive relief to participate in an interfund lending program with other Eaton Vance funds. Such program is not operational as of the date of this SAI.
In connection with requests to re-issue uncashed checks representing redemption proceeds, the Fund reserves the right to require the redeeming shareholder to provide Medallion signature guaranteed wire instructions for delivery of redemption proceeds. Redemption proceeds represented by an uncashed check will not earn interest or other return during such time.
As noted above, the Fund may pay the redemption price of shares of the Fund, either totally or partially, by a distribution in-kind of securities. All requests for redemptions in-kind must be in good order. Provided the redemption request is received by the Fund not later than 12:00 p.m. (eastern time) on the day of the redemption, the Fund may in its discretion, if requested by a redeeming shareholder, provide the redeeming shareholders with an estimate of the securities to be distributed. Any difference between the redemption value of the distributed securities and the value of the Fund shares redeemed will be settled in cash. Securities distributed in a redemption in-kind would be valued pursuant to the Fund’s valuation procedures and selected by the investment adviser. If a shareholder receives securities in a redemption in-kind, the shareholder could incur brokerage or other charges in converting the securities to cash and the value of such securities would be subject to price fluctuations until sold.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan. The transfer agent will send to the shareholder regular monthly or quarterly payments of any permitted amount designated by the shareholder based upon the value of the shares held. The checks will be drawn from share redemptions and hence, may require the recognition of taxable gain or loss. Income dividends and capital gains distributions in connection with withdrawal plan accounts will be credited at net asset value as of the ex-dividend date for each distribution. Continued withdrawals in excess of current income will eventually use up principal, particularly in a period of declining market prices. A shareholder may not have a withdrawal plan in effect at the same time he or she has authorized Bank Automated Investing or is otherwise making regular purchases of Fund shares. The shareholder, the transfer agent or the principal underwriter may terminate the withdrawal plan at any time without penalty.
Other Information. The Fund’s net asset value per share is normally rounded to two decimal places. In certain situations (such as a merger, share split or a purchase or sale of shares that represents a significant portion of a share class), the administrator may determine to extend the calculation of the net asset value per share to additional decimal places to ensure that neither the value of the Fund nor a shareholder’s shares is diluted materially as the result of a purchase or sale or other transaction.
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SALES CHARGES
Dealer Commissions. The principal underwriter may, from time to time, at its own expense, provide additional incentives to financial intermediaries which employ registered representatives who sell Fund shares and/or shares of other funds distributed by the principal underwriter. In some instances, such additional incentives may be offered only to certain financial intermediaries whose representatives sell or are expected to sell significant amounts of shares. In addition, the principal underwriter may from time to time increase or decrease the sales commissions payable to financial intermediaries. The principal underwriter may allow, upon notice to all financial intermediaries with whom it has agreements, discounts up to the full sales charge during the periods specified in the notice. During periods when the discount includes the full sales charge, such financial intermediaries may be deemed to be underwriters as that term is defined in the 1933 Act.
Purchases at Net Asset Value. Class A shares may be sold at net asset value (without a sales charge) to clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge such clients an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Class A shares through a no-load network or platform; current and retired members of Eaton Vance Fund Boards; to clients (including custodial, agency, advisory and trust accounts) and current and former Directors, officers and employees of Eaton Vance, its affiliates and other investment advisers and sub-advisers of Eaton Vance sponsored funds; and to such persons’ spouses, parents, siblings and lineal descendants and their beneficial accounts. Such shares may also be issued at net asset value (1) in connection with the merger (or similar transaction) of an investment company (or series or class thereof) or personal holding company with the Fund (or class thereof), (2) to HSAs (Health Savings Accounts) and to employer sponsored retirement plans and trusts used to fund those plans, (3) to officers and employees of the Fund’s custodian and transfer agent, (4) in connection with the ReFlow liquidity program and (5) direct purchases of shares by accounts where no financial intermediary is specified. Class A shares may also be sold at net asset value to registered representatives and employees of financial intermediaries. Class A shares are also offered at net asset value to shareholders who make a permitted direct transfer or roll-over to an Eaton Vance prototype individual retirement account (“IRA”) from an employer-sponsored retirement plan previously invested in Eaton Vance funds (applicable only to the portion previously invested in Eaton Vance funds), provided that sufficient documentation is provided to the transfer agent of such transfer or roll-over at the time of the account opening. Sales charges generally are waived because either (i) there is no sales effort involved in the sale of shares or (ii) the investor is paying a fee (other than the sales charge) to the financial intermediary involved in the sale. Any new or revised sales charge or CDSC waiver will be prospective only. A financial intermediary may not, in accordance with its policies and procedures, offer one or more of the waiver categories described above and shareholders should consult their financial intermediary for more information.
CDSC Waiver. CDSCs will be waived in connection with redemptions from employer sponsored retirement plans or IRAs to satisfy required minimum distributions by applying the rate required to be withdrawn under the applicable rules and regulations of the IRS to the balance of shares in your account. CDSCs will also be waived in connection with returning excess contributions made to IRAs.
Statement of Intention. If it is anticipated that $50,000 or more of Class A shares and shares of other funds exchangeable for Class A shares of another Eaton Vance fund will be purchased within a 13-month period, the Statement of Intention section of the account application should be completed so that shares may be obtained at the same reduced sales charge as though the total quantity were invested in one lump sum. Shares eligible for the right of accumulation (see below) as of the date of the statement and purchased during the 13-month period will be included toward the completion of the statement. If you make a statement of intention, the transfer agent is authorized to hold in escrow sufficient shares (5% of the dollar amount specified in the statement) which can be redeemed to make up any difference in sales charge on the amount intended to be invested and the amount actually invested. A statement of intention does not obligate the shareholder to purchase or the Fund to sell the full amount indicated in the statement.
If the amount actually purchased during the 13-month period is less than that indicated in the statement, the shareholder will be requested to pay the difference between the sales charge applicable to the shares purchased and the sales charge paid under the statement of intention. If the payment is not received in 20 days, the appropriate number of escrowed shares will be redeemed in order to realize such difference. Shareholders will not receive a lower sales charge if total purchases during the 13-month period are large enough to qualify for a lower sales charge than that applicable to the amount specified in the statement. If the sales charge rate changes during the 13-month period, all shares purchased or charges assessed after the date of such change will be subject to the then applicable sales charge.
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Right of Accumulation. Under the right of accumulation, the applicable sales charge level is calculated by aggregating the dollar amount of the current purchase and the value (calculated at the maximum current offering price) of shares owned by the shareholder. The sales charge on the shares being purchased will then be applied at the rate applicable to the aggregate. Share purchases eligible for the right of accumulation are described under “Sales Charges” in the Prospectus. For any such discount to be made available at the time of purchase a purchaser or his or her financial intermediary must provide the principal underwriter (in the case of a purchase made through a financial intermediary) or the transfer agent (in the case of an investment made by mail) with sufficient information to permit verification that the purchase order qualifies for the accumulation privilege. Confirmation of the order is subject to such verification. The right of accumulation privilege may be amended or terminated at any time as to purchases occurring thereafter.
Conversion Feature. Effective January 25, 2019 (the “Effective Date”), Class C shares will automatically convert to Class A shares during the month following the ten year anniversary of the purchase of such Class C shares. If the financial intermediary that maintains a Class C shareholder’s account has not tracked the holding period for Class C shares, Class C shares held as of the Effective Date will automatically convert to Class A shares 10 years after the Effective Date. Such conversion shall be effected on the basis of the relative NAVs per share of the two classes without the imposition of any sales charge, fee or other charge. For purposes of this conversion, all distributions paid on such Class C shares which the shareholder elects to reinvest in Class C shares will be considered to be held in a separate sub-account. Upon the conversion of Class C shares not acquired through the reinvestment of distributions, a pro rata portion of the Class C shares held in the sub-account will also convert to such Class A shares. This portion will be determined by the ratio that such Class C shares being converted bears to the total of Class C shares (excluding shares acquired through reinvestment) in the account.
Distribution Plans
The Trust has in effect a compensation-type Distribution Plan for Class A shares (the “Class A Plan”) adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Class A Plan is designed to (i) finance activities which are primarily intended to result in the distribution and sales of Class A shares and to make payments in connection with the distribution of such shares and (ii) pay service fees for personal services and/or the maintenance of shareholder accounts to the principal underwriter, financial intermediaries and other persons. The distribution and service fees payable under the Class A Plan shall not exceed 0.25% of the average daily net assets attributable to Class A shares for any fiscal year. Class A distribution and service fees are paid monthly in arrears. For the distribution and service fees paid by Class A shares, see Appendix A.
The Trust also has in effect a compensation-type Distribution Plan for Class C shares (the “Class C Plan”) adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. Pursuant to the Class C Plan, Class C pays the principal underwriter a distribution fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate not exceeding 0.75% of its average daily net assets to finance the distribution of its shares. Such fees compensate the principal underwriter for the sales commissions paid by it to financial intermediaries on the sale of shares, for other distribution expenses (such as personnel, overhead, travel, printing and postage) and for interest expense. The principal underwriter is entitled to receive all distribution fees and CDSCs paid or payable with respect to Class C shares, provided that no such payments will be made that would cause the Fund's Class C shares to exceed the maximum sales charge permitted by FINRA Rule 2341(d) as determined in accordance with such Rule.
The Class C Plan also authorizes the payment of service fees to the principal underwriter, financial intermediaries and other persons in amounts not exceeding an annual rate of 0.25% of its average daily net assets for personal services, and/or the maintenance of shareholder accounts. For Class C, financial intermediaries currently generally receive (a) a service fee (except on exchange transactions and reinvestments) at the time of sale equal to 0.25% of the purchase price of Class C shares sold by such intermediaries, and (b) monthly service fees approximately equivalent to 1/12 of 0.25% of the value of Class C shares sold by such intermediaries. During the first year after a purchase of Class C shares, the principal underwriter will retain the service fee as reimbursement for the service fee payment made to financial intermediaries at the time of sale (if applicable). For the service fees paid, see Appendix B.
The Board believes that each Plan will be a significant factor in the expected growth of the Fund’s assets, and will result in increased investment flexibility and advantages which have benefitted and will continue to benefit the Fund and its shareholders. The Eaton Vance organization may profit by reason of the operation of a Plan through an increase in Fund assets and if at any point in time the aggregate amounts received by the principal underwriter pursuant to a Plan exceeds the total expenses incurred in distributing Fund shares. For sales commissions and CDSCs, if applicable, see Appendix A and Appendix B.
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A Plan continues in effect from year to year so long as such continuance is approved at least annually by the vote of both a majority of (i) the noninterested Trustees of the Trust who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or any agreements related to the Plan (the “Plan Trustees”) and (ii) all of the Trustees then in office. A Plan may be terminated at any time by vote of a majority of the Plan Trustees or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the applicable Class. Quarterly Board member review of a written report of the amount expended under the Plan and the purposes for which such expenditures were made is required. A Plan may not be amended to increase materially the payments described therein without approval of the shareholders of the affected Class and the Board. So long as a Plan is in effect, the selection and nomination of the noninterested Trustees shall be committed to the discretion of such Trustees. The Trustees, including the Plan Trustees, initially approved the current Plan(s) on April 22, 2013. Any Board member who is an “interested” person of the Trust has an indirect financial interest in a Plan because his or her employer (or affiliates thereof) receives distribution and/or service fees under the Plan or agreements related thereto.
DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS AND RELATED INFORMATION
The Board has adopted policies and procedures (the “Policies”) with respect to the disclosure of information about portfolio holdings of the Fund. See the Fund's Prospectus for information on disclosure made in filings with the SEC and/or posted on the Eaton Vance website (www.eatonvance.com) and disclosure of certain portfolio characteristics. Pursuant to the Policies, information about portfolio holdings of the Fund may also be disclosed as follows:
· | Confidential disclosure for a legitimate Fund purpose: Portfolio holdings may be disclosed, from time to time as necessary, for a legitimate business purpose of the Fund, believed to be in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders, provided there is a duty or an agreement that the information be kept confidential. Any such confidentiality agreement includes provisions intended to impose a duty not to trade on the non-public information. The Policies permit disclosure of portfolio holdings information to the following: 1) affiliated and unaffiliated service providers that have a legal or contractual duty to keep such information confidential, such as employees of the investment adviser (including portfolio managers and, in the case of a Portfolio, the portfolio manager of any account that invests in the Portfolio), the administrator, custodian, transfer agent, principal underwriter, etc. described herein and in the Prospectus; 2) other persons who owe a fiduciary or other duty of trust or confidence to the Fund (such as Fund legal counsel and independent registered public accounting firm); or 3) persons to whom the disclosure is made in advancement of a legitimate business purpose of the Fund and who have expressly agreed in writing to maintain the disclosed information in confidence and to use it only in connection with the legitimate business purpose underlying the arrangement. To the extent applicable to an Eaton Vance fund, such persons may include securities lending agents which may receive information from time to time regarding selected holdings which may be loaned by a Fund, in the event a Fund is rated, credit rating agencies (Moody’s Investor Services, Inc. and S&P Global Ratings), analytical service providers engaged by the investment adviser (SS&C Advent, Bloomberg L.P., Evare, FactSet, McMunn Associates, Inc., MSCI/Barra and The Yield Book, Inc.), proxy evaluation vendors (Institutional Shareholder Servicing, Inc.), pricing services (The Thomas Reuters Pricing Service Mark-to-Market Pricing Service, WM/Reuters Information Services and Non-Deliverable Forward Rates Service, IHS Markit, FT Interactive Data Corp., Securities Evaluations, Inc., SuperDerivatives and StatPro.), which receive information as needed to price a particular holding, translation services, third-party reconciliation services, lenders under Fund credit facilities (Citibank, N.A. and its affiliates), consultants and other product evaluators (Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC) and, for purposes of facilitating portfolio transactions, financial intermediaries and other intermediaries (national and regional municipal bond dealers and mortgage-backed securities dealers). These entities receive portfolio information on an as needed basis in order to perform the service for which they are being engaged. If required in order to perform their duties, this information will be provided in real time or as soon as practical thereafter. Additional categories of disclosure involving a legitimate business purpose may be added to this list upon the authorization of the Fund’s Board. In addition to the foregoing, disclosure of portfolio holdings may be made to the Fund’s investment adviser as a seed investor in a fund, in order for the adviser or its parent to satisfy certain reporting obligations and reduce its exposure to market risk factors associated with any such seed investment. Also, in connection with a redemption in-kind, the redeeming shareholders may be required to agree to keep the information about the securities to be so distributed confidential, except to the extent necessary to dispose of the securities. |
· | Historical portfolio holdings information: From time to time, the Fund may be requested to provide historic portfolio holdings information or certain characteristics of portfolio holdings that have not been made public previously. In such case, the requested information may be provided if: the information is requested for due diligence or another legitimate purpose; the requested portfolio holdings or portfolio characteristics are for a period that is no more recent than the date of the portfolio holdings or portfolio characteristics posted to the Eaton Vance website; and the dissemination of the requested information is reviewed and approved in accordance with the Policies. |
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The Fund, the investment adviser and principal underwriter will not receive any monetary or other consideration in connection with the disclosure of information concerning the Fund’s portfolio holdings.
The Policies may not be waived, or exception made, without the consent of the CCO of the Fund. The CCO may not waive or make exception to the Policies unless such waiver or exception is consistent with the intent of the Policies, which is to ensure that disclosure of portfolio information is in the best interest of Fund shareholders. In determining whether to permit a waiver of or exception to the Policies, the CCO will consider whether the proposed disclosure serves a legitimate purpose of the Fund, whether it could provide the recipient with an advantage over Fund shareholders or whether the proposed disclosure gives rise to a conflict of interest between the Fund’s shareholders and its investment adviser, principal underwriter or other affiliated person. The CCO will report all waivers of or exceptions to the Policies to the Board at their next meeting. The Board may impose additional restrictions on the disclosure of portfolio holdings information at any time.
The Policies are designed to provide useful information concerning the Fund to existing and prospective Fund shareholders while at the same time inhibiting the improper use of portfolio holdings information in trading Fund shares and/or portfolio securities held by the Portfolio. However, there can be no assurance that the provision of any portfolio holdings information is not susceptible to inappropriate uses (such as the development of “market timing” models), particularly in the hands of highly sophisticated investors, or that it will not in fact be used in such ways beyond the control of the Fund.
TAXES
The following is a summary of some of the tax consequences affecting the Fund and its shareholders. As used below, “the Fund” refers to the Fund(s) listed on the cover of this SAI, except as otherwise noted. The summary does not address all of the special tax rules applicable to certain classes of investors, such as individual retirement accounts and employer sponsored retirement plans, tax-exempt entities, foreign investors, insurance companies and financial institutions. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors with respect to special tax rules that may apply in their particular situations, as well as the federal, state, local, and, where applicable, foreign tax consequences of investing in the Fund.
Taxation of the Fund. The Fund, as a series of the Trust, is treated as a separate entity for federal income tax purposes. The Fund has elected to be treated and intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Code. Accordingly, the Fund intends to satisfy certain requirements relating to sources of its income and diversification of its assets and to distribute substantially all of its net investment income (including tax-exempt income, if any) and net short-term and long-term capital gains (after reduction by any available capital loss carryforwards) in accordance with the timing requirements imposed by the Code, so as to maintain its RIC status and to avoid paying any federal income tax. Based on advice of counsel, the Fund generally will not recognize gain or loss on its distribution of appreciated securities in shareholder-initiated redemptions of its shares. If the Fund qualifies for treatment as a RIC and satisfies the above-mentioned distribution requirements, it will not be subject to federal income tax on income paid to its shareholders in the form of dividends or capital gain distributions. The Fund qualified as a RIC for its most recent taxable year.
The Fund also seeks to avoid the imposition of a federal excise tax on its ordinary income and capital gain net income. However, if the Fund fails to distribute in a calendar year substantially all of its ordinary income for such year and substantially all of its capital gain net income for the one-year period ending October 31 (or later if the Fund is permitted to so elect and so elects), plus any retained amount from the prior year, the Fund will be subject to a 4% excise tax on the undistributed amounts. In order to avoid incurring a federal excise tax obligation, the Code requires that the Fund distribute (or be deemed to have distributed) by December 31 of each calendar year (i) at least 98% of its ordinary income (excluding tax-exempt income, if any) for such year, (ii) at least 98.2% of its capital gain net income (which is the excess of its realized capital gains over its realized capital losses), generally computed on the basis of the one-year period ending on October 31 of such year, after reduction by any available capital loss carryforwards, and (iii) 100% of any income and capital gains from the prior year (as previously computed) that were not distributed out during such year and on which the Fund paid no federal income tax. If the Fund fails to meet these requirements it will be subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax on the undistributed amounts. Under current law, provided that the Fund qualifies as a RIC (and, where applicable, the Portfolio is treated as a partnership for Massachusetts and federal tax purposes), the Fund should not be liable for any applicable state income, corporate excise or franchise tax.
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If the Fund does not qualify as a RIC for any taxable year, the Fund’s taxable income will be subject to corporate income taxes, and all distributions from earnings and profits, including distributions of tax-exempt income and net capital gain (if any), will be taxable to the shareholder as dividend income. However, such distributions may be eligible (i) to be treated as qualified dividend income in the case of shareholders taxed as individuals and (ii) for the dividends-received deduction in the case of corporate shareholders. In addition, in order to re-qualify for taxation as a RIC, the Fund may be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest, and make substantial distributions.
In certain situations, the Fund may, for a taxable year, elect to defer all or a portion of its net capital losses (or if there is no net capital loss, then any net long-term or short-term capital loss) realized after October and its late-year ordinary losses (which includes the sum of the excess of post-October foreign currency and passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) losses over post-October foreign currency and PFIC gains plus the excess of post-December ordinary losses over post-December ordinary income) realized after December until the next taxable year in computing its investment company taxable income and net capital gain, which will defer the recognition of such realized losses. Such deferrals and other rules regarding gains and losses realized after October (or December) may affect the tax character of shareholder distributions.
Taxation of the Portfolio. If the Fund invests its assets in the Portfolio, the Portfolio normally must satisfy the applicable source of income and asset diversification requirements under Subchapter M of the Code in order for the Fund to also satisfy these requirements. For federal income tax purposes, the Portfolio intends to be treated as a partnership that is not a “publicly traded partnership” and, as a result, will not be subject to federal income tax. The Fund, as an investor in the Portfolio, will be required to take into account in determining its federal income tax liability its allocable share of such Portfolio’s income, gains, losses, deductions and credits, without regard to whether it has received any distributions from such Portfolio. The Portfolio will allocate at least annually among its investors, including the Fund, the Portfolio’s net investment income, net realized capital gains and losses, and any other items of income, gain, loss, deduction or credit. For purposes of applying the requirements of the Code regarding qualification as a RIC, the Fund (i) will be deemed to own its proportionate share of each of the assets of the Portfolio and (ii) will be entitled to the gross income of the Portfolio attributable to such share. Under current law, provided that the Portfolio is treated as a partnership for Massachusetts and federal tax purposes, the Portfolio should not be liable for any income, corporate excise or franchise tax in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Taxation of the Subsidiary. See the definition of “Subsidiary” under “Definitions” at the front of this SAI for information about whether any Fund and/or Portfolio (if applicable) described herein has established a Subsidiary. The Subsidiary is classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The Fund intends to take the position that income from its investments in the Subsidiary will constitute qualifying income for purposes of qualifying as a regulated investment company. Under Treasury regulations, “subpart F income” (as defined below) included in the Fund’s annual income for U.S. federal income purposes will constitute qualifying income to the extent it is either (i) timely and currently repatriated or (ii) derived with respect to the Fund’s business of investing in stock, securities or currencies. If the Fund were to earn non-qualifying income from any source including the Subsidiary in excess of 10% of its gross income for any taxable year, it would fail to qualify as a RIC for that year, unless the Fund were eligible to cure and cured such failure by paying a Fund-level tax equal to the full amount of such excess.
Foreign corporations, such as the Subsidiary, will generally not be subject to U.S. federal income taxation unless they are deemed to be engaged in a U.S. trade or business. It is expected that the Subsidiary will conduct it activities in a manner so as to meet the requirements of a safe harbor under Section 864(b)(2) of the Code under which the Subsidiary may engage in trading in stocks or securities or certain commodities without being deemed to be engaged in a U.S. trade or business. However, if certain of the Subsidiary's activities were determined not to be of the type described in the safe harbor (which is not expected), then the activities of the Subsidiary may constitute a U.S. trade or business, and would be taxed as such.
The Subsidiary is treated as a controlled foreign corporation (“CFC”) for tax purposes and the Fund is treated as a “U.S. shareholder” of the Subsidiary. As a result, the Fund is required to include in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes all of the Subsidiary's “subpart F income,” whether or not such income is distributed by the Subsidiary. It is expected that all of the Subsidiary's income will be “subpart F income.” The Fund’s recognition of the Subsidiary's “subpart F income” will increase the Fund’s tax basis in the Subsidiary. Distributions by the Subsidiary to the Fund will be tax-free to the extent of its previously undistributed “subpart F income,” and will correspondingly reduce the Fund's tax basis in the Subsidiary. “Subpart F income” is generally treated as ordinary income, regardless of the character of the Subsidiary's underlying income. If a net loss is realized by the Subsidiary, such loss is not generally available to offset the income earned by the Fund.
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Tax Consequences of Certain Investments. The following summary of the tax consequences of certain types of investments applies to the Fund and the Portfolio, as appropriate. References below to “the Fund” are to any Fund or Portfolio that can engage in the particular practice as described in the prospectus or SAI.
Securities Acquired at Market Discount or with Original Issue Discount. Investment in securities acquired in zero coupon, deferred interest, payment-in-kind and certain other securities with original issue discount, generally may cause the Fund to realize income prior to the receipt of cash payments with respect to these securities. Such income will be accrued daily by the Fund and, in order to avoid a tax payable by the Fund, the Fund may be required to liquidate securities that it might otherwise have continued to hold in order to generate cash so that the Fund may make required distributions to its shareholders. Subject to the discussion below regarding Section 451 of the Code, (i) generally any gain recognized on the disposition of, and any partial payment of principal on, a debt security having market discount is treated as ordinary income to the extent the gain, or principal payment, does not exceed the “accrued market discount” on such debt security, (ii) alternatively, the fund may elect to accrue market discount currently, in which case the fund will be required to include the accrued market discount in the Fund's income (as ordinary income) and thus distribute it over the term of the debt security, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, upon partial or full repayment or disposition of the debt security, and (iii) the rate at which the market discount accrues, and thus is included in the Fund's income, will depend upon which of the permitted accrual methods the Fund elects. Notwithstanding the foregoing, effective for taxable years beginning after 2017, Section 451 of the Code generally requires any accrual method taxpayer to take into account items of gross income no later than the time at which such items are taken into account as revenue in the taxpayer's financial statements. The application of Section 451 to the accrual of market discount is currently unclear; however, the Treasury Department has issued a notice stating that it intends to issue proposed regulations providing that Section 451 does not apply to accrued market discount. Subject to the issuance of any such regulations, if Section 451 were to apply to the accrual of market discount, the Fund would be required to include in income any market discount as it takes the same into account on its financial statements.
Lower Rated or Defaulted Securities. Investments in securities that are at risk of, or are in, default present special tax issues for the Fund. Tax rules are not entirely clear about issues such as when the Fund may cease to accrue interest, original issue discount or market discount, when and to what extent deductions may be taken for bad debts or worthless securities and how payments received on obligations in default should be allocated between principal and income.
Municipal Obligations. Any recognized gain or income attributable to market discount on long-term tax-exempt municipal obligations (i.e., obligations with a term of more than one year) purchased after April 30, 1993 (except to the extent of a portion of the discount attributable to original issue discount), is taxable as ordinary income. A long-term debt obligation is generally treated as acquired at a market discount if purchased after its original issue at a price less than (i) the stated principal amount payable at maturity, in the case of an obligation that does not have original issue discount or (ii) in the case of an obligation that does have original issue discount, the sum of the issue price and any original issue discount that accrued before the obligation was purchased, subject to a de minimis exclusion.
From time to time proposals have been introduced before Congress for the purpose of restricting or eliminating the federal income tax exemption for interest on certain types of municipal obligations, and it can be expected that similar proposals may be introduced in the future. As a result of any such future legislation, the availability of municipal obligations for investment by the Fund and the value of the securities held by it may be affected. It is possible that events occurring after the date of issuance of municipal obligations, or after the Fund’s acquisition of such an obligation, may result in a determination that the interest paid on that obligation is taxable, even retroactively.
If the Fund seeks income exempt from state and/or local taxes, information about such taxes is contained in an appendix to this SAI (see the Table of Contents).
Tax Credit Bonds. If the Fund holds, directly or indirectly, one or more tax credit bonds issued on or before December 31, 2017 (including Build America Bonds, clean renewable energy bonds and other qualified tax credit bonds) on one or more applicable dates during a taxable year and the Fund satisfies the minimum distribution requirement, the Fund may elect to permit its shareholders to claim a tax credit on their income tax returns equal to each shareholder’s proportionate share of tax credits from the applicable bonds that otherwise would be allowed to the Fund. In such a case, shareholders must include in gross income (as interest) their proportionate share of the income attributable to their proportionate share of those offsetting tax credits. A shareholder’s ability to claim a tax credit associated with one or more tax credit bonds may be subject to certain limitations imposed by the Code. Even if the Fund is eligible to pass through tax credits to shareholders, the Fund may choose not to do so.
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Derivatives. The Fund’s investments in options, futures contracts, hedging transactions, forward contracts (to the extent permitted) and certain other transactions may be subject to special tax rules (including mark-to-market, constructive sale, straddle, wash sale, short sale and other rules), the effect of which may be to accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund securities, convert capital gain into ordinary income and convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and character of Fund distributions.
Investments in so-called “section 1256 contracts,” such as regulated futures contracts, most foreign currency forward contracts traded in the interbank market and options on most stock indices, are subject to special tax rules. All section 1256 contracts held by the Fund at the end of its taxable year are required to be marked to their market value, and any unrealized gain or loss on those positions will be included in the Fund’s income as if each position had been sold for its fair market value at the end of the taxable year. The resulting gain or loss will be combined with any gain or loss realized by the Fund from positions in section 1256 contracts closed during the taxable year. Provided such positions were held as capital assets and were not part of a “hedging transaction” nor part of a “straddle,” 60% of the resulting net gain or loss will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss, and 40% of such net gain or loss will be treated as short-term capital gain or loss, regardless of the period of time the positions were actually held by the Fund. Unless an election is made, net 1256 gain or loss on forward currency contracts will be treated as ordinary income or loss.
Fund positions in index options that do not qualify as “section 1256 contracts” under the Code generally will be treated as equity options governed by Code Section 1234. Pursuant to Code Section 1234, if a written option expires unexercised, the premium received by the Fund is short-term capital gain to the Fund. If the Fund enters into a closing transaction with respect to a written option, the difference between the premium received and the amount paid to close out its position is short-term capital gain or loss. If an option written by the Fund that is not a “section 1256 contract” is cash settled, any resulting gain or loss will be short-term capital gain. For an option purchased by the Fund that is not a “section 1256 contract”, any gain or loss resulting from sale of the option will be a capital gain or loss, and will be short-term or long-term, depending upon the holding period for the option. If the option expires, the resulting loss is a capital loss and is short-term or long-term, depending upon the holding period for the option. If a put option written by the Fund is exercised and physically settled, the premium received is treated as a reduction in the amount paid to acquire the underlying securities, increasing the gain or decreasing the loss to be realized by the Fund upon sale of the securities. If a call option written by the Fund is exercised and physically settled, the premium received is included in the sale proceeds, increasing the gain or decreasing the loss realized by the Fund at the time of option exercise.
As a result of entering into swap contracts, the Fund may make or receive periodic net payments. The Fund may also make or receive a payment when a swap is terminated prior to maturity through an assignment of the swap or other closing transaction. Periodic net payments will generally constitute ordinary income or deductions, while termination of a swap will generally result in capital gain or loss (which will be a long-term capital gain or loss if the Fund has been a party to a swap for more than one year). With respect to certain types of swaps, the Fund may be required to currently recognize income or loss with respect to future payments on such swaps or may elect under certain circumstances to mark such swaps to market annually for tax purposes as ordinary income or loss.
Short Sales. In general, gain or loss on a short sale is recognized when the Fund closes the sale by delivering the borrowed property to the lender, not when the borrowed property is sold. Gain or loss from a short sale is generally considered to be capital gain or loss to the extent that the property used to close the short sale constitutes a capital asset in the Fund’s hands. Except with respect to certain situations where the property used to close a short sale has a long-term holding period on the date of the short sale, special rules generally treat the gains on short sales as short-term capital gains. These rules may also terminate the running of the holding period of “substantially identical property” held by the Fund. Moreover, a loss on a short sale will be treated as a long-term capital loss if, on the date of the short sale, “substantially identical property” has been held by the Fund for more than one year. In general, the Fund will not be permitted to deduct payments made to reimburse the lender of securities for dividends paid on borrowed stock if the short sale is closed on or before the 45th day after the short sale is entered.
Constructive Sales. The Fund may recognize gain (but not loss) from a constructive sale of certain “appreciated financial positions” if the Fund enters into a short sale, offsetting notional principal contract, or forward contract transaction with respect to the appreciated position or substantially identical property. Appreciated financial positions subject to this constructive sale treatment include interests (including options and forward contracts and short sales) in stock and certain other instruments. Constructive sale treatment does not apply if the transaction is closed out not later than thirty days after the end of the taxable year in which the transaction was initiated, and the underlying appreciated securities position is held unhedged for at least the next sixty days after the hedging transaction is closed.
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Gain or loss on a short sale will generally not be realized until such time as the short sale is closed. However, as described above in the discussion of constructive sales, if the Fund holds a short sale position with respect to securities that have appreciated in value, and it then acquires property that is the same as or substantially identical to the property sold short, the Fund generally will recognize gain on the date it acquires such property as if the short sale were closed on such date with such property. Similarly, if the Fund holds an appreciated financial position with respect to securities and then enters into a short sale with respect to the same or substantially identical property, the Fund generally will recognize gain as if the appreciated financial position were sold at its fair market value on the date it enters into the short sale. The subsequent holding period for any appreciated financial position that is subject to these constructive sale rules will be determined as if such position were acquired on the date of the constructive sale.
Foreign Investments and Currencies. The Fund’s investments in foreign securities may be subject to foreign withholding taxes or other foreign taxes with respect to income (possibly including, in some cases, capital gains), which would decrease the Fund’s income on such securities. These taxes may be reduced or eliminated under the terms of an applicable U.S. income tax treaty. If more than 50% of Fund assets at year end consists of the debt and equity securities of foreign corporations, the Fund may elect to permit shareholders to claim a credit or deduction on their income tax returns for their pro rata portion of qualified taxes paid by the Fund to foreign countries. If the election is made, shareholders will include in gross income from foreign sources their pro rata share of such taxes. A shareholder’s ability to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of foreign taxes paid by the Fund may be subject to certain limitations imposed by the Code (including a holding period requirement applied at the Fund level, shareholder level and, if applicable, Portfolio level), as a result of which a shareholder may not get a full credit or deduction for the amount of such taxes. In particular, the Fund or Portfolio, if applicable, must own a dividend-paying stock for more than 15 days during the 31-day period beginning 15 days prior to the ex-dividend date in order to pass through to shareholders a credit or deduction for any foreign withholding tax on a dividend paid with respect to such stock. Likewise, shareholders must hold their Fund shares (without protection from risk or loss) on the ex-dividend date and for at least 15 additional days during the 31-day period beginning 15 days prior to the ex-dividend date to be eligible to claim the foreign tax with respect to a given dividend. Shareholders who do not itemize deductions on their federal income tax returns may claim a credit (but no deduction) for such taxes. Individual shareholders subject to the alternative minimum tax (“AMT”) may not deduct such taxes for AMT purposes.
Transactions in foreign currencies, foreign currency-denominated debt securities and certain foreign currency options, futures contracts, forward contracts and similar instruments (to the extent permitted) may give rise to ordinary income or loss to the extent such income or loss results from fluctuations in the value of the foreign currency. Under Section 988 of the Code, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the time the Fund accrues income or receivables or expenses or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time the Fund actually collects such income or pays such liabilities are generally treated as ordinary income or ordinary loss.
Investments in PFICs could subject the Fund to U.S. federal income tax or other charges on certain distributions from such companies and on disposition of investments in such companies; however, the tax effects of such investments may be mitigated by making an election to mark such investments to market annually or treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund”. If the Fund were to invest in a PFIC and elect to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” under the Code, the Fund might be required to include in income each year a portion of the ordinary earnings and net capital gains of the qualified electing fund, even if not distributed to the Fund, and such amounts would be subject to the distribution requirements described above. In order to make this election, the Fund would be required to obtain certain annual information from the PFICs in which it invests, which may be difficult or impossible to obtain. Alternatively, if the Fund were to make a mark-to-market election with respect to a PFIC, the Fund would be treated as if it had sold and repurchased the PFIC stock at the end of each year. In such case, the Fund would report any such gains as ordinary income and would deduct any such losses as ordinary losses to the extent of previously recognized gains. This election must be made separately for each PFIC, and once made, would be effective for all subsequent taxable years unless revoked with the consent of the IRS. The Fund may be required to recognize income in excess of the distributions it receives from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock in any particular year. As a result, the Fund may have to distribute this “phantom” income and gain to satisfy the distribution requirement and to avoid imposition of the 4% excise tax.
U.S. Government Securities. Distributions paid by the Fund that are derived from interest on obligations of the U.S. Government and certain of its agencies and instrumentalities (but generally not distributions of capital gains realized upon the disposition of such obligations) may be exempt from state and local income taxes. The Fund generally intends to advise shareholders of the extent, if any, to which its distributions consist of such interest. Shareholders are urged to consult their tax advisers regarding the possible exclusion of such portion of their dividends for state and local income tax purposes.
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Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”). Any investment by the Fund in equity securities of a REIT qualifying as such under Subchapter M of the Code may result in the Fund’s receipt of cash in excess of the REIT’s earnings; if the Fund distributes these amounts, these distributions could constitute a return of capital to Fund shareholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Dividends received by the Fund from a REIT will not qualify for the corporate dividends-received deduction and generally will not constitute qualified dividend income.
Pursuant to proposed regulations on which the Fund may rely, distributions by the Fund to its shareholders that the Fund properly reports as “section 199A dividends,” as defined and subject to certain conditions described below, are treated as qualified REIT dividends in the hands of non-corporate shareholders. Non-corporate shareholders are permitted a federal income tax deduction equal to 20% of qualified REIT dividends received by them, subject to certain limitations. Very generally, a “section 199A dividend” is any dividend or portion thereof that is attributable to certain dividends received by a RIC from REITs, to the extent such dividends are properly reported as such by the regulated investment company in a written notice to its shareholders. A section 199A dividend is treated as a qualified REIT dividend only if the shareholders receiving such dividend holds the dividend-paying regulated investment company shares for at least 46 days of the 91-day period beginning 45 days before the shares become ex-dividend, and is not under an obligation to make related payments with respect to a position in substantially similar or related property. The Fund is permitted to report such part of its dividends as section 199A dividends as are eligible, but is not required to do so.
Subject to any future regulatory guidance to the contrary, any distribution of income attributable to qualified publicly traded partnership income from a Fund’s investment in a qualified publicly traded partnership will not qualify for the deduction that would be available to a non-corporate shareholder were the shareholder to own such qualified publicly traded partnership interest directly.
Inflation-Indexed Bonds. Periodic adjustments for inflation to the principal amount of an inflation-indexed bond may give rise to original issue discount, which will be includable in the Fund’s gross income (see “Securities Acquired at Market Discount or with Original Issue Discount” above). Also, if the principal value of an inflation-indexed bond is adjusted downward due to inflation, amounts previously distributed in the taxable year may be characterized in some circumstances as a return of capital (see “Taxation of Fund Shareholders” below).
Taxation of Fund Shareholders. Subject to the discussion of distributions of tax-exempt income below, Fund distributions of investment income and net gains from investments held for one year or less will be taxable as ordinary income. Fund distributions of any net gains from investments held for more than one year are generally taxable as long-term capital gains. Taxes on distributions of capital gains are determined by how long the Fund or, if applicable, the Portfolio owned (or is treated as having owned) the investments that generated the gains, rather than how long a shareholder has owned his or her shares in the Fund. Dividends and distributions on the Fund’s shares are generally subject to federal income tax as described herein to the extent they are made out of the Fund’s earnings and profits, even though such dividends and distributions may economically represent a return of a particular shareholder’s investment. Such distributions are likely to occur in respect of shares purchased at a time when the Fund’s net asset value reflects gains that are either unrealized, or realized but not distributed. Such realized gains may be required to be distributed even when the Fund’s net asset value also reflects unrealized losses.
Distributions paid by the Fund during any period may be more or less than the amount of net investment income and capital gains actually earned during the period. If the Fund makes a distribution to a shareholder in excess of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits in any taxable year, the excess distribution will be treated as a return of capital. A return of capital is not taxable, but it reduces a shareholder’s tax basis in its shares, thus reducing any loss or increasing any gain on a subsequent taxable disposition by the shareholder of its shares. A shareholder’s tax basis cannot go below zero and any return of capital distributions in excess of a shareholder’s tax basis will be treated as capital gain.
Ordinarily, shareholders are required to take taxable distributions by the Fund into account in the year in which the distributions are made. However, for federal income tax purposes, dividends that are declared by the Fund in October, November or December as of a record date in such month and actually paid in January of the following year will be treated as if they were paid on December 31 of the year declared. Therefore, such dividends will generally be taxable to a shareholder in the year declared rather than in the year paid.
The amount of distributions payable by the Fund may vary depending on general economic and market conditions, the composition of investments, current management strategy and Fund operating expenses. The Fund will inform shareholders of the tax character of distributions annually to facilitate shareholder tax reporting.
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The Fund may elect to retain its net capital gain, in which case the Fund will be taxed thereon (except to the extent of any available capital loss carryovers) at regular corporate tax rates. In such a case, it is expected that the Fund also will elect to have shareholders of record on the last day of its taxable year treated as if each received a distribution of its pro rata share of such gain, with the result that each shareholder will be required to report its pro rata share of such gain on its tax return as long-term capital gain, will receive a refundable tax credit for its pro rata share of tax paid by the Fund on the gain, and will increase the tax basis for its shares by an amount equal to the deemed distribution less the tax credit.
Any Fund distribution, other than dividends that are declared by the Fund on a daily basis, will have the effect of reducing the per share net asset value of Fund shares by the amount of the distribution. If a shareholder buys shares when the Fund has unrealized or realized but not yet distributed ordinary income or capital gains, the shareholder will pay full price for the shares and then may receive a portion back as a taxable distribution even though such distribution may economically represent a return of the shareholder’s investment.
Tax-Exempt Income. Distributions by the Fund of net tax-exempt interest income that are properly reported as “exempt-interest dividends” may be treated by shareholders as interest excludable from gross income for federal income tax purposes under Section 103(a) of the Code. In order for the Fund to be entitled to pay the tax-exempt interest income as exempt-interest dividends to its shareholders, the Fund must satisfy certain requirements, including the requirement that, at the close of each quarter of its taxable year, at least 50% of the value of its total assets consists of obligations the interest on which is exempt from regular federal income tax under Code Section 103(a). Interest on certain municipal obligations may be taxable for purposes of the federal AMT for non-corporate taxpayers and for state and local purposes. Fund shareholders are required to report tax-exempt interest on their federal income tax returns.
Tax-exempt distributions received from the Fund are taken into account in determining, and may increase, the portion of social security and certain railroad retirement benefits that may be subject to federal income tax. Interest on indebtedness incurred by a shareholder to purchase or carry Fund shares that distributes exempt-interest dividends will not be deductible for U.S. federal income tax purposes in proportion to the percentage that the Fund’s distributions of exempt interest dividends bears to all of the Fund’s distributions, excluding properly reported capital gain dividends. If a shareholder receives exempt interest dividends with respect to any Fund share and if the share is held by the shareholder for six months or less, then any loss on the sale or exchange of the share may, to the extent of the exempt-interest dividends, be disallowed. Furthermore, a portion of any exempt-interest dividend paid by the Fund that represents income derived from certain revenue or private activity bonds held by the Fund may not retain its tax-exempt status in the hands of a shareholder who is a “substantial user” of a facility financed by such bonds, or a “related person” thereof. In addition, the receipt of dividends and distributions from the Fund may affect a foreign corporate shareholder’s federal “branch profits” tax liability and the federal “excess net passive income” tax liability of a shareholder of a Subchapter S corporation. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors as to whether they are (i) “substantial users” with respect to a facility or “related” to such users within the meaning of the Code or (ii) subject to a federal AMT, the federal “branch profits” tax, or the federal “excess net passive income” tax.
Qualified Dividend Income. “Qualified dividend income” received by an individual is generally taxed at the rates applicable to long-term capital gain. In order for a dividend received by Fund shareholders to be qualified dividend income, the Fund or, if applicable, the Portfolio must meet holding period and other requirements with respect to the dividend-paying stock in its portfolio and the shareholder must meet holding period and other requirements with respect to the Fund’s shares. A dividend will not be treated as qualified dividend income (at either the Fund or shareholder level) (1) if the dividend is received with respect to any share of stock held for fewer than 61 days during the 121-day period beginning at the date which is 60 days before the date on which such share becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend (or, in the case of certain preferred stock, 91 days during the 181-day period beginning 90 days before such date), (2) to the extent that the recipient is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property, (3) if the recipient elects to have the dividend income treated as investment interest, or (4) if the dividend is received from a foreign corporation that is (a) not eligible for the benefits of a comprehensive income tax treaty with the U.S. (with the exception of dividends paid on stock of such a foreign corporation readily tradable on an established securities market in the U.S.) or (b) treated as a PFIC. Payments in lieu of dividends, such as payments pursuant to securities lending arrangements, also do not qualify to be treated as qualified dividend income. In general, distributions of investment income properly reported by the Fund as derived from qualified dividend income will be treated as qualified dividend income by a shareholder taxed as an individual provided the shareholder meets the holding period and other requirements described above with respect to the Fund’s shares. In any event, if the aggregate qualified dividends received by the Fund during any taxable year are 95% or more of its gross income, then 100% of the Fund’s dividends (other than properly reported capital gain dividends) will be eligible to be treated as qualified dividend income. For this purpose, the only gain with respect to the sale of stocks and securities included in the term “gross income” is the excess of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss.
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Dividends Received Deduction for Corporations. A portion of distributions made by the Fund which are derived from dividends from U.S. corporations may qualify for the dividends-received deduction (“DRD”) for corporations. The DRD is reduced to the extent the Fund shares with respect to which the dividends are received are treated as debt-financed under the Code and is eliminated if the shares are deemed to have been held for less than a minimum period, generally more than 45 days (more than 90 days in the case of certain preferred stock) during the 91-day period beginning 45 days before the ex-dividend date (during the 181-day period beginning 90 days before such date in the case of certain preferred stock) or if the recipient is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property. Receipt of certain distributions qualifying for the DRD may result in reduction of the tax basis of the corporate shareholder’s shares. Payments in lieu of dividends, such as payments pursuant to securities lending arrangements, also do not qualify for the DRD.
Recognition of Unrelated Business Taxable Income by Tax-Exempt Shareholders. Under current law, tax-exempt investors generally will not recognize unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) from distributions from the Fund. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a tax-exempt shareholder could recognize UBTI if shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of a tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of Code section 514(b). In addition, certain types of income received by the Fund from REITs, real estate mortgage investment conduits (“REMICs”), taxable mortgage pools or other investments may cause the Fund to designate some or all of its distributions as “excess inclusion income.” To Fund shareholders such excess inclusion income may: (1) constitute income taxable as UBTI for those shareholders who would otherwise be tax-exempt such as individual retirement accounts, employer sponsored retirement plans and certain charitable entities; (2) not be offset by otherwise allowable deductions for tax purposes; (3) not be eligible for reduced U.S. withholding for non-U.S. shareholders even from tax treaty countries; and (4) cause the Fund to be subject to tax if certain “disqualified organizations” as defined by the Code are Fund shareholders.
Sale, Redemption or Exchange of Fund Shares. Generally, upon the sale, redemption or (if permitted) exchange of Fund shares, a shareholder will realize a taxable gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and the shareholder’s basis in the shares. Such gain or loss will be treated as capital gain or loss if the shares are capital assets in the shareholder’s hands, and generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year, and short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less.
Any loss realized upon the sale or other disposition of Fund shares with a tax holding period of six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any Fund distributions treated as long-term capital gain with respect to such shares. In addition, all or a portion of a loss realized on a sale or other disposition of Fund shares may be disallowed under “wash sale” rules to the extent the shareholder acquired other shares of the same Fund (whether through the reinvestment of distributions or otherwise) within the period beginning 30 days before the date of sale or other disposition of the loss shares and ending 30 days after such date. Any disallowed loss will result in an adjustment to the shareholder’s tax basis in some or all of the other shares acquired. See the prospectus for information regarding any permitted exchange of Fund shares.
Sales charges paid upon a purchase of shares subject to a front-end sales charge cannot be taken into account for purposes of determining gain or loss on a redemption or exchange of the shares before the 91st day after their purchase to the extent a sales charge is reduced or eliminated in a subsequent acquisition of Fund shares (or shares of another fund) on or before January 31 of the following calendar year pursuant to the reinvestment or exchange privilege. Any disregarded amounts will result in an adjustment to the shareholder’s tax basis in some or all of any other shares acquired.
Applicability of Medicare Contribution Tax. The Code imposes a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on net investment income of certain U.S. individuals, estates and trusts. For individuals, the tax is on the lesser of the “net investment income” and the excess of modified adjusted gross income over $200,000 (or $250,000 if married filing jointly). Net investment income includes, among other things, interest, dividends, and gross income and capital gains derived from passive activities and trading in securities or commodities. Net investment income is reduced by deductions “properly allocable” to this income.
Back-Up Withholding for U.S. Shareholders. Amounts paid by the Fund to individuals and certain other shareholders who have not provided the Fund with their correct taxpayer identification number (“TIN”) and certain certifications required by the IRS as well as shareholders with respect to whom the Fund has received certain information from the IRS or a broker, may be subject to “backup” withholding of federal income tax arising from the Fund’s taxable dividends and other distributions as well as the proceeds of redemption transactions (including repurchases and exchanges). An individual’s TIN is generally his or her social security number. Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amount withheld may be credited against a shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability.
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Taxation of Foreign Shareholders. In general, dividends (other than capital gain dividends and exempt-interest dividends) paid to a shareholder that is not a “U.S. person” within the meaning of the Code (a “foreign person” or “foreign shareholder”) are subject to withholding of U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 30% (or lower applicable treaty rate). The withholding tax does not apply to regular dividends paid to a foreign person who provides an IRS Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the foreign person’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States. Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax as if the foreign person were a U.S. shareholder. A non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate). A foreign person who fails to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E, or other applicable form may be subject to backup withholding at the appropriate rate. A foreign shareholder would generally be exempt from U.S. federal income tax, including withholding tax, on gains realized on the sale of shares of the Fund, net capital gain dividends, exempt interest dividends, and amounts retained by the Fund that are reported as undistributed capital gains.
Properly reported dividends are generally exempt from U.S. federal withholding tax where they (i) are paid in respect of the Fund’s “qualified net interest income” (generally, the Fund’s U.S. source interest income, other than certain contingent interest and interest from obligations of a corporation or partnership in which the Fund is at least a 10% shareholder, reduced by expenses that are allocable to such income) or (ii) are paid in respect of the Fund’s “qualified short-term capital gains” (generally, the excess of the Fund’s net short-term capital gain over the Fund’s long-term capital loss for such taxable year). However, depending on its circumstances, the Fund may report all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as such qualified net interest income or as qualified short-term capital gains and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder would need to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E, or substitute Form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary could withhold even if the Fund designates the payment as qualified net interest income or qualified short-term capital gain. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts.
Distributions that the Fund reports as “short-term capital gain dividends” or “long-term capital gain dividends” will not be treated as such to a recipient foreign shareholder if the distribution is attributable to gain from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation and the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property exceeded certain levels. Instead, if the foreign shareholder has not owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of distribution, such distributions will be subject to 30% (or lower applicable treaty rate) withholding by the Fund and will be treated as ordinary dividends to the foreign shareholder; if the foreign shareholder owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the distribution, such distribution will be treated as real property gain subject to 21% withholding tax and could subject the foreign shareholder to U.S. filing requirements. The rules described in this paragraph, other than the withholding rules, will apply notwithstanding the Fund’s participation or a foreign shareholder’s participation in a wash sale transaction or the payment of a substitute dividend.
Additionally, if the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels, a foreign shareholder realizing gains upon redemption from the Fund could be subject to the 21% withholding tax and U.S. filing requirements unless the foreign person had not held more than 5% of the Fund’s outstanding shares at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the redemption.
The same rules apply with respect to distributions to a foreign shareholder from the Fund and redemptions of a foreign shareholder’s interest in the Fund attributable to a REIT’s distribution to the Fund of gain from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation, if the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels.
Provided that 50% or more of the value of the Fund’s stock is held by U.S. shareholders, distributions of U.S. real property interests (including securities in a U.S. real property holding corporation, unless such corporation is regularly traded on an established securities market and the Fund has held 5% or less of the outstanding shares of the corporation during the five-year period ending on the date of distribution), in redemption of a foreign shareholder’s shares of the Fund will cause the Fund to recognize gain. If the Fund is required to recognize gain, the amount of gain recognized will be equal to the fair market value of such interests over the Fund’s adjusted basis to the extent of the greatest foreign ownership percentage of the Fund during the five-year period ending on the date of redemption.
In the case of foreign non-corporate shareholders, the Fund may be required to backup withhold U.S. federal income tax on distributions that are otherwise exempt from withholding tax unless such shareholders furnish the Fund with proper notification of their foreign status.
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Shares of the Fund held by a non-U.S. shareholder at death will be considered situated within the United States and subject to the U.S. estate tax.
Compliance with FATCA. A 30% withholding tax is imposed on U.S.-source dividends, interest and other income items, including those paid by the Fund, paid to (i) foreign financial institutions including non-U.S. investment funds unless they agree to collect and disclose to the IRS information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders and (ii) certain other foreign entities, unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. If a payment by the Fund is subject to withholding under FATCA, the Fund is required to withhold even if such payment would otherwise be exempt from withholding under the rules applicable to foreign shareholders described above (e.g., dividends attributable to qualified net interest income and dividends attributable to tax-exempt interest income). The IRS and the Department of Treasury have issued proposed regulations providing that these withholding rules will not be applicable to the gross proceeds of share redemptions or capital gain dividends the Funds pays. To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions will need to either enter into agreements with the IRS that state that they will provide the IRS information, including the names, addresses and taxpayer identification numbers of direct and indirect U.S. account holders, comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts, report to the IRS certain information with respect to U.S. accounts maintained, agree to withhold tax on certain payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to account holders who fail to provide the required information, and determine certain other information as to their account holders or, in the event that an applicable intergovernmental agreement and implementing legislation are adopted, agree to provide certain information to other revenue authorities for transmittal to the IRS. Other foreign entities will need to either provide the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner or certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership unless certain exceptions apply or agree to provide certain information to other revenue authorities for transmittal to the IRS. Non-U.S. shareholders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible implications of these requirements on their investment in the Fund.
Requirements of Form 8886. Under Treasury Regulations, if a shareholder realizes a loss on disposition of the Fund’s shares of at least $2 million in any single taxable year or $4 million in any combination of taxable years for an individual shareholder or at least $10 million in any single taxable year or $20 million in any combination of taxable years for a corporate shareholder, the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a RIC are not excepted. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances. Under certain circumstances, certain tax-exempt entities and their managers may be subject to excise tax if they are parties to certain reportable transactions.
Other Taxes. Dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds may also be subject to additional state, local and foreign taxes depending on each shareholder’s particular situation.
Changes in Taxation. The taxation of the Fund, the Portfolio, the Subsidiary and shareholders may be adversely affected by future legislation, Treasury Regulations, IRS revenue procedures and/or guidance issued by the IRS.
PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
Decisions concerning the execution of portfolio security transactions, including the selection of the market and the broker-dealer firm, are made by the investment adviser. The Portfolio is responsible for the expenses associated with its portfolio transactions. The investment adviser is also responsible for the execution of transactions for all other accounts managed by it. The investment adviser places the portfolio security transactions for execution with one or more broker-dealer firms. The investment adviser uses its best efforts to obtain execution of portfolio security transactions at prices which in the investment adviser’s judgment are advantageous to the client and at a reasonably competitive spread or (when a disclosed commission is being charged) at reasonably competitive commission rates. In seeking such execution, the investment adviser will use its best judgment in evaluating the terms of a transaction, and will give consideration to various relevant factors, including without limitation the full range and quality of the broker-dealer firm’s services, responsiveness of the firm to the investment adviser, the size and type of the transaction, the nature and character of the market for the security, the confidentiality, speed and certainty of effective execution required for the transaction, the general execution and operational capabilities of the broker-dealer firm, the reputation, reliability, experience and financial condition of the firm, the value and quality of the services rendered by the firm in this and other transactions, and the amount of the spread or commission, if any. In addition, the investment adviser may consider the receipt of Research Services (as defined below), provided it does not compromise the investment adviser’s obligation to seek best overall execution for the Portfolio and is otherwise in compliance with applicable law. The investment adviser may engage in portfolio brokerage transactions with a broker-dealer firm that sells shares of Eaton Vance funds, provided such transactions are not directed to that firm as compensation for the promotion or sale of such shares.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 38 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Transactions on stock exchanges and other agency transactions involve the payment of negotiated brokerage commissions. Such commissions vary among different broker-dealer firms, and a particular broker-dealer may charge different commissions according to such factors as the difficulty and size of the transaction and the volume of business done with such broker-dealer. Transactions in foreign securities often involve the payment of brokerage commissions, which may be higher than those in the United States. There is generally no stated commission in the case of securities traded in the over-the-counter markets including transactions in fixed-income securities which are generally purchased and sold on a net basis (i.e., without commission) through broker-dealers and banks acting for their own account rather than as brokers. Such firms attempt to profit from such transactions by buying at the bid price and selling at the higher asked price of the market for such obligations, and the difference between the bid and asked price is customarily referred to as the spread. Fixed-income transactions may also be transacted directly with the issuer of the obligations. In an underwritten offering the price paid often includes a disclosed fixed commission or discount retained by the underwriter or dealer. Although spreads or commissions paid on portfolio security transactions will, in the judgment of the investment adviser, be reasonable in relation to the value of the services provided, commissions exceeding those which another firm might charge may be paid to broker-dealers who were selected to execute transactions on behalf of the investment adviser’s clients in part for providing brokerage and research services to the investment adviser as permitted by applicable law.
Pursuant to the safe harbor provided in Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Section 28(e)”) and to the extent permitted by other applicable law, a broker or dealer who executes a portfolio transaction on behalf of the investment adviser client may receive a commission that is in excess of the amount of commission another broker or dealer would have charged for effecting that transaction if the investment adviser determines in good faith that such compensation was reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services provided. This determination may be made on the basis of either that particular transaction or on the basis of the overall responsibility which the investment adviser and its affiliates have for accounts over which they exercise investment discretion. “Research Services” as used herein includes any and all brokerage and research services to the extent permitted by Section 28(e) and other applicable law. Generally, Research Services may include, but are not limited to, such matters as research, analytical and quotation services, data, information and other services products and materials which assist the investment adviser in the performance of its investment responsibilities. More specifically, Research Services may include general economic, political, business and market information, industry and company reviews, evaluations of securities and portfolio strategies and transactions, technical analysis of various aspects of the securities markets, recommendations as to the purchase and sale of securities and other portfolio transactions, certain financial, industry and trade publications, certain news and information services, and certain research oriented computer software, data bases and services. Any particular Research Service obtained through a broker-dealer may be used by the investment adviser in connection with client accounts other than those accounts which pay commissions to such broker-dealer, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Any such Research Service may be broadly useful and of value to the investment adviser in rendering investment advisory services to all or a significant portion of its clients, or may be relevant and useful for the management of only one client’s account or of a few clients’ accounts, or may be useful for the management of merely a segment of certain clients’ accounts, regardless of whether any such account or accounts paid commissions to the broker-dealer through which such Research Service was obtained. The investment adviser evaluates the nature and quality of the various Research Services obtained through broker-dealer firms and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, may attempt to allocate sufficient portfolio security transactions to such firms to ensure the continued receipt of Research Services which the investment adviser believes are useful or of value to it in rendering investment advisory services to its clients. The investment adviser may also receive brokerage and Research Services from underwriters and dealers in fixed-price offerings, when permitted under applicable law.
Research Services provided by (and produced by) broker-dealers that execute portfolio transactions or from affiliates of executing broker-dealers are referred to as “Proprietary Research.” Except for trades executed in jurisdictions where such consideration is not permissible, the investment adviser may and does consider the receipt of Proprietary Research Services as a factor in selecting broker dealers to execute client portfolio transactions, provided it does not compromise the investment adviser’s obligation to seek best overall execution. In jurisdictions where permissible, the investment adviser also may consider the receipt of Research Services under so called “client commission arrangements” or “commission sharing arrangements” (both referred to as “CCAs”) as a factor in selecting broker dealers to execute transactions, provided it does not compromise the investment adviser’s obligation to seek best overall execution. Under a CCA arrangement, the investment adviser may cause client accounts to effect transactions through a broker-dealer and request that the broker-dealer allocate a portion of the commissions paid on those transactions to a pool of commission credits that are paid to other firms that provide Research Services to the investment adviser. Under a CCA, the broker-dealer that provides the Research Services need not execute the trade. Participating in CCAs may enable the investment
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 39 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
adviser to consolidate payments for research using accumulated client commission credits from transactions executed through a particular broker-dealer to periodically pay for Research Services obtained from and provided by other firms, including other broker-dealers that supply Research Services. The investment adviser believes that CCAs offer the potential to optimize the execution of trades and the acquisition of a variety of high quality Research Services that the investment adviser might not be provided access to absent CCAs. The investment adviser will only enter into and utilize CCAs to the extent permitted by Section 28(e) and other applicable law.
Fund trades executed by an affiliate of the investment adviser licensed in the United Kingdom may implicate laws of the United Kingdom, including rules of the UK Financial Conduct Authority, which govern client trading commissions and Research Services (“UK Law”). Broadly speaking, under UK Law the investment adviser may not accept any good or service when executing an order unless that good or service either is directly related to the execution of trades on behalf of its clients/customers or amounts to the provision of substantive research (as defined under UK Law). These requirements may also apply with respect to orders in connection with which the investment adviser receives goods and services under a CCA or other bundled brokerage arrangement. Fund trades may also implicate UK Law requiring the investment adviser to direct any research portion of a brokerage commission to an account controlled by the investment adviser.
The investment companies sponsored by the investment adviser or its affiliates also may allocate brokerage commissions to acquire information relating to the performance, fees and expenses of such companies and other investment companies, which information is used by the members of the Board of such companies to fulfill their responsibility to oversee the quality of the services provided to various entities, including the investment adviser, to such companies. Such companies may also pay cash for such information.
Securities considered as investments for the Portfolio may also be appropriate for other investment accounts managed by the investment adviser or its affiliates. Whenever decisions are made to buy or sell securities by the Portfolio and one or more of such other accounts simultaneously, the investment adviser will allocate the security transactions (including “new” issues) in a manner which it believes to be equitable under the circumstances. As a result of such allocations, there may be instances where the Portfolio will not participate in a transaction that is allocated among other accounts. If an aggregated order cannot be filled completely, allocations will generally be made on a pro rata basis. An order may not be allocated on a pro rata basis where, for example: (i) consideration is given to portfolio managers who have been instrumental in developing or negotiating a particular investment; (ii) consideration is given to an account with specialized investment policies that coincide with the particulars of a specific investment; (iii) pro rata allocation would result in odd-lot or de minimis amounts being allocated to a portfolio or other client; or (iv) where the investment adviser reasonably determines that departure from a pro rata allocation is advisable. While these aggregation and allocation policies could have a detrimental effect on the price or amount of the securities available to the Portfolio from time to time, it is the opinion of the members of the Board that the benefits from the investment adviser organization outweigh any disadvantage that may arise from exposure to simultaneous transactions.
The following table shows brokerage commissions paid during three fiscal years ended December 31, 2018, as well as the amount of Portfolio security transactions for the most recent fiscal year (if any) that were directed to firms that provided some Research Services to the investment adviser or its affiliates (see above), and the commissions paid in connection therewith. The Fund did not pay any amount in brokerage commissions to affiliated brokers during the past three fiscal years.
Fiscal Year
End |
Brokerage
Commission Paid |
Amount of Transactions
Directed to Firms Providing Research |
Commissions Paid on
Transactions Directed to Firms Providing Research |
December 31, 2018 | $510,792 | $967,757,331 | $411,254 |
December 31, 2017 | $547,587 | ||
December 31, 2016 | $550,237 |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 40 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Portfolio held securities of the Fund’s “regular brokers or dealers,” as that term is defined in Rule 10b-1 of the 1940 Act. The value of such securities as of the Fund’s fiscal year end was as follows:
Regular Broker or Dealer (or Parent) | Aggregate Value |
Bank of America | $13,723,002 |
JP Morgan Chase | $10,662,056 |
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The audited financial statements of, and the report of the independent registered public accounting firm for the Fund appear in its annual report to shareholders and are incorporated by reference into this SAI. A copy of the annual report accompanies this SAI.
Householding. Consistent with applicable law, duplicate mailings of shareholder reports and certain other Fund information to shareholders residing at the same address may be eliminated.
The Trust incorporates by reference the audited financial information and the reports of the independent registered public accounting firm for the Fund and Portfolio for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, as previously filed electronically with the SEC (Accession No. 0001193125-19-053757).
