In perso n	SEC Public Reference Room Washington, D.C. Call 202-551-8090 for location and hours.
On the Internet	• EDGAR database at sec.gov • By email request at publicinfo@sec.gov
By mail	SEC Public Reference Section Washington, D.C. 20549-1520

Fund Reference	Fund Code
Global Bond Fund
Investor Class	895
Institutional Class	1195
A Class	1395
C Class	1295
R Class	1095

Investment Company Act File No. 811-06441

 

 

American Century Investments americancentury.com
Retail Investors P.O. Box 419200 Kansas City, Missouri 64141-6200 1-800-345-2021 or 816-531-5575	Financial Professionals P.O. Box 419786 Kansas City, Missouri 64141-6786 1-800-345-6488

 

CL-PRS-73997   1201

 

Fund/Class	Ticker Symbol	Inception Date
Global Bond
Investor Class	AGBVX	1/31/2012
Institutional Class	AGBNX	1/31/2012
A Class	AGBAX	1/31/2012
C Class	AGBTX	1/31/2012
R Class	AGBRX	1/31/2012
International Bond
Investor Class	BEGBX	01/07/1992
Institutional Class	AIDIX	08/02/2004
A Class	AIBDX	10/27/1998
C Class	AIQCX	09/28/2007
R Class	AIBRX	09/28/2007

Fund Investments and Risks

Investment Stra tegies and Risks

 

This section describes investment vehicles and techniques the portfolio managers can use in managing a fund’s assets. It also details the risks associated with each, because each investment vehicle and technique contributes to a fund’s overall risk profile.

 

Asset-Backed Securities (ABS)

 

To the extent permitted by its investment objective, each fund may invest in asset-backed securities. ABS are structured like mortgage-backed securities, but instead of mortgage loans or interest in mortgage loans, the underlying assets may include, for example, such items as motor vehicle installment sales or installment loan contracts, leases of various types of real and personal property, home equity loans, student loans, small business loans, and receivables from credit card agreements. The ability of an issuer of asset-backed securities to enforce its security interest in the underlying assets may be limited. The value of an ABS is affected by changes in the market’s perception of the assets backing the security, the creditworthiness of the servicing agent for the loan pool, the originator of the loans, the financial institution providing any credit enhancement, and subordination levels.

 

Payments of principal and interest passed through to holders of ABS are typically supported by some form of credit enhancement, such as a letter of credit, surety bond, limited guarantee by another entity or a priority to certain of the borrower’s other securities. The degree of credit enhancement varies, and generally applies to only a fraction of the asset-backed security’s par value until exhausted. If the credit enhancement of an ABS held by a fund has been exhausted, and if any required payments of principal and interest are not made with respect to the underlying loans, a fund may experience losses or delays in receiving payment.

 

Some types of ABS may be less effective than other types of securities as a means of “locking in” attractive long-term interest rates. One reason is the need to reinvest prepayments of principal; another is the possibility of significant unscheduled prepayments resulting from declines in interest rates. These prepayments would have to be reinvested at lower rates. As a result, these securities may have less potential for capital appreciation during periods of declining interest rates than other securities of comparable maturities, although they may have a similar risk of decline in market value during periods of rising interest rates. Prepayments may also significantly shorten the effective maturities of these securities, especially during periods of declining interest rates. Conversely, during periods of rising interest rates, a reduction in prepayments may increase the effective maturities of these securities, subjecting them to a greater risk of decline in market value in response to rising interest rates than traditional debt securities, and, therefore, potentially increasing the volatility of a fund.

 

The risks of investing in ABS are ultimately dependent upon the repayment of loans by the individual or corporate borrowers. Although a fund would generally have no recourse against the entity that originated the loans in the event of default by a borrower, ABS typically are structured to mitigate this risk of default.

 

ABS are generally issued in more than one class, each with different payment terms. Multiple class ABS may be used as a method of providing credit support through creation of one or more classes whose right to payments is made subordinate to the right to such payments of the remaining class or classes. Multiple classes also may permit the issuance of securities with payment terms, interest rates or other characteristics differing both from those of each other and from those of the underlying assets. Examples include so-called strips (ABS entitling the holder to disproportionate interests with respect to the allocation of interest and principal of the assets backing the security), and securities with classes having characteristics such as floating interest rates or scheduled amortization of principal.

 

 

4

---

 

 

Commercial Paper

 

The funds may invest in commercial paper (CP) that is issued by utility, financial, and industrial companies, supranational organizations and foreign governments and their agencies and instrumentalities. Rating agencies assign ratings to CP issuers indicating the agencies’ assessment of credit risk. Investment-grade CP ratings assigned by three rating agencies are provided in the following table.

