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We believe that bond funds have an important role to play in a well-diversified investment portfolio. It is important to note, however, that in an environment where interest rates may trend upward, rising rates would negatively impact the performance of most bond funds, and fixed income securities and other instruments held by a Fund are likely to decrease in value. A wide variety of factors can cause interest rates or yields of U.S. Treasury securities (or yields of other types of bonds) to rise (e.g., central bank monetary policies, inflation rates, general economic conditions, etc.). In addition, changes in interest rates can be sudden and unpredictable, and there is no guarantee that Fund management will anticipate such movement accurately. A Fund may lose money as a result of movements in interest rates.

 

As of the date of this report, interest rates in the United States and many parts of the world, including certain European countries, are at or near historically low levels. Thus, the Funds currently face a heightened level of risk associated with rising interest rates and/or bond yields. This could be driven by a variety of factors, including but not limited to central bank monetary policies, changing inflation or real growth rates, general economic conditions, increasing bond issuances or reduced market demand for low yielding investments. Further, while bond markets have steadily grown over the past three decades, dealer inventories of corporate bonds are near historic lows in relation to market size. As a result, there has been a significant reduction in the ability of dealers to “make markets.”

 

Bond funds and individual bonds with a longer duration (a measure used to determine the sensitivity of a security’s price to changes in interest rates) tend to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates, usually making them more volatile than securities or funds with shorter durations. All of the factors mentioned above, individually or collectively, could lead to increased volatility and/or lower liquidity in the fixed income markets or negatively impact a Fund’s performance or cause a Fund to incur losses.

 

The use of derivatives may subject the Funds to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The Funds may use derivative instruments for hedging purposes or as part of an investment strategy. Use of these instruments may involve certain costs and risks such as liquidity risk, interest rate risk, market risk, call risk, credit risk, leverage risk, management risk and the risk that a Fund may not be able to close out a position when it would be most advantageous to do so. Changes in regulation relating to a Fund’s use of derivatives and related instruments could potentially limit or impact a Fund’s ability to invest in derivatives, limit a Fund’s ability to employ certain strategies that use derivatives and/or adversely affect the value or performance of derivatives and the Fund. Certain derivative transactions may have a leveraging effect on a Fund. For example, a small investment in a derivative instrument may have a significant impact on a Fund’s

exposure to interest rates, currency exchange rates or other investments. As a result, a relatively small price movement in an asset, instrument or component of the index underlying a derivative instrument may cause an immediate and substantial loss or gain, which translates into heightened volatility in a Fund’s NAV. A Fund may engage in such transactions regardless of whether the Fund owns the asset, instrument or components of the index underlying the derivative instrument. A Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in these types of instruments. If it does, a Fund’s investment exposure could far exceed the value of its portfolio securities and its investment performance could be primarily dependent upon securities it does not own.

 

Certain Funds’ monthly distributions may include, among other possible sources, interest income from its debt portfolio and payments and premiums (characterized as capital for financial accounting purposes and as ordinary income for tax purposes) generated by certain types of interest rate derivatives.

 

Strategies involving interest rate derivatives (including swaps that are paired) may attempt to capitalize on differences between short-term and long-term interest rates as part of a Fund’s duration and yield curve active management strategies. For instance, in the event that long-term interest rates are higher than short-term interest rates, the Fund may elect to pay a floating short-term interest rate and to receive a long-term fixed interest rate for a stipulated period of time, thereby generating payments as a function of the difference between current short-term interest rates and long-term interest rates, so long as the floating short-term interest rate (which may rise) is lower than the fixed long-term interest rate.

 

The notional exposure of a Fund’s interest rate derivatives may represent a multiple of the Fund’s total net assets. There can be no assurance a Fund’s strategies involving interest rate derivatives will work as intended and such strategies are subject to the risks related to the use of derivatives generally, as discussed above (see also Notes 6 and 7 in the Notes to Financial Statements for further discussion on the use of derivative instruments and certain of the risks associated therewith).

 

A Fund’s use of leverage creates the opportunity for increased income for the Fund’s common shareholders, but also creates special risks. Leverage is a speculative technique that may expose a Fund to greater risk and increased costs. If shorter-term interest rates rise relative to the rate of return on a Fund’s portfolio, the interest and other costs of leverage to the Fund could exceed the rate of return on the debt obligations and other investments held by the Fund, thereby reducing return to the Fund’s common shareholders. In addition, fees and expenses of any form of leverage used by a Fund will be borne entirely by its common shareholders (and not by preferred shareholders, if any)

 

and will reduce the investment return of the Fund’s common shares. Moreover, to make payments of interest and other loan costs, a Fund may be forced to sell portfolio securities when it is not otherwise advantageous to do so.