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 41 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
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Auction Rate Securities | Auction rate securities, such as auction preferred shares of closed-end investment companies, are preferred securities and debt securities with dividends/coupons based on a rate set at auction. The auction is usually held weekly for each series of a security, but may be held less frequently. The auction sets the rate, and securities may be bought and sold at the auction. Provided that the auction mechanism is successful, auction rate securities normally permit the holder to sell the securities in an auction at par value at specified intervals. The dividend is reset by a “Dutch” auction in which bids are made by broker-dealers and other institutions for a certain amount of securities at a specified minimum yield. The dividend rate set by the auction is the lowest interest or dividend rate that covers all securities offered for sale. While this process is designed to permit auction rate securities to be traded at par value, there is the risk that an auction will fail due to insufficient demand for the securities. Security holders that submit sell orders in a failed auction may not be able to sell any or all of the shares for which they have submitted sell orders. Security holders may sell their shares at the next scheduled auction, subject to the same risk that the subsequent auction will not attract sufficient demand for a successful auction to occur. Broker-dealers may also try to facilitate secondary trading in the auction rate securities, although such secondary trading may be limited and may only be available for shareholders willing to sell at a discount. Since mid-February 2008, existing markets for certain auction rate securities have become generally illiquid and investors have not been able to sell their securities through the regular auction process. It is uncertain when or whether there will be a revival of investor interest in purchasing securities sold through auctions. There may be limited or no active secondary markets for many auction rate securities. Auction rate securities that do trade in a secondary market may trade at a significant discount from their liquidation preference. There have been a number of governmental investigations and regulatory settlements involving certain broker-dealers with respect to their prior activities involving auction rate securities. |
Valuations of such securities is highly speculative, however, dividends on auction rate preferred securities issued by a closed-end fund may be reported, generally on Form 1099, as exempt from federal income tax to the extent they are attributable to tax-exempt interest income earned by the Fund on the securities and distributed to holders of the preferred securities, provided that the preferred securities are treated as equity securities for federal income tax purposes, and the closed-end fund complies with certain requirements under the Code. Investments in auction rate preferred securities of closed-end funds are subject to limitations on investments in other U.S. registered investment companies, which limitations are prescribed by the 1940 Act. | |
Average Effective Maturity | Average effective maturity is a weighted average of all the maturities of bonds owned by the Fund. Average effective maturity takes into consideration all mortgage payments, puts and adjustable coupons. In the event the Fund invests in multiple Portfolios, its average weighted maturity is the sum of its allocable share of the average weighted maturity of each of the Portfolios in which it invests, which is determined by multiplying the Portfolio’s average weighted maturity by the Fund’s percentage ownership of that Portfolio. |
Borrowing for Investment Purposes | Successful use of a borrowing strategy depends on the investment adviser’s ability to predict correctly interest rates and market movements. There is no assurance that a borrowing strategy will be successful. Upon the expiration of the term of the Fund’s existing credit arrangement, the lender may not be willing to extend further credit to the Fund or may be willing to do so at an increased cost to the Fund. If the Fund is not able to extend its credit arrangement, it may be required to liquidate holdings to repay amounts borrowed from the lender. Borrowing to increase investments generally will magnify the effect on the Fund’s net asset value of any increase or decrease in the value of the security purchased with the borrowings. Successful use of a borrowing strategy depends on the investment adviser’s ability to predict correctly interest rates and market movements. There can be no assurance that the use of borrowings will be successful. In connection with its borrowings, the Fund will be required to maintain specified asset coverage with respect to such borrowings by both the 1940 Act and the terms of its credit facility with the lender. The Fund may be required to dispose of portfolio investments on unfavorable terms if market fluctuations or other factors reduce the required asset coverage to less than the prescribed amount. Borrowings involve additional expense to the Fund. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 43 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Borrowing for Temporary Purposes | The Fund may borrow for temporary purposes (such as to satisfy redemption requests, to remain fully invested in advance of the settlement of share purchases, and to settle transactions). The Fund’s ability to borrow is subject to its terms and conditions of its credit arrangements, which in some cases may limit the Fund’s ability to borrow under the arrangement. The Fund will be required to maintain a specified level of asset coverage with respect to all borrowings and may be required to sell some of its holdings to reduce debt and restore coverage at times when it may not be advantageous to do so. The rights of the lender to receive payments of interest and repayments of principal of any borrowings made by the Fund under a credit arrangement are senior to the rights of holders of shares, with respect to the payment of dividends or upon liquidation. In the event of a default under a credit arrangement, the lenders may have the right to cause a liquidation of the collateral (i.e., sell Fund assets) and, if any such default is not cured, the lenders may be able to control the liquidation as well. Credit arrangements are subject to annual renewal, which cannot be assured. If the Fund does not have the ability to borrow for temporary purposes, it may be required to sell securities at inopportune times to meet short-term liquidity needs. Because the Fund is a party to a joint credit arrangement, it may be unable to borrow some or all of its requested amounts at any particular time. Borrowings involve additional expense to the Fund. |
Build America Bonds | Build America Bonds are taxable municipal obligations issued pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “Act”) or other legislation providing for the issuance of taxable municipal debt on which the issuer receives federal support. Enacted in February 2009, the Act authorizes state and local governments to issue taxable bonds on which, assuming certain specified conditions are satisfied, issuers may either (i) receive reimbursement from the U.S. Treasury with respect to its interest payments on the bonds (“direct pay” Build America Bonds); or (ii) provide tax credits to investors in the bonds (“tax credit” Build America Bonds). Unlike most other municipal obligations, interest received on Build America Bonds is subject to federal income tax and may be subject to state income tax. Under the terms of the Act, issuers of direct pay Build America Bonds are entitled to receive reimbursement from the U.S. Treasury currently equal to 35% (or 45% in the case of Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds) of the interest paid. Holders of tax credit Build America Bonds can receive a federal tax credit currently equal to 35% of the coupon interest received. The Fund may invest in “principal only” strips of tax credit Build America Bonds, which entitle the holder to receive par value of such bonds if held to maturity. The Fund does not expect to receive (or pass through to shareholders) tax credits as a result of its investments. The federal interest subsidy or tax credit continues for the life of the bonds. Build America Bonds are an alternative form of financing to state and local governments whose primary means for accessing the capital markets has been through issuance of tax-free municipal bonds. Build America Bonds can appeal to a broader array of investors than the high income U.S. taxpayers that have traditionally provided the market for municipal bonds. Build America Bonds may provide a lower net cost of funds to issuers. Pursuant to the terms of the Act, the issuance of Build America Bonds ceased on December 31, 2010. As a result, the availability of such bonds is limited and the market for the bonds and/or their liquidity may be affected. |
Call and Put Features on Securities | Issuers of securities may reserve the right to call (redeem) the securities. If an issuer redeems a security with a call right during a time of declining interest rates, the holder of the security may not be able to reinvest the proceeds in securities providing the same investment return as provided by the securities redeemed. Some securities may have “put” or “demand” features that allow early redemption by the holder. Longer term fixed-rate securities may give the holder a right to request redemption at certain times (often annually after the lapse of an intermediate term). This “put” or “demand” feature enhances a security’s liquidity by shortening its effective maturity and enables the security to trade at a price equal to or very close to par. If a demand feature terminates prior to being exercised, the holder of the security would be subject to the longer maturity of the security, which could experience substantially more volatility. Securities with a “put” or “demand” feature are more defensive than conventional long term securities (protecting to some degree against a rise in interest rates) while providing greater opportunity than comparable intermediate term securities, because they can be retained if interest rates decline. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 44 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (“CMOs”) | CMOs are backed by a pool of mortgages or mortgage loans. The key feature of the CMO structure is the prioritization of the cash flows from the pool of mortgages among the several classes, or tranches, of the CMO, thereby creating a series of obligations with varying rates and maturities. Senior CMO classes will typically have priority over residual CMOs as to the receipt of principal and or interest payments on the underlying mortgages. CMOs also issue sequential and parallel pay classes, including planned amortization and target amortization classes, and fixed and floating rate CMO tranches. CMOs issued by U.S. government agencies are backed by agency mortgages, while privately issued CMOs may be backed by either government agency mortgages or private mortgages. Payments of principal and interest are passed through to each CMO tranche at varying schedules resulting in bonds with different coupons, effective maturities and sensitivities to interest rates. Parallel pay CMOs are structured to provide payments of principal on each payment date to more than one class, concurrently on a proportionate or disproportionate basis. Sequential pay CMOs generally pay principal to only one class at a time while paying interest to several classes. CMOs generally are secured by an assignment to a trustee under the indenture pursuant to which the bonds are issued as collateral consisting of a pool of mortgages. Payments with respect to the underlying mortgages generally are made to the trustee under the indenture. CMOs are designed to be retired as the underlying mortgages are repaid. In the event of sufficient early prepayments on such mortgages, the class or series of CMO first to mature generally will be retired prior to maturity. Therefore, although in most cases the issuer of CMOs will not supply additional collateral in the event of such prepayments, there will be sufficient collateral to secure CMOs that remain outstanding. Floating rate CMO tranches carry interest rates that are tied in a fixed relationship to an index subject to an upper limit, or “cap,” and sometimes to a lower limit, or “floor.” CMOs may be less liquid and may exhibit greater price volatility than other types of mortgage- or asset-backed securities. |
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (“CMBS”) | CMBS include securities that reflect an interest in, and are secured by, mortgage loans on commercial real property, such as hotels, office buildings, retail stores, hospitals and other commercial buildings. CMBS may have a lower repayment uncertainty than other mortgage-related securities because commercial mortgage loans generally prohibit or impose penalties on prepayment of principal. The risks of investing in CMBS reflect the risks of investing in the real estate securing the underlying mortgage loans, including the effects of local and other economic conditions on real estate markets, the ability of tenants to make loan payment, and the ability of a property to attract and retain tenants. CMBS may be less liquid and may exhibit greater price volatility than other types of mortgage- or asset-backed securities. |
Commodity-Related Investments | The value of commodities investments will generally be affected by overall market movements and factors specific to a particular industry or commodity, which may include weather, embargoes, tariffs, and health, political, international and regulatory developments. Economic and other events (whether real or perceived) can reduce the demand for commodities, which may reduce market prices and cause the value of Fund shares to fall. The frequency and magnitude of such changes cannot be predicted. Exposure to commodities and commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. No active trading market may exist for certain commodities investments, which may impair the ability of the Fund to sell or to realize the full value of such investments in the event of the need to liquidate such investments. In addition, adverse market conditions may impair the liquidity of actively traded commodities investments. Certain types of commodities instruments (such as total return swaps and commodity-linked notes) are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the instrument will not perform or will be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument. To the extent commodity-related investments are held through the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary is not subject to U.S. laws (including securities laws) and their protections. The Subsidiary is subject to the laws of the Cayman Islands, a foreign jurisdiction, and can be affected by developments in that jurisdiction. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 45 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Certain commodities are subject to limited pricing flexibility because of supply and demand factors. Others are subject to broad price fluctuations as a result of the volatility of the prices for certain raw materials and the instability of supplies of other materials. These additional variables may create additional investment risks and result in greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The commodities that underlie commodity futures contracts and commodity swaps may be subject to additional economic and non-economic variables, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs, and international economic, political and regulatory developments. Unlike the financial futures markets, in the commodity futures markets there are costs of physical storage associated with purchasing the underlying commodity. The price of the commodity futures contract will reflect the storage costs of purchasing the physical commodity, including the time value of money invested in the physical commodity. To the extent that the storage costs for an underlying commodity change while the Fund is invested in futures contracts on that commodity, the value of the futures contract may change proportionately. | |
In the commodity futures markets, producers of the underlying commodity may decide to hedge the price risk of selling the commodity by selling futures contracts today to lock in the price of the commodity at delivery tomorrow. In order to induce speculators to purchase the other side of the same futures contract, the commodity producer generally must sell the futures contract at a lower price than the expected future spot price. Conversely, if most hedgers in the futures market are purchasing futures contracts to hedge against a rise in prices, then speculators will only sell the other side of the futures contract at a higher futures price than the expected future spot price of the commodity. The changing nature of the hedgers and speculators in the commodity markets will influence whether futures prices are above or below the expected future spot price, which can have significant implications for the Fund. If the nature of hedgers and speculators in futures markets has shifted when it is time for the Fund to reinvest the proceeds of a maturing contract in a new futures contract, the Fund might reinvest at higher or lower futures prices, or choose to pursue other investments. | |
Common Stocks | Common stock represents an equity ownership interest in the issuing corporation. Holders of common stock generally have voting rights in the issuer and are entitled to receive common stock dividends when, as and if declared by the corporation’s board of directors. Common stock normally occupies the most subordinated position in an issuer’s capital structure. Returns on common stock investments consist of any dividends received plus the amount of appreciation or depreciation in the value of the stock. |
Although common stocks have historically generated higher average returns than fixed-income securities over the long term and particularly during periods of high or rising concerns about inflation, common stocks also have experienced significantly more volatility in returns and may not maintain their real value during inflationary periods. An adverse event, such as an unfavorable earnings report, may depress the value of a particular common stock. Also, the prices of common stocks are sensitive to general movements in the stock market and a drop in the stock market may depress the price of common stocks. Common stock prices fluctuate for many reasons, including changes in investors’ perceptions of the financial condition of an issuer or the general condition of the relevant stock market, or when political or economic events affecting the issuer occur. In addition, common stock prices may be sensitive to rising interest rates as the costs of capital rise and borrowing costs increase. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 46 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Contingent Convertible Securities | Contingent convertible securities (sometimes referred to as “CoCos”) are convertible securities with loss absorption characteristics. These securities provide for mandatory conversion into common stock of the issuer under certain circumstances. The mandatory conversion may be automatically triggered, for instance, if a company fails to meet the capital minimum with respect to the security, the company’s regulator makes a determination that the security should convert or the company receives specified levels of extraordinary public support. Since the common stock of the issuer may not pay a dividend, investors in these instruments could experience a reduced income rate, potentially to zero; and conversion would deepen the subordination of the investor, hence worsening standing in a bankruptcy. In addition, some such instruments have a set stock conversion rate that would cause an automatic write-down of capital if the price of the stock is below the conversion price on the conversion date. Under similar circumstances, the liquidation value of certain types of contingent convertible securities may be adjusted downward to below the original par value. The write down of the par value would occur automatically and would not entitle the holders to seek bankruptcy of the company. In certain circumstances, contingent convertible securities may write down to zero and investors could lose the entire value of the investment, even as the issuer remains in business. CoCos may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a predetermined price. See also “Hybrid Securities.” |
Convertible Securities | A convertible security is a bond, debenture, note, preferred security, or other security that entitles the holder to acquire common stock or other equity securities of the same or a different issuer. A convertible security entitles the holder to receive interest paid or accrued or the dividend paid on such security until the convertible security matures or is redeemed, converted or exchanged. Before conversion, convertible securities have characteristics similar to nonconvertible income securities in that they ordinarily provide a stable stream of income with generally higher yields than those of common stocks of the same or similar issuers, but lower yields than comparable nonconvertible securities. The value of a convertible security is influenced by changes in interest rates, with investment value declining as interest rates increase and increasing as interest rates decline. The credit standing of the issuer and other factors also may have an effect on the convertible security’s investment value. A convertible security ranks senior to common stock in a corporation’s capital structure but is usually subordinated to comparable nonconvertible securities. Convertible securities may be purchased for their appreciation potential when they yield more than the underlying securities at the time of purchase or when they are considered to present less risk of principal loss than the underlying securities. Generally speaking, the interest or dividend yield of a convertible security is somewhat less than that of a non-convertible security of similar quality issued by the same company. A convertible security may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a price established in the convertible security’s governing instrument. |
Convertible securities are issued and traded in a number of securities markets. Even in cases where a substantial portion of the convertible securities held by the Fund are denominated in U.S. dollars, the underlying equity securities may be quoted in the currency of the country where the issuer is domiciled. As a result, fluctuations in the exchange rate between the currency in which the debt security is denominated and the currency in which the share price is quoted will affect the value of the convertible security. With respect to convertible securities denominated in a currency different from that of the underlying equity securities, the conversion price may be based on a fixed exchange rate established at the time the securities are issued, which may increase the effects of currency risk. | |
Holders of convertible securities generally have a claim on the assets of the issuer prior to the common stockholders but may be subordinated to other debt securities of the same issuer. Certain convertible debt securities may provide a put option to the holder, which entitles the holder to cause the securities to be redeemed by the issuer at a premium over the stated principal amount of the debt securities under certain circumstances. Certain convertible securities may include loss absorption characteristics that make the securities more equity-like. This is particularly true of convertible securities issued by companies in the financial services sector. See “Contingent Convertible Securities.” |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 47 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Synthetic convertible securities may include either cash-settled convertibles or manufactured convertibles. Cash-settled convertibles are instruments that are created by the issuer and have the economic characteristics of traditional convertible securities but may not actually permit conversion into the underlying equity securities in all circumstances. As an example, a private company may issue a cash-settled convertible that is convertible into common stock only if the company successfully completes a public offering of its common stock prior to maturity and otherwise pays a cash amount to reflect any equity appreciation. Manufactured convertibles are created by the investment adviser or another party by combining separate securities that possess one of the two principal characteristics of a convertible security, i.e. , fixed-income (“fixed-income component”) or a right to acquire equity securities (“convertibility component”). The fixed-income component is achieved by investing in nonconvertible fixed-income securities, such as nonconvertible bonds, preferred securities and money market instruments. The convertibility component is achieved by investing in call options, warrants, or other securities with equity conversion features (“equity features”) granting the holder the right to purchase a specified quantity of the underlying stocks within a specified period of time at a specified price or, in the case of a stock index option, the right to receive a cash payment based on the value of the underlying stock index. A manufactured convertible differs from traditional convertible securities in several respects. Unlike a traditional convertible security, which is a single security that has a unitary market value, a manufactured convertible is comprised of two or more separate securities, each with its own market value. Therefore, the total “market value” of such a manufactured convertible is the sum of the values of its fixed-income component and its convertibility component. More flexibility is possible in the creation of a manufactured convertible than in the purchase of a traditional convertible security. Because many corporations have not issued convertible securities, the investment adviser may combine a fixed-income instrument and an equity feature with respect to the stock of the issuer of the fixed-income instrument to create a synthetic convertible security otherwise unavailable in the market. The investment adviser may also combine a fixed-income instrument of an issuer with an equity feature with respect to the stock of a different issuer when the investment adviser believes such a manufactured convertible would better promote the Fund’s objective than alternative investments. For example, the investment adviser may combine an equity feature with respect to an issuer’s stock with a fixed-income security of a different issuer in the same industry to diversify the Fund’s credit exposure, or with a U.S. Treasury instrument to create a manufactured convertible with a higher credit profile than a traditional convertible security issued by that issuer. A manufactured convertible also is a more flexible investment in that its two components may be purchased separately and, upon purchasing the separate securities, “combined” to create a manufactured convertible. For example, the Fund may purchase a warrant for eventual inclusion in a manufactured convertible while postponing the purchase of a suitable bond to pair with the warrant pending development of more favorable market conditions. The value of a manufactured convertible may respond to certain market fluctuations differently from a traditional convertible security with similar characteristics. For example, in the event the Fund created a manufactured convertible by combining a short-term U.S. Treasury instrument and a call option on a stock, the manufactured convertible would be expected to outperform a traditional convertible of similar maturity that is convertible into that stock during periods when Treasury instruments outperform corporate fixed-income securities and underperform during periods when corporate fixed-income securities outperform Treasury instruments. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 48 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 49 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks, including adverse or unexpected movements in the price of the reference instrument, and counterparty, credit, interest rate, leverage, liquidity, market and tax risks. Use of derivative instruments may cause the realization of higher amounts of short-term capital gains (generally taxed at ordinary income tax rates) than if such instruments had not been used. Success in using derivative instruments to hedge portfolio assets depends on the degree of price correlation between the derivative instruments and the hedged asset. Derivatives also involve the risk that changes in their value may not correlate perfectly with the assets, rates or indices they are designed to hedge or closely track. Imperfect correlation may be caused by several factors, including temporary price disparities among the trading markets for the derivative instrument, the reference instrument and the Fund’s assets. To the extent that a derivative instrument is intended to hedge against an event that does not occur, the Fund may realize losses. | |
OTC derivative instruments involve an additional risk in that the issuer or counterparty may fail to perform its contractual obligations. Some derivative instruments are not readily marketable or may become illiquid under adverse market conditions. In addition, during periods of market volatility, an option or commodity exchange or swap execution facility or clearinghouse may suspend or limit trading in an exchange-traded derivative instrument, which may make the contract temporarily illiquid and difficult to price. Commodity exchanges may also establish daily limits on the amount that the price of a futures contract or futures option can vary from the previous day’s settlement price. Once the daily limit is reached, no trades may be made that day at a price beyond the limit. This may prevent the closing out of positions to limit losses. The staff of the SEC takes the position that certain purchased OTC options, and assets used as cover for written OTC options, are illiquid. The ability to terminate OTC derivative instruments may depend on the cooperation of the counterparties to such contracts. For thinly traded derivative instruments, the only source of price quotations may be the selling dealer or counterparty. In addition, certain provisions of the Code limit the use of derivative instruments. Derivatives permit the Fund to increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, to which its portfolio is exposed in much the same way as the Fund can increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, of its portfolio by making investments in specific securities. There can be no assurance that the use of derivative instruments will benefit the Fund. | |
The regulation of derivatives has undergone substantial change in recent years and such change may continue. In particular, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), and regulations proposed to be promulgated thereunder require many derivatives to be cleared and traded on an exchange, expand entity registration requirements, impose business conduct requirements on dealers that enter into swaps with a pension plan, endowment, retirement plan or government entity, and require banks to move some derivatives trading units to a non-guaranteed affiliate separate from the deposit-taking bank or divest them altogether. Although the CFTC has released final rules relating to clearing, reporting, recordkeeping, required margin and registration requirements under the legislation, many of the provisions are subject to further final rule making, and thus its ultimate impact remains unclear. See also “Swap Agreements” herein. New regulations and the implementation of existing regulations could, among other things, restrict the Fund’s ability to engage in derivatives transactions (for example, by making certain types of derivatives transactions no longer available to the Fund) and/or increase the costs of such derivatives transactions (for example, by increasing margin or capital requirements), and the Fund may be unable to fully execute its investment strategies as a result. | |
The SEC may propose regulations that, if adopted, could significantly change the manner in which a Fund must segregate assets to cover its future obligations. A proposed regulation may restrict its ability to enter into derivative transactions for speculative or hedging purposes and may require the Fund’s Board to adopt a derivative risk management and governance framework. These regulations could also limit the ability of a Fund to use these instruments as part of its investment management strategy, increase the costs of using these instruments or make them less effective. Limits or restrictions applicable to the counterparties with which a Fund engages in derivative transactions also could prevent the Fund from using these instruments or affect the pricing or other factors relating to these instruments, or may change the availability of certain investments. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 50 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 51 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Certain hybrid instruments may provide exposure to the commodities markets. These are derivative securities with one or more commodity-linked components that have payment features similar to commodity futures contracts, commodity options, or similar instruments. Commodity-linked hybrid instruments may be either equity or debt securities, leveraged or unleveraged, and are considered hybrid instruments because they have both security and commodity-like characteristics. A portion of the value of these instruments may be derived from the value of a commodity, futures contract, index or other economic variable. The Fund will invest only in commodity-linked hybrid instruments that qualify under applicable rules of the CFTC for an exemption from the provisions of the CEA. Certain issuers of structured products such as hybrid instruments may be deemed to be investment companies as defined in the 1940 Act. As a result, the Fund’s investments in these products may be subject to limits applicable to investments in investment companies and may be subject to restrictions contained in the 1940 Act. | |
Direct Investments | Direct investments include (i) the private purchase from an enterprise of an equity interest in the enterprise in the form of shares of common stock or equity interests in trusts, partnerships, joint ventures or similar enterprises, and (ii) the purchase of such an equity interest in an enterprise from a principal investor in the enterprise. At the time of making a direct investment, the Fund will enter into a shareholder or similar agreement with the enterprise and one or more other holders of equity interests in the enterprise. These agreements may, in appropriate circumstances, provide the ability to appoint a representative to the board of directors or similar body of the enterprise and for eventual disposition of the investment in the enterprise. Such a representative would be expected to monitor the investment and protect the Fund’s rights in the investment and would not be appointed for the purpose of exercising management or control of the enterprise. |
Diversified Status | With respect to 75% of its total assets, an investment company that is registered with the SEC as a “diversified” fund: (1) may not invest more than 5% of its total assets in the securities of any one issuer (except obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities and securities of other investment companies); and (2) may not own more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer. |
Dividend Capture Trading | In a typical dividend capture trade, the Fund would buy a stock prior to its ex-dividend date and sell the stock at a point either on or after the ex-dividend date. The use of a dividend capture trading strategy exposes the Fund to higher portfolio turnover, increased trading costs and potential for capital loss or gain, particularly in the event of significant short-term price movements of stocks subject to dividend capture trading. |
Duration | Duration measures the time-weighted expected cash flows of a fixed-income security, which can determine its sensitivity to changes in the general level of interest rates. Securities with longer durations generally tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with shorter durations. A mutual fund with a longer dollar-weighted average duration generally can be expected to be more sensitive to interest rate changes than a fund with a shorter dollar-weighted average duration. Duration differs from maturity in that it considers a security’s coupon payments in addition to the amount of time until the security matures. Various techniques may be used to shorten or lengthen Fund duration. As the value of a security changes over time, so will its duration. The duration of a Fund that invests in underlying funds is the sum of its allocable share of the duration of each of the underlying funds in which it invests, which is determined by multiplying the underlying fund’s duration by the Fund’s percentage ownership of that underlying fund. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 52 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Emerging Market Investments | The risks described under “Foreign Investments” herein generally are heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets. Also, investments in securities of issuers domiciled in countries with emerging capital markets may involve certain additional risks that do not generally apply to investments in securities of issuers in more developed capital markets, such as (i) low or non-existent trading volume, resulting in a lack of liquidity and increased volatility in prices for such securities, as compared to securities of comparable issuers in more developed capital markets; (ii) uncertain national policies and social, political and economic instability, increasing the potential for expropriation of assets, confiscatory taxation, high rates of inflation or unfavorable diplomatic developments; (iii) possible fluctuations in exchange rates, differing legal systems and the existence or possible imposition of exchange controls, custodial restrictions or other foreign or U.S. governmental laws or restrictions applicable to such investments; (iv) national policies that may limit investment opportunities, such as restrictions on investment in issuers or industries deemed sensitive to national interests; and (v) the lack or relatively early development of legal structures governing private and foreign investments and private property. Trading practices in emerging markets also may be less developed, resulting in inefficiencies relative to trading in more developed markets, which may result in increased transaction costs. |
Repatriation of investment income, capital and proceeds of sales by foreign investors may require governmental registration and/or approval in emerging market countries. There can be no assurance that repatriation of income, gain or initial capital from these countries will occur. In addition to withholding taxes on investment income, some countries with emerging markets may impose differential capital gains taxes on foreign investors. | |
Political and economic structures in emerging market countries may undergo significant evolution and rapid development, and these countries may lack the social, political and economic stability characteristic of more developed countries. In such a dynamic environment, there can be no assurance that any or all of these capital markets will continue to present viable investment opportunities. In the past, governments of such nations have expropriated substantial amounts of private property, and most claims of the property owners have never been fully settled. There is no assurance that such expropriations will not reoccur. In such an event, it is possible that the entire value of an investment in the affected market could be lost. In addition, unanticipated political or social developments may affect the value of investments in these countries and the availability of additional investments. The small size and inexperience of the securities markets in certain of these countries and the limited volume of trading in securities in these countries may make investments in the countries illiquid and more volatile than investments in developed markets. | |
Also, there may be less publicly available information about issuers in emerging markets than would be available about issuers in more developed capital markets, and such issuers may not be subject to accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and requirements comparable to those to which U.S. companies are subject. In certain countries with emerging capital markets, reporting standards vary widely. As a result, traditional investment measurements used in the United States, such as price/earnings ratios, may not be applicable. Certain emerging market securities may be held by a limited number of persons. This may adversely affect the timing and pricing of the acquisition or disposal of securities. The prices at which investments may be acquired may be affected by trading by persons with material non-public information and by securities transactions by brokers in anticipation of transactions in particular securities. | |
Practices in relation to settlement of securities transactions in emerging markets involve higher risks than those in developed markets, in part because brokers and counterparties in such markets may be less well capitalized, and custody and registration of assets in some countries may be unreliable. The possibility of fraud, negligence, undue influence being exerted by the issuer or refusal to recognize ownership exists in some emerging markets. As an alternative to investing directly in emerging markets, exposure may be obtained through derivative investments. | |
The foregoing risks may be even greater in frontier markets. Frontier markets are countries with investable stock markets that are less established than those in the emerging markets. The economies of frontier market countries generally are smaller than those of traditional emerging market countries, and frontier capital markets and legal systems are typically less developed. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 53 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Equity Investments | Equity investments include common stocks; preferred stocks; depositary receipts; equity interests in trusts, partnerships, joint ventures and other unincorporated entities or enterprises; convertible and contingent convertible preferred stocks; rights and warrants and other securities that are treated as equity for U.S. federal income tax purposes (see “Preferred Stock” and “Hybrid Securities”). Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of stocks. |
Equity-Linked Securities | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. Equity-linked securities are privately issued securities whose investment results are designed to correspond generally to the performance of a specified stock index or “basket” of securities, or sometimes a single stock. These securities are used for many of the same purposes as derivative instruments and share many of the same risks. Equity-linked securities may be considered illiquid and thus subject to the Fund’s restrictions on investments in illiquid securities. |
Event-Linked Instruments | The Fund may obtain event-linked exposure by investing in “event-linked bonds”, “event-linked swaps” or other “event-linked instruments”. Event-linked instruments are obligations for which the return of capital and dividend/interest payments are contingent on, or formulaically related to, the non-occurrence of a pre-defined “trigger” event. For some event-linked instruments, the trigger event’s magnitude may be based on losses to a company or industry, industry indexes or readings of scientific instruments rather than specified actual losses. Examples of trigger events include hurricanes, earthquakes, weather-related phenomena, or statistics relating to such events. |
Some event-linked instruments are referred to as “catastrophe bonds.” Catastrophe bonds entitle a Fund to receive principal and interest payments so long as no trigger event occurs of the description and magnitude specified by the instrument. If a trigger event occurs, the Fund may lose a portion of its entire principal invested in the bond. | |
Event-linked instruments may be sponsored by government agencies, insurance companies or reinsurers and issued by special purpose corporations or other off-shore or on-shore entities (such special purpose entities are created to accomplish a narrow and well-defined objective, such as the issuance of a note in connection with a specific reinsurance transaction). Typically, event-linked instruments are issued by off-shore entities and may be non-dollar denominated. As a result, the Fund may be subject to currency risk. | |
Often, event-linked instruments provide for extensions of maturity that are mandatory or optional at the discretion of the issuer or sponsor, in order to process and audit loss claims in those cases where a trigger event has, or possibly has, occurred. An extension of maturity may increase the instrument’s volatility and potentially make it more difficult to value. In addition, pricing of event-linked instruments is subject to the added uncertainty caused by the inability to generally predict whether, when or where a natural disaster or other triggering event will occur. If a trigger event occurs, the Fund may lose all or a portion of its investment in an event-linked instrument or the notional amount of an event-linked swap. Such losses may be substantial. Event-linked instruments carry large uncertainties and major risk exposures to adverse conditions. In addition to the specified trigger events, event-linked instruments also may expose the Fund to issuer, credit, counterparty, restricted securities, liquidity, and valuation risks as well as exposures to specific geographic areas, adverse regulatory or jurisdictional interpretations, and adverse tax consequences. Event-linked instruments are generally rated below investment grade or the unrated equivalent and have the same or similar risks as high yield debt securities (also known as junk bonds) and are subject to the risk that the Fund may lose some or all of its investment in such instruments if the particular trigger occurs. Event-linked instruments may be rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating agency, but are often unrated. Frequently, the issuer of an event-linked instrument will use an independent risk model to calculate the probability and economic consequences of a trigger event. | |
The Fund may invest in event-linked instruments in one or more of three ways: may purchase event-linked instruments when initially offered; may purchase event-linked instruments in the secondary, over-the-counter market; or may gain indirect exposure to event-linked instruments using derivatives. As the market for event-linked instruments evolves, the Fund may invest in new types of event-linked instruments. However, there can be no assurance that a liquid market in these instruments will develop. Lack of a liquid market may impose the risk of higher transaction costs and the possibility that the Fund may be forced to liquidate positions when it would not be advantageous to do so. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 54 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Event-linked instruments typically are restricted to qualified institutional buyers and, therefore, are not subject to registration with the SEC or any state securities commission and are not always listed on any national securities exchange. The amount of public information available with respect to event-linked instruments is generally less extensive than that which is available for issuers of registered or exchange listed securities. There can be no assurance that future regulatory determinations will not adversely affect the overall market for event-linked instruments. | |
Exchange-Traded Funds (“ETFs”) | ETFs are pooled investment vehicles that are designed to provide investment results corresponding to an index. These indexes may be either broad-based, sector or international. ETFs usually are units of beneficial interest in an investment trust or represent undivided ownership interests in a portfolio of securities (or commodities), in each case with respect to a portfolio of all or substantially all of the component securities of, and in substantially the same weighting as, the relevant benchmark index. ETFs are designed to provide investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the component securities (or commodities) of the benchmark index. An ETF generally reflects the risks of the underlying securities of the index it is designed to track. ETFs are listed on an exchange and trade in the secondary market on a per-share basis. The values of ETFs are subject to change as the values of their respective component securities (or commodities) fluctuate according to market volatility. Investments in ETFs may not exactly match the performance of a direct investment in the respective indices to which they are intended to correspond due to the temporary unavailability of certain index securities in the secondary market or other extraordinary circumstances, such as discrepancies with respect to the weighting of securities. Typically, the ETF bears its own operational expenses, which are deducted from its assets. To the extent that the Fund invests in ETFs, the Fund must bear these expenses in addition to the expenses of its own operation. |
Exchange-Traded Notes (“ETNs”) | ETNs are senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt securities whose returns are linked to the performance of a particular market benchmark or strategy minus applicable fees. ETNs are traded on an exchange during normal trading hours. However, investors can also hold the ETN until maturity. At maturity, the issuer pays to the investor a cash amount equal to the principal amount, subject to the day’s market benchmark or strategy factor. |
ETNs do not make periodic coupon payments or provide principal protection. ETNs are subject to credit risk and the value of the ETN may drop due to a downgrade in the issuer’s credit rating, despite the underlying market benchmark or strategy remaining unchanged. The value of an ETN may also be influenced by time to maturity, level of supply and demand for the ETN, volatility and lack of liquidity in underlying assets, changes in the applicable interest rates, changes in the issuer’s credit rating, and economic, legal, political, or geographic events that affect the referenced underlying asset. When the Fund invests in ETNs it will bear its proportionate share of any fees and expenses borne by the ETN. The Fund’s decision to sell its ETN holdings may be limited by the availability of a secondary market. In addition, although an ETN may be listed on an exchange, the issuer may not be required to maintain the listing and there can be no assurance that a secondary market will exist for an ETN. | |
ETNs are subject to tax risk. No assurance can be given that the IRS will accept, or a court will uphold, how the Fund characterizes and treats ETNs for tax purposes. Further, the IRS and Congress are considering proposals that would change the timing and character of income and gains from ETNs. | |
An ETN that is tied to a specific market benchmark or strategy may not be able to replicate and maintain exactly the composition and relative weighting of securities, commodities or other components in the applicable market benchmark or strategy. Some ETNs that use leverage can, at times, be relatively illiquid and, thus, they may be difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price. Leveraged ETNs are subject to the same risk as other instruments that use leverage in any form. | |
The market value of ETN shares may differ from that of their market benchmark or strategy. This difference in price may be due to the fact that the supply and demand in the market for ETN shares at any point in time is not always identical to the supply and demand in the market for the securities, commodities or other components underlying the market benchmark or strategy that the ETN seeks to track. As a result, there may be times when an ETN share trades at a premium or discount to its market benchmark or strategy. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 55 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Fixed-Income Securities | Fixed-income securities include bonds, preferred, preference and convertible securities, notes, debentures, asset-backed securities (including those backed by mortgages), loan participations and assignments, equipment lease certificates, equipment trust certificates and conditional sales contracts. Generally, issuers of fixed-income securities pay investors periodic interest and repay the amount borrowed either periodically during the life of the security and/or at maturity. Some fixed-income securities, such as zero coupon bonds, do not pay current interest, but are purchased at a discount from their face values, and values accumulate over time to face value at maturity. The market prices of fixed-income securities fluctuate depending on such factors as interest rates, credit quality and maturity. In general, market prices of fixed-income securities decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Fixed-income securities are subject to risk factors such as sensitivity to interest rate and real or perceived changes in economic conditions, payment expectations, liquidity and valuation. Fixed-income securities with longer maturities (for example, over ten years) are more affected by changes in interest rates and provide less price stability than securities with short-term maturities (for example, one to ten years). Fixed-income securities bear the risk of principal and interest default by the issuer, which will be greater with higher yielding, lower grade securities. During an economic downturn, the ability of issuers to service their debt may be impaired. The rating assigned to a fixed-income security by a rating agency does not reflect assessment of the volatility of the security’s market value or of the liquidity of an investment in the securities. Credit ratings are based largely on the issuer’s historical financial condition and a rating agency’s investment analysis at the time of rating, and the rating assigned to any particular security is not necessarily a reflection of the issuer’s current financial condition. Credit quality can change from time to time, and recently issued credit ratings may not fully reflect the actual risks posed by a particular high yield security. If relevant to the Fund(s) in this SAI, corporate bond ratings are described in an appendix to the SAI (see the table of contents). Preferred stock and certain other hybrid securities may pay a fixed-dividend rate, but may be considered equity securities for purposes of a Fund’s investment restrictions (see “Preferred Stock” and “Hybrid Securities”). |
Foreign Currency Transactions | As measured in U.S. dollars, the value of assets denominated in foreign currencies may be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in foreign currency rates and exchange control regulations. Currency exchange rates can also be affected unpredictably by intervention by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks, or the failure to intervene, or by currency controls or political developments in the United States or abroad. If the U.S. dollar rises in value relative to a foreign currency, a security denominated in that foreign currency will be worth less in U.S. dollars. If the U.S. dollar decreases in value relative to a foreign currency, a security denominated in that foreign currency will be worth more in U.S. dollars. A devaluation of a currency by a country’s government or banking authority will have a significant impact on the value of any investments denominated in that currency. Foreign currency exchange transactions may be conducted on a spot ( i.e. , cash) basis at the spot rate prevailing in the foreign currency exchange market or through entering into derivative currency transactions (see “Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts,” “Option Contracts,” “Futures Contracts” and “Swap Agreements – Currency Swaps” herein). Currency transactions are subject to the risk of a number of complex political and economic factors applicable to the countries issuing the underlying currencies. Furthermore, unlike trading in most other types of instruments, there is no systematic reporting of last sale information with respect to the foreign currencies underlying the derivative currency transactions. As a result, available information may not be complete. In an over-the-counter trading environment, there are no daily price fluctuation limits. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 56 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Foreign Investments | Investing in securities issued by companies whose principal business activities are outside the United States may involve significant risks not present in domestic investments. For example, because foreign companies may not be subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, practices and requirements and regulatory measures comparable to those applicable to U.S. companies, there may be less publicly available information about a foreign company than about a domestic company. Volume and liquidity in most foreign debt markets is less than in the United States and securities of some foreign companies are less liquid and more volatile than securities of comparable U.S. companies. There is generally less government supervision and regulation of securities exchanges, broker-dealers and listed companies than in the United States. In addition, with respect to certain foreign countries, there is the possibility of nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, currency blockage, political or social instability, or diplomatic developments, which could affect investments in those countries. Any of these actions could adversely affect securities prices, impair the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell foreign securities, or transfer the Fund’s assets or income back to the United States, or otherwise adversely affect Fund operations. In the event of nationalization, expropriation or confiscation, the Fund could lose its entire investment in that country. |
Other potential foreign market risks include exchange controls, difficulties in valuing securities, defaults on foreign government securities, and difficulties of enforcing favorable legal judgments in foreign courts. Moreover, individual foreign economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross national product, reinvestment of capital, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency, and balance of payments position. Certain economies may rely heavily on particular industries or foreign capital and are more vulnerable to diplomatic developments, the imposition of economic sanctions against a particular country or countries, changes in international trading patterns, trade barriers, and other protectionist or retaliatory measures. Foreign securities markets, while growing in volume and sophistication, are generally not as developed as those in the United States. Foreign countries may not have the infrastructure or resources to respond to natural and other disasters that interfere with economic activities, which may adversely affect issuers located in such countries. | |
Settlement and clearance procedures in certain foreign markets differ significantly from those in the United States. Payment for securities before delivery may be required and in some countries delayed settlements are customary, which increases the Fund’s risk of loss. The Fund generally holds its foreign securities and related cash in foreign banks and securities depositories. Some foreign banks and securities depositories may be recently organized or new to the foreign custody business. In addition, there may be limited or no regulatory oversight over their operations. Also, the laws of certain countries may put limits on the Fund’s ability to recover its assets if a foreign bank, depository or issuer of a security or any of their agents goes bankrupt. Certain countries may require withholding on dividends paid on portfolio securities and on realized capital gains. | |
In addition, it is often more expensive to buy, sell and hold securities in certain foreign markets than in the United States. Foreign brokerage commissions are generally higher than commissions on securities traded in the United States and may be non-negotiable. The fees paid to foreign banks and securities depositories generally are higher than those charged by U.S. banks and depositories. The increased expense of investing in foreign markets reduces the amount earned on investments and typically results in a higher operating expense ratio for the Fund as compared to investment companies that invest only in the United States. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 57 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Depositary receipts (including American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts “GDRs”)) are certificates evidencing ownership of shares of a foreign issuer and are alternatives to directly purchasing the underlying foreign securities in their national markets and currencies. However, they continue to be subject to many of the risks associated with investing directly in foreign securities. These risks include the political and economic risks of the underlying issuer’s country, as well as in the case of depositary receipts traded on foreign markets, exchange risk. Depositary receipts may be sponsored or unsponsored. Unsponsored depositary receipts are established without the participation of the issuer. As a result, available information concerning the issuer of an unsponsored depository receipt may not be as current as for sponsored depositary receipts, and the prices of unsponsored depositary receipts may be more volatile than if such instruments were sponsored by the issuer. Unsponsored depositary receipts may involve higher expenses, may not pass through voting or other shareholder rights and they may be less liquid. | |
Unless otherwise provided in the Prospectus, in determining the domicile of an issuer, the investment adviser may consider the domicile determination of the Fund’s benchmark index or a leading provider of global indexes and may take into account such factors as where the company’s securities are listed, and where the company is legally organized, maintains principal corporate offices and/or conducts its principal operations. | |
In June 2016, the United Kingdom approved a referendum to leave the European Union (“Brexit”). There is significant market uncertainty regarding Brexit’s ramifications, and the range and potential implications of possible political, regulatory, economic, and market outcomes are difficult to predict. Political events, including nationalist unrest in Europe, uncertainties surrounding the sovereign debt of a number of European Union (“EU”) countries and the viability of the EU itself, also may cause market disruptions. If one or more countries leave the EU or the EU dissolves, the world’s securities markets likely will be significantly disrupted. Moreover, the uncertainty about the ramifications of Brexit may cause significant volatility and/or declines in the value of the Euro and the British pound. Brexit may cause greater market volatility and illiquidity, currency fluctuations, deterioration in economic activity, a decrease in business confidence, and increased likelihood of a recession in the United Kingdom. | |
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. A forward foreign currency exchange contract involves an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. These contracts may be bought or sold to protect against an adverse change in the relationship between currencies or to increase exposure to a particular foreign currency. Cross-hedging may be done by using forward contracts in one currency (or basket of currencies) to hedge against fluctuations in the value of instruments denominated in a different currency (or the basket of currencies and the underlying currency). Use of a different foreign currency (for hedging or non-hedging purposes) magnifies exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are individually negotiated and privately traded so they are dependent upon the creditworthiness of the counterparty. The precise matching of the forward contract amounts and the value of the instruments denominated in the corresponding currencies will not generally be possible. In addition, it may not be possible to hedge against long-term currency changes. |
When a currency is difficult to hedge or to hedge against the U.S. dollar, the Fund may enter into a forward contract to sell a currency whose changes in value are generally considered to be linked to such currency. Currency transactions can result in losses if the currency being hedged fluctuates in value to a degree or in a direction that is not anticipated. In addition, there is the risk that the perceived linkage between various currencies may not be present or may not be present during the particular time the hedge is in place. If the Fund purchases a bond denominated in a foreign currency with a higher interest rate than is available on U.S. bonds of a similar maturity, the additional yield on the foreign bond could be substantially reduced or lost if the Fund were to enter into a direct hedge by selling the foreign currency and purchasing the U.S. dollar. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 58 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 59 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Hybrid Securities | Hybrid securities generally possess certain characteristics of both equity and debt securities. These securities may at times behave more like equity than debt, or vice versa. Preferred stocks, convertible securities, trust preferred securities and certain debt obligations are types of hybrid securities. The investment adviser has sole discretion to determine whether an investment has hybrid characteristics and generally will consider the instrument’s preference over the issuer’s common shares, the term of the instrument at the time of issuance and/or the tax character of the instrument’s distributions. Debt instrument with a preference over common shares and a perpetual term or a term at issuance of thirty years or more generally are considered by the investment adviser to be hybrid securities. Hybrid securities generally do not have voting rights or have limited voting rights. Because hybrid securities have both debt and equity characteristics, their values vary in response to many factors, including general market and economic conditions, issuer-specific events, changes in interest rates, credit spreads and the credit quality of the issuer, and, for convertible securities, factors affecting the securities into which they convert. Hybrid securities may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a predetermined price. Hybrid securities may pay a fixed or variable rate of interest or dividends. The prices and yields of nonconvertible hybrid securities generally move with changes in interest rates and the issuer’s credit quality, similar to the factors affecting debt securities. If the issuer of a hybrid security experiences financial difficulties, the value of such security may be adversely affected similar to the issuer’s outstanding common stock or subordinated debt instruments. Trust preferred securities are issued by a special purpose trust that holds the subordinated debt of a company and, as such, are subject to the risks associated with such debt obligation. See also “Preferred Stock,” “Convertible Securities” and “Contingent Convertible Securities.” |
Illiquid Securities | Certain securities are considered illiquid or restricted due to a limited trading market, legal or contractual restrictions on resale or transfer, or are otherwise illiquid because they cannot be sold or disposed of in seven calendar days or less under then-current market conditions without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. Such illiquid securities include commercial paper issued pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act and securities eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144A thereunder. Section 4(a)(2) and Rule 144A securities may, however, be treated as liquid by the investment adviser pursuant to procedures adopted by the Board, which require consideration of factors such as trading activity, availability of market quotations and number of dealers willing to purchase the security. Even if determined to be liquid, Rule 144A securities may increase the level of portfolio illiquidity if eligible buyers become uninterested in purchasing such securities. |
It may be difficult to sell illiquid securities at a price representing fair value until such time as the securities may be sold publicly. It also may be more difficult to determine the fair value of such securities for purposes of computing the Fund’s net asset value. Where registration is required, a considerable period of time may elapse between a decision to sell the securities and the time when the Fund would be permitted to sell. Thus, the Fund may not be able to obtain as favorable a price as that prevailing at the time of the decision to sell. The Fund may incur additional expense when disposing of illiquid securities, including all or a portion of the cost to register the securities. The Fund also may acquire securities through private placements under which it may agree to contractual restrictions on the resale of such securities that are in addition to applicable legal restrictions. Such restrictions might prevent the sale of such securities at a time when such sale would otherwise be desirable. | |
At times, a portion of the Fund’s assets may be invested in securities as to which the Fund, by itself or together with other accounts managed by the investment adviser and its affiliates, holds a major portion or all of such securities. Under adverse market or economic conditions or in the event of adverse changes in the financial condition of the issuer, the Fund could find it more difficult to sell such securities when the investment adviser believes it advisable to do so or may be able to sell such securities only at prices lower than if such securities were more widely held. It may also be more difficult to determine the fair value of such securities for purposes of computing the Fund’s net asset value. See also “Restricted Securities.” |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 60 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 61 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 62 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Loans | Loans may be primary, direct investments or investments in loan assignments or participation interests. A loan assignment represents a portion or the entirety of a loan and a portion of the entirety of a position previously attributable to a different lender. The purchaser of an assignment typically succeeds to all the rights and obligations under the loan agreement and has the same rights and obligations as the assigning investor. However, assignments through private negotiations may cause the purchaser of an assignment to have different and more limited rights than those held by the assigning investor. Loan participation interests are interests issued by a lender or other entity and represent a fractional interest in a loan. The Fund typically will have a contractual relationship only with the financial institution that issued the participation interest. As a result, the Fund may have the right to receive payments of principal, interest and any fees to which it is entitled only from the financial institution and only upon receipt by such entity of such payments from the borrower. In connection with purchasing a participation interest, the Fund generally will have no right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement, nor any rights with respect to any funds acquired by other investors through set-off against the borrower and the Fund may not directly benefit from the collateral supporting the loan in which it has purchased the participation interest. As a result, the Fund may assume the credit risk of both the borrower and the financial institution issuing the participation interest. In the event of the insolvency of the entity issuing a participation interest, the Fund may be treated as a general creditor of such entity. |
Loans may be originated by a lending agent, such as a financial institution or other entity, on behalf of a group or “syndicate” of loan investors (the “Loan Investors”). In such a case, the agent administers the terms of the loan agreement and is responsible for the collection of principal, and interest payments from the borrower and the apportionment of these payments to the Loan Investors. Failure by the agent to fulfill its obligations may delay or adversely affect receipt of payment by the Fund. Furthermore, unless under the terms of a loan agreement or participation (as applicable) the Fund has direct recourse against the borrower, the Fund must rely on the Agent and the other Loan Investors to pursue appropriate remedies against the borrower. | |
Loan investments may be made at par or at a discount or premium to par. The interest payable on a loan may be fixed or floating rate, and paid in cash or in-kind. In connection with transactions in loans, the Fund may be subject to facility or other fees. Loans may be secured by specific collateral or other assets of the borrower, guaranteed by a third party, unsecured or subordinated. During the term of a loan, the value of any collateral securing the loan may decline in value, causing the loan to be under collateralized. Collateral may consist of assets that may not be readily liquidated, and there is no assurance that the liquidation of such assets would satisfy fully a borrower’s obligations under the loan. In addition, if a loan is foreclosed, the Fund could become part owner of the collateral and would bear the costs and liabilities associated with owning and disposing of such collateral. | |
A lender’s repayment and other rights primarily are determined by governing loan, assignment or participation documents, which (among other things) typically establish the priority of payment on the loan relative to other indebtedness and obligations of the borrower. A borrower typically is required to comply with certain covenants contained in a loan agreement between the borrower and the holders of the loan. The types of covenants included in loan agreements generally vary depending on market conditions, the creditworthiness of the issuer, and the nature of the collateral securing the loan. Loans with fewer covenants that restrict activities of the borrower may provide the borrower with more flexibility to take actions that may be detrimental to the loan holders and provide fewer investor protections in the event covenants are breached. The Fund may experience relatively greater realized or unrealized losses or delays and expense in enforcing its rights with respect to loans with fewer restrictive covenants. Loans to entities located outside of the U.S. (including to sovereign entities) may have substantially different lender protections and covenants as compared to loans to U.S. entities and may involve greater risks. In the event of bankruptcy, applicable law may impact a lender’s ability to enforce its rights. The Fund may have difficulties and incur expense enforcing its rights with respect to non-U.S. loans and such loans could be subject to bankruptcy laws that are materially different than in the U.S. Sovereign entities may be unable or unwilling to meet their obligations under a loan due to budgetary limitations or economic or political changes within the country. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 63 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Investing in loans involves the risk of default by the borrower or other party obligated to repay the loan. In the event of insolvency of the borrower or other obligated party, the Fund may be treated as a general creditor of such entity unless it has rights that are senior to that of other creditors or secured by specific collateral or assets of the borrower. Fixed-rate loans are also subject to the risk that their value will decline in a rising interest rate environment. This risk is mitigated for floating-rate loans, where the interest rate payable on the loan resets periodically by reference to a base lending rate. The base lending rate usually is the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), the Federal Reserve federal funds rate, the prime rate or other base lending rates used by commercial lenders. LIBOR usually is an average of the interest rates quoted by several designated banks as the rates at which they pay interest to major depositors in the London interbank market on U.S. dollar-denominated deposits. | |
Many financial instruments use or may use a floating rate based on LIBOR, which is the offered rate for short-term Eurodollar deposits between major international banks. On July 27, 2017, the head of the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced a desire to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. Due to this announcement, there remains uncertainty regarding the future utilization of LIBOR and the nature of any replacement rate. As such, the potential effect of a transition away from LIBOR on the Fund or the financial instruments in which the Fund invests cannot yet be determined. | |
The Fund will take whatever action it considers appropriate in the event of anticipated financial difficulties, default or bankruptcy of the borrower or other entity obligated to repay a loan. Such action may include: (i) retaining the services of various persons or firms (including affiliates of the investment adviser) to evaluate or protect any collateral or other assets securing the loan or acquired as a result of any such event; (ii) managing (or engaging other persons to manage) or otherwise dealing with any collateral or other assets so acquired; and (iii) taking such other actions (including, but not limited to, payment of operating or similar expenses relating to the collateral) as the investment adviser may deem appropriate to reduce the likelihood or severity of loss on the Fund’s investment and/or maximize the return on such investment. The Fund will incur additional expenditures in taking protective action with respect to loans in (or anticipated to be in) default and assets securing such loans. In certain circumstances, the Fund may receive equity or equity-like securities from a borrower to settle the loan or may acquire an equity interest in the borrower. Representatives of the Fund also may join creditor or similar committees relating to loans. | |
Lenders can be sued by other creditors and the debtor and its shareholders. Losses could be greater than the original loan amount and occur years after the loan’s recovery. If a borrower becomes involved in bankruptcy proceedings, a court may invalidate the Fund’s security interest in any loan collateral or subordinate the Fund’s rights under the loan agreement to the interests of the borrower’s unsecured creditors or cause interest previously paid to be refunded to the borrower. There are also other events, such as the failure to perfect a security interest due to faulty documentation or faulty official filings, which could lead to the invalidation of the Fund’s security interest in loan collateral. If any of these events occur, the Fund’s performance could be negatively affected. | |
Interests in loans generally are not listed on any national securities exchange or automated quotation system and no active market may exist for many loans, making them illiquid. As described below, a secondary market exists for many Senior Loans, but it may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods. | |
From time to time the investment adviser and its affiliates may borrow money from various banks in connection with their business activities. Such banks may also sell interests in loans to or acquire them from the Fund or may be intermediate participants with respect to loans in which the Fund owns interests. Such banks may also act as agents for loans held by the Fund. | |
To the extent that legislation or state or federal regulators that regulate certain financial institutions impose additional requirements or restrictions with respect to the ability of such institutions to make loans, particularly in connection with highly leveraged transactions, the availability of loans for investment may be adversely affected. Further, such legislation or regulation could depress the market value of loans. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 64 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
For additional disclosures relating to Junior and Senior Loans, see “Junior Loans” and “Senior Loans” herein. | |
Lower Rated Investments | Lower rated investments (commonly referred to as “junk”) are of below investment grade quality and generally provide greater income potential and/or increased opportunity for capital appreciation than higher quality investments but they also typically entail greater potential price volatility and principal and income risk. Lower rated investments are regarded as predominantly speculative with respect to the entity’s continuing ability to make timely principal and interest payments. Also, their yields and market values may fluctuate more than higher rated investments. Fluctuations in value do not affect the cash income from lower rated investments, but are reflected in the Fund’s net asset value. The greater risks and fluctuations in yield and value occur, in part, because investors generally perceive issuers of lower rated and unrated investments to be less creditworthy. The secondary market for lower rated investments may be less liquid than the market for higher grade investments. |
Master Limited Partnerships (“MLPs”) | MLPs are publicly-traded limited partnership interests or units. An MLP that invests in a particular industry (e.g., oil and gas) will be harmed by detrimental economic events within that industry. As partnerships, MLPs may be subject to less regulation (and less protection for investors) under state laws than corporations. In addition, MLPs may be subject to state taxation in certain jurisdictions, which may reduce the amount of income paid by an MLP to its investors. Effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act generally allows individuals and certain other non-corporate entities, such as partnerships, a deduction for 20% of “qualified publicly traded partnership income” such as income from MLPs. However, the new law does not include any provision for a regulated investment company to pass the character of its qualified publicly traded partnership income through to its shareholders. As a result, an investor who invests directly in MLPs will be able to receive the benefit of that deduction, while a shareholder of the Fund will not. |
Money Market Instruments | Money market instruments include short term, high quality, U.S. dollar denominated instruments such as commercial paper, certificates of deposit and bankers’ acceptances issued by U.S. or foreign banks, and Treasury bills and other obligations with a maturity of one year or less, including those issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies and instrumentalities. See “U.S. Government Securities” below. Certificates of deposit or time deposits are certificates issued against funds deposited in a commercial bank, are for a definite period of time, earn a specified rate of return, and are normally negotiable. Bankers’ acceptances are short-term credit instruments used to finance the import, export, transfer or storage of goods. They are termed “accepted” when a bank guarantees their payment at maturity. |
The obligations of foreign branches of U.S. banks may be general obligations of the parent bank in addition to the issuing branch, or may be limited by the terms of a specific obligation and by governmental regulation. Payment of interest and principal upon these obligations may also be affected by governmental action in the country of domicile of the branch (generally referred to as sovereign risk). In addition, evidence of ownership of portfolio securities may be held outside of the U.S. and generally will be subject to the risks associated with the holding of such property overseas. Various provisions of U.S. law governing the establishment and operation of domestic branches do not apply to foreign branches of domestic banks. The obligations of U.S. branches of foreign banks may be general obligations of the parent bank in addition to the issuing branch, or may be limited by the terms of a specific obligation and by federal and state regulation as well as by governmental action in the country in which the foreign bank has its head office. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 65 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Money market instruments are often acquired directly from the issuers thereof or otherwise are normally traded on a net basis (without commission) through broker-dealers and banks acting for their own account. Such firms attempt to profit from such transactions by buying at the bid price and selling at the higher asked price of the market, and the difference is customarily referred to as the spread. Money market instruments may be adversely affected by market and economic events, such as a sharp rise in prevailing short-term interest rates; adverse developments in the banking industry, which issues or guarantees many money market securities; adverse economic, political or other developments affecting domestic issuers of money market securities; changes in the credit quality of issuers; and default by a counterparty. These securities may be subject to federal income, state income and/or other taxes. Instead of investing in money market instruments directly, the Fund may invest in an affiliated money market fund (such as Eaton Vance Cash Reserves Fund, LLC, which is managed by Eaton Vance) or an unaffiliated money market fund. During unusual market conditions, the Fund may invest up to 100% of its assets in cash or cash equivalents temporarily, which may be inconsistent with its investment objective(s) and other policies. | |
Mortgage-Backed Securities (“MBS”) | MBS are “pass through” securities, meaning that a pro rata share of regular interest and principal payments, as well as unscheduled early prepayments, on the underlying mortgage pool is passed through monthly to the holder. MBS may include conventional mortgage pass through securities, participation interests in pools of adjustable and fixed rate mortgage loans, stripped securities (described herein), floating rate mortgage-backed securities and certain classes of multiple class CMOs. MBS pay principal to the holder over their term, which differs from other forms of debt securities that normally provide for principal payment at maturity or specified call dates. MBS are subject to the general risks associated with investing in real estate securities; that is, they may lose value if the value of the underlying real estate to which a pool of mortgages relates declines. In addition, investments in MBS involve certain specific risks, including the failure of a party to meet its commitments under the related operative documents, adverse interest rate changes, and the effects of prepayments on mortgage cash flows and that any guarantee or other structural feature, if present, is insufficient to enable the timely payment of interest and principal on the MBS. Although certain MBS are guaranteed as to timely payment of interest and principal by a government-sponsored enterprise, the market price for such securities is not guaranteed and will fluctuate. Certain MBS may be purchased on a when-issued basis subject to certain limitations and requirements. |
There are currently four types of MBS: (1) those issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities, such as the Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), the Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“FHLMC”); (2) those issued by private issuers that represent an interest in or are collateralized by pass through securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities; (3) those issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities without a government guarantee, such as credit risk transfer bonds; and (4) those issued by private issuers that represent an interest in or are collateralized by whole mortgage loans or pass through securities without a government guarantee but that usually have some form of private credit enhancement. Privately issued MBS are structured similar to GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC MBS, and are issued by originators of, or investors in, mortgage loans, including depositary institutions, mortgage banks and special purpose subsidiaries of the foregoing. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 66 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
GNMA Certificates and FNMA Mortgage-Backed Certificates are MBS representing part ownership of a pool of mortgage loans. GNMA loans (issued by lenders such as mortgage bankers, commercial banks and savings and loan associations) are either insured by the Federal Housing Administration or guaranteed by the Veterans Administration. A pool of such mortgages is assembled and, after being approved by GNMA, is offered to investors through securities dealers. Once such pool is approved by GNMA, the timely payment of interest and principal on the Certificates issued representing such pool is guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. GNMA is a wholly owned U.S. Government corporation within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. FNMA, a federally chartered corporation owned entirely by private stockholders, purchases both conventional and federally insured or guaranteed residential mortgages from various entities, including savings and loan associations, savings banks, commercial banks, credit unions and mortgage bankers, and packages pools of such mortgages in the form of pass-through securities generally called FNMA Mortgage-Backed Certificates, which are guaranteed as to timely payment of principal and interest by FNMA but are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government; however, they are supported by the right of FNMA to borrow from the U.S. Treasury Department. | |
FHLMC, a corporate instrumentality of the U.S. Government created by Congress for the purposes of increasing the availability of mortgage credit for residential housing, issues participation certificates (“PCs”) representing undivided interest in FHLMC’S mortgage portfolio. While FHLMC guarantees the timely payment of interest and ultimate collection of the principal of its PCs, its PCs are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. FHLMC PCs differ from GNMA Certificates in that the mortgages underlying the PCs are monthly “conventional” mortgages rather than mortgages insured or guaranteed by a federal agency or instrumentality. However, in several other respects, such as the monthly pass-through of interest and principal (including unscheduled prepayments) and the unpredictability of future unscheduled prepayments on the underlying mortgage pools, FHLMC PCs are similar to GNMA Certificates. | |
While it is not possible to accurately predict the life of a particular issue of MBS, the actual life of any such security is likely to be substantially less than the final maturities of the mortgage loans underlying the security. This is because unscheduled early prepayments of principal on MBS will result from the prepayment, refinancings or foreclosure of the underlying mortgage loans in the mortgage pool. Prepayments of MBS may not be able to be reinvested at the same interest rate. Because of the regular scheduled payments of principal and the early unscheduled prepayments of principal, MBS are less effective than other types of obligations as a means of “locking-in” attractive long-term interest rates. As a result, this type of security may have less potential for capital appreciation during periods of declining interest rates than other U.S. Government securities of comparable maturities, although many issues of MBS may have a comparable risk of decline in market value during periods of rising interest rates. If MBS are purchased at a premium above their par value, a scheduled payment of principal and an unscheduled prepayment of principal, which would be made at par, will accelerate the realization of a loss equal to that portion of the premium applicable to the payment or prepayment. If MBS have been purchased at a discount from their par value, both a scheduled payment of principal and an unscheduled prepayment of principal will increase current returns and will accelerate the recognition of income, which, when distributed to Fund shareholders, will be taxable as ordinary income. | |
Mortgage Dollar Rolls | In a mortgage dollar roll, the Fund sells MBS for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts to repurchase substantially similar (same type, coupon and maturity) MBS on a specified future date. During the roll period, the Fund forgoes principal and interest paid on the MBS. The Fund is compensated by the difference between the current sales price and the lower forward price for the future purchase (often referred to as the “drop”) as well as by the interest earned on the cash proceeds of the initial sales. Cash proceeds may be invested in instruments that are permissible investments for the Fund. The use of mortgage dollar rolls is a speculative technique involving leverage. A “covered roll” is a specific type of dollar roll for which there is an offsetting cash position or permissible liquid assets earmarked or in a segregated account to secure the obligation for the forward commitment to buy MBS, or a cash equivalent security position that matures on or before the forward settlement date of the dollar roll transaction. The Fund will only enter into covered rolls. Covered rolls are not treated as a borrowing or other senior security and will be excluded from the calculation of the Fund’s borrowings and other senior securities. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 67 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Municipal Lease Obligations (“MLOs”) | MLOs are obligations in the form of a lease, installment purchase or conditional sales contract (which typically provide for the title to the leased asset to pass to the governmental issuer) that is issued by state or local governments to acquire equipment and facilities. Interest income from MLOs is generally exempt from local and state taxes in the state of issuance. MLOs, like other municipal debt obligations, are subject to the risk of non-payment. Although MLOs do not constitute general obligations of the issuer for which the issuer’s unlimited taxing power is pledged, a lease obligation is frequently backed by the issuer’s covenant to budget for, appropriate and make the payments due under the lease obligation. However, certain lease obligations contain “non-appropriation” clauses, which provide that the issuer has no obligation to make lease or installment purchase payments in future years unless money is appropriated for such purpose on a yearly basis. Although “non-appropriation” lease obligations may be secured by the leased property, disposition of the property in the event of foreclosure might prove difficult. Participations in municipal leases are undivided interests in a portion of the total obligation. Participations entitle their holders to receive a pro rata share of all payments under the lease. |
MLOs and participations therein represent a type of financing that may not have the depth of marketability associated with more conventional securities and, as such, they may be less liquid than conventional securities. Certain MLOs may be deemed illiquid for the purpose of the Fund’s limitation on investments in illiquid securities, unless determined by the investment adviser, pursuant to guidelines adopted by the Board, to be liquid securities. The investment adviser will consider an MLO to be liquid if it is rated investment grade (being an MLO rated BBB or Baa or higher) by a nationally recognized statistical ratings organization or is insured by an insurer rated investment grade. If an MLO or participation does not meet the foregoing criteria, then the investment adviser will consider the MLO to be illiquid unless it conducts an analysis of relevant factors and concludes that the MLO is liquid. In conducting such an analysis, the investment adviser will consider the factors it believes are relevant to the marketability of the obligation, to the extent that information regarding such factor is available to the investment adviser and pertinent to the liquidity determination, which may include: (1) the willingness of dealers to bid for the obligation; (2) the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the obligation and the number of other potential buyers; (3) the frequency of trades and quotes for the obligation; (4) the nature of the marketplace trades, including the time needed to dispose of the obligation, the method of soliciting offers, and the mechanics of transfer; (5) the willingness of the governmental issuer to continue to appropriate funds for the payment of the obligation; (6) how likely or remote an event of non-appropriation may be, which depends in varying degrees on a variety of factors, including those relating to the general creditworthiness of the governmental issuer, its dependence on its continuing access to the credit markets, and the importance to the issuer of the equipment, property or facility covered by the lease or contract; (7) an assessment of the likelihood that the lease may or may not be cancelled; and (8) other factors and information unique to the obligation in determining its liquidity. | |
The ability of issuers of MLOs to make timely lease payments may be adversely impacted in general economic downturns and as relative governmental cost burdens are allocated and reallocated among federal, state and local governmental units. Such non-payment would result in a reduction of income from and value of the obligation. Issuers of MLOs might seek protection under the bankruptcy laws. In the event of bankruptcy of such an issuer, holders of MLOs could experience delays and limitations with respect to the collection of principal and interest on such MLOs and may not, in all circumstances, be able to collect all principal and interest to which it is entitled. To enforce its rights in the event of a default in lease payments, the Fund might take possession of and manage the assets securing the issuer’s obligations on such securities or otherwise incur costs to protect its rights, which may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect the net asset value of the Fund. When the lease contains a non-appropriation clause, however, the failure to pay would not be a default and the Fund would not have the right to take possession of the assets. Any income derived from the Fund’s ownership or operation of such assets may not be tax-exempt. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 68 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Municipal Obligations | Municipal obligations include debt obligations issued to obtain funds for various public purposes, including the construction of a wide range of public facilities, refunding of outstanding obligations and obtaining funds for general operating expenses and loans to other public institutions and facilities. Certain types of bonds are issued by or on behalf of public authorities to finance various privately owned or operated facilities, including certain facilities for the local furnishing of electric energy or gas, sewage facilities, solid waste disposal facilities and other specialized facilities. Municipal obligations include bonds as well as tax-exempt commercial paper, project notes and municipal notes such as tax, revenue and bond anticipation notes of short maturity, generally less than three years. While most municipal bonds pay a fixed rate of interest semiannually in cash, there are exceptions. Some bonds pay no periodic cash interest, but rather make a single payment at maturity representing both principal and interest. Some bonds may pay interest at a variable or floating rate. Bonds may be issued or subsequently offered with interest coupons materially greater or less than those then prevailing, with price adjustments reflecting such deviation. Municipal obligations also include trust certificates representing interests in municipal securities held by a trustee. The trust certificates may evidence ownership of future interest payments, principal payments or both on the underlying securities. |
In general, there are three categories of municipal obligations, the interest on which is exempt from federal income tax and is not a tax preference item for purposes of the AMT: (i) certain “public purpose” obligations (whenever issued), which include obligations issued directly by state and local governments or their agencies to fulfill essential governmental functions; (ii) certain obligations issued before August 8, 1986 for the benefit of non-governmental persons or entities; and (iii) certain “private activity bonds” issued after August 7, 1986, which include “qualified Section 501(c)(3) bonds” or refundings of certain obligations included in the second category. Opinions relating to the validity of municipal bonds, exclusion of municipal bond interest from an investor’s gross income for federal income tax purposes and, where applicable, state and local income tax, are rendered by bond counsel to the issuing authorities at the time of issuance. | |
Interest on certain “private activity bonds” issued after August 7, 1986 is exempt from regular federal income tax, but such interest (including a distribution by the Fund derived from such interest) is treated as a tax preference item that could subject the recipient to or increase the recipient’s liability for the AMT. | |
The two principal classifications of municipal bonds are “general obligation” and “revenue” bonds. Issuers of general obligation bonds include states, counties, cities, towns and regional districts. The proceeds of these obligations are used to fund a wide range of public projects, including the construction or improvement of schools, highways and roads, water and sewer systems and a variety of other public purposes. The basic security of general obligation bonds is the issuer’s pledge of its faith, credit, and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest. The taxes that can be levied for the payment of debt service may be limited or unlimited as to rate and amount. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 69 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Typically, the only security for a limited obligation or revenue bond is the net revenue derived from a particular facility or class of facilities financed thereby or, in some cases, from the proceeds of a special tax or other special revenues. Revenue bonds have been issued to fund a wide variety of revenue-producing public capital projects including: electric, gas, water and sewer systems; highways, bridges and tunnels; port and airport facilities; colleges and universities; hospitals; and convention, recreational, tribal gaming and housing facilities. Although the security behind these bonds varies widely, many lower rated bonds provide additional security in the form of a debt service reserve fund that may also be used to make principal and interest payments on the issuer's obligations. In addition, some revenue obligations (as well as general obligations) are insured by a bond insurance company or backed by a letter of credit issued by a banking institution. Revenue bonds also include, for example, pollution control, health care and housing bonds, which, although nominally issued by municipal authorities, are generally not secured by the taxing power of the municipality but by the revenues of the authority derived from payments by the private entity that owns or operates the facility financed with the proceeds of the bonds. Obligations of housing finance authorities have a wide range of security features, including reserve funds and insured or subsidized mortgages, as well as the net revenues from housing or other public projects. Many of these bonds do not generally constitute the pledge of the credit of the issuer of such bonds. The credit quality of such revenue bonds is usually directly related to the credit standing of the user of the facility being financed or of an institution which provides a guarantee, letter of credit or other credit enhancement for the bond issue. The Fund may on occasion acquire revenue bonds that carry warrants or similar rights covering equity securities. Such warrants or rights may be held indefinitely, but if exercised, the Fund anticipates that it would, under normal circumstances, dispose of any equity securities so acquired within a reasonable period of time. Investing in revenue bonds may involve (without limitation) the following risks. | |
Hospital bond ratings are often based on feasibility studies that contain projections of expenses, revenues and occupancy levels. A hospital’s income available to service its debt may be influenced by demand for hospital services, management capabilities, the service area economy, efforts by insurers and government agencies to limit rates and expenses, competition, availability and expense of malpractice insurance, and Medicaid and Medicare funding. | |
Education-related bonds are comprised of two types: (i) those issued to finance projects for public and private colleges and universities, charter schools and private schools, and (ii) those representing pooled interests in student loans. Bonds issued to supply educational institutions with funding are subject to many risks, including the risks of unanticipated revenue decline, primarily the result of decreasing student enrollment, decreasing state and federal funding, or changes in general economic conditions. Additionally, higher than anticipated costs associated with salaries, utilities, insurance or other general expenses could impair the ability of a borrower to make annual debt service payments. Student loan revenue bonds are generally offered by state (or sub-state) authorities or commissions and are backed by pools of student loans. Underlying student loans may be guaranteed by state guarantee agencies and may be subject to reimbursement by the United States Department of Education through its guaranteed student loan program. Others may be private, uninsured loans made to parents or students that may be supported by reserves or other forms of credit enhancement. Cash flows supporting student loan revenue bonds are impacted by numerous factors, including the rate of student loan defaults, seasoning of the loan portfolio, and student repayment deferral periods of forbearance. Other risks associated with student loan revenue bonds include potential changes in federal legislation regarding student loan revenue bonds, state guarantee agency reimbursement and continued federal interest and other program subsidies currently in effect. | |
Transportation debt may be issued to finance the construction of airports, toll roads, highways, or other transit facilities. Airport bonds are dependent on the economic conditions of the airport’s service area and may be affected by the business strategies and fortunes of specific airlines. They may also be subject to competition from other airports and modes of transportation. Air traffic generally follows broader economic trends and is also affected by the price and availability of fuel. Toll road bonds are also affected by the cost and availability of fuel as well as toll levels, the presence of competing roads and the general economic health of an area. Fuel costs, transportation taxes and fees, and availability of fuel also affect other transportation-related securities, as do the presence of alternate forms of transportation, such as public transportation. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 70 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Industrial development bonds (“IDBs”) are normally secured only by the revenues from the project and not by state or local government tax payments, they are subject to a wide variety of risks, many of which relate to the nature of the specific project. Generally, IDBs are sensitive to the risk of a slowdown in the economy. Electric utilities face problems in financing large construction programs in an inflationary period, cost increases and delay occasioned by safety and environmental considerations (particularly with respect to nuclear facilities), difficulty in obtaining fuel at reasonable prices, and in achieving timely and adequate rate relief from regulatory commissions, effects of energy conservation and limitations on the capacity of the capital market to absorb utility debt. Water and sewer revenue bonds are generally secured by the fees charged to each user of the service. The issuers of water and sewer revenue bonds generally enjoy a monopoly status and latitude in their ability to raise rates. However, lack of water supply due to insufficient rain, run-off, or snow pack can be a concern and has led to past defaults. Further, public resistance to rate increases, declining numbers of customers in a particular locale, costly environmental litigation, and federal environmental mandates are challenges faced by issuers of water and sewer bonds. |
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The obligations of any person or entity to pay the principal of and interest on a municipal obligation are subject to the provisions of bankruptcy, insolvency and other laws affecting the rights and remedies of creditors, such as the Federal Bankruptcy Act, and laws, if any, that may be enacted by Congress or state legislatures extending the time for payment of principal or interest, or both, or imposing other constraints upon enforcement of such obligations. Certain bond structures may be subject to the risk that a taxing authority may issue an adverse ruling regarding tax-exempt status. There is also the possibility that as a result of adverse economic conditions (including unforeseen financial events, natural disasters and other conditions that may affect an issuer’s ability to pay its obligations), litigation or other conditions, the power or ability of any person or entity to pay when due principal of and interest on a municipal obligation may be materially affected or interest and principal previously paid may be required to be refunded. There have been instances of defaults and bankruptcies involving municipal obligations that were not foreseen by the financial and investment communities. The Fund will take whatever action it considers appropriate in the event of anticipated financial difficulties, default or bankruptcy of either the issuer of any municipal obligation or of the underlying source of funds for debt service. Such action may include: (i) retaining the services of various persons or firms (including affiliates of the investment adviser) to evaluate or protect any real estate, facilities or other assets securing any such obligation or acquired by the Fund as a result of any such event; (ii) managing (or engaging other persons to manage) or otherwise dealing with any real estate, facilities or other assets so acquired; and (iii) taking such other actions as the adviser (including, but not limited to, payment of operating or similar expenses of the underlying project) may deem appropriate to reduce the likelihood or severity of loss on the fund’s investment. The Fund will incur additional expenditures in taking protective action with respect to portfolio obligations in (or anticipated to be in) default and assets securing such obligations. | |
Historically, municipal bankruptcies have been rare and certain provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code governing such bankruptcy are unclear. Further, the application of state law to municipal obligation issuers could produce varying results among the states or among municipal obligation issuers within a state. These uncertainties could have a significant impact on the prices of the municipal obligations in which the Fund invests. There could be economic, business or political developments or court decisions that adversely affect all municipal obligations in the same sector. Developments such as changes in healthcare regulations, environmental considerations related to construction, construction cost increases and labor problems, failure of healthcare facilities to maintain adequate occupancy levels, and inflation can affect municipal obligations in the same sector. As the similarity in issuers of municipal obligations held by the Fund increases, the potential for fluctuations in the Fund’s share price also may increase. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 71 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The secondary market for some municipal obligations issued within a state (including issues that are privately placed with the Fund) is less liquid than that for taxable debt obligations or other more widely traded municipal obligations. No established resale market exists for certain of the municipal obligations in which the Fund may invest. The market for obligations rated below investment grade is also likely to be less liquid than the market for higher rated obligations. As a result, the Fund may be unable to dispose of these municipal obligations at times when it would otherwise wish to do so at the prices at which they are valued. Municipal obligations that are rated below investment grade but that, subsequent to the assignment of such rating, are backed by escrow accounts containing U.S. Government obligations may be determined by the investment adviser to be of investment grade quality for purposes of the Fund’s investment policies. In the case of a defaulted obligation, the Fund may incur additional expense seeking recovery of its investment. Defaulted obligations are denoted in the “Portfolio of Investments” in the “Financial Statements” included in the Fund’s reports to shareholders. The yields on municipal obligations depend on a variety of factors, including purposes of the issue and source of funds for repayment, general money market conditions, general conditions of the municipal bond market, size of a particular offering, maturity of the obligation and rating of the issue. The ratings of Moody’s, S&P and Fitch represent their opinions as to the quality of the municipal obligations which they undertake to rate, and in the case of insurers, other factors including the claims-paying ability of such insurer. It should be emphasized, however, that ratings are based on judgment and are not absolute standards of quality. Consequently, municipal obligations with the same maturity, coupon and rating may have different yields while obligations of the same maturity and coupon with different ratings may have the same yield. In addition, the market price of such obligations will normally fluctuate with changes in interest rates, and therefore the net asset value of the Fund will be affected by such changes. |