 

	Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.	Standard & Poor’s	Fitch Investors Service, Inc.
Highest Ratings	Prime-1	A-1/A-1+	F-1/F-1+
	Prime-2	A-2	F-2
	Prime-3	A-3	F-3

 

Some examples of CP and CP issuers are provided in the following paragraphs.

 

Domestic CP is issued by U.S. industrial and finance companies, utility companies, thrifts and bank holding companies. Foreign CP is issued by non-U.S. industrial and finance companies and financial institutions. Domestic and foreign corporate issuers occasionally have the underlying support of a well-known, highly rated commercial bank or insurance company. Bank support is provided in the form of a letter of credit (an LOC) or irrevocable revolving credit commitment (an IRC). Insurance support is provided in the form of a surety bond.

 

Bank holding company CP is issued by the holding companies of many well-known domestic banks, including Citicorp, J.P. Morgan Chase & Company and First Union National Bank. Bank holding company CP may be issued by the parent of a money center or regional bank.

 

Thrift CP is issued by major federal- or state-chartered savings and loan associations and savings banks.

 

Schedule B Bank CP is short-term, U.S. dollar-denominated CP issued by Canadian subsidiaries of non-Canadian banks (Schedule B banks). Whether issued as CP, a certificate of deposit or a promissory note, each instrument issued by a Schedule B bank ranks equally with any other deposit obligation. CP issued by Schedule B banks provides an investor with the comfort and reduced risk of a direct and unconditional parental bank guarantee. Schedule B instruments generally offer higher rates than the short-term instruments of the parent bank or holding company.

 

Asset-backed CP is issued by corporations through special programs. In a typical program, a special purpose corporation (SPC), created and/or serviced by a bank or other financial institution, uses the proceeds from an issuance of CP to purchase receivables or other financial assets from one or more corporations (sellers). The sellers transfer their interest in the receivables or other financial assets to the SPC, and the cash flow from the receivables or other financial assets is used to pay interest and principal on the CP. Letters of credit or other forms of credit enhancement may be available to cover the risk that the cash flow from the receivables or other financial assets will not be sufficient to cover the maturing CP.

 

Derivative Securities

 

To the extent permitted by its investment objectives and policies, a fund may invest in securities that are commonly referred to as derivative securities. Generally, a derivative security is a financial arrangement, the value of which is based on, or derived from, a traditional security, asset, or market index.

 

Certain derivative securities may be described as structured investments. A structured investment is a security whose value or performance is linked to an underlying index or other security or asset class. Structured investments include asset-backed securities (ABS), commercial and residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS and CMBS), and collateralized mortgage obligations (CMO), which are described more fully herein. Structured investments also include securities backed by other types of collateral. Structured investments involve the transfer of specified financial assets to a special purpose entity, generally a corporation or trust, or the deposit of financial assets with a custodian; and the issuance of securities or depositary receipts backed by, or representing interests in, those assets.

 

 

5

---

 

 

Some structured investments are individually negotiated agreements or are traded over the counter. Structured investments may be organized and operated to restructure the investment characteristics of the underlying security. The cash flow on the underlying instruments may be apportioned among the newly issued structured securities to create securities with different investment characteristics, such as varying maturities, payment priorities and interest rate provisions, and the extent of such payments made with respect to structured securities is dependent on the extent of the cash flow on the underlying instruments. Because structured securities typically involve no credit enhancement, their credit risk generally will be equivalent to that of the underlying instruments. Structured securities are subject to such risks as the inability or unwillingness of the issuers of the underlying securities to repay principal and interest, and requests by the issuers of the underlying securities to reschedule or restructure outstanding debt and to extend additional loan amounts.

 

Some derivative securities, such as mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities, are in many respects like any other investment, although they may be more volatile or less liquid than more traditional debt securities.

 

There are many different types of derivative securities and many different ways to use them. Futures and options are commonly used for traditional hedging purposes to attempt to protect a fund from exposure to changing interest rates, securities prices or currency exchange rates, and for cash management purposes as a low-cost method of gaining exposure to a particular securities market without investing directly in those securities.

 

The return on a derivative security may increase or decrease, depending upon changes in the reference index or instrument to which it relates.

 

There is a range of risks associated with investments in derivative securities, including:

 

•	the risk that the underlying security, interest rate, market index or other financial asset will not move in the direction the portfolio managers anticipate or that the value of the structured or derivative security will not move or react to changes in the underlying security, interest rate, market index or other financial asset as anticipated;
•	the possibility that there may be no liquid secondary market, or the possibility that price fluctuation limits may be imposed by the exchange, either of which may make it difficult or impossible to close out a position when desired;
•	the risk that adverse price movements in an instrument can result in a loss substantially greater than a fund’s initial investment;
•	the risk that a fund will have an obligation to deliver securities or currency pursuant to a derivatives transaction that such fund does not own at the inception of the derivatives trade;
•	the risk that the counterparty