 

In addition, because the fees received by PIMCO are based on the average weekly total managed assets (including any assets attributable to any preferred shares or other forms of leverage that may be outstanding) minus any accrued liabilities (other than liabilities representing leverage) of PIMCO Income Strategy Fund and PIMCO Income Strategy Fund II, and on the average daily net asset value (including daily net assets attributable to any preferred shares that may be outstanding) of PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund, PIMCO Corporate & Income Strategy Fund and PIMCO High Income Fund, PIMCO has a financial incentive for a Fund to use certain forms of leverage, which may create a conflict of interest between PIMCO, on the one hand, and the common shareholders of a Fund, on the other hand.

 

There can be no assurance that a Fund’s use of leverage will result in a higher yield on its common shares, and it may result in losses. Leverage creates several major types of risks for a Fund’s common shareholders, including: (1) the likelihood of greater volatility of NAV and market price of the Fund’s common shares, and of the investment return to the Fund’s common shareholders, than a comparable portfolio without leverage; (2) the possibility either that the Fund’s common share dividends will fall if the interest and other costs of leverage rise, or that dividends paid on the Fund’s common shares will fluctuate because such costs vary over time; and (3) the effects of leverage in a declining market or a rising interest rate environment, as leverage is likely to cause a greater decline in the NAV of the Fund’s common shares than if the Fund were not leveraged and may result in a greater decline in the market value of the Fund’s common shares.

 

A Fund’s investments in and exposure to foreign securities involve special risks. For example, the value of these investments may decline in response to unfavorable political and legal developments, unreliable or untimely information or economic and financial instability. Foreign securities may experience more rapid and extreme changes in value than investments in securities of U.S. issuers. The securities markets of certain foreign countries are relatively small, with a limited number of companies representing a small number of industries. Issuers of foreign securities are usually not subject to the same degree of regulation as U.S. issuers. Reporting, accounting, auditing and custody standards of foreign countries differ, in some cases significantly, from U.S. standards. Also, nationalization, expropriation or other confiscation, currency blockage, political changes or diplomatic developments could adversely affect a Fund’s investments in foreign securities. In the event of nationalization, expropriation or other confiscation, a Fund could

lose its entire investment in foreign securities. Investing in foreign (non-U.S.) securities may entail risk due to foreign (non-U.S.) economic and political developments; this risk may be increased when investing in emerging markets. For example, if a Fund invests in emerging market debt, it may face increased exposure to interest rate, liquidity, volatility, and redemption risk due to the specific economic, political, geographical, or legal background of the foreign (non-U.S.) issuer.

 

Classifications of the Funds’ portfolio holdings in this report are made according to financial reporting standards. The classification of a particular portfolio holding as shown in the Allocation Breakdown and Schedule of Investments sections of this report may differ from the classification used for the Funds’ compliance calculations, including those used in the Funds’ prospectus, investment objectives, regulatory, and other investment limitations and policies, which may be based on different asset class, sector or geographical classifications. Each Fund is separately monitored for compliance with respect to prospectus and regulatory requirements.

 

The geographical classification of foreign (non-U.S.) securities in this report, if any, are classified by the country of incorporation of a holding. In certain instances, a security’s country of incorporation may be different from its country of economic exposure.

 

Beginning in January 2020, global financial markets have experienced and may continue to experience significant volatility resulting from the spread of a novel coronavirus known as COVID-19. The outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in travel and border restrictions, quarantines, supply chain disruptions, lower consumer demand and general market uncertainty. The effects of COVID-19 have and may continue to adversely affect the global economy, the economies of certain nations and individual issuers, all of which may negatively impact the Funds’ performance. In addition, COVID-19 and governmental responses to COVID-19 may negatively impact the capabilities of the Funds’ service providers and disrupt the Funds’ operations.

 

The United States’ enforcement of restrictions on U.S. investments in certain issuers and tariffs on goods from other countries, each with a focus on China, has contributed to international trade tensions and may impact portfolio securities.