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Operational Risk | The Fund’s service providers, including the investment adviser, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the Fund. While service providers are expected to have appropriate operational risk management policies and procedures, their methods of operational risk management may differ from the Fund's in the setting of priorities, the personnel and resources available or the effectiveness of relevant controls. It also is not possible for Fund service providers to identify all of the operational risks that may affect the Fund or to develop processes and controls to completely eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 72 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Option Contracts | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. An option contract is a contract that gives the holder of the option, in return for a premium, the right to buy from (in the case of a call) or sell to (in the case of a put) the writer of the option the reference instrument underlying the option (or the cash value of the index) at a specified exercise price at any time during the term of the option. The writer of an option on a security has the obligation upon exercise of the option to deliver the reference instrument (or the cash) upon payment of the exercise price or to pay the exercise price upon delivery of the reference instrument (or the cash). Upon exercise of an index option, the writer of an option on an index is obligated to pay the difference between the cash value of the index and the exercise price multiplied by the specified multiplier for the index option. Options may be “covered,” meaning that the party required to deliver the reference instrument if the option is exercised owns that instrument (or has set aside sufficient assets to meet its obligation to deliver the instrument). Options may be listed on an exchange or traded in the OTC market. In general, exchange-traded options have standardized exercise prices and expiration dates and may require the parties to post margin against their obligations, and the performance of the parties' obligations in connection with such options is guaranteed by the exchange or a related clearing corporation. OTC options have more flexible terms negotiated between the buyer and the seller, but generally do not require the parties to post margin and are subject to counterparty risk. The ability of the Fund to transact business with any one or any number of counterparties, the lack of any independent evaluation of the counterparties or their financial capabilities, and the absence of a regulated market to facilitate settlement, may increase the potential for losses to the Fund. OTC options also involve greater liquidity risk. This risk may be increased in times of financial stress, if the trading market for OTC derivative contracts becomes limited. The staff of the SEC takes the position that certain purchased OTC options, and assets used as cover for written OTC options, are illiquid. Derivatives on economic indicators generally are offered in an auction format and are booked and settled as OTC options. Options on futures contracts are discussed herein under “Futures Contracts.” |
If a written option expires unexercised, the Fund realizes a capital gain equal to the premium received at the time the option was written. If a purchased option expires unexercised, the Fund realizes a capital loss equal to the premium paid. Prior to the earlier of exercise or expiration, an exchange traded option may be closed out by an offsetting purchase or sale of an option of the same series (type, exchange, reference instrument, exercise price, and expiration). A capital gain will be realized from a closing purchase transaction if the cost of the closing option is less than the premium received from writing the option, or, if it is more, a capital loss will be realized. If the premium received from a closing sale transaction is more than the premium paid to purchase the option, the Fund will realize a capital gain or, if it is less, the Fund will realize a capital loss. The principal factors affecting the market value of a put or a call option include supply and demand, the current market price of the reference instrument in relation to the exercise price of the option, the volatility of the reference instrument, and the time remaining until the expiration date. There can be no assurance that a closing purchase or sale transaction can be consummated when desired. | |
Straddles are a combination of a call and a put written on the same reference instrument. A straddle is deemed to be covered when sufficient assets are deposited to meet the Fund’s immediate obligations. The same liquid assets may be used to cover both the call and put options where the exercise price of the call and put are the same, or the exercise price of the call is higher than that of the put. The Fund may also buy and write call options on the same reference instrument to cover its obligations. Because such combined options positions involve multiple trades, they result in higher transaction costs and may be more difficult to open or close. In an equity collar, the Fund simultaneously writes a call option and purchases a put option on the same instrument. | |
To the extent that the Fund writes a call option on an instrument it holds and intends to use such instrument as the sole means of “covering” its obligation under the call option, the Fund has, in return for the premium on the option, given up the opportunity to profit from a price increase in the instrument above the exercise price during the option period, but, as long as its obligation under such call option continues, has retained the risk of loss should the value of the reference instrument decline. If the Fund were unable to close out such a call option, it would not be able to sell the instrument unless the option expired without exercise. Uncovered calls have speculative characteristics and are riskier than covered calls because there is no instrument or cover held by the Fund that can act as a partial hedge. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 73 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The writer of an option has no control over the time when it may be required to fulfill its obligation under the option. Once an option writer has received an exercise notice, it cannot effect a closing purchase transaction in order to terminate its obligation under the option and must deliver the underlying reference instrument at the exercise price. If a put or call option purchased by the Fund is not sold when it has remaining value, and if the market price of the underlying security remains equal to or greater than the exercise price (in the case of a put), or remains less than or equal to the exercise price (in the case of a call), the Fund will lose the premium it paid for the option. Furthermore, if trading restrictions or suspensions are imposed on options markets, the Fund may be unable to close out a position. | |
Options positions are marked to market daily. The value of options is affected by changes in the value and dividend rates of the securities underlying the option or represented in the index underlying the option, changes in interest rates, changes in the actual or perceived volatility of the relevant index or market and the remaining time to the options’ expiration, as well as trading conditions in the options market. The hours of trading for options may not conform to the hours during which the underlying securities are traded. To the extent that the options markets close before the markets for the underlying securities, significant price and rate movements can take place in the underlying markets that would not be reflected concurrently in the options markets. | |
Option Strategy | The Fund implements the Option Strategy or Enhancement Strategy, as further described under “Investment Objective & Principal Policies and Risks” in the Prospectus, whereby it writes a series of call and put option spread combinations on the S&P 500 Composite Stock Price Index (S&P 500 Index) and/or a proxy for the S&P 500 Index (such as SPDR Trust Series I units (SPDRs)). |
Participation in the ReFlow Liquidity Program | The Fund may participate in the ReFlow liquidity program, which is designed to provide an alternative liquidity source for mutual funds experiencing net redemptions of their shares. Pursuant to the program, ReFlow Fund, LLC (“ReFlow”) provides participating mutual funds with a source of cash to meet net shareholder redemptions by standing ready each business day to purchase fund shares up to the value of the net shares redeemed by other shareholders that are to settle the next business day. Following purchases of fund shares, ReFlow then generally redeems those shares when the fund experiences net sales, at the end of a maximum holding period determined by ReFlow (currently 14 days) or at other times at ReFlow’s discretion. While ReFlow holds fund shares, it will have the same rights and privileges with respect to those shares as any other shareholder. For use of the ReFlow service, a fund pays a fee to ReFlow each time it purchases fund shares, calculated by applying to the purchase amount a fee rate determined through an automated daily auction among participating mutual funds. Such fee is allocated among a fund’s share classes based on relative net assets. ReFlow’s purchases of fund shares through the liquidity program are made on an investment-blind basis without regard to the fund’s investment objective, policies or anticipated performance. In accordance with federal securities laws, ReFlow is prohibited from acquiring more than 3% of the outstanding voting securities of a fund. ReFlow will purchase Class I or Institutional Class shares (or, if applicable Class A or Investor Class shares) at net asset value and will not be subject to any sales charge (in the case of Class A shares), investment minimum or redemption fee applicable to such shares. ReFlow will periodically redeem its entire share position in the Fund and request that such redemption be met in kind in accordance with the Fund’s redemption-in-kind policies described under “Redeeming Shares” in the Prospectus. Investments in a fund by ReFlow in connection with the ReFlow liquidity program are not subject to the two round-trips within 90 days limitation described in “Restrictions on Excessive Trading and Market Timing” under “Purchasing Shares” in the Prospectus. The investment adviser believes that the program assists in stabilizing the Fund’s net assets to the benefit of the Fund and its shareholders. To the extent the Fund’s net assets do not decline, the investment adviser may also benefit. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 74 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Pooled Investment Vehicles | The Fund may invest in pooled investment vehicles including other open-end or closed-end investment companies affiliated or unaffiliated with the investment adviser, exchange-traded funds (described herein) and other collective investment pools in accordance with the requirements of the 1940 Act. Closed-end investment company securities are usually traded on an exchange. The demand for a closed-end fund’s securities is independent of the demand for the underlying portfolio assets, and accordingly, such securities can trade at a discount from, or a premium over, their net asset value. The Fund generally will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any management fees paid by a pooled investment vehicle in which it invests in addition to the investment advisory fee paid by the Fund. |
Portfolio Turnover | A change in the securities held by the Fund is known as “portfolio turnover” and generally involves expense to the Fund, including brokerage commissions or dealer markups and other transaction costs on both the sale of securities and the reinvestment of the proceeds in other securities. If sales of portfolio securities cause the Fund to realize net short-term capital gains, such gains will be taxable as ordinary income to taxable shareholders. The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate for a fiscal year is the ratio of the lesser of purchases or sales of portfolio securities to the monthly average of the value of portfolio securities − excluding securities whose maturities at acquisition were one year or less. The Fund's portfolio turnover rate is not a limiting factor when the investment adviser considers a change in the Fund's portfolio holdings. The portfolio turnover rate(s) of the Fund for recent fiscal periods is included in the Financial Highlights in the Prospectus. |
Preferred Stock | Preferred stock represents an equity interest in a corporation, company or trust that has a higher claim on the assets and earnings than common stock. Preferred stock usually has limited voting rights. Preferred stock involves credit risk, which is the risk that a preferred stock will decline in price, or fail to pay dividends when expected, because the issuer experiences a decline in its financial status. A company’s preferred stock generally pays dividends after the company makes the required payments to holders of its bonds and other debt instruments but before dividend payments are made to common stockholders. However, preferred stock may not pay scheduled dividends or dividends payments may be in arrears. The value of preferred stock may react more strongly than bonds and other debt instruments to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects. Certain preferred stocks may be convertible to common stock. See “Convertible Securities” and “Contingent Convertible Securities.” Preferred stock may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a predetermined price. Because they may make regular income payments, preferred stocks may be considered fixed-income securities for purposes of a Fund’s investment restrictions. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 75 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Real Estate Investments |
Real estate investments, including real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), are sensitive to factors, such as changes in: real estate values, property taxes, interest rates, cash flow of underlying real estate assets, occupancy rates, government regulations affecting zoning, land use, and rents, and the management skill and creditworthiness of the issuer. Companies in the real estate industry may also be subject to liabilities under environmental and hazardous waste laws, among others. Changes in underlying real estate values may have a magnified effect to the extent that investments concentrate in particular geographic regions or property types. Investments in REITs may also be adversely affected by rising interest rates. By investing in REITs, the Fund indirectly will bear REIT expenses in addition to its own expenses. Private REITs are unlisted, which may make them difficult to value and less liquid. Moreover, private REITs are generally exempt from 1933 Act registration and, as such, the amount of public information available with respect to private REITs may be less extensive than that available for publicly traded REITs. Shares of REITs may trade less frequently and, therefore, are subject to more erratic price movements than securities of larger issuers. REITs are also subject to credit, market, liquidity and interest rate risks. Effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026, the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act generally allows individuals and certain other non-corporate entities, such as partnerships, a deduction for 20% of qualified REIT dividends. Recently issued proposed regulations on which the Fund may rely allow a regulated investment company to pass the character of its qualified REIT dividends through to its shareholders provided certain holding period requirements are met. See “Taxes” below for additional information. REITs may issue debt securities to fund their activities. The value of these debt securities may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the REIT, the creditworthiness of the REIT, interest rates, and tax and regulatory requirements, among other things. |
Repurchase Agreements | Repurchase agreements involve the purchase of a security coupled with an agreement to resell at a specified date and price. In the event of the bankruptcy of the counterparty to a repurchase agreement, recovery of cash may be delayed. To the extent that, in the meantime, the value of the purchased securities may have decreased, a loss could result. Repurchase agreements that mature in more than seven days will be treated as illiquid. Unless the Prospectus states otherwise, the terms of a repurchase agreement will provide that the value of the collateral underlying the repurchase agreement will always be at least equal to the repurchase price, including any accrued interest earned on the agreement, and will be marked to market daily. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 76 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Residual Interest Bonds |
The Fund may invest in residual interest bonds in a trust that holds municipal securities. The interest rate payable on a residual interest bond bears an inverse relationship to the interest rate on another security issued by the trust. Because changes in the interest rate on the other security inversely affect the interest paid on the residual interest bond, the value and income of a residual interest bond is generally more volatile than that of a fixed rate bond. Residual interest bonds have interest rate adjustment formulas that generally reduce or, in the extreme, eliminate the interest paid to the Fund when short-term interest rates rise, and increase the interest paid to the Fund when short-term interest rates fall. Residual interest bonds have varying degrees of liquidity, and the market for these securities is relatively volatile. These securities tend to underperform the market for fixed rate bonds in a rising long-term interest rate environment, but tend to outperform the market for fixed rate bonds when long-term interest rates decline. Although volatile, residual interest bonds typically offer the potential for yields exceeding the yields available on fixed rate bonds with comparable credit quality and maturity. These securities usually permit the investor to convert the floating rate to a fixed rate (normally adjusted downward), and this optional conversion feature may provide a partial hedge against rising rates if exercised at an opportune time. While residual interest bonds expose the Fund to leverage risk because they provide two or more dollars of bond market exposure for every dollar invested, they are not subject to the Fund’s restrictions on borrowings. Under certain circumstances, the Fund may enter into a so-called shortfall and forbearance agreement relating to a residual interest bond held by the Fund. Such agreements commit the Fund to reimburse the difference between the liquidation value of the underlying security (which is the basis of the residual interest bond) and the principal amount due to the holders of the floating rate security issued in conjunction with the residual interest bond upon the termination of the trust issuing the residual interest bond. Absent a shortfall and forbearance agreement, the Fund would not be required to make such a reimbursement. If the Fund chooses not to enter into such an agreement, the residual interest bond could be terminated and the Fund could incur a loss. The Fund’s investments in residual interest bonds and similar securities described in the Prospectus and this SAI will not be considered borrowing for purposes of the Fund’s restrictions on borrowing described herein and in the Prospectus. On December 10, 2013, five U.S. federal agencies published final rules implementing section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Volcker Rule”). The Volcker Rule prohibits banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading of certain instruments and limits such entities’ investments in, and relationships with, covered funds, as defined in the rules. The Volcker Rule precludes banking entities and their affiliates from (i) sponsoring residual interest bond programs as presently structured and (ii) continuing relationships with or services for existing residual interest bond programs. The effects of the Volcker Rule may make it more difficult for the Fund to maintain current or desired levels of income. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 77 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Restricted Securities |
Restricted securities cannot be sold to the public without registration under the 1933 Act. Unless registered for sale, restricted securities can be sold only in privately negotiated transactions or pursuant to an exemption from registration. Restricted securities may be considered illiquid and subject to the Fund’s limitation on illiquid securities. Restricted securities may involve a high degree of business and financial risk which may result in substantial losses. The securities may be less liquid than publicly traded securities. Although these securities may be resold in privately negotiated transactions, the prices realized from these sales could be less than those originally paid by the Fund. The Fund may invest in restricted securities, including securities initially offered and sold without registration pursuant to Rule 144A (“Rule 144A Securities”) and securities of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers initially offered and sold outside the United States without registration with the SEC pursuant to Regulation S (“Regulation S Securities”) under the 1933 Act. Rule 144A Securities and Regulation S Securities generally may be traded freely among certain qualified institutional investors, such as the Fund, and non-U.S. persons, but resale to a broader base of investors in the United States may be permitted only in much more limited circumstances. The Fund also may purchase restricted securities that are not eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S. The Fund may acquire such securities through private placement transactions, directly from the issuer or from security holders, generally at higher yields or on terms more favorable to investors than comparable publicly traded securities. However, the restrictions on resale of such securities may make it difficult for the Fund to dispose of them at the time considered most advantageous and/or may involve expenses that would not be incurred in the sale of securities that were freely marketable. Risks associated with restricted securities include the potential obligation to pay all or part of the registration expenses in order to sell certain restricted securities. A considerable period of time may elapse between the time of the decision to sell a security and the time the Fund may be permitted to sell it under an effective registration statement and/or after an applicable waiting period. If adverse conditions were to develop during this period, the Fund might obtain a price that is less favorable than the price that was prevailing at the time it decided to sell. See also “Illiquid Securities.” |
Reverse Repurchase Agreements | Under a reverse repurchase agreement, the Fund temporarily transfers possession of a portfolio instrument to another party, such as a bank or broker-dealer, in return for cash. At the same time, the Fund agrees to repurchase the instrument at an agreed upon time (normally within seven days) and price, which reflects an interest payment. The Fund may enter into a reverse repurchase agreement for various purposes, including, but not limited to, when it is able to invest the cash acquired at a rate higher than the cost of the agreement or as a means of raising cash to satisfy redemption requests without the necessity of selling portfolio assets. In a reverse repurchase agreement, any fluctuations in the market value of either the securities transferred to another party or the securities in which the proceeds may be invested would affect the market value of the Fund’s assets. As a result, such transactions may increase fluctuations in the value of the Fund. Because reverse repurchase agreements may be considered to be the practical equivalent of borrowing funds, they constitute a form of leverage. Such agreements will be treated as subject to investment restrictions regarding “borrowings.” If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of a reverse repurchase agreement at a rate lower than the cost of the agreement, entering into the agreement will lower the Fund’s yield. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 78 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Rights and Warrants |
See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. A right is a privilege granted to existing shareholders of a corporation to subscribe for shares of a new issue of common stock before it is issued. Rights normally have a short life, usually two to four weeks, are freely transferable and entitle the holder to buy the new common stock at a lower price than the public offering price. Warrants are securities that are typically issued together with a debt security or preferred stock and that give the holder the right to buy a proportionate amount of common stock at a specified price. Warrants are freely transferable and are often traded on major exchanges. Unlike rights, warrants normally have a life that is measured in years and entitle the holder to buy common stock of a company at a price that is usually higher than the market price at the time the warrant is issued. Corporations often issue warrants to make the accompanying debt security more attractive. Warrants and rights may entail greater risks than certain other types of investments. Generally, rights and warrants do not carry the right to receive dividends or exercise voting rights with respect to the underlying securities, and they do not represent any rights in the assets of the issuer. In addition, their value does not necessarily change with the value of the underlying securities, and they cease to have value if they are not exercised on or before their expiration date. If the market price of the underlying stock does not exceed the exercise price during the life of the warrant or right, the warrant or right will expire worthless. (Canadian special warrants issued in private placements prior to a public offering are not considered warrants.) |
Royalty Bonds |
Royalty bonds include debt securities collateralized by pharmaceutical royalty interests (“Royalty Bonds”). Pharmaceutical royalty streams are created when the owner of a patent on a pharmaceutical product licenses the discovery to a larger commercial entity for further development, while maintaining a royalty interest on future sales of the product. Royalty Bonds are created when the royalty owner borrows against the royalty stream by issuing debt collateralized by the royalty. Royalty Bond investors receive interest and principal payments collateralized and funded by the stream of royalty payments. Royalty Bonds are typically offered in a private placement pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act and are restricted as to resale. Because Royalty Bonds are restricted securities and because of the proprietary nature of the underlying pharmaceutical product licenses, it may take longer to liquidate Royalty Bond positions than would be the case for other securities. Royalty Bonds are also subject to the industry risks associated with health sciences companies. |
Securities Lending | The Fund may lend its portfolio securities to major banks, broker-dealers and other financial institutions in compliance with the 1940 Act. No lending may be made with any companies affiliated with the investment adviser. These loans earn income and are collateralized by cash, securities or letters of credit. The Fund may realize a loss if it is not able to invest cash collateral at rates higher than the costs to enter into the loan. The Fund invests cash collateral in an unaffiliated money market fund that operates in compliance with the requirements of Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act and seeks to maintain a stable $1.00 net asset value per share. When the loan is closed, the lender is obligated to return the collateral to the borrower. The lender could suffer a loss if the value of the collateral is below the market value of the borrowed securities or if the borrower defaults on the loan. The lender may pay reasonable finder’s, lending agent, administrative and custodial fees in connection with its loans. The investment adviser will use its reasonable efforts to instruct the securities lending agent to terminate loans and recall securities with voting rights so that the securities may be voted in accordance with the Fund’s proxy voting policy and procedures. See “Taxes” for information on the tax treatment of payments in lieu of dividends received pursuant to securities lending arrangements. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 79 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Senior Loans | Senior Loans are loans that are senior in repayment priority to other debt of the borrower. Senior Loans generally pay interest that floats, adjusts or varies periodically based on benchmark indicators, specified adjustment schedules or prevailing interest rates. Senior Loans are often secured by specific assets or “collateral,” although they may not be secured by collateral. A Senior Loan is typically originated, negotiated and structured by a U.S. or foreign commercial bank, insurance company, finance company or other financial institution (the “Agent”) for a group of loan investors (“Loan Investors”), generally referred to as a “syndicate.” The Agent typically administers and enforces the Senior Loan on behalf of the Loan Investors in the syndicate. In addition, an institution, typically but not always the Agent, holds any collateral on behalf of the Loan Investors. Loan interests primarily take the form of assignments purchased in the primary or secondary market. Loan interests may also take the form of participation interests in, or novations of, a Senior Loan. Senior Loans primarily include senior floating rate loans and secondarily senior floating rate debt obligations (including those issued by an asset-backed pool), and interests therein. |
Loan Collateral. Borrowers generally will, for the term of the Senior Loan, pledge collateral to secure their obligation. In addition, Senior Loans may be guaranteed by or secured by assets of the borrower’s owners or affiliates. During the term of the Senior Loan, the value of collateral securing the Loan may decline in value, causing the Loan to be under-collateralized. Collateral may consist of assets that may not be readily liquidated, and there is no assurance that the liquidation of such assets would satisfy fully a borrower’s obligations under a Senior Loan. In addition, if a Senior Loan is foreclosed, the Fund could become part owner of the collateral and would bear the costs and liabilities associated with owning and disposing of such collateral. | |
Fees. The Fund may receive a facility fee when it buys a Senior Loan, and pay a facility fee when it sells a Senior Loan. On an ongoing basis, the Fund may receive a commitment fee based on the undrawn portion of the underlying line of credit portion of a Senior Loan. In certain circumstances, the Fund may receive a prepayment penalty fee upon the prepayment of a Senior Loan by a borrower or an amendment fee. | |
Loan Administration. In a typical Senior Loan, the Agent administers the terms of the loan agreement and is responsible for the collection of principal, and interest payments from the borrower and the apportionment of these payments to the Loan Investors. Failure by the Agent to fulfill its obligations may delay or adversely affect receipt of payment by the Fund. Furthermore, unless under the terms of a loan agreement or participation (as applicable) the Fund has direct recourse against the borrower, the Fund must rely on the Agent and the other Loan Investors to use appropriate remedies against the borrower. The Agent is typically responsible for monitoring compliance with covenants contained in the loan agreement based upon reports prepared by the borrower. The typical practice of an Agent or a Loan Investor in relying exclusively or primarily on reports from the borrower may involve the risk of fraud by the borrower. It is unclear whether an investment in a Senior Loan offers the securities law protections against fraud and misrepresentation. | |
A financial institution’s appointment as Agent may usually be terminated in the event that it fails to observe the requisite standard of care or becomes insolvent. A successor Agent would generally be appointed to replace the terminated Agent, and assets held by the Agent under the Loan Agreement should remain available to holders of Senior Loans. However, if assets held by the Agent for the benefit of the Fund were determined to be subject to the claims of the Agent’s general creditors, the Fund might incur certain costs and delays in realizing payment on a Senior Loan, or suffer a loss of principal and/or interest. In situations involving other Interposed Persons (as defined below), similar risks may arise. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 80 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Additional Information. The Fund may purchase and retain in its portfolio a Senior Loan where the borrower has experienced, or may be perceived to be likely to experience, credit problems, including involvement in or recent emergence from bankruptcy reorganization proceedings or other forms of debt restructuring. While such investments may provide opportunities for enhanced income as well as capital appreciation, they generally involve greater risk and may be considered speculative. The Fund may from time to time participate in ad-hoc committees formed by creditors to negotiate with the management of financially troubled borrowers. The Fund may incur legal fees as a result of such participation. In addition, such participation may restrict the Fund’s ability to trade in or acquire additional positions in a particular security when it might otherwise desire to do so. Participation by the Fund also may expose the Fund to potential liabilities under bankruptcy or other laws governing the rights of creditors and debtors. The Fund will participate in such committees only when the investment adviser believes that such participation is necessary or desirable to enforce the Fund’s rights as a creditor or to protect the value of a Senior Loan held by the Fund. | |
In some instances, other accounts managed by the investment adviser may hold other securities issued by borrowers the Senior Loans of which may be held by the Fund. These other securities may include, for example, debt securities that are subordinate to the Senior Loans held by the Fund, convertible debt or common or preferred equity securities. In certain circumstances, such as if the credit quality of the borrower deteriorates, the interests of holders of these other securities may conflict with the interests of the holders of the borrower’s Senior Loans. In such cases, the investment adviser may owe conflicting fiduciary duties to the Fund and other client accounts. The investment adviser will endeavor to carry out its obligations to all of its clients to the fullest extent possible, recognizing that in some cases, certain clients may achieve a lower economic return, as a result of these conflicting client interests, than if the investment adviser’s client accounts collectively held only a single category of the issuer’s securities. | |
The Fund may acquire warrants and other equity securities as part of a unit combining a Senior Loan and equity securities of a borrower or its affiliates. The Fund may also acquire equity securities or debt securities (including non-dollar denominated debt securities) issued in exchange for a Senior Loan or issued in connection with the debt restructuring or reorganization of a borrower, or if such acquisition, in the judgment of the investment adviser, may enhance the value of a Senior Loan or would otherwise be consistent with the Fund’s investment policies. | |
For Eaton Vance Floating Rate Portfolio, Senior Debt Portfolio and Eaton Vance VT Floating-Rate Income Fund only: The Fund will acquire participations only if the Loan Investor selling the participation, and any other persons interpositioned between the Fund and the Loan Investor (an “Interposed Person”), at the time of investment, has outstanding debt or deposit obligations rated investment grade (BBB or A-3 or higher by S&P or Baa or P- 3 or higher by Moody’s or comparably rated by another nationally recognized statistical ratings organization) or determined by the investment adviser to be of comparable quality. | |
For additional disclosure relating to investing in loans (including Senior Loans), see “Loans” above. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 81 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Short Sales | Short sales are transactions in which a party sells a security it does not own in anticipation of a decline in the market value of that security. To complete such a transaction, the party must borrow the security to make delivery to the buyer. When the party is required to return the borrowed security, it typically will purchase the security in the open market. The price at such time may be more or less than the price at which the party sold the security. Until the security is replaced, the party is required to repay the lender any dividends or interest, which accrues during the period of the loan. To borrow the security, it also may be required to pay a premium, which would increase the cost of the security sold. The net proceeds of the short sale will be retained by the broker, to the extent necessary to meet margin requirements, until the short position is closed out. Transaction costs are incurred in effecting short sales. A short seller will incur a loss as a result of a short sale if the price of the security increases between the date of the short sale and the date on which it replaces the borrowed security. A gain will be realized if the price of the security declines in price between those dates. The amount of any gain will be decreased, and the amount of any loss increased, by the amount of the premium, dividends or interest the short seller may be required to pay, if any, in connection with a short sale. Short sales may be “against the box” or uncovered. In a short sale “against the box,” at the time of the sale, the short seller owns or has the immediate and unconditional right to acquire the identical security at no additional cost. In an uncovered short sale, the short seller does not own the underlying security and, as such, losses from uncovered short sales may be significant. The Fund may sell short securities representing an index or basket of securities whose constituents the Fund holds in whole or in part. A short sale of an index or basket of securities will be a covered short sale if the underlying index or basket of securities is the same or substantially identical to securities held by the Fund. Use of short sales is limited by the Fund’s non-fundamental restriction relating thereto. |
Short-Term Trading | Fixed-income securities may be sold in anticipation of market decline (a rise in interest rates) or purchased in anticipation of a market rise (a decline in interest rates) and later sold. In addition, such a security may be sold and another purchased at approximately the same time to take advantage of what is believed to be a temporary disparity in the normal yield relationship between the two securities. Yield disparities may occur for reasons not directly related to the investment quality of particular issues or the general movement of interest rates, such as changes in the overall demand for or supply of various types of fixed-income securities or changes in the investment objectives of investors. |
Significant Exposure to Health Sciences Companies | Because the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life sciences, and health care equipment and services companies, the value of Fund shares may be affected by developments that adversely affect such companies and may fluctuate more than that of a fund that invests more broadly. Many health sciences companies are subject to substantial governmental regulations that can affect their prospects. Changes in governmental policies, such as reductions in the funding of third-party payment programs, may have a material effect on the demand for particular health care products and services. Regulatory approvals (often entailing lengthy application and testing procedures) are also generally required before new drugs and certain medical devices and procedures may be introduced. Many of the products and services of companies engaged in medical research and health care are also subject to relatively high risks of rapid obsolescence caused by progressive scientific and technological advances. Additionally, such products are subject to risks such as the appearance of toxic effects following commercial introduction and manufacturing difficulties. The enforcement of patent, trademark and other intellectual property laws will affect the value of many such companies. Health sciences companies include companies that offer limited products or services or that are at the research and developmental stage with no marketable or approved products or technologies. |
Significant Exposure to Smaller Companies | The investment risk associated with smaller companies is higher than that normally associated with larger, more established companies due to the greater business risks associated with small size, the relative age of the company, limited product lines, distribution channels and financial and managerial resources. Further, there is typically less publicly available information concerning smaller companies than for larger companies. The securities of small companies are often traded only over-the-counter and may not be traded in the volumes typical of trading on a national securities exchange. As a result, stocks of smaller companies are often more volatile than those of larger companies, which are often traded on a national securities exchange, may be more difficult and may take longer to liquidate at fair value than would be the case for the publicly traded securities of a large company. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 82 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Significant Exposure to Utilities and Financial Services Sectors | Because the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in the utilities and financial services sectors, the value of Fund shares may be affected by events that adversely affect those sectors and may fluctuate more than that of a fund with broader exposure. The utilities sector includes companies engaged in the manufacture, production, generation, transmission, sale and distribution of water, gas and electric energy. Companies in the financial services sector include, for example, commercial banks, savings and loan associations, brokerage and investment companies, insurance companies, and consumer and industrial finance companies. Companies in the utilities sector may be sensitive to changes in interest rates and other economic conditions, governmental regulation, uncertainties created by deregulation, power shortages and surpluses, the price and availability of fuel, environmental protection or energy conservation practices, the level and demand for services, and the cost and potential business disruption of technological developments. Companies in the financial services sector are also subject to extensive government regulation and can be significantly affected by the availability and cost of capital funds, changes in interest rates, the rate of corporate and consumer debt defaults, and price competition. |
Stripped Securities | Stripped Securities (“Strips”) may be issued by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities, and may also be issued by private originators or investors, including depository institutions, banks, investment banks and special purpose subsidiaries of these entities. Strips are usually structured with classes that receive different proportions of the interest and principal distributions from an underlying asset or pool of underlying assets. Strips are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, which may impact the frequency of principal payments (including prepayments) on the underlying assets or pool of underlying assets. Some structures may have a class that receives only interest from the underlying assets, an interest-only (“IO”) class, while another class may receive only principal, a principal-only (“PO”) class. IO and PO Strips may be purchased for their return and/or hedging characteristics. Because of their structure, IO Strips may move differently than typical fixed-income securities in relation to changes in interest rates. IO Strips tend to decrease in value if prepayments are greater than anticipated and increase in value if prepayments are less than anticipated. Conversely, PO Strips tend to increase in value if prepayments are greater than anticipated and decline if prepayments are less than anticipated. While the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities may guarantee the full repayment of principal on Strips they issue, repayment of interest is guaranteed only while the underlying assets or pools of assets are outstanding. To the extent the Fund invests in Strips, rapid changes in the rate of prepayments may have an adverse effect on the Fund’s performance. In addition, the secondary market for Strips may be less liquid than that for other securities. Certain Strips may also present certain operational and/or valuation risks. |
Structured Notes | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. Structured notes are derivative debt instruments, the interest rate or principal of which is determined by an unrelated indicator (for example, a currency, security, commodity or index thereof). The terms of the instrument may be “structured” by the purchaser and the borrower issuing the note. Indexed securities may include structured notes as well as securities other than debt securities, the interest rate or principal of which is determined by an unrelated indicator. Indexed securities may include a multiplier that multiplies the indexed element by a specified factor and, therefore, the value of such securities may be very volatile. The terms of structured notes and indexed securities may provide that in certain circumstances no principal is due at maturity, which may result in a loss of invested capital. Structured notes and indexed securities may be positively or negatively indexed, so that appreciation of the unrelated indicator may produce an increase or a decrease in the interest rate or the value of the structured note or indexed security at maturity may be calculated as a specified multiple of the change in the value of the unrelated indicator. Structured notes and indexed securities may entail a greater degree of market risk than other types of investments because the investor bears the risk of the unrelated indicator. Structured notes or indexed securities also may be more volatile, less liquid, and more difficult to accurately price than less complex securities and instruments or more traditional debt securities. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 83 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Swap Agreements | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. Swap agreements are two-party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors for periods ranging from a few weeks to more than one year. In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on a particular predetermined reference instrument or instruments, which can be adjusted for an interest rate factor. The gross returns to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties are generally calculated with respect to a “notional amount” ( i.e. , the return on or increase in value of a particular dollar amount invested at a particular interest rate or in a “basket” of securities representing a particular index). Other types of swap agreements may calculate the obligations of the parties to the agreement on a “net basis.” Consequently, a party’s current obligations (or rights) under a swap agreement will generally be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement based on the relative values of the positions held by each party to the agreement (the “net amount”). |
Whether the use of swap agreements will be successful will depend on the investment adviser's ability to predict correctly whether certain types of reference instruments are likely to produce greater returns than other instruments. Swap agreements may be subject to contractual restrictions on transferability and termination and they may have terms of greater than seven days. The Fund’s obligations under a swap agreement will be accrued daily (offset against any amounts owed to the Fund under the swap). Developments in the swaps market, including government regulation, could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to terminate existing swap agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such agreements, as well as to participate in swap agreements in the future. If there is a default by the counterparty to a swap, the Fund will have contractual remedies pursuant to the swap agreement, but any recovery may be delayed depending on the circumstances of the default. To limit the counterparty risk involved in swap agreements, the Fund will only enter into swap agreements with counterparties that meet certain criteria. Although there can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to do so, the Fund may be able to reduce or eliminate its exposure under a swap agreement either by assignment or other disposition, or by entering into an offsetting swap agreement with the same party or another creditworthy party. The Fund may have limited ability to eliminate its exposure under a credit default swap if the credit of the referenced entity or underlying asset has declined. | |
The swaps market was largely unregulated prior to the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act, which was enacted in 2010 in response to turmoil in the financial markets and other market events. Among other things, the Dodd-Frank Act sets forth a new regulatory framework for certain OTC derivatives, such as swaps, in which the Fund may invest. The Dodd-Frank Act requires many swap transactions to be executed on registered exchanges or through swap execution facilities, cleared through a regulated clearinghouse, and publicly reported. In addition, many market participants are now regulated as swap dealers or major swap participants and are subject to certain minimum capital and margin requirements and business conduct standards. The statutory requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act are being implemented primarily through rules and regulations adopted by the SEC and/or the CFTC. There is a prescribed phase-in period during which most of the mandated rulemaking and regulations are being implemented, and temporary exemptions from certain rules and regulations have been granted so that current trading practices will not be unduly disrupted during the transition period. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 84 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Currently, central clearing is only required for certain market participants trading certain instruments, although central clearing for additional instruments is expected to be implemented by the CFTC until the majority of the swaps market is ultimately subject to central clearing. In addition, uncleared OTC swaps are subject to regulatory collateral requirements that may adversely affect the Fund’s ability to enter into swaps in the OTC market. These developments may cause the Fund to terminate new or existing swap agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such instruments at an inopportune time. Until the mandated rulemaking and regulations are implemented completely, it will not be possible to determine the complete impact of the Dodd-Frank Act and related regulations on the Fund, and the establishment of a centralized exchange or market for swap transactions may not result in swaps being easier to value or trade. However, it is expected that swap dealers, major market participants, and swap counterparties will experience other new and/or additional regulations, requirements, compliance burdens, and associated costs. The legislation and rules yet to be promulgated and/or implemented may exert a negative effect on the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective, either through limits or requirements imposed on the Fund or its counterparties. The swap market could be disrupted or limited as a result of the implementation of this legislation, and the new requirements may increase the cost of the Fund’s investments and of doing business, which could adversely affect the ability of the Fund to buy or sell OTC derivatives. | |
Regulatory bodies outside the U.S. have also passed, proposed, or may propose in the future, legislation similar to Dodd-Frank Act or other legislation that could increase the costs of participating in, or otherwise adversely impact the liquidity of, participating in the commodities markets. In addition, regulations adopted by global prudential regulators that are now in effect require certain prudentially regulated entities and certain of their affiliates and subsidiaries (including swap dealers) to include in their derivatives contracts, terms that delay or restrict the rights of counterparties (such as the Fund) to terminate such contracts, foreclose upon collateral, exercise other default rights or restrict transfers of credit support in the event that the prudentially regulated entity and/or its affiliates are subject to certain types of resolution or insolvency proceedings. Similar regulations and laws have been adopted in non-U.S. jurisdictions that may apply to the Fund’s counterparties located in those jurisdictions. It is possible that these requirements, as well as potential additional related government regulation, could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to terminate existing derivatives contracts, exercise default rights or satisfy obligations owed to it with collateral received under such contracts. | |
Swap agreements include (but are not limited to): | |
Currency Swaps. Currency swaps involve the exchange of the rights of the parties to make or receive payments in specified currencies. Because currency swaps usually involve the delivery of the entire principal value of one designated currency in exchange for the other designated currency, the entire principal value of a currency swap is subject to the risk that the other party to the swap will default on its contractual delivery obligations. If the investment adviser is incorrect in its forecasts of market value and currency exchange rates, performance may be adversely affected. | |
Equity Swaps. An equity swap is an agreement in which at least one party’s payments are based on the rate of return of an equity security or equity index, such as the S&P 500. The other party’s payments can be based on a fixed rate, a non-equity variable rate, or even a different equity index. The Fund may enter into equity index swaps on a net basis pursuant to which the future cash flows from two reference instruments are netted out, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 85 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Credit Default Swaps. Under a credit default swap agreement, the protection “buyer” in a credit default contract is generally obligated to pay the protection “seller” an upfront or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract, provided that no credit event, such as a default, on a reference instrument has occurred. If a credit event occurs, the seller generally must pay the buyer the “par value” (full notional value) of the reference instrument in exchange for an equal face amount of the reference instrument described in the swap, or the seller may be required to deliver the related net cash amount, if the swap is cash settled. If the Fund is a buyer and no credit event occurs, the Fund may recover nothing if the swap is held through its termination date. As a seller, the Fund generally receives an upfront payment or a fixed rate of income throughout the term of the swap provided that there is no credit event. As the seller, the Fund would effectively add leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, the Fund would be subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap. The determination of a credit event under the swap agreement will depend on the terms of the agreement and may rely on the decision of persons that are not a party to the agreement. The Fund’s obligations under a credit default swap agreement will be accrued daily (offset against any amounts owed to the Fund). | |
Inflation Swaps. Inflation swaps involve the exchange by the Fund with another party of their respective commitments to pay or receive interest, e.g., an exchange of fixed rate payments for floating rate payments or an exchange of floating rate payments based on two different reference indices. By design, one of the reference indices is an inflation index, such as the Consumer Price Index. Inflation swaps can be designated as zero coupon, where both sides of the swap compound interest over the life of the swap and then the accrued interest is paid out only at the swap’s maturity. | |
Total Return Swaps. Total return swap agreements are contracts in which one party agrees to make periodic payments to another party based on the change in market value of the assets underlying the contract, which may include a specified security, basket of securities or securities indices during the specified period, in return for periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or the total return from other underlying assets. Total return swap agreements may be used to obtain exposure to a security or market without owning or taking physical custody of such security or investing directly in such market. Total return swap agreements may effectively add leverage to the Fund’s portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, the Fund would be subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap. Generally, the Fund will enter into total return swaps on a net basis (i.e., the two payment streams are netted out, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments). The net amount of the excess, if any, of the Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each total return swap will be accrued on a daily basis. If the total return swap transaction is entered into on other than a net basis, the full amount of the Fund’s obligations will be accrued on a daily basis, and the full amount of the Fund’s obligations will be segregated by the Fund in an amount equal to or greater than the market value of the liabilities under the total return swap or the amount it would have cost the Fund initially to make an equivalent direct investment, plus or minus any amount the Fund is obligated to pay or is to receive under the total return swap agreement. | |
Interest Rate Swaps, Caps and Floors. Interest rate swaps are OTC contracts in which each party agrees to make a periodic interest payment based on an index or the value of an asset in return for a periodic payment from the other party based on a different index or asset. The purchase of an interest rate floor entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index falls below a predetermined interest rate, to receive payments of interest on a notional principal amount from the party selling such interest rate floor. The purchase of an interest rate cap entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index rises above a predetermined interest rate, to receive payments of interest on a notional principal amount from the party selling such interest rate cap. The Fund usually will enter into interest rate swap transactions on a net basis (i.e., the two payment streams are netted out, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments). The net amount of the excess, if any, of the Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each interest rate swap will be accrued on a daily basis. If the interest rate swap transaction is entered into on other than a net basis, the full amount of the Fund’s obligations will be accrued on a daily basis. Certain federal income tax requirements may limit the Fund’s ability to engage in certain interest rate transactions. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 86 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Commodity Index-Linked Swaps. Commodity index-linked swap agreements involve the exchange by the Fund with another party of payments dependent upon the price of the underlying commodity index. Commodity index-linked swaps may be used to obtain exposure to a particular commodity or commodity index without owning or taking physical custody of such commodity. | |
Swaptions | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. A swaption is a contract that gives a counterparty the right (but not the obligation) in return for payment of a premium, to enter into a new swap agreement or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement, at some designated future time on specified terms. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions. Depending on the terms of the particular option agreement, the Fund will generally incur a greater degree of risk when it writes a swaption than it will incur when it purchases a swaption. When the Fund purchases a swaption, it risks losing only the amount of the premium it has paid should it decide to let the option expire unexercised. However, when the Fund writes a swaption, upon exercise of the option the Fund will become obligated according to the terms of the underlying agreement. |
Tax-Managed Investing | Taxes are a major influence on the net returns that investors receive on their taxable investments. There are four components of the returns of a mutual fund that invests in equities that are treated differently for federal income tax purposes: price appreciation, distributions of qualified dividend income, distributions of other investment income, and distributions of realized short-term and long-term capital gains. Distributions of income other than qualified dividend income and distributions of net realized short-term gains (on stocks held for one year or less) are taxed as ordinary income. Distributions of qualified dividend income and net realized long-term gains (on stocks held for more than one year) are currently taxed at rates up to 20%. The Fund’s investment program and the tax treatment of Fund distributions may be affected by IRS interpretations of the Code and future changes in tax laws and regulations. Returns derived from price appreciation are untaxed until the investor disposes of his or her shares. Upon disposition, a capital gain (short-term, if the investor has held his or her shares for one year or less, otherwise long-term) equal to the difference between the net proceeds of the disposition and the investor’s adjusted tax basis is realized. |
Trust Certificates | Trust certificates are investments in a limited purpose trust or other vehicle formed under state law. Trust certificates in turn invest in instruments, such as credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, preferred securities and other securities, in order to customize the risk/return profile of a particular security. Like an investment in a bond, investments in trust certificates represent the right to receive periodic income payments (in the form of distributions) and payment of principal at the end of the term of the certificate. However, these payments are conditioned on the trust’s receipt of payments from, and the trust’s potential obligations to, the counterparties to the derivative instruments and other securities in which the trust invests. Investments in these instruments are indirectly subject to the risks associated with derivative instruments, including, among others, credit risk, default or similar event risk, counterparty risk, interest rate risk, leverage risk and management risk. It is expected that the trusts that issue credit-linked trust certificates will constitute “private” investment companies, exempt from registration under the 1940 Act. Although the trusts are typically private investment companies, they are generally not actively managed. It is also expected that the certificates will be exempt from registration under the 1933 Act. Accordingly, there may be no established trading market for the certificates and they may constitute illiquid investments. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 87 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
U.S. Government Securities | U.S. Government securities include: (1) U.S. Treasury obligations, which differ in their interest rates, maturities and times of issuance, including: U.S. Treasury bills (maturities of one year or less); U.S. Treasury notes (maturities of one year to ten years); and U.S. Treasury bonds (generally maturities of greater than ten years); and (2) obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies and instrumentalities, which are supported by any of the following: (a) the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury; (b) the right of the issuer to borrow an amount limited to a specific line of credit from the U.S. Treasury; (c) discretionary authority of the U.S. Government to purchase certain obligations of the U.S. Government agency or instrumentality; or (d) the credit of the agency or instrumentality. U.S. Government securities also include any other security or agreement collateralized or otherwise secured by U.S. Government securities. Agencies and instrumentalities of the U.S. Government include but are not limited to: Farmers Home Administration, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Federal Housing Administration, Federal Land Banks, Federal Financing Bank, Central Bank for Cooperatives, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, Farm Credit Bank System, Federal Home Loan Banks, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Federal National Mortgage Association, General Services Administration, Government National Mortgage Association, Student Loan Marketing Association, United States Postal Service, Maritime Administration, Small Business Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Washington D.C. Armory Board and any other enterprise established or sponsored by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government generally is not obligated to provide support to its instrumentalities. The principal of and/or interest on certain U.S. Government securities could be: (a) payable in foreign currencies rather than U.S. dollars; or (b) increased or diminished as a result of changes in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the value of foreign currencies. The value of such portfolio securities denominated in foreign currencies may be affected favorably by changes in the exchange rate between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. |
Unlisted Securities | Unlisted securities are neither listed on a stock exchange nor traded over-the-counter. Unlisted securities may include investments in new and early stage companies, which may involve a high degree of business and financial risk that can result in substantial losses and may be considered speculative. Such securities will generally be deemed to be illiquid. Because of the absence of any public trading market for these investments, it may take longer to liquidate these positions than would be the case for publicly traded securities. Although these securities may be resold in privately negotiated transactions, the prices realized from these sales could be less than those originally paid or less than what may be considered the fair value of such securities. Furthermore, issuers whose securities are not publicly traded may not be subject to public disclosure and other investor protection requirements applicable to publicly traded securities. If such securities are required to be registered under the securities laws of one or more jurisdictions before being resold, the Fund may be required to bear the expenses of registration. In addition, in foreign jurisdictions any capital gains realized on the sale of such securities may be subject to higher rates of foreign taxation than taxes payable on the sale of listed securities. |
Variable Rate Instruments | Variable rate instruments provide for adjustments in the interest or dividend rate payable on the instrument at specified intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, semiannually, etc.) based on market conditions, credit ratings or interest rates and the investor may have the right to “put” the security back to the issuer or its agent. Variable rate instruments normally provide that the holder can demand payment of the instrument on short notice at par with accrued interest. These instruments may be secured by letters of credit or other support arrangements provided by banks. To the extent that such letters of credit or other arrangements constitute an unconditional guarantee of the issuer’s obligations, a bank may be treated as the issuer of a security for the purposes of complying with the diversification requirements set forth in Section 5(b) of the 1940 Act and Rule 5b-2 thereunder. The Fund may use these instruments as cash equivalents pending longer term investment of its funds. The rate adjustment features may limit the extent to which the market value of the instruments will fluctuate. |
When-Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery and Forward Commitments | Securities may be purchased on a “forward commitment,” “when-issued” or “delayed delivery” basis (meaning securities are purchased or sold with payment and delivery taking place in the future beyond normal settlement times) in order to secure what is considered to be an advantageous price and yield at the time of entering into the transaction. When the Fund agrees to purchase such securities, it assumes the risk of any decline in value of the security from the date of the agreement to purchase. The Fund does not earn interest on the securities it has committed to purchase until they are paid for and delivered on the settlement date. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 88 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
From the time of entering into the transaction until delivery and payment is made at a later date, the securities that are the subject of the transaction are subject to market fluctuations. In forward commitment, when-issued or delayed delivery transactions, if the seller or buyer, as the case may be, fails to consummate the transaction, the counterparty may miss the opportunity of obtaining a price or yield considered to be advantageous. However, no payment or delivery is made until payment is received or delivery is made from the other party to the transaction. | |
Zero Coupon Bonds, Deep Discount Bonds and Payment-In-Kind (“PIK”) Securities | Zero coupon bonds are debt obligations that do not require the periodic payment of interest and are issued at a significant discount from face value. The discount approximates the total amount of interest the bonds will accrue and compound over the period until maturity at a rate of interest reflecting the market rate of the security at the time of purchase. The effect of owning debt obligations that do not make current interest payments is that a fixed yield is earned not only on the original investment but also, in effect, on all discount accretion during the life of the debt obligation. This implicit reinvestment of earnings at a fixed rate eliminates the risk of being unable to invest distributions at a rate as high as the implicit yield on the zero coupon bond, but at the same time eliminates the holder’s ability to reinvest at higher rates in the future. The Fund is required to accrue income from zero coupon bonds on a current basis, even though it does not receive that income currently in cash, and the Fund is required to distribute that income for each taxable year. Thus, the Fund may have to sell other investments to obtain cash needed to make income distributions. |
Bonds and preferred stocks that make “in-kind” payments and other securities that do not pay regular income distributions may experience greater volatility in response to interest rate changes and issuer developments. PIK securities generally carry higher interest rates compared to bonds that make cash payments of interest to reflect their payment deferral and increased credit risk. PIK securities generally involve significantly greater credit risk than coupon loans because the Fund receives no cash payments until the maturity date or a specified cash payment date. Even if accounting conditions are met for accruing income payable at a future date under a PIK bond, the issuer could still default when the collection date occurs at the maturity of or payment date for the PIK bond. PIK bonds may be difficult to value accurately because they involve ongoing judgments as to the collectability of the deferred payments and the value of any associated collateral. If the issuer of a PIK security defaults, the Fund may lose its entire investment. PIK interest has the effect of generating investment income and increasing the incentive fees, if any, payable at a compounding rate. Generally, the deferral of PIK interest increases the loan to value ratio. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 89 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX A
Class A Fees and Ownership
Sales Charges and Distribution and Service Fees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the following table shows (1) total sales charges paid by Class A, (2) sales charges paid to financial intermediaries, (3) sales charges paid to the principal underwriter, (4) approximate CDSC payments to the principal underwriter, (5) total distribution and service fees paid by Class A, and (6) distribution and service fees paid to financial intermediaries. Distribution and service fees that were not paid to financial intermediaries were retained by the principal underwriter.
Total Sales
Charges Paid |
Sales Charges to
Financial Intermediaries |
Sales Charges to
Principal Underwriter |
CDSC Paid to
Principal Underwriter |
Distribution and Service
Fees Paid to Principal Underwriter |
Distribution and Service
Fees Paid to Financial Intermediaries |
$51,571 | $43,026 | $8,545 | $0 | $126,065 | $103,949 |
For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, total sales charges of $74,440 and $139,783, respectively, were paid on sales of Class A, of which the principal underwriter received $13,150 and $19,103, respectively. The balance of such amounts was paid to financial intermediaries.
Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities. At April 1, 2019, the Trustees and officers of the Trust, as a group, owned in the aggregate less than 1% of the outstanding shares of this Class of the Fund. In addition, as of the same date, the following person(s) held the share percentage indicated below, which was owned either (i) beneficially by such person(s) or (ii) of record by such person(s) on behalf of customers who are the beneficial owners of such shares and as to which such record owner(s) may exercise voting rights under certain limited circumstances:
National Financial Services LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 15.18% |
Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC | St. Louis, MO | 14.01% |
Raymond James | St. Petersburg, FL | 11.67% |
Pershing LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 8.75% |
American Enterprise Investment Services | Minneapolis, MN | 6.17% |
Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. | San Francisco, CA | 6.10% |
Edward D. Jones and Co. | St. Louis, MO | 5.43% |
To the knowledge of the Trust, no other person owned of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of this Class of the Fund as of such date.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 90 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX B
Class C Fees and Ownership
Distribution and Service Fees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the following table shows (1) distribution fees paid to the principal underwriter under the Distribution Plan, (2) distribution fees paid by the principal underwriter to financial intermediaries on sales of Class C shares, (3) approximate CDSC payments to the principal underwriter, (4) service fees paid under the Distribution Plan, and (5) service fees paid to financial intermediaries. The distribution fees and service fees paid by the Fund that were not paid to financial intermediaries were retained by the principal underwriter.
Distribution Fees Paid
to Principal Underwriter |
Distribution Fees Paid by Principal
Underwriter to Financial Intermediaries |
CDSC Paid
to Principal Underwriter |
Service Fees |
Service Fees Paid
to Financial Intermediaries |
$107,724 | $96,338 | $0 | $35,908 | $32,113 |
Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities. At April 1, 2019, the Trustees and officers of the Trust, as a group, owned in the aggregate less than 1% of the outstanding shares of this Class of the Fund. In addition, as of the same date, the following person(s) held the share percentage indicated below, which was owned either (i) beneficially by such person(s) or (ii) of record by such person(s) on behalf of customers who are the beneficial owners of such shares and as to which such record owner(s) may exercise voting rights under certain limited circumstances:
Pershing LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 23.24% |
RBC Capital Markets LLC | Minneapolis, MN | 22.16% |
Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC | St. Louis, MO | 15.19% |
National Financial Services LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 6.62% |
LPL Financial | San Diego, CA | 6.13% |
To the knowledge of the Trust, no other person owned of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of this Class of the Fund as of such date.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 91 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX C
Class I Ownership
Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities. At April 1, 2019, the Trustees and officers of the Trust, as a group, owned in the aggregate less than 1% of the outstanding shares of this Class of the Fund. In addition, as of the same date, the following person(s) held the share percentage indicated below, which was owned either (i) beneficially by such person(s) or (ii) of record by such person(s) on behalf of customers who are the beneficial owners of such shares and as to which such record owner(s) may exercise voting rights under certain limited circumstances:
Beneficial owners of 25% or more of this Class are presumed to be in control of this Class of the Fund for purposes of voting on certain matters submitted to shareholders.
To the knowledge of the Trust, no other person owned of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of this Class of the Fund as of such date.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 92 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX D
Eaton Vance Funds
Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures
I. Overview
The Boards of Trustees (the “Board”) of the Eaton Vance Funds 1 have determined that it is in the interests of the Funds’ shareholders to adopt these written proxy voting policy and procedures (the “Policy”). For purposes of this Policy:
· | “Fund” means each registered investment company sponsored by the Eaton Vance organization; and |
· | “Adviser” means the adviser or sub-adviser responsible for the day-to-day management of all or a portion of the Fund’s assets. |
II. Delegation of Proxy Voting Responsibilities
The Board hereby delegates to the Adviser responsibility for voting the Fund’s proxies as described in this Policy. In this connection, the Adviser is required to provide the Board with a copy of its proxy voting policies and procedures (“Adviser Procedures”) and all Fund proxies will be voted in accordance with the Adviser Procedures, provided that in the event a material conflict of interest arises with respect to a proxy to be voted for the Fund (as described in Section IV below) the Adviser shall follow the process for voting such proxy as described in Section IV below.
The Adviser is required to report any material change to the Adviser Procedures to the Board in the manner set forth in Section V below. In addition, the Board will review the Adviser Procedures annually.
III. Delegation of Proxy Voting Disclosure Responsibilities
Pursuant to Rule 30b1-4 promulgated under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), the Fund is required to file Form N-PX no later than August 31st of each year. On Form N-PX, the Fund is required to disclose, among other things, information concerning proxies relating to the Fund’s portfolio investments, whether or not the Fund (or its Adviser) voted the proxies relating to securities held by the Fund and how it voted on the matter and whether it voted for or against management.
To facilitate the filing of Form N-PX for the Fund:
· | The Adviser is required to record, compile and transmit in a timely manner all data required to be filed on Form N-PX for the Fund that it manages. Such data shall be transmitted to Eaton Vance Management, which acts as administrator to the Fund (the “Administrator”) or the third party service provider designated by the Administrator; and |
· | the Administrator is required to file Form N-PX on behalf of the Fund with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) as required by the 1940 Act. The Administrator may delegate the filing to a third party service party provided each such filing is reviewed and approved by the Administrator. |
IV. Conflicts of Interest
The Board expects the Adviser, as a fiduciary to the Fund it manages, to put the interests of the Fund and its shareholders above those of the Adviser. When required to vote a proxy for the Fund, the Adviser may have material business relationships with the issuer soliciting the proxy that could give rise to a potential material conflict of interest for the Adviser. 2 In the event such a material conflict of interest arises, the Adviser, to the extent it is aware or reasonably should have been aware of the material conflict, will refrain from voting any proxies related to companies giving rise to such material conflict until it notifies and consults with the appropriate Board, or any committee, sub-committee or group of Independent Trustees identified by the Board (as long as such committee, sub-committee or group contains at least two or more Independent Trustees) (the “Board Members”), concerning the material conflict. 3 For ease of communicating with the Board Members, the Adviser is required to provide the foregoing notice to the Fund’s Chief Legal Officer who will then notify and facilitate a consultation with the Board Members.
Once the Board Members have been notified of the material conflict:
· | They shall convene a meeting to review and consider all relevant materials related to the proxies involved. This meeting shall be convened within 3 business days, provided that it an effort will be made to convene the meeting sooner if the proxy must be voted in less than 3 business days; |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 93 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
· | In considering such proxies, the Adviser shall make available all materials requested by the Board Members and make reasonably available appropriate personnel to discuss the matter upon request. |
· | The Board Members will then instruct the Adviser on the appropriate course of action with respect to the proxy at issue. |
If the Board Members are unable to meet and the failure to vote a proxy would have a material adverse impact on the Fund(s) involved, the Adviser will have the right to vote such proxy, provided that it discloses the existence of the material conflict to the Chairperson of the Board as soon as practicable and to the Board at its next meeting. Any determination regarding the voting of proxies of the Fund that is made by the Board Members shall be deemed to be a good faith determination regarding the voting of proxies by the full Board.
V. Reports and Review
The Administrator shall make copies of each Form N-PX filed on behalf of the Fund available for the Boards’ review upon the Boards’ request. The Administrator (with input from the Adviser for the Fund) shall also provide any reports reasonably requested by the Board regarding the proxy voting records of the Fund.
The Adviser shall report any material changes to the Adviser Procedures to the Board as soon as practicable and the Boards will review the Adviser Procedures annually.
The Adviser also shall report any changes to the Adviser Procedures to the Fund Chief Legal Officer prior to implementing such changes in order to enable the Administrator to effectively coordinate the Fund’s disclosure relating to the Adviser Procedures.
To the extent requested by the Commission, the Policy and the Adviser Procedures shall be appended to the Fund’s statement of additional information included in its registration statement.
_____________________ |
1 | The Eaton Vance Funds may be organized as trusts or corporations. For ease of reference, the Funds may be referred to herein as Trusts and the Funds’ Board of Trustees or Board of Directors may be referred to collectively herein as the Board. |
2 | An Adviser is expected to maintain a process for identifying a potential material conflict of interest. As an example only, such potential conflicts may arise when the issuer is a client of the Adviser and generates a significant amount of fees to the Adviser or the issuer is a distributor of the Adviser’s products. |
3 | If a material conflict of interest exists with respect to a particular proxy and the proxy voting procedures of the relevant Adviser require that proxies are to be voted in accordance with the recommendation of a third party proxy voting vendor, the requirements of this Section IV shall only apply if the Adviser intends to vote such proxy in a manner inconsistent with such third party recommendation. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 94 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX E
EATON VANCE MANAGEMENT
BOSTON MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
EATON VANCE INVESTMENT COUNSEL
EATON VANCE TRUST COMPANY
EATON VANCE MANAGEMENT (INTERNATIONAL) LIMITED
EATON VANCE ADVISERS INTERNATIONAL LTD.
PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
I. Introduction
Eaton Vance Management, Boston Management and Research, Eaton Vance Investment Counsel, Eaton Vance Management (International) Limited, Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. and Eaton Vance Trust Company (each an “Adviser” and collectively the “Advisers”) have each adopted and implemented policies and procedures that each Adviser believes are reasonably designed to ensure that proxies are voted in the best interest of clients, in accordance with its fiduciary duties and, to the extent applicable, Rule 206(4)-6 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. The Advisers’ authority to vote the proxies of their clients is established by their advisory contracts or similar documentation, such as the Eaton Vance Funds Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures. These proxy policies and procedures reflect the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) requirements governing advisers and the long-standing fiduciary standards and responsibilities for ERISA accounts set out in the Department of Labor Bulletin 94-2 C.F.R. 2509.94-2 (July 29, 1994).
II. Overview
Each Adviser manages its clients’ assets with the overriding goal of seeking to provide the greatest possible return to such clients consistent with governing laws and the investment policies of each client. In pursuing that goal, each Adviser seeks to exercise its clients’ rights as shareholders of voting securities to support sound corporate governance of the companies issuing those securities with the principle aim of maintaining or enhancing the companies’ economic value.
The exercise of shareholder rights is generally done by casting votes by proxy at shareholder meetings on matters submitted to shareholders for approval (for example, the election of directors or the approval of a company’s stock option plans for directors, officers or employees). Each Adviser has established guidelines (“Guidelines”) as described below and generally will utilize such Guidelines in voting proxies on behalf of its clients. The Guidelines are largely based on those developed by the Agent (defined below) but also reflect input from the Global Proxy Group (defined below) and other Adviser investment professionals and are believed to be consistent with the views of the Adviser on the various types of proxy proposals. These Guidelines are designed to promote accountability of a company’s management and board of directors to its shareholders and to align the interests of management with those of shareholders. The Guidelines provide a framework for analysis and decision making but do not address all potential issues.
Except as noted below, each Adviser will vote any proxies received by a client for which it has sole investment discretion through a third-party proxy voting service (“Agent”) in accordance with the Guidelines in a manner that is reasonably designed to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest, as described more fully below. The Agent is currently Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. Where applicable, proxies will be voted in accordance with client-specific guidelines or, in the case of an Eaton Vance Fund that is sub-advised, pursuant to the sub-adviser’s proxy voting policies and procedures. Although an Adviser retains the services of the Agent for research and voting recommendations, the Adviser remains responsible for proxy voting decisions.
III. Roles and Responsibilities
A. Proxy Administrator
The Proxy Administrator and/or her designee coordinate the consideration of proxies referred back to the Adviser by the Agent, and otherwise administers these Procedures. In the Proxy Administrator’s absence, another employee of the Adviser may perform the Proxy Administrator’s responsibilities as deemed appropriate by the Global Proxy Group. The Proxy Administrator also may designate another employee to perform certain of the Proxy Administrator’s duties hereunder, subject to the oversight of the Proxy Administrator.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 95 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
B. Agent
The Agent is responsible for coordinating with the clients’ custodians and the Advisers to ensure that all proxy materials received by the custodians relating to the portfolio securities are processed in a timely fashion. Each Adviser shall instruct the custodian for its clients to deliver proxy ballots and related materials to the Agent. The Agent shall vote and/or refer all proxies in accordance with the Guidelines. The Agent shall retain a record of all proxy votes handled by the Agent. With respect to each Eaton Vance Fund memorialized therein, such record must reflect all of the information required to be disclosed in the Fund’s Form N-PX pursuant to Rule 30b1-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, to the extent applicable. In addition, the Agent is responsible for maintaining copies of all proxy statements received by issuers and to promptly provide such materials to an Adviser upon request.
Subject to the oversight of the Advisers, the Agent shall establish and maintain adequate internal controls and policies in connection with the provision of proxy voting services to the Advisers, including methods to reasonably ensure that its analysis and recommendations are not influenced by a conflict of interest, and shall disclose such controls and policies to the Advisers when and as provided for herein. Unless otherwise specified, references herein to recommendations of the Agent shall refer to those in which no conflict of interest has been identified. The Advisers are responsible for the ongoing oversight of the Agent as contemplated by SEC Staff Legal Bulletin No. 20 (June 30, 2014). Such oversight currently may include one or more of the following:
· | periodic review of Agent’s proxy voting platform and reporting capabilities (including recordkeeping); |
· | periodic review of a sample of ballots for accuracy and correct application of the Guidelines; |
· | periodic meetings with Agent’s client services team; |
· | periodic in-person and/or web-based due diligence meetings; |
· | receipt and review of annual certifications received from the Agent; and/or |
· | annual review of due diligence materials provided by the Agent, including review of procedures and practices regarding potential conflicts of interests. |
C. Global Proxy Group
The Adviser shall establish a Global Proxy Group which is responsible for establishing the Guidelines (described below) and reviewing such Guidelines at least annually. The Global Proxy Group shall also review recommendations to vote proxies in a manner that is contrary to the Guidelines and when the proxy relates to a conflicted company of the Adviser or the Agent as described below.
The members of the Global Proxy Group shall include the Chief Equity Investment Officer of Eaton Vance Management (“EVM”) and selected members of the Equity Departments of EVM and Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. (“EVAIL”) and EVM’s Global Income Department. The Proxy Administrator is not a voting member of the Global Proxy Group. Members of the Global Proxy Group may be changed from time to time at the Advisers’ discretion. Matters that require the approval of the Global Proxy Group may be acted upon by its member(s) available to consider the matter.
IV. Proxy Voting
A. The Guidelines
The Global Proxy Group shall establish recommendations for the manner in which proxy proposals shall be voted (the “Guidelines”). The Guidelines shall identify when ballots for specific types of proxy proposals shall be voted (1) or referred to the Adviser. The Guidelines shall address a wide variety of individual topics, including, among other matters, shareholder voting rights, anti-takeover defenses, board structures, the election of directors, executive and director compensation, reorganizations, mergers, issues of corporate social responsibility and other proposals affecting shareholder rights. In determining the Guidelines, the Global Proxy Group considers the recommendations of the Agent as well as input from the Advisers’ portfolio managers and analysts and/or other internally developed or third party research.
The Global Proxy Group shall review the Guidelines at least annually and, in connection with proxies to be voted on behalf of the Eaton Vance Funds, the Adviser will submit amendments to the Guidelines to the Fund Boards each year for approval.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 96 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
With respect to the types of proxy proposals listed below, the Guidelines will generally provide as follows:
1. Proposals Regarding Mergers and Corporate Restructurings/Disposition of Assets/Termination/Liquidation and Mergers
The Agent shall be directed to refer proxy proposals accompanied by its written analysis and voting recommendation to the Proxy Administrator and/or her designee for all proposals relating to Mergers and Corporate Restructurings.
2. Corporate Structure Matters/Anti-Takeover Defenses
As a general matter, the Advisers will normally vote against anti-takeover measures and other proposals designed to limit the ability of shareholders to act on possible transactions (except in the case of closed-end management investment companies).
3. Proposals Regarding Proxy Contests
The Agent shall be directed to refer contested proxy proposals accompanied by its written analysis and voting recommendation to the Proxy Administrator and/or her designee.
4. Social and Environmental Issues
The Advisers will vote social and environmental proposals on a “case-by-case” basis taking into consideration industry best practices and existing management policies and practices.
Interpretation and application of the Guidelines is not intended to supersede any law, regulation, binding agreement or other legal requirement to which an issuer or the Adviser may be or become subject. The Guidelines generally relate to the types of proposals that are most frequently presented in proxy statements to shareholders. In certain circumstances, an Adviser may determine to vote contrary to the Guidelines subject to the voting procedures set forth below.
B. Voting Procedures
Except as noted in Section V below, the Proxy Administrator and/or her designee shall instruct the Agent to vote proxies as follows:
1. Vote in Accordance with Guidelines
If the Guidelines prescribe the manner in which the proxy is to be voted, the Agent shall vote in accordance with the Guidelines, which for certain types of proposals, are recommendations of the Agent made on a case-by-case basis.
2. Seek Guidance for a Referred Item or a Proposal for which there is No Guideline
If (i) the Guidelines state that the proxy shall be referred to the Adviser to determine the manner in which it should be voted or (ii) a proxy is received for a proposal for which there is no Guideline, the Proxy Administrator and/or her designee shall consult with the analyst(s) covering the company subject to the proxy proposal and shall instruct the Agent to vote in accordance with the determination of the analyst. The Proxy Administrator and/or her designee will maintain a record of all proxy proposals that are referred by the Agent, as well as all applicable recommendations, analysis and research received and the resolution of the matter. Where more than one analyst covers a particular company and the recommendations of such analysts for voting a proposal subject to this Section IV.B.2 conflict, the Global Proxy Group shall review such recommendations and any other available information related to the proposal and determine the manner in which it should be voted, which may result in different recommendations for clients (including Funds).
3. Votes Contrary to the Guidelines or Where Agent is Conflicted
In the event an analyst with respect to companies within his or her coverage area may recommend a vote contrary to the Guidelines, the Proxy Administrator and/or her designee will provide the Global Proxy Group with the Agent’s recommendation for the Proposal along with any other relevant materials, including a description of the basis for the analyst’s recommendation via email and the Proxy Administrator and/or designee will then instruct the Agent to vote the proxy in the manner determined by the Global Proxy Group. Should the vote by the Global Proxy Group concerning one or more recommendations result in a tie, EVM’s Chief Equity Investment Officer will determine the manner in which the proxy will be voted. The Adviser will provide a report to the Boards of Trustees of the Eaton Vance Funds reflecting any votes cast on behalf of the Eaton Vance Funds contrary to the Guidelines, and shall do so quarterly. A similar process will be followed if the Agent has a conflict of interest with respect to a proxy as described in Section VI.B.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 97 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
4. Do Not Cast a Vote
It shall generally be the policy of the Advisers to take no action on a proxy for which no client holds a position or otherwise maintains an economic interest in the relevant security at the time the vote is to be cast. In addition, the Advisers may determine not to vote (i) if the economic effect on shareholders' interests or the value of the portfolio holding is indeterminable or insignificant ( e.g., proxies in connection with securities no longer held in the portfolio of a client or proxies being considered on behalf of a client that is no longer in existence); (ii) if the cost of voting a proxy outweighs the benefits ( e.g., certain international proxies, particularly in cases in which share blocking practices may impose trading restrictions on the relevant portfolio security); (iii) in markets in which shareholders' rights are limited; or (iv) the Adviser is unable to access or access timely ballots or other proxy information. Non-Votes may also result in certain cases in which the Agent's recommendation has been deemed to be conflicted, as provided for herein.
C. Securities on Loan
When a fund client participates in the lending of its securities and the securities are on loan at the record date for a shareholder meeting, proxies related to such securities generally will not be forwarded to the relevant Adviser by the fund’s custodian and therefore will not be voted. In the event that the Adviser determines that the matters involved would have a material effect on the applicable fund’s investment in the loaned securities, the Adviser will make reasonable efforts to terminate the loan in time to be able to cast such vote or exercise such consent. The Adviser shall instruct the fund’s security lending agent to refrain from lending the full position of any security held by a fund to ensure that the Adviser receives notice of proxy proposals impacting the loaned security.
V. Recordkeeping
The Advisers will maintain records relating to the proxies they vote on behalf of their clients in accordance with Section 204-2 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. Those records will include:
· | A copy of the Advisers’ proxy voting policies and procedures; |
· | Proxy statements received regarding client securities. Such proxy statements received from issuers are either in the SEC’s EDGAR database or are kept by the Agent and are available upon request; |
· | A record of each vote cast; |
· | A copy of any document created by the Advisers that was material to making a decision on how to vote a proxy for a client or that memorializes the basis for such a decision; and |
· | Each written client request for proxy voting records and the Advisers’ written response to any client request (whether written or oral) for such records. |
All records described above will be maintained in an easily accessible place for five years and will be maintained in the offices of the Advisers or their Agent for two years after they are created.
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Section V, Eaton Vance Trust Company shall maintain records relating to the proxies it votes on behalf of its clients in accordance with laws and regulations applicable to it and its activities. In addition, EVAIL shall maintain records relating to the proxies it votes on behalf of its clients in accordance with UK law.
VI. Assessment of Agent and Identification and Resolution of Conflicts with Clients
A. A ssessment of Agent
The Advisers shall establish that the Agent (i) is independent from the Advisers, (ii) has resources that indicate it can competently provide analysis of proxy issues, and (iii) can make recommendations in an impartial manner and in the best interests of the clients and, where applicable, their beneficial owners. The Advisers shall utilize, and the Agent shall comply with, such methods for establishing the foregoing as the Advisers may deem reasonably appropriate and shall do so not less than annually as well as prior to engaging the services of any new proxy voting service. The Agent shall also notify the Advisers in writing within fifteen (15) calendar days of any material change to information previously provided to an Adviser in connection with establishing the Agent’s independence, competence or impartiality.
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 98 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
B. Conflicts of Interest
As fiduciaries to their clients, each Adviser puts the interests of its clients ahead of its own. In order to ensure that relevant personnel of the Advisers are able to identify potential material conflicts of interest, each Adviser will take the following steps:
· | Quarterly, the Eaton Vance Legal and Compliance Department will seek information from the department heads of each department of the Advisers and of Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. (“EVD”) (an affiliate of the Advisers and principal underwriter of certain Eaton Vance Funds). Each department head will be asked to provide a list of significant clients or prospective clients of the Advisers or EVD. |
· | A representative of the Legal and Compliance Department will compile a list of the companies identified (the “Conflicted Companies”) and provide that list to the Proxy Administrator. |
· | The Proxy Administrator will compare the list of Conflicted Companies with the names of companies for which he or she has been referred a proxy statement (the “Proxy Companies”). If a Conflicted Company is also a Proxy Company, the Proxy Administrator will report that fact to the Global Proxy Group. |
· | If the Proxy Administrator expects to instruct the Agent to vote the proxy of the Conflicted Company strictly according to the Guidelines contained in these Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures (the “Policies”) or the recommendation of the Agent, as applicable, he or she will (i) inform the Global Proxy Group of that fact, (ii) instruct the Agent to vote the proxies and (iii) record the existence of the material conflict and the resolution of the matter. |
· | If the Proxy Administrator intends to instruct the Agent to vote in a manner inconsistent with the Guidelines, the Global Proxy Group will then determine if a material conflict of interest exists between the relevant Adviser and its clients (in consultation with the Legal and Compliance Department if needed). If the Global Proxy Group determines that a material conflict exists, prior to instructing the Agent to vote any proxies relating to these Conflicted Companies the Adviser will seek instruction on how the proxy should be voted from: |
· | The client, in the case of an individual, corporate, institutional or benefit plan client; |
· | In the case of a Fund, its board of directors, any committee, sub-committee or group of Independent Trustees (as long as such committee, sub-committee or group contains at least two or more Independent Trustees); or |
· | The adviser, in situations where the Adviser acts as a sub-adviser to such adviser. |
The Adviser will provide all reasonable assistance to each party to enable such party to make an informed decision.
If the client, Fund board or adviser, as the case may be, fails to instruct the Adviser on how to vote the proxy, the Adviser will generally instruct the Agent, through the Proxy Administrator, to abstain from voting in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety. If however, the failure of the Adviser to vote its clients’ proxies would have a material adverse economic impact on the Advisers’ clients’ securities holdings in the Conflicted Company, the Adviser may instruct the Agent, through the Proxy Administrator, to vote such proxies in order to protect its clients’ interests. In either case, the Proxy Administrator will record the existence of the material conflict and the resolution of the matter.
The Advisers shall also identify and address conflicts that may arise from time to time concerning the Agent. Upon the Advisers’ request, which shall be not less than annually, and within fifteen (15) calendar days of any material change to such information previously provided to an Adviser, the Agent shall provide the Advisers with such information as the Advisers deem reasonable and appropriate for use in determining material relationships of the Agent that may pose a conflict of interest with respect to the Agent’s proxy analysis or recommendations. Such information shall include, but is not limited to, a monthly report from the Agent detailing the Agent’s Corporate Securities Division clients and related revenue data. The Advisers shall review such information on a monthly basis. The Proxy Administrator shall instruct the Agent to refer any proxies for which a material conflict of the Agent is deemed to be present to the Proxy Administrator. Any such proxy referred by the Agent shall be referred to the Global Proxy Group for consideration accompanied by the Agent’s written analysis and voting recommendation. The Proxy Administrator will instruct the Agent to vote the proxy as recommended by the Global Proxy Group.
(1) | The Guidelines will prescribe how a proposal shall be voted or provide factors to be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Agent in recommending a vote pursuant to the Guidelines. |
Eaton Vance Stock Fund | 99 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
STATEMENT OF
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
May 1, 2019
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund
Investor Class Shares - EAPCX Institutional Class Shares - EIPCX
Two International Place
Boston, Massachusetts 02110
1-800-260-0761
This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) provides general information about the Fund. The Fund is a diversified, open-end management investment company. The Fund is a series of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust. Capitalized terms used in this SAI and not otherwise defined have the meanings given to them in the Prospectus.
This SAI contains additional information about:
Page | Page | |||
Strategies and Risks | 2 | Sales Charges | 21 | |
Investment Restrictions | 4 | Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings and Related Information | 21 | |
Management and Organization | 5 | Taxes | 22 | |
Investment Advisory and Administrative Services | 15 | Portfolio Securities Transactions | 31 | |
Other Service Providers | 18 | Financial Statements | 33 | |
Calculation of Net Asset Value | 18 | Additional Information About Investment Strategies | 33 | |
Purchasing and Redeeming Shares | 19 |
Appendix A: Investor Class Fees and Ownership | 65 | Appendix D: Eaton Vance Funds Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures | 76 | |
Appendix B: Institutional Class Ownership | 66 | Appendix E: Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures | 78 | |
Appendix C: Ratings | 67 |
This SAI is NOT a prospectus and is authorized for distribution to prospective investors only if preceded or accompanied by the Fund Prospectus dated May 1, 2019, as supplemented from time to time, which is incorporated herein by reference. This SAI should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus, which may be obtained by calling 1-800-260-0761.
© 2019 Eaton Vance Management
Definitions
The following terms that may be used in this SAI have the meaning set forth below:
“1940 Act” means the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended;
“1933 Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended;
“Board” means Board of Trustees or Board of Directors, as applicable;
“CEA” means Commodity Exchange Act;
“CFTC” means the Commodity Futures Trading Commission;
“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;
“Eaton Vance family of funds” means all registered investment companies advised or administered by Eaton Vance Management (“Eaton Vance”) or Boston Management and Research (“BMR”);
“Eaton Vance funds” means the mutual funds advised by Eaton Vance or BMR;
“Exchange” means the New York Stock Exchange;
“FINRA” means the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.;
“Fund” means the Fund or Funds listed on the cover of this SAI unless stated otherwise;
“investment adviser” means the investment adviser identified in the prospectus and, with respect to the implementation of the Fund’s investment strategies (including as described under “Taxes”) and portfolio securities transactions, any sub-adviser identified in the prospectus;
“IRS” means the Internal Revenue Service;
“Portfolio” means a registered investment company (other than the Fund) sponsored by the Eaton Vance organization in which one or more Funds and other investors may invest substantially all or any portion of their assets as described in the prospectus, if applicable;
“Subsidiary” means a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Fund as described in the prospectus;
“SEC” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and
“Trust” means Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, of which the Fund is a series.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 2 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
STRATEGIES AND RISKS
The Fund prospectus identifies the types of investments in which the Fund will principally invest in seeking its investment objective(s) and the principal risks associated therewith. The categories checked in the table below are all of the investments the Fund is permitted to make, including its principal investments and the investment practices the Fund (either directly or through one or more Portfolios as may be described in the prospectus) is permitted to engage in. To the extent that an investment type or practice listed below is not identified in the Fund prospectus as a principal investment strategy, the Fund generally expects to invest less than 5% of its total assets in such investment type. If a particular investment type or practice that is checked and listed below but not referred to in the prospectus becomes a more significant part of the Fund’s strategy, the prospectus may be amended to disclose that investment type or practice. Information about the various investment types and practices and the associated risks checked below is included in alphabetical order in this SAI under “Additional Information about Investment Strategies.”
Investment Type | Permitted for or Relevant to the Fund |
Asset-Backed Securities (“ABS”) | |
Auction Rate Securities | |
Build America Bonds | |
Call and Put Features on Securities | |
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (“CMOs”) | |
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (“CMBS”) | |
Commodity-Related Investments | √ |
Common Stocks | |
Contingent Convertible Securities | |
Convertible Securities | |
Credit Linked Securities | |
Derivative Instruments and Related Risks | √ |
Derivative-Linked and Commodity-Linked Hybrid Instruments | |
Direct Investments | |
Emerging Market Investments | |
Equity Investments | |
Equity-Linked Securities | |
Event-Linked Instruments | |
Exchange-Traded Funds (“ETFs”) | √ |
Exchange-Traded Notes (“ETNs”) | √ |
Fixed-Income Securities | √ |
Foreign Currency Transactions | |
Foreign Investments | |
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts | |
Forward Rate Agreements | |
Futures Contracts | √ |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 3 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Investment Type | Permitted for or Relevant to the Fund |
Hybrid Securities | |
Illiquid Securities | √ |
Indexed Securities | √ |
Inflation-Indexed (or Inflation-Linked) Bonds | |
Junior Loans | |
Liquidity or Protective Put Agreements | |
Loans | |
Lower Rated Investments | |
Master Limited Partnerships (“MLPs”) | |
Money Market Instruments | √ |
Mortgage-Backed Securities (“MBS”) | |
Mortgage Dollar Rolls | |
Municipal Lease Obligations (“MLOs”) | |
Municipal Obligations | |
Option Contracts | |
Pooled Investment Vehicles | √ |
Preferred Stock | |
Real Estate Investments | |
Repurchase Agreements | |
Residual Interest Bonds | |
Restricted Securities | |
Reverse Repurchase Agreements | |
Rights and Warrants | |
Royalty Bonds | |
Senior Loans | |
Short Sales | |
Stripped Securities | |
Structured Notes | √ |
Swap Agreements | √ |
Swaptions | |
Trust Certificates | |
U.S. Government Securities | √ |
Unlisted Securities | |
Variable Rate Instruments | |
When-Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery and Forward Commitments | √ |
Zero Coupon Bonds, Deep Discount Bonds and Payment In-Kind (“PIK”) Securities |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 4 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Other Disclosures Regarding Investment Practices | Permitted for or Relevant to the Fund |
Asset Coverage | √ |
Average Effective Maturity | |
Borrowing for Investment Purposes | |
Borrowing for Temporary Purposes | √ |
Cybersecurity Risk | √ |
Diversified Status | √ |
Dividend Capture Trading | |
Duration | √ |
Investing in a Portfolio | |
Investments in the Subsidiary | √ |
Operational Risk | √ |
Option Strategy | |
Participation in the ReFlow Liquidity Program | √ |
Portfolio Turnover | √ |
Securities Lending | √ |
Short-Term Trading | √ |
Significant Exposure to Health Sciences Companies | |
Significant Exposure to Smaller Companies | |
Significant Exposure to Utilities and Financial Services Sectors | |
Tax-Managed Investing |
INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS
The following investment restrictions of the Fund are designated as fundamental policies and as such cannot be changed without the approval of the holders of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities, which as used in this SAI means the lesser of: (a) 67% of the shares of the Fund present or represented by proxy at a meeting if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding shares are present or represented at the meeting; or (b) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund. Accordingly, the Fund may not:
(1) | Borrow money or issue senior securities except as permitted by the 1940 Act; |
(2) | Purchase securities on margin (but the Fund may obtain such short-term credits as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of securities). The deposit or payment by the Fund of initial or maintenance margin in connection with futures contracts or related options transactions is not considered the purchase of a security on margin; |
(3) | Underwrite or participate in the marketing of securities of others, except insofar as it may technically be deemed to be an underwriter in selling a portfolio security under circumstances which may require the registration of the same under the 1933 Act; |
(4) | Purchase or sell real estate (including limited partnership interests in real estate but excluding readily marketable interests in real estate investment trusts or readily marketable securities of companies which invest or deal in real estate or securities which are secured by real estate); |
(5) | Make loans to any person except by (a) the acquisition of debt instruments and making portfolio investments, (b) entering into repurchase agreements and (c) lending portfolio securities; |
(6) | Concentrate its investments in any particular industry, but, if deemed appropriate for the Fund’s objective, up to (but less than) 25% of the value of its assets may be invested in securities of companies in any one industry (although more than 25% may be invested in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities). |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 5 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
In addition, the Fund may:
(7) | Purchase and sell commodities and commodities contracts of all types and kinds (including without limitation futures contracts, options on futures contracts and other commodities-related investments) to the extent permitted by law. |
(8) | Invest 25% or more of its total assets in securities, commodity-linked notes and other instruments, including futures and forward contracts, related options and swaps, linked to one or more of the agriculture, energy and natural resources, livestock, precious metals, industrial metals and other sectors of the commodities market. The individual components of an index will be considered as separate industries for this purpose. The Fund may also invest more than 25% of total assets in a group of industries. |
The Fund’s borrowing policy is consistent with Section 18(f) of the 1940 Act, which states that it shall be unlawful for any registered open-end company to issue any class of senior security or to sell any senior security of which it is the issuer, except that any such registered company shall be permitted to borrow from any bank; provided, that immediately after any such borrowing there is an asset coverage of at least 300% for all borrowings of such registered company; and provided further, that in the event that such asset coverage shall at any time fall below 300% such registered company shall, within three days thereafter (not including Sundays and holidays) or such longer period as the SEC may prescribe by rules and regulations, reduce the amount of its borrowings to an extent that the asset coverage of such borrowings shall be at least 300%. Reverse repurchase agreements are included in borrowings for purposes of complying with the foregoing.
Notwithstanding its investment policies and restrictions, the Fund may, in compliance with the requirements of the 1940 Act, invest: (i) all of its investable assets in an open-end management investment company with substantially the same investment objective(s), policies and restrictions as the Fund; or (ii) in more than one open-end management investment company sponsored by Eaton Vance or its affiliates, provided any such company has investment objective(s), policies and restrictions that are consistent with those of the Fund.
In addition, to the extent a registered open-end investment company acquires securities of a fund in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(G) under the 1940 Act, such acquired fund shall not acquire any securities of a registered open-end investment company in reliance on Sections 12(d)(1)(F) or 12(d)(1)(G) under the 1940 Act.
The following nonfundamental investment policy has been adopted by the Fund. A nonfundamental investment policy may be changed by the Board with respect to the Fund without approval by the Fund’s shareholders. The Fund will not:
· | make short sales of securities or maintain a short position, unless at all times when a short position is open (i) it owns an equal amount of such securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable, without payment of any further consideration, for securities of the same issue as, and equal in amount to, the securities sold short or (ii) it holds in a segregated account cash or other liquid securities (to the extent required under the 1940 Act) in an amount equal to the current market value of the securities sold short, and unless not more than 25% of its net assets (taken at current value) is held as collateral for such sales at any one time. |
Whenever an investment policy or investment restriction set forth in the Prospectus or this SAI states a requirement with respect to the percentage of assets that may be invested in any security or other asset, or describes a policy regarding quality standards, such percentage limitation or standard shall be determined immediately after and as a result of the acquisition by the Fund of such security or asset. Accordingly, unless otherwise noted, any later increase or decrease resulting from a change in values, assets or other circumstances or any subsequent rating change made by a rating service (or as determined by the investment adviser if the security is not rated by a rating agency), will not compel the Fund to dispose of such security or other asset. However, the Fund must always be in compliance with the borrowing policy set forth above.
MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION
Fund Management. The Trustees of the Trust are responsible for the overall management and supervision of the affairs of the Trust. The Board members and officers of the Trust are listed below. Except as indicated, each individual has held the office shown or other offices in the same company for the last five years. Board members and officers of the Trust hold indefinite terms of office. The “noninterested Trustees” consist of those Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust, as that term is defined under the 1940 Act. The business address of each Board member and officer is Two International Place, Boston, Massachusetts 02110. As used in this SAI, “BMR” refers to Boston Management and Research, “EVC” refers to Eaton Vance Corp., “EV” refers to Eaton Vance, Inc., “Eaton Vance” refers to Eaton Vance Management and “EVD” refers to Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. (see “Principal Underwriter” under “Other Service Providers”). EVC and EV are the corporate parent and trustee, respectively, of Eaton Vance and BMR. Each officer affiliated with Eaton Vance may hold a position with other Eaton Vance affiliates that is comparable to his or her position with Eaton Vance listed below.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 6 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Name and Year of Birth | Trust Position(s) | Length of Service |
Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years
and Other Relevant Experience |
Number of Portfolios
in Fund Complex Overseen By Trustee (1) |
Other Directorships Held
During Last Five Years (2) |
|||||
Interested Trustee | ||||||||||
THOMAS E. FAUST JR.
1958 |
Trustee | Since 2007 | Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of EVC, Director and President of EV, Chief Executive Officer and President of Eaton Vance and BMR, and Director of EVD. Trustee and/or officer of 172 registered investment companies. Mr. Faust is an interested person because of his positions with BMR, Eaton Vance, EVC, EVD and EV, which are affiliates of the Trust. | 172 | Director of EVC and Hexavest Inc. (investment management firm). | |||||
Noninterested Trustees | ||||||||||
MARK R. FETTING
1954 |
Trustee | Since 2016 | Private investor. Formerly held various positions at Legg Mason, Inc. (investment management firm) (2000-2012), including President, Chief Executive Officer, Director and Chairman (2008-2012), Senior Executive Vice President (2004-2008) and Executive Vice President (2001-2004). Formerly, President of Legg Mason family of funds (2001-2008). Formerly, Division President and Senior Officer of Prudential Financial Group, Inc. and related companies (investment management firm) (1991-2000). | 172 | None | |||||
CYNTHIA E. FROST
1961 |
Trustee | Since 2014 | Private investor. Formerly, Chief Investment Officer of Brown University (university endowment) (2000-2012). Formerly, Portfolio Strategist for Duke Management Company (university endowment manager) (1995-2000). Formerly, Managing Director, Cambridge Associates (investment consulting company) (1989-1995). Formerly, Consultant, Bain and Company (management consulting firm) (1987-1989). Formerly, Senior Equity Analyst, BA Investment Management Company (1983-1985). | 172 | None | |||||
GEORGE J. GORMAN
1952 |
Trustee | Since 2014 | Principal at George J. Gorman LLC (consulting firm). Formerly, Senior Partner at Ernst & Young LLP (a registered public accounting firm) (1974-2009). | 172 | Formerly, Trustee of the BofA Funds Series Trust (11 funds) (2011-2014) and of the Ashmore Funds (9 funds) (2010-2014). |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 7 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Noninterested Trustees | ||||||||||
VALERIE A. MOSLEY
1960 |
Trustee | Since 2014 | Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Valmo Ventures (a consulting and investment firm). Former Partner and Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Investment Strategist at Wellington Management Company, LLP (investment management firm) (1992-2012). Former Chief Investment Officer, PG Corbin Asset Management (1990-1992). Formerly worked in institutional corporate bond sales at Kidder Peabody (1986-1990). | 172 | Director of Envestnet, Inc. (provider of intelligent systems for wealth management and financial wellness) (since 2018). Director of Dynex Capital, Inc. (mortgage REIT) (since 2013). | |||||
WILLIAM H. PARK
1947 |
Chairperson of the Board and Trustee | Chairperson of the Board since 2016 and Trustee since 2003 | Private investor. Formerly, Consultant (management and transactional) (2012-2014). Formerly, Chief Financial Officer, Aveon Group, L.P. (investment management firm) (2010-2011). Formerly, Vice Chairman, Commercial Industrial Finance Corp. (specialty finance company) (2006-2010). Formerly, President and Chief Executive Officer, Prizm Capital Management, LLC (investment management firm) (2002-2005). Formerly, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, United Asset Management Corporation (investment management firm) (1982-2001). Formerly, Senior Manager, Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) (a registered public accounting firm) (1972-1981). | 172 | None | |||||
HELEN FRAME PETERS
1948 |
Trustee | Since 2008 | Professor of Finance, Carroll School of Management, Boston College. Formerly, Dean, Carroll School of Management, Boston College (2000-2002). Formerly, Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income, Scudder Kemper Investments (investment management firm) (1998-1999). Formerly, Chief Investment Officer, Equity and Fixed Income, Colonial Management Associates (investment management firm) (1991-1998). | 172 | None | |||||
KEITH QUINTON
1958 |
Trustee | Since 2018 | Independent Investment Committee Member at New Hampshire Retirement System (since 2017). Advisory Committee member at Northfield Information Services, Inc. (risk management analytics provider) (since 2016). Formerly, Portfolio Manager and Senior Quantitative Analyst at Fidelity Investments (investment management firm) (2001-2014). | 172 | Director of New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank (since 2016). |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 8 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Noninterested Trustees | ||||||||||
MARCUS L. SMITH
1966 |
Trustee | Since 2018 | Member of Posse Boston Advisory Board (foundation) (since 2015); Trustee at University of Mount Union (since 2008). Formerly, Portfolio Manager at MFS Investment Management (investment management firm) (1994-2017). | 172 | Director of MSCI Inc. (global provider of investment decision support tools) (since 2017). Formerly, Director of DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (logistics real estate company) (2017-2018). | |||||
SUSAN J. SUTHERLAND
1957 |
Trustee | Since 2015 | Private investor. Formerly, Associate, Counsel and Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (law firm) (1982-2013). | 172 | Formerly, Director of Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd. (global provider of customized insurance and reinsurance products) (2013-2015). | |||||
SCOTT E. WENNERHOLM
1959 |
Trustee | Since 2016 | Formerly, Trustee at Wheelock College (postsecondary institution) (2012-2018). Formerly, Consultant at GF Parish Group (executive recruiting firm) (2016-2017). Formerly, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President at BNY Mellon Asset Management (investment management firm) (2005-2011). Formerly, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Natixis Global Asset Management (investment management firm) (1997-2004). Formerly, Vice President at Fidelity Investments Institutional Services (investment management firm) (1994-1997). | 172 | None |
(1) | Includes both master and feeder funds in a master-feeder structure. |
(2) | During their respective tenures, the Trustees (except for Mmes. Frost and Sutherland and Messrs. Fetting, Gorman, Quinton, Smith and Wennerholm) also served as Board members of one or more of the following funds (which operated in the years noted): eUnits TM 2 Year U.S. Market Participation Trust: Upside to Cap / Buffered Downside (launched in 2012 and terminated in 2014); and eUnits TM 2 Year U.S. Market Participation Trust II: Upside to Cap / Buffered Downside (launched in 2012 and terminated in 2014). However, Ms. Mosley did not serve as a Board member of eUnits TM 2 Year U.S. Market Participation Trust: Upside to Cap / Buffered Downside (launched in 2012 and terminated in 2014). |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 9 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The Board has general oversight responsibility with respect to the business and affairs of the Trust and the Fund. The Board has engaged an investment adviser and (if applicable) a sub-adviser(s) (collectively the “adviser”) to manage the Fund and an administrator to administer the Fund and is responsible for overseeing such adviser and administrator and other service providers to the Trust and the Fund. The Board is currently composed of eleven Trustees, including ten Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Fund, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act (each a “noninterested Trustee”). In addition to six regularly scheduled meetings per year, the Board holds special meetings or informal conference calls to discuss specific matters that may require action prior to the next regular meeting. As discussed below, the Board has established five committees to assist the Board in performing its oversight responsibilities.
The Board has appointed a noninterested Trustee to serve in the role of Chairperson. The Chairperson’s primary role is to participate in the preparation of the agenda for meetings of the Board and the identification of information to be presented to the Board with respect to matters to be acted upon by the Board. The Chairperson also presides at all meetings of the Board and acts as a liaison with service providers, officers, attorneys, and other Board members generally between meetings. The Chairperson may perform such other functions as may be requested by the Board from time to time. In addition, the Board may appoint a noninterested Trustee to serve in the role of Vice-Chairperson. The Vice-Chairperson has the power and authority to perform any or all of the duties and responsibilities of the Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson and/or as requested by the Chairperson. Except for any duties specified herein or pursuant to the Trust’s Declaration of Trust or By-laws, the designation of Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson does not impose on such noninterested Trustee any duties, obligations or liability that is greater than the duties, obligations or liability imposed on such person as a member of the Board, generally.
The Fund and the Trust are subject to a number of risks, including, among others, investment, compliance, operational, and valuation risks. Risk oversight is part of the Board’s general oversight of the Fund and the Trust and is addressed as part of various activities of the Board and its Committees. As part of its oversight of the Fund and the Trust, the Board directly, or through a Committee, relies on and reviews reports from, among others, Fund management, the adviser, the administrator, the principal underwriter, the Chief Compliance Officer (the “CCO”), and other Fund service providers responsible for day-to-day oversight of Fund investments, operations and compliance to assist the Board in identifying and understanding the nature and extent of risks and determining whether, and to what extent, such risks can or should be mitigated. The Board also interacts with the CCO and with senior personnel of the adviser, administrator, principal underwriter and other Fund service providers and provides input on risk management issues during meetings of the Board and its Committees. Each of the adviser, administrator, principal underwriter and the other Fund service providers has its own, independent interest and responsibilities in risk management, and its policies and methods for carrying out risk management functions will depend, in part, on its individual priorities, resources and controls. It is not possible to identify all of the risks that may affect the Fund or to develop processes and controls to eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects. Moreover, it is necessary to bear certain risks (such as investment-related risks) to achieve the Fund’s goals.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 10 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The Board, with the assistance of management and with input from the Board's various committees, reviews investment policies and risks in connection with its review of Fund performance. The Board has appointed a Fund CCO who oversees the implementation and testing of the Fund compliance program and reports to the Board regarding compliance matters for the Fund and its principal service providers. In addition, as part of the Board’s periodic review of the advisory, subadvisory (if applicable), distribution and other service provider agreements, the Board may consider risk management aspects of their operations and the functions for which they are responsible. With respect to valuation, the Board approves and periodically reviews valuation policies and procedures applicable to valuing the Fund’s shares. The administrator, the investment adviser and the sub-adviser (if applicable) are responsible for the implementation and day-to-day administration of these valuation policies and procedures and provides reports to the Audit Committee of the Board and the Board regarding these and related matters. In addition, the Audit Committee of the Board or the Board receives reports periodically from the independent public accounting firm for the Fund regarding tests performed by such firm on the valuation of all securities, as well as with respect to other risks associated with mutual funds. Reports received from service providers, legal counsel and the independent public accounting firm assist the Board in performing its oversight function.
The Trust’s Declaration of Trust does not set forth any specific qualifications to serve as a Trustee. The Charter of the Governance Committee also does not set forth any specific qualifications, but does set forth certain factors that the Committee may take into account in considering noninterested Trustee candidates. In general, no one factor is decisive in the selection of an individual to join the Board. Among the factors the Board considers when concluding that an individual should serve on the Board are the following: (i) knowledge in matters relating to the mutual fund industry; (ii) experience as a director or senior officer of public companies; (iii) educational background; (iv) reputation for high ethical standards and professional integrity; (v) specific financial, technical or other expertise, and the extent to which such expertise would complement the Board members’ existing mix of skills, core competencies and qualifications; (vi) perceived ability to contribute to the ongoing functions of the Board, including the ability and commitment to attend meetings regularly and work collaboratively with other members of the Board; (vii) the ability to qualify as a noninterested Trustee for purposes of the 1940 Act and any other actual or potential conflicts of interest involving the individual and the Fund; and (viii) such other factors as the Board determines to be relevant in light of the existing composition of the Board.
Among the attributes or skills common to all Board members are their ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the other members of the Board, management, sub-advisers, other service providers, counsel and independent registered public accounting firms, and to exercise effective and independent business judgment in the performance of their duties as members of the Board. Each Board member’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively has been attained through the Board member’s business, consulting, public service and/or academic positions and through experience from service as a member of the Boards of the Eaton Vance family of funds (“Eaton Vance Fund Boards”) (and/or in other capacities, including for any predecessor funds), public companies, or non-profit entities or other organizations as set forth below. Each Board member’s ability to perform his or her duties effectively also has been enhanced by his or her educational background, professional training, and/or other life experiences.
In respect of each current member of the Board, the individual’s substantial professional accomplishments and experience, including in fields related to the operations of registered investment companies, were a significant factor in the determination that the individual should serve as a member of the Board. The following is a summary of each Board member’s particular professional experience and additional considerations that contributed to the Board’s conclusion that he or she should serve as a member of the Board:
Thomas E. Faust Jr. Mr. Faust has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2007. He is currently Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of EVC, Director and President of EV, Chief Executive Officer and President of Eaton Vance and BMR, and Director of EVD. Mr. Faust has served as a Director of Hexavest Inc. since 2012 and of SigFig Wealth Management LLC since 2016. Mr. Faust previously served as an equity analyst, portfolio manager, Director of Equity Research and Management and Chief Investment Officer of Eaton Vance from 1985-2007. He holds B.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mr. Faust has been a Chartered Financial Analyst since 1988.
Mark R. Fetting. Mr. Fetting has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2016. He has over 30 years of experience in the investment management industry as an executive and in various leadership roles. From 2000 through 2012, Mr. Fetting served in several capacities at Legg Mason, Inc., including most recently serving as President, Chief Executive Officer, Director and Chairman from 2008 to his retirement in 2012. He also served as a Director/Trustee and Chairman of the Legg Mason family of funds from 2008-2012 and Director/Trustee of the Royce family of funds from 2001-2012. From 2001 through 2008, Mr. Fetting also served as President of the Legg Mason family of funds. From 1991 through 2000, Mr. Fetting served as Division President and Senior Officer of Prudential Financial Group, Inc. and related companies. Early in his professional career, Mr. Fetting was a Vice President at T. Rowe Price and served in leadership roles within the firm’s mutual fund division from 1981-1987.
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Cynthia E. Frost . Ms. Frost has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2014 and is the Chairperson of the Portfolio Management Committee. From 2000 through 2012, Ms. Frost was the Chief Investment Officer of Brown University, where she oversaw the evaluation, selection and monitoring of the third party investment managers who managed the university’s endowment. From 1995 through 2000, Ms. Frost was a Portfolio Strategist for Duke Management Company, which oversaw Duke University’s endowment. Ms. Frost also served in various investment and consulting roles at Cambridge Associates from 1989-1995, Bain and Company from 1987-1989 and BA Investment Management Company from 1983-1985. She serves as a member of the investment committee of The MCNC Endowment.
George J. Gorman . Mr. Gorman has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2014 and is the Chairperson of the Audit Committee. From 1974 through 2009, Mr. Gorman served in various capacities at Ernst & Young LLP, including as a Senior Partner in the Asset Management Group (from 1988) specializing in managing engagement teams responsible for auditing mutual funds registered with the SEC, hedge funds and private equity funds. Mr. Gorman also has experience serving as an independent trustee of other mutual fund complexes, including the Bank of America Money Market Funds Series Trust from 2011-2014 and the Ashmore Funds from 2010-2014.
Valerie A. Mosley. Ms. Mosley has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2014 and is the Chairperson of the Governance Committee. She currently owns and manages a consulting and investment firm, Valmo Ventures and is a Director of Progress Investment Management Company, a manager of emerging managers. From 1992 through 2012, Ms. Mosley served in several capacities at Wellington Management Company, LLP, an investment management firm, including as a Partner, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Investment Strategist. Ms. Mosley also served as Chief Investment Officer at PG Corbin Asset Management from 1990-1992 and worked in institutional corporate bond sales at Kidder Peabody from 1986-1990. Ms. Mosley is a Director of Dynex Capital, Inc., a mortgage REIT, where she serves on the board’s audit and investment committees, and a Director of Envestnet, Inc., a provider of intelligent systems for wealth management and financial wellness. She also serves as a trustee or board member of several major non-profit organizations and endowments, including New Profit, a non-profit venture philanthropy fund. She is a member of the Risk Audit Committee of the United Auto Workers Retiree Medical Benefits Trust and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of New York State Common Retirement Fund. She is also an advisor to New Technology Ventures, a venture capital firm.
William H. Park. Mr. Park has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2003 and is the Independent Chairperson of the Board. Mr. Park was formerly a consultant from 2012-2014 and formerly the Chief Financial Officer of Aveon Group, L.P. from 2010-2011. Mr. Park also served as Vice Chairman of Commercial Industrial Finance Corp. from 2006-2010, as President and Chief Executive Officer of Prizm Capital Management, LLC from 2002-2005, as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of United Asset Management Corporation from 1982-2001 and as Senior Manager of Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) from 1972-1981.
Helen Frame Peters. Dr. Peters has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2008. Dr. Peters is currently a Professor of Finance at Carroll School of Management, Boston College and was formerly Dean of Carroll School of Management from 2000-2002. Dr. Peters was previously a Director of BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. from 2004-2011. In addition, Dr. Peters was the Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income at Scudder Kemper Investments from 1998-1999 and Chief Investment Officer, Equity and Fixed Income at Colonial Management Associates from 1991-1998. Dr. Peters also served as a Trustee of SPDR Index Shares Funds and SPDR Series Trust from 2000-2009 and as a Director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston from 2007-2009.
Keith Quinton. Mr. Quinton has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since October 1, 2018. He had over thirty years of experience in the investment industry before retiring from Fidelity Investments in 2014. Prior to joining Fidelity, Mr. Quinton was a vice president and quantitative analyst at MFS Investment Management from 2000-2001. From 1997 through 2000, he was a senior quantitative analyst at Santander Global Advisors and, from 1995 through 1997, Mr. Quinton was senior vice president in the quantitative equity research department at Putnam Investments. Prior to joining Putnam Investments, Mr. Quinton served in various investment roles at Eberstadt Fleming, Falconwood Securities Corporation and Drexel Burnham Lambert, where he began his career in the investment industry as a senior quantitative analyst in 1983. Mr. Quinton currently serves as an Independent Investment Committee Member of the New Hampshire Retirement System, a five member committee that manages investments based on the investment policy and asset allocation approved by the board of trustees, and as a Director of the New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank.
Marcus L. Smith. Mr. Smith has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since October 1, 2018. Since 2017, Mr. Smith has been a Director of MSCI Inc., a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, where he serves on the Audit Committee. From 2017 through 2018, he served as a Director of DCT Industrial Trust Inc., a leading logistics real estate company, where he served as a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance and Audit Committees. From 1994 through 2017, Mr. Smith served in several capacities at MFS Investment Management, an investment management firm, where he managed the MFS Institutional International Fund for 17 years and the MFS
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Concentrated International Fund for 10 years. In addition to his portfolio management duties, Mr. Smith served as Director of Equity, Canada from 2012-2017, Director of Equity, Asia from 2010-2012, and Director of Asian Equity Research from 2005-2010. Prior to joining MFS, Mr. Smith was a senior consultant at Andersen Consulting (now known as Accenture) from 1988-1992. Mr. Smith served as a United States Army Reserve Officer from 1987-1992. He has also been a trustee of the University of Mount Union since 2008 and has served as the chairman of the finance committee since 2015. Mr. Smith currently sits on the Boston advisory board of the Posse Foundation and the Harvard Medical School Advisory Council on Education.
Susan J. Sutherland. Ms. Sutherland has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2015 and is the Chairperson of the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee. She is also a Director of Ascot Group Limited and certain of its subsidiaries. Ascot Group Limited, through its related businesses including Syndicate 1414 at Lloyd’s of London, is a leading global underwriter of specialty property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. Ms. Sutherland was a Director of Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd., a global provider of customized reinsurance and insurance products, from 2013 until its sale in 2015 and of Hagerty Holding Corp., a leading provider of specialized automobile and marine insurance from 2015-2018. From 1982 through 2013, Ms. Sutherland was an associate, counsel and then a partner in the Financial Institutions Group of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where she primarily represented U.S. and international insurance and reinsurance companies, investment banks and private equity firms in insurance-related corporate transactions. In addition, Ms. Sutherland is qualified as a Governance Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors and has also served as a board member of prominent non-profit organizations.
Scott E. Wennerholm. Mr. Wennerholm has served as a member of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards since 2016 and is the Chairperson of the Contract Review Committee. He has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry in various leadership and executive roles. Mr. Wennerholm served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President at BNY Mellon Asset Management from 2005-2011. He also served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Natixis Global Asset Management from 1997-2004 and was a Vice President at Fidelity Investments Institutional Services from 1994-1997. In addition, Mr. Wennerholm served as a Trustee at Wheelock College, a postsecondary institution from 2012-2018.
The Board(s) of the Trust has several standing Committees, including the Governance Committee, the Audit Committee, the Portfolio Management Committee, the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee and the Contract Review Committee. Each of the Committees are comprised of only noninterested Trustees.
Mmes. Mosley (Chairperson), Frost, Peters and Sutherland, and Messrs. Fetting, Gorman, Park, Quinton, Smith and Wennerholm are members of the Governance Committee. The purpose of the Governance Committee is to consider, evaluate and make recommendations to the Board with respect to the structure, membership and operation of the Board and the Committees thereof, including the nomination and selection of noninterested Trustees and a Chairperson of the Board and the compensation of such persons. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Governance Committee convened seven times.
The Governance Committee will, when a vacancy exists, consider a nominee for Trustee recommended by a shareholder, provided that such recommendation is submitted in writing to the Trust’s Secretary at the principal executive office of the Trust. Such recommendations must be accompanied by biographical and occupational data on the candidate (including whether the candidate would be an “interested person” of the Trust), a written consent by the candidate to be named as a nominee and to serve as Trustee if elected, record and ownership information for the recommending shareholder with respect to the Trust, and a description of any arrangements or understandings regarding recommendation of the candidate for consideration.
Messrs. Gorman (Chairperson), Park and Wennerholm and Ms. Mosley are members of the Audit Committee. The Board has designated Messrs. Gorman and Park, each a noninterested Trustee, as audit committee financial experts. The Audit Committee’s purposes are to (i) oversee the Fund's accounting and financial reporting processes, its internal control over financial reporting, and, as appropriate, the internal control over financial reporting of certain service providers; (ii) oversee or, as appropriate, assist Board oversight of the quality and integrity of the Fund's financial statements and the independent audit thereof; (iii) oversee, or, as appropriate, assist Board oversight of, the Fund's compliance with legal and regulatory requirements that relate to the Fund's accounting and financial reporting, internal control over financial reporting and independent audits; (iv) approve prior to appointment the engagement and, when appropriate, replacement of the independent registered public accounting firm, and, if applicable, nominate the independent registered public accounting firm to be proposed for shareholder ratification in any proxy statement of the Fund; (v) evaluate the qualifications, independence and performance of the independent registered public accounting firm and the audit partner in charge of leading the audit; and (vi) prepare, as necessary, audit committee reports consistent with the requirements of applicable SEC and stock exchange rules for inclusion in the proxy statement of the Fund. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Audit Committee convened thirteen times.
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Messrs. Wennerholm (Chairperson), Fetting, Gorman, Park, Quinton and Smith, and Mmes. Frost, Mosley, Peters and Sutherland are members of the Contract Review Committee. The purposes of the Contract Review Committee are to consider, evaluate and make recommendations to the Board concerning the following matters: (i) contractual arrangements with each service provider to the Fund, including advisory, sub-advisory, transfer agency, custodial and fund accounting, distribution services and administrative services; (ii) any and all other matters in which any service provider (including Eaton Vance or any affiliated entity thereof) has an actual or potential conflict of interest with the interests of the Fund or investors therein; and (iii) any other matter appropriate for review by the noninterested Trustees, unless the matter is within the responsibilities of the other Committees of the Board. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Contract Review Committee convened seven times.
Mmes. Frost (Chairperson), Mosley and Peters and Messrs. Fetting and Smith are members of the Portfolio Management Committee. The purposes of the Portfolio Management Committee are to: (i) assist the Board in its oversight of the portfolio management process employed by the Fund and its investment adviser and sub-adviser(s), if applicable, relative to the Fund’s stated objective(s), strategies and restrictions; (ii) assist the Board in its oversight of the trading policies and procedures and risk management techniques applicable to the Fund; and (iii) assist the Board in its monitoring of the performance results of all funds and portfolios, giving special attention to the performance of certain funds and portfolios that it or the Board identifies from time to time. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Portfolio Management Committee convened seven times.
Ms. Sutherland (Chairperson) and Messrs. Gorman, Quinton and Wennerholm are members of the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee. The purposes of the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee are to: (i) assist the Board in its oversight role with respect to compliance issues and certain other regulatory matters affecting the Fund; (ii) serve as a liaison between the Board and the Fund’s CCO; and (iii) serve as a “qualified legal compliance committee” within the rules promulgated by the SEC. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Compliance Reports and Regulatory Matters Committee convened nine times.
Share Ownership. The following table shows the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned by each Trustee in the Fund and in the Eaton Vance family of funds overseen by the Trustee as of December 31, 2018.
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As of December 31, 2018, no noninterested Trustee or any of their immediate family members owned beneficially or of record any class of securities of EVC, EVD, any sub-adviser, if applicable, or any person controlling, controlled by or under common control with EVC or EVD or any sub-adviser, if applicable, collectively (“Affiliated Entity”).
During the calendar years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2018, no noninterested Trustee (or their immediate family members) had:
(1) | Any direct or indirect interest in any Affiliated Entity; |
(2) | Any direct or indirect material interest in any transaction or series of similar transactions with (i) the Trust or any fund; (ii) another fund managed or distributed by any Affiliated Entity; (iii) any Affiliated Entity; or (iv) an officer of any of the above; or |
(3) | Any direct or indirect relationship with (i) the Trust or any fund; (ii) another fund managed or distributed by any Affiliated Entity; (iii) any Affiliated Entity; or (iv) an officer of any of the above. |
During the calendar years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2018, no officer of any Affiliated Entity served on the Board of Directors of a company where a noninterested Trustee of the Trust or any of their immediate family members served as an officer.
Noninterested Trustees may elect to defer receipt of all or a percentage of their annual fees in accordance with the terms of a Trustees Deferred Compensation Plan (the “Deferred Compensation Plan”). Under the Deferred Compensation Plan, an eligible Board member may elect to have all or a portion of his or her deferred fees invested in the shares of one or more funds in the Eaton Vance family of funds, and the amount paid to the Board members under the Deferred Compensation Plan will be determined based upon the performance of such investments. Deferral of Board members’ fees in accordance with the Deferred Compensation Plan will have a negligible effect on the assets, liabilities, and net income of a participating fund or portfolio, and do not require that a participating Board member be retained. There is no retirement plan for Board members.
The fees and expenses of the Trustees of the Trust are paid by the Fund (and other series of the Trust). A Board member who is a member of the Eaton Vance organization receives no compensation from the Trust. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Trustees of the Trust earned the following compensation in their capacities as Board members from the Trust. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Board members earned the following compensation in their capacities as members of the Eaton Vance Fund Boards (1) :
Source of Compensation |
Mark R.
Fetting |
Cynthia E.
Frost |
George J.
Gorman |
Valerie A.
Mosley |
William H.
Park |
Helen Frame
Peters |
Keith
Quinton |
Marcus L. Smith | Susan J. Sutherland |
Scott E.
Wennerholm |
||
Trust (2) | $23,352 | $25,025 | $25,489 | $24,913 | $32,256 | $23,816 | $23,352 | $23,352 | $25,489 | $25,489 | ||
Trust and Fund Complex (1) | $327,500 | $350,000 | $357,500 | $346,875 (3) | $452,500 | $335,000 | $327,500 | $327,500 | $357,500 (4) | $357,500 (5) | ||
(1) | As of May 1, 2019, the Eaton Vance fund complex consists of 172 registered investment companies or series thereof. Messrs. Quinton and Smith began serving as Trustees effective October 1, 2018, and thus the compensation figures listed for the Trust and the Trust and Fund Complex are estimated based on the amounts each would have received if they had been Trustees for the full fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 and for the full calendar year ended December 31, 2018. Harriett Tee Taggart retired as a Trustee effective December 31, 2018. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Ms. Taggart received Trustee fees of $23,927 from the Trust. For the calendar year ended December 31, 2018, she received $338,125 from the Trust and Fund Complex. |
(2) | The Trust consisted of 34 Funds as of December 31, 2018. |
(3) | Includes $24,000 of deferred compensation. |
(4) | Includes $352,119 of deferred compensation. |
(5) | Includes $100,000 of deferred compensation. |
Organization and Management of Wholly-Owned Subsidiary. The Subsidiary invests in commodity-linked swap agreements and other commodity-linked derivative instruments, but may also invest in the securities and other instruments in which the Fund is permitted to invest. The Subsidiary is an exempted company organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands, whose registered office is located at the offices of Intertrust Corporate Services (Cayman) Limited, 190 Elgin Avenue, George Town, Grand Cayman, KY1-9005, Cayman Islands. The Subsidiary’s custodian is State Street Bank and Trust Company. The Subsidiary’s affairs are overseen by a board currently consisting of one Director, Maureen A. Gemma. Ms. Gemma is an employee of Eaton Vance and her biographical information appears above in “Management and Organization.” The Subsidiary has entered into a separate contract with the Fund’s adviser whereby the adviser provides investment advisory services to the Subsidiary. The investment adviser to the Subsidiary will comply with provisions of the 1940 Act relating to investment advisory contracts. The agreement continues in effect from year to
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year so long as such continuance is approved at least annually (i) by the vote of a majority of the noninterested Trustees of the Fund cast in person at a meeting specifically called for the purposes of voting on such approval and (ii) by the Board of Trustees of the Fund or by vote of a majority of the outstanding securities of the Fund. The agreement may be terminated at any time without penalty upon sixty (60) days’ written notice by the Board of Trustees of either party, or by vote of the majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund and will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment. The Subsidiary will bear the fees and expenses incurred in connection with the custody, transfer agency, and audit services that it receives. The Fund expects that the expenses borne by the Subsidiary will not be material in relation to the value of its assets.
The Subsidiary has adopted compliance policies and procedures that are substantially similar to the policies and procedures adopted by the Fund. The Subsidiary is operated in accordance with the 1940 Act investment restrictions that apply to the Fund, (including provisions related to affiliated transactions and custody), but is not subject to provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. The Fund will comply with provisions of the 1940 Act governing investment policies and capital structure and leverage on an aggregate basis with the Subsidiary. The Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer oversees implementation of the Subsidiary's policies and procedures, and makes periodic reports to its Board of Trustees regarding the Subsidiary's compliance with its policies and procedures. In testing compliance of the Fund and the Subsidiary with applicable investment restrictions, the assets of the Fund are aggregated with those of the Subsidiary, except with respect to borrowings. The Subsidiary is subject to asset segregation requirements to the same extent as the Fund, which are tested for compliance on a consolidated basis as noted in the preceding sentence.
Fund Organization
Trust. The Fund is a series of the Trust, which was organized under Massachusetts law on May 7, 1984 as a trust with transferable shares, commonly referred to as a “Massachusetts business trust” and is operated as an open-end management investment company. The Trust may issue an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest (no par value per share) in one or more series (such as the Fund). The Trustees of the Trust have divided the shares of the Fund into multiple classes. Each class represents an interest in the Fund, but is subject to different expenses, rights and privileges. The Trustees have the authority under the Declaration of Trust to create additional classes of shares with differing rights and privileges. When issued and outstanding, shares are fully paid and nonassessable by the Trust. Shareholders of the Trust are entitled to one vote for each full share held. Fractional shares may be voted proportionately. Shares of all Funds in the Trust will be voted together with respect to the election or removal of Trustees and on other matters affecting all Funds similarly. On matters affecting only a particular Fund, all shareholders of the affected Fund will vote together as a single class except that only shareholders of a particular class may vote on matters affecting only that class. Shares have no preemptive or conversion rights and are freely transferable. In the event of the liquidation of the Fund, shareholders of each class are entitled to share pro rata in the net assets attributable to that class available for distribution to shareholders.
As permitted by Massachusetts law, there will normally be no meetings of shareholders for the purpose of electing Trustees unless and until such time as less than a majority of the Trustees of the Trust holding office have been elected by shareholders. In such an event the Trustees then in office will call a shareholders’ meeting for the election of Trustees. Except for the foregoing circumstances and unless removed by action of the shareholders in accordance with the Trust’s By-laws, the Trustees shall continue to hold office and may appoint successor Trustees. The Trust’s By-laws provide that any Trustee may be removed with or without cause, by (i) the affirmative vote of holders of two-thirds of the shares or, (ii) the affirmative vote of, or written instrument, signed by at least two-thirds of the remaining Trustees, provided however, that the removal of any noninterested Trustee shall additionally require the affirmative vote of, or a written instrument executed by, at least two-thirds of the remaining noninterested Trustees. No person shall serve as a Trustee if shareholders holding two-thirds of the outstanding shares have removed him or her from that office either by a written declaration filed with the Trust’s custodian or by votes cast at a meeting called for that purpose. The By-laws further provide that under certain circumstances the shareholders may call a meeting to remove a Trustee and that the Trust is required to provide assistance in communication with shareholders about such a meeting.
The Trust’s Declaration of Trust may be amended by the Trustees when authorized by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust, the financial interests of which are affected by the amendment. The Trustees may also amend the Declaration of Trust without the vote or consent of shareholders to change the name of the Trust or any series, if they deem it necessary to conform it to applicable federal or state laws or regulations, or to make such other changes (such as reclassifying series or classes of shares or restructuring the Trust) provided such changes do not have a materially adverse effect on the financial interests of shareholders. The Trust’s By-laws provide that the Trust will indemnify its Trustees and officers against liabilities and expenses incurred in connection with any litigation or proceeding in which they may be involved because of their offices with the Trust. However, no indemnification will be provided to any Trustee or officer for any liability to the Trust or shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office.
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The Trust’s Declaration of Trust provides that any legal proceeding brought by or on behalf of a shareholder seeking to enforce any provision of, or based upon any matter arising out of, related to or in connection with, the Declaration of Trust, the Trust, any Fund or Class or the shares of any Fund must be brought exclusively in the United States District Court for Massachusetts or, if such court does not have jurisdiction for the matter, then in the Superior Court of Suffolk County for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If a shareholder brings a claim in another venue and the venue is subsequently changed through legal process to the foregoing Federal or state court, then the shareholder will be required to reimburse the Trust and other persons for the expenses incurred in effecting the change in venue.
The Trust’s Declaration of Trust also provides that, except to the extent explicitly permitted by Federal law, a shareholder may not bring or maintain a court action on behalf of the Trust or any Fund or class of shares (commonly referred to as a derivative claim) without first making demand on the Trustees requesting the Trustees to bring the action. Within 90 days of receipt of the demand, the Trustees will consider the merits of the claim and determine whether commencing or maintaining an action would be in the best interests of the Trust or the affected Fund or Class. Any decision by the Trustees to bring, maintain or settle, or to not bring, maintain or settle the action, will be final and binding upon shareholders and therefore no action may be brought or maintained after a decision is made to reject a demand. In addition, the Trust’s Declaration of Trust provides that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, each shareholder acknowledges and agrees that any alleged injury to the Trust’s property, any diminution in the value of a shareholder’s shares and any other claim arising out of or relating to an allegation regarding the actions, inaction or omissions of or by the Trustees, the officers of the Trust or the investment adviser of the Fund is a legal claim belonging only to the Trust and not to the shareholders individually and, therefore, that any such claim is subject to the demand requirement for derivative claims referenced above.
The Trust or any series or class thereof may be terminated by: (1) the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than two-thirds of the shares outstanding and entitled to vote at any meeting of shareholders of the Trust or the appropriate series or class thereof, or by an instrument or instruments in writing without a meeting, consented to by the holders of two-thirds of the shares of the Trust or a series or class thereof, provided, however, that, if such termination is recommended by the Trustees, the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust or a series or class thereof entitled to vote thereon shall be sufficient authorization; or (2) by the approval of a majority of the Trustees then in office, to be followed by a written notice to shareholders.
Under Massachusetts law, if certain conditions prevail, shareholders of a Massachusetts business trust (such as the Trust) could be deemed to have personal liability for the obligations of the Trust. Numerous investment companies registered under the 1940 Act have been formed as Massachusetts business trusts, and management is not aware of an instance where such liability has been imposed. The Trust’s Declaration of Trust contains an express disclaimer of liability on the part of Fund shareholders and the Trust’s By-laws provide that the Trust shall assume the defense on behalf of any Fund shareholders. The Declaration of Trust also contains provisions limiting the liability of a series or class to that series or class. Moreover, the Trust’s By-laws also provide for indemnification out of Fund property of any shareholder held personally liable solely by reason of being or having been a shareholder for all loss or expense arising from such liability. The assets of the Fund are readily marketable and will ordinarily substantially exceed its liabilities. In light of the nature of the Fund’s business and the nature of its assets, management believes that the possibility of the Fund’s liability exceeding its assets, and therefore the shareholder’s risk of personal liability, is remote.
Proxy Voting Policy. The Board adopted a proxy voting policy and procedures (the “Fund Policy”), pursuant to which the Board has delegated proxy voting responsibility to the investment sub-adviser and adopted the proxy voting policies and procedures of the investment sub-adviser (the “Adviser Policies”). An independent proxy voting service has been retained to assist in the voting of Fund proxies through the provision of vote analysis, implementation and recordkeeping and disclosure services. The members of the Board will review a fund's proxy voting records from time to time and will annually consider approving the Adviser Policies for the upcoming year. For a copy of the Fund Policy and Adviser Policies, see Appendix D and Appendix E. Pursuant to certain provisions of the 1940 Act and certain exemptive orders relating to funds investing in other funds, a fund may be required or may elect to vote its interest in another fund in the same proportion as the holders of all other shares of that fund. Information on how a fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available (1) without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-260-0761, and (2) on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
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INVESTMENT ADVISORY AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
Investment Advisory and Administrative Services. The investment adviser manages the investments and affairs of the Fund and provide related office facilities and personnel subject to the supervision of the Trust’s Board of Trustees. The investment the sub-adviser furnishes investment research, advice and supervision, furnishes an investment program and determines what securities will be purchased, held or sold by the Fund and what portion, if any, of the Fund’s assets will be held uninvested. Each Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement and Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement require(s) the investment adviser or sub-adviser, as the case may be, to pay the compensation and expenses of all officers and Trustees who are members of the investment adviser's or sub-adviser's organization and all personnel of the investment adviser or sub-adviser performing services relating to research and investment activities.
For a description of the compensation that the Fund pays the investment adviser, see the Prospectus. The following table sets forth the net assets of the Fund at December 31, 2018 and the advisory fees for the three fiscal years ended December 31, 2018.
Advisory Fee for Fiscal Years Ended | |||
Net Assets at 12/31/18 | 12/31/18 | 12/31/17 | 12/31/16 |
$288,909,114 | $1,718,159 | $1,248,217 | $784,251 |
Pursuant to an expense reimbursement agreement described in the prospectus, Eaton Vance was allocated $112,991 in total of Fund operating expenses for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, $114,695 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 and $130,343 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018.
The fee rate applicable to the Fund under its Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement is determined by applying the fee schedule set forth in the Prospectus to the aggregate average daily net assets of the Fund including its investment, if any, in the Subsidiary. The fee payable by the Fund equals the product of (i) the fee rate determined in accordance with the previous sentence, and (ii) the average daily net assets of the Fund exclusive of its interest in the Subsidiary. The fee rate applicable to the Subsidiary under its Investment Advisory Agreement equals the product of (i) the fee rate determined as set forth above, and (ii) the average daily net assets of the Subsidiary.
Pursuant to investment sub-advisory agreements between Eaton Vance and Parametric Portfolio Associates, Inc. (“Parametric”), Eaton Vance pays compensation to Parametric for providing sub-advisory services to the Fund and the Subsidiary. The following table sets forth the sub-advisory fees for the three fiscal years ended December 31, 2018:
Sub-Advisory Fee for Fiscal Years Ended | ||
12/31/18 | 12/31/17 | 12/31/16 |
$780,981 | $567,371 | $439,651 |
Pursuant to an expense reimbursement agreement described in the prospectus, Parametric was allocated $138,319 in total of Fund operating expenses for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, $95,579 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 and $108,619 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018.
The Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement and Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement with the investment adviser or sub-adviser continues in effect from year to year so long as such continuance is approved at least annually (i) by the vote of a majority of the noninterested Trustees of the Trust cast in person at a meeting specifically called for the purpose of voting on such approval and (ii) by the Board of Trustees of the Trust or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. Each Agreement may be terminated at any time without penalty on sixty (60) days’ written notice by the Board of either party, or by vote of the majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, and each Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment. Each Agreement provides that the investment adviser or sub-adviser may render services to others. Each Agreement also provides that the investment adviser or sub-adviser shall not be liable for any loss incurred in connection with the performance of its duties, or action taken or omitted under the Agreement, in the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of its obligations and duties thereunder, or for any losses sustained in the acquisition, holding or disposition of any security or other investment. Each Agreement is not intended to, and does not, confer upon any person not a party to it any right, benefit or remedy of any nature.
Information About Eaton Vance. Eaton Vance is a business trust organized under the laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. EV serves as trustee of Eaton Vance. EV and Eaton Vance are wholly-owned subsidiaries of EVC, a Maryland corporation and publicly-held holding company. BMR is an indirect subsidiary of EVC. EVC through its subsidiaries and affiliates engages primarily in investment management, administration and marketing activities. The Directors of EVC are Thomas E. Faust Jr., Ann E. Berman, Leo I. Higdon, Jr., Paula A. Johnson, Brian D. Langstraat,
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 18 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Dorothy E. Puhy, Winthrop H. Smith, Jr. and Richard A. Spillane, Jr. All shares of the outstanding Voting Common Stock of EVC are deposited in a Voting Trust, the Voting Trustees of which are Mr. Faust, Craig R. Brandon, Daniel C. Cataldo, Michael A. Cirami, Cynthia J. Clemson, James H. Evans, Maureen A. Gemma, Laurie G. Hylton, Mr. Langstraat, Frederick S. Marius, David C. McCabe, Scott H. Page, Edward J. Perkin, Lewis R. Piantedosi, Charles B. Reed, Craig P. Russ, John L. Shea, Eric A. Stein, Payson F. Swaffield, Michael W. Weilheimer, R. Kelly Williams and Matthew J. Witkos (all of whom are officers of Eaton Vance or its affiliates). The Voting Trustees have unrestricted voting rights for the election of Directors of EVC. All of the outstanding voting trust receipts issued under said Voting Trust are owned by certain of the officers of Eaton Vance who may also be officers, or officers and Directors of EVC and EV. As indicated under “Management and Organization,” all of the officers of the Trust (as well as Mr. Faust who is also a Trustee) hold positions in the Eaton Vance organization.
Information About Parametric. Parametric is a Seattle, Washington based investment manager that has been providing investment advisory services since its formation in 1987. Parametric serves its clients through Investment Centers located in Seattle, WA, Minneapolis, MN and Westport, CT. In addition, in order to meet the needs of its clients, Parametric has offices in Boston, MA and Sydney, Australia. As of December 31, 2018, Parametric’s assets under management totaled approximately $216.6 billion. Parametric is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EVC.
Code of Ethics. The investment adviser, sub-adviser, principal underwriter, and the Fund have adopted Codes of Ethics governing personal securities transactions pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act. Under the Codes, employees of the investment adviser, the sub-adviser and the principal underwriter may purchase and sell securities (including securities held or eligible for purchase by the Fund) subject to the provisions of the Codes and certain employees are also subject to pre-clearance, reporting requirements and/or other procedures.
Portfolio Managers. The portfolio managers (each referred to as a “portfolio manager”) of the Fund are listed below. The following table shows, as of the Fund’s most recent fiscal year end, the number of accounts each portfolio manager managed in each of the listed categories and the total assets (in millions of dollars) in the accounts managed within each category. The table also shows the number of accounts with respect to which the advisory fee is based on the performance of the account, if any, and the total assets (in millions of dollars) in those accounts.
Number of
All Accounts |
Total Assets of
All Accounts |
Number of Accounts
Paying a Performance Fee |
Total Assets of Accounts
Paying a Performance Fee |
|
Gregory J. Liebl | ||||
Registered Investment Companies | 2 | $302.8 | 0 | $0 |
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles | 2 | $132.9 | 0 | $0 |
Other Accounts | 26 | $9,789.7 | 0 | $0 |
Thomas Seto | ||||
Registered Investment Companies | 50 | $27,935.7 (1) | 0 | $0 |
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles | 12 | $3,385.4 | 0 | $0 |
Other Accounts | 8,103 | $93,828.2 (2) | 0 | $0 |
(1) | This portfolio manager provides investment advice with respect to only a portion of the total assets of certain of these accounts. Only the assets allocated to this portfolio manager as of the Fund’s most recent fiscal year end are reflected in the table. |
(2) | For “Other Accounts” that are part of a wrap or model account program, the number of accounts is the number of sponsors for which the portfolio manager provides advisory services rather than the number of individual customer accounts within each wrap or model account program. |
The following table shows the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned in the Fund by its portfolio manager(s) as of the Fund’s most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 and in the Eaton Vance family of funds as of December 31, 2018.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 19 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Portfolio Managers |
Dollar Range of Equity Securities
Beneficially Owned in the Fund |
Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity
Securities Beneficially Owned in the Eaton Vance Family of Funds |
Gregory J. Liebl | None | None |
Thomas Seto | $100,001 - $500,000 | Over $1,000,000 |
It is possible that conflicts of interest may arise in connection with a portfolio manager’s management of the Fund’s investments on the one hand and the investments of other accounts for which a portfolio manager is responsible on the other. For example, a portfolio manager may have conflicts of interest in allocating management time, resources and investment opportunities among the Fund and other accounts he advises. In addition, due to differences in the investment strategies or restrictions between the Fund and the other accounts, the portfolio manager may take action with respect to another account that differs from the action taken with respect to the Fund. In some cases, another account managed by a portfolio manager may compensate the investment adviser based on the performance of the securities held by that account. The existence of such a performance based fee may create additional conflicts of interest for the portfolio manager in the allocation of management time, resources and investment opportunities. Whenever conflicts of interest arise, the portfolio manager will endeavor to exercise his discretion in a manner that he believes is equitable to all interested persons. The investment adviser and sub-adviser have adopted several policies and procedures designed to address these potential conflicts including a code of ethics and policies that govern the investment adviser's and sub-adviser's trading practices, including among other things the aggregation and allocation of trades among clients, brokerage allocations, cross trades and best execution.
Compensation Structure for Parametric. Compensation of Parametric portfolio managers and other investment professionals has three primary components: (1) a base salary, (2) an annual cash bonus, and (3) annual equity-based compensation awards that generally are subject to a vesting schedule. Stock-based compensation awards and adjustments in base salary and bonuses are typically paid and/or put into effect at or shortly after, the firm’s fiscal year-end, October 31.
Method to Determine Compensation. Parametric seeks to compensate portfolio managers commensurate with their responsibilities and performance while remaining competitive with other firms within the investment management industry.
Salaries, bonuses and stock-based compensation are also influenced by the operating performance of Parametric and its parent company, EVC. While the salaries of Parametric portfolio managers are comparatively fixed, cash bonuses and stock-based compensation may fluctuate from year to year, based on changes in financial performance and other factors.
Parametric participates in compensation surveys that benchmark salaries, total cash and total compensation against other firms in the industry. This data is reviewed, along with a number of other factors, to ensure that compensation remains competitive with other firms in the industry.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Registration. Effective December 31, 2012, the CFTC adopted certain regulatory changes that subject registered investment companies and advisers to regulation by the CFTC if a fund invests more than a prescribed level of its assets in certain CFTC-regulated instruments (including futures, certain options and swaps agreements) or markets itself as providing investment exposure to such instruments. The Fund is considered to be a commodity pool operator under CFTC regulations. Eaton Vance, BMR and Parametric are registered with the CFTC as commodity pool operators. Eaton Vance, BMR and Parametric are also registered as commodity trading advisors. The CFTC has neither reviewed nor approved the Fund's investment strategies or this SAI.
Administrative Services. Eaton Vance also provides administrative services to the Fund. Under its Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement, Eaton Vance has been engaged to administer the Fund’s affairs, subject to the supervision of the Board, and shall furnish office space and all necessary office facilities, equipment and personnel for administering the affairs of the Fund.
Sub-Transfer Agency Support Services. Eaton Vance provides sub-transfer agency and related services to Eaton Vance mutual funds pursuant to a Sub-Transfer Agency Support Services Agreement. Under the agreement, Eaton Vance provides: (1) specified sub-transfer agency services; (2) compliance monitoring services; and (3) intermediary oversight services. For the services it provides, Eaton Vance receives an aggregate annual fee equal to the actual expenses incurred by Eaton Vance in the performance of such services. The Fund pays a pro rata share of such fee. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Eaton Vance earned $2,593 from the Fund pursuant to the agreement.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 20 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Expenses. The Fund is responsible for all expenses not expressly stated to be payable by another party (such as expenses required to be paid pursuant to an agreement with the investment adviser and administrator, the sub-adviser or the principal underwriter). In the case of expenses incurred by the Trust, the Fund is responsible for its pro rata share of those expenses. Pursuant to the Amended and Restated Multiple Class Plan for Eaton Vance Funds, Fund expenses are allocated to each class on a pro rata basis, except that distribution and service fees are allocated exclusively to the class that incurs them.
OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS
Principal Underwriter. Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. (“EVD”), Two International Place, Boston, MA 02110 is the principal underwriter of the Fund. The principal underwriter acts as principal in selling shares under a Distribution Agreement with the Trust. The expenses of printing copies of prospectuses used to offer shares and other selling literature and of advertising are borne by the principal underwriter. The fees and expenses of qualifying and registering and maintaining qualifications and registrations of the Fund and its shares under federal and state securities laws are borne by the Fund. The Distribution Agreement is renewable annually by the members of the Board (including a majority of the noninterested Trustees who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Distribution Agreement or any applicable Distribution Plan), may be terminated on sixty days’ notice either by such Trustees or by vote of a majority of the outstanding Fund shares or on six months’ notice by the principal underwriter and is automatically terminated upon assignment. The principal underwriter distributes shares on a “best efforts” basis under which it is required to take and pay for only such shares as may be sold. EVD is a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of EVC. Mr. Faust is a Director of EVD.
Custodian. State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”), State Street Financial Center, One Lincoln Street, Boston, MA 02111, serves as custodian to the Fund. State Street has custody of all cash and securities of the Fund, maintains the general ledger of the Fund and computes the daily net asset value of shares of the Fund. In such capacity it attends to details in connection with the sale, exchange, substitution, transfer or other dealings with the Fund’s investments, receives and disburses all funds and performs various other ministerial duties upon receipt of proper instructions from the Trust. State Street provides services in connection with the preparation of shareholder reports and the electronic filing of such reports with the SEC. EVC and its affiliates and their officers and employees from time to time have transactions with various banks, including State Street. It is Eaton Vance’s opinion that the terms and conditions of such transactions were not and will not be influenced by existing or potential custodial or other relationships between the Fund and such banks.
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. Deloitte & Touche LLP, 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116, independent registered public accounting firm, audits the Fund's financial statements and provides other audit, tax and related services.
Transfer Agent. BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc., P.O. Box 9653, Providence, RI 02940-9653, serves as transfer and dividend disbursing agent for the Fund.
CALCULATION OF NET ASSET VALUE
The net asset value of the Fund is determined by State Street (as agent and custodian) by subtracting the liabilities of the Fund from the value of its total assets. The Fund is closed for business and will not issue a net asset value on the following business holidays and any other business day that the Exchange is closed: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The Fund’s net asset value per share is readily accessible on the Eaton Vance website (www.eatonvance.com).
The Board has approved procedures pursuant to which investments are valued for purposes of determining the Fund’s net asset value. Listed below is a summary of the methods generally used to value investments (some or all of which may be held by the Fund) under the procedures.
· | Equity securities (including common stock, exchange-traded funds, closed end funds, preferred equity securities, exchange-traded notes and other instruments that trade on recognized stock exchanges) are valued at the last sale, official close or, if there are no reported sales, at the mean between the bid and asked price on the primary exchange on which they are traded. |
· | Most debt obligations are valued on the basis of market valuations furnished by a pricing service or at the mean of the bid and asked prices provided by recognized broker/dealers of such securities. The pricing service may use a pricing matrix to determine valuation. |
· | Short-term instruments with remaining maturities of less than 397 days are valued on the basis of market valuations furnished by a pricing service or based on dealer quotations. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 21 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
· | Foreign securities and currencies are valued in U.S. dollars based on foreign currency exchange quotations supplied by a pricing service. |
· | Senior and Junior Loans are valued on the basis of prices furnished by a pricing service. The pricing service uses transactions and market quotations from brokers in determining values. |
· | Futures contracts are valued at the settlement or closing price on the primary exchange or board of trade on which they are traded. |
· | Exchange-traded options are valued at the mean of the bid and asked prices. Over-the-counter options are valued based on quotations obtained from a pricing service or from a broker (typically the counterparty to the option). |
· | Non-exchange traded derivatives (including swap agreements, forward contracts and equity participation notes) are generally valued on the basis of valuations provided by a pricing service or using quotes provided by a broker/dealer (typically the counterparty) or, for total return swaps, based on market index data. |
· | Precious metals are valued at the New York Composite mean quotation. |
· | Liabilities with a payment or maturity date of 364 days or less are stated at their principal value and longer dated liabilities generally will be carried at their fair value. |
· | Valuations of foreign equity securities and total return swaps and exchange-traded futures contracts on non-North American equity indices are generally based on fair valuation provided by a pricing service. |
Investments which are unable to be valued in accordance with the foregoing methodologies are valued at fair value using methods determined in good faith by or at the direction of the members of the Board. Such methods may include consideration of relevant factors, including but not limited to (i) the type of security and, the existence of any contractual restrictions on the security’s disposition; (ii) the price and extent of public trading in similar securities of the issuer or of comparable companies or entities; (iii) quotations or relevant information obtained from broker-dealers or other market participants; (iv) information obtained from the issuer, analysts, and/or the appropriate stock exchange (for exchange-traded securities); (v) an analysis of the company’s or entity’s financial statements; (vi) an evaluation of the forces that influence the issuer and the market(s) in which the security is purchased and sold; (vii) any transaction involving the issuer of such securities; and (viii) any other factors deemed relevant by the investment adviser. For purposes of fair valuation, the portfolio managers of one Eaton Vance fund that invests in Senior and Junior Loans may not possess the same information about a Senior or Junior Loan as the portfolio managers of another Eaton Vance fund. As such, at times the fair value of a Loan determined by certain Eaton Vance portfolio managers may vary from the fair value of the same Loan determined by other portfolio managers.
PURCHASING AND REDEEMING SHARES
Additional Information About Purchases. Fund shares are offered for sale only in states where they are registered. The Eaton Vance funds generally do not accept investments from residents of the European Union or Switzerland, although may do so to the extent that the Eaton Vance funds may be lawfully offered in a relevant jurisdiction (including at the initiative of the investor). Fund shares are continuously offered through financial intermediaries which have entered into agreements with the principal underwriter. Fund shares are sold at the public offering price, which is the net asset value next computed after receipt of an order.
Institutional Class Share Purchases. Institutional Class shares are available for purchase by clients of financial intermediaries who (i) charge such clients an ongoing fee for advisory, investment, consulting or similar services, or (ii) have entered into an agreement with the principal underwriter to offer Institutional Class shares through a no-load network or platform. Such clients may include individuals, corporations, endowments, foundations and employer sponsored retirement plans. Institutional Class shares may also be available through brokerage platforms of broker-dealer firms that have agreements with a Fund’s principal underwriter to offer Institutional Class shares solely when acting as an agent for the investor. An investor acquiring Institutional Class shares through such platforms may be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker. Institutional Class shares also are offered to investment and institutional clients of Eaton Vance and its affiliates; certain persons affiliated with Eaton Vance and its affiliates; current and retired members of Eaton Vance Fund Boards; employees of Eaton Vance and its affiliates and such persons’ spouses, parents, siblings and lineal descendants and their beneficial accounts.
Waiver of Investment Minimums. In addition to waivers described in the Prospectus, minimum investment amounts are waived for individual plan participants in an employer sponsored retirement plan, current and retired members of Eaton Vance Fund Boards, clients (including custodial, agency, advisory and trust accounts), current and retired officers and employees of Eaton Vance, its affiliates and other investment advisers and sub-advisers to the Eaton Vance family of funds, and for such persons’ spouses, parents, siblings and lineal descendants and their beneficial accounts. The minimum initial investment amount is also waived for officers and employees of the Fund’s custodian and transfer agent and in connection with the merger (or similar transaction) of an investment company (or series or class thereof) or personal holding company with the Fund (or class thereof). Investments in a Fund by ReFlow in connection with the ReFlow liquidity program are also not subject to the minimum investment amount.
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Suspension of Sales. The Trust may, in its absolute discretion, suspend, discontinue or limit the offering of one or more of its classes of shares at any time. In determining whether any such action should be taken, the Trust’s management intends to consider all relevant factors, including (without limitation) the size of the Fund or class, the investment climate and market conditions and the volume of sales and redemptions of shares. The Investor Class Distribution Plan may continue in effect and payments may be made under the Plan following any such suspension, discontinuance or limitation of the offering of shares; however, there is no obligation to continue any Plan for any particular period of time. Suspension of the offering of shares would not, of course, affect a shareholder’s ability to redeem shares.
Additional Information About Redemptions. The right to redeem shares of the Fund can be suspended and the payment of the redemption price deferred when the Exchange is closed (other than for customary weekend and holiday closings), during periods when trading on the Exchange is restricted as determined by the SEC, or during any emergency as determined by the SEC which makes it impracticable for the Fund to dispose of its securities or value its assets, or during any other period permitted by order of the SEC for the protection of investors.
Due to the high cost of maintaining small accounts, the Trust reserves the right to redeem accounts with balances of less than $750. Prior to such a redemption, shareholders will be given 60 days’ written notice to make an additional purchase. No CDSC or redemption fees, if applicable, will be imposed with respect to such involuntary redemptions.
As disclosed in the Prospectus, the Fund typically expects to meet redemption requests by (i) distributing any cash holdings, (ii) selling portfolio investments and/or (iii) borrowing from a bank under a line of credit. In addition to the foregoing, the Fund also may distribute securities as payment (a so-called “redemption in-kind”), in which case the redeeming shareholder may pay fees and commissions to convert the securities to cash. Unless requested by a shareholder, the Fund expects to limit use of redemption in-kind to stressed market conditions, but is permitted to do so in other circumstances. Any redemption in-kind would be made in accordance with policies adopted by the Fund, which allow the Fund to distribute securities pro rata or as selected by the investment adviser or sub-adviser.
The Fund participates in a joint credit facility arrangement with other Eaton Vance funds and may borrow amounts available thereunder for temporary purposes, such as meeting redemptions. See “Additional Information about Investment Strategies - Borrowing for Temporary Purposes” herein. The Fund also has exemptive relief to participate in an interfund lending program with other Eaton Vance funds. Such program is not operational as of the date of this SAI.
In connection with requests to re-issue uncashed checks representing redemption proceeds, the Fund reserves the right to require the redeeming shareholder to provide Medallion signature guaranteed wire instructions for delivery of redemption proceeds. Redemption proceeds represented by an uncashed check will not earn interest or other return during such time.
As noted above, the Fund may pay the redemption price of shares of the Fund, either totally or partially, by a distribution in-kind of securities. All requests for redemptions in-kind must be in good order. Provided the redemption request is received by the Fund not later than 12:00 p.m. (eastern time) on the day of the redemption, the Fund may in its discretion, if requested by a redeeming shareholder, provide the redeeming shareholders with an estimate of the securities to be distributed. Any difference between the redemption value of the distributed securities and the value of the Fund shares redeemed will be settled in cash. Securities distributed in a redemption in-kind would be valued pursuant to the Fund’s valuation procedures and selected by the investment adviser or sub-adviser. If a shareholder receives securities in a redemption in-kind, the shareholder could incur brokerage or other charges in converting the securities to cash and the value of such securities would be subject to price fluctuations until sold.
Systematic Withdrawal Plan. The transfer agent will send to the shareholder regular monthly or quarterly payments of any permitted amount designated by the shareholder based upon the value of the shares held. The checks will be drawn from share redemptions and hence, may require the recognition of taxable gain or loss. Income dividends and capital gains distributions in connection with withdrawal plan accounts will be credited at net asset value as of the ex-dividend date for each distribution. Continued withdrawals in excess of current income will eventually use up principal, particularly in a period of declining market prices. A shareholder may not have a withdrawal plan in effect at the same time he or she has authorized Bank Automated Investing or is otherwise making regular purchases of Fund shares. The shareholder, the transfer agent or the principal underwriter may terminate the withdrawal plan at any time without penalty.
Other Information. The Fund’s net asset value per share is normally rounded to two decimal places. In certain situations (such as a merger, share split or a purchase or sale of shares that represents a significant portion of a share class), the administrator may determine to extend the calculation of the net asset value per share to additional decimal places to ensure that neither the value of the Fund nor a shareholder’s shares is diluted materially as the result of a purchase or sale or other transaction.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 23 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
SALES CHARGES
Dealer Commissions. The principal underwriter may, from time to time, at its own expense, provide additional incentives to financial intermediaries which employ registered representatives who sell Fund shares and/or shares of other funds distributed by the principal underwriter. In some instances, such additional incentives may be offered only to certain financial intermediaries whose representatives sell or are expected to sell significant amounts of shares. In addition, the principal underwriter may from time to time increase or decrease the sales commissions payable to financial intermediaries. The principal underwriter may allow, upon notice to all financial intermediaries with whom it has agreements, discounts up to the full sales charge during the periods specified in the notice. During periods when the discount includes the full sales charge, such financial intermediaries may be deemed to be underwriters as that term is defined in the 1933 Act.
Distribution Plans
The Trust has in effect a compensation-type Distribution Plan for Investor Class shares (the “Investor Class Plan”) adopted pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. The Investor Class Plan is designed to (i) finance activities which are primarily intended to result in the distribution and sales of Investor Class shares and to make payments in connection with the distribution of such shares and (ii) pay service fees for personal services and/or the maintenance of shareholder accounts to the principal underwriter, financial intermediaries and other persons. The distribution and service fees payable under the Investor Class Plan shall not exceed 0.25% of the average daily net assets attributable to Investor Class shares for any fiscal year. Investor Class distribution and service fees are paid monthly in arrears. For the distribution and service fees paid by Investor Class shares, see Appendix A.
The Board believes that the Plan will be a significant factor in the expected growth of the Fund’s assets, and will result in increased investment flexibility and advantages which have benefitted and will continue to benefit the Fund and its shareholders. The Eaton Vance organization may profit by reason of the operation of a Plan through an increase in Fund assets and if at any point in time the aggregate amounts received by the principal underwriter pursuant to a Plan exceeds the total expenses incurred in distributing Fund shares.
A Plan continues in effect from year to year so long as such continuance is approved at least annually by the vote of both a majority of (i) the noninterested Trustees of the Trust who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or any agreements related to the Plan (the “Plan Trustees”) and (ii) all of the Trustees then in office. A Plan may be terminated at any time by vote of a majority of the Plan Trustees or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the applicable Class. Quarterly Board member review of a written report of the amount expended under the Plan and the purposes for which such expenditures were made is required. A Plan may not be amended to increase materially the payments described therein without approval of the shareholders of the affected Class and the Board. So long as a Plan is in effect, the selection and nomination of the noninterested Trustees shall be committed to the discretion of such Trustees. The Trustees, including the Plan Trustees, initially approved the current Plan(s) on April 22, 2013. Any Board member who is an “interested” person of the Trust has an indirect financial interest in a Plan because his or her employer (or affiliates thereof) receives distribution and/or service fees under the Plan or agreements related thereto.
DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS AND RELATED INFORMATION
The Board has adopted policies and procedures (the “Policies”) with respect to the disclosure of information about portfolio holdings of the Fund. See the Fund's Prospectus for information on disclosure made in filings with the SEC and/or posted on the Eaton Vance website (www.eatonvance.com) and disclosure of certain portfolio characteristics. Pursuant to the Policies, information about portfolio holdings of the Fund may also be disclosed as follows:
· | Confidential disclosure for a legitimate Fund purpose: Portfolio holdings may be disclosed, from time to time as necessary, for a legitimate business purpose of the Fund, believed to be in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders, provided there is a duty or an agreement that the information be kept confidential. Any such confidentiality agreement includes provisions intended to impose a duty not to trade on the non-public information. The Policies permit disclosure of portfolio holdings information to the following: 1) affiliated and unaffiliated service providers that have a legal or contractual duty to keep such information confidential, such as employees of the investment adviser (including portfolio managers), the administrator, custodian, transfer agent, principal underwriter, etc. described herein and in the Prospectus; 2) other persons who owe a fiduciary or other duty of trust or confidence to the Fund (such as Fund legal counsel and independent registered public accounting firm); or 3) persons to whom the disclosure is made in advancement of a legitimate business purpose of the Fund and who have expressly agreed in writing to maintain the disclosed information in confidence and to use it only in connection with the legitimate business purpose underlying the arrangement. To the extent applicable to an Eaton Vance fund, such persons may include securities lending agents which may receive information from time to time regarding selected holdings which may be loaned by a Fund, in the event a Fund is rated, credit rating agencies (Moody’s Investor Services, Inc. and S&P Global Ratings), analytical service providers engaged by the investment adviser (SS&C Advent, Bloomberg L.P., Evare, FactSet, McMunn Associates, Inc., MSCI/Barra and The Yield Book, Inc.), proxy evaluation vendors (Institutional Shareholder Servicing, Inc.), pricing services (The Thomas Reuters Pricing Service Mark-to-Market Pricing Service, WM/Reuters Information Services and Non-Deliverable Forward Rates Service, IHS Markit, FT Interactive Data Corp., Securities Evaluations, Inc., SuperDerivatives and StatPro.), which receive information as needed to price a particular holding, translation services, third-party reconciliation services, lenders under Fund credit facilities (Citibank, N.A. and its affiliates), consultants and other product evaluators (Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC) and, for purposes of facilitating portfolio transactions, financial intermediaries and other intermediaries (national and regional municipal bond dealers and mortgage-backed securities dealers). These entities receive portfolio information on an as needed |
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basis in order to perform the service for which they are being engaged. If required in order to perform their duties, this information will be provided in real time or as soon as practical thereafter. Additional categories of disclosure involving a legitimate business purpose may be added to this list upon the authorization of the Fund’s Board. In addition to the foregoing, disclosure of portfolio holdings may be made to the Fund’s investment adviser as a seed investor in a fund, in order for the adviser or its parent to satisfy certain reporting obligations and reduce its exposure to market risk factors associated with any such seed investment. Also, in connection with a redemption in-kind, the redeeming shareholders may be required to agree to keep the information about the securities to be so distributed confidential, except to the extent necessary to dispose of the securities.
· | Historical portfolio holdings information: From time to time, the Fund may be requested to provide historic portfolio holdings information or certain characteristics of portfolio holdings that have not been made public previously. In such case, the requested information may be provided if: the information is requested for due diligence or another legitimate purpose; the requested portfolio holdings or portfolio characteristics are for a period that is no more recent than the date of the portfolio holdings or portfolio characteristics posted to the Eaton Vance website; and the dissemination of the requested information is reviewed and approved in accordance with the Policies. |
The Fund, the investment adviser, sub-adviser and principal underwriter will not receive any monetary or other consideration in connection with the disclosure of information concerning the Fund’s portfolio holdings.
The Policies may not be waived, or exception made, without the consent of the CCO of the Fund. The CCO may not waive or make exception to the Policies unless such waiver or exception is consistent with the intent of the Policies, which is to ensure that disclosure of portfolio information is in the best interest of Fund shareholders. In determining whether to permit a waiver of or exception to the Policies, the CCO will consider whether the proposed disclosure serves a legitimate purpose of the Fund, whether it could provide the recipient with an advantage over Fund shareholders or whether the proposed disclosure gives rise to a conflict of interest between the Fund’s shareholders and its investment adviser, sub-adviser, principal underwriter or other affiliated person. The CCO will report all waivers of or exceptions to the Policies to the Board at their next meeting. The Board may impose additional restrictions on the disclosure of portfolio holdings information at any time.
The Policies are designed to provide useful information concerning the Fund to existing and prospective Fund shareholders while at the same time inhibiting the improper use of portfolio holdings information in trading Fund shares and/or portfolio securities held by the Fund. However, there can be no assurance that the provision of any portfolio holdings information is not susceptible to inappropriate uses (such as the development of “market timing” models), particularly in the hands of highly sophisticated investors, or that it will not in fact be used in such ways beyond the control of the Fund.
TAXES
The following is a summary of some of the tax consequences affecting the Fund and its shareholders. As used below, “the Fund” refers to the Fund(s) listed on the cover of this SAI, except as otherwise noted. The summary does not address all of the special tax rules applicable to certain classes of investors, such as individual retirement accounts and employer sponsored retirement plans, tax-exempt entities, foreign investors, insurance companies and financial institutions. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors with respect to special tax rules that may apply in their particular situations, as well as the federal, state, local, and, where applicable, foreign tax consequences of investing in the Fund.