 

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union may impact Fund returns. The withdrawal may cause substantial volatility in foreign exchange markets, lead to weakness in the exchange rate of the British pound, result in a sustained period of market uncertainty, and destabilize some or all of the other European Union member countries and/or the Eurozone.

 

The Funds may invest in certain instruments that rely in some fashion upon the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). LIBOR is an average

 

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interest rate, determined by the ICE Benchmark Administration, that banks charge one another for the use of short-term money. The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, has announced plans to ultimately phase out the use of LIBOR. The transition may result in a reduction in the value of certain instruments held by a Fund or a reduction in the effectiveness of related Fund transactions such as hedges. There remains uncertainty regarding future utilization of LIBOR and the nature of any replacement rate (e.g., the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, which is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR and measures the cost of overnight borrowings through repurchase agreement transactions collateralized with U.S. Treasury securities). Any potential effects of the transition away from LIBOR on a Fund or on certain instruments in which a Fund invests can be difficult to ascertain, and they may vary depending on a variety of factors. The transition may also result in a reduction in the value of certain instruments held by a Fund or a reduction in the effectiveness of related Fund transactions such as hedges. Any such effects of the transition away from LIBOR, as well as other unforeseen effects, could result in losses to a Fund.

 

The Funds may be subject to various risks, including, but not limited to, the following: asset allocation risk, credit risk, distressed and defaulted securities risk, contingent convertible securities risk, high yield securities risk, market risk, issuer risk, liquidity risk, equity securities and related market risk, mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities risk, prepayment risk, privately issued mortgage-related securities risk, mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities risk, foreign (non-U.S.) investment risk, “covenant-lite” obligations risk, subprime risk, emerging markets risk, currency risk, redenomination risk, management risk, inflation-indexed security risk, senior debt risk, loans and other indebtedness; participations and assignments risk, reinvestment risk, real estate risk, U.S. Government securities risk, valuation risk, segregation and coverage risk, focused investment risk, credit default swaps risk, counterparty risk, preferred securities risk, confidential information access risk, other investment companies risk, private placements risk, inflation/deflation risk, regulatory changes risk, regulatory risk — LIBOR, regulatory risk — commodity pool operator, tax risk, market disruptions risk, potential conflicts of interest involving allocation of investment opportunities, repurchase agreements risk, zero-coupon bond, step-ups and payment-in-kind securities risk, portfolio turnover risk, smaller company risk, short sale risk, convertible securities risk, market discount risk, interest rate risk, leverage risk, call risk, derivatives risk, synthetic convertible securities risk, operational risk, cybersecurity risk, structured investments risk, collateralized loan obligations risk, distribution risk and restricted securities risk. A description of certain of these risks is available in the Notes to Financial Statements of this report.

 

Investments in loans through a purchase of a loan or a direct assignment of a financial institution’s interests with respect to a loan

are generally subject to risks similar to those of investments in other types of debt obligations, including, among others, credit risk, interest rate risk, variable and floating rate securities risk, and, as applicable, risks associated with mortgage-related securities. In addition, in many cases loans are subject to the risks associated with below-investment grade securities. In the case of a loan participation or assignment, a Fund generally has no right to enforce compliance with the terms of the loan agreement with the borrower. As a result, a Fund may be subject to the credit risk of both the borrower and the lender that is selling the loan agreement. In the event of the insolvency of the lender selling a loan participation, a Fund may be treated as a general creditor of the lender and may not benefit from any set-off between the lender and the borrower. A Fund may be subject to heightened or additional risks and potential liabilities and costs by investing in mezzanine and other subordinated loans, including those arising under bankruptcy, fraudulent conveyance, equitable subordination, lender liability, environmental and other laws and regulations, and risks and costs associated with debt servicing and taking foreclosure actions associated with the loans.

 

Mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities represent interests in “pools” of mortgages or other assets such as consumer loans or receivables held in trust and often involve risks that are different from or possibly more acute than risks associated with other types of debt instruments. Generally, rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of fixed rate mortgage-related securities, making them more sensitive to changes in interest rates. As a result, in a period of rising interest rates, if a Fund holds mortgage-related securities, it may exhibit additional volatility since individual mortgage holders are less likely to exercise prepayment options, thereby putting additional downward pressure on the value of these securities and potentially causing the Fund to lose money. This is known as extension risk. Mortgage-backed securities can be highly sensitive to rising interest rates, such that even small movements can cause an investing Fund to lose value. Mortgage-backed securities, and in particular those not backed by a government guarantee, are subject to credit risk. In addition, adjustable and fixed rate mortgage-related securities are subject to prepayment risk. When interest rates decline, borrowers may pay off their mortgages sooner than expected. This can reduce the returns of the Funds because the Funds may have to reinvest that money at the lower prevailing interest rates. The Funds’ investments in other asset-backed securities are subject to risks similar to those associated with mortgage-related securities, as well as additional risks associated with the nature of the assets and the servicing of those assets. Payment of principal and interest on asset- backed securities may be largely dependent upon the cash flows generated by the assets backing the securities, and asset-backed securities may not have the benefit of any security interest in the related assets. Additionally, investments in

 

subordinate mortgage-backed and other asset-backed instruments will be subject to risks arising from delinquencies and foreclosures, thereby exposing a Fund’s investment portfolio to potential losses. Subordinate securities of mortgage-backed and other asset-backed instruments are also subject to greater credit risk than those mortgage-backed or other asset-backed securities that are more highly rated.

 

A Fund may also invest in the residual or equity tranches of mortgage- related and other asset-backed instruments, which may be referred to as subordinate mortgage-backed or asset-backed instruments and interest-only mortgage-backed or asset-backed instruments. Because an investment in the residual or equity tranche of a mortgage-related or other asset-backed instrument will be the first to bear losses incurred by such instrument, these investments may involve a significantly greater degree of risk than investments in other tranches of a mortgage-related or other asset-backed instruments.

 

The risk of investing in collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”), include prepayment risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, market risk, structural risk, legal risk and interest rate risk. CLOs may carry additional risks, including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments; (ii) the quality of the collateral may decline in value or default; (iii) the possibility that the investments in CLOs are subordinate to other classes or tranches thereof; and (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and may produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results.

 

High-yield bonds (commonly referred to as “junk bonds”) typically have a lower credit rating than other bonds. Lower-rated bonds generally involve a greater risk to principal than higher-rated bonds. Further, markets for lower-rated bonds are typically less liquid than for higher- rated bonds, and public information is usually less abundant in markets for lower-rated bonds. Thus, high yield investments increase the chance that a Fund will lose money. PIMCO does not rely solely on credit ratings, and develops its own analysis of issuer credit quality. A Fund may purchase unrated securities (which are not rated by a rating agency) if PIMCO determines that the security is of comparable quality to a rated security that a Fund may purchase. Unrated securities may be less liquid than comparable rated securities and involve the risk that PIMCO may not accurately evaluate the security’s comparative credit quality, which could result in a Fund’s portfolio having a higher level of credit and/or high yield risk than PIMCO has estimated or desires for the Fund, and could negatively impact the Fund’s performance and/or returns. Certain Funds may invest a substantial portion of their assets in unrated securities and therefore may be particularly subject to the associated risks. To the extent that a Fund invests in high yield and/or unrated securities, the Fund’s success in achieving its investment objectives may depend more heavily on the portfolio manager’s

creditworthiness analysis than if the Fund invested exclusively in higher-quality and rated securities. The Funds may hold defaulted securities that may involve special considerations including bankruptcy proceedings, other regulatory and legal restrictions affecting the Funds’ ability to trade, and the availability of prices from independent pricing services or dealer quotations. Defaulted obligations might be repaid only after lengthy workout or bankruptcy proceedings, during which the issuer might not make any interest or other payments. Defaulted securities are often illiquid and may not be actively traded. Sales of securities in bankrupt companies at an acceptable price may be difficult and differences compared to the value of the securities used by the Funds could be material. The credit quality of a particular security or group of securities does not ensure the stability or safety of the overall portfolio.

 

Contingent convertible securities (“CoCos”) are a form of hybrid debt security issued primarily by non-U.S. issuers, which have loss absorption mechanisms built into their terms. The risks of investing in CoCos include, without limitation, the risk that interest payments will be cancelled by the issuer or a regulatory authority, the risk of ranking junior to other creditors in the event of a liquidation or other bankruptcy-related event as a result of holding subordinated debt, the risk of the Fund’s investment becoming further subordinated as a result of conversion from debt to equity, the risk that the principal amount due can be written down to a lesser amount, and the general risks applicable to fixed income investments, including interest rate risk, credit risk, market risk and liquidity risk, any of which could result in losses to the Fund. CoCos may experience a loss absorption mechanism trigger event, which would likely be the result of, or related to, the deterioration of the issuer’s financial condition (e.g., a decrease in the issuer’s capital ratio) and status as a going concern. In such a case, with respect to CoCos that provide for conversion into common stock upon the occurrence of the trigger event, the market price of the issuer’s common stock received by the Fund will have likely declined, perhaps substantially, and may continue to decline, which may adversely affect the Fund’s NAV.