Taxation of the Fund. The Fund, as a series of the Trust, is treated as a separate entity for federal income tax purposes. The Fund has elected to be treated and intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Code. Accordingly, the Fund intends to satisfy certain requirements relating to sources of its income and diversification of its assets and to distribute substantially all of its net investment income (including tax-exempt income, if any) and net short-term and long-term capital gains (after reduction by any available capital loss carryforwards) in accordance with the timing requirements imposed by the Code, so as to maintain its RIC status and to avoid paying any federal income tax. Based on advice of counsel, the Fund generally will not recognize gain or loss on its distribution of appreciated securities in shareholder-initiated redemptions of its shares. If the Fund qualifies for treatment as a RIC and satisfies the above-mentioned distribution requirements, it will not be subject to federal income tax on income paid to its shareholders in the form of dividends or capital gain distributions. The Fund qualified as a RIC for its most recent taxable year.
The Fund also seeks to avoid the imposition of a federal excise tax on its ordinary income and capital gain net income. However, if the Fund fails to distribute in a calendar year substantially all of its ordinary income for such year and substantially all of its capital gain net income for the one-year period ending October 31 (or later if the Fund is permitted to so elect and so elects), plus any retained amount from the prior year, the Fund will be subject to a 4% excise tax on the
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undistributed amounts. In order to avoid incurring a federal excise tax obligation, the Code requires that the Fund distribute (or be deemed to have distributed) by December 31 of each calendar year (i) at least 98% of its ordinary income (excluding tax-exempt income, if any) for such year, (ii) at least 98.2% of its capital gain net income (which is the excess of its realized capital gains over its realized capital losses), generally computed on the basis of the one-year period ending on October 31 of such year, after reduction by any available capital loss carryforwards, and (iii) 100% of any income and capital gains from the prior year (as previously computed) that were not distributed out during such year and on which the Fund paid no federal income tax. If the Fund fails to meet these requirements it will be subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax on the undistributed amounts. Under current law, provided that the Fund qualifies as a RIC (and, where applicable, the Portfolio is treated as a partnership for Massachusetts and federal tax purposes), the Fund should not be liable for any applicable state income, corporate excise or franchise tax.
If the Fund does not qualify as a RIC for any taxable year, the Fund’s taxable income will be subject to corporate income taxes, and all distributions from earnings and profits, including distributions of tax-exempt income and net capital gain (if any), will be taxable to the shareholder as dividend income. However, such distributions may be eligible (i) to be treated as qualified dividend income in the case of shareholders taxed as individuals and (ii) for the dividends-received deduction in the case of corporate shareholders. In addition, in order to re-qualify for taxation as a RIC, the Fund may be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest, and make substantial distributions.
In certain situations, the Fund may, for a taxable year, elect to defer all or a portion of its net capital losses (or if there is no net capital loss, then any net long-term or short-term capital loss) realized after October and its late-year ordinary losses (which includes the sum of the excess of post-October foreign currency and passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) losses over post-October foreign currency and PFIC gains plus the excess of post-December ordinary losses over post-December ordinary income) realized after December until the next taxable year in computing its investment company taxable income and net capital gain, which will defer the recognition of such realized losses. Such deferrals and other rules regarding gains and losses realized after October (or December) may affect the tax character of shareholder distributions.
Taxation of the Portfolio. If the Fund invests its assets in the Portfolio, the Portfolio normally must satisfy the applicable source of income and asset diversification requirements under Subchapter M of the Code in order for the Fund to also satisfy these requirements. For federal income tax purposes, the Portfolio intends to be treated as a partnership that is not a “publicly traded partnership” and, as a result, will not be subject to federal income tax. The Fund, as an investor in the Portfolio, will be required to take into account in determining its federal income tax liability its allocable share of such Portfolio’s income, gains, losses, deductions and credits, without regard to whether it has received any distributions from such Portfolio. The Portfolio will allocate at least annually among its investors, including the Fund, the Portfolio’s net investment income, net realized capital gains and losses, and any other items of income, gain, loss, deduction or credit. For purposes of applying the requirements of the Code regarding qualification as a RIC, the Fund (i) will be deemed to own its proportionate share of each of the assets of the Portfolio and (ii) will be entitled to the gross income of the Portfolio attributable to such share. Under current law, provided that the Portfolio is treated as a partnership for Massachusetts and federal tax purposes, the Portfolio should not be liable for any income, corporate excise or franchise tax in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Taxation of the Subsidiary. See the definition of “Subsidiary” under “Definitions” at the front of this SAI for information about whether any Fund and/or Portfolio (if applicable) described herein has established a Subsidiary. The Subsidiary is classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The Fund intends to take the position that income from its investments in the Subsidiary will constitute qualifying income for purposes of qualifying as a regulated investment company. Under Treasury regulations, “subpart F income” (as defined below) included in the Fund’s annual income for U.S. federal income purposes will constitute qualifying income to the extent it is either (i) timely and currently repatriated or (ii) derived with respect to the Fund’s business of investing in stock, securities or currencies. If the Fund were to earn non-qualifying income from any source including the Subsidiary in excess of 10% of its gross income for any taxable year, it would fail to qualify as a RIC for that year, unless the Fund were eligible to cure and cured such failure by paying a Fund-level tax equal to the full amount of such excess.
Foreign corporations, such as the Subsidiary, will generally not be subject to U.S. federal income taxation unless they are deemed to be engaged in a U.S. trade or business. It is expected that the Subsidiary will conduct it activities in a manner so as to meet the requirements of a safe harbor under Section 864(b)(2) of the Code under which the Subsidiary may engage in trading in stocks or securities or certain commodities without being deemed to be engaged in a U.S. trade or business. However, if certain of the Subsidiary's activities were determined not to be of the type described in the safe harbor (which is not expected), then the activities of the Subsidiary may constitute a U.S. trade or business, and would be taxed as such.
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The Subsidiary is treated as a controlled foreign corporation (“CFC”) for tax purposes and the Fund is treated as a “U.S. shareholder” of the Subsidiary. As a result, the Fund is required to include in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes all of the Subsidiary's “subpart F income,” whether or not such income is distributed by the Subsidiary. It is expected that all of the Subsidiary's income will be “subpart F income.” The Fund’s recognition of the Subsidiary's “subpart F income” will increase the Fund’s tax basis in the Subsidiary. Distributions by the Subsidiary to the Fund will be tax-free to the extent of its previously undistributed “subpart F income,” and will correspondingly reduce the Fund's tax basis in the Subsidiary. “Subpart F income” is generally treated as ordinary income, regardless of the character of the Subsidiary's underlying income. If a net loss is realized by the Subsidiary, such loss is not generally available to offset the income earned by the Fund.
Tax Consequences of Certain Investments. The following summary of the tax consequences of certain types of investments applies to the Fund and the Portfolio, as appropriate. References below to “the Fund” are to any Fund or Portfolio that can engage in the particular practice as described in the prospectus or SAI.
Securities Acquired at Market Discount or with Original Issue Discount. Investment in securities acquired in zero coupon, deferred interest, payment-in-kind and certain other securities with original issue discount, generally may cause the Fund to realize income prior to the receipt of cash payments with respect to these securities. Such income will be accrued daily by the Fund and, in order to avoid a tax payable by the Fund, the Fund may be required to liquidate securities that it might otherwise have continued to hold in order to generate cash so that the Fund may make required distributions to its shareholders. Subject to the discussion below regarding Section 451 of the Code, (i) generally any gain recognized on the disposition of, and any partial payment of principal on, a debt security having market discount is treated as ordinary income to the extent the gain, or principal payment, does not exceed the “accrued market discount” on such debt security, (ii) alternatively, the fund may elect to accrue market discount currently, in which case the fund will be required to include the accrued market discount in the Fund's income (as ordinary income) and thus distribute it over the term of the debt security, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, upon partial or full repayment or disposition of the debt security, and (iii) the rate at which the market discount accrues, and thus is included in the Fund's income, will depend upon which of the permitted accrual methods the Fund elects. Notwithstanding the foregoing, effective for taxable years beginning after 2017, Section 451 of the Code generally requires any accrual method taxpayer to take into account items of gross income no later than the time at which such items are taken into account as revenue in the taxpayer's financial statements. The application of Section 451 to the accrual of market discount is currently unclear; however, the Treasury Department has issued a notice stating that it intends to issue proposed regulations providing that Section 451 does not apply to accrued market discount. Subject to the issuance of any such regulations, if Section 451 were to apply to the accrual of market discount, the Fund would be required to include in income any market discount as it takes the same into account on its financial statements.
Lower Rated or Defaulted Securities. Investments in securities that are at risk of, or are in, default present special tax issues for the Fund. Tax rules are not entirely clear about issues such as when the Fund may cease to accrue interest, original issue discount or market discount, when and to what extent deductions may be taken for bad debts or worthless securities and how payments received on obligations in default should be allocated between principal and income.
Municipal Obligations. Any recognized gain or income attributable to market discount on long-term tax-exempt municipal obligations (i.e., obligations with a term of more than one year) purchased after April 30, 1993 (except to the extent of a portion of the discount attributable to original issue discount), is taxable as ordinary income. A long-term debt obligation is generally treated as acquired at a market discount if purchased after its original issue at a price less than (i) the stated principal amount payable at maturity, in the case of an obligation that does not have original issue discount or (ii) in the case of an obligation that does have original issue discount, the sum of the issue price and any original issue discount that accrued before the obligation was purchased, subject to a de minimis exclusion.
From time to time proposals have been introduced before Congress for the purpose of restricting or eliminating the federal income tax exemption for interest on certain types of municipal obligations, and it can be expected that similar proposals may be introduced in the future. As a result of any such future legislation, the availability of municipal obligations for investment by the Fund and the value of the securities held by it may be affected. It is possible that events occurring after the date of issuance of municipal obligations, or after the Fund’s acquisition of such an obligation, may result in a determination that the interest paid on that obligation is taxable, even retroactively.
If the Fund seeks income exempt from state and/or local taxes, information about such taxes is contained in an appendix to this SAI (see the Table of Contents).
Tax Credit Bonds. If the Fund holds, directly or indirectly, one or more tax credit bonds issued on or before December 31, 2017 (including Build America Bonds, clean renewable energy bonds and other qualified tax credit bonds) on one or more applicable dates during a taxable year and the Fund satisfies the minimum distribution requirement, the Fund may elect to permit its shareholders to claim a tax credit on their income tax returns equal to each shareholder’s proportionate
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share of tax credits from the applicable bonds that otherwise would be allowed to the Fund. In such a case, shareholders must include in gross income (as interest) their proportionate share of the income attributable to their proportionate share of those offsetting tax credits. A shareholder’s ability to claim a tax credit associated with one or more tax credit bonds may be subject to certain limitations imposed by the Code. Even if the Fund is eligible to pass through tax credits to shareholders, the Fund may choose not to do so.
Derivatives. The Fund’s investments in options, futures contracts, hedging transactions, forward contracts (to the extent permitted) and certain other transactions may be subject to special tax rules (including mark-to-market, constructive sale, straddle, wash sale, short sale and other rules), the effect of which may be to accelerate income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, cause adjustments in the holding periods of Fund securities, convert capital gain into ordinary income and convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and character of Fund distributions.
Investments in so-called “section 1256 contracts,” such as regulated futures contracts, most foreign currency forward contracts traded in the interbank market and options on most stock indices, are subject to special tax rules. All section 1256 contracts held by the Fund at the end of its taxable year are required to be marked to their market value, and any unrealized gain or loss on those positions will be included in the Fund’s income as if each position had been sold for its fair market value at the end of the taxable year. The resulting gain or loss will be combined with any gain or loss realized by the Fund from positions in section 1256 contracts closed during the taxable year. Provided such positions were held as capital assets and were not part of a “hedging transaction” nor part of a “straddle,” 60% of the resulting net gain or loss will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss, and 40% of such net gain or loss will be treated as short-term capital gain or loss, regardless of the period of time the positions were actually held by the Fund. Unless an election is made, net 1256 gain or loss on forward currency contracts will be treated as ordinary income or loss.
Fund positions in index options that do not qualify as “section 1256 contracts” under the Code generally will be treated as equity options governed by Code Section 1234. Pursuant to Code Section 1234, if a written option expires unexercised, the premium received by the Fund is short-term capital gain to the Fund. If the Fund enters into a closing transaction with respect to a written option, the difference between the premium received and the amount paid to close out its position is short-term capital gain or loss. If an option written by the Fund that is not a “section 1256 contract” is cash settled, any resulting gain or loss will be short-term capital gain. For an option purchased by the Fund that is not a “section 1256 contract”, any gain or loss resulting from sale of the option will be a capital gain or loss, and will be short-term or long-term, depending upon the holding period for the option. If the option expires, the resulting loss is a capital loss and is short-term or long-term, depending upon the holding period for the option. If a put option written by the Fund is exercised and physically settled, the premium received is treated as a reduction in the amount paid to acquire the underlying securities, increasing the gain or decreasing the loss to be realized by the Fund upon sale of the securities. If a call option written by the Fund is exercised and physically settled, the premium received is included in the sale proceeds, increasing the gain or decreasing the loss realized by the Fund at the time of option exercise.
As a result of entering into swap contracts, the Fund may make or receive periodic net payments. The Fund may also make or receive a payment when a swap is terminated prior to maturity through an assignment of the swap or other closing transaction. Periodic net payments will generally constitute ordinary income or deductions, while termination of a swap will generally result in capital gain or loss (which will be a long-term capital gain or loss if the Fund has been a party to a swap for more than one year). With respect to certain types of swaps, the Fund may be required to currently recognize income or loss with respect to future payments on such swaps or may elect under certain circumstances to mark such swaps to market annually for tax purposes as ordinary income or loss.
Short Sales. In general, gain or loss on a short sale is recognized when the Fund closes the sale by delivering the borrowed property to the lender, not when the borrowed property is sold. Gain or loss from a short sale is generally considered to be capital gain or loss to the extent that the property used to close the short sale constitutes a capital asset in the Fund’s hands. Except with respect to certain situations where the property used to close a short sale has a long-term holding period on the date of the short sale, special rules generally treat the gains on short sales as short-term capital gains. These rules may also terminate the running of the holding period of “substantially identical property” held by the Fund. Moreover, a loss on a short sale will be treated as a long-term capital loss if, on the date of the short sale, “substantially identical property” has been held by the Fund for more than one year. In general, the Fund will not be permitted to deduct payments made to reimburse the lender of securities for dividends paid on borrowed stock if the short sale is closed on or before the 45th day after the short sale is entered.
Constructive Sales. The Fund may recognize gain (but not loss) from a constructive sale of certain “appreciated financial positions” if the Fund enters into a short sale, offsetting notional principal contract, or forward contract transaction with respect to the appreciated position or substantially identical property. Appreciated financial positions subject to this constructive sale treatment include interests (including options and forward contracts and short sales) in stock and certain other instruments. Constructive sale treatment does not apply if the transaction is closed out not later than thirty days after the end of the taxable year in which the transaction was initiated, and the underlying appreciated securities position is held unhedged for at least the next sixty days after the hedging transaction is closed.
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Gain or loss on a short sale will generally not be realized until such time as the short sale is closed. However, as described above in the discussion of constructive sales, if the Fund holds a short sale position with respect to securities that have appreciated in value, and it then acquires property that is the same as or substantially identical to the property sold short, the Fund generally will recognize gain on the date it acquires such property as if the short sale were closed on such date with such property. Similarly, if the Fund holds an appreciated financial position with respect to securities and then enters into a short sale with respect to the same or substantially identical property, the Fund generally will recognize gain as if the appreciated financial position were sold at its fair market value on the date it enters into the short sale. The subsequent holding period for any appreciated financial position that is subject to these constructive sale rules will be determined as if such position were acquired on the date of the constructive sale.
Foreign Investments and Currencies. The Fund’s investments in foreign securities may be subject to foreign withholding taxes or other foreign taxes with respect to income (possibly including, in some cases, capital gains), which would decrease the Fund’s income on such securities. These taxes may be reduced or eliminated under the terms of an applicable U.S. income tax treaty. If more than 50% of Fund assets at year end consists of the debt and equity securities of foreign corporations, the Fund may elect to permit shareholders to claim a credit or deduction on their income tax returns for their pro rata portion of qualified taxes paid by the Fund to foreign countries. If the election is made, shareholders will include in gross income from foreign sources their pro rata share of such taxes. A shareholder’s ability to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction in respect of foreign taxes paid by the Fund may be subject to certain limitations imposed by the Code (including a holding period requirement applied at the Fund level, shareholder level and, if applicable, Portfolio level), as a result of which a shareholder may not get a full credit or deduction for the amount of such taxes. In particular, the Fund or Portfolio, if applicable, must own a dividend-paying stock for more than 15 days during the 31-day period beginning 15 days prior to the ex-dividend date in order to pass through to shareholders a credit or deduction for any foreign withholding tax on a dividend paid with respect to such stock. Likewise, shareholders must hold their Fund shares (without protection from risk or loss) on the ex-dividend date and for at least 15 additional days during the 31-day period beginning 15 days prior to the ex-dividend date to be eligible to claim the foreign tax with respect to a given dividend. Shareholders who do not itemize deductions on their federal income tax returns may claim a credit (but no deduction) for such taxes. Individual shareholders subject to the alternative minimum tax (“AMT”) may not deduct such taxes for AMT purposes.
Transactions in foreign currencies, foreign currency-denominated debt securities and certain foreign currency options, futures contracts, forward contracts and similar instruments (to the extent permitted) may give rise to ordinary income or loss to the extent such income or loss results from fluctuations in the value of the foreign currency. Under Section 988 of the Code, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the time the Fund accrues income or receivables or expenses or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time the Fund actually collects such income or pays such liabilities are generally treated as ordinary income or ordinary loss.
Investments in PFICs could subject the Fund to U.S. federal income tax or other charges on certain distributions from such companies and on disposition of investments in such companies; however, the tax effects of such investments may be mitigated by making an election to mark such investments to market annually or treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund”. If the Fund were to invest in a PFIC and elect to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” under the Code, the Fund might be required to include in income each year a portion of the ordinary earnings and net capital gains of the qualified electing fund, even if not distributed to the Fund, and such amounts would be subject to the distribution requirements described above. In order to make this election, the Fund would be required to obtain certain annual information from the PFICs in which it invests, which may be difficult or impossible to obtain. Alternatively, if the Fund were to make a mark-to-market election with respect to a PFIC, the Fund would be treated as if it had sold and repurchased the PFIC stock at the end of each year. In such case, the Fund would report any such gains as ordinary income and would deduct any such losses as ordinary losses to the extent of previously recognized gains. This election must be made separately for each PFIC, and once made, would be effective for all subsequent taxable years unless revoked with the consent of the IRS. The Fund may be required to recognize income in excess of the distributions it receives from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock in any particular year. As a result, the Fund may have to distribute this “phantom” income and gain to satisfy the distribution requirement and to avoid imposition of the 4% excise tax.
U.S. Government Securities. Distributions paid by the Fund that are derived from interest on obligations of the U.S. Government and certain of its agencies and instrumentalities (but generally not distributions of capital gains realized upon the disposition of such obligations) may be exempt from state and local income taxes. The Fund generally intends to advise shareholders of the extent, if any, to which its distributions consist of such interest. Shareholders are urged to consult their tax advisers regarding the possible exclusion of such portion of their dividends for state and local income tax purposes.
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Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”). Any investment by the Fund in equity securities of a REIT qualifying as such under Subchapter M of the Code may result in the Fund’s receipt of cash in excess of the REIT’s earnings; if the Fund distributes these amounts, these distributions could constitute a return of capital to Fund shareholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Dividends received by the Fund from a REIT will not qualify for the corporate dividends-received deduction and generally will not constitute qualified dividend income.
Pursuant to proposed regulations on which the Fund may rely, distributions by the Fund to its shareholders that the Fund properly reports as “section 199A dividends,” as defined and subject to certain conditions described below, are treated as qualified REIT dividends in the hands of non-corporate shareholders. Non-corporate shareholders are permitted a federal income tax deduction equal to 20% of qualified REIT dividends received by them, subject to certain limitations. Very generally, a “section 199A dividend” is any dividend or portion thereof that is attributable to certain dividends received by a RIC from REITs, to the extent such dividends are properly reported as such by the regulated investment company in a written notice to its shareholders. A section 199A dividend is treated as a qualified REIT dividend only if the shareholders receiving such dividend holds the dividend-paying regulated investment company shares for at least 46 days of the 91-day period beginning 45 days before the shares become ex-dividend, and is not under an obligation to make related payments with respect to a position in substantially similar or related property. The Fund is permitted to report such part of its dividends as section 199A dividends as are eligible, but is not required to do so.
Subject to any future regulatory guidance to the contrary, any distribution of income attributable to qualified publicly traded partnership income from a Fund’s investment in a qualified publicly traded partnership will not qualify for the deduction that would be available to a non-corporate shareholder were the shareholder to own such qualified publicly traded partnership interest directly.
Inflation-Indexed Bonds. Periodic adjustments for inflation to the principal amount of an inflation-indexed bond may give rise to original issue discount, which will be includable in the Fund’s gross income (see “Securities Acquired at Market Discount or with Original Issue Discount” above). Also, if the principal value of an inflation-indexed bond is adjusted downward due to inflation, amounts previously distributed in the taxable year may be characterized in some circumstances as a return of capital (see “Taxation of Fund Shareholders” below).
Taxation of Fund Shareholders. Subject to the discussion of distributions of tax-exempt income below, Fund distributions of investment income and net gains from investments held for one year or less will be taxable as ordinary income. Fund distributions of any net gains from investments held for more than one year are generally taxable as long-term capital gains. Taxes on distributions of capital gains are determined by how long the Fund or, if applicable, the Portfolio owned (or is treated as having owned) the investments that generated the gains, rather than how long a shareholder has owned his or her shares in the Fund. Dividends and distributions on the Fund’s shares are generally subject to federal income tax as described herein to the extent they are made out of the Fund’s earnings and profits, even though such dividends and distributions may economically represent a return of a particular shareholder’s investment. Such distributions are likely to occur in respect of shares purchased at a time when the Fund’s net asset value reflects gains that are either unrealized, or realized but not distributed. Such realized gains may be required to be distributed even when the Fund’s net asset value also reflects unrealized losses.
Distributions paid by the Fund during any period may be more or less than the amount of net investment income and capital gains actually earned during the period. If the Fund makes a distribution to a shareholder in excess of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits in any taxable year, the excess distribution will be treated as a return of capital. A return of capital is not taxable, but it reduces a shareholder’s tax basis in its shares, thus reducing any loss or increasing any gain on a subsequent taxable disposition by the shareholder of its shares. A shareholder’s tax basis cannot go below zero and any return of capital distributions in excess of a shareholder’s tax basis will be treated as capital gain.
Ordinarily, shareholders are required to take taxable distributions by the Fund into account in the year in which the distributions are made. However, for federal income tax purposes, dividends that are declared by the Fund in October, November or December as of a record date in such month and actually paid in January of the following year will be treated as if they were paid on December 31 of the year declared. Therefore, such dividends will generally be taxable to a shareholder in the year declared rather than in the year paid.
The amount of distributions payable by the Fund may vary depending on general economic and market conditions, the composition of investments, current management strategy and Fund operating expenses. The Fund will inform shareholders of the tax character of distributions annually to facilitate shareholder tax reporting.
The Fund may elect to retain its net capital gain, in which case the Fund will be taxed thereon (except to the extent of any available capital loss carryovers) at regular corporate tax rates. In such a case, it is expected that the Fund also will elect to have shareholders of record on the last day of its taxable year treated as if each received a distribution of its pro rata
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share of such gain, with the result that each shareholder will be required to report its pro rata share of such gain on its tax return as long-term capital gain, will receive a refundable tax credit for its pro rata share of tax paid by the Fund on the gain, and will increase the tax basis for its shares by an amount equal to the deemed distribution less the tax credit.
Any Fund distribution, other than dividends that are declared by the Fund on a daily basis, will have the effect of reducing the per share net asset value of Fund shares by the amount of the distribution. If a shareholder buys shares when the Fund has unrealized or realized but not yet distributed ordinary income or capital gains, the shareholder will pay full price for the shares and then may receive a portion back as a taxable distribution even though such distribution may economically represent a return of the shareholder’s investment.
Tax-Exempt Income. Distributions by the Fund of net tax-exempt interest income that are properly reported as “exempt-interest dividends” may be treated by shareholders as interest excludable from gross income for federal income tax purposes under Section 103(a) of the Code. In order for the Fund to be entitled to pay the tax-exempt interest income as exempt-interest dividends to its shareholders, the Fund must satisfy certain requirements, including the requirement that, at the close of each quarter of its taxable year, at least 50% of the value of its total assets consists of obligations the interest on which is exempt from regular federal income tax under Code Section 103(a). Interest on certain municipal obligations may be taxable for purposes of the federal AMT for non-corporate taxpayers and for state and local purposes. Fund shareholders are required to report tax-exempt interest on their federal income tax returns.
Tax-exempt distributions received from the Fund are taken into account in determining, and may increase, the portion of social security and certain railroad retirement benefits that may be subject to federal income tax. Interest on indebtedness incurred by a shareholder to purchase or carry Fund shares that distributes exempt-interest dividends will not be deductible for U.S. federal income tax purposes in proportion to the percentage that the Fund’s distributions of exempt interest dividends bears to all of the Fund’s distributions, excluding properly reported capital gain dividends. If a shareholder receives exempt interest dividends with respect to any Fund share and if the share is held by the shareholder for six months or less, then any loss on the sale or exchange of the share may, to the extent of the exempt-interest dividends, be disallowed. Furthermore, a portion of any exempt-interest dividend paid by the Fund that represents income derived from certain revenue or private activity bonds held by the Fund may not retain its tax-exempt status in the hands of a shareholder who is a “substantial user” of a facility financed by such bonds, or a “related person” thereof. In addition, the receipt of dividends and distributions from the Fund may affect a foreign corporate shareholder’s federal “branch profits” tax liability and the federal “excess net passive income” tax liability of a shareholder of a Subchapter S corporation. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors as to whether they are (i) “substantial users” with respect to a facility or “related” to such users within the meaning of the Code or (ii) subject to a federal AMT, the federal “branch profits” tax, or the federal “excess net passive income” tax.
Qualified Dividend Income. “Qualified dividend income” received by an individual is generally taxed at the rates applicable to long-term capital gain. In order for a dividend received by Fund shareholders to be qualified dividend income, the Fund or, if applicable, the Portfolio must meet holding period and other requirements with respect to the dividend-paying stock in its portfolio and the shareholder must meet holding period and other requirements with respect to the Fund’s shares. A dividend will not be treated as qualified dividend income (at either the Fund or shareholder level) (1) if the dividend is received with respect to any share of stock held for fewer than 61 days during the 121-day period beginning at the date which is 60 days before the date on which such share becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend (or, in the case of certain preferred stock, 91 days during the 181-day period beginning 90 days before such date), (2) to the extent that the recipient is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property, (3) if the recipient elects to have the dividend income treated as investment interest, or (4) if the dividend is received from a foreign corporation that is (a) not eligible for the benefits of a comprehensive income tax treaty with the U.S. (with the exception of dividends paid on stock of such a foreign corporation readily tradable on an established securities market in the U.S.) or (b) treated as a PFIC. Payments in lieu of dividends, such as payments pursuant to securities lending arrangements, also do not qualify to be treated as qualified dividend income. In general, distributions of investment income properly reported by the Fund as derived from qualified dividend income will be treated as qualified dividend income by a shareholder taxed as an individual provided the shareholder meets the holding period and other requirements described above with respect to the Fund’s shares. In any event, if the aggregate qualified dividends received by the Fund during any taxable year are 95% or more of its gross income, then 100% of the Fund’s dividends (other than properly reported capital gain dividends) will be eligible to be treated as qualified dividend income. For this purpose, the only gain with respect to the sale of stocks and securities included in the term “gross income” is the excess of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss.
Dividends Received Deduction for Corporations. A portion of distributions made by the Fund which are derived from dividends from U.S. corporations may qualify for the dividends-received deduction (“DRD”) for corporations. The DRD is reduced to the extent the Fund shares with respect to which the dividends are received are treated as debt-financed under the Code and is eliminated if the shares are deemed to have been held for less than a minimum period, generally more than 45 days (more than 90 days in the case of certain preferred stock) during the 91-day period beginning 45 days
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before the ex-dividend date (during the 181-day period beginning 90 days before such date in the case of certain preferred stock) or if the recipient is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property. Receipt of certain distributions qualifying for the DRD may result in reduction of the tax basis of the corporate shareholder’s shares. Payments in lieu of dividends, such as payments pursuant to securities lending arrangements, also do not qualify for the DRD.
Recognition of Unrelated Business Taxable Income by Tax-Exempt Shareholders. Under current law, tax-exempt investors generally will not recognize unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) from distributions from the Fund. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a tax-exempt shareholder could recognize UBTI if shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of a tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of Code section 514(b). In addition, certain types of income received by the Fund from REITs, real estate mortgage investment conduits (“REMICs”), taxable mortgage pools or other investments may cause the Fund to designate some or all of its distributions as “excess inclusion income.” To Fund shareholders such excess inclusion income may: (1) constitute income taxable as UBTI for those shareholders who would otherwise be tax-exempt such as individual retirement accounts, employer sponsored retirement plans and certain charitable entities; (2) not be offset by otherwise allowable deductions for tax purposes; (3) not be eligible for reduced U.S. withholding for non-U.S. shareholders even from tax treaty countries; and (4) cause the Fund to be subject to tax if certain “disqualified organizations” as defined by the Code are Fund shareholders.
Sale, Redemption or Exchange of Fund Shares. Generally, upon the sale, redemption or (if permitted) exchange of Fund shares, a shareholder will realize a taxable gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and the shareholder’s basis in the shares. Such gain or loss will be treated as capital gain or loss if the shares are capital assets in the shareholder’s hands, and generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year, and short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less.
Any loss realized upon the sale or other disposition of Fund shares with a tax holding period of six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any Fund distributions treated as long-term capital gain with respect to such shares. In addition, all or a portion of a loss realized on a sale or other disposition of Fund shares may be disallowed under “wash sale” rules to the extent the shareholder acquired other shares of the same Fund (whether through the reinvestment of distributions or otherwise) within the period beginning 30 days before the date of sale or other disposition of the loss shares and ending 30 days after such date. Any disallowed loss will result in an adjustment to the shareholder’s tax basis in some or all of the other shares acquired. See the prospectus for information regarding any permitted exchange of Fund shares.
Sales charges paid upon a purchase of shares subject to a front-end sales charge cannot be taken into account for purposes of determining gain or loss on a redemption or exchange of the shares before the 91st day after their purchase to the extent a sales charge is reduced or eliminated in a subsequent acquisition of Fund shares (or shares of another fund) on or before January 31 of the following calendar year pursuant to the reinvestment or exchange privilege. Any disregarded amounts will result in an adjustment to the shareholder’s tax basis in some or all of any other shares acquired.
Applicability of Medicare Contribution Tax. The Code imposes a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on net investment income of certain U.S. individuals, estates and trusts. For individuals, the tax is on the lesser of the “net investment income” and the excess of modified adjusted gross income over $200,000 (or $250,000 if married filing jointly). Net investment income includes, among other things, interest, dividends, and gross income and capital gains derived from passive activities and trading in securities or commodities. Net investment income is reduced by deductions “properly allocable” to this income.
Back-Up Withholding for U.S. Shareholders. Amounts paid by the Fund to individuals and certain other shareholders who have not provided the Fund with their correct taxpayer identification number (“TIN”) and certain certifications required by the IRS as well as shareholders with respect to whom the Fund has received certain information from the IRS or a broker, may be subject to “backup” withholding of federal income tax arising from the Fund’s taxable dividends and other distributions as well as the proceeds of redemption transactions (including repurchases and exchanges). An individual’s TIN is generally his or her social security number. Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amount withheld may be credited against a shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability.
Taxation of Foreign Shareholders. In general, dividends (other than capital gain dividends and exempt-interest dividends) paid to a shareholder that is not a “U.S. person” within the meaning of the Code (a “foreign person” or “foreign shareholder”) are subject to withholding of U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 30% (or lower applicable treaty rate). The withholding tax does not apply to regular dividends paid to a foreign person who provides an IRS Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the foreign person’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States. Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax as if the foreign person were a U.S. shareholder. A non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to additional
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“branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate). A foreign person who fails to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E, or other applicable form may be subject to backup withholding at the appropriate rate. A foreign shareholder would generally be exempt from U.S. federal income tax, including withholding tax, on gains realized on the sale of shares of the Fund, net capital gain dividends, exempt interest dividends, and amounts retained by the Fund that are reported as undistributed capital gains.
Properly reported dividends are generally exempt from U.S. federal withholding tax where they (i) are paid in respect of the Fund’s “qualified net interest income” (generally, the Fund’s U.S. source interest income, other than certain contingent interest and interest from obligations of a corporation or partnership in which the Fund is at least a 10% shareholder, reduced by expenses that are allocable to such income) or (ii) are paid in respect of the Fund’s “qualified short-term capital gains” (generally, the excess of the Fund’s net short-term capital gain over the Fund’s long-term capital loss for such taxable year). However, depending on its circumstances, the Fund may report all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as such qualified net interest income or as qualified short-term capital gains and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder would need to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E, or substitute Form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary could withhold even if the Fund designates the payment as qualified net interest income or qualified short-term capital gain. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts.
Distributions that the Fund reports as “short-term capital gain dividends” or “long-term capital gain dividends” will not be treated as such to a recipient foreign shareholder if the distribution is attributable to gain from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation and the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property exceeded certain levels. Instead, if the foreign shareholder has not owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of distribution, such distributions will be subject to 30% (or lower applicable treaty rate) withholding by the Fund and will be treated as ordinary dividends to the foreign shareholder; if the foreign shareholder owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Fund at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the distribution, such distribution will be treated as real property gain subject to 21% withholding tax and could subject the foreign shareholder to U.S. filing requirements. The rules described in this paragraph, other than the withholding rules, will apply notwithstanding the Fund’s participation or a foreign shareholder’s participation in a wash sale transaction or the payment of a substitute dividend.
Additionally, if the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels, a foreign shareholder realizing gains upon redemption from the Fund could be subject to the 21% withholding tax and U.S. filing requirements unless the foreign person had not held more than 5% of the Fund’s outstanding shares at any time during the one year period ending on the date of the redemption.
The same rules apply with respect to distributions to a foreign shareholder from the Fund and redemptions of a foreign shareholder’s interest in the Fund attributable to a REIT’s distribution to the Fund of gain from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property or an interest in a U.S. real property holding corporation, if the Fund’s direct or indirect interests in U.S. real property were to exceed certain levels.
Provided that 50% or more of the value of the Fund’s stock is held by U.S. shareholders, distributions of U.S. real property interests (including securities in a U.S. real property holding corporation, unless such corporation is regularly traded on an established securities market and the Fund has held 5% or less of the outstanding shares of the corporation during the five-year period ending on the date of distribution), in redemption of a foreign shareholder’s shares of the Fund will cause the Fund to recognize gain. If the Fund is required to recognize gain, the amount of gain recognized will be equal to the fair market value of such interests over the Fund’s adjusted basis to the extent of the greatest foreign ownership percentage of the Fund during the five-year period ending on the date of redemption.
In the case of foreign non-corporate shareholders, the Fund may be required to backup withhold U.S. federal income tax on distributions that are otherwise exempt from withholding tax unless such shareholders furnish the Fund with proper notification of their foreign status.
Shares of the Fund held by a non-U.S. shareholder at death will be considered situated within the United States and subject to the U.S. estate tax.
Compliance with FATCA. A 30% withholding tax is imposed on U.S.-source dividends, interest and other income items, including those paid by the Fund, paid to (i) foreign financial institutions including non-U.S. investment funds unless they agree to collect and disclose to the IRS information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders and (ii) certain other foreign entities, unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. If a payment by the Fund is subject to withholding under FATCA, the Fund is required to withhold even if such payment would
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otherwise be exempt from withholding under the rules applicable to foreign shareholders described above (e.g., dividends attributable to qualified net interest income and dividends attributable to tax-exempt interest income). The IRS and the Department of Treasury have issued proposed regulations providing that these withholding rules will not be applicable to the gross proceeds of share redemptions or capital gain dividends the Funds pays. To avoid withholding, foreign financial institutions will need to either enter into agreements with the IRS that state that they will provide the IRS information, including the names, addresses and taxpayer identification numbers of direct and indirect U.S. account holders, comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts, report to the IRS certain information with respect to U.S. accounts maintained, agree to withhold tax on certain payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to account holders who fail to provide the required information, and determine certain other information as to their account holders or, in the event that an applicable intergovernmental agreement and implementing legislation are adopted, agree to provide certain information to other revenue authorities for transmittal to the IRS. Other foreign entities will need to either provide the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner or certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership unless certain exceptions apply or agree to provide certain information to other revenue authorities for transmittal to the IRS. Non-U.S. shareholders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible implications of these requirements on their investment in the Fund.
Requirements of Form 8886. Under Treasury Regulations, if a shareholder realizes a loss on disposition of the Fund’s shares of at least $2 million in any single taxable year or $4 million in any combination of taxable years for an individual shareholder or at least $10 million in any single taxable year or $20 million in any combination of taxable years for a corporate shareholder, the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a RIC are not excepted. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances. Under certain circumstances, certain tax-exempt entities and their managers may be subject to excise tax if they are parties to certain reportable transactions.
Other Taxes. Dividends, distributions and redemption proceeds may also be subject to additional state, local and foreign taxes depending on each shareholder’s particular situation.
Changes in Taxation. The taxation of the Fund, the Portfolio, the Subsidiary and shareholders may be adversely affected by future legislation, Treasury Regulations, IRS revenue procedures and/or guidance issued by the IRS.
PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
Decisions concerning the execution of portfolio security transactions, including the selection of the market and the broker-dealer firm, are made by the investment adviser. The Fund is responsible for the expenses associated with its portfolio transactions. The investment adviser is also responsible for the execution of transactions for all other accounts managed by it. The investment adviser places the portfolio security transactions for execution with one or more broker-dealer firms. The investment adviser uses its best efforts to obtain execution of portfolio security transactions at prices which in the investment adviser’s judgment are advantageous to the client and at a reasonably competitive spread or (when a disclosed commission is being charged) at reasonably competitive commission rates. In seeking such execution, the investment adviser will use its best judgment in evaluating the terms of a transaction, and will give consideration to various relevant factors, including without limitation the full range and quality of the broker-dealer firm’s services, responsiveness of the firm to the investment adviser, the size and type of the transaction, the nature and character of the market for the security, the confidentiality, speed and certainty of effective execution required for the transaction, the general execution and operational capabilities of the broker-dealer firm, the reputation, reliability, experience and financial condition of the firm, the value and quality of the services rendered by the firm in this and other transactions, and the amount of the spread or commission, if any. In addition, the investment adviser may consider the receipt of Research Services (as defined below), provided it does not compromise the investment adviser’s obligation to seek best overall execution for the Fund and is otherwise in compliance with applicable law. The investment adviser may engage in portfolio brokerage transactions with a broker-dealer firm that sells shares of Eaton Vance funds, provided such transactions are not directed to that firm as compensation for the promotion or sale of such shares.
Transactions on stock exchanges and other agency transactions involve the payment of negotiated brokerage commissions. Such commissions vary among different broker-dealer firms, and a particular broker-dealer may charge different commissions according to such factors as the difficulty and size of the transaction and the volume of business done with such broker-dealer. Transactions in foreign securities often involve the payment of brokerage commissions, which may be higher than those in the United States. There is generally no stated commission in the case of securities traded in the over-the-counter markets including transactions in fixed-income securities which are generally purchased and sold on a net basis (i.e., without commission) through broker-dealers and banks acting for their own account rather than as brokers. Such firms attempt to profit from such transactions by buying at the bid price and selling at the higher asked price of the market for such obligations, and the difference between the bid and asked price is customarily referred
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to as the spread. Fixed-income transactions may also be transacted directly with the issuer of the obligations. In an underwritten offering the price paid often includes a disclosed fixed commission or discount retained by the underwriter or dealer. Although spreads or commissions paid on portfolio security transactions will, in the judgment of the investment adviser, be reasonable in relation to the value of the services provided, commissions exceeding those which another firm might charge may be paid to broker-dealers who were selected to execute transactions on behalf of the investment adviser’s clients in part for providing brokerage and research services to the investment adviser as permitted by applicable law.
Pursuant to the safe harbor provided in Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Section 28(e)”) and to the extent permitted by other applicable law, a broker or dealer who executes a portfolio transaction on behalf of the investment adviser client may receive a commission that is in excess of the amount of commission another broker or dealer would have charged for effecting that transaction if the investment adviser determines in good faith that such compensation was reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research services provided. This determination may be made on the basis of either that particular transaction or on the basis of the overall responsibility which the investment adviser and its affiliates have for accounts over which they exercise investment discretion. “Research Services” as used herein includes any and all brokerage and research services to the extent permitted by Section 28(e) and other applicable law. Generally, Research Services may include, but are not limited to, such matters as research, analytical and quotation services, data, information and other services products and materials which assist the investment adviser in the performance of its investment responsibilities. More specifically, Research Services may include general economic, political, business and market information, industry and company reviews, evaluations of securities and portfolio strategies and transactions, technical analysis of various aspects of the securities markets, recommendations as to the purchase and sale of securities and other portfolio transactions, certain financial, industry and trade publications, certain news and information services, and certain research oriented computer software, data bases and services. Any particular Research Service obtained through a broker-dealer may be used by the investment adviser in connection with client accounts other than those accounts which pay commissions to such broker-dealer, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Any such Research Service may be broadly useful and of value to the investment adviser in rendering investment advisory services to all or a significant portion of its clients, or may be relevant and useful for the management of only one client’s account or of a few clients’ accounts, or may be useful for the management of merely a segment of certain clients’ accounts, regardless of whether any such account or accounts paid commissions to the broker-dealer through which such Research Service was obtained. The investment adviser evaluates the nature and quality of the various Research Services obtained through broker-dealer firms and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, may attempt to allocate sufficient portfolio security transactions to such firms to ensure the continued receipt of Research Services which the investment adviser believes are useful or of value to it in rendering investment advisory services to its clients. The investment adviser may also receive brokerage and Research Services from underwriters and dealers in fixed-price offerings, when permitted under applicable law.
Research Services provided by (and produced by) broker-dealers that execute portfolio transactions or from affiliates of executing broker-dealers are referred to as “Proprietary Research.” Except for trades executed in jurisdictions where such consideration is not permissible, the investment adviser may and does consider the receipt of Proprietary Research Services as a factor in selecting broker dealers to execute client portfolio transactions, provided it does not compromise the investment adviser’s obligation to seek best overall execution. In jurisdictions where permissible, the investment adviser also may consider the receipt of Research Services under so called “client commission arrangements” or “commission sharing arrangements” (both referred to as “CCAs”) as a factor in selecting broker dealers to execute transactions, provided it does not compromise the investment adviser’s obligation to seek best overall execution. Under a CCA arrangement, the investment adviser may cause client accounts to effect transactions through a broker-dealer and request that the broker-dealer allocate a portion of the commissions paid on those transactions to a pool of commission credits that are paid to other firms that provide Research Services to the investment adviser. Under a CCA, the broker-dealer that provides the Research Services need not execute the trade. Participating in CCAs may enable the investment adviser to consolidate payments for research using accumulated client commission credits from transactions executed through a particular broker-dealer to periodically pay for Research Services obtained from and provided by other firms, including other broker-dealers that supply Research Services. The investment adviser believes that CCAs offer the potential to optimize the execution of trades and the acquisition of a variety of high quality Research Services that the investment adviser might not be provided access to absent CCAs. The investment adviser will only enter into and utilize CCAs to the extent permitted by Section 28(e) and other applicable law.
Fund trades executed by an affiliate of the investment adviser licensed in the United Kingdom may implicate laws of the United Kingdom, including rules of the UK Financial Conduct Authority, which govern client trading commissions and Research Services (“UK Law”). Broadly speaking, under UK Law the investment adviser may not accept any good or service when executing an order unless that good or service either is directly related to the execution of trades on behalf of its clients/customers or amounts to the provision of substantive research (as defined under UK Law). These requirements may also apply with respect to orders in connection with which the investment adviser receives goods and services under a CCA or other bundled brokerage arrangement. Fund trades may also implicate UK Law requiring the investment adviser to direct any research portion of a brokerage commission to an account controlled by the investment adviser.
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The investment companies sponsored by the investment adviser or its affiliates also may allocate trades in such offerings to acquire information relating to the performance, fees and expenses of such companies and other investment companies, which information is used by the members of the Board of such companies to fulfill their responsibility to oversee the quality of the services provided to various entities, including the investment adviser, to such companies. Such companies may also pay cash for such information.
Securities considered as investments for the Fund may also be appropriate for other investment accounts managed by the investment adviser or its affiliates. Whenever decisions are made to buy or sell securities by the Fund and one or more of such other accounts simultaneously, the investment adviser will allocate the security transactions (including “new” issues) in a manner which it believes to be equitable under the circumstances. As a result of such allocations, there may be instances where the Fund will not participate in a transaction that is allocated among other accounts. If an aggregated order cannot be filled completely, allocations will generally be made on a pro rata basis. An order may not be allocated on a pro rata basis where, for example: (i) consideration is given to portfolio managers who have been instrumental in developing or negotiating a particular investment; (ii) consideration is given to an account with specialized investment policies that coincide with the particulars of a specific investment; (iii) pro rata allocation would result in odd-lot or de minimis amounts being allocated to a portfolio or other client; or (iv) where the investment adviser reasonably determines that departure from a pro rata allocation is advisable. While these aggregation and allocation policies could have a detrimental effect on the price or amount of the securities available to the Fund from time to time, it is the opinion of the members of the Board that the benefits from the investment adviser organization outweigh any disadvantage that may arise from exposure to simultaneous transactions.
The following table shows brokerage commissions paid during the periods indicated in the table, as well as the amount of Fund security transactions for the most recent fiscal year (if any) that were directed to firms that provided some Research Services to the investment adviser or its affiliates (see above), and the commissions paid in connection therewith. The Fund did not pay any amount in brokerage commissions to affiliated brokers during the past three fiscal years.
During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Fund held no securities of its “regular brokers or dealers,” as that term is defined in Rule 10b-1 of the 1940 Act.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The audited financial statements of, and the report of the independent registered public accounting firm for the Fund appear in its annual report to shareholders and are incorporated by reference into this SAI. A copy of the annual report accompanies this SAI.
Householding. Consistent with applicable law, duplicate mailings of shareholder reports and certain other Fund information to shareholders residing at the same address may be eliminated.
The Trust incorporates by reference the audited financial information and the report of the independent registered public accounting firm for the Fund for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, as previously filed electronically with the SEC (Accession No. 0001193125-19-053757).
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
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Auction Rate Securities | Auction rate securities, such as auction preferred shares of closed-end investment companies, are preferred securities and debt securities with dividends/coupons based on a rate set at auction. The auction is usually held weekly for each series of a security, but may be held less frequently. The auction sets the rate, and securities may be bought and sold at the auction. Provided that the auction mechanism is successful, auction rate securities normally permit the holder to sell the securities in an auction at par value at specified intervals. The dividend is reset by a “Dutch” auction in which bids are made by broker-dealers and other institutions for a certain amount of securities at a specified minimum yield. The dividend rate set by the auction is the lowest interest or dividend rate that covers all securities offered for sale. While this process is designed to permit auction rate securities to be traded at par value, there is the risk that an auction will fail due to insufficient demand for the securities. Security holders that submit sell orders in a failed auction may not be able to sell any or all of the shares for which they have submitted sell orders. Security holders may sell their shares at the next scheduled auction, subject to the same risk that the subsequent auction will not attract sufficient demand for a successful auction to occur. Broker-dealers may also try to facilitate secondary trading in the auction rate securities, although such secondary trading may be limited and may only be available for shareholders willing to sell at a discount. Since mid-February 2008, existing markets for certain auction rate securities have become generally illiquid and investors have not been able to sell their securities through the regular auction process. It is uncertain when or whether there will be a revival of investor interest in purchasing securities sold through auctions. There may be limited or no active secondary markets for many auction rate securities. Auction rate securities that do trade in a secondary market may trade at a significant discount from their liquidation preference. There have been a number of governmental investigations and regulatory settlements involving certain broker-dealers with respect to their prior activities involving auction rate securities. |
Valuations of such securities is highly speculative, however, dividends on auction rate preferred securities issued by a closed-end fund may be reported, generally on Form 1099, as exempt from federal income tax to the extent they are attributable to tax-exempt interest income earned by the Fund on the securities and distributed to holders of the preferred securities, provided that the preferred securities are treated as equity securities for federal income tax purposes, and the closed-end fund complies with certain requirements under the Code. Investments in auction rate preferred securities of closed-end funds are subject to limitations on investments in other U.S. registered investment companies, which limitations are prescribed by the 1940 Act. | |
Average Effective Maturity | Average effective maturity is a weighted average of all the maturities of bonds owned by the Fund. Average effective maturity takes into consideration all mortgage payments, puts and adjustable coupons. In the event the Fund invests in multiple Portfolios, its average weighted maturity is the sum of its allocable share of the average weighted maturity of each of the Portfolios in which it invests, which is determined by multiplying the Portfolio’s average weighted maturity by the Fund’s percentage ownership of that Portfolio. |
Borrowing for Investment Purposes | Successful use of a borrowing strategy depends on the investment adviser’s ability to predict correctly interest rates and market movements. There is no assurance that a borrowing strategy will be successful. Upon the expiration of the term of the Fund’s existing credit arrangement, the lender may not be willing to extend further credit to the Fund or may be willing to do so at an increased cost to the Fund. If the Fund is not able to extend its credit arrangement, it may be required to liquidate holdings to repay amounts borrowed from the lender. Borrowing to increase investments generally will magnify the effect on the Fund’s net asset value of any increase or decrease in the value of the security purchased with the borrowings. Successful use of a borrowing strategy depends on the investment adviser’s ability to predict correctly interest rates and market movements. There can be no assurance that the use of borrowings will be successful. In connection with its borrowings, the Fund will be required to maintain specified asset coverage with respect to such borrowings by both the 1940 Act and the terms of its credit facility with the lender. The Fund may be required to dispose of portfolio investments on unfavorable terms if market fluctuations or other factors reduce the required asset coverage to less than the prescribed amount. Borrowings involve additional expense to the Fund. |
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Borrowing for Temporary Purposes | The Fund may borrow for temporary purposes (such as to satisfy redemption requests, to remain fully invested in advance of the settlement of share purchases, and to settle transactions). The Fund’s ability to borrow is subject to its terms and conditions of its credit arrangements, which in some cases may limit the Fund’s ability to borrow under the arrangement. The Fund will be required to maintain a specified level of asset coverage with respect to all borrowings and may be required to sell some of its holdings to reduce debt and restore coverage at times when it may not be advantageous to do so. The rights of the lender to receive payments of interest and repayments of principal of any borrowings made by the Fund under a credit arrangement are senior to the rights of holders of shares, with respect to the payment of dividends or upon liquidation. In the event of a default under a credit arrangement, the lenders may have the right to cause a liquidation of the collateral (i.e., sell Fund assets) and, if any such default is not cured, the lenders may be able to control the liquidation as well. Credit arrangements are subject to annual renewal, which cannot be assured. If the Fund does not have the ability to borrow for temporary purposes, it may be required to sell securities at inopportune times to meet short-term liquidity needs. Because the Fund is a party to a joint credit arrangement, it may be unable to borrow some or all of its requested amounts at any particular time. Borrowings involve additional expense to the Fund. |
Build America Bonds | Build America Bonds are taxable municipal obligations issued pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “Act”) or other legislation providing for the issuance of taxable municipal debt on which the issuer receives federal support. Enacted in February 2009, the Act authorizes state and local governments to issue taxable bonds on which, assuming certain specified conditions are satisfied, issuers may either (i) receive reimbursement from the U.S. Treasury with respect to its interest payments on the bonds (“direct pay” Build America Bonds); or (ii) provide tax credits to investors in the bonds (“tax credit” Build America Bonds). Unlike most other municipal obligations, interest received on Build America Bonds is subject to federal income tax and may be subject to state income tax. Under the terms of the Act, issuers of direct pay Build America Bonds are entitled to receive reimbursement from the U.S. Treasury currently equal to 35% (or 45% in the case of Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds) of the interest paid. Holders of tax credit Build America Bonds can receive a federal tax credit currently equal to 35% of the coupon interest received. The Fund may invest in “principal only” strips of tax credit Build America Bonds, which entitle the holder to receive par value of such bonds if held to maturity. The Fund does not expect to receive (or pass through to shareholders) tax credits as a result of its investments. The federal interest subsidy or tax credit continues for the life of the bonds. Build America Bonds are an alternative form of financing to state and local governments whose primary means for accessing the capital markets has been through issuance of tax-free municipal bonds. Build America Bonds can appeal to a broader array of investors than the high income U.S. taxpayers that have traditionally provided the market for municipal bonds. Build America Bonds may provide a lower net cost of funds to issuers. Pursuant to the terms of the Act, the issuance of Build America Bonds ceased on December 31, 2010. As a result, the availability of such bonds is limited and the market for the bonds and/or their liquidity may be affected. |
Call and Put Features on Securities | Issuers of securities may reserve the right to call (redeem) the securities. If an issuer redeems a security with a call right during a time of declining interest rates, the holder of the security may not be able to reinvest the proceeds in securities providing the same investment return as provided by the securities redeemed. Some securities may have “put” or “demand” features that allow early redemption by the holder. Longer term fixed-rate securities may give the holder a right to request redemption at certain times (often annually after the lapse of an intermediate term). This “put” or “demand” feature enhances a security’s liquidity by shortening its effective maturity and enables the security to trade at a price equal to or very close to par. If a demand feature terminates prior to being exercised, the holder of the security would be subject to the longer maturity of the security, which could experience substantially more volatility. Securities with a “put” or “demand” feature are more defensive than conventional long term securities (protecting to some degree against a rise in interest rates) while providing greater opportunity than comparable intermediate term securities, because they can be retained if interest rates decline. |
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Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (“CMOs”) | CMOs are backed by a pool of mortgages or mortgage loans. The key feature of the CMO structure is the prioritization of the cash flows from the pool of mortgages among the several classes, or tranches, of the CMO, thereby creating a series of obligations with varying rates and maturities. Senior CMO classes will typically have priority over residual CMOs as to the receipt of principal and or interest payments on the underlying mortgages. CMOs also issue sequential and parallel pay classes, including planned amortization and target amortization classes, and fixed and floating rate CMO tranches. CMOs issued by U.S. government agencies are backed by agency mortgages, while privately issued CMOs may be backed by either government agency mortgages or private mortgages. Payments of principal and interest are passed through to each CMO tranche at varying schedules resulting in bonds with different coupons, effective maturities and sensitivities to interest rates. Parallel pay CMOs are structured to provide payments of principal on each payment date to more than one class, concurrently on a proportionate or disproportionate basis. Sequential pay CMOs generally pay principal to only one class at a time while paying interest to several classes. CMOs generally are secured by an assignment to a trustee under the indenture pursuant to which the bonds are issued as collateral consisting of a pool of mortgages. Payments with respect to the underlying mortgages generally are made to the trustee under the indenture. CMOs are designed to be retired as the underlying mortgages are repaid. In the event of sufficient early prepayments on such mortgages, the class or series of CMO first to mature generally will be retired prior to maturity. Therefore, although in most cases the issuer of CMOs will not supply additional collateral in the event of such prepayments, there will be sufficient collateral to secure CMOs that remain outstanding. Floating rate CMO tranches carry interest rates that are tied in a fixed relationship to an index subject to an upper limit, or “cap,” and sometimes to a lower limit, or “floor.” CMOs may be less liquid and may exhibit greater price volatility than other types of mortgage- or asset-backed securities. |
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (“CMBS”) | CMBS include securities that reflect an interest in, and are secured by, mortgage loans on commercial real property, such as hotels, office buildings, retail stores, hospitals and other commercial buildings. CMBS may have a lower repayment uncertainty than other mortgage-related securities because commercial mortgage loans generally prohibit or impose penalties on prepayment of principal. The risks of investing in CMBS reflect the risks of investing in the real estate securing the underlying mortgage loans, including the effects of local and other economic conditions on real estate markets, the ability of tenants to make loan payment, and the ability of a property to attract and retain tenants. CMBS may be less liquid and may exhibit greater price volatility than other types of mortgage- or asset-backed securities. |
Commodity-Related Investments | The value of commodities investments will generally be affected by overall market movements and factors specific to a particular industry or commodity, which may include weather, embargoes, tariffs, and health, political, international and regulatory developments. Economic and other events (whether real or perceived) can reduce the demand for commodities, which may reduce market prices and cause the value of Fund shares to fall. The frequency and magnitude of such changes cannot be predicted. Exposure to commodities and commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. No active trading market may exist for certain commodities investments, which may impair the ability of the Fund to sell or to realize the full value of such investments in the event of the need to liquidate such investments. In addition, adverse market conditions may impair the liquidity of actively traded commodities investments. Certain types of commodities instruments (such as total return swaps and commodity-linked notes) are subject to the risk that the counterparty to the instrument will not perform or will be unable to perform in accordance with the terms of the instrument. To the extent commodity-related investments are held through the Subsidiary, the Subsidiary is not subject to U.S. laws (including securities laws) and their protections. The Subsidiary is subject to the laws of the Cayman Islands, a foreign jurisdiction, and can be affected by developments in that jurisdiction. |
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Certain commodities are subject to limited pricing flexibility because of supply and demand factors. Others are subject to broad price fluctuations as a result of the volatility of the prices for certain raw materials and the instability of supplies of other materials. These additional variables may create additional investment risks and result in greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The commodities that underlie commodity futures contracts and commodity swaps may be subject to additional economic and non-economic variables, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs, and international economic, political and regulatory developments. Unlike the financial futures markets, in the commodity futures markets there are costs of physical storage associated with purchasing the underlying commodity. The price of the commodity futures contract will reflect the storage costs of purchasing the physical commodity, including the time value of money invested in the physical commodity. To the extent that the storage costs for an underlying commodity change while the Fund is invested in futures contracts on that commodity, the value of the futures contract may change proportionately. | |
In the commodity futures markets, producers of the underlying commodity may decide to hedge the price risk of selling the commodity by selling futures contracts today to lock in the price of the commodity at delivery tomorrow. In order to induce speculators to purchase the other side of the same futures contract, the commodity producer generally must sell the futures contract at a lower price than the expected future spot price. Conversely, if most hedgers in the futures market are purchasing futures contracts to hedge against a rise in prices, then speculators will only sell the other side of the futures contract at a higher futures price than the expected future spot price of the commodity. The changing nature of the hedgers and speculators in the commodity markets will influence whether futures prices are above or below the expected future spot price, which can have significant implications for the Fund. If the nature of hedgers and speculators in futures markets has shifted when it is time for the Fund to reinvest the proceeds of a maturing contract in a new futures contract, the Fund might reinvest at higher or lower futures prices, or choose to pursue other investments. | |
Common Stocks | Common stock represents an equity ownership interest in the issuing corporation. Holders of common stock generally have voting rights in the issuer and are entitled to receive common stock dividends when, as and if declared by the corporation’s board of directors. Common stock normally occupies the most subordinated position in an issuer’s capital structure. Returns on common stock investments consist of any dividends received plus the amount of appreciation or depreciation in the value of the stock. |
Although common stocks have historically generated higher average returns than fixed-income securities over the long term and particularly during periods of high or rising concerns about inflation, common stocks also have experienced significantly more volatility in returns and may not maintain their real value during inflationary periods. An adverse event, such as an unfavorable earnings report, may depress the value of a particular common stock. Also, the prices of common stocks are sensitive to general movements in the stock market and a drop in the stock market may depress the price of common stocks. Common stock prices fluctuate for many reasons, including changes in investors’ perceptions of the financial condition of an issuer or the general condition of the relevant stock market, or when political or economic events affecting the issuer occur. In addition, common stock prices may be sensitive to rising interest rates as the costs of capital rise and borrowing costs increase. | |
Contingent Convertible Securities | Contingent convertible securities (sometimes referred to as “CoCos”) are convertible securities with loss absorption characteristics. These securities provide for mandatory conversion into common stock of the issuer under certain circumstances. The mandatory conversion may be automatically triggered, for instance, if a company fails to meet the capital minimum with respect to the security, the company’s regulator makes a determination that the security should convert or the company receives specified levels of extraordinary public support. Since the common stock of the issuer may not pay a dividend, investors in these instruments could experience a reduced income rate, potentially to zero; and conversion would deepen the subordination of the investor, hence worsening standing in a bankruptcy. In addition, some such instruments have a set stock conversion rate that would cause an automatic write-down of capital if the price of the stock is below the conversion price on the conversion date. Under similar circumstances, the liquidation value of certain types of contingent convertible securities may be adjusted downward to below the original par value. The write down of the par value would occur automatically and would not entitle the holders to seek bankruptcy of the company. In certain circumstances, contingent convertible securities may write down to zero and investors could lose the entire value of the investment, even as the issuer remains in business. CoCos may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a predetermined price. See also “Hybrid Securities.” |
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Convertible Securities | A convertible security is a bond, debenture, note, preferred security, or other security that entitles the holder to acquire common stock or other equity securities of the same or a different issuer. A convertible security entitles the holder to receive interest paid or accrued or the dividend paid on such security until the convertible security matures or is redeemed, converted or exchanged. Before conversion, convertible securities have characteristics similar to nonconvertible income securities in that they ordinarily provide a stable stream of income with generally higher yields than those of common stocks of the same or similar issuers, but lower yields than comparable nonconvertible securities. The value of a convertible security is influenced by changes in interest rates, with investment value declining as interest rates increase and increasing as interest rates decline. The credit standing of the issuer and other factors also may have an effect on the convertible security’s investment value. A convertible security ranks senior to common stock in a corporation’s capital structure but is usually subordinated to comparable nonconvertible securities. Convertible securities may be purchased for their appreciation potential when they yield more than the underlying securities at the time of purchase or when they are considered to present less risk of principal loss than the underlying securities. Generally speaking, the interest or dividend yield of a convertible security is somewhat less than that of a non-convertible security of similar quality issued by the same company. A convertible security may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a price established in the convertible security’s governing instrument. |
Convertible securities are issued and traded in a number of securities markets. Even in cases where a substantial portion of the convertible securities held by the Fund are denominated in U.S. dollars, the underlying equity securities may be quoted in the currency of the country where the issuer is domiciled. As a result, fluctuations in the exchange rate between the currency in which the debt security is denominated and the currency in which the share price is quoted will affect the value of the convertible security. With respect to convertible securities denominated in a currency different from that of the underlying equity securities, the conversion price may be based on a fixed exchange rate established at the time the securities are issued, which may increase the effects of currency risk. | |
Holders of convertible securities generally have a claim on the assets of the issuer prior to the common stockholders but may be subordinated to other debt securities of the same issuer. Certain convertible debt securities may provide a put option to the holder, which entitles the holder to cause the securities to be redeemed by the issuer at a premium over the stated principal amount of the debt securities under certain circumstances. Certain convertible securities may include loss absorption characteristics that make the securities more equity-like. This is particularly true of convertible securities issued by companies in the financial services sector. See “Contingent Convertible Securities.” |
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Synthetic convertible securities may include either cash-settled convertibles or manufactured convertibles. Cash-settled convertibles are instruments that are created by the issuer and have the economic characteristics of traditional convertible securities but may not actually permit conversion into the underlying equity securities in all circumstances. As an example, a private company may issue a cash-settled convertible that is convertible into common stock only if the company successfully completes a public offering of its common stock prior to maturity and otherwise pays a cash amount to reflect any equity appreciation. Manufactured convertibles are created by the investment adviser or another party by combining separate securities that possess one of the two principal characteristics of a convertible security, i.e. , fixed-income (“fixed-income component”) or a right to acquire equity securities (“convertibility component”). The fixed-income component is achieved by investing in nonconvertible fixed-income securities, such as nonconvertible bonds, preferred securities and money market instruments. The convertibility component is achieved by investing in call options, warrants, or other securities with equity conversion features (“equity features”) granting the holder the right to purchase a specified quantity of the underlying stocks within a specified period of time at a specified price or, in the case of a stock index option, the right to receive a cash payment based on the value of the underlying stock index. A manufactured convertible differs from traditional convertible securities in several respects. Unlike a traditional convertible security, which is a single security that has a unitary market value, a manufactured convertible is comprised of two or more separate securities, each with its own market value. Therefore, the total “market value” of such a manufactured convertible is the sum of the values of its fixed-income component and its convertibility component. More flexibility is possible in the creation of a manufactured convertible than in the purchase of a traditional convertible security. Because many corporations have not issued convertible securities, the investment adviser may combine a fixed-income instrument and an equity feature with respect to the stock of the issuer of the fixed-income instrument to create a synthetic convertible security otherwise unavailable in the market. The investment adviser may also combine a fixed-income instrument of an issuer with an equity feature with respect to the stock of a different issuer when the investment adviser believes such a manufactured convertible would better promote the Fund’s objective than alternative investments. For example, the investment adviser may combine an equity feature with respect to an issuer’s stock with a fixed-income security of a different issuer in the same industry to diversify the Fund’s credit exposure, or with a U.S. Treasury instrument to create a manufactured convertible with a higher credit profile than a traditional convertible security issued by that issuer. A manufactured convertible also is a more flexible investment in that its two components may be purchased separately and, upon purchasing the separate securities, “combined” to create a manufactured convertible. For example, the Fund may purchase a warrant for eventual inclusion in a manufactured convertible while postponing the purchase of a suitable bond to pair with the warrant pending development of more favorable market conditions. The value of a manufactured convertible may respond to certain market fluctuations differently from a traditional convertible security with similar characteristics. For example, in the event the Fund created a manufactured convertible by combining a short-term U.S. Treasury instrument and a call option on a stock, the manufactured convertible would be expected to outperform a traditional convertible of similar maturity that is convertible into that stock during periods when Treasury instruments outperform corporate fixed-income securities and underperform during periods when corporate fixed-income securities outperform Treasury instruments. | |
Credit Linked Securities | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. Credit linked securities are issued by a limited purpose trust or other vehicle that, in turn, invests in a derivative instrument or basket of derivative instruments, such as credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, and other securities in order to provide exposure to certain fixed-income markets. Credit linked securities may be used as a cash management tool in order to gain exposure to a certain market and to remain fully invested when more traditional income producing securities are not available. Like an investment in a bond, investments in credit linked securities represent the right to receive periodic income payments (in the form of distributions) and payment of principal at the end of the term of the security. However, these payments are conditioned on the issuer’s receipt of payments from, and the issuer’s potential obligations to, the counterparties to the derivative instruments and other securities in which the issuer invests. An issuer may sell one or more credit default swaps, under which the issuer would receive a stream of payments over the term of the swap agreements provided that no event of default has occurred with respect to the referenced debt obligation upon which the swap is based. If a default occurs, the stream of payments may stop and the issuer would be obligated to pay the counterparty the par (or other agreed upon value) of the referenced debt obligation. This, in turn, would reduce the amount of income and principal that the holder of the credit linked security would receive. Credit linked securities generally will be exempt from registration under the 1933 Act. Accordingly, there may be no established trading market for the securities and they may constitute illiquid investments. |
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Cybersecurity Risk |
With the increased use of technologies by Fund service providers to conduct business, such as the Internet to conduct business, the Fund is susceptible to operational, information security and related risks. In general, cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events by insiders, or third parties, including cybercriminals, competitors, nation-states and “hacktivists,” among others. Cyber attacks include, but are not limited to, phishing, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems (e.g., through “hacking” or infection from or spread of malware, ransomware, computer viruses or other malicious software coding) for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, structured query language attacks, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. Cyber attacks may also be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access, such as causing denial-of-service attacks on websites (i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users). Cybersecurity failures or breaches by the Fund’s investment adviser or administrator and other service providers (including, but not limited to, the custodian or transfer agent), and the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, may disrupt and otherwise adversely affect their business operations potentially resulting in financial losses, impede Fund trading, interfere with the Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, limit a shareholder’s ability to purchase or redeem shares of the Fund or cause violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. In addition, substantial costs may be incurred in order to prevent any cyber incidents in the future. While various Fund service providers have established business continuity plans and risk management systems intended to identify and mitigate cyber attacks, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems put in place by service providers to the Fund and issuers in which the Fund invests. The Fund and its shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result. |
Derivative Instruments and Related Risks | Generally, derivatives can be characterized as financial instruments whose performance is derived at least in part from the performance of an underlying reference instrument. Derivative instruments may be acquired in the United States or abroad and include the various types of exchange-traded and over-the-counter (“OTC”) instruments described herein and other instruments with substantially similar characteristics and risks. Derivative instruments may be based on securities, indices, currencies, commodities, economic indicators and events (referred to as “reference instruments”). Fund obligations created pursuant to derivative instruments may be subject to the requirements described under “Asset Coverage” herein. |
Derivative instruments are subject to a number of risks, including adverse or unexpected movements in the price of the reference instrument, and counterparty, credit, interest rate, leverage, liquidity, market and tax risks. Use of derivative instruments may cause the realization of higher amounts of short-term capital gains (generally taxed at ordinary income tax rates) than if such instruments had not been used. Success in using derivative instruments to hedge portfolio assets depends on the degree of price correlation between the derivative instruments and the hedged asset. Derivatives also involve the risk that changes in their value may not correlate perfectly with the assets, rates or indices they are designed to hedge or closely track. Imperfect correlation may be caused by several factors, including temporary price disparities among the trading markets for the derivative instrument, the reference instrument and the Fund’s assets. To the extent that a derivative instrument is intended to hedge against an event that does not occur, the Fund may realize losses. | |
OTC derivative instruments involve an additional risk in that the issuer or counterparty may fail to perform its contractual obligations. Some derivative instruments are not readily marketable or may become illiquid under adverse market conditions. In addition, during periods of market volatility, an option or commodity exchange or swap execution facility or clearinghouse may suspend or limit trading in an exchange-traded derivative instrument, which may make the contract temporarily illiquid and difficult to price. Commodity exchanges may also establish daily limits on the amount that the price of a futures contract or futures option can vary from the previous day’s settlement price. Once the daily limit is reached, no trades may be made that day at a price beyond the limit. This may prevent the closing out of positions to limit losses. The staff of the SEC takes the position that certain purchased OTC options, and assets used as cover for written OTC options, are illiquid. The ability to terminate OTC derivative instruments may depend on the cooperation of the counterparties to such contracts. For thinly traded derivative instruments, the only source of price quotations may be the selling dealer or counterparty. In addition, certain provisions of the Code limit the use of derivative instruments. Derivatives permit the Fund to increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, to which its portfolio is exposed in much the same way as the Fund can increase or decrease the level of risk, or change the character of the risk, of its portfolio by making investments in specific securities. There can be no assurance that the use of derivative instruments will benefit the Fund. |
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Hybrid instruments may bear interest or pay preferred dividends at below market (or even relatively nominal) rates. Alternatively, hybrid instruments may bear interest at above market rates but bear an increased risk of principal loss (or gain). The latter scenario may result if “leverage” is used to structure the hybrid instrument. Leverage risk occurs when the hybrid instrument is structured so that a given change in a benchmark or underlying asset is multiplied to produce a greater value change in the hybrid instrument, thereby magnifying the risk of loss as well as the potential for gain. | |
Hybrid instruments are potentially more volatile and carry greater market risks than traditional debt instruments. Depending on the structure of the particular hybrid instrument, changes in a benchmark may be magnified by the terms of the hybrid instrument and have an even more dramatic and substantial effect upon the value of the hybrid instrument. Also, the prices of the hybrid instrument and the benchmark or underlying asset may not move in the same direction or at the same time. | |
Hybrid instruments can be used as an efficient means of pursuing a variety of investment goals, including currency hedging, duration management, and increased total return and creating exposure to a particular market or segment of that market. The value of a hybrid instrument or its interest rate may be a multiple of a benchmark and, as a result, may be leveraged and move (up or down) more steeply and rapidly than the benchmark. These benchmarks may be sensitive to economic and political events, such as commodity shortages and currency devaluations, which cannot be readily foreseen by the purchaser of a hybrid instrument. Under certain conditions, the redemption value of a hybrid instrument could be zero. The purchase of hybrid instruments also exposes the Fund to the credit risk of the issuer of the hybrids. These risks may cause significant fluctuations in the net asset value of the Fund. | |
Certain hybrid instruments may provide exposure to the commodities markets. These are derivative securities with one or more commodity-linked components that have payment features similar to commodity futures contracts, commodity options, or similar instruments. Commodity-linked hybrid instruments may be either equity or debt securities, leveraged or unleveraged, and are considered hybrid instruments because they have both security and commodity-like characteristics. A portion of the value of these instruments may be derived from the value of a commodity, futures contract, index or other economic variable. The Fund will invest only in commodity-linked hybrid instruments that qualify under applicable rules of the CFTC for an exemption from the provisions of the CEA. Certain issuers of structured products such as hybrid instruments may be deemed to be investment companies as defined in the 1940 Act. As a result, the Fund’s investments in these products may be subject to limits applicable to investments in investment companies and may be subject to restrictions contained in the 1940 Act. | |
Direct Investments | Direct investments include (i) the private purchase from an enterprise of an equity interest in the enterprise in the form of shares of common stock or equity interests in trusts, partnerships, joint ventures or similar enterprises, and (ii) the purchase of such an equity interest in an enterprise from a principal investor in the enterprise. At the time of making a direct investment, the Fund will enter into a shareholder or similar agreement with the enterprise and one or more other holders of equity interests in the enterprise. These agreements may, in appropriate circumstances, provide the ability to appoint a representative to the board of directors or similar body of the enterprise and for eventual disposition of the investment in the enterprise. Such a representative would be expected to monitor the investment and protect the Fund’s rights in the investment and would not be appointed for the purpose of exercising management or control of the enterprise. |
Diversified Status | With respect to 75% of its total assets, an investment company that is registered with the SEC as a “diversified” fund: (1) may not invest more than 5% of its total assets in the securities of any one issuer (except obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities and securities of other investment companies); and (2) may not own more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer. |
Dividend Capture Trading | In a typical dividend capture trade, the Fund would buy a stock prior to its ex-dividend date and sell the stock at a point either on or after the ex-dividend date. The use of a dividend capture trading strategy exposes the Fund to higher portfolio turnover, increased trading costs and potential for capital loss or gain, particularly in the event of significant short-term price movements of stocks subject to dividend capture trading. |
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Duration | Duration measures the time-weighted expected cash flows of a fixed-income security, which can determine its sensitivity to changes in the general level of interest rates. Securities with longer durations generally tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with shorter durations. A mutual fund with a longer dollar-weighted average duration generally can be expected to be more sensitive to interest rate changes than a fund with a shorter dollar-weighted average duration. Duration differs from maturity in that it considers a security’s coupon payments in addition to the amount of time until the security matures. Various techniques may be used to shorten or lengthen Fund duration. As the value of a security changes over time, so will its duration. The duration of a Fund that invests in underlying funds is the sum of its allocable share of the duration of each of the underlying funds in which it invests, which is determined by multiplying the underlying fund’s duration by the Fund’s percentage ownership of that underlying fund. |
Emerging Market Investments | The risks described under “Foreign Investments” herein generally are heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets. Also, investments in securities of issuers domiciled in countries with emerging capital markets may involve certain additional risks that do not generally apply to investments in securities of issuers in more developed capital markets, such as (i) low or non-existent trading volume, resulting in a lack of liquidity and increased volatility in prices for such securities, as compared to securities of comparable issuers in more developed capital markets; (ii) uncertain national policies and social, political and economic instability, increasing the potential for expropriation of assets, confiscatory taxation, high rates of inflation or unfavorable diplomatic developments; (iii) possible fluctuations in exchange rates, differing legal systems and the existence or possible imposition of exchange controls, custodial restrictions or other foreign or U.S. governmental laws or restrictions applicable to such investments; (iv) national policies that may limit investment opportunities, such as restrictions on investment in issuers or industries deemed sensitive to national interests; and (v) the lack or relatively early development of legal structures governing private and foreign investments and private property. Trading practices in emerging markets also may be less developed, resulting in inefficiencies relative to trading in more developed markets, which may result in increased transaction costs. |
Repatriation of investment income, capital and proceeds of sales by foreign investors may require governmental registration and/or approval in emerging market countries. There can be no assurance that repatriation of income, gain or initial capital from these countries will occur. In addition to withholding taxes on investment income, some countries with emerging markets may impose differential capital gains taxes on foreign investors. | |
Political and economic structures in emerging market countries may undergo significant evolution and rapid development, and these countries may lack the social, political and economic stability characteristic of more developed countries. In such a dynamic environment, there can be no assurance that any or all of these capital markets will continue to present viable investment opportunities. In the past, governments of such nations have expropriated substantial amounts of private property, and most claims of the property owners have never been fully settled. There is no assurance that such expropriations will not reoccur. In such an event, it is possible that the entire value of an investment in the affected market could be lost. In addition, unanticipated political or social developments may affect the value of investments in these countries and the availability of additional investments. The small size and inexperience of the securities markets in certain of these countries and the limited volume of trading in securities in these countries may make investments in the countries illiquid and more volatile than investments in developed markets. | |
Also, there may be less publicly available information about issuers in emerging markets than would be available about issuers in more developed capital markets, and such issuers may not be subject to accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards and requirements comparable to those to which U.S. companies are subject. In certain countries with emerging capital markets, reporting standards vary widely. As a result, traditional investment measurements used in the United States, such as price/earnings ratios, may not be applicable. Certain emerging market securities may be held by a limited number of persons. This may adversely affect the timing and pricing of the acquisition or disposal of securities. The prices at which investments may be acquired may be affected by trading by persons with material non-public information and by securities transactions by brokers in anticipation of transactions in particular securities. |
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Practices in relation to settlement of securities transactions in emerging markets involve higher risks than those in developed markets, in part because brokers and counterparties in such markets may be less well capitalized, and custody and registration of assets in some countries may be unreliable. The possibility of fraud, negligence, undue influence being exerted by the issuer or refusal to recognize ownership exists in some emerging markets. As an alternative to investing directly in emerging markets, exposure may be obtained through derivative investments. | |
The foregoing risks may be even greater in frontier markets. Frontier markets are countries with investable stock markets that are less established than those in the emerging markets. The economies of frontier market countries generally are smaller than those of traditional emerging market countries, and frontier capital markets and legal systems are typically less developed. | |
Equity Investments | Equity investments include common stocks; preferred stocks; depositary receipts; equity interests in trusts, partnerships, joint ventures and other unincorporated entities or enterprises; convertible and contingent convertible preferred stocks; rights and warrants and other securities that are treated as equity for U.S. federal income tax purposes (see “Preferred Stock” and “Hybrid Securities”). Market conditions may affect certain types of stocks to a greater extent than other types of stocks. |
Equity-Linked Securities | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. Equity-linked securities are privately issued securities whose investment results are designed to correspond generally to the performance of a specified stock index or “basket” of securities, or sometimes a single stock. These securities are used for many of the same purposes as derivative instruments and share many of the same risks. Equity-linked securities may be considered illiquid and thus subject to the Fund’s restrictions on investments in illiquid securities. |
Event-Linked Instruments | The Fund may obtain event-linked exposure by investing in “event-linked bonds”, “event-linked swaps” or other “event-linked instruments”. Event-linked instruments are obligations for which the return of capital and dividend/interest payments are contingent on, or formulaically related to, the non-occurrence of a pre-defined “trigger” event. For some event-linked instruments, the trigger event’s magnitude may be based on losses to a company or industry, industry indexes or readings of scientific instruments rather than specified actual losses. Examples of trigger events include hurricanes, earthquakes, weather-related phenomena, or statistics relating to such events. |
Some event-linked instruments are referred to as “catastrophe bonds.” Catastrophe bonds entitle a Fund to receive principal and interest payments so long as no trigger event occurs of the description and magnitude specified by the instrument. If a trigger event occurs, the Fund may lose a portion of its entire principal invested in the bond. | |
Event-linked instruments may be sponsored by government agencies, insurance companies or reinsurers and issued by special purpose corporations or other off-shore or on-shore entities (such special purpose entities are created to accomplish a narrow and well-defined objective, such as the issuance of a note in connection with a specific reinsurance transaction). Typically, event-linked instruments are issued by off-shore entities and may be non-dollar denominated. As a result, the Fund may be subject to currency risk. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 48 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Often, event-linked instruments provide for extensions of maturity that are mandatory or optional at the discretion of the issuer or sponsor, in order to process and audit loss claims in those cases where a trigger event has, or possibly has, occurred. An extension of maturity may increase the instrument’s volatility and potentially make it more difficult to value. In addition, pricing of event-linked instruments is subject to the added uncertainty caused by the inability to generally predict whether, when or where a natural disaster or other triggering event will occur. If a trigger event occurs, the Fund may lose all or a portion of its investment in an event-linked instrument or the notional amount of an event-linked swap. Such losses may be substantial. Event-linked instruments carry large uncertainties and major risk exposures to adverse conditions. In addition to the specified trigger events, event-linked instruments also may expose the Fund to issuer, credit, counterparty, restricted securities, liquidity, and valuation risks as well as exposures to specific geographic areas, adverse regulatory or jurisdictional interpretations, and adverse tax consequences. Event-linked instruments are generally rated below investment grade or the unrated equivalent and have the same or similar risks as high yield debt securities (also known as junk bonds) and are subject to the risk that the Fund may lose some or all of its investment in such instruments if the particular trigger occurs. Event-linked instruments may be rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating agency, but are often unrated. Frequently, the issuer of an event-linked instrument will use an independent risk model to calculate the probability and economic consequences of a trigger event. | |
The Fund may invest in event-linked instruments in one or more of three ways: may purchase event-linked instruments when initially offered; may purchase event-linked instruments in the secondary, over-the-counter market; or may gain indirect exposure to event-linked instruments using derivatives. As the market for event-linked instruments evolves, the Fund may invest in new types of event-linked instruments. However, there can be no assurance that a liquid market in these instruments will develop. Lack of a liquid market may impose the risk of higher transaction costs and the possibility that the Fund may be forced to liquidate positions when it would not be advantageous to do so. | |
Event-linked instruments typically are restricted to qualified institutional buyers and, therefore, are not subject to registration with the SEC or any state securities commission and are not always listed on any national securities exchange. The amount of public information available with respect to event-linked instruments is generally less extensive than that which is available for issuers of registered or exchange listed securities. There can be no assurance that future regulatory determinations will not adversely affect the overall market for event-linked instruments. | |
Exchange-Traded Funds (“ETFs”) | ETFs are pooled investment vehicles that are designed to provide investment results corresponding to an index. These indexes may be either broad-based, sector or international. ETFs usually are units of beneficial interest in an investment trust or represent undivided ownership interests in a portfolio of securities (or commodities), in each case with respect to a portfolio of all or substantially all of the component securities of, and in substantially the same weighting as, the relevant benchmark index. ETFs are designed to provide investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the component securities (or commodities) of the benchmark index. An ETF generally reflects the risks of the underlying securities of the index it is designed to track. ETFs are listed on an exchange and trade in the secondary market on a per-share basis. The values of ETFs are subject to change as the values of their respective component securities (or commodities) fluctuate according to market volatility. Investments in ETFs may not exactly match the performance of a direct investment in the respective indices to which they are intended to correspond due to the temporary unavailability of certain index securities in the secondary market or other extraordinary circumstances, such as discrepancies with respect to the weighting of securities. Typically, the ETF bears its own operational expenses, which are deducted from its assets. To the extent that the Fund invests in ETFs, the Fund must bear these expenses in addition to the expenses of its own operation. |
Exchange-Traded Notes (“ETNs”) | ETNs are senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt securities whose returns are linked to the performance of a particular market benchmark or strategy minus applicable fees. ETNs are traded on an exchange during normal trading hours. However, investors can also hold the ETN until maturity. At maturity, the issuer pays to the investor a cash amount equal to the principal amount, subject to the day’s market benchmark or strategy factor. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 49 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
ETNs do not make periodic coupon payments or provide principal protection. ETNs are subject to credit risk and the value of the ETN may drop due to a downgrade in the issuer’s credit rating, despite the underlying market benchmark or strategy remaining unchanged. The value of an ETN may also be influenced by time to maturity, level of supply and demand for the ETN, volatility and lack of liquidity in underlying assets, changes in the applicable interest rates, changes in the issuer’s credit rating, and economic, legal, political, or geographic events that affect the referenced underlying asset. When the Fund invests in ETNs it will bear its proportionate share of any fees and expenses borne by the ETN. The Fund’s decision to sell its ETN holdings may be limited by the availability of a secondary market. In addition, although an ETN may be listed on an exchange, the issuer may not be required to maintain the listing and there can be no assurance that a secondary market will exist for an ETN. | |
ETNs are subject to tax risk. No assurance can be given that the IRS will accept, or a court will uphold, how the Fund characterizes and treats ETNs for tax purposes. Further, the IRS and Congress are considering proposals that would change the timing and character of income and gains from ETNs. | |
An ETN that is tied to a specific market benchmark or strategy may not be able to replicate and maintain exactly the composition and relative weighting of securities, commodities or other components in the applicable market benchmark or strategy. Some ETNs that use leverage can, at times, be relatively illiquid and, thus, they may be difficult to purchase or sell at a fair price. Leveraged ETNs are subject to the same risk as other instruments that use leverage in any form. | |
The market value of ETN shares may differ from that of their market benchmark or strategy. This difference in price may be due to the fact that the supply and demand in the market for ETN shares at any point in time is not always identical to the supply and demand in the market for the securities, commodities or other components underlying the market benchmark or strategy that the ETN seeks to track. As a result, there may be times when an ETN share trades at a premium or discount to its market benchmark or strategy. | |
Fixed-Income Securities | Fixed-income securities include bonds, preferred, preference and convertible securities, notes, debentures, asset-backed securities (including those backed by mortgages), loan participations and assignments, equipment lease certificates, equipment trust certificates and conditional sales contracts. Generally, issuers of fixed-income securities pay investors periodic interest and repay the amount borrowed either periodically during the life of the security and/or at maturity. Some fixed-income securities, such as zero coupon bonds, do not pay current interest, but are purchased at a discount from their face values, and values accumulate over time to face value at maturity. The market prices of fixed-income securities fluctuate depending on such factors as interest rates, credit quality and maturity. In general, market prices of fixed-income securities decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Fixed-income securities are subject to risk factors such as sensitivity to interest rate and real or perceived changes in economic conditions, payment expectations, liquidity and valuation. Fixed-income securities with longer maturities (for example, over ten years) are more affected by changes in interest rates and provide less price stability than securities with short-term maturities (for example, one to ten years). Fixed-income securities bear the risk of principal and interest default by the issuer, which will be greater with higher yielding, lower grade securities. During an economic downturn, the ability of issuers to service their debt may be impaired. The rating assigned to a fixed-income security by a rating agency does not reflect assessment of the volatility of the security’s market value or of the liquidity of an investment in the securities. Credit ratings are based largely on the issuer’s historical financial condition and a rating agency’s investment analysis at the time of rating, and the rating assigned to any particular security is not necessarily a reflection of the issuer’s current financial condition. Credit quality can change from time to time, and recently issued credit ratings may not fully reflect the actual risks posed by a particular high yield security. If relevant to the Fund(s) in this SAI, corporate bond ratings are described in an appendix to the SAI (see the table of contents). Preferred stock and certain other hybrid securities may pay a fixed-dividend rate, but may be considered equity securities for purposes of a Fund’s investment restrictions (see “Preferred Stock” and “Hybrid Securities”). |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 50 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Foreign Currency Transactions | As measured in U.S. dollars, the value of assets denominated in foreign currencies may be affected favorably or unfavorably by changes in foreign currency rates and exchange control regulations. Currency exchange rates can also be affected unpredictably by intervention by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks, or the failure to intervene, or by currency controls or political developments in the United States or abroad. If the U.S. dollar rises in value relative to a foreign currency, a security denominated in that foreign currency will be worth less in U.S. dollars. If the U.S. dollar decreases in value relative to a foreign currency, a security denominated in that foreign currency will be worth more in U.S. dollars. A devaluation of a currency by a country’s government or banking authority will have a significant impact on the value of any investments denominated in that currency. Foreign currency exchange transactions may be conducted on a spot ( i.e. , cash) basis at the spot rate prevailing in the foreign currency exchange market or through entering into derivative currency transactions (see “Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts,” “Option Contracts,” “Futures Contracts” and “Swap Agreements – Currency Swaps” herein). Currency transactions are subject to the risk of a number of complex political and economic factors applicable to the countries issuing the underlying currencies. Furthermore, unlike trading in most other types of instruments, there is no systematic reporting of last sale information with respect to the foreign currencies underlying the derivative currency transactions. As a result, available information may not be complete. In an over-the-counter trading environment, there are no daily price fluctuation limits. |
Foreign Investments | Investing in securities issued by companies whose principal business activities are outside the United States may involve significant risks not present in domestic investments. For example, because foreign companies may not be subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, practices and requirements and regulatory measures comparable to those applicable to U.S. companies, there may be less publicly available information about a foreign company than about a domestic company. Volume and liquidity in most foreign debt markets is less than in the United States and securities of some foreign companies are less liquid and more volatile than securities of comparable U.S. companies. There is generally less government supervision and regulation of securities exchanges, broker-dealers and listed companies than in the United States. In addition, with respect to certain foreign countries, there is the possibility of nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, currency blockage, political or social instability, or diplomatic developments, which could affect investments in those countries. Any of these actions could adversely affect securities prices, impair the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell foreign securities, or transfer the Fund’s assets or income back to the United States, or otherwise adversely affect Fund operations. In the event of nationalization, expropriation or confiscation, the Fund could lose its entire investment in that country. |
Other potential foreign market risks include exchange controls, difficulties in valuing securities, defaults on foreign government securities, and difficulties of enforcing favorable legal judgments in foreign courts. Moreover, individual foreign economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross national product, reinvestment of capital, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency, and balance of payments position. Certain economies may rely heavily on particular industries or foreign capital and are more vulnerable to diplomatic developments, the imposition of economic sanctions against a particular country or countries, changes in international trading patterns, trade barriers, and other protectionist or retaliatory measures. Foreign securities markets, while growing in volume and sophistication, are generally not as developed as those in the United States. Foreign countries may not have the infrastructure or resources to respond to natural and other disasters that interfere with economic activities, which may adversely affect issuers located in such countries. | |
Settlement and clearance procedures in certain foreign markets differ significantly from those in the United States. Payment for securities before delivery may be required and in some countries delayed settlements are customary, which increases the Fund’s risk of loss. The Fund generally holds its foreign securities and related cash in foreign banks and securities depositories. Some foreign banks and securities depositories may be recently organized or new to the foreign custody business. In addition, there may be limited or no regulatory oversight over their operations. Also, the laws of certain countries may put limits on the Fund’s ability to recover its assets if a foreign bank, depository or issuer of a security or any of their agents goes bankrupt. Certain countries may require withholding on dividends paid on portfolio securities and on realized capital gains. |
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In addition, it is often more expensive to buy, sell and hold securities in certain foreign markets than in the United States. Foreign brokerage commissions are generally higher than commissions on securities traded in the United States and may be non-negotiable. The fees paid to foreign banks and securities depositories generally are higher than those charged by U.S. banks and depositories. The increased expense of investing in foreign markets reduces the amount earned on investments and typically results in a higher operating expense ratio for the Fund as compared to investment companies that invest only in the United States. | |
Depositary receipts (including American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts “GDRs”)) are certificates evidencing ownership of shares of a foreign issuer and are alternatives to directly purchasing the underlying foreign securities in their national markets and currencies. However, they continue to be subject to many of the risks associated with investing directly in foreign securities. These risks include the political and economic risks of the underlying issuer’s country, as well as in the case of depositary receipts traded on foreign markets, exchange risk. Depositary receipts may be sponsored or unsponsored. Unsponsored depositary receipts are established without the participation of the issuer. As a result, available information concerning the issuer of an unsponsored depository receipt may not be as current as for sponsored depositary receipts, and the prices of unsponsored depositary receipts may be more volatile than if such instruments were sponsored by the issuer. Unsponsored depositary receipts may involve higher expenses, may not pass through voting or other shareholder rights and they may be less liquid. | |
Unless otherwise provided in the Prospectus, in determining the domicile of an issuer, the investment adviser may consider the domicile determination of the Fund’s benchmark index or a leading provider of global indexes and may take into account such factors as where the company’s securities are listed, and where the company is legally organized, maintains principal corporate offices and/or conducts its principal operations. | |
In June 2016, the United Kingdom approved a referendum to leave the European Union (“Brexit”). There is significant market uncertainty regarding Brexit’s ramifications, and the range and potential implications of possible political, regulatory, economic, and market outcomes are difficult to predict. Political events, including nationalist unrest in Europe, uncertainties surrounding the sovereign debt of a number of European Union (“EU”) countries and the viability of the EU itself, also may cause market disruptions. If one or more countries leave the EU or the EU dissolves, the world’s securities markets likely will be significantly disrupted. Moreover, the uncertainty about the ramifications of Brexit may cause significant volatility and/or declines in the value of the Euro and the British pound. Brexit may cause greater market volatility and illiquidity, currency fluctuations, deterioration in economic activity, a decrease in business confidence, and increased likelihood of a recession in the United Kingdom. | |
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. A forward foreign currency exchange contract involves an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. These contracts may be bought or sold to protect against an adverse change in the relationship between currencies or to increase exposure to a particular foreign currency. Cross-hedging may be done by using forward contracts in one currency (or basket of currencies) to hedge against fluctuations in the value of instruments denominated in a different currency (or the basket of currencies and the underlying currency). Use of a different foreign currency (for hedging or non-hedging purposes) magnifies exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are individually negotiated and privately traded so they are dependent upon the creditworthiness of the counterparty. The precise matching of the forward contract amounts and the value of the instruments denominated in the corresponding currencies will not generally be possible. In addition, it may not be possible to hedge against long-term currency changes. |
When a currency is difficult to hedge or to hedge against the U.S. dollar, the Fund may enter into a forward contract to sell a currency whose changes in value are generally considered to be linked to such currency. Currency transactions can result in losses if the currency being hedged fluctuates in value to a degree or in a direction that is not anticipated. In addition, there is the risk that the perceived linkage between various currencies may not be present or may not be present during the particular time the hedge is in place. If the Fund purchases a bond denominated in a foreign currency with a higher interest rate than is available on U.S. bonds of a similar maturity, the additional yield on the foreign bond could be substantially reduced or lost if the Fund were to enter into a direct hedge by selling the foreign currency and purchasing the U.S. dollar. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 52 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 53 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Illiquid Securities | Certain securities are considered illiquid or restricted due to a limited trading market, legal or contractual restrictions on resale or transfer, or are otherwise illiquid because they cannot be sold or disposed of in seven calendar days or less under then-current market conditions without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. Such illiquid securities include commercial paper issued pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act and securities eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144A thereunder. Section 4(a)(2) and Rule 144A securities may, however, be treated as liquid by the investment adviser pursuant to procedures adopted by the Board, which require consideration of factors such as trading activity, availability of market quotations and number of dealers willing to purchase the security. Even if determined to be liquid, Rule 144A securities may increase the level of portfolio illiquidity if eligible buyers become uninterested in purchasing such securities. |
It may be difficult to sell illiquid securities at a price representing fair value until such time as the securities may be sold publicly. It also may be more difficult to determine the fair value of such securities for purposes of computing the Fund’s net asset value. Where registration is required, a considerable period of time may elapse between a decision to sell the securities and the time when the Fund would be permitted to sell. Thus, the Fund may not be able to obtain as favorable a price as that prevailing at the time of the decision to sell. The Fund may incur additional expense when disposing of illiquid securities, including all or a portion of the cost to register the securities. The Fund also may acquire securities through private placements under which it may agree to contractual restrictions on the resale of such securities that are in addition to applicable legal restrictions. Such restrictions might prevent the sale of such securities at a time when such sale would otherwise be desirable. | |
At times, a portion of the Fund’s assets may be invested in securities as to which the Fund, by itself or together with other accounts managed by the investment adviser and its affiliates, holds a major portion or all of such securities. Under adverse market or economic conditions or in the event of adverse changes in the financial condition of the issuer, the Fund could find it more difficult to sell such securities when the investment adviser believes it advisable to do so or may be able to sell such securities only at prices lower than if such securities were more widely held. It may also be more difficult to determine the fair value of such securities for purposes of computing the Fund’s net asset value. See also “Restricted Securities.” | |
Indexed Securities | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. Indexed securities are securities that fluctuate in value with an index. The interest rate or, in some cases, the principal payable at the maturity of an indexed security may change positively or inversely in relation to one or more interest rates, financial indices, securities prices or other financial indicators (“reference prices”). An indexed security may be leveraged to the extent that the magnitude of any change in the interest rate or principal payable on an indexed security is a multiple of the change in the reference price. Thus, indexed securities may decline in value due to adverse market changes in reference prices. Because indexed securities derive their value from another instrument, security or index, they are considered derivative debt securities, and are subject to different combinations of prepayment, extension, interest rate and/or other market risks. Indexed securities may include interest only (“IO”) and principal only (“PO”) securities, floating rate securities linked to the Cost of Funds Index (“COFI floaters”), other “lagging rate” floating securities, floating rate securities that are subject to a maximum interest rate (“capped floaters”), leveraged floating rate securities (“super floaters”), leveraged inverse floating rate securities (“inverse floaters”), dual index floaters, range floaters, index amortizing notes and various currency indexed notes. Indexed securities may be issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities or, if privately issued, collateralized by mortgages that are insured, guaranteed or otherwise backed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 54 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Inflation-Indexed (or Inflation-Linked) Bonds | Inflation-indexed bonds are fixed-income securities the principal value of which is periodically adjusted according to the rate of inflation. Inflation-indexed bonds are issued by governments, their agencies or instrumentalities and corporations. Two structures are common: The U.S. Treasury and some other issuers use a structure that accrues inflation into the principal value of the bond. Most other issuers pay out the inflation accruals as part of a semiannual coupon. The principal amount of an inflation-indexed bond is adjusted in response to changes in the level of inflation. Repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed in the case of U.S. Treasury inflation-indexed bonds, and therefore, the principal amount of such bonds cannot be reduced below par even during a period of deflation. However, the current market value of these bonds is not guaranteed and will fluctuate, reflecting the risk of changes in their yields. In certain jurisdictions outside the United States, the repayment of the original bond principal upon the maturity of an inflation-indexed bond is not guaranteed, allowing for the amount of the bond repaid at maturity to be less than par. The interest rate for inflation-indexed bonds is fixed at issuance as a percentage of this adjustable principal. Accordingly, the actual interest income may both rise and fall as the principal amount of the bonds adjusts in response to movements in the Consumer Price Index. |
The value of inflation-indexed bonds is expected to change in response to changes in real interest rates. Real interest rates in turn are tied to the relationship between nominal interest rates and the rate of inflation. Therefore, if inflation were to rise at a faster rate than nominal interest rates, real interest rates might decline, leading to an increase in value of inflation-indexed bonds. In contrast, if nominal interest rates increased at a faster rate than inflation, real interest rates might rise, leading to a decrease in value of inflation-indexed bonds. While these securities are expected to be protected from long-term inflationary trends, short-term increases in inflation may lead to a decline in value. If interest rates rise due to reasons other than inflation (for example, due to changes in currency exchange rates), investors in these securities may not be protected to the extent that the increase is not reflected in the bond’s inflation measure. | |
Investing in a Portfolio | The Board may discontinue the Fund’s investment in one or more Portfolios if it determines that it is in the best interest of the Fund and its shareholders to do so. In such an event, the Board would consider what action might be taken, including investing Fund assets in another pooled investment entity or retaining an investment adviser to manage Fund assets in accordance with its investment objective(s). The Fund’s investment performance and expense ratio may be affected if its investment structure is changed or if another Portfolio investor withdraws all or a portion of its investment in the Portfolio. |
Investments in the Subsidiary | The Subsidiary is organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands, and is overseen by a sole director affiliated with Eaton Vance. The Fund is the sole shareholder of the Subsidiary, and it is not currently expected that shares of the Subsidiary will be sold or offered to other investors. The Subsidiary expects to invest primarily in commodity-linked derivative instruments, including swap agreements, commodity options, futures and options on futures, backed by a portfolio of inflation-indexed securities and other fixed-income securities and is also permitted to invest in any other investments permitted by the Fund. To the extent that the Fund invests in the Subsidiary, the Fund will be subject to the risks associated with those derivative instruments and other securities, which are discussed elsewhere in the Prospectus and this SAI. |
While the Subsidiary may be operated similarly to the Fund, it is not registered under the 1940 Act and, unless otherwise noted in the Prospectus and this SAI, is not subject to the investor protections of the 1940 Act and other U.S. regulations. Changes in the laws of the U.S. and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiary to operate as described in the Prospectus and this SAI and could negatively affect the Fund and its shareholders. | |
Junior Loans | Due to their lower place in the borrower’s capital structure and possible unsecured status, certain loans (“Junior Loans”) involve a higher degree of overall risk than Senior Loans (described below) of the same borrower. Junior Loans may be direct loans or purchased either in the form of an assignment or a loan participation. Junior Loans are subject to the same general risks inherent in any loan investment (see “Loans” below). Junior Loans include secured and unsecured subordinated loans, as well as second lien loans and subordinated bridge loans. A second lien loan is generally second in line in terms of repayment priority and may have a claim on the same collateral pool as the first lien, or it may be secured by a separate set of assets. Second lien loans generally give investors priority over general unsecured creditors in the event of an asset sale. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 55 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 56 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
A lender’s repayment and other rights primarily are determined by governing loan, assignment or participation documents, which (among other things) typically establish the priority of payment on the loan relative to other indebtedness and obligations of the borrower. A borrower typically is required to comply with certain covenants contained in a loan agreement between the borrower and the holders of the loan. The types of covenants included in loan agreements generally vary depending on market conditions, the creditworthiness of the issuer, and the nature of the collateral securing the loan. Loans with fewer covenants that restrict activities of the borrower may provide the borrower with more flexibility to take actions that may be detrimental to the loan holders and provide fewer investor protections in the event covenants are breached. The Fund may experience relatively greater realized or unrealized losses or delays and expense in enforcing its rights with respect to loans with fewer restrictive covenants. Loans to entities located outside of the U.S. (including to sovereign entities) may have substantially different lender protections and covenants as compared to loans to U.S. entities and may involve greater risks. In the event of bankruptcy, applicable law may impact a lender’s ability to enforce its rights. The Fund may have difficulties and incur expense enforcing its rights with respect to non-U.S. loans and such loans could be subject to bankruptcy laws that are materially different than in the U.S. Sovereign entities may be unable or unwilling to meet their obligations under a loan due to budgetary limitations or economic or political changes within the country. | |
Investing in loans involves the risk of default by the borrower or other party obligated to repay the loan. In the event of insolvency of the borrower or other obligated party, the Fund may be treated as a general creditor of such entity unless it has rights that are senior to that of other creditors or secured by specific collateral or assets of the borrower. Fixed-rate loans are also subject to the risk that their value will decline in a rising interest rate environment. This risk is mitigated for floating-rate loans, where the interest rate payable on the loan resets periodically by reference to a base lending rate. The base lending rate usually is the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), the Federal Reserve federal funds rate, the prime rate or other base lending rates used by commercial lenders. LIBOR usually is an average of the interest rates quoted by several designated banks as the rates at which they pay interest to major depositors in the London interbank market on U.S. dollar-denominated deposits. | |
Many financial instruments use or may use a floating rate based on LIBOR, which is the offered rate for short-term Eurodollar deposits between major international banks. On July 27, 2017, the head of the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced a desire to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. Due to this announcement, there remains uncertainty regarding the future utilization of LIBOR and the nature of any replacement rate. As such, the potential effect of a transition away from LIBOR on the Fund or the financial instruments in which the Fund invests cannot yet be determined. | |
The Fund will take whatever action it considers appropriate in the event of anticipated financial difficulties, default or bankruptcy of the borrower or other entity obligated to repay a loan. Such action may include: (i) retaining the services of various persons or firms (including affiliates of the investment adviser) to evaluate or protect any collateral or other assets securing the loan or acquired as a result of any such event; (ii) managing (or engaging other persons to manage) or otherwise dealing with any collateral or other assets so acquired; and (iii) taking such other actions (including, but not limited to, payment of operating or similar expenses relating to the collateral) as the investment adviser may deem appropriate to reduce the likelihood or severity of loss on the Fund’s investment and/or maximize the return on such investment. The Fund will incur additional expenditures in taking protective action with respect to loans in (or anticipated to be in) default and assets securing such loans. In certain circumstances, the Fund may receive equity or equity-like securities from a borrower to settle the loan or may acquire an equity interest in the borrower. Representatives of the Fund also may join creditor or similar committees relating to loans. | |
Lenders can be sued by other creditors and the debtor and its shareholders. Losses could be greater than the original loan amount and occur years after the loan’s recovery. If a borrower becomes involved in bankruptcy proceedings, a court may invalidate the Fund’s security interest in any loan collateral or subordinate the Fund’s rights under the loan agreement to the interests of the borrower’s unsecured creditors or cause interest previously paid to be refunded to the borrower. There are also other events, such as the failure to perfect a security interest due to faulty documentation or faulty official filings, which could lead to the invalidation of the Fund’s security interest in loan collateral. If any of these events occur, the Fund’s performance could be negatively affected. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 57 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Interests in loans generally are not listed on any national securities exchange or automated quotation system and no active market may exist for many loans, making them illiquid. As described below, a secondary market exists for many Senior Loans, but it may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods. | |
From time to time the investment adviser and its affiliates may borrow money from various banks in connection with their business activities. Such banks may also sell interests in loans to or acquire them from the Fund or may be intermediate participants with respect to loans in which the Fund owns interests. Such banks may also act as agents for loans held by the Fund. | |
To the extent that legislation or state or federal regulators that regulate certain financial institutions impose additional requirements or restrictions with respect to the ability of such institutions to make loans, particularly in connection with highly leveraged transactions, the availability of loans for investment may be adversely affected. Further, such legislation or regulation could depress the market value of loans. | |
For additional disclosures relating to Junior and Senior Loans, see “Junior Loans” and “Senior Loans” herein. | |
Lower Rated Investments | Lower rated investments (commonly referred to as “junk”) are of below investment grade quality and generally provide greater income potential and/or increased opportunity for capital appreciation than higher quality investments but they also typically entail greater potential price volatility and principal and income risk. Lower rated investments are regarded as predominantly speculative with respect to the entity’s continuing ability to make timely principal and interest payments. Also, their yields and market values may fluctuate more than higher rated investments. Fluctuations in value do not affect the cash income from lower rated investments, but are reflected in the Fund’s net asset value. The greater risks and fluctuations in yield and value occur, in part, because investors generally perceive issuers of lower rated and unrated investments to be less creditworthy. The secondary market for lower rated investments may be less liquid than the market for higher grade investments. |
Master Limited Partnerships (“MLPs”) | MLPs are publicly-traded limited partnership interests or units. An MLP that invests in a particular industry (e.g., oil and gas) will be harmed by detrimental economic events within that industry. As partnerships, MLPs may be subject to less regulation (and less protection for investors) under state laws than corporations. In addition, MLPs may be subject to state taxation in certain jurisdictions, which may reduce the amount of income paid by an MLP to its investors. Effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act generally allows individuals and certain other non-corporate entities, such as partnerships, a deduction for 20% of “qualified publicly traded partnership income” such as income from MLPs. However, the new law does not include any provision for a regulated investment company to pass the character of its qualified publicly traded partnership income through to its shareholders. As a result, an investor who invests directly in MLPs will be able to receive the benefit of that deduction, while a shareholder of the Fund will not. |
Money Market Instruments | Money market instruments include short term, high quality, U.S. dollar denominated instruments such as commercial paper, certificates of deposit and bankers’ acceptances issued by U.S. or foreign banks, and Treasury bills and other obligations with a maturity of one year or less, including those issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies and instrumentalities. See “U.S. Government Securities” below. Certificates of deposit or time deposits are certificates issued against funds deposited in a commercial bank, are for a definite period of time, earn a specified rate of return, and are normally negotiable. Bankers’ acceptances are short-term credit instruments used to finance the import, export, transfer or storage of goods. They are termed “accepted” when a bank guarantees their payment at maturity. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 58 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
The obligations of foreign branches of U.S. banks may be general obligations of the parent bank in addition to the issuing branch, or may be limited by the terms of a specific obligation and by governmental regulation. Payment of interest and principal upon these obligations may also be affected by governmental action in the country of domicile of the branch (generally referred to as sovereign risk). In addition, evidence of ownership of portfolio securities may be held outside of the U.S. and generally will be subject to the risks associated with the holding of such property overseas. Various provisions of U.S. law governing the establishment and operation of domestic branches do not apply to foreign branches of domestic banks. The obligations of U.S. branches of foreign banks may be general obligations of the parent bank in addition to the issuing branch, or may be limited by the terms of a specific obligation and by federal and state regulation as well as by governmental action in the country in which the foreign bank has its head office. | |
Money market instruments are often acquired directly from the issuers thereof or otherwise are normally traded on a net basis (without commission) through broker-dealers and banks acting for their own account. Such firms attempt to profit from such transactions by buying at the bid price and selling at the higher asked price of the market, and the difference is customarily referred to as the spread. Money market instruments may be adversely affected by market and economic events, such as a sharp rise in prevailing short-term interest rates; adverse developments in the banking industry, which issues or guarantees many money market securities; adverse economic, political or other developments affecting domestic issuers of money market securities; changes in the credit quality of issuers; and default by a counterparty. These securities may be subject to federal income, state income and/or other taxes. Instead of investing in money market instruments directly, the Fund may invest in an affiliated money market fund (such as Eaton Vance Cash Reserves Fund, LLC, which is managed by Eaton Vance) or an unaffiliated money market fund. During unusual market conditions, the Fund may invest up to 100% of its assets in cash or cash equivalents temporarily, which may be inconsistent with its investment objective(s) and other policies. | |
Mortgage-Backed Securities (“MBS”) | MBS are “pass through” securities, meaning that a pro rata share of regular interest and principal payments, as well as unscheduled early prepayments, on the underlying mortgage pool is passed through monthly to the holder. MBS may include conventional mortgage pass through securities, participation interests in pools of adjustable and fixed rate mortgage loans, stripped securities (described herein), floating rate mortgage-backed securities and certain classes of multiple class CMOs. MBS pay principal to the holder over their term, which differs from other forms of debt securities that normally provide for principal payment at maturity or specified call dates. MBS are subject to the general risks associated with investing in real estate securities; that is, they may lose value if the value of the underlying real estate to which a pool of mortgages relates declines. In addition, investments in MBS involve certain specific risks, including the failure of a party to meet its commitments under the related operative documents, adverse interest rate changes, and the effects of prepayments on mortgage cash flows and that any guarantee or other structural feature, if present, is insufficient to enable the timely payment of interest and principal on the MBS. Although certain MBS are guaranteed as to timely payment of interest and principal by a government-sponsored enterprise, the market price for such securities is not guaranteed and will fluctuate. Certain MBS may be purchased on a when-issued basis subject to certain limitations and requirements. |
There are currently four types of MBS: (1) those issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities, such as the Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), the Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“FHLMC”); (2) those issued by private issuers that represent an interest in or are collateralized by pass through securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities; (3) those issued by the U.S. Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities without a government guarantee, such as credit risk transfer bonds; and (4) those issued by private issuers that represent an interest in or are collateralized by whole mortgage loans or pass through securities without a government guarantee but that usually have some form of private credit enhancement. Privately issued MBS are structured similar to GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC MBS, and are issued by originators of, or investors in, mortgage loans, including depositary institutions, mortgage banks and special purpose subsidiaries of the foregoing. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 59 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
GNMA Certificates and FNMA Mortgage-Backed Certificates are MBS representing part ownership of a pool of mortgage loans. GNMA loans (issued by lenders such as mortgage bankers, commercial banks and savings and loan associations) are either insured by the Federal Housing Administration or guaranteed by the Veterans Administration. A pool of such mortgages is assembled and, after being approved by GNMA, is offered to investors through securities dealers. Once such pool is approved by GNMA, the timely payment of interest and principal on the Certificates issued representing such pool is guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. GNMA is a wholly owned U.S. Government corporation within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. FNMA, a federally chartered corporation owned entirely by private stockholders, purchases both conventional and federally insured or guaranteed residential mortgages from various entities, including savings and loan associations, savings banks, commercial banks, credit unions and mortgage bankers, and packages pools of such mortgages in the form of pass-through securities generally called FNMA Mortgage-Backed Certificates, which are guaranteed as to timely payment of principal and interest by FNMA but are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government; however, they are supported by the right of FNMA to borrow from the U.S. Treasury Department. | |
FHLMC, a corporate instrumentality of the U.S. Government created by Congress for the purposes of increasing the availability of mortgage credit for residential housing, issues participation certificates (“PCs”) representing undivided interest in FHLMC’S mortgage portfolio. While FHLMC guarantees the timely payment of interest and ultimate collection of the principal of its PCs, its PCs are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. FHLMC PCs differ from GNMA Certificates in that the mortgages underlying the PCs are monthly “conventional” mortgages rather than mortgages insured or guaranteed by a federal agency or instrumentality. However, in several other respects, such as the monthly pass-through of interest and principal (including unscheduled prepayments) and the unpredictability of future unscheduled prepayments on the underlying mortgage pools, FHLMC PCs are similar to GNMA Certificates. | |
While it is not possible to accurately predict the life of a particular issue of MBS, the actual life of any such security is likely to be substantially less than the final maturities of the mortgage loans underlying the security. This is because unscheduled early prepayments of principal on MBS will result from the prepayment, refinancings or foreclosure of the underlying mortgage loans in the mortgage pool. Prepayments of MBS may not be able to be reinvested at the same interest rate. Because of the regular scheduled payments of principal and the early unscheduled prepayments of principal, MBS are less effective than other types of obligations as a means of “locking-in” attractive long-term interest rates. As a result, this type of security may have less potential for capital appreciation during periods of declining interest rates than other U.S. Government securities of comparable maturities, although many issues of MBS may have a comparable risk of decline in market value during periods of rising interest rates. If MBS are purchased at a premium above their par value, a scheduled payment of principal and an unscheduled prepayment of principal, which would be made at par, will accelerate the realization of a loss equal to that portion of the premium applicable to the payment or prepayment. If MBS have been purchased at a discount from their par value, both a scheduled payment of principal and an unscheduled prepayment of principal will increase current returns and will accelerate the recognition of income, which, when distributed to Fund shareholders, will be taxable as ordinary income. | |
Mortgage Dollar Rolls | In a mortgage dollar roll, the Fund sells MBS for delivery in the current month and simultaneously contracts to repurchase substantially similar (same type, coupon and maturity) MBS on a specified future date. During the roll period, the Fund forgoes principal and interest paid on the MBS. The Fund is compensated by the difference between the current sales price and the lower forward price for the future purchase (often referred to as the “drop”) as well as by the interest earned on the cash proceeds of the initial sales. Cash proceeds may be invested in instruments that are permissible investments for the Fund. The use of mortgage dollar rolls is a speculative technique involving leverage. A “covered roll” is a specific type of dollar roll for which there is an offsetting cash position or permissible liquid assets earmarked or in a segregated account to secure the obligation for the forward commitment to buy MBS, or a cash equivalent security position that matures on or before the forward settlement date of the dollar roll transaction. The Fund will only enter into covered rolls. Covered rolls are not treated as a borrowing or other senior security and will be excluded from the calculation of the Fund’s borrowings and other senior securities. |
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Municipal Lease Obligations (“MLOs”) | MLOs are obligations in the form of a lease, installment purchase or conditional sales contract (which typically provide for the title to the leased asset to pass to the governmental issuer) that is issued by state or local governments to acquire equipment and facilities. Interest income from MLOs is generally exempt from local and state taxes in the state of issuance. MLOs, like other municipal debt obligations, are subject to the risk of non-payment. Although MLOs do not constitute general obligations of the issuer for which the issuer’s unlimited taxing power is pledged, a lease obligation is frequently backed by the issuer’s covenant to budget for, appropriate and make the payments due under the lease obligation. However, certain lease obligations contain “non-appropriation” clauses, which provide that the issuer has no obligation to make lease or installment purchase payments in future years unless money is appropriated for such purpose on a yearly basis. Although “non-appropriation” lease obligations may be secured by the leased property, disposition of the property in the event of foreclosure might prove difficult. Participations in municipal leases are undivided interests in a portion of the total obligation. Participations entitle their holders to receive a pro rata share of all payments under the lease. |
MLOs and participations therein represent a type of financing that may not have the depth of marketability associated with more conventional securities and, as such, they may be less liquid than conventional securities. Certain MLOs may be deemed illiquid for the purpose of the Fund’s limitation on investments in illiquid securities, unless determined by the investment adviser, pursuant to guidelines adopted by the Board, to be liquid securities. The investment adviser will consider an MLO to be liquid if it is rated investment grade (being an MLO rated BBB or Baa or higher) by a nationally recognized statistical ratings organization or is insured by an insurer rated investment grade. If an MLO or participation does not meet the foregoing criteria, then the investment adviser will consider the MLO to be illiquid unless it conducts an analysis of relevant factors and concludes that the MLO is liquid. In conducting such an analysis, the investment adviser will consider the factors it believes are relevant to the marketability of the obligation, to the extent that information regarding such factor is available to the investment adviser and pertinent to the liquidity determination, which may include: (1) the willingness of dealers to bid for the obligation; (2) the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the obligation and the number of other potential buyers; (3) the frequency of trades and quotes for the obligation; (4) the nature of the marketplace trades, including the time needed to dispose of the obligation, the method of soliciting offers, and the mechanics of transfer; (5) the willingness of the governmental issuer to continue to appropriate funds for the payment of the obligation; (6) how likely or remote an event of non-appropriation may be, which depends in varying degrees on a variety of factors, including those relating to the general creditworthiness of the governmental issuer, its dependence on its continuing access to the credit markets, and the importance to the issuer of the equipment, property or facility covered by the lease or contract; (7) an assessment of the likelihood that the lease may or may not be cancelled; and (8) other factors and information unique to the obligation in determining its liquidity. | |
The ability of issuers of MLOs to make timely lease payments may be adversely impacted in general economic downturns and as relative governmental cost burdens are allocated and reallocated among federal, state and local governmental units. Such non-payment would result in a reduction of income from and value of the obligation. Issuers of MLOs might seek protection under the bankruptcy laws. In the event of bankruptcy of such an issuer, holders of MLOs could experience delays and limitations with respect to the collection of principal and interest on such MLOs and may not, in all circumstances, be able to collect all principal and interest to which it is entitled. To enforce its rights in the event of a default in lease payments, the Fund might take possession of and manage the assets securing the issuer’s obligations on such securities or otherwise incur costs to protect its rights, which may increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect the net asset value of the Fund. When the lease contains a non-appropriation clause, however, the failure to pay would not be a default and the Fund would not have the right to take possession of the assets. Any income derived from the Fund’s ownership or operation of such assets may not be tax-exempt. |
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Municipal Obligations | Municipal obligations include debt obligations issued to obtain funds for various public purposes, including the construction of a wide range of public facilities, refunding of outstanding obligations and obtaining funds for general operating expenses and loans to other public institutions and facilities. Certain types of bonds are issued by or on behalf of public authorities to finance various privately owned or operated facilities, including certain facilities for the local furnishing of electric energy or gas, sewage facilities, solid waste disposal facilities and other specialized facilities. Municipal obligations include bonds as well as tax-exempt commercial paper, project notes and municipal notes such as tax, revenue and bond anticipation notes of short maturity, generally less than three years. While most municipal bonds pay a fixed rate of interest semiannually in cash, there are exceptions. Some bonds pay no periodic cash interest, but rather make a single payment at maturity representing both principal and interest. Some bonds may pay interest at a variable or floating rate. Bonds may be issued or subsequently offered with interest coupons materially greater or less than those then prevailing, with price adjustments reflecting such deviation. Municipal obligations also include trust certificates representing interests in municipal securities held by a trustee. The trust certificates may evidence ownership of future interest payments, principal payments or both on the underlying securities. |
In general, there are three categories of municipal obligations, the interest on which is exempt from federal income tax and is not a tax preference item for purposes of the AMT: (i) certain “public purpose” obligations (whenever issued), which include obligations issued directly by state and local governments or their agencies to fulfill essential governmental functions; (ii) certain obligations issued before August 8, 1986 for the benefit of non-governmental persons or entities; and (iii) certain “private activity bonds” issued after August 7, 1986, which include “qualified Section 501(c)(3) bonds” or refundings of certain obligations included in the second category. Opinions relating to the validity of municipal bonds, exclusion of municipal bond interest from an investor’s gross income for federal income tax purposes and, where applicable, state and local income tax, are rendered by bond counsel to the issuing authorities at the time of issuance. | |
Interest on certain “private activity bonds” issued after August 7, 1986 is exempt from regular federal income tax, but such interest (including a distribution by the Fund derived from such interest) is treated as a tax preference item that could subject the recipient to or increase the recipient’s liability for the AMT. | |
The two principal classifications of municipal bonds are “general obligation” and “revenue” bonds. Issuers of general obligation bonds include states, counties, cities, towns and regional districts. The proceeds of these obligations are used to fund a wide range of public projects, including the construction or improvement of schools, highways and roads, water and sewer systems and a variety of other public purposes. The basic security of general obligation bonds is the issuer’s pledge of its faith, credit, and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest. The taxes that can be levied for the payment of debt service may be limited or unlimited as to rate and amount. |
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Typically, the only security for a limited obligation or revenue bond is the net revenue derived from a particular facility or class of facilities financed thereby or, in some cases, from the proceeds of a special tax or other special revenues. Revenue bonds have been issued to fund a wide variety of revenue-producing public capital projects including: electric, gas, water and sewer systems; highways, bridges and tunnels; port and airport facilities; colleges and universities; hospitals; and convention, recreational, tribal gaming and housing facilities. Although the security behind these bonds varies widely, many lower rated bonds provide additional security in the form of a debt service reserve fund that may also be used to make principal and interest payments on the issuer's obligations. In addition, some revenue obligations (as well as general obligations) are insured by a bond insurance company or backed by a letter of credit issued by a banking institution. Revenue bonds also include, for example, pollution control, health care and housing bonds, which, although nominally issued by municipal authorities, are generally not secured by the taxing power of the municipality but by the revenues of the authority derived from payments by the private entity that owns or operates the facility financed with the proceeds of the bonds. Obligations of housing finance authorities have a wide range of security features, including reserve funds and insured or subsidized mortgages, as well as the net revenues from housing or other public projects. Many of these bonds do not generally constitute the pledge of the credit of the issuer of such bonds. The credit quality of such revenue bonds is usually directly related to the credit standing of the user of the facility being financed or of an institution which provides a guarantee, letter of credit or other credit enhancement for the bond issue. The Fund may on occasion acquire revenue bonds that carry warrants or similar rights covering equity securities. Such warrants or rights may be held indefinitely, but if exercised, the Fund anticipates that it would, under normal circumstances, dispose of any equity securities so acquired within a reasonable period of time. Investing in revenue bonds may involve (without limitation) the following risks. | |
Hospital bond ratings are often based on feasibility studies that contain projections of expenses, revenues and occupancy levels. A hospital’s income available to service its debt may be influenced by demand for hospital services, management capabilities, the service area economy, efforts by insurers and government agencies to limit rates and expenses, competition, availability and expense of malpractice insurance, and Medicaid and Medicare funding. | |
Education-related bonds are comprised of two types: (i) those issued to finance projects for public and private colleges and universities, charter schools and private schools, and (ii) those representing pooled interests in student loans. Bonds issued to supply educational institutions with funding are subject to many risks, including the risks of unanticipated revenue decline, primarily the result of decreasing student enrollment, decreasing state and federal funding, or changes in general economic conditions. Additionally, higher than anticipated costs associated with salaries, utilities, insurance or other general expenses could impair the ability of a borrower to make annual debt service payments. Student loan revenue bonds are generally offered by state (or sub-state) authorities or commissions and are backed by pools of student loans. Underlying student loans may be guaranteed by state guarantee agencies and may be subject to reimbursement by the United States Department of Education through its guaranteed student loan program. Others may be private, uninsured loans made to parents or students that may be supported by reserves or other forms of credit enhancement. Cash flows supporting student loan revenue bonds are impacted by numerous factors, including the rate of student loan defaults, seasoning of the loan portfolio, and student repayment deferral periods of forbearance. Other risks associated with student loan revenue bonds include potential changes in federal legislation regarding student loan revenue bonds, state guarantee agency reimbursement and continued federal interest and other program subsidies currently in effect. | |
Transportation debt may be issued to finance the construction of airports, toll roads, highways, or other transit facilities. Airport bonds are dependent on the economic conditions of the airport’s service area and may be affected by the business strategies and fortunes of specific airlines. They may also be subject to competition from other airports and modes of transportation. Air traffic generally follows broader economic trends and is also affected by the price and availability of fuel. Toll road bonds are also affected by the cost and availability of fuel as well as toll levels, the presence of competing roads and the general economic health of an area. Fuel costs, transportation taxes and fees, and availability of fuel also affect other transportation-related securities, as do the presence of alternate forms of transportation, such as public transportation. |
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Industrial development bonds (“IDBs”) are normally secured only by the revenues from the project and not by state or local government tax payments, they are subject to a wide variety of risks, many of which relate to the nature of the specific project. Generally, IDBs are sensitive to the risk of a slowdown in the economy. Electric utilities face problems in financing large construction programs in an inflationary period, cost increases and delay occasioned by safety and environmental considerations (particularly with respect to nuclear facilities), difficulty in obtaining fuel at reasonable prices, and in achieving timely and adequate rate relief from regulatory commissions, effects of energy conservation and limitations on the capacity of the capital market to absorb utility debt. Water and sewer revenue bonds are generally secured by the fees charged to each user of the service. The issuers of water and sewer revenue bonds generally enjoy a monopoly status and latitude in their ability to raise rates. However, lack of water supply due to insufficient rain, run-off, or snow pack can be a concern and has led to past defaults. Further, public resistance to rate increases, declining numbers of customers in a particular locale, costly environmental litigation, and federal environmental mandates are challenges faced by issuers of water and sewer bonds. |
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The obligations of any person or entity to pay the principal of and interest on a municipal obligation are subject to the provisions of bankruptcy, insolvency and other laws affecting the rights and remedies of creditors, such as the Federal Bankruptcy Act, and laws, if any, that may be enacted by Congress or state legislatures extending the time for payment of principal or interest, or both, or imposing other constraints upon enforcement of such obligations. Certain bond structures may be subject to the risk that a taxing authority may issue an adverse ruling regarding tax-exempt status. There is also the possibility that as a result of adverse economic conditions (including unforeseen financial events, natural disasters and other conditions that may affect an issuer’s ability to pay its obligations), litigation or other conditions, the power or ability of any person or entity to pay when due principal of and interest on a municipal obligation may be materially affected or interest and principal previously paid may be required to be refunded. There have been instances of defaults and bankruptcies involving municipal obligations that were not foreseen by the financial and investment communities. The Fund will take whatever action it considers appropriate in the event of anticipated financial difficulties, default or bankruptcy of either the issuer of any municipal obligation or of the underlying source of funds for debt service. Such action may include: (i) retaining the services of various persons or firms (including affiliates of the investment adviser) to evaluate or protect any real estate, facilities or other assets securing any such obligation or acquired by the Fund as a result of any such event; (ii) managing (or engaging other persons to manage) or otherwise dealing with any real estate, facilities or other assets so acquired; and (iii) taking such other actions as the adviser (including, but not limited to, payment of operating or similar expenses of the underlying project) may deem appropriate to reduce the likelihood or severity of loss on the fund’s investment. The Fund will incur additional expenditures in taking protective action with respect to portfolio obligations in (or anticipated to be in) default and assets securing such obligations. | |
Historically, municipal bankruptcies have been rare and certain provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code governing such bankruptcy are unclear. Further, the application of state law to municipal obligation issuers could produce varying results among the states or among municipal obligation issuers within a state. These uncertainties could have a significant impact on the prices of the municipal obligations in which the Fund invests. There could be economic, business or political developments or court decisions that adversely affect all municipal obligations in the same sector. Developments such as changes in healthcare regulations, environmental considerations related to construction, construction cost increases and labor problems, failure of healthcare facilities to maintain adequate occupancy levels, and inflation can affect municipal obligations in the same sector. As the similarity in issuers of municipal obligations held by the Fund increases, the potential for fluctuations in the Fund’s share price also may increase. |
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The secondary market for some municipal obligations issued within a state (including issues that are privately placed with the Fund) is less liquid than that for taxable debt obligations or other more widely traded municipal obligations. No established resale market exists for certain of the municipal obligations in which the Fund may invest. The market for obligations rated below investment grade is also likely to be less liquid than the market for higher rated obligations. As a result, the Fund may be unable to dispose of these municipal obligations at times when it would otherwise wish to do so at the prices at which they are valued. Municipal obligations that are rated below investment grade but that, subsequent to the assignment of such rating, are backed by escrow accounts containing U.S. Government obligations may be determined by the investment adviser to be of investment grade quality for purposes of the Fund’s investment policies. In the case of a defaulted obligation, the Fund may incur additional expense seeking recovery of its investment. Defaulted obligations are denoted in the “Portfolio of Investments” in the “Financial Statements” included in the Fund’s reports to shareholders. The yields on municipal obligations depend on a variety of factors, including purposes of the issue and source of funds for repayment, general money market conditions, general conditions of the municipal bond market, size of a particular offering, maturity of the obligation and rating of the issue. The ratings of Moody’s, S&P and Fitch represent their opinions as to the quality of the municipal obligations which they undertake to rate, and in the case of insurers, other factors including the claims-paying ability of such insurer. It should be emphasized, however, that ratings are based on judgment and are not absolute standards of quality. Consequently, municipal obligations with the same maturity, coupon and rating may have different yields while obligations of the same maturity and coupon with different ratings may have the same yield. In addition, the market price of such obligations will normally fluctuate with changes in interest rates, and therefore the net asset value of the Fund will be affected by such changes. |
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Operational Risk | The Fund’s service providers, including the investment adviser, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the Fund. While service providers are expected to have appropriate operational risk management policies and procedures, their methods of operational risk management may differ from the Fund's in the setting of priorities, the personnel and resources available or the effectiveness of relevant controls. It also is not possible for Fund service providers to identify all of the operational risks that may affect the Fund or to develop processes and controls to completely eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects. |
Option Contracts | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. An option contract is a contract that gives the holder of the option, in return for a premium, the right to buy from (in the case of a call) or sell to (in the case of a put) the writer of the option the reference instrument underlying the option (or the cash value of the index) at a specified exercise price at any time during the term of the option. The writer of an option on a security has the obligation upon exercise of the option to deliver the reference instrument (or the cash) upon payment of the exercise price or to pay the exercise price upon delivery of the reference instrument (or the cash). Upon exercise of an index option, the writer of an option on an index is obligated to pay the difference between the cash value of the index and the exercise price multiplied by the specified multiplier for the index option. Options may be “covered,” meaning that the party required to deliver the reference instrument if the option is exercised owns that instrument (or has set aside sufficient assets to meet its obligation to deliver the instrument). Options may be listed on an exchange or traded in the OTC market. In general, exchange-traded options have standardized exercise prices and expiration dates and may require the parties to post margin against their obligations, and the performance of the parties' obligations in connection with such options is guaranteed by the exchange or a related clearing corporation. OTC options have more flexible terms negotiated between the buyer and the seller, but generally do not require the parties to post margin and are subject to counterparty risk. The ability of the Fund to transact business with any one or any number of counterparties, the lack of any independent evaluation of the counterparties or their financial capabilities, and the absence of a regulated market to facilitate settlement, may increase the potential for losses to the Fund. OTC options also involve greater liquidity risk. This risk may be increased in times of financial stress, if the trading market for OTC derivative contracts becomes limited. The staff of the SEC takes the position that certain purchased OTC options, and assets used as cover for written OTC options, are illiquid. Derivatives on economic indicators generally are offered in an auction format and are booked and settled as OTC options. Options on futures contracts are discussed herein under “Futures Contracts.” |
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If a written option expires unexercised, the Fund realizes a capital gain equal to the premium received at the time the option was written. If a purchased option expires unexercised, the Fund realizes a capital loss equal to the premium paid. Prior to the earlier of exercise or expiration, an exchange traded option may be closed out by an offsetting purchase or sale of an option of the same series (type, exchange, reference instrument, exercise price, and expiration). A capital gain will be realized from a closing purchase transaction if the cost of the closing option is less than the premium received from writing the option, or, if it is more, a capital loss will be realized. If the premium received from a closing sale transaction is more than the premium paid to purchase the option, the Fund will realize a capital gain or, if it is less, the Fund will realize a capital loss. The principal factors affecting the market value of a put or a call option include supply and demand, the current market price of the reference instrument in relation to the exercise price of the option, the volatility of the reference instrument, and the time remaining until the expiration date. There can be no assurance that a closing purchase or sale transaction can be consummated when desired. | |
Straddles are a combination of a call and a put written on the same reference instrument. A straddle is deemed to be covered when sufficient assets are deposited to meet the Fund’s immediate obligations. The same liquid assets may be used to cover both the call and put options where the exercise price of the call and put are the same, or the exercise price of the call is higher than that of the put. The Fund may also buy and write call options on the same reference instrument to cover its obligations. Because such combined options positions involve multiple trades, they result in higher transaction costs and may be more difficult to open or close. In an equity collar, the Fund simultaneously writes a call option and purchases a put option on the same instrument. | |
To the extent that the Fund writes a call option on an instrument it holds and intends to use such instrument as the sole means of “covering” its obligation under the call option, the Fund has, in return for the premium on the option, given up the opportunity to profit from a price increase in the instrument above the exercise price during the option period, but, as long as its obligation under such call option continues, has retained the risk of loss should the value of the reference instrument decline. If the Fund were unable to close out such a call option, it would not be able to sell the instrument unless the option expired without exercise. Uncovered calls have speculative characteristics and are riskier than covered calls because there is no instrument or cover held by the Fund that can act as a partial hedge. | |
The writer of an option has no control over the time when it may be required to fulfill its obligation under the option. Once an option writer has received an exercise notice, it cannot effect a closing purchase transaction in order to terminate its obligation under the option and must deliver the underlying reference instrument at the exercise price. If a put or call option purchased by the Fund is not sold when it has remaining value, and if the market price of the underlying security remains equal to or greater than the exercise price (in the case of a put), or remains less than or equal to the exercise price (in the case of a call), the Fund will lose the premium it paid for the option. Furthermore, if trading restrictions or suspensions are imposed on options markets, the Fund may be unable to close out a position. | |
Options positions are marked to market daily. The value of options is affected by changes in the value and dividend rates of the securities underlying the option or represented in the index underlying the option, changes in interest rates, changes in the actual or perceived volatility of the relevant index or market and the remaining time to the options’ expiration, as well as trading conditions in the options market. The hours of trading for options may not conform to the hours during which the underlying securities are traded. To the extent that the options markets close before the markets for the underlying securities, significant price and rate movements can take place in the underlying markets that would not be reflected concurrently in the options markets. | |
Option Strategy | The Fund implements the Option Strategy or Enhancement Strategy, as further described under “Investment Objective & Principal Policies and Risks” in the Prospectus, whereby it writes a series of call and put option spread combinations on the S&P 500 Composite Stock Price Index (S&P 500 Index) and/or a proxy for the S&P 500 Index (such as SPDR Trust Series I units (SPDRs)). |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 66 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Participation in the ReFlow Liquidity Program | The Fund may participate in the ReFlow liquidity program, which is designed to provide an alternative liquidity source for mutual funds experiencing net redemptions of their shares. Pursuant to the program, ReFlow Fund, LLC (“ReFlow”) provides participating mutual funds with a source of cash to meet net shareholder redemptions by standing ready each business day to purchase fund shares up to the value of the net shares redeemed by other shareholders that are to settle the next business day. Following purchases of fund shares, ReFlow then generally redeems those shares when the fund experiences net sales, at the end of a maximum holding period determined by ReFlow (currently 14 days) or at other times at ReFlow’s discretion. While ReFlow holds fund shares, it will have the same rights and privileges with respect to those shares as any other shareholder. For use of the ReFlow service, a fund pays a fee to ReFlow each time it purchases fund shares, calculated by applying to the purchase amount a fee rate determined through an automated daily auction among participating mutual funds. Such fee is allocated among a fund’s share classes based on relative net assets. ReFlow’s purchases of fund shares through the liquidity program are made on an investment-blind basis without regard to the fund’s investment objective, policies or anticipated performance. In accordance with federal securities laws, ReFlow is prohibited from acquiring more than 3% of the outstanding voting securities of a fund. ReFlow will purchase Class I or Institutional Class shares (or, if applicable Class A or Investor Class shares) at net asset value and will not be subject to any sales charge (in the case of Class A shares), investment minimum or redemption fee applicable to such shares. ReFlow will periodically redeem its entire share position in the Fund and request that such redemption be met in kind in accordance with the Fund’s redemption-in-kind policies described under “Redeeming Shares” in the Prospectus. Investments in a fund by ReFlow in connection with the ReFlow liquidity program are not subject to the two round-trips within 90 days limitation described in “Restrictions on Excessive Trading and Market Timing” under “Purchasing Shares” in the Prospectus. The investment adviser believes that the program assists in stabilizing the Fund’s net assets to the benefit of the Fund and its shareholders. To the extent the Fund’s net assets do not decline, the investment adviser may also benefit. |
Pooled Investment Vehicles | The Fund may invest in pooled investment vehicles including other open-end or closed-end investment companies affiliated or unaffiliated with the investment adviser, exchange-traded funds (described herein) and other collective investment pools in accordance with the requirements of the 1940 Act. Closed-end investment company securities are usually traded on an exchange. The demand for a closed-end fund’s securities is independent of the demand for the underlying portfolio assets, and accordingly, such securities can trade at a discount from, or a premium over, their net asset value. The Fund generally will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any management fees paid by a pooled investment vehicle in which it invests in addition to the investment advisory fee paid by the Fund. |
Portfolio Turnover | A change in the securities held by the Fund is known as “portfolio turnover” and generally involves expense to the Fund, including brokerage commissions or dealer markups and other transaction costs on both the sale of securities and the reinvestment of the proceeds in other securities. If sales of portfolio securities cause the Fund to realize net short-term capital gains, such gains will be taxable as ordinary income to taxable shareholders. The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate for a fiscal year is the ratio of the lesser of purchases or sales of portfolio securities to the monthly average of the value of portfolio securities − excluding securities whose maturities at acquisition were one year or less. The Fund's portfolio turnover rate is not a limiting factor when the investment adviser considers a change in the Fund's portfolio holdings. The portfolio turnover rate(s) of the Fund for recent fiscal periods is included in the Financial Highlights in the Prospectus. |
Preferred Stock | Preferred stock represents an equity interest in a corporation, company or trust that has a higher claim on the assets and earnings than common stock. Preferred stock usually has limited voting rights. Preferred stock involves credit risk, which is the risk that a preferred stock will decline in price, or fail to pay dividends when expected, because the issuer experiences a decline in its financial status. A company’s preferred stock generally pays dividends after the company makes the required payments to holders of its bonds and other debt instruments but before dividend payments are made to common stockholders. However, preferred stock may not pay scheduled dividends or dividends payments may be in arrears. The value of preferred stock may react more strongly than bonds and other debt instruments to actual or perceived changes in the company’s financial condition or prospects. Certain preferred stocks may be convertible to common stock. See “Convertible Securities” and “Contingent Convertible Securities.” Preferred stock may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a predetermined price. Because they may make regular income payments, preferred stocks may be considered fixed-income securities for purposes of a Fund’s investment restrictions. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 67 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Real Estate Investments |
Real estate investments, including real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), are sensitive to factors, such as changes in: real estate values, property taxes, interest rates, cash flow of underlying real estate assets, occupancy rates, government regulations affecting zoning, land use, and rents, and the management skill and creditworthiness of the issuer. Companies in the real estate industry may also be subject to liabilities under environmental and hazardous waste laws, among others. Changes in underlying real estate values may have a magnified effect to the extent that investments concentrate in particular geographic regions or property types. Investments in REITs may also be adversely affected by rising interest rates. By investing in REITs, the Fund indirectly will bear REIT expenses in addition to its own expenses. Private REITs are unlisted, which may make them difficult to value and less liquid. Moreover, private REITs are generally exempt from 1933 Act registration and, as such, the amount of public information available with respect to private REITs may be less extensive than that available for publicly traded REITs. Shares of REITs may trade less frequently and, therefore, are subject to more erratic price movements than securities of larger issuers. REITs are also subject to credit, market, liquidity and interest rate risks. Effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026 the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act generally allows individuals and certain other non-corporate entities, such as partnerships, a deduction for 20% of qualified REIT dividends. Recently issued proposed regulations on which the Fund may rely allow a regulated investment company to pass the character of its qualified REIT dividends through to its shareholders provided certain holding period requirements are met. See “Taxes” below for additional information. REITs may issue debt securities to fund their activities. The value of these debt securities may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the REIT, the creditworthiness of the REIT, interest rates, and tax and regulatory requirements, among other things. |
Repurchase Agreements | Repurchase agreements involve the purchase of a security coupled with an agreement to resell at a specified date and price. In the event of the bankruptcy of the counterparty to a repurchase agreement, recovery of cash may be delayed. To the extent that, in the meantime, the value of the purchased securities may have decreased, a loss could result. Repurchase agreements that mature in more than seven days will be treated as illiquid. Unless the Prospectus states otherwise, the terms of a repurchase agreement will provide that the value of the collateral underlying the repurchase agreement will always be at least equal to the repurchase price, including any accrued interest earned on the agreement, and will be marked to market daily. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 68 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Residual Interest Bonds |
The Fund may invest in residual interest bonds in a trust that holds municipal securities. The interest rate payable on a residual interest bond bears an inverse relationship to the interest rate on another security issued by the trust. Because changes in the interest rate on the other security inversely affect the interest paid on the residual interest bond, the value and income of a residual interest bond is generally more volatile than that of a fixed rate bond. Residual interest bonds have interest rate adjustment formulas that generally reduce or, in the extreme, eliminate the interest paid to the Fund when short-term interest rates rise, and increase the interest paid to the Fund when short-term interest rates fall. Residual interest bonds have varying degrees of liquidity, and the market for these securities is relatively volatile. These securities tend to underperform the market for fixed rate bonds in a rising long-term interest rate environment, but tend to outperform the market for fixed rate bonds when long-term interest rates decline. Although volatile, residual interest bonds typically offer the potential for yields exceeding the yields available on fixed rate bonds with comparable credit quality and maturity. These securities usually permit the investor to convert the floating rate to a fixed rate (normally adjusted downward), and this optional conversion feature may provide a partial hedge against rising rates if exercised at an opportune time. While residual interest bonds expose the Fund to leverage risk because they provide two or more dollars of bond market exposure for every dollar invested, they are not subject to the Fund’s restrictions on borrowings. Under certain circumstances, the Fund may enter into a so-called shortfall and forbearance agreement relating to a residual interest bond held by the Fund. Such agreements commit the Fund to reimburse the difference between the liquidation value of the underlying security (which is the basis of the residual interest bond) and the principal amount due to the holders of the floating rate security issued in conjunction with the residual interest bond upon the termination of the trust issuing the residual interest bond. Absent a shortfall and forbearance agreement, the Fund would not be required to make such a reimbursement. If the Fund chooses not to enter into such an agreement, the residual interest bond could be terminated and the Fund could incur a loss. The Fund’s investments in residual interest bonds and similar securities described in the Prospectus and this SAI will not be considered borrowing for purposes of the Fund’s restrictions on borrowing described herein and in the Prospectus. On December 10, 2013, five U.S. federal agencies published final rules implementing section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Volcker Rule”). The Volcker Rule prohibits banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading of certain instruments and limits such entities’ investments in, and relationships with, covered funds, as defined in the rules. The Volcker Rule precludes banking entities and their affiliates from (i) sponsoring residual interest bond programs as presently structured and (ii) continuing relationships with or services for existing residual interest bond programs. The effects of the Volcker Rule may make it more difficult for the Fund to maintain current or desired levels of income. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 69 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Restricted Securities |
Restricted securities cannot be sold to the public without registration under the 1933 Act. Unless registered for sale, restricted securities can be sold only in privately negotiated transactions or pursuant to an exemption from registration. Restricted securities may be considered illiquid and subject to the Fund’s limitation on illiquid securities. Restricted securities may involve a high degree of business and financial risk which may result in substantial losses. The securities may be less liquid than publicly traded securities. Although these securities may be resold in privately negotiated transactions, the prices realized from these sales could be less than those originally paid by the Fund. The Fund may invest in restricted securities, including securities initially offered and sold without registration pursuant to Rule 144A (“Rule 144A Securities”) and securities of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers initially offered and sold outside the United States without registration with the SEC pursuant to Regulation S (“Regulation S Securities”) under the 1933 Act. Rule 144A Securities and Regulation S Securities generally may be traded freely among certain qualified institutional investors, such as the Fund, and non-U.S. persons, but resale to a broader base of investors in the United States may be permitted only in much more limited circumstances. The Fund also may purchase restricted securities that are not eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S. The Fund may acquire such securities through private placement transactions, directly from the issuer or from security holders, generally at higher yields or on terms more favorable to investors than comparable publicly traded securities. However, the restrictions on resale of such securities may make it difficult for the Fund to dispose of them at the time considered most advantageous and/or may involve expenses that would not be incurred in the sale of securities that were freely marketable. Risks associated with restricted securities include the potential obligation to pay all or part of the registration expenses in order to sell certain restricted securities. A considerable period of time may elapse between the time of the decision to sell a security and the time the Fund may be permitted to sell it under an effective registration statement and/or after an applicable waiting period. If adverse conditions were to develop during this period, the Fund might obtain a price that is less favorable than the price that was prevailing at the time it decided to sell. See also “Illiquid Securities.” |
Reverse Repurchase Agreements | Under a reverse repurchase agreement, the Fund temporarily transfers possession of a portfolio instrument to another party, such as a bank or broker-dealer, in return for cash. At the same time, the Fund agrees to repurchase the instrument at an agreed upon time (normally within seven days) and price, which reflects an interest payment. The Fund may enter into a reverse repurchase agreement for various purposes, including, but not limited to, when it is able to invest the cash acquired at a rate higher than the cost of the agreement or as a means of raising cash to satisfy redemption requests without the necessity of selling portfolio assets. In a reverse repurchase agreement, any fluctuations in the market value of either the securities transferred to another party or the securities in which the proceeds may be invested would affect the market value of the Fund’s assets. As a result, such transactions may increase fluctuations in the value of the Fund. Because reverse repurchase agreements may be considered to be the practical equivalent of borrowing funds, they constitute a form of leverage. Such agreements will be treated as subject to investment restrictions regarding “borrowings.” If the Fund reinvests the proceeds of a reverse repurchase agreement at a rate lower than the cost of the agreement, entering into the agreement will lower the Fund’s yield. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 70 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Rights and Warrants |
See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. A right is a privilege granted to existing shareholders of a corporation to subscribe for shares of a new issue of common stock before it is issued. Rights normally have a short life, usually two to four weeks, are freely transferable and entitle the holder to buy the new common stock at a lower price than the public offering price. Warrants are securities that are typically issued together with a debt security or preferred stock and that give the holder the right to buy a proportionate amount of common stock at a specified price. Warrants are freely transferable and are often traded on major exchanges. Unlike rights, warrants normally have a life that is measured in years and entitle the holder to buy common stock of a company at a price that is usually higher than the market price at the time the warrant is issued. Corporations often issue warrants to make the accompanying debt security more attractive. Warrants and rights may entail greater risks than certain other types of investments. Generally, rights and warrants do not carry the right to receive dividends or exercise voting rights with respect to the underlying securities, and they do not represent any rights in the assets of the issuer. In addition, their value does not necessarily change with the value of the underlying securities, and they cease to have value if they are not exercised on or before their expiration date. If the market price of the underlying stock does not exceed the exercise price during the life of the warrant or right, the warrant or right will expire worthless. (Canadian special warrants issued in private placements prior to a public offering are not considered warrants.) |
Royalty Bonds |
Royalty bonds include debt securities collateralized by pharmaceutical royalty interests (“Royalty Bonds”). Pharmaceutical royalty streams are created when the owner of a patent on a pharmaceutical product licenses the discovery to a larger commercial entity for further development, while maintaining a royalty interest on future sales of the product. Royalty Bonds are created when the royalty owner borrows against the royalty stream by issuing debt collateralized by the royalty. Royalty Bond investors receive interest and principal payments collateralized and funded by the stream of royalty payments. Royalty Bonds are typically offered in a private placement pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act and are restricted as to resale. Because Royalty Bonds are restricted securities and because of the proprietary nature of the underlying pharmaceutical product licenses, it may take longer to liquidate Royalty Bond positions than would be the case for other securities. Royalty Bonds are also subject to the industry risks associated with health sciences companies. |
Securities Lending | The Fund may lend its portfolio securities to major banks, broker-dealers and other financial institutions in compliance with the 1940 Act. No lending may be made with any companies affiliated with the investment adviser. These loans earn income and are collateralized by cash, securities or letters of credit. The Fund may realize a loss if it is not able to invest cash collateral at rates higher than the costs to enter into the loan. The Fund invests cash collateral in an unaffiliated money market fund that operates in compliance with the requirements of Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act and seeks to maintain a stable $1.00 net asset value per share. When the loan is closed, the lender is obligated to return the collateral to the borrower. The lender could suffer a loss if the value of the collateral is below the market value of the borrowed securities or if the borrower defaults on the loan. The lender may pay reasonable finder’s, lending agent, administrative and custodial fees in connection with its loans. The investment adviser will use its reasonable efforts to instruct the securities lending agent to terminate loans and recall securities with voting rights so that the securities may be voted in accordance with the Fund’s proxy voting policy and procedures. See “Taxes” for information on the tax treatment of payments in lieu of dividends received pursuant to securities lending arrangements. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 71 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Senior Loans | Senior Loans are loans that are senior in repayment priority to other debt of the borrower. Senior Loans generally pay interest that floats, adjusts or varies periodically based on benchmark indicators, specified adjustment schedules or prevailing interest rates. Senior Loans are often secured by specific assets or “collateral,” although they may not be secured by collateral. A Senior Loan is typically originated, negotiated and structured by a U.S. or foreign commercial bank, insurance company, finance company or other financial institution (the “Agent”) for a group of loan investors (“Loan Investors”), generally referred to as a “syndicate.” The Agent typically administers and enforces the Senior Loan on behalf of the Loan Investors in the syndicate. In addition, an institution, typically but not always the Agent, holds any collateral on behalf of the Loan Investors. Loan interests primarily take the form of assignments purchased in the primary or secondary market. Loan interests may also take the form of participation interests in, or novations of, a Senior Loan. Senior Loans primarily include senior floating rate loans and secondarily senior floating rate debt obligations (including those issued by an asset-backed pool), and interests therein. |
Loan Collateral. Borrowers generally will, for the term of the Senior Loan, pledge collateral to secure their obligation. In addition, Senior Loans may be guaranteed by or secured by assets of the borrower’s owners or affiliates. During the term of the Senior Loan, the value of collateral securing the Loan may decline in value, causing the Loan to be under-collateralized. Collateral may consist of assets that may not be readily liquidated, and there is no assurance that the liquidation of such assets would satisfy fully a borrower’s obligations under a Senior Loan. In addition, if a Senior Loan is foreclosed, the Fund could become part owner of the collateral and would bear the costs and liabilities associated with owning and disposing of such collateral. | |
Fees. The Fund may receive a facility fee when it buys a Senior Loan, and pay a facility fee when it sells a Senior Loan. On an ongoing basis, the Fund may receive a commitment fee based on the undrawn portion of the underlying line of credit portion of a Senior Loan. In certain circumstances, the Fund may receive a prepayment penalty fee upon the prepayment of a Senior Loan by a borrower or an amendment fee. | |
Loan Administration. In a typical Senior Loan, the Agent administers the terms of the loan agreement and is responsible for the collection of principal, and interest payments from the borrower and the apportionment of these payments to the Loan Investors. Failure by the Agent to fulfill its obligations may delay or adversely affect receipt of payment by the Fund. Furthermore, unless under the terms of a loan agreement or participation (as applicable) the Fund has direct recourse against the borrower, the Fund must rely on the Agent and the other Loan Investors to use appropriate remedies against the borrower. The Agent is typically responsible for monitoring compliance with covenants contained in the loan agreement based upon reports prepared by the borrower. The typical practice of an Agent or a Loan Investor in relying exclusively or primarily on reports from the borrower may involve the risk of fraud by the borrower. It is unclear whether an investment in a Senior Loan offers the securities law protections against fraud and misrepresentation. | |
A financial institution’s appointment as Agent may usually be terminated in the event that it fails to observe the requisite standard of care or becomes insolvent. A successor Agent would generally be appointed to replace the terminated Agent, and assets held by the Agent under the Loan Agreement should remain available to holders of Senior Loans. However, if assets held by the Agent for the benefit of the Fund were determined to be subject to the claims of the Agent’s general creditors, the Fund might incur certain costs and delays in realizing payment on a Senior Loan, or suffer a loss of principal and/or interest. In situations involving other Interposed Persons (as defined below), similar risks may arise. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 72 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Additional Information. The Fund may purchase and retain in its portfolio a Senior Loan where the borrower has experienced, or may be perceived to be likely to experience, credit problems, including involvement in or recent emergence from bankruptcy reorganization proceedings or other forms of debt restructuring. While such investments may provide opportunities for enhanced income as well as capital appreciation, they generally involve greater risk and may be considered speculative. The Fund may from time to time participate in ad-hoc committees formed by creditors to negotiate with the management of financially troubled borrowers. The Fund may incur legal fees as a result of such participation. In addition, such participation may restrict the Fund’s ability to trade in or acquire additional positions in a particular security when it might otherwise desire to do so. Participation by the Fund also may expose the Fund to potential liabilities under bankruptcy or other laws governing the rights of creditors and debtors. The Fund will participate in such committees only when the investment adviser believes that such participation is necessary or desirable to enforce the Fund’s rights as a creditor or to protect the value of a Senior Loan held by the Fund. | |
In some instances, other accounts managed by the investment adviser may hold other securities issued by borrowers the Senior Loans of which may be held by the Fund. These other securities may include, for example, debt securities that are subordinate to the Senior Loans held by the Fund, convertible debt or common or preferred equity securities. In certain circumstances, such as if the credit quality of the borrower deteriorates, the interests of holders of these other securities may conflict with the interests of the holders of the borrower’s Senior Loans. In such cases, the investment adviser may owe conflicting fiduciary duties to the Fund and other client accounts. The investment adviser will endeavor to carry out its obligations to all of its clients to the fullest extent possible, recognizing that in some cases, certain clients may achieve a lower economic return, as a result of these conflicting client interests, than if the investment adviser’s client accounts collectively held only a single category of the issuer’s securities. | |
The Fund may acquire warrants and other equity securities as part of a unit combining a Senior Loan and equity securities of a borrower or its affiliates. The Fund may also acquire equity securities or debt securities (including non-dollar denominated debt securities) issued in exchange for a Senior Loan or issued in connection with the debt restructuring or reorganization of a borrower, or if such acquisition, in the judgment of the investment adviser, may enhance the value of a Senior Loan or would otherwise be consistent with the Fund’s investment policies. | |
For Eaton Vance Floating Rate Portfolio, Senior Debt Portfolio and Eaton Vance VT Floating-Rate Income Fund only: The Fund will acquire participations only if the Loan Investor selling the participation, and any other persons interpositioned between the Fund and the Loan Investor (an “Interposed Person”), at the time of investment, has outstanding debt or deposit obligations rated investment grade (BBB or A-3 or higher by S&P or Baa or P- 3 or higher by Moody’s or comparably rated by another nationally recognized statistical ratings organization) or determined by the investment adviser to be of comparable quality. | |
For additional disclosure relating to investing in loans (including Senior Loans), see “Loans” above. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 73 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Short Sales | Short sales are transactions in which a party sells a security it does not own in anticipation of a decline in the market value of that security. To complete such a transaction, the party must borrow the security to make delivery to the buyer. When the party is required to return the borrowed security, it typically will purchase the security in the open market. The price at such time may be more or less than the price at which the party sold the security. Until the security is replaced, the party is required to repay the lender any dividends or interest, which accrues during the period of the loan. To borrow the security, it also may be required to pay a premium, which would increase the cost of the security sold. The net proceeds of the short sale will be retained by the broker, to the extent necessary to meet margin requirements, until the short position is closed out. Transaction costs are incurred in effecting short sales. A short seller will incur a loss as a result of a short sale if the price of the security increases between the date of the short sale and the date on which it replaces the borrowed security. A gain will be realized if the price of the security declines in price between those dates. The amount of any gain will be decreased, and the amount of any loss increased, by the amount of the premium, dividends or interest the short seller may be required to pay, if any, in connection with a short sale. Short sales may be “against the box” or uncovered. In a short sale “against the box,” at the time of the sale, the short seller owns or has the immediate and unconditional right to acquire the identical security at no additional cost. In an uncovered short sale, the short seller does not own the underlying security and, as such, losses from uncovered short sales may be significant. The Fund may sell short securities representing an index or basket of securities whose constituents the Fund holds in whole or in part. A short sale of an index or basket of securities will be a covered short sale if the underlying index or basket of securities is the same or substantially identical to securities held by the Fund. Use of short sales is limited by the Fund’s non-fundamental restriction relating thereto. |
Short-Term Trading | Fixed-income securities may be sold in anticipation of market decline (a rise in interest rates) or purchased in anticipation of a market rise (a decline in interest rates) and later sold. In addition, such a security may be sold and another purchased at approximately the same time to take advantage of what is believed to be a temporary disparity in the normal yield relationship between the two securities. Yield disparities may occur for reasons not directly related to the investment quality of particular issues or the general movement of interest rates, such as changes in the overall demand for or supply of various types of fixed-income securities or changes in the investment objectives of investors. |
Significant Exposure to Health Sciences Companies | Because the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life sciences, and health care equipment and services companies, the value of Fund shares may be affected by developments that adversely affect such companies and may fluctuate more than that of a fund that invests more broadly. Many health sciences companies are subject to substantial governmental regulations that can affect their prospects. Changes in governmental policies, such as reductions in the funding of third-party payment programs, may have a material effect on the demand for particular health care products and services. Regulatory approvals (often entailing lengthy application and testing procedures) are also generally required before new drugs and certain medical devices and procedures may be introduced. Many of the products and services of companies engaged in medical research and health care are also subject to relatively high risks of rapid obsolescence caused by progressive scientific and technological advances. Additionally, such products are subject to risks such as the appearance of toxic effects following commercial introduction and manufacturing difficulties. The enforcement of patent, trademark and other intellectual property laws will affect the value of many such companies. Health sciences companies include companies that offer limited products or services or that are at the research and developmental stage with no marketable or approved products or technologies. |
Significant Exposure to Smaller Companies | The investment risk associated with smaller companies is higher than that normally associated with larger, more established companies due to the greater business risks associated with small size, the relative age of the company, limited product lines, distribution channels and financial and managerial resources. Further, there is typically less publicly available information concerning smaller companies than for larger companies. The securities of small companies are often traded only over-the-counter and may not be traded in the volumes typical of trading on a national securities exchange. As a result, stocks of smaller companies are often more volatile than those of larger companies, which are often traded on a national securities exchange, may be more difficult and may take longer to liquidate at fair value than would be the case for the publicly traded securities of a large company. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 74 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Significant Exposure to Utilities and Financial Services Sectors | Because the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in the utilities and financial services sectors, the value of Fund shares may be affected by events that adversely affect those sectors and may fluctuate more than that of a fund with broader exposure. The utilities sector includes companies engaged in the manufacture, production, generation, transmission, sale and distribution of water, gas and electric energy. Companies in the financial services sector include, for example, commercial banks, savings and loan associations, brokerage and investment companies, insurance companies, and consumer and industrial finance companies. Companies in the utilities sector may be sensitive to changes in interest rates and other economic conditions, governmental regulation, uncertainties created by deregulation, power shortages and surpluses, the price and availability of fuel, environmental protection or energy conservation practices, the level and demand for services, and the cost and potential business disruption of technological developments. Companies in the financial services sector are also subject to extensive government regulation and can be significantly affected by the availability and cost of capital funds, changes in interest rates, the rate of corporate and consumer debt defaults, and price competition. |
Stripped Securities | Stripped Securities (“Strips”) may be issued by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities, and may also be issued by private originators or investors, including depository institutions, banks, investment banks and special purpose subsidiaries of these entities. Strips are usually structured with classes that receive different proportions of the interest and principal distributions from an underlying asset or pool of underlying assets. Strips are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates, which may impact the frequency of principal payments (including prepayments) on the underlying assets or pool of underlying assets. Some structures may have a class that receives only interest from the underlying assets, an interest-only (“IO”) class, while another class may receive only principal, a principal-only (“PO”) class. IO and PO Strips may be purchased for their return and/or hedging characteristics. Because of their structure, IO Strips may move differently than typical fixed-income securities in relation to changes in interest rates. IO Strips tend to decrease in value if prepayments are greater than anticipated and increase in value if prepayments are less than anticipated. Conversely, PO Strips tend to increase in value if prepayments are greater than anticipated and decline if prepayments are less than anticipated. While the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities may guarantee the full repayment of principal on Strips they issue, repayment of interest is guaranteed only while the underlying assets or pools of assets are outstanding. To the extent the Fund invests in Strips, rapid changes in the rate of prepayments may have an adverse effect on the Fund’s performance. In addition, the secondary market for Strips may be less liquid than that for other securities. Certain Strips may also present certain operational and/or valuation risks. |
Structured Notes | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. Structured notes are derivative debt instruments, the interest rate or principal of which is determined by an unrelated indicator (for example, a currency, security, commodity or index thereof). The terms of the instrument may be “structured” by the purchaser and the borrower issuing the note. Indexed securities may include structured notes as well as securities other than debt securities, the interest rate or principal of which is determined by an unrelated indicator. Indexed securities may include a multiplier that multiplies the indexed element by a specified factor and, therefore, the value of such securities may be very volatile. The terms of structured notes and indexed securities may provide that in certain circumstances no principal is due at maturity, which may result in a loss of invested capital. Structured notes and indexed securities may be positively or negatively indexed, so that appreciation of the unrelated indicator may produce an increase or a decrease in the interest rate or the value of the structured note or indexed security at maturity may be calculated as a specified multiple of the change in the value of the unrelated indicator. Structured notes and indexed securities may entail a greater degree of market risk than other types of investments because the investor bears the risk of the unrelated indicator. Structured notes or indexed securities also may be more volatile, less liquid, and more difficult to accurately price than less complex securities and instruments or more traditional debt securities. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 75 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Swap Agreements | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. Swap agreements are two-party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors for periods ranging from a few weeks to more than one year. In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on a particular predetermined reference instrument or instruments, which can be adjusted for an interest rate factor. The gross returns to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties are generally calculated with respect to a “notional amount” ( i.e. , the return on or increase in value of a particular dollar amount invested at a particular interest rate or in a “basket” of securities representing a particular index). Other types of swap agreements may calculate the obligations of the parties to the agreement on a “net basis.” Consequently, a party’s current obligations (or rights) under a swap agreement will generally be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement based on the relative values of the positions held by each party to the agreement (the “net amount”). |
Whether the use of swap agreements will be successful will depend on the investment adviser's ability to predict correctly whether certain types of reference instruments are likely to produce greater returns than other instruments. Swap agreements may be subject to contractual restrictions on transferability and termination and they may have terms of greater than seven days. The Fund’s obligations under a swap agreement will be accrued daily (offset against any amounts owed to the Fund under the swap). Developments in the swaps market, including government regulation, could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to terminate existing swap agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such agreements, as well as to participate in swap agreements in the future. If there is a default by the counterparty to a swap, the Fund will have contractual remedies pursuant to the swap agreement, but any recovery may be delayed depending on the circumstances of the default. To limit the counterparty risk involved in swap agreements, the Fund will only enter into swap agreements with counterparties that meet certain criteria. Although there can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to do so, the Fund may be able to reduce or eliminate its exposure under a swap agreement either by assignment or other disposition, or by entering into an offsetting swap agreement with the same party or another creditworthy party. The Fund may have limited ability to eliminate its exposure under a credit default swap if the credit of the referenced entity or underlying asset has declined. | |
The swaps market was largely unregulated prior to the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act, which was enacted in 2010 in response to turmoil in the financial markets and other market events. Among other things, the Dodd-Frank Act sets forth a new regulatory framework for certain OTC derivatives, such as swaps, in which the Fund may invest. The Dodd-Frank Act requires many swap transactions to be executed on registered exchanges or through swap execution facilities, cleared through a regulated clearinghouse, and publicly reported. In addition, many market participants are now regulated as swap dealers or major swap participants and are subject to certain minimum capital and margin requirements and business conduct standards. The statutory requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act are being implemented primarily through rules and regulations adopted by the SEC and/or the CFTC. There is a prescribed phase-in period during which most of the mandated rulemaking and regulations are being implemented, and temporary exemptions from certain rules and regulations have been granted so that current trading practices will not be unduly disrupted during the transition period. | |
Currently, central clearing is only required for certain market participants trading certain instruments, although central clearing for additional instruments is expected to be implemented by the CFTC until the majority of the swaps market is ultimately subject to central clearing. In addition, uncleared OTC swaps are subject to regulatory collateral requirements that may adversely affect the Fund’s ability to enter into swaps in the OTC market. These developments may cause the Fund to terminate new or existing swap agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such instruments at an inopportune time. Until the mandated rulemaking and regulations are implemented completely, it will not be possible to determine the complete impact of the Dodd-Frank Act and related regulations on the Fund, and the establishment of a centralized exchange or market for swap transactions may not result in swaps being easier to value or trade. However, it is expected that swap dealers, major market participants, and swap counterparties will experience other new and/or additional regulations, requirements, compliance burdens, and associated costs. The legislation and rules yet to be promulgated and/or implemented may exert a negative effect on the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective, either through limits or requirements imposed on the Fund or its counterparties. The swap market could be disrupted or limited as a result of the implementation of this legislation, and the new requirements may increase the cost of the Fund’s investments and of doing business, which could adversely affect the ability of the Fund to buy or sell OTC derivatives. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 76 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Regulatory bodies outside the U.S. have also passed, proposed, or may propose in the future, legislation similar to Dodd-Frank Act or other legislation that could increase the costs of participating in, or otherwise adversely impact the liquidity of, participating in the commodities markets. In addition, regulations adopted by global prudential regulators that are now in effect require certain prudentially regulated entities and certain of their affiliates and subsidiaries (including swap dealers) to include in their derivatives contracts, terms that delay or restrict the rights of counterparties (such as the Fund) to terminate such contracts, foreclose upon collateral, exercise other default rights or restrict transfers of credit support in the event that the prudentially regulated entity and/or its affiliates are subject to certain types of resolution or insolvency proceedings. Similar regulations and laws have been adopted in non-U.S. jurisdictions that may apply to the Fund’s counterparties located in those jurisdictions. It is possible that these requirements, as well as potential additional related government regulation, could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to terminate existing derivatives contracts, exercise default rights or satisfy obligations owed to it with collateral received under such contracts. | |
Swap agreements include (but are not limited to): | |
Currency Swaps. Currency swaps involve the exchange of the rights of the parties to make or receive payments in specified currencies. Because currency swaps usually involve the delivery of the entire principal value of one designated currency in exchange for the other designated currency, the entire principal value of a currency swap is subject to the risk that the other party to the swap will default on its contractual delivery obligations. If the investment adviser is incorrect in its forecasts of market value and currency exchange rates, performance may be adversely affected. | |
Equity Swaps. An equity swap is an agreement in which at least one party’s payments are based on the rate of return of an equity security or equity index, such as the S&P 500. The other party’s payments can be based on a fixed rate, a non-equity variable rate, or even a different equity index. The Fund may enter into equity index swaps on a net basis pursuant to which the future cash flows from two reference instruments are netted out, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two. | |
Credit Default Swaps. Under a credit default swap agreement, the protection “buyer” in a credit default contract is generally obligated to pay the protection “seller” an upfront or a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract, provided that no credit event, such as a default, on a reference instrument has occurred. If a credit event occurs, the seller generally must pay the buyer the “par value” (full notional value) of the reference instrument in exchange for an equal face amount of the reference instrument described in the swap, or the seller may be required to deliver the related net cash amount, if the swap is cash settled. If the Fund is a buyer and no credit event occurs, the Fund may recover nothing if the swap is held through its termination date. As a seller, the Fund generally receives an upfront payment or a fixed rate of income throughout the term of the swap provided that there is no credit event. As the seller, the Fund would effectively add leverage to its portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, the Fund would be subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap. The determination of a credit event under the swap agreement will depend on the terms of the agreement and may rely on the decision of persons that are not a party to the agreement. The Fund’s obligations under a credit default swap agreement will be accrued daily (offset against any amounts owed to the Fund). | |
Inflation Swaps. Inflation swaps involve the exchange by the Fund with another party of their respective commitments to pay or receive interest, e.g., an exchange of fixed rate payments for floating rate payments or an exchange of floating rate payments based on two different reference indices. By design, one of the reference indices is an inflation index, such as the Consumer Price Index. Inflation swaps can be designated as zero coupon, where both sides of the swap compound interest over the life of the swap and then the accrued interest is paid out only at the swap’s maturity. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 77 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Total Return Swaps. Total return swap agreements are contracts in which one party agrees to make periodic payments to another party based on the change in market value of the assets underlying the contract, which may include a specified security, basket of securities or securities indices during the specified period, in return for periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or the total return from other underlying assets. Total return swap agreements may be used to obtain exposure to a security or market without owning or taking physical custody of such security or investing directly in such market. Total return swap agreements may effectively add leverage to the Fund’s portfolio because, in addition to its total net assets, the Fund would be subject to investment exposure on the notional amount of the swap. Generally, the Fund will enter into total return swaps on a net basis (i.e., the two payment streams are netted out, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments). The net amount of the excess, if any, of the Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each total return swap will be accrued on a daily basis. If the total return swap transaction is entered into on other than a net basis, the full amount of the Fund’s obligations will be accrued on a daily basis, and the full amount of the Fund’s obligations will be segregated by the Fund in an amount equal to or greater than the market value of the liabilities under the total return swap or the amount it would have cost the Fund initially to make an equivalent direct investment, plus or minus any amount the Fund is obligated to pay or is to receive under the total return swap agreement. | |
Interest Rate Swaps, Caps and Floors. Interest rate swaps are OTC contracts in which each party agrees to make a periodic interest payment based on an index or the value of an asset in return for a periodic payment from the other party based on a different index or asset. The purchase of an interest rate floor entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index falls below a predetermined interest rate, to receive payments of interest on a notional principal amount from the party selling such interest rate floor. The purchase of an interest rate cap entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index rises above a predetermined interest rate, to receive payments of interest on a notional principal amount from the party selling such interest rate cap. The Fund usually will enter into interest rate swap transactions on a net basis (i.e., the two payment streams are netted out, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments). The net amount of the excess, if any, of the Fund’s obligations over its entitlements with respect to each interest rate swap will be accrued on a daily basis. If the interest rate swap transaction is entered into on other than a net basis, the full amount of the Fund’s obligations will be accrued on a daily basis. Certain federal income tax requirements may limit the Fund’s ability to engage in certain interest rate transactions.