 

Variable and floating rate securities may decline in value if their interest rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as interest rates in general. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. Inverse floating rate securities may decrease in value if interest rates increase. Inverse floating rate securities may also exhibit greater price volatility than a fixed rate obligation with similar credit quality. When a Fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease (or, in the case of inverse floating rate securities, an increase) in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the NAV of the Funds’ shares.

 

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As the use of technology has become more prevalent in the course of business, the Funds have become potentially more susceptible to operational and information security risks resulting from breaches in cyber security. A breach in cyber security refers to both intentional and unintentional cyber events that may, among other things, cause a Fund to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption and/or destruction or lose operational capacity, result in the unauthorized release or other misuse of confidential information, or otherwise disrupt normal business operations.

 

Cyber security failures or breaches may result in financial losses to a Fund and its shareholders. These failures or breaches may also result in disruptions to business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses; interference with a Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, process shareholder transactions or otherwise transact business with shareholders; impediments to trading; violations of applicable privacy and other laws; regulatory fines; penalties; reputational damage; reimbursement or other compensation costs; additional compliance and cyber security risk management costs and other adverse consequences. In addition, substantial costs may be incurred in an attempt to prevent any cyber incidents in the future.

 

There is also a risk that cyber security breaches may not be detected. The Funds and their shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result.

 

On each applicable Fund Summary page in this Shareholder Report, the Average Annual Total Return table measures performance assuming that any dividend and capital gain distributions were reinvested. Total return is calculated by determining the percentage change in NAV or market price (as applicable) in the specified period. Returns do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions. Total return for a period of more than one year represents the average annual total return. Performance at market price will differ from results at NAV. Although market price returns tend to reflect investment results over time, during shorter periods returns at market price can also be influenced by factors such as changing views about a Fund, market conditions, supply and demand for the Fund’s shares, or changes in the Fund’s dividends. Performance shown is net of fees and expenses. Historical NAV performance for a Fund may have been positively impacted by fee waivers or expense limitations in place during some or all of the periods shown, if applicable. Future performance (including total return or yield) and distributions may be negatively impacted by the expiration or reduction of any such fee waivers or expense limitations.

 

The dividend rate that a Fund pays on its common shares may vary as portfolio and market conditions change, and will depend on a number of factors, including without limit the amount of a Fund’s undistributed

net investment income and net short- and long-term capital gains, as well as the costs of any leverage obtained by a Fund. As portfolio and market conditions change, the rate of distributions on the common shares and a Fund’s dividend policy could change. There can be no assurance that a change in market conditions or other factors will not result in a change in a Fund distribution rate or that the rate will be sustainable in the future.

 

The following table discloses the inception date and diversification status of each Fund:

 

Fund Name

Inception Date

Diversification Status

PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund

12/27/02

Diversified

PIMCO Corporate & Income Strategy Fund

12/21/01

Diversified

PIMCO High Income Fund

04/30/03

Diversified

PIMCO Income Strategy Fund

08/29/03

Diversified

PIMCO Income Strategy Fund II

10/29/04

Diversified

 

An investment in a Fund is not a bank deposit and is not guaranteed or insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. It is possible to lose money on investments in the Funds.

 

The Trustees are responsible generally for overseeing the management of the Funds. The Trustees authorize the Funds to enter into service agreements with Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (“PIMCO”) and other service providers in order to provide, and in some cases authorize service providers to procure through other parties, necessary or desirable services on behalf of the Funds. Shareholders are not parties to or third-party beneficiaries of such service agreements. Neither a Fund’s prospectus or Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), any press release or shareholder report, any contracts filed as exhibits to a Fund’s registration statement, nor any other communications, disclosure documents or regulatory filings (including this report) from or on behalf of a Fund creates a contract between or among any shareholders of a Fund, on the one hand, and the Fund, a service provider to the Fund, and/or the Trustees or officers of the Fund, on the other hand.