Commodity Index-Linked Swaps. Commodity index-linked swap agreements involve the exchange by the Fund with another party of payments dependent upon the price of the underlying commodity index. Commodity index-linked swaps may be used to obtain exposure to a particular commodity or commodity index without owning or taking physical custody of such commodity. |
|
Swaptions | See also “Derivative Instruments and Related Risks” herein. A swaption is a contract that gives a counterparty the right (but not the obligation) in return for payment of a premium, to enter into a new swap agreement or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement, at some designated future time on specified terms. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions. Depending on the terms of the particular option agreement, the Fund will generally incur a greater degree of risk when it writes a swaption than it will incur when it purchases a swaption. When the Fund purchases a swaption, it risks losing only the amount of the premium it has paid should it decide to let the option expire unexercised. However, when the Fund writes a swaption, upon exercise of the option the Fund will become obligated according to the terms of the underlying agreement. |
Tax-Managed Investing | Taxes are a major influence on the net returns that investors receive on their taxable investments. There are four components of the returns of a mutual fund that invests in equities that are treated differently for federal income tax purposes: price appreciation, distributions of qualified dividend income, distributions of other investment income, and distributions of realized short-term and long-term capital gains. Distributions of income other than qualified dividend income and distributions of net realized short-term gains (on stocks held for one year or less) are taxed as ordinary income. Distributions of qualified dividend income and net realized long-term gains (on stocks held for more than one year) are currently taxed at rates up to 20%. The Fund’s investment program and the tax treatment of Fund distributions may be affected by IRS interpretations of the Code and future changes in tax laws and regulations. Returns derived from price appreciation are untaxed until the shareholder disposes of his or her shares. Upon disposition, a capital gain (short-term, if the shareholder has held his or her shares for one year or less, otherwise long-term) equal to the difference between the net proceeds of the disposition and the shareholder’s adjusted tax basis is realized. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 78 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Trust Certificates | Trust certificates are investments in a limited purpose trust or other vehicle formed under state law. Trust certificates in turn invest in instruments, such as credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, preferred securities and other securities, in order to customize the risk/return profile of a particular security. Like an investment in a bond, investments in trust certificates represent the right to receive periodic income payments (in the form of distributions) and payment of principal at the end of the term of the certificate. However, these payments are conditioned on the trust’s receipt of payments from, and the trust’s potential obligations to, the counterparties to the derivative instruments and other securities in which the trust invests. Investments in these instruments are indirectly subject to the risks associated with derivative instruments, including, among others, credit risk, default or similar event risk, counterparty risk, interest rate risk, leverage risk and management risk. It is expected that the trusts that issue credit-linked trust certificates will constitute “private” investment companies, exempt from registration under the 1940 Act. Although the trusts are typically private investment companies, they are generally not actively managed. It is also expected that the certificates will be exempt from registration under the 1933 Act. Accordingly, there may be no established trading market for the certificates and they may constitute illiquid investments. |
U.S. Government Securities | U.S. Government securities include: (1) U.S. Treasury obligations, which differ in their interest rates, maturities and times of issuance, including: U.S. Treasury bills (maturities of one year or less); U.S. Treasury notes (maturities of one year to ten years); and U.S. Treasury bonds (generally maturities of greater than ten years); and (2) obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies and instrumentalities, which are supported by any of the following: (a) the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury; (b) the right of the issuer to borrow an amount limited to a specific line of credit from the U.S. Treasury; (c) discretionary authority of the U.S. Government to purchase certain obligations of the U.S. Government agency or instrumentality; or (d) the credit of the agency or instrumentality. U.S. Government securities also include any other security or agreement collateralized or otherwise secured by U.S. Government securities. Agencies and instrumentalities of the U.S. Government include but are not limited to: Farmers Home Administration, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Federal Housing Administration, Federal Land Banks, Federal Financing Bank, Central Bank for Cooperatives, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, Farm Credit Bank System, Federal Home Loan Banks, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Federal National Mortgage Association, General Services Administration, Government National Mortgage Association, Student Loan Marketing Association, United States Postal Service, Maritime Administration, Small Business Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Washington D.C. Armory Board and any other enterprise established or sponsored by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government generally is not obligated to provide support to its instrumentalities. The principal of and/or interest on certain U.S. Government securities could be: (a) payable in foreign currencies rather than U.S. dollars; or (b) increased or diminished as a result of changes in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the value of foreign currencies. The value of such portfolio securities denominated in foreign currencies may be affected favorably by changes in the exchange rate between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. |
Unlisted Securities | Unlisted securities are neither listed on a stock exchange nor traded over-the-counter. Unlisted securities may include investments in new and early stage companies, which may involve a high degree of business and financial risk that can result in substantial losses and may be considered speculative. Such securities will generally be deemed to be illiquid. Because of the absence of any public trading market for these investments, it may take longer to liquidate these positions than would be the case for publicly traded securities. Although these securities may be resold in privately negotiated transactions, the prices realized from these sales could be less than those originally paid or less than what may be considered the fair value of such securities. Furthermore, issuers whose securities are not publicly traded may not be subject to public disclosure and other investor protection requirements applicable to publicly traded securities. If such securities are required to be registered under the securities laws of one or more jurisdictions before being resold, the Fund may be required to bear the expenses of registration. In addition, in foreign jurisdictions any capital gains realized on the sale of such securities may be subject to higher rates of foreign taxation than taxes payable on the sale of listed securities. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 79 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Variable Rate Instruments | Variable rate instruments provide for adjustments in the interest or dividend rate payable on the instrument at specified intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, semiannually, etc.) based on market conditions, credit ratings or interest rates and the investor may have the right to “put” the security back to the issuer or its agent. Variable rate instruments normally provide that the holder can demand payment of the instrument on short notice at par with accrued interest. These instruments may be secured by letters of credit or other support arrangements provided by banks. To the extent that such letters of credit or other arrangements constitute an unconditional guarantee of the issuer’s obligations, a bank may be treated as the issuer of a security for the purposes of complying with the diversification requirements set forth in Section 5(b) of the 1940 Act and Rule 5b-2 thereunder. The Fund may use these instruments as cash equivalents pending longer term investment of its funds. The rate adjustment features may limit the extent to which the market value of the instruments will fluctuate. |
When-Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery and Forward Commitments | Securities may be purchased on a “forward commitment,” “when-issued” or “delayed delivery” basis (meaning securities are purchased or sold with payment and delivery taking place in the future beyond normal settlement times) in order to secure what is considered to be an advantageous price and yield at the time of entering into the transaction. When the Fund agrees to purchase such securities, it assumes the risk of any decline in value of the security from the date of the agreement to purchase. The Fund does not earn interest on the securities it has committed to purchase until they are paid for and delivered on the settlement date. |
From the time of entering into the transaction until delivery and payment is made at a later date, the securities that are the subject of the transaction are subject to market fluctuations. In forward commitment, when-issued or delayed delivery transactions, if the seller or buyer, as the case may be, fails to consummate the transaction, the counterparty may miss the opportunity of obtaining a price or yield considered to be advantageous. However, no payment or delivery is made until payment is received or delivery is made from the other party to the transaction. | |
Zero Coupon Bonds, Deep Discount Bonds and Payment-In-Kind (“PIK”) Securities | Zero coupon bonds are debt obligations that do not require the periodic payment of interest and are issued at a significant discount from face value. The discount approximates the total amount of interest the bonds will accrue and compound over the period until maturity at a rate of interest reflecting the market rate of the security at the time of purchase. The effect of owning debt obligations that do not make current interest payments is that a fixed yield is earned not only on the original investment but also, in effect, on all discount accretion during the life of the debt obligation. This implicit reinvestment of earnings at a fixed rate eliminates the risk of being unable to invest distributions at a rate as high as the implicit yield on the zero coupon bond, but at the same time eliminates the holder’s ability to reinvest at higher rates in the future. The Fund is required to accrue income from zero coupon bonds on a current basis, even though it does not receive that income currently in cash, and the Fund is required to distribute that income for each taxable year. Thus, the Fund may have to sell other investments to obtain cash needed to make income distributions. |
Bonds and preferred stocks that make “in-kind” payments and other securities that do not pay regular income distributions may experience greater volatility in response to interest rate changes and issuer developments. PIK securities generally carry higher interest rates compared to bonds that make cash payments of interest to reflect their payment deferral and increased credit risk. PIK securities generally involve significantly greater credit risk than coupon loans because the Fund receives no cash payments until the maturity date or a specified cash payment date. Even if accounting conditions are met for accruing income payable at a future date under a PIK bond, the issuer could still default when the collection date occurs at the maturity of or payment date for the PIK bond. PIK bonds may be difficult to value accurately because they involve ongoing judgments as to the collectability of the deferred payments and the value of any associated collateral. If the issuer of a PIK security defaults, the Fund may lose its entire investment. PIK interest has the effect of generating investment income and increasing the incentive fees, if any, payable at a compounding rate. Generally, the deferral of PIK interest increases the loan to value ratio. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 80 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX A
Investor Class Fees and Ownership
Sales Charges and Distribution and Service Fees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the following table shows (1) total sales charges paid by Investor Class, (2) sales charges paid to financial intermediaries, (3) sales charges paid to the principal underwriter, (4) approximate CDSC payments to the principal underwriter, (5) total distribution and service fees paid by Investor Class, and (6) distribution and service fees paid to financial intermediaries. Distribution and service fees that were not paid to financial intermediaries were retained by the principal underwriter.
Total Sales
Charges Paid |
Sales Charges to
Financial Intermediaries |
Sales Charges to
Principal Underwriter |
CDSC Paid to
Principal Underwriter |
Total Distribution
and Service Fees Paid |
Distribution and
Service Fees Paid to Financial Intermediaries |
$0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $87,522 | $16,595 |
For the Fund’s fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, the following total sales charges were paid on sales of Investor Class, of which the principal underwriter received the following amounts. The balance of such amounts was paid to financial intermediaries.
December 31, 2017
Total Sales Charges Paid |
December 31, 2017
Sales Charges to Principal Underwriter |
December 31, 2016
Total Sales Charges Paid |
December 31, 2016
Sales Charges to Principal Underwriter |
$0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities. At April 1, 2019, the Trustees and officers of the Trust, as a group, owned in the aggregate less than 1% of the outstanding shares of this Class of the Fund. In addition, as of the same date, the following person(s) held the share percentage indicated below, which was owned either (i) beneficially by such person(s) or (ii) of record by such person(s) on behalf of customers who are the beneficial owners of such shares and as to which such record owner(s) may exercise voting rights under certain limited circumstances:
Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. | San Francisco, CA | 82.76% |
National Financial Services LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 14.36% |
Beneficial owners of 25% or more of this Class are presumed to be in control of this Class of the Fund for purposes of voting on certain matters submitted to shareholders.
To the knowledge of the Trust, no other person owned of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of this Class of the Fund as of such date.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 81 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX B
Institutional Class Ownership
Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities. At April 1, 2019, the Trustees and officers of the Trust, as a group, owned in the aggregate less than 1% of the outstanding shares of this Class of the Fund. In addition, as of the same date, the following person(s) held the share percentage indicated below, which was owned either (i) beneficially by such person(s) or (ii) of record by such person(s) on behalf of customers who are the beneficial owners of such shares and as to which such record owner(s) may exercise voting rights under certain limited circumstances:
National Financial Services LLC | Jersey City, NJ | 47.15% |
Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. | San Francisco, CA | 44.08% |
Beneficial owners of 25% or more of this Class are presumed to be in control of this Class of the Fund for purposes of voting on certain matters submitted to shareholders.
To the knowledge of the Trust, no other person owned of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of this Class of the Fund as of such date.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 82 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX C
RATINGS
The ratings indicated herein are believed to be the most recent ratings available at the date of this SAI for the securities listed. Ratings are generally given to securities at the time of issuance. While the rating agencies may from time to time revise such ratings, they undertake no obligation to do so, and the ratings indicated do not necessarily represent ratings which would be given to these securities on a particular date.
MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE, INC. (“Moody’s”)
Ratings assigned on Moody’s global long-term and short-term rating scales are forward-looking opinions of the relative credit risks of financial obligations issued by non-financial corporates, financial institutions, structured finance vehicles, project finance vehicles, and public sector entities. Long-term ratings are assigned to issuers or obligations with an original maturity of one year or more and reflect both the likelihood of a default on contractually promised payments and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default. Short-term ratings are assigned to obligations with an original maturity of thirteen months or less and reflect the likelihood of a default on contractually promised payments and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of a default.
GLOBAL LONG-TERM RATINGS SCALE
Aaa: Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, subject to the lowest level of credit risk.
Aa: Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.
A: Obligations rated A are considered upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.
Baa: Obligations rated Baa are judged to be medium-grade and subject to moderate credit risk and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics
Ba: Obligations rated Ba are judged to be speculative and are subject to substantial credit risk.
B: Obligations rated B are considered speculative and are subject to high credit risk.
Caa: Obligations rated Caa are judged to be speculative of poor standing and are subject to very high credit risk.
Ca: Obligations rated Ca are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near, default, with some prospect of recovery of principal and interest.
C: Obligations rated C are the lowest rated and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.
Note: Moody’s appends numerical modifiers, 1, 2, and 3 to each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.
GLOBAL SHORT-TERM RATING SCALE
Moody’s short term ratings are opinions of the ability of issuers to honor short-term financial obligations. Ratings may be assigned to issuers, short-term programs or to individual short-term debt instruments. Such obligations generally have an original maturity not exceeding thirteen months, unless explicitly noted.
P-1: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-1 have a superior ability to repay short-term debt obligations.
P-2: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-2 have a strong ability to repay short-term debt obligations.
P-3: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-3 have an acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations.
NP: Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Not Prime do not fall within any of the Prime ratings categories.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 83 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
ISSUER RATINGS
Issuer Ratings are opinions of the ability of entities to honor senior unsecured debt and debt like instruments. As such, Issuer Ratings incorporate any external support that is expected to apply to all current and future issuance of senior unsecured financial obligations and contracts, such as explicit support stemming from a guarantee of all senior unsecured financial obligations and contracts, and/or implicit support for issuers subject to joint default analysis (e.g. banks and government-related issuers). Issuer Ratings do not incorporate support arrangements, such as guarantees, that apply only to specific (but not to all) senior unsecured financial obligations and contracts.
US MUNICIPAL SHORT-TERM OBLIGATION RATINGS AND DEMAND OBLIGATION RATINGS
SHORT-TERM OBLIGATION RATINGS
While the global short-term ‘prime’ rating scale is applied to US municipal tax-exempt commercial paper, these programs are typically backed by external letters of credit or liquidity facilities and their short-term prime ratings usually map to the long-term rating of the enhancing bank or financial institution and not to the municipality’s rating. Other short-term municipal obligations, which generally have different funding sources for repayment, are rated using two additional short-term rating scales (i.e., the MIG and VMIG scales discussed below).
The Municipal Investment Grade (MIG) scale is used to rate US municipal bond anticipation notes of up to three years maturity. Municipal notes rated on the MIG scale may be secured by either pledged revenues or proceeds of a take-out financing received prior to note maturity. MIG ratings expire at the maturity of the obligation, and the issuer’s long-term rating is only one consideration in assigning the MIG rating. MIG ratings are divided into three levels—MIG 1 through MIG 3—while speculative grade short-term obligations are designated SG.
MIG 1 This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by established cash flows, highly reliable liquidity support, or demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing.
MIG 2 This designation denotes strong credit quality. Margins of protection are ample, although not as large as in the preceding group.
MIG 3 This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Liquidity and cash-flow protection may be narrow, and market access for refinancing is likely to be less well-established.
SG This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Debt instruments in this category may lack sufficient margins of protection.
Demand Obligation Ratings
In the case of variable rate demand obligations (VRDOs), a two-component rating is assigned; a long or short-term rating and demand obligation rating. The first element represents Moody’s evaluation of the degree of risk associated with scheduled principal and interest payments. The second element represents Moody’s evaluation of the degree of risk associated with the ability to receive purchase price upon demand (“demand feature”), The second element uses a rating from a variation of the MIG scale called the Variable Municipal Investment Grade (VMIG) scale. VMIG ratings of demand obligations with unconditional liquidity support are mapped from the short-term debt rating (or counterparty assessment) of the support provider, or the underlying obligor in the absence of third party liquidity support, with VMIG 1 corresponding to P-1, VMIG 2 to P-2, VMIG 3 to P-3 and SG to not prime. Transitions of VMIG ratings of demand obligations with conditional liquidity support, as shown in the diagram below, differ from transitions on the Prime scale to reflect the risk that external liquidity support will terminate if to reflect the risk that external liquidity support will terminate if the issuer’s long-term rating drops below investment grade.
VMIG 1: This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by the superior short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.
VMIG 2: This designation denotes strong credit quality. Good protection is afforded by the strong short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.
VMIG 3: This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Adequate protection is afforded by the satisfactory short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.
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SG: This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Demand features rated in this category may be supported by a liquidity provider that does not have an investment grade short-term rating or may lack the structural and/or legal protections necessary to ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.
S&P GLOBAL RATINGS (“S&P”)
ISSUE CREDIT RATINGS DEFINITIONS
S&P’s issue credit rating is a forward-looking opinion about the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a specific financial obligation, a specific class of financial obligations, or a specific financial program (including ratings on medium-term note programs and commercial paper programs). It takes into consideration the creditworthiness of guarantors, insurers, or other forms of credit enhancement on the obligation and takes into account the currency in which the obligation is denominated. The opinion reflects S&P’s view of the obligor's capacity and willingness to meet its financial commitments as they come due, and may assess terms, such as collateral security and subordination, which could affect ultimate payment in the event of default.
Issue credit ratings can be either long-term or short-term. Short-term ratings are generally assigned to those obligations considered short-term in the relevant market. Short-term ratings are also used to indicate the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to put features on long-term obligations. Medium-term notes are assigned long-term ratings.
LONG-TERM ISSUE CREDIT RATINGS:
Issue credit ratings are based, in varying degrees, on S&P’s analysis of the following considerations:
· Likelihood of payment—capacity and willingness of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on an obligation in accordance with the terms of the obligation;
· Nature of and provisions of the financial obligation and the promise that it is imputed; and
· Protection afforded by, and relative position of, the financial obligation in the event of bankruptcy, reorganization, or other arrangement under the laws of bankruptcy and other laws affecting creditors' rights.
Issue ratings are an assessment of default risk, but may incorporate an assessment of relative seniority or ultimate recovery in the event of default. Junior obligations are typically rated lower than senior obligations, to reflect the lower priority in bankruptcy, as noted above. (Such differentiation may apply when an entity has both senior and subordinated obligations, secured and unsecured obligations, or operating company and holding company obligations.)
AAA: An obligation rated ‘AAA’ has the highest rating assigned by S&P. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong.
AA: An obligation rated ‘AA’ differs from the highest-rated obligors only to a small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is very strong.
A: An obligation rated ‘A’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher-rated categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is still strong.
BBB: An obligation rated ‘BBB’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.
BB, B, CCC, CC and C
Obligations rated ‘BB’, ‘B’, ‘CCC’, ‘CC’, and ‘C’ are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. ‘BB’ indicates the least degree of speculation and ‘C’ the highest. While such obligations will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposures to adverse conditions.
BB: An obligation rated ‘BB’ is less vulnerable to non-payment than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions that could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.
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B: An obligation rated ‘B’ is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated ‘BB’, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. Adverse business, financial or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.
CCC: An obligation rated ‘CCC’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. In the event of adverse business, financial or, economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.
CC: An obligation rated ‘CC’ is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment. The 'CC' rating is used when a default has not yet occurred, but S&P expects default to be a virtual certainty, regardless of the anticipated time to default.
C: An obligation rated 'C' is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment, and the obligation is expected to have lower relative seniority or lower ultimate recovery compared to obligations that are rated higher .
D: An obligation rated 'D' is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the 'D' rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P believes that such payments will be made within five business days in the absence of a stated grace period or within the earlier of the stated grace period or 30 calendar days. The 'D' rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. An obligation's rating is lowered to 'D' if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.
NR: This indicates that no rating has been requested, or that there is insufficient information on which to base a rating, or that S&P does not rate a particular obligation as a matter of policy.
Plus (+) or Minus (-): The ratings from ‘AA’ to’ CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories.
SHORT-TERM ISSUE CREDIT RATINGS
A-1: A short-term obligation rated ‘A-1’ is rated in the highest category by S&P. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is strong. Within this category, certain obligations are designated with a plus sign (+). This indicates that the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is extremely strong.
A-2: A short-term obligation rated ‘A-2’ is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher rating categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is satisfactory.
A-3: A short-term obligation rated ‘A-3’ exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.
B: A short-term obligation rated ‘B’ is regarded as vulnerable and has significant speculative characteristics. The obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments; however, it faces major ongoing uncertainties which could lead to the obligor's inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments .
C: A short-term obligation rated ‘C’ is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.
D: A short-term obligation rated 'D' is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the 'D' rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P believes that such payments will be made within any stated grace period. However, any stated grace period longer than five business days will be treated as five business days. The 'D' rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. An obligation's rating is lowered to 'D' if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.
ISSUER CREDIT RATINGS DEFINITIONS
S&P’s issuer credit rating is a forward-looking opinion about an obligor's overall creditworthiness. This opinion focuses on the obligor's capacity and willingness to meet its financial commitments as they come due. It does not apply to any specific financial obligation, as it does not take into account the nature of and provisions of the obligation, its standing in bankruptcy or liquidation, statutory preferences, or the legality and enforceability of the obligation.
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Counterparty credit ratings, corporate credit ratings and sovereign credit ratings are all forms of issuer credit ratings.
Issuer credit ratings can be either long-term or short-term.
LONG-TERM ISSUER CREDIT RATINGS
AAA: An obligor rated ‘AAA’ has extremely strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. ‘AAA’ is the highest issuer credit rating assigned by S&P.
AA: An obligor rated ‘AA’ has very strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. It differs from the highest-rated obligors only to a small degree.
A: An obligor rated ‘A’ has strong capacity to meet its financial commitments but is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligors in higher-rated categories.
BBB: An obligor rated ‘BBB’ has adequate capacity to meet its financial commitments. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitments.
BB, B, CCC and CC
Obligors rated ‘BB’, ‘B’, ‘CCC’, and ‘CC’ are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. ‘BB’ indicates the least degree of speculation and ‘CC’ the highest. While such obligors will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposures to adverse conditions.
BB: An obligor ‘BB’ is less vulnerable in the near term than other lower-rated obligors. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties and exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions that could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments.
B: An obligor rated ‘B’ is more vulnerable than the obligors rated ‘BB’, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to meets its financial commitments.
CCC: An obligor rated ‘CCC’ is currently vulnerable, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions to meet its financial commitments.
CC: An obligor rated ‘CC’ is currently highly vulnerable. The 'CC' rating is used when a default has not yet occurred, but S&P expects default to be a virtual certainty, regardless of the anticipated time to default.
R: An obligor rated 'R' is under regulatory supervision owing to its financial condition. During the pendency of the regulatory supervision the regulators may have the power to favor one class of obligations over others or pay some obligations and not others.
SD and D : An obligor rated 'SD' (selective default) or 'D' is in default on one or more of its financial obligations including rated and unrated financial obligations but excluding hybrid instruments classified as regulatory capital or in non-payment according to terms. An obligor is considered in default unless S&P believes that such payments will be made within five business days of the due date in the absence of a stated grace period, or within the earlier of the stated grace period or 30 calendar days. A 'D' rating is assigned when S&P believes that the default will be a general default and that the obligor will fail to pay all or substantially all of its obligations as they come due. An 'SD' rating is assigned when S&P believes that the obligor has selectively defaulted on a specific issue or class of obligations but it will continue to meet its payment obligations on other issues or classes of obligations in a timely manner. An obligor's rating is lowered to 'D' or 'SD' if it is conducting a distressed exchange offer.
NR: An issuer designated as NR is not rated.
Plus (+) or Minus (-): The ratings from ‘AA’ to’ CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories.
SHORT-TERM ISSUER CREDIT RATINGS
A-1: An obligor rated ‘A-1’ has strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. It is rated in the highest category by S&P. Within this category, certain obligors are designated with a plus sign (+). This indicates that the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments is extremely strong.
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A-2: An obligor rated ‘A-2’ has satisfactory capacity to meet its financial commitments. However, it is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligors in the highest rating category.
A-3: An obligor rated ‘A-3’ has adequate capacity to meet its financial obligations. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitments.
B: An obligor rated ‘B’ is regarded as vulnerable and has significant speculative characteristics. The obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments; however, it faces major ongoing uncertainties which could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments.
C: An obligor rated 'C' is currently vulnerable to nonpayment that would result in a 'SD' or 'D' issuer rating, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for it to meet its financial commitments.
R: An obligor rated ‘R’ is under regulatory supervision owing to its financial condition. During the pendency of the regulatory supervision the regulators may have the power to favor one class of obligations over others or pay some obligations and not others.
SD and D: An obligor rated 'SD' (selective default) or 'D' has failed to pay one or more of its financial obligations (rated or unrated), excluding hybrid instruments classified as regulatory capital or in nonpayment according to terms, when it came due. An obligor is considered in default unless S&P believes that such payments will be made within any stated grace period. However, any stated grace period longer than five business days will be treated as five business days. A 'D' rating is assigned when S&P believes that the default will be a general default and that the obligor will fail to pay all or substantially all of its obligations as they come due. An 'SD' rating is assigned when S&P believes that the obligor has selectively defaulted on a specific issue or class of obligations, excluding hybrid instruments classified as regulatory capital, but it will continue to meet its payment obligations on other issues or classes of obligations in a timely manner. An obligor's rating is lowered to 'D' or 'SD' if it is conducting a distressed exchange offer.
NR: An issuer designated as NR is not rated.
MUNICIPAL SHORT-TERM NOTE RATINGS
SHORT-TERM NOTES: An S&P U.S. municipal note ratings reflects S&P opinions about the liquidity factors and market access risks unique to notes.
Notes due in three years or less will likely receive a note rating. Notes with an original maturity of more than three years will most likely receive a long-term debt rating. In determining which type of rating, if any, to assign, S&P’s analysis will review the following considerations: Amortization schedule--the larger the final maturity relative to other maturities, the more likely it will be treated as a note; and Source of payment--the more dependent the issue is on the market for its refinancing, the more likely it will be treated as a note.
Municipal Short-Term Note rating symbols are as follows:
SP-1: Strong capacity to pay principal and interest. An issue determined to possess a very strong capacity to pay debt will be given a plus (+) designation.
SP-2: Satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest, with some vulnerability to adverse financial and economic changes over the term of the notes.
SP-3: Speculative capacity to pay principal and interest.
FITCH RATINGS
LONG-TERM CREDIT RATINGS
Investment Grade
AAA: Highest credit quality . ‘AAA’ ratings denote the lowest expectation of credit risk. They are assigned only in case of exceptionally strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. The capacity is highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.
AA: Very high credit quality . ‘AA’ ratings denote expectations of very low credit risk. They indicate very strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.
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A: High credit quality . ‘A’ ratings denote expectations of low credit risk. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered strong. The capacity may, nevertheless, be more vulnerable to changes in circumstances or in economic conditions that is the case for higher ratings.
BBB: Good credit quality. 'BBB' ratings indicate that expectations of default risk are currently low. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered adequate but adverse business or economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity.
BB: Speculative. 'BB' ratings indicate an elevated vulnerability to default risk, particularly in the event of adverse changes in business or economic conditions over time; however, business or financial flexibility exist that supports the servicing of financial commitments.
B: Highly speculative. B' ratings indicate that material default risk is present, but a limited margin of safety remains. Financial commitments are currently being met; however, capacity for continued payment is vulnerable to deterioration in the business and economic environment.
CCC: Substantial credit risk. Default is a real possibility.
CC: Very high levels of credit risk. Default of some kind appears probable.
C: Near default. A default or default-like process has begun, or the issuer is in standstill, or for a closed funding vehicle, payment capacity is irrevocably impaired. Conditions that are indicative of a ‘C’ category rating for an issuer include:
• The issuer has entered into a grace or cure period following non-payment of a material financial obligation;
• The issuer had entered into a temporary negotiated waiver or standstill agreement following a payment default on a material financial obligation;
• The formal announcement by the issuer or their agent of distressed debt exchange;
• A closed financing vehicle where payment capacity is irrevocably impaired such that it is not expected to pay interest and/or principal in full during the life of the transaction, but where no payment default is imminent.
RD: Restricted Default. ‘RD’ ratings indicate an issuer that in Fitch’s opinion has experienced:
• An uncured payment default on a bond, loan or other material financial obligation, but
• Has not entered into bankruptcy filings, administration, receivership, liquidation, or other formal winding-up procedure, and
• Has not otherwise ceased operating.
This would include:
• The selective payment default on specific class or currency of debt;
• The uncured expiry of any applicable grace period, cure period or default forbearance period following a payment default on a bank loan, capital markets security or other material financial obligation;
• The extension of multiple waivers of forbearance periods upon a payment default on one or more material financial obligations, either in series or in parallel; ordinary execution of a distressed debt exchange on one or more material financial obligations.
D: Default. ‘D’ ratings indicate an issuer that in Fitch’s opinion has entered into bankruptcy filings, administration, receivership, liquidation or other formal winding-up procedure or that has otherwise ceased business.
• Default ratings are not assigned prospectively to entities or their obligations; within this context, non-payment on an instrument that contains a deferral feature or grace period will generally not be considered a default until after the expiration of the deferral or grace period, unless a default is otherwise driven by bankruptcy or other similar circumstance, or by a distressed debt exchange.
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• In all cases, the assignment of default rating reflects the agency’s opinion as to the most appropriate rating category consistent with the rest of its universe of ratings and may differ from the definition of default under the terms of an issuer’s financial obligations or local commercial practice.
Notes to Long-Term ratings:
The modifiers “+” or “-” may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within major rating categories. Such suffixes are not added to the ‘AAA’ Long-Term IDR category, or to Long-Term IDR categories below ‘B’.
Short-Term Credit Ratings Assigned to Obligations in Corporate, Public and Structured Finance
A short-term issuer or obligation rating is based in all cases on the short-term vulnerability to default of the rated entity or security stream and relates to the capacity to meet financial obligations in accordance with the documentation governing the relevant obligation. Short-Term Ratings are assigned to obligations whose initial maturity is viewed as “short term” based on market convention. Typically, this means up to 13 months for corporate, sovereign, and structured obligations, and up to 36 months for obligations in U.S. public finance markets.
F1: Highest short-term credit quality . Indicates the strongest intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments; may have an added “+” to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.
F2: Good short-term credit quality . Good intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments.
F3: Fair short-term credit quality . The intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is adequate.
B: Speculative short-term credit quality . Minimal capacity for timely payment of financial commitments, plus vulnerability to near term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.
C: High short-term default risk. Default is a real possibility.
RD: Restricted default. Indicates an entity that has defaulted on one or more of its financial commitments, although it continues to meet other financial obligations. Typically applicable to entity ratings only.
D: Indicates a broad-based default event for an entity, or the default of a short-term obligation.
DESCRIPTION OF INSURANCE FINANCIAL STRENGTH RATINGS
Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. Insurance Financial Strength Ratings
Moody’s Insurance Financial Strength Ratings are opinions of the ability of insurance companies to repay punctually senior policyholder claims and obligations and also reflect the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default. Specific obligations are considered unrated unless they are individually rated because the standing of a particular insurance obligation would depend on an assessment of its relative standing under those laws governing both the obligation and the insurance company.
S&P Insurer Financial Strength Ratings
An S&P insurer financial strength rating is a forward-looking opinion about the financial security characteristics of an insurance organization with respect to its ability to pay under its insurance policies and contracts in accordance with their terms. Insurer financial strength ratings are also assigned to health maintenance organizations and similar health plans with respect to their ability to pay under their policies and contracts in accordance with their terms.
This opinion is not specific to any particular policy or contract, nor does it address the suitability of a particular policy or contract for a specific purpose or purchaser. Furthermore, the opinion does not take into account deductibles, surrender or cancellation penalties, timeliness of payment, nor the likelihood of the use of a defense such as fraud to deny claims.
Insurer financial strength ratings do not refer to an organization's ability to meet nonpolicy (i.e., debt) obligations. Assignment of ratings to debt issued by insurers or to debt issues that are fully or partially supported by insurance policies, contracts, or guarantees is a separate process from the determination of insurer financial strength ratings, and follows procedures consistent with those used to assign an issue credit rating. An insurer financial strength rating is not a recommendation to purchase or discontinue any policy or contract issued by an insurer.
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Long-Term Insurer Financial Strength Ratings
Category Definition
AAA
An insurer rated 'AAA' has extremely strong financial security characteristics. 'AAA' is the highest insurer financial strength rating assigned by S&P.
AA
An insurer rated 'AA' has very strong financial security characteristics, differing only slightly from those rated higher.
A
An insurer rated 'A' has strong financial security characteristics, but is somewhat more likely to be affected by adverse business conditions than are insurers with higher ratings.
BBB
An insurer rated 'BBB' has good financial security characteristics, but is more likely to be affected by adverse business conditions than are higher-rated insurers.
BB; CCC; and CC
An insurer rated 'BB' or lower is regarded as having vulnerable characteristics that may outweigh its strengths. 'BB' indicates the least degree of vulnerability within the range; 'CC' the highest.
BB
An insurer rated 'BB' has marginal financial security characteristics. Positive attributes exist, but adverse business conditions could lead to insufficient ability to meet financial commitments.
B
An insurer rated 'B' has weak financial security characteristics. Adverse business conditions will likely impair its ability to meet financial commitments.
CCC
An insurer rated 'CCC' has very weak financial security characteristics, and is dependent on favorable business conditions to meet financial commitments.
CC
An insurer rated 'CC' has extremely weak financial security characteristics and is likely not to meet some of its financial commitments.
R
An insurer rated 'R' is under regulatory supervision owing to its financial condition. During the pendency of the regulatory supervision, the regulators may have the power to favor one class of obligations over others or pay some obligations and not others. The rating does not apply to insurers subject only to non-financial actions such as market conduct violations.
SD or D
An insurer rated 'SD' (selective default) or 'D' is in default on one or more of its insurance policy obligations but is not under regulatory supervision that would involve a rating of 'R'. The 'D' rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action if payments on a policy obligation are at risk. A 'D' rating is assigned when S&P believes that the default will be a general default and that the obligor will fail to pay substantially all of its obligations in full in accordance with the policy terms. An 'SD' rating is assigned when S&P believes that the insurer has selectively defaulted on a specific class of policies but it will continue to meet its payment obligations on other classes of obligations. A selective default includes the completion of a distressed exchange offer. Claim denials due to lack of coverage or other legally permitted defenses are not considered defaults.
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NR
An insurer designated 'NR' is not rated.
Plus (+) or Minus (-): The ratings from ‘AA’ to’ CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories.
Fitch Insurer Financial Strength Rating
The Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) Rating provides an assessment of the financial strength of an insurance organization. The IFS Rating is assigned to the insurance company's policyholder obligations, including assumed reinsurance obligations and contract holder obligations, such as guaranteed investment contracts. The IFS Rating reflects both the ability of the insurer to meet these obligations on a timely basis, and expected recoveries received by claimants in the event the insurer stops making payments or payments are interrupted, due to either the failure of the insurer or some form of regulatory intervention. In the context of the IFS Rating, the timeliness of payments is considered relative to both contract and/or policy terms but also recognizes the possibility of reasonable delays caused by circumstances common to the insurance industry, including claims reviews, fraud investigations and coverage disputes.
The IFS Rating does not encompass policyholder obligations residing in separate accounts, unit-linked products or segregated funds, for which the policyholder bears investment or other risks. However, any guarantees provided to the policyholder with respect to such obligations are included in the IFS Rating.
Expected recoveries are based on the agency's assessments of the sufficiency of an insurance company's assets to fund policyholder obligations, in a scenario in which payments have ceased or been interrupted. Accordingly, expected recoveries exclude the impact of recoveries obtained from any government sponsored guaranty or policyholder protection funds. Expected recoveries also exclude the impact of collateralization or security, such as letters of credit or trusteed assets, supporting select reinsurance obligations.
IFS Ratings can be assigned to insurance and reinsurance companies in any insurance sector, including the life & annuity, non-life, property/casualty, health, mortgage, financial guaranty, residual value and title insurance sectors, as well as to managed care companies such as health maintenance organizations.
The IFS Rating does not address the quality of an insurer's claims handling services or the relative value of products sold.
The IFS Rating uses the same symbols used by the agency for its International and National credit ratings of long-term or short-term debt issues. However, the definitions associated with the ratings reflect the unique aspects of the IFS Rating within an insurance industry context.
Obligations for which a payment interruption has occurred due to either the insolvency or failure of the insurer or some form of regulatory intervention will generally be rated between 'B' and 'C' on the Long-Term IFS Rating scales (both International and National). International Short-Term IFS Ratings assigned under the same circumstances will align with the insurer's International Long-Term IFS Ratings.
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APPENDIX D
Eaton Vance Funds
Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures
I. Overview
The Boards of Trustees (the “Board”) of the Eaton Vance Funds 1 have determined that it is in the interests of the Funds’ shareholders to adopt these written proxy voting policy and procedures (the “Policy”). For purposes of this Policy:
· | “Fund” means each registered investment company sponsored by the Eaton Vance organization; and |
· | “Adviser” means the adviser or sub-adviser responsible for the day-to-day management of all or a portion of the Fund’s assets. |
II. Delegation of Proxy Voting Responsibilities
The Board hereby delegates to the Adviser responsibility for voting the Fund’s proxies as described in this Policy. In this connection, the Adviser is required to provide the Board with a copy of its proxy voting policies and procedures (“Adviser Procedures”) and all Fund proxies will be voted in accordance with the Adviser Procedures, provided that in the event a material conflict of interest arises with respect to a proxy to be voted for the Fund (as described in Section IV below) the Adviser shall follow the process for voting such proxy as described in Section IV below.
The Adviser is required to report any material change to the Adviser Procedures to the Board in the manner set forth in Section V below. In addition, the Board will review the Adviser Procedures annually.
III. Delegation of Proxy Voting Disclosure Responsibilities
Pursuant to Rule 30b1-4 promulgated under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), the Fund is required to file Form N-PX no later than August 31st of each year. On Form N-PX, the Fund is required to disclose, among other things, information concerning proxies relating to the Fund’s portfolio investments, whether or not the Fund (or its Adviser) voted the proxies relating to securities held by the Fund and how it voted on the matter and whether it voted for or against management.
To facilitate the filing of Form N-PX for the Fund:
· | The Adviser is required to record, compile and transmit in a timely manner all data required to be filed on Form N-PX for the Fund that it manages. Such data shall be transmitted to Eaton Vance Management, which acts as administrator to the Fund (the “Administrator”) or the third party service provider designated by the Administrator; and |
· | the Administrator is required to file Form N-PX on behalf of the Fund with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) as required by the 1940 Act. The Administrator may delegate the filing to a third party service party provided each such filing is reviewed and approved by the Administrator. |
IV. Conflicts of Interest
The Board expects the Adviser, as a fiduciary to the Fund it manages, to put the interests of the Fund and its shareholders above those of the Adviser. When required to vote a proxy for the Fund, the Adviser may have material business relationships with the issuer soliciting the proxy that could give rise to a potential material conflict of interest for the Adviser. 2 In the event such a material conflict of interest arises, the Adviser, to the extent it is aware or reasonably should have been aware of the material conflict, will refrain from voting any proxies related to companies giving rise to such material conflict until it notifies and consults with the appropriate Board, or any committee, sub-committee or group of Independent Trustees identified by the Board (as long as such committee, sub-committee or group contains at least two or more Independent Trustees) (the “Board Members”), concerning the material conflict. 3 For ease of communicating with the Board Members, the Adviser is required to provide the foregoing notice to the Fund’s Chief Legal Officer who will then notify and facilitate a consultation with the Board Members.
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 93 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
Once the Board Members have been notified of the material conflict:
· | They shall convene a meeting to review and consider all relevant materials related to the proxies involved. This meeting shall be convened within 3 business days, provided that it an effort will be made to convene the meeting sooner if the proxy must be voted in less than 3 business days; |
· | In considering such proxies, the Adviser shall make available all materials requested by the Board Members and make reasonably available appropriate personnel to discuss the matter upon request. |
· | The Board Members will then instruct the Adviser on the appropriate course of action with respect to the proxy at issue. |
If the Board Members are unable to meet and the failure to vote a proxy would have a material adverse impact on the Fund(s) involved, the Adviser will have the right to vote such proxy, provided that it discloses the existence of the material conflict to the Chairperson of the Board as soon as practicable and to the Board at its next meeting. Any determination regarding the voting of proxies of the Fund that is made by the Board Members shall be deemed to be a good faith determination regarding the voting of proxies by the full Board.
V. Reports and Review
The Administrator shall make copies of each Form N-PX filed on behalf of the Fund available for the Boards’ review upon the Boards’ request. The Administrator (with input from the Adviser for the Fund) shall also provide any reports reasonably requested by the Board regarding the proxy voting records of the Fund.
The Adviser shall report any material changes to the Adviser Procedures to the Board as soon as practicable and the Boards will review the Adviser Procedures annually.
The Adviser also shall report any changes to the Adviser Procedures to the Fund Chief Legal Officer prior to implementing such changes in order to enable the Administrator to effectively coordinate the Fund’s disclosure relating to the Adviser Procedures.
To the extent requested by the Commission, the Policy and the Adviser Procedures shall be appended to the Fund’s statement of additional information included in its registration statement.
_____________________ |
1 | The Eaton Vance Funds may be organized as trusts or corporations. For ease of reference, the Funds may be referred to herein as Trusts and the Funds’ Board of Trustees or Board of Directors may be referred to collectively herein as the Board. |
2 | An Adviser is expected to maintain a process for identifying a potential material conflict of interest. As an example only, such potential conflicts may arise when the issuer is a client of the Adviser and generates a significant amount of fees to the Adviser or the issuer is a distributor of the Adviser’s products. |
3 | If a material conflict of interest exists with respect to a particular proxy and the proxy voting procedures of the relevant Adviser require that proxies are to be voted in accordance with the recommendation of a third party proxy voting vendor, the requirements of this Section IV shall only apply if the Adviser intends to vote such proxy in a manner inconsistent with such third party recommendation. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 94 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
APPENDIX E
PARAMETRIC PORTFOLIO ASSOCIATES LLC
PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Policy
Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC (“Parametric”) has adopted and implemented these policies and procedures which it believes are reasonably designed to ensure that proxies are voted in the best interests of clients, in accordance with its fiduciary obligations and applicable regulatory requirements. When it has been delegated the responsibility to vote proxies on behalf of a client, Parametric will generally vote them in accordance with its Proxy Voting Guidelines. The Proxy Voting Guidelines are set and annually reviewed by the firm’s Corporate Governance Committee. Parametric will consider potential conflicts of interest when voting proxies and disclose material conflicts to clients. Parametric will promptly provide these policies and procedures, as well as proxy voting records, to its clients upon request. As required, Parametric will retain appropriate proxy voting books and records. In the event that Parametric engages a third party service provider to administer and vote proxies or provide other proxy voting services on behalf a client, it will evaluate the service provider’s conflicts of interest procedures and confirm its abilities to vote proxies in the client’s best interest.
Regulatory Requirements
Rule 206(4)-6 under the Investment Advisers Act requires that an investment adviser that exercises voting authority over client proxies to adopt and implement policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to ensure that the adviser votes proxies in the best interest of the client. The rule specifically requires that the policies and procedures describe how the adviser addresses material conflicts of interest with respect to proxy voting. The rule also requires an adviser to disclose to its clients information about those policies and procedures, and how the client may obtain information on how the adviser has voted the client’s proxies. In addition, Rule 204-2 under the Act requires an adviser to retain certain records related to proxy voting.
Responsibility
The Manager, Investment Operations (the “Manager”) is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the firm’s proxy voting practices. One or more Operations personnel (each a “Proxy Voting Coordinator”) are responsible for ensuring proxy ballots are received and voted in accordance with the firm’s Proxy Voting Guidelines. The Director of Responsible Investing is responsible for providing guidance with regard to the Proxy Voting Guidelines. The Proxy Voting Committee is responsible for monitoring Parametric’s proxy voting practices and evaluating any service providers engaged to vote proxies on behalf of clients. The Corporate Governance Committee is responsible for setting and annually reviewing the firm’s Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures and Proxy Voting Guidelines. The Compliance Department is responsible for annually reviewing these policies and procedures to verify that they are adequate, appropriate and effective.
Procedures
Parametric has adopted and implemented procedures to ensure the firm’s proxy voting policies are observed, executed properly and amended or updated, as appropriate. The procedures are summarized as follows:
New Accounts
· | Parametric is generally delegated the responsibility to vote proxies on behalf of clients. (The Minneapolis and Westport Investment Centers, which manage overlay and options-based strategies, generally do not vote proxies on behalf of their clients but may be required to do so, from time to time.) This responsibility is typically established in the investment advisory agreement between the client and Parametric. If not set forth in the advisory agreement, Parametric will assume the responsibility to vote proxies on the client’s behalf unless it has received written instruction from the client not to. |
· | When a new client account is established, Parametric will instruct the client’s custodian to forward all proxy materials to Broadridge Financial Solutions (Broadridge) or Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), proxy voting service providers engaged by Parametric to administer proxy voting. |
· | On a monthly basis, Operations performs a reconciliation to ensure that Broadridge or ISS are receiving proxies for all client accounts for which Parametric is responsible for voting client proxies. |
Proxy Voting Administration – Seattle Investment Center
· | Parametric’s proxy voting is administered on a daily basis by the Proxy Voting Coordinator, who is a member of Parametric’s Operations Department. The Coordinator is responsible for ensuring proxies are voted in accordance with Parametric’s Proxy Voting Guidelines or other specified guidelines set and provided by a client. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 95 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
· | The Director of Responsible Investing will actively review research and guidance issued by third party proxy voting analysts regarding proxy voting issues relevant to Parametric’s clients and monitor upcoming shareholder meetings and votes. The Director will provide guidance to the Manager and Proxy Voting Coordinators with regard to the Proxy Voting Guidelines and how they apply to proxy ballots. The Director will ensure that rationale for votes cast is properly documented and reviewed by other Committee members, as warranted. |
· | Parametric utilizes the Broadridge ProxyEdge and ISS ProxyExchange tools to manage, track, reconcile and report proxy voting. Parametric relies on these applications to ensure that all proxies are received and voted in timely manner. |
· | In the unlikely event that a ballot proposal is not addressed by the Proxy Voting Guidelines, the Proxy Voting Coordinator will consult with the Manager to confirm that the Proxy Voting Guidelines do not address the proxy issue. If confirmed, the Manager will refer the proposal to the Proxy Voting Committee for their consideration. The Proxy Voting Committee may review research and guidance issued by third party proxy voting service providers when making a vote determination. A vote determination must be approved in writing by not less than two Committee members before Operations may vote the ballot item. The rationale for making the determination will be documented by the Committee. |
· | The Proxy Voting Coordinator may abstain from voting a proxy on behalf of a client account if the economic effect on shareholders’ interests or the value of the holding is indeterminable or insignificant (e.g., the security is no longer held in the client portfolio) or if the cost of voting the proxy outweighs the potential benefit (e.g., international proxies which share blocking practices may impose trading restrictions). |
· | A secondary review of proxy votes submitted by the Proxy Voting Coordinator is performed by the Manager or his/her delegate on a regular basis, to verify that Parametric has voted all proxies and voted them consistent with the appropriate proxy voting guidelines. |
Proxy Voting Administration – Minneapolis Investment Center
From time to time, the Minneapolis Investment Center may be required to vote a proxy ballot on behalf of a client. Proxy ballots mailed to the Minneapolis Investment Center or sent directly to Broadridge are logged into ProxyEdge. The Minneapolis Operations Team is responsible for monitoring proxy ballots received. The Minneapolis Operations Team will request and receive instruction from the Proxy Voting Coordinator or Manager as how to vote the ballot in accordance with the firm’s Proxy Voting Guidelines.
Proxy Voting Committee
· | Parametric has established a Proxy Voting Committee (the “Committee”), which shall meet on a quarterly basis to oversee and monitor the firm’s proxy voting practices. The Committee’s charter is attached hereto as Exhibit B. |
· | The Committee will consider requests (from clients or Portfolio Managers) to vote a proxy contrary to the firm’s Proxy Voting Guidelines. The Committee will document its rationale for approving or denying the request. |
· | On an annual basis, the Committee will review the firm’s Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures and Proxy Voting Guidelines to ensure they are current, appropriate and designed to serve the best interests of clients and fund shareholders and recommend any changes to the Corporate Governance Committee. |
· | In the event that Parametric deems it to be in a client’s best interest to engage a third party proxy voting service provider, the Committee will exercise due diligence to ensure that the service provider firm can provide objective research, make recommendations or vote proxies in an impartial manner and in the best interest of the client. This evaluation will consider the proxy voting firm’s business and conflict of interest procedures, and confirm that the procedures address the firm’s conflicts. On an annual basis, the Committee will evaluate the performance of any third-party proxy voting firms and reconsider if changes have impacted their conflict of interest procedures. Initial and ongoing due diligence evaluations shall be documented in writing. |
Conflicts of interest
· | Using the criteria set by the Proxy Voting Committee the Compliance Department will identify and actively monitor potential conflicts of interest which may compromise the firm’s ability to vote a proxy ballot in the best interest of clients. Compliance will maintain a List of Potentially Conflicted Companies and provide it to Operations whenever it is updated. The list shall identify potential conflicts resulting from business relationships with clients, potential clients, service providers, and the firm’s affiliates. |
· | All proxies are voted by Parametric in accordance with the firm’s Proxy Voting Guidelines. If a proxy ballot is received from an issuer on the List of Conflicted Companies and a proposal is not addressed by the Proxy Voting Guidelines, the Voting Coordinator will forward the proposal to the Manager to confirm that the guidelines do not address the proposal. If confirmed, the Manager will forward the proposal to the Proxy Voting Committee. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 96 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
· | If the Proxy Voting Committee determines a material conflict exists, Parametric will refrain from voting the proxy until it has disclosed the conflict to clients and obtained their consent or instruction as how to vote the proxy. Parametric shall provide all necessary information to clients when seeking their instruction and/or consent in voting the proxy. |
· | If a client is unresponsive and fails to provide Parametric with instruction or consent to vote the proxy, the Proxy Voting Committee shall make a good faith determination as how to vote the proxy (which may include abstaining from voting the proxy) and provide appropriate instruction to the Proxy Voting Coordinator. The Committee shall document the rationale for making its final determination. |
Proxy Voting Disclosure Responsibilities
· | As a sub-adviser to various mutual funds registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, Parametric will, upon each fund’s request, compile and transmit in a timely manner all data required to be filed on Form N-PX to the appropriate fund’s administrator or third party service provider designated by the fund’s administrator. |
· | Parametric will promptly report any material changes to these policies and procedures to its mutual fund clients in accordance with their respective policies and procedures, to ensure that the revised policies and procedures may be properly reviewed by the funds’ Boards of Trustees/Directors and included in the funds’ annual registration statements. |
Solicitations and Information Requests
· | Parametric’s proxy voting policies and procedures are summarized and described to clients in Item 17 of the firm’s Form ADV Brochure (Form ADV Part 2A). Parametric will promptly provide a copy of these proxy voting policies and procedures, which may be updated from time to time, to a client upon their request. |
· | Parametric’s Form ADV Brochure discloses to clients how they may obtain information from Parametric about how it voted proxies on their behalf. Parametric will provide proxy voting information free of charge upon written request. |
· | Parametric will not reveal or disclose to any third-party how it may have voted or intends to vote a proxy until its vote has been counted at the respective shareholder’s meeting. Parametric may in any event disclose its general voting guidelines. No employee of Parametric may accept any benefit in the solicitation of proxies. |
Compliance Review
· | On a regular basis, but not less than annually, the Compliance Department will review a sample of proxies voted to verify that Parametric has voted proxies in accordance with the firm’s proxy voting guidelines and in clients’ best interests. |
· | On an annual basis, the Compliance Department will review the firm’s proxy voting policies and procedures, as required per Rule 206(4)-7, to confirm that they are adequate, effective, and designed to ensure that proxies are voted in clients’ best interests. |
Class Actions
· | Parametric generally does not file or respond to class action claims on behalf of clients unless specifically obligated to do so under the terms of the client’s investment advisory agreement. Parametric will retain appropriate documentation regarding any determinations made on behalf of a client with regard to a class action claim or settlement. |
Recordkeeping
· | Parametric will maintain proxy voting books and records in an easily accessible place for a period of six years, the first two years in the Seattle Investment Center. |
· | Parametric will maintain all requisite proxy voting books and records, including but not limited to: (1) proxy voting policies and procedures, (2) proxy statements received on behalf of client accounts, (3) proxies voted, (4) copies of any documents that were material to making a decision how to vote proxies, and (5) client requests for proxy voting records and Parametric’s written response to any client request. |
Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund | 97 | SAI dated May 1, 2019 |
PART C - OTHER INFORMATION
Item 28. Exhibits (with inapplicable items omitted)
(a) | Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust dated April 26, 2016 filed as Exhibit (a) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 261 filed April 28, 2016 (Accession No. 0000940394-16-002422) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(b) | Amended and Restated By-Laws of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust adopted April 23, 2012 filed as Exhibit (b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 193 filed October 5, 2012 (Accession No. 0000940394-12-001018) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(c) | Reference is made to Item 28(a) and 28(b) above. | |||
(d) | (1) | Investment Advisory Agreement with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Emerging Growth Fund (now Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Small-Cap Fund) dated September 16, 1997 filed as Exhibit (5)(c) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 37 filed October 17, 1997 (Accession No. 0000950156-97-000870) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(2) | Investment Advisory Agreement with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund (now Eaton Vance AMT-Free Municipal Income Fund) dated October 17, 1997 filed as Exhibit (5)(d) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 37 filed October 17, 1997 (Accession No. 0000950156-97-000870) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(3) | Investment Advisory Agreement with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Equity Research Fund (formerly Eaton Vance Large-Cap Core Research Fund now Eaton Vance Stock Fund) dated August 13, 2001 filed as Exhibit (d)(7) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 78 filed August 17, 2001 (Accession No. 0000940394-01-500394) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(4) | (a) | Investment Advisory Agreement with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Equity Asset Allocation Fund dated December 10, 2001 filed as Exhibit (d)(6) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 80 filed December 14, 2001 (Accession No. 0000940394-01-500553) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Equity Asset Allocation Fund and Eaton Vance Management dated May 1, 2011 filed as Exhibit (d)(34) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 183 filed December 28, 2011 (Accession No. 0000940394-11-001507) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(5) | (a) | Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Low Duration Fund (now Eaton Vance Short Duration Government Income Fund) dated June 18, 2002 filed as Exhibit (d)(7) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 83 filed June 26, 2002 (Accession No. 0000940394-02-000406) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Waiver Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Eaton Vance Low Duration Fund (now Eaton Vance Short Duration Government Income Fund) and Eaton Vance Management filed as Exhibit (d)(7)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 95 filed April 28, 2004 (Accession No. 0000940394-04-000438) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(c) | Amendment to Fee Waiver Agreement on behalf of Eaton Vance Low Duration Fund (now Eaton Vance Short Duration Government Income Fund) dated June 14, 2004 filed as Exhibit (7)(c) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 103 filed March 1, 2005 (Accession No. 0000940394-05-000195) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(6) | Investment Advisory Agreement with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Dividend Income Fund (now Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Global Dividend Income Fund) dated February 10, 2003 filed as Exhibit (d)(8) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 85 filed February 26, 2003 (Accession No. 0000940394-03-0000085) and incorporated herein by reference. |
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(7) | Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Management and Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. for Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Global Dividend Income Fund dated November 1, 2017 filed as Exhibit (d)(7) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 291 filed January 25, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-000064) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(8) | Investment Advisory Agreement with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Diversified Income Fund (now Eaton Vance Multi-Strategy Absolute Return Fund) dated November 15, 2004 filed as Exhibit (d)(10) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 98 filed December 6, 2004 (Accession No. 0000940394-04-001127) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(9) | (a) | Investment Advisory Agreement dated August 21, 2012 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Eaton Vance Global Dividend Income Fund (now Eaton Vance Global Income Builder Fund), and Boston Management and Research filed as Exhibit (d)(8) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 202 filed April 25, 2013 (Accession No. 0000940394-13-000583) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated May 1, 2019 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Eaton Vance Global Income Builder Fund and Boston Management and Research filed herewith. | |||
(10) | (a) | Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Boston Management and Research and Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. for Eaton Vance Global Dividend Income Fund (now Global Income Builder Fund) dated November 1, 2017 filed as Exhibit (d)(10) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 291 filed January 25, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-000064) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated May 1, 2019 between Boston Management and Research and Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. for Eaton Vance Global Income Builder Fund filed herewith. | |||
(11) | (a) | Investment Advisory Agreement with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Structured Emerging Markets Fund (now Parametric Emerging Markets Fund) dated March 27, 2006 filed as Exhibit (d)(12) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 115 filed April 13, 2006 (Accession No. 0000940394-06-000369) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated April 27, 2015 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Parametric Emerging Markets Fund and Eaton Vance Management filed as Exhibit (d)(9)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 242 filed May 28, 2015 (Accession No. 0000940394-15-000722) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(12) | (a) | Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Management and Parametric Portfolio Associates for Eaton Vance Structured Emerging Markets Fund (now Parametric Emerging Markets Fund) dated March 27, 2006 filed as Exhibit (d)(13) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 122 filed February 27, 2007 (Accession No. 0000940394-07-000176) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement effective May 1, 2015 between Eaton Vance Management and Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC on behalf of Parametric Emerging Markets Fund filed as Exhibit (d)(10)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 242 filed May 28, 2015 (Accession No. 0000940394-15-000722) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(13) | Investment Advisory Agreement with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Emerging Markets Income Fund (now Eaton Vance Emerging Markets Local Income Fund) dated March 12, 2007 filed as Exhibit (d)(14) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 134 filed March 13, 2008 (Accession No. 0000940394-08-000450) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(14) | Investment Advisory Agreement with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance International Income Fund (now Eaton Vance Diversified Currency Income Fund) dated March 12, 2007 filed as Exhibit (d)(15) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 134 filed March 13, 2008 (Accession No. 0000940394-08-000450) and incorporated herein by reference. |
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(15) | Investment Advisory Agreement with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Global Macro Fund (now Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Fund) dated March 12, 2007 filed as Exhibit (d)(16) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 134 filed March 13, 2008 (Accession No. 0000940394-08-000450) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(16) | Investment Advisory Agreement with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Strategic Income Fund (now Eaton Vance Short Duration Strategic Income Fund) dated June 22, 2007 filed as Exhibit (d)(17) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 132 filed December 28, 2007 (Accession No. 0000940394-07-002172) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(17) | (a) | Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement dated March 30, 2010 with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Structured International Equity Fund (now Parametric International Equity Fund) filed as Exhibit (d)(19) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 155 filed March 31, 2010 (Accession No. 0000940394-10-000341) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated June 1, 2012 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Eaton Vance Parametric Structured International Equity Fund (now Parametric International Equity Fund) and Eaton Vance Management filed as Exhibit (d)(17)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 193 filed October 5, 2012 (Accession No. 0000940394-12-001018) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(c) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated August 10, 2015 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Parametric International Equity Fund and Eaton Vance Management filed as Exhibit (d)(15)(c) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 250 filed September 10, 2015 (Accession No. 0000940394-15-001116) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(d) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated November 1, 2016 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Parametric International Equity Fund and Eaton Vance Management filed as Exhibit (d)(17)(d) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 270 filed November 18, 2016 (Accession No. 0000940394-16-003231) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(18) | (a) | Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement dated March 30, 2010 between Eaton Vance Management and Parametric Portfolio Associates for Eaton Vance Structured International Equity Fund (now Parametric International Equity Fund) filed as Exhibit (d)(20) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 155 filed March 31, 2010 (Accession No. 0000940394-10-000341) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated June 1, 2012 between Eaton Vance Management and Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC on behalf of Eaton Vance Parametric Structured International Equity Fund (now Parametric International Equity Fund) filed as Exhibit (d)(18)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 193 filed October 5, 2012 (Accession No. 0000940394-12-001018) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(c) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated August 10, 2015 between Eaton Vance Management and Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC on behalf of Parametric International Equity Fund filed as Exhibit (d)(16)(c) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 250 filed September 10, 2015 (Accession No. 0000940394-15-001116) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(d) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated November 1, 2016 between Eaton Vance Management and Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC on behalf of Parametric International Equity Fund filed as Exhibit (d)(18)(d) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 270 filed November 18, 2016 (Accession No. 0000940394-16-003231) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(19) | Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement dated August 9, 2010 with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Advantage Fund filed as Exhibit (d)(22) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 161 filed August 25, 2010 (Accession No. 0000940394-10-000859) and incorporated herein by reference. |
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(20) | (a) | Investment Advisory Agreement dated February 7, 2011 with Boston Management and Research for Eaton Vance Build America Bond Fund (now Eaton Vance Core Plus Bond Fund) filed as Exhibit (d)(22) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 163 filed February 24, 2011 (Accession No. 0000940394-11-000187) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated March 16, 2015 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Eaton Vance Build America Bond Fund (now Eaton Vance Core Plus Bond Fund) and Eaton Vance Management filed as Exhibit (d)(19)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 242 filed May 28, 2015 (Accession No. 0000940394-15-000722) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(21) | (a) | Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Parametric Structured Commodity Strategy Fund (now Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund), and Eaton Vance Management dated May 25, 2011 filed as Exhibit (d)(23) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 170 filed May 25, 2011 (Accession No. 0000940394-11-000607) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated November 1, 2016 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund and Eaton Vance Management filed as Exhibit (d)(21)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 270 filed November 18, 2016 (Accession No. 0000940394-16-003231) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(22) | (a) | Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Management and Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC for Parametric Structured Commodity Strategy Fund (now Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund) dated May 25, 2011 filed as Exhibit (d)(24) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 170 filed May 25, 2011 (Accession No. 0000940394-11-000607) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated November 1, 2016 between Eaton Vance Management and Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC on behalf of Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund filed as Exhibit (d)(22)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 270 filed November 18, 2016 (Accession No. 0000940394-16-003231) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(23) | (a) | Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement dated October 31, 2011 with Eaton Vance Management for Eaton Vance Multi-Strategy All Market Fund (now Eaton Vance Multi-Asset Credit Fund) filed as Exhibit (d)(27) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 182 filed December 1, 2011 (Accession No. 0000940394-11-001361) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated February 6, 2012 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Eaton Vance Multi-Strategy All Market Fund (now Eaton Vance Multi-Asset Credit Fund) and Eaton Vance Management filed as Exhibit (d)(26)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 193 filed October 5, 2012 (Accession No. 0000940394-12-001018) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(24) | Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Parametric Emerging Markets Core Fund, and Eaton Vance Management dated September 24, 2013 filed as Exhibit (d)(33) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 211 filed September 24, 2013 (Accession No. 0000940394-13-001073) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(25) | Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Management and Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC for Parametric Emerging Markets Core Fund dated September 24, 2013 filed as Exhibit (d)(34) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 211 filed September 24, 2013 (Accession No. 0000940394-13-001073) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(26) | (a) | Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income Fund, and Eaton Vance Management dated November 1, 2013 filed as Exhibit (d)(35) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 213 filed November 1, 2013 (Accession No. 0000940394-13-001262) and incorporated herein by reference. |
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(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated December 13, 2016 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income Fund and Eaton Vance Management filed as Exhibit (d)(26)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 275 filed January 26, 2017 (Accession No. 0000940394-17-000131) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(27) | (a) | Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Parametric Dividend Income Fund, and Eaton Vance Management dated March 25, 2014 filed as Exhibit (d)(36) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 220 filed March 25, 2014 (Accession No. 0000940394-14-000526) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated November 1, 2016 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Parametric Dividend Income Fund and Eaton Vance Management filed as Exhibit (d)(28)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 270 filed November 18, 2016 (Accession No. 0000940394-16-003231) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(28) | (a) | Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Management and Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC for Parametric Dividend Income Fund dated March 25, 2014 filed as Exhibit (d)(37) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 220 filed March 25, 2014 (Accession No. 0000940394-14-000526) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated November 1, 2016 between Eaton Vance Management and Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC on behalf of Parametric Dividend Income Fund filed as Exhibit (d)(29)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 270 filed November 18, 2016 (Accession No. 0000940394-16-003231) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(29) | Investment Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Eaton Vance Global Macro Capital Opportunities Fund (now Eaton Vance Emerging Markets and Frontier Countries Equity Fund), and Eaton Vance Management dated November 3, 2014 filed as Exhibit (d)(38) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 231 filed November 3, 2014 (Accession No. 0000940394-14-001453) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(30) | Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Parametric Volatility Risk Premium - Defensive Fund, and Eaton Vance Management dated February 2, 2017 filed as Exhibit (d)(30) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 276 filed February 1, 2017 (Accession No. 0000940394-17-000237) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(31) | Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Management and Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC for Parametric Volatility Risk Premium - Defensive Fund dated February 2, 2017 filed as Exhibit (d)(31) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 276 filed February 1, 2017 (Accession No. 0000940394-17-000237) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(32) | Investment Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Global Small-Cap Fund, and Boston Management and Research dated January 19, 2018 filed as Exhibit (d)(32) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 296 filed April 26, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-000835) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(33) | Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Boston Management and Research and Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. for Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Global Small-Cap Fund dated January 19, 2018 filed as Exhibit (d)(33) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 291 filed January 25, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-000064) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(34) | Letter of Understanding between Boston Management and Research and Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. dated January 19, 2018 filed as Exhibit (d)(34) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 291 filed January 25, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-000064) and incorporated herein by reference. |
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(35) | Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Eaton Vance Emerging Markets Debt Fund, and Eaton Vance Management dated May 1, 2018 filed as Exhibit (d)(35) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 297 filed April 30, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-000890) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(36) | Investment Advisory and Administrative Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Eaton Vance Global Bond Fund, and Eaton Vance Management dated December 31, 2018 filed as Exhibit (d)(36) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 306 filed December 28, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-001933) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(37) | Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Management and Eaton Vance Management (International) Limited for Eaton Vance Global Bond Fund dated December 31, 2018 filed as Exhibit (d)(37) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 306 filed December 28, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-001933) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(38) | Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Management and Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. for Eaton Vance Multi-Asset Credit Fund dated December 20, 2018 filed as Exhibit (d)(38) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 310 filed February 27, 2019 (Accession No. 0000940394-19-000380) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(39) | (a) | Investment Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Eaton Vance Government Opportunities Fund, and Boston Management and Research dated October 5, 2018 filed as Exhibit (d)(38)(a) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 306 filed December 28, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-001933) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated October 5, 2018 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Eaton Vance Government Opportunities Fund and Boston Management and Research filed as Exhibit (d)(38)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 306 filed December 28, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-001933) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(40) | (a) | Investment Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Eaton Vance Short Duration Government Income Fund, and Boston Management and Research dated October 12, 2018 filed as Exhibit (d)(39)(a) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 306 filed December 28, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-001933) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Reduction Agreement dated October 12, 2018 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Eaton Vance Short Duration Government Income Fund and Boston Management and Research filed as Exhibit (d)(39)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 306 filed December 28, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-001933) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(41) | Investment Advisory Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, on behalf of Eaton Vance Floating-Rate & High Income Fund and Eaton Vance Management dated September 20, 2018 filed as Exhibit (d)(41) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 310 filed February 27, 2019 (Accession No. 0000940394-19-000380) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(e) | (1) | (a) | Amended and Restated Master Distribution Agreement effective as of May 1, 2014 between each Trust identified on Schedule A on behalf of each of its series listed on Schedule A, and Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. filed as Exhibit (e)(1) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 139 of Eaton Vance Special Investment Trust (File Nos. 002-27962, 811-01545) filed April 28, 2014 (Accession No. 0000940394-14-000655) and incorporated herein by reference. | |
(b) | Amended Schedule A dated December 31, 2018 to Amended and Restated Master Distribution Agreement effective as of May 1, 2014 filed as Exhibit (e)(1)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 306 filed December 28, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-001933) and incorporated herein by reference. |
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(2) | Selling Group Agreement between Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. and Authorized Dealers filed as Exhibit (e)(2) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 85 filed April 26, 2007 (Accession No. 0000940394-07-000430) to the Registration Statement of Eaton Vance Special Investment Trust (File Nos. 002-27962, 811-01545) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(f) | The Securities and Exchange Commission has granted the Registrant an exemptive order that permits the Registrant to enter into deferred compensation arrangements with its independent Trustees. See in the Matter of Capital Exchange Fund, Inc., Release No. IC-20671 (November 1, 1994). | |||
(g) | (1) | Amended and Restated Master Custodian Agreement between Eaton Vance Funds and State Street Bank & Trust Company dated September 1, 2013 filed as Exhibit (g)(1) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 211 filed September 24, 2013 (Accession No. 0000940394-13-001073) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(2) | Amended and Restated Services Agreement with State Street Bank & Trust Company dated September 1, 2010 filed as exhibit (g)(2) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 108 of Eaton Vance Special Investment Trust (File Nos. 002-27962, 811-01545) filed September 27, 2010 (Accession No. 0000940394-10-001000) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(3) | Amendment Number 1 dated May 16, 2012 to Amended and Restated Services Agreement with State Street Bank & Trust Company dated September 1, 2010 filed as Exhibit (g)(3) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 39 of Eaton Vance Municipals Trust II (File Nos. 033-71320, 811-08134) filed May 29, 2012 (Accession No. 0000940394-12-000641) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(4) | Amendment dated September 1, 2013 to Amended and Restated Services Agreement with State Street Bank & Trust Company dated September 1, 2010 filed as Exhibit (g)(4) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 211 filed September 24, 2013 (Accession No. 0000940394-13-001073) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(5) | Amendment dated July 18, 2018 and effective June 29, 2018 to Amended and Restated Services Agreement with State Street Bank & Trust Company dated September 1, 2010 filed as Exhibit (g)(5) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 212 of Eaton Vance Growth Trust (File Nos. 002-22019, 811-01241) filed July 31, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-001408) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(h) | (1) | (a) | Amended and Restated Administrative Services Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust (on behalf of each of its series listed on Appendix A) and Eaton Vance Management dated August 6, 2012 filed as Exhibit (h)(1) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 193 filed October 5, 2012 (Accession No. 0000940394-12-001018) and incorporated herein by reference. | |
(b) | Amendment dated October 31, 2014 to the Amended and Restated Administrative Services Agreement between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust (on behalf of each of its series listed on Appendix A) and Eaton Vance Management dated August 6, 2012 filed as Exhibit (h)(1)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 233 filed December 23, 2014 (Accession No. 0000940394-14-001694) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(c) | Amended Appendix A effective April 30, 2018 to the Amended and Restated Administrative Services Agreement filed as Exhibit (h)(1)(c) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 296 filed April 26, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-000835) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(2) | Transfer Agency and Shareholder Services Agreement effective September 1, 2016 between BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc. and the Funds filed as Exhibit (h)(2) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 165 of Eaton Vance Special Investment Trust (File Nos. 002-27962, 811-01545) filed September 26, 2016 (Accession No. 0000940394-16-003071) and incorporated herein by reference. |
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(3) | Amended and Restated Sub-Transfer Agency Support Services Agreement dated September 1, 2017 between Eaton Vance Management and the Trusts listed on Appendix A filed as Exhibit (h)(2) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 107 of Eaton Vance Series Trust II (File Nos. 002-42722, 811-02258) filed October 26, 2017 (Accession No. 0000940394-17-002088) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||||
(4) | Expense Waivers/Reimbursements Agreement dated July 31, 2016 as amended and effective May 1, 2019 between Eaton Vance Management and each of the entities (on behalf of certain of their series) listed on Schedule A filed as Exhibit (h)(5) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 189 of Eaton Vance Special Investment Trust (File Nos. 002-27962, 811-01545) filed April 29, 2019 (Accession No. 0000940394-19-000650) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||||
(i) | (1) | Opinion of Internal Counsel dated December 28, 2018 filed as Exhibit (i) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 306 filed December 28, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-001933) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(2) | Consent of Internal Counsel dated April 26, 2019 filed herewith. | ||||
(j) | Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm for Eaton Vance Stock Fund, Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1, Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2, Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund and any corresponding Portfolios dated April 26, 2019 filed herewith. | ||||
(m) | (1) | (a) | Master Distribution Plan for Class A, Advisers Class and Investor Class shares adopted May 1, 2013 on behalf of each Trust and their respective series listed on Schedule A filed as Exhibit (m)(1) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 41 of Eaton Vance Municipals Trust II (File Nos. 033-71320, 811-08134) filed May 30, 2013 (Accession No. 0000940394-13-000754) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||
(b) | Amended Schedule A dated January 31, 2018 to Master Distribution Plan for Class A, Advisers Class and Investor Class shares adopted May 1, 2013 filed as Exhibit (e)(1)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 205 of Eaton Vance Growth Trust (File Nos. 002-22019, 811-01241) filed January 25, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-000060) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||||
(2) | (a) | Master Distribution Plan for Class B shares adopted May 1, 2013 on behalf of each Trust and their respective series listed on Schedule A filed as Exhibit (m)(2) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 41 of Eaton Vance Municipals Trust II (File Nos. 033-71320, 811-08134) filed May 30, 2013 (Accession No. 0000940394-13-000754) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(b) | Amended Schedule A dated January 31, 2018 to Master Distribution Plan for Class B shares adopted May 1, 2013 filed as Exhibit (e)(1)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 205 of Eaton Vance Growth Trust (File Nos. 002-22019, 811-01241) filed January 25, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-000060) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||||
(3) | (a) | Master Distribution Plan for Class C shares adopted May 1, 2013 on behalf of each Trust and their respective series listed on Schedule A filed as Exhibit (m)(3) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 41 of Eaton Vance Municipals Trust II (File Nos. 033-71320, 811-08134) filed May 30, 2013 (Accession No. 0000940394-13-000754) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(b) | Amended Schedule A dated January 31, 2018 to Master Distribution Plan for Class C shares adopted May 1, 2013 filed as Exhibit (e)(1)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 205 of Eaton Vance Growth Trust (File Nos. 002-22019, 811-01241) filed January 25, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-000060) and incorporated herein by reference. | ||||
(4) | (a) | Master Distribution Plan for Class R shares adopted May 1, 2013 on behalf of each Trust and their respective series listed on Schedule A filed as Exhibit (m)(4) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 204 filed May 30, 2013 (Accession No. 0000940394-13-000762) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
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(b) | Amended Schedule A dated January 31, 2018 to Master Distribution Plan for Class R shares adopted May 1, 2013 filed as Exhibit (e)(1)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 205 of Eaton Vance Growth Trust (File Nos. 002-22019, 811-01241) filed January 25, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-000060) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(n) | Amended and Restated Multiple Class Plan for Eaton Vance Funds dated January 25, 2019 filed as Exhibit (n) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 218 of Eaton Vance Growth Trust (File Nos. 002-22019, 811-01241) filed January 25, 2019 (Accession No. 0000940394-19-000072) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(p) | (1) | (a) | Code of Ethics adopted by the Eaton Vance Funds effective October 1, 2018 filed as Exhibit (p)(1) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 304 filed October 17, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-001695) and incorporated herein by reference. | |
(b) | Code of Ethics adopted by the Eaton Vance Entities effective April 1, 2019 filed as Exhibit (p)(1)(b) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 189 of Eaton Vance Special Investment Trust (File Nos. 002-27962, 811-01545) filed April 29, 2019 (Accession No. 0000940394-19-000650) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(2) | Code of Business Conduct and Ethics adopted by Atlanta Capital Management Company, LLC effective January 1, 2006 as revised January 15, 2014 filed as Exhibit (p)(2) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 218 filed February 26, 2014 (Accession No. 0000940394-14-000273) and incorporated herein by reference. | |||
(3) | Code of Ethics adopted by Parametric Portfolio Associates effective January 30, 2019 filed herewith. | |||
(q) | Power of Attorney for Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust and Boston Income Portfolio, Emerging Markets Local Income Portfolio, Eaton Vance Floating Rate Portfolio, Global Macro Absolute Return Advantage Portfolio, Global Macro Capital Opportunities Portfolio, Global Macro Portfolio, Global Opportunities Portfolio, High Income Opportunities Portfolio, International Income Portfolio, MSAR Completion Portfolio, Senior Debt Portfolio, Short Duration High Income Portfolio, Stock Portfolio, Tax-Managed Growth Portfolio, Tax-Managed International Equity Portfolio, Tax-Managed Multi-Cap Growth Portfolio, Tax-Managed Small-Cap Portfolio and Tax-Managed Value Portfolio dated October 10, 2018 filed as Exhibit (q) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 304 filed October 17, 2018 (Accession No. 0000940394-18-001695) and incorporated herein by reference. |
Item 29. Persons Controlled by or Under Common Control
Not applicable
Item 30. Indemnification
Article IV of the Registrant’s Declaration of Trust permits Trustee and officer indemnification by By-Law, contract and vote. Article XI of the By-Laws contains indemnification provisions. Registrant’s Trustees and officers are insured under a standard mutual fund errors and omissions insurance policy covering loss incurred by reason of negligent errors and omissions committed in their capacities as such.
The distribution agreement of the Registrant also provides for reciprocal indemnity of the principal underwriter, on the one hand, and the Trustees and officers, on the other.
Item 31. Business and other Connections of Investment Advisers
Reference is made to: (i) the information set forth under the caption “Management and Organization” in the Statement of Additional Information; (ii) the Eaton Vance Corp. Form 10-K filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (File No. 1-8100); and (iii) the Form ADV of Eaton Vance Management (File No. 801-15930), Boston Management and Research (File No. 801-43127), Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. (File No. 801-111772) and Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC (File No. 801-60485) filed with the Commission, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Item 32. Principal Underwriters
(a) | Registrant’s principal underwriter, Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp., is the principal underwriter for each of the registered investment companies named below: |
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Calvert Impact Fund, Inc. Calvert Management Series The Calvert Fund Calvert Responsible Index Series, Inc. Calvert Social Investment Fund Calvert World Values Fund, Inc. Calvert Variable Series, Inc. Calvert Variable Products, Inc.
|
Eaton Vance Growth Trust Eaton Vance Investment Trust Eaton Vance Municipals Trust Eaton Vance Municipals Trust II Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust Eaton Vance Series Fund, Inc. Eaton Vance Series Trust II Eaton Vance Special Investment Trust Eaton Vance Variable Trust
|
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Patrick Cosgrove | Vice President | None |
Peter Crowley | Vice President | None |
Rob Curtis | Vice President | None |
Kevin Darrow | Vice President | None |
Holly DiCostanzo | Vice President | None |
Andrew Dillon | Vice President | None |
Arthur Driscoll | Vice President | None |
Patrick Duffy | Vice President | None |
Brian Dunkley | Vice President | None |
Anthony Eames | Vice President | None |
Margaret Egan | Vice President | None |
Robert Ellerbeck | Vice President | None |
Maureen Emmerso | Vice President | None |
Daniel Ethier | Vice President | None |
Lawrence L. Fahey | Vice President | None |
John Farley | Vice President | None |
Thomas E. Faust Jr. | Director | Trustee |
Scott Firth | Vice President | None |
James Foley | Vice President | None |
Brandon Fritz | Vice President | None |
Kathleen Fryer | Vice President | None |
Jonathan Futterman | Vice President | None |
Anne Marie Gallagher | Vice President | None |
Bryan Gallagher | Vice President | None |
Anthony Gigante | Vice President | None |
Bradford Godfrey | Vice President | None |
Seth Goldzweig | Vice President | None |
Andrew Goodale | Vice President | None |
David Gordon | Vice President | None |
Daniel Grzywacz | Vice President | None |
Diane Hallett | Vice President | None |
Andrew Haycock | Vice President | None |
Steven Heck | Vice President | None |
Richard Hein | Vice President | None |
Joseph Hernandez | Vice President | None |
Dori Hetrick | Vice President | None |
Toebe Hinckle | Vice President | None |
Suzanne Hingel | Vice President | None |
Michael Horvath | Vice President | None |
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Christian Howe | Vice President | None |
Laurie G. Hylton | Director and Treasurer | None |
Jonathan Isaac | Vice President | None |
Adrian Jackson | Vice President | None |
Michael Jaso | Vice President | None |
Brian Johnson | Vice President | None |
Janice Johnston | Vice President | None |
Dottie Jones | Vice President | None |
Erin Kace | Vice President | None |
Erin Kandamar | Vice President | None |
Doug Keagle | Vice President | None |
Sean Kelly | Senior Vice President | None |
William Kennedy | Vice President | None |
Joseph Kosciuszek | Vice President | None |
Kathleen Krivelow | Vice President | None |
Robert Kuberski | Vice President | None |
Colleen Lavery | Vice President | None |
David Lefcourt | Vice President | None |
Benjamin LeFevre | Vice President | None |
Andrew Leimenstoll | Vice President | None |
Paul Leonardo | Vice President | None |
George Lin | Vice President | None |
Brandon Lindley | Vice President | None |
Scott Lindsay | Vice President | None |
Erick Lopez | Vice President | None |
John Loy | Vice President | None |
Coleen Lynch | Vice President | None |
John Macejka | Vice President | None |
Scott Mackey | Vice President | None |
Anne Mahoney | Vice President | None |
James Maki | Vice President | None |
Tim Mamis | Vice President | None |
Frederick S. Marius | Vice President, Secretary, Clerk and Chief Legal Officer | None |
Geoff Marshall | Vice President | None |
Daniel J. McCarthy | Vice President | None |
James McCuddy | Vice President | None |
Tim McEwen | Vice President | None |
Ian McGinn | Vice President | None |
David Michaud | Vice President | None |
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Mark Milan | Vice President | None |
John Moninger | Senior Vice President | None |
Chris Morahan | Vice President | None |
Meghan Moses | Vice President | None |
A. John Murphy | Vice President, Assistant Secretary and Assistant Clerk | None |
Matthew Navins | Vice President | None |
Christopher Nebons | Vice President | None |
Jason Newnham | Vice President | None |
Paul Nicely | Vice President | None |
Jeffrey Nizzardo | Vice President | None |
Andrew Olig | Vice President | None |
David Oliveri | Vice President | None |
Philip Pace | Vice President | None |
Steve Pietricola | Vice President | None |
Benjamin Pomeroy | Vice President | None |
John Pumphrey | Vice President | None |
James Putman | Vice President | None |
Ronald Randall | Vice President | None |
Henry Rehberg | Vice President | None |
Lenore Reiner | Vice President | None |
Christopher Remington | Vice President | None |
David Richman | Vice President | None |
Christopher Rohan | Vice President | None |
Colleen Rooney | Vice President | None |
Tatyana V. Ryabchenko | Vice President | None |
John Santoro | Vice President | None |
Rocco Scanniello | Vice President | None |
Michael Shea | Vice President | None |
Alan Simeon | Vice President | None |
Randy Skarda | Vice President | None |
Jamie Smoller | Vice President | None |
Eileen Storz-Salino | Vice President | None |
Daniel Sullivan | Vice President | None |
Elaine Sullivan | Vice President | None |
Michael Sullivan | Vice President | None |
Eileen Tam | Vice President | None |
Brian Taranto | Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer | None |
Robyn Tice | Vice President | None |
Geoffrey Underwood | Vice President | None |
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Item 33. Location of Accounts and Records
All applicable accounts, books and documents required to be maintained by the Registrant by Section 31(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Rules promulgated thereunder are in the possession and custody of the Registrant’s custodian, State Street Bank and Trust Company, State Street Financial Center, One Lincoln Street, Boston, MA 02111, and its transfer agent, BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc., 4400 Computer Drive, Westborough, MA 01581-5120, with the exception of certain corporate documents and portfolio trading documents which are in the possession and custody of the administrator and investment adviser or sub-adviser. Registrant is informed that all applicable accounts, books and documents required to be maintained by registered investment advisers are in the custody and possession of Eaton Vance Management and Boston Management and Research, both located at Two International Place, Boston, MA 02110, Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. located at 125 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1AR, Atlanta Capital Management Company, LLC located at 1075 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 2100, Atlanta, GA 30309, Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC located at 800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2800, Seattle, WA 98104 and Parametric Risk Advisors LLC located at 274 Riverside Avenue, Westport, CT 06880.
Item 34. Management Services
Not applicable
Item 35. Undertakings
The Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund and its wholly owned subsidiary PSC Commodity Subsidiary, Ltd. (the “Subsidiary”) undertakes that the Subsidiary's books and records will be subject to inspection by the Commission to the same extent the Fund's books and records are subject to inspection by the Commission.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the Registrant certifies that it meets all of the requirements for effectiveness of this Post-Effective Amendment to the Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 485(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and has duly caused this Post-Effective Amendment to its Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized in the City of Boston, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, on April 29, 2019.
EATON VANCE MUTUAL FUNDS TRUST | |||||||
By: | /s/ Payson F. Swaffield | ||||||
Payson F. Swaffield, President |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Post-Effective Amendment to the Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities indicated on April 29, 2019.
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SIGNATURES
Stock Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) has duly caused this Amendment to the Registration Statement on Form N-1A of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized in the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on April 29, 2019.
STOCK PORTFOLIO | ||
By: | /s/ Edward J. Perkin | |
Edward J. Perkin, President |
This Amendment to the Registration Statement on Form N-1A of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust has been signed below on behalf of the Portfolio by the following persons in the capacities indicated on April 29, 2019.
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SIGNATURES
Tax-Managed Growth Portfolio (the “Portfolio”) has duly caused this Amendment to the Registration Statement on Form N-1A of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized in the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on April 29, 2019.
TAX-MANAGED GROWTH PORTFOLIO | ||
By: | /s/ Edward J. Perkin | |
Edward J. Perkin, President |
This Amendment to the Registration Statement on Form N-1A of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust has been signed below on behalf of the Portfolio by the following persons in the capacities indicated on April 29, 2019.
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EXHIBIT INDEX
The following exhibits are filed as part of this Post-Effective Amendment to the Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 483 of Regulation C.
Exhibit No. | Description |
(d) | (9) | (b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated May 1, 2019 between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust on behalf of Eaton Vance Global Income Builder Fund and Boston Management and Research |
(10) | (b) | Fee Reduction Agreement dated May 1, 2019 between Boston Management and Research and Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. for Eaton Vance Global Income Builder Fund | |
(i) | (2) | Consent of Internal Counsel dated April 29, 2019 | |
(j) | Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm for Eaton Vance Stock Fund, Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1, Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2, Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund and any corresponding Portfolios dated April 26, 2019 | ||
(p) | (3) | Code of Ethics adopted by Parametric Portfolio Associates effective January 30, 2019 |
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EXHIBIT (d)(9)(b)
FEE REDUCTION AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT made as of this 1 st day of May 2019, between Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust (the “Trust”) on behalf of Eaton Vance Global Income Builder Fund (the “Fund”) and Boston Management and Research (the “Adviser”).
WHEREAS, the Trust on behalf of the Fund has entered into an Investment Advisory Agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”) with the Adviser, which provides that the Adviser shall be entitled to receive compensation at a certain rate; and
WHEREAS, the Adviser has offered to reduce such advisory fee rate, and the Trust has accepted such fee reduction, such fee reduction being effective as of May 1, 2019; and
WHEREAS, the Adviser and the Trust wish to memorialize said fee reduction in writing;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants and agreements contained herein and for other good and valuable consideration, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the Trust and the Adviser hereby jointly and severally agree as follows:
1. | For so long as the Advisory Agreement shall remain in effect, notwithstanding any provisions of the Advisory Agreement to the contrary, the Adviser will reduce its advisory fee for the Trust in accordance with the fee reduction schedule set forth on Exhibit A hereto. |
2. | This Agreement may only be terminated or amended upon the mutual written consent of the Trust and the Adviser; provided, however, that (i) no termination of this Agreement shall be effective unless approved by the majority vote of those Trustees of the Trust who are not interested persons of the Adviser or the Trust (the “Independent Trustees”) and by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund; (ii) no amendment of this Agreement shall be effective unless approved by the majority vote of the Independent Trustees; and (iii) no amendment of this Agreement that decreases the fee reductions set forth herein shall be effective unless approved by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. |
3. | For purposes of this Agreement the term “vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund” shall mean the vote, at a meeting of Holders, of the lesser of (i) 67 per centum or more of the interests of the Fund present or represented by proxy at the meeting if the Holders of more than 50 per centum of the outstanding interests of the Fund are present or represented by proxy at the meeting, or (ii) more than 50 per centum of the outstanding interests of the Fund. |
4. | This instrument is executed under seal and shall be governed by Massachusetts law. |
IN WITNESS WHEREOF , this Agreement has been executed as of the date set forth above by a duly authorized officer of each party.
EATON VANCE MUTUAL FUNDS TRUST
(on behalf of Eaton Vance Global Income Builder Fund)
By: /s/ Maureen A. Gemma
Maureen A. Gemma
Secretary
BOSTON MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
By: /s/ Deidre E. Walsh
Deidre E. Walsh
Vice President
Exhibit A
ADVISORY Fee Reduction schedule
Eaton Vance Global Income Builder Fund
(Effective as of May 1, 2019)
Compensation of the Adviser . For the services, payments and facilities to be furnished hereunder by the Adviser, the Adviser shall be entitled to receive from the Fund fees as set forth below:
The Adviser shall receive a fee based on the Fund’s average daily net assets per annum that are not invested in other investment companies for which the Adviser or its affiliate (i) serves as adviser and (ii) receives an advisory fee (“Direct Assets”) as follows:
Direct Assets | Annual Fee Rate |
Up to $500 million | 0.550% |
$500 million but less than $1 billion | 0.525% |
$1 billion but less than $2.5 billion | 0.500% |
$2.5 billion and over | 0.475% |
The foregoing compensation shall be paid monthly in arrears on the last business day of each month. The Fund’s daily net assets shall be computed in accordance with the Declaration of Trust of the Trust and any applicable votes and determinations of the Trustees of the Trust. In case of initiation or termination of the Agreement during any month with respect to the Fund, the fee for that month shall be based on the number of calendar days during which it is in effect. The Adviser may, from time to time, waive all or a part of the above compensation.
EXHIBIT (d)(10)(b)
FEE REDUCTION AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT made as of this 1 st day of May 2019, between Boston Management and Research (the “Adviser”) and Eaton Vance Advisers International Ltd. (the “Sub-Adviser”).
WHEREAS, the Adviser has entered into an Investment Advisory Agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”) with Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust, a Massachusetts business trust (the “Trust”) on behalf of Eaton Vance Global Income Builder Fund (the “Fund”), relating to the provision of portfolio management services to the Fund; and
WHEREAS, the Advisory Agreement provides that the Adviser may delegate any or all of its portfolio management responsibilities under the Advisory Agreement to one or more sub-investment advisers and
WHEREAS, the Adviser has entered into an Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement (“Sub-Advisory Agreement”) with the Sub-Adviser, which Sub-Advisory Agreement provides that the Sub-Adviser shall be entitled to receive an asset-based fee payable at a certain rate; and
WHEREAS, the Sub-Adviser has offered to reduce such advisory fee rate, and the Trust has accepted such fee reduction, such fee reduction being effective as of May 1, 2019; and
WHEREAS, the Adviser and Sub-Adviser wish to memorialize said fee reduction in writing;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants and agreements contained herein and for other good and valuable consideration, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser hereby jointly and severally agree as follows:
1. | For so long as the Sub-Advisory Agreement shall remain in effect, notwithstanding any provisions of the Sub-Advisory Agreement to the contrary, the Sub-Adviser will reduce its advisory fee for the Trust in accordance with the fee reduction schedule set forth on Exhibit A hereto. |
2. | This Agreement may only be terminated or amended upon the mutual written consent of the Trust and the Sub-Adviser; provided, however, that (i) no termination of this Agreement shall be effective unless approved by the majority vote of those Trustees of the Trust who are not interested persons of the Adviser, Sub-Adviser or the Trust (the “Independent Trustees”) and by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund; (ii) no amendment of this Agreement shall be effective unless approved by the majority vote of the Independent Trustees; and (iii) no amendment of this Agreement that decreases the fee reductions set forth herein shall be effective unless approved by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. |
3. | For purposes of this Agreement the term “vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund” shall mean the vote, at a meeting of shareholders, of the lesser of (i) 67 per centum or more of the shares of the Fund present or represented by proxy at the meeting if the holders of more than 50 per centum of the outstanding shares of the Fund are present or represented by proxy at the meeting, or (ii) more than 50 per centum of the outstanding shares of the Fund. |
4. | This instrument is executed under seal and shall be governed by Massachusetts law. |
IN WITNESS WHEREOF , this Agreement has been executed as of the date set forth above by a duly authorized officer of each party.
BOSTON MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
By: /s/ Maureen A. Gemma
Maureen A. Gemma
Vice President
EATON VANCE ADVISERS INTERNATIONAL LTD.
A private limited company incorporated in England and Wales, authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom
By: /s/ Frederick S. Marius
Frederick S. Marius
Director and not individually
Acknowledged and agreed to as of the day
and your first above written:
EATON VANCE MUTUAL FUNDS TRUST
(on behalf of Eaton Vance Global Income Builder Fund)
BY: /s/ Payson F. Swaffield
Payson F. Swaffield
President
EXHIBIT (i)(2)
CONSENT OF COUNSEL
I consent to the incorporation by reference in this Post-Effective Amendment No. 312 to the Registration Statement of Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust (1933 Act File No. 002-90946) of my opinion dated December 28, 2018 which was filed as Exhibit (i) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 306.
/s/ David D. Barr | |
David D. Barr, Esq. |
April 29, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
EXHIBIT (j)
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
We consent to the incorporation by reference in this Post-Effective Amendment No. 312 to Registration Statement No. 002-90946 on Form N-1A of our reports dated as indicated on the attached Schedule A, relating to the financial statements and financial highlights of the Funds listed on the attached Schedule A, certain of the funds constituting Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust (the “Trust”), and the Portfolios listed on the attached Schedule A, appearing in the Annual Report on Form N-CSR of the Trust for the year ended December 31, 2018, and to the references to us under the headings “Financial Highlights” in the Prospectuses and “Other Service Providers” and “Financial Statements” in the Statements of Additional Information, which are part of such Registration Statement.
/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
April 26, 2019
Schedule A
Eaton Vance Mutual Funds Trust
Report Date | Fund Name |
February 22, 2019 | Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.1 |
February 22, 2019 | Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Growth Fund 1.2 |
February 19, 2019 | Eaton Vance Stock Fund |
February 22, 2019 | Parametric Commodity Strategy Fund |
Portfolios whose financial statements are included in one or more of the above Funds’ annual reports for the year ending December 31, 2018:
Report Date | Portfolio Name |
February 19, 2019 | Stock Portfolio |
February 22, 2019 | Tax-Managed Growth Portfolio |
Exhibit (p)(3)
CODE OF ETHICS
PARAMETRIC PORTFOLIO ASSOCIATES LLC
January 30, 2019
Table of Contents
I. | Overview |
II. | Standards of Business Conduct |
III. | Personal Securities Transactions Policy and Procedures |
A. | Definitions |
B. | Applicability of the Policy |
1. | Who is Covered |
2. | What Accounts are Covered |
C. | Rules Applicable to All Access Persons |
1. | Use of a Designated Broker |
2. | Prohibited Practices |
3. | Preclearance Requirements |
4. | Exempt Transactions |
5. | Restricted Transactions |
6. | Reporting Requirements |
7. | Managed Accounts |
D. | Additional Rules Applicable to Seattle Investment Personnel |
1. | Requirement to Pre-Notify CCO of Personal Securities Transactions |
2. | Blackout Periods and Restricted Securities Lists |
E. | Administration |
1. | Maintenance of List of Access Persons |
2. | Review of Securities Reports |
3. | Certifications by Access Persons |
4. | Reports to Management and Trustees of Registered Investment Company Clients |
5. | Recordkeeping Requirements |
6. | Confidentiality |
F. | Violations and Sanctions |
I. | Overview |
Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC (“Parametric”) is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Parametric has adopted this written Code of Ethics (this “Code”) in accordance with Rule 204A-1 under the Investment Advisers Act and Rule 17j-1 under the Investment Company Act.
All Parametric directors, officers, employees and interns are considered to be Access Persons of Parametric and are subject to this Code. In addition, any supervised person, such as a consultant, contractor or temporary employee who has access to nonpublic information regarding the purchase or sale of securities in Parametric client portfolios or is involved in making securities recommendations, is considered an Access Person and is subject to this Code.
II. | Standards of Business Conduct |
Parametric is committed to setting the highest ethical standards with regard to the business conduct of its employees and Access Persons 1 . Parametric has adopted the following standards to promote an environment committed to ethical and professional excellence. By adhering to these standards and this Code, you will enable Parametric to develop and maintain the valued trust and confidence of its Clients and prospective clients.
As an Access Person of Parametric subject to this Code, you are expected to comply with the following standards of business conduct:
· | You must comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including federal securities laws; |
· | You must comply with the fiduciary obligations outlined below; and |
· | You must comply with this Code. |
You have a duty to promptly report any violation or apparent violation of this Code to the CCO or a member of Parametric’s Compliance department (“Compliance”). This duty exists whether the violation or apparent violation is yours or that of another person subject to this Code. Retaliation against individuals who report violations or apparent violations of this Code in good faith is not permitted. Violators of this Code are subject to sanctions.
Nothing in this Code restricts or prohibits you from initiating communications directly with, responding to any inquiries from, providing testimony before, providing confidential information to, reporting possible violations of law or regulation to, or from filing a claim or assisting with an investigation directly with a self-regulatory authority or a government agency or entity, including without limitation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, the
U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Congress, any other federal, state or local governmental agency or commission, and any agency Inspector General (collectively, the "Regulators"), or from making other disclosures that are protected under the whistleblower provisions of federal, state or local law or regulation. This Code does not limit your right to receive an award from any Regulator that provides awards for information relating to a potential violation of law. You do not need prior authorization to engage in conduct
1 Capitalized terms in this section are defined in section III.A - Definitions.
protected by this paragraph, and do not need to notify the CCO that you have engaged in such conduct. You recognize and agree that, in connection with any such activity outlined above, you must inform the Regulators, your attorney, a court or a government official that the information you are providing is confidential. Despite the foregoing, you are not permitted to reveal to any third-party, including any governmental, law enforcement, or regulatory authority, information you came to learn during the course of your employment that is protected from disclosure by any applicable privilege, including but not limited to the attorney-client privilege and/or attorney work product doctrine. Parametric and its affiliates do not waive any applicable privileges or the right to continue to protect privileged attorney-client information, attorney work product, and other privileged information.
Please take notice that federal law provides criminal and civil immunity from federal and state claims for trade secret misappropriation to individuals who disclose a trade secret to their attorney, a court, or a government official in certain, confidential circumstances that are set forth at 18 U.S.C. §§ 1833(b)(1) and 1833(b)(2), related to the reporting or investigation of a suspected violation of the law, or in connection with a lawsuit for retaliation for reporting a suspected violation of the law.
Fiduciary Obligations
You have a duty to act in utmost good faith with respect to each Client, and to provide full and fair disclosure of all material facts, particularly where the interests of Parametric may be in conflict with those of a Client. Parametric has a duty to deal fairly and act in the best interests of its Clients at all times. The following fiduciary principles govern your activities and the interpretation/administration of these rules:
· | The interests of Clients must be placed first at all times. |
· | All of your personal Securities Transactions must be conducted consistent with the rules contained in this Code and in such manner as to avoid any actual or potential conflict of interest or any abuse of your position of trust and responsibility. |
· | You should never use your position with Parametric, or information acquired through your employment, in your personal trading in a manner that may create a conflict—or the appearance of a conflict—between your personal interests and the interests of Parametric or its Clients. If such a conflict or potential conflict arises, you must report it immediately to the CCO. |
In connection with providing investment advisory services to Clients, this includes avoiding any activity which directly or indirectly:
· | defrauds a Client in any manner; |
· | misleads a Client, including any statement that omits material facts; |
· | operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit on a Client; |
· | functions as a manipulative practice with respect to a Client; and |
· | functions as a manipulative practice with respect to securities. |
These rules do not identify all possible conflicts of interest, and literal compliance with each of the specific provisions of this Code will not shield you from liability for personal trading or other conduct that is designed to circumvent its restrictions or violates a fiduciary duty to Clients.
III. | Personal Securities Transactions Policy and Procedures |
A. | Definitions |
Access Person includes (i) all directors, officers, employees and interns of Parametric; and (ii) any supervised person, such as a consultant, contractor and temporary employee, who has access to nonpublic information regarding the purchase or sale of securities in Client portfolios or is involved in making securities recommendations, as determined at the discretion of the CCO. Employees of Eaton Vance located in a Parametric office are also considered Access Persons under this Code.
Affiliated Fund includes each investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 for which Parametric acts as the investment adviser or sub-adviser. Parametric’s list of Affiliated Funds is maintained in StarCompliance. Please consult StarCompliance for the most current list of Affiliated Funds.
Automatic Investment Plan means a program in which regular periodic purchases (or withdrawals) are made automatically in (or from) investment accounts in accordance with a predetermined schedule and allocation. An Automatic Investment Plan includes a dividend reinvestment plan.
Beneficial Interest with respect to Securities or a Securities Account generally means an interest where you or a member of your Immediate Family, directly or indirectly, (i) have investment discretion or the ability (including joint ability or discretion) to purchase or sell Securities or direct the disposition of Securities; (ii) have voting power over Securities, or the right to direct the voting of Securities; or (iii) have a direct or indirect financial interest in Securities (or other benefit substantially equivalent to ownership of Securities). For purposes of this Code, “beneficial ownership” shall be interpreted in the same manner as it would be under Section 16 of the Securities and Exchange Act, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder.
CCO means the Chief Compliance Officer of Parametric or another person designated to perform the functions of the Chief Compliance Officer under various provisions of this Code.
Client is any person or entity to which Parametric provides investment advisory services.
Closed-End Fund means any fund with a fixed number of shares and which does not issue and redeem shares on a continuous basis. While Closed-End Funds are often listed and trade on stock exchanges, they are not “Exchange Traded Funds” as defined below.
Control means with respect to (i) an entity, the power to exercise a controlling influence over the management or policies of the entity, unless such power is solely the result of an official position of such entity, (ii) an account, having investment discretion over the account, and (iii) an issuer (including an Affiliated Fund), a Beneficial Interest in more than 25% of the voting securities of the issuer.
Cryptocurrency means any virtual or digital representation of value, token or other asset in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of such assets and to verify the transfer of assets, which is not a Security or otherwise characterized as a security under the relevant law.
Cryptocurrencies that have been deemed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to be a Security are reportable under this Code and must be held with a Designated Broker.
Designated Broker means any one of the following broker-dealer firms that provide electronic data feeds to StarCompliance: Ameriprise Financial; Betterment; Charles Schwab; Citigroup; E*Trade; Edward Jones; Fidelity; Interactive Brokers; JP Morgan Chase; Merrill Lynch; Morgan Stanley; Raymond James; RBC
Wealth Management; Stifel Financial; TD Ameritrade; UBS; USAA; Vanguard; and Wells Fargo. Additional broker-dealers may be added or removed from this list over time. The current list of Designated Brokers may be found in StarCompliance and on the Parametric Intranet.
Exchange Traded Fund is a registered open-end investment company or unit investment trust that can be traded on an exchange throughout the day like a stock. Examples of Exchange Traded Funds include SPDR S&P 500 ETF (ticker: SPY), iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (ticker: EEM), and PowerShares QQQ (ticker: QQQ).
Exchange Traded Note is a debt security traded on a national securities exchange that is not an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Examples of Exchange Traded Notes include SPDR Gold Shares (ticker: GLD) or iShares Silver Trust (ticker: SLV), grantor trusts, or exchange-traded limited partnerships.
Immediate Family of any person includes his or her spouse, domestic partner, children and relatives living in his or her primary residence, excluding temporary house guests.
Initial Public Offering means an offering of securities registered under the Securities Act of 1933, the issuer of which, immediately before the registration, was not subject to the reporting requirements of Sections 13 or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. As used in this Code, the term “Initial Public Offering” shall also mean a one-time offering of stock to the public by the issuer of such stock which is not an initial public offering.
Managed Account is an investment account in which you and your Immediate Family have no investment discretion or direct or indirect influence or control. No direct or indirect influence or control exists over an account where, for example, (a) you or your Immediate Family member is a grantor or beneficiary of a trust managed by a third-party trustee and he or she has limited involvement in trust affairs, or (b) the third-party manager (or other financial intermediary) acting as a third-party manager has discretionary investment authority over the account. However, direct or indirect influence or control will be deemed to exist where you or your Immediate Family member has discussions with the trustee or third-party manager that go beyond a summary, description or explanation of account positioning and/or activity.
For example, any of the following actions by you or your Immediate Family member would qualify as direct or indirect influence or control over the account: (i) suggesting purchases or sales of investments to the trustee or third-party manager; (ii) directing the purchase or sale of Securities; or (iii) consulting with the trustee or third-party manager as to the purchase or sale of investments to be made in the account (including situations where the trustee or third-party manager requests input and/or permission from you or your Immediate Family member before entering into a transaction). Managed Accounts must be approved as such by the CCO (see section III.C.7 - Managed Accounts).
Mid/Large Cap Issuer is an issuer of Securities with an equity market capitalization of $3 billion or more.
Mutual Fund means open-end investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (and does not include closed-end investment companies). For the avoidance of doubt, Exchange Traded Funds and Closed-End Funds are not considered to be Mutual Funds under this Code.
Private Placement means an offering that is exempt from registration under the Securities Act of 1933 pursuant to Section 4(2) or Section 4(5) or pursuant to Rule 504, Rule 505 or Rule 506 under the Securities Act of 1933. A Private Placement thus includes any offer to you to purchase any securities, whether stock,
debt securities, or partnership interests from any entity, unless those securities are registered under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Investment Company Act of 1940 (that is, are publicly offered/publicly traded securities).
Seattle Investment Personnel includes all employees in the Portfolio Management, Trading and Research departments in Parametric’s Seattle office. Seattle office employees in other departments who may have access to pre-execution model portfolio transaction information may also be deemed Seattle Investment Personnel by the CCO for purposes of this Code. All Seattle Investment Personnel will be notified of such designation by the CCO.
Securities shall include anything that is considered a “security” as defined in Section 2(a)(36) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, including most kinds of investment instruments, including:
· | Stocks & bonds |
· | Shares of Exchange Traded Funds |
· | Shares of Closed-End Funds |
· | Shares of Affiliated Funds |
· | Exchange Traded Notes |
· | Options on securities, on indexes and on currencies |
· | Investments in all kinds of limited partnerships |
· | Investments in unit investment trusts |
· | Investments in real estate investment trusts (REITs) |
· | Investments in private investment funds, hedge funds, private equity funds and venture capital funds |
· | Units and shares of non-U.S. unit trusts and non-U.S. funds |
· | Cryptocurrencies that have been deemed to be a Security by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |
For purposes of this Code, the term “Securities” does not include:
· | Direct obligations of the U.S. government |
· | Money-market instruments, including bankers’ acceptances, bank certificates of deposit, commercial paper and high quality short-term debt obligations, including repurchase agreements |
· | Shares of money-market funds |
· | Shares of Mutual Funds, other than shares of Affiliated Funds |
· | Units of a unit investment trust, if the investment trust is invested exclusively in unaffiliated Mutual Funds (e.g., variable insurance products) |
· | Currencies and currency forwards |
· | Physical commodities |
Securities Account means, with respect to any Access Person, an account with a broker, dealer or bank in which Securities are held and traded and the Access Person or a member of his or her Immediate Family has a Beneficial Interest and/or Control.
Securities Transaction means a transaction (whether a purchase, sale or other type of acquisition or disposition, including a gift) in a Security in which the Access Person or a member of his or her Immediate Family has or acquires a Beneficial Interest and/or Control.
Small Cap Issuer is an issuer of Securities with an equity market capitalization of less than $3 billion.
StarCompliance shall mean the online application utilized by Compliance for administering the Code of Ethics and monitoring personal securities trading by Access Persons.
B. | Applicability of the Policy |
1. | Who is Covered |
This Policy applies to all Access Persons of Parametric and covers not only your personal Securities Transactions, but also those of your Immediate Family.
2. | What Accounts are Covered |
Unless the CCO determines otherwise based on your specific facts and circumstances, this Policy applies to Securities Transactions and holdings in: (i) all accounts in which you or members of your Immediate Family have a direct or indirect Beneficial Interest; and (ii) all accounts that are directly or indirectly under your Control or the Control of a member of your Immediate Family.
Accounts that are generally covered by this Policy are referred to hereafter as Securities Accounts and include accounts that are:
· | in your name; |
· | in the name of a member of your Immediate Family; |
· | of a partnership in which you or a member of your Immediate Family have a Beneficial Interest, or are a partner with direct or indirect investment discretion; |
· | a trust of which you or a member of your Immediate Family are a beneficiary and/or a trustee with direct or indirect investment discretion (on a sole or joint basis); |
· | of a closely held corporation, limited liability company or similar legal entity in which you or a member of your Immediate Family are a Controlling shareholder and have direct or indirect investment discretion over Securities held by such entity; |
· | an account or trust holding Securities where you or a member of your Immediate Family have sole or shared investment discretion, or are otherwise deemed to have Control over the account; and |
· Schwab One brokerage accounts established for you upon hire for the purpose of receiving Eaton Vance Corp. equity award shares and/or Eaton Vance Employee Stock Purchase Plan shares.
Accounts that are not covered by this Policy include:
· | Accounts that may only hold Mutual Funds, other than Affiliated Funds; |
· Qualified tuition program accounts established pursuant to Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (“529 Plans”); and
· | Eaton Vance Employee Retirement Plan accounts. |
C. | Rules Applicable to All Access Persons 2 |
The following rules will be enforced for all Access Persons unless otherwise individually exempted or preapproved in writing by the CCO.
1. | Use of a Designated Broker |
All Securities Accounts must be maintained with a Designated Broker, unless:
· | the account is a Managed Account and has been approved as such by the CCO; |
· | the account is subject to a code of ethics or similar policy applicable to a member of your Immediate Family requiring an account be held at an entity other than a Designated Broker, in which case you must provide Securities Transactions and holdings information for such account to Compliance no less than quarterly and within 30 calendar days after the end of each calendar quarter; or |
· | you are located in Parametric’s Australia office, in which case you must provide Securities Transactions and holdings information for each Securities Account to Compliance no less than quarterly and within 30 calendar days after the end of each calendar quarter. |
You must initiate movement of all pre-established Securities Accounts to a Designated Broker within 30 calendar days after your employment date or the date you become an Access Person. 3
2. | Prohibited Practices |
You are prohibited from engaging in the following transactions and practices.
a) | Insider Trading |
You are prohibited from purchasing or selling any security, either personally or for a Client, while in possession of material, non-public information concerning the security or its issuer. Please refer to Parametric’s Insider Trading Policy.
b) | Front Running |
Front Running is the practice of effecting the purchase or sale of a Security for personal benefit based on the knowledge of one or more impending Client transaction(s) in the same or equivalent Security. (Example: A Portfolio Manager mentions that Parametric is selling all of its holdings of Company X and you know that the large trade will negatively affect the stock, so you put in a personal order to sell your shares of Company X before the Parametric order is sent to the market.)
c) | Market Manipulation |
Transactions intended to raise, lower or maintain the price of any security or to create a false appearance of active trading are prohibited.
2 Reminder : When this Policy refers to “you” or your transactions, it includes your Immediate Family and Securities Accounts in which you and/or they have a direct or indirect Beneficial Interest.
3 Additional brokers, dealers or banks may be considered.
d) | Derivatives and Options Trading |
Derivatives transactions, including options, futures and swaps, are prohibited.
e) | Short-Term Trading |
You may not sell a Security until at least 60 calendar days after the most recent purchase trade date of the same or equivalent Security. You may not repurchase a Security until at least 60 calendar days after the most recent sale trade date of the same or equivalent Security. You may not trade partial positions or use FIFO principles to enter into or trade out of positions of the same Security. (NOTE: Exempt Transactions below are not subject to this prohibition.)
f) | Investment Clubs |
You may not be a member of an investment club that trades in and owns Securities in which members have an interest. Such an investment club is regarded by this Code as your personal account, and it is usually impracticable for you to comply with the rules of this Code with respect to that investment club.
g) | Public Company Ownership Limit |
You may not own more than 0.5% of the outstanding shares of any one public company without written approval from the CCO.
3. | Preclearance Requirements |
You are prohibited from engaging in the following transactions without written preapproval as indicated. Preclearance requests for the following transactions must be submitted via StarCompliance .
a) | Eaton Vance Corp. Securities |
You must preclear all transactions in publicly traded Securities issued by Eaton Vance Corp. (“EVC”) with the Treasury Department of EVC, except that you do not have to preclear (i) purchases pursuant to the EVC Employee Stock Purchase Plan or to the exercise of any EVC
stock option agreement, (ii) bona fide gifts of such EVC Securities that you may receive, or (iii) automatic, non-voluntary transactions involving such EVC Securities, such as stock dividends, stock splits, or automatic dividend reinvestments, or certain non-voluntary transactions initiated by a broker, dealer or bank with respect to such EVC Securities deposited in a margin account. Once obtained, approval is valid only for the day on which it is granted. (NOTE: The purchase or sale of publicly traded options on EVC Securities is prohibited.)
There are times when transactions in EVC Securities are routinely prohibited, such as prior to releases of EVC earnings information. You will normally be notified of these blackout periods, during which time trading in EVC Securities is prohibited.
Failure to preclear transactions in EVC Securities may result in the imposition of a fine to be donated to an acceptable charitable organization, as well as additional sanctions as outlined below in the section III.F - Violations and Sanctions.
b) | Initial Public Offerings |
You may not purchase or otherwise acquire any Security in an Initial Public Offering, except with prior written approval from the CCO. Requests to purchase Securities in an Initial Public Offering will generally be denied by the CCO. Approval may be granted only in rare cases that involve extraordinary circumstances. Accordingly, Parametric discourages such applications.
You may be given approval to purchase a Security in an Initial Public Offering, for example, pursuant to the exercise of rights you have as an existing bank depositor or insurance
policyholder to acquire the Security in connection with the bank’s conversion from mutual or cooperative form to stock form, or the insurance company’s conversion from mutual to stock form.
Participation in an initial or secondary offering of a Cryptocurrency (sometimes referred to as an initial coin offering (ICO) or a secondary coin offering (SCO)) requires preclearance and approval by the CCO under this Code.
c) | Private Placements |
You may not purchase or otherwise acquire any Security in a Private Placement, except with prior written approval from the CCO. (Note that a Private Placement includes virtually any Security that is not a publicly traded/listed Security.) Such approval will only be granted where you establish that there is no conflict or appearance of conflict with any Client or other possible impropriety (such as where the Security in the Private Placement is appropriate for purchase by a Client, or when your participation in the Private Placement is suggested by a person who has a business relationship with Parametric or its affiliates or expects to establish such a relationship). Examples where approval may be granted, subject to the particular facts and circumstances, are a personal investment in a private fund or limited partnership in which you would have no involvement in making recommendations or decisions, or your investment in a closely held corporation or partnership started by a family member or friend.
4. | Exempt Transactions |
The following transactions are exempt from sections III.C.5 - Restricted Transactions and III.C.6 - Reporting Requirements and the Short-Term Trading prohibition of this Code, unless noted otherwise:
· | The purchase of Securities effected pursuant to an Automatic Investment Plan (the sale of Securities acquired under an automated investment plan is exempt from the Short-Term Trading prohibition but is subject to all other rules herein); |
· | Transactions effected by exercise of rights issued to the holders of a class of Securities pro rata, to the extent they are issued with respect to Securities of which you have Beneficial Interest; |
· | Acquisitions or dispositions of Securities as the result of a stock dividend, stock split, reverse stock split, merger, consolidation, spin-off or other similar corporate distribution or reorganization applicable to all holders of a class of Securities of which you have Beneficial Interest; |
· | Purchases or sales of Securities issued in qualified tuition programs established pursuant to Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code; |
· | Transactions that are non-volitional by the Access Person or his/her Immediate Family, including purchases or sales of Securities in which such Access Person has no advance knowledge of the transaction (e.g., the required liquidation of a Security when rolling over a 401(k) plan); |
· | Transactions effected in an approved Managed Account (note that there are reporting requirements and other restrictions related to Managed Accounts, as outlined below in section III.C.7 - Managed Accounts); and |
· | The acquisition of Securities, such as stock grants and employee stock options, received as compensation from an employer or the purchase of stock through an employer’s stock purchase plan (“ESPP”). (NOTE: The sale of Securities received from an employer or purchased via an ESPP is exempt from the Short-Term Trading prohibition but is subject to all other provisions of this Code.) This provision does not apply to EVC Securities, which you are required to preclear. |
5. | Restricted Transactions |
The following Securities Transactions are restricted as indicated, but do not require preclearance. These restrictions do not apply to Exempt Transactions of this Code, unless specified otherwise.
a) | Daily Transaction Value Limits 4 |
· | For fixed income securities, you may purchase or sell up to $100,000 per day per issuer. |
· | For Exchange Traded Notes, you may purchase or sell up to $100,000 per day per issuer. |
· | For Exchange Traded Funds, you may purchase or sell up to $100,000 per day per Exchange Traded Fund. |
· | For Closed-End Funds, you may purchase or sell up to $10,000 per day per Closed-End Fund. |
· | For equities and REITs, you may purchase or sell up to $50,000 per day per Mid/Large Cap Issuer and up to $10,000 per day per Small Cap Issuer (as defined at time of transaction). |
b) | Short Sales |
You may not sell short any Security, except that you may sell short a Security if you own at least the same amount of the Security you sell short (i.e., selling short “against the box”).
c) | Same-Day Model Transactions |
You may not transact in a Security when you have actual knowledge that a same-day proprietary model and/or third-party investment manager model trade will occur in the same or equivalent Security and in the same direction (i.e., purchase or sale).
4 The daily transaction value limits are based on your local currency and apply across all of your reportable Securities Accounts.
d) | Blackout Periods and Restricted Securities Transactions |
At the discretion of the CCO, you may from time to time be temporarily restricted from all personal Securities trading (a “blackout period”). You may also be temporarily or indefinitely restricted from transacting in certain specific Securities or types of Securities based on your job responsibilities and access to certain information. You will be notified of all such personal Securities trading blackout periods and restricted Securities transactions in writing by the CCO.
e) | Trade Orders |
All Securities trade orders must be same-day orders. Securities trade orders that are open for longer than one trading day (i.e., good-till-cancelled (GTC) and other carry-over orders) are prohibited.
6. | Reporting Requirements |
a) | Initial Holdings Report |
Within 10 calendar days of your employment date and/or initial designation as an Access Person under this Code, you must submit to Compliance a report of your personal Securities holdings, including the title, type, exchange ticker or CUSIP number (if applicable), number of shares and principal amount of each Security held as of a date not more than 45 calendar days before you became an Access Person. Your report must also include the name of any broker, dealer or bank with whom you maintain an account for trading or holding any type of Securities, whether stocks, bonds, funds, or other types and the date on which you submit the report to Compliance. The Initial Holdings Report is administered via StarCompliance.
b) | Annual Holdings Report |
Within 30 calendar days after each calendar year end, you must submit to Compliance a report of your personal Securities holdings, including the same Security information required for the Initial Holdings Report. The Annual Holdings Report is combined with the Q4 Transactions Report and is administered via StarCompliance.
c) | Quarterly Transactions Report |
Within 30 calendar days after each calendar quarter end, you must submit to Compliance a report of your Securities Transactions during the prior calendar quarter, including the date of the transaction, the title, type, exchange ticker or CUSIP number (if applicable), the interest rate and maturity date (if applicable), and the number of shares and principal amount of each Security in the transaction, the nature of the transaction (whether a purchase, sale or other type of acquisition or disposition, including a gift), the price of the Security at which the transaction was effected, and the name of the broker, dealer or bank with whom the transaction was effected. The Quarterly Transactions Report is administered via StarCompliance.
d) | New Accounts |
You must report new Securities Accounts to Compliance within 10 calendar days of establishing the account. You may do so by entering the account in StarCompliance or notifying Compliance in writing. You may not purchase or sell Securities in the new account until the electronic data feed for the account has been established in StarCompliance.
New Securities Accounts (not including Managed Accounts) of Access Persons registered with FINRA through Eaton Vance Distributors, Inc. (“EVD”) are automatically approved for purposes of FINRA Rule 3210, if they are established with a Designated Broker. Any exception, whereby an Access Person registered with FINRA maintains a Securities Account with a broker, dealer or bank other than a Designated Broker, requires written consent of the EVD Chief Compliance Officer or designee.
7. | Managed Accounts 5 |
Managed Accounts must be approved as such in writing by the CCO. The CCO’s approval of a Managed Account is contingent upon the provision of a signed letter from the broker, financial advisor, trustee or other control person other than you or your Immediate Family members (the “Discretionary Manager”) on the Discretionary Manager’s letterhead containing the following representations 6 :
· | Neither you nor your Immediate Family members have investment discretion or direct or indirect influence or control over the account, and in particular you do not: |
o | Direct or suggest the purchase or sale of securities to the Discretionary Manager; or |
o | Consult with the Discretionary Manager as to the particular allocation of specific Securities investments to be made in the account (including situations where the Discretionary Manager requests input and/or permission from you or your Immediate Family member prior to transacting). |
· | The relationship between the Discretionary Manager and you and your Immediate Family member is limited to a professional, client-adviser relationship (i.e., the Discretionary Manager is not a family member or close personal friend, and no Immediate Family member of yours is employed by the Discretionary Manager). |
· | All transactions in EVC Securities will either be restricted from being purchased or sold in the Managed Account or will be precleared pursuant to this Code. |
You must also acknowledge the above representations in writing to the CCO and agree to immediately notify the CCO if any of the above representations are no longer accurate.
Securities Transactions in approved Managed Accounts are exempt from the Short-Term Trading prohibition and section III.C.5 - Restricted Transactions, but are still subject to section III.C.3 – Preclearance Requirements (Initial Public Offerings, Private Placements and EVC securities transactions in approved Managed Accounts still require written preapproval). However, you must ensure the Discretionary Manager provides account holdings and transactions information to
5 See section III.A - Definitions above.
6 If the letter from the Discretionary Manager does not include all of the above representations above, the CCO may determine via other means at his or her discretion, including via a signed certification and acknowledgement from the employee, the account qualifies as a Managed Account.
Compliance either electronically via StarCompliance, if possible, or via annual account statements within 30 calendar days after the end of the calendar year. Securities Transactions in Managed Accounts will be subject to review from time to time by the CCO to determine if any purchase or sale of a Security would have been prohibited pursuant to this Code, absent relying on the exemption provided herein.
Annually, within 30 calendar days of each calendar year end, you must re-certify in writing to the CCO the above representations regarding each Managed Account. Failure to do so will result in the account no longer qualifying as a Managed Account under this Code. This annual re- certification is part of the Combined Annual Holdings & Q4 Transactions Certification administered via StarCompliance.
NOTE: There is no exemption from preclearance for Initial Public Offerings or Private Placements, even when such transactions are effected through a Managed Account. You should ensure the Discretionary Manager of your Managed Account(s) is aware of this restriction.
D. | Additional Rules Applicable to Seattle Investment Personnel 7 |
1. | Requirement to Pre-Notify CCO of Personal Securities Transactions |
Seattle Investment Personnel are required to pre-notify the CCO of intended personal Securities Transactions (including those of Immediate Family members) one business day prior to transacting via StarCompliance.
2. | Blackout Periods and Restricted Securities Lists |
Seattle Investment Personnel may be temporarily restricted from all personal Securities trading by the CCO during significant model portfolio rebalance and index reconstitution events. Seattle Investment Personnel may also be temporarily restricted from transacting in specific Securities during significant model portfolio rebalance or index reconstitution events as determined by the CCO. Seattle Investment Personnel will be notified of all such personal trading blackout periods and restricted securities lists in writing by the CCO.
E. | Administration |
1. | Maintenance of List of Access Persons |
Compliance shall maintain a current and complete list of all Access Persons of Parametric. In addition, Compliance shall ensure each Access Person is aware of their status as an Access Person and each Access Person receives a copy of this Code.
2. | Review of Securities Reports |
Compliance shall ensure that all Initial and Annual Holdings Reports and Quarterly Transactions Reports are reviewed in accordance with this Code.
7 Seattle Investment Personnel is defined in section III.A - Definitions above.
3. | Certifications by Access Persons |
Each Access Person must certify at the time of hire or at the time he or she becomes an Access Person and annually thereafter (within the timeframe established by Compliance) that he or she has read and understood the Code of Ethics, as revised (if applicable), and has complied and will comply with its provisions. In addition, upon any material revision to the Code of Ethics, each Access Person must certify that he or she has read the Code, as revised, and understands and agrees to comply with its provisions.
4. | Reports to Management and Trustees of Registered Investment Company Clients |
At least annually, the CCO shall submit to the Parametric Enterprise Management Committee (“EMC”) and upon request the Board of Trustees of Registered Investment Company Clients a
written report that (i) describes any issues arising under this Code since the last report to the EMC and/or the Board, including information about material violations and the sanctions imposed in response to material violations, and (ii) certifies that Parametric has adopted procedures reasonably necessary to prevent Access Persons from violating this Code.
5. | Recordkeeping Requirements |
Parametric shall maintain the following records at its principal place of business in an easily accessible place and make these records available to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) or any presentative of the SEC at any time and from time to time for reasonable periodic, special or other examination:
· | Copies of the Parametric Code of Ethics currently in effect and in effect at any time within the past five years; |
· | A record of any violation of the Code of Ethics and of any action taken as a result of the violation, to be maintained for at least five years after the end of the fiscal year in which the violation occurred; |
· | Copies of Access Persons’ Quarterly Transactions Reports and Initial and Annual Holdings Reports, to be maintained for at least five years after the end of the fiscal year in which the report is made or information provided; |
· | A record of any approval to acquire a Security in an Initial Public Offering or in a Private Placement with the reasons supporting the approval, for at least five years after the end of the fiscal year in which the approval is granted; |
· | A record of all Access Persons, currently and within the past five fiscal years, who are or were required to make reports referred to in section III.C.6 - Reporting Requirements; |
· | Copies of each certification referred to in paragraph 3 of this Administration section made by a person who currently is, or in the past five years was, subject to this Code, to be maintained for at least five years after the fiscal year in which the certification was made; and |
· | Copies of each report referred to in paragraph 4 of this Administration section above, to be maintained for at least five years after the end of the fiscal year in which it was made. |
6. | Confidentiality |
All reports and other documents and information supplied by any Access Person in accordance with the requirements of this Code shall be treated as confidential, but are subject to review as provided herein by Compliance, by senior management of Parametric, representatives of the SEC, or otherwise as required by law, regulation, or court order.
F. | Violations and Sanctions |
Any Access Person of Parametric who violates any provision of this Code may be subject to sanction, including, but not limited to, censure, a temporary or permanent ban on personal securities trading, disgorgement of any profit or taking of any loss, fines, consideration of such violation during the year-end performance and discretionary compensation review process, and suspension or termination of employment. Each sanction shall be approved by the CCO. In the event the CCO violates any provisions of this Code, the CEO shall recommend the sanction to be imposed for approval by the EMC and the CCO of Eaton Vance.
In adopting and approving this Code of Ethics, Parametric does not intend that a violation of this Code of Ethics necessarily is or should be considered to be a violation of Rule 204A-1 of the Investment Advisers Act or Rule 17j-1 under the Investment Company Act.