 

The Trustees (or the Funds and their officers, service providers or other delegates acting under authority of the Trustees) may amend its most recent prospectus or use a new prospectus or SAI with respect to a Fund, adopt and disclose new or amended policies and other changes in press releases and shareholder reports and/or amend, file and/or issue any other communications, disclosure documents or regulatory filings, and may amend or enter into any contracts to which a Fund is a party, and interpret the investment objective(s), policies, restrictions and contractual provisions applicable to any Fund, without shareholder input or approval, except in circumstances in which shareholder approval is specifically required by law (such as changes to

 

fundamental investment policies) or where a shareholder approval requirement was specifically disclosed in a Fund’s then-current prospectus, SAI or shareholder report and is otherwise still in effect.

 

PIMCO has adopted written proxy voting policies and procedures (“Proxy Policy”) as required by Rule 206(4)-6 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. The Proxy Policy has been adopted by the Funds as the policies and procedures that PIMCO will use when voting proxies on behalf of the Funds. A description of the policies and procedures that PIMCO uses to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities of each Fund, and information about how each Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities held during the most recent twelve-month period ended July 31st, are available without charge, upon request, by calling the Funds at (844) 33-PIMCO, on the Funds’ website at www.pimco.com, and on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) website at www.sec.gov.

 

The Funds file portfolio holdings information with the SEC on Form N-PORT within 60 days of the end of each fiscal quarter. The Funds’ complete schedules of securities holdings as of the end of each fiscal quarter will be made available to the public on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and on PIMCO’s website at www.pimco.com, and will be made available, upon request, by calling PIMCO at (844) 33-PIMCO.

 

The SEC adopted a rule that allows shareholder reports to be delivered to investors by providing access to such reports online free of charge and by mailing a notice that the report is electronically available. Pursuant to the rule, investors may elect to receive all reports in paper free of charge by contacting their financial intermediary or, if invested directly with a Fund, investors can inform the Fund by calling (844) 33-PIMCO. Any election to receive reports in paper will apply to all funds held with the fund complex if invested directly with a Fund or to all funds held in the investor’s account if invested through a financial intermediary, such as a broker-dealer or bank.

 

In April 2020, the SEC adopted amended rules modifying the registration, communications, and offering processes for registered closed-end funds and interval funds. Among other things, the amendments: (1) permit qualifying closed-end funds to use a short-form registration statement to offer securities in eligible transactions and certain funds to qualify as Well Known Seasoned Issuers; (2) permit interval funds to pay registration fees based on net issuance of shares in a manner similar to mutual funds; (3) require closed-end funds and interval funds to include additional disclosures in their annual reports; and (4) require certain information to be filed in interactive data format. The new rules have phased compliance dates, with some requirements having already taken effect and others requiring compliance as late as February 1, 2023.

In October 2020, the SEC adopted a rule related to the use of derivatives, short sales, reverse repurchase agreements and certain other transactions by registered investment companies that rescinds and withdraws the guidance of the SEC and its staff regarding asset segregation and cover transactions. Subject to certain exceptions, and after an eighteen-month transition period, the rule requires funds to trade derivatives and other transactions that create future payment or delivery obligations (except reverse repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions) subject to a value-at-risk leverage limit, certain derivatives risk management program and reporting requirements. These requirements may limit the ability of the Funds to use derivatives and reverse repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions as part of their investment strategies and may increase the cost of the Funds’ investments and cost of doing business, which could adversely affect investors.

 

In October 2020, the SEC adopted a rule regarding the ability of a fund to invest in other funds. The rule allows a fund to acquire shares of another fund in excess of certain limitations currently imposed by the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Act”) without obtaining individual exemptive relief from the SEC, subject to certain conditions. The rule also includes the rescission of certain exemptive relief from the SEC and guidance from the SEC staff for funds to invest in other funds. The effective date for the rule was January 19, 2021, and the compliance date for the rule was January 19, 2022.

 

In December 2020, the SEC adopted a rule addressing fair valuation of fund investments. The new rule sets forth requirements for good faith determinations of fair value as well as for the performance of fair value determinations, including related oversight and reporting obligations. The new rule also defines “readily available market quotations” for purposes of the definition of “value” under the Act, and the SEC noted that this definition will apply in all contexts under the Act. The SEC adopted an eighteen-month transition period beginning from the effective date for both the new rule and the associated new recordkeeping requirements. The impact of the new rule on the Funds is uncertain at this time.

 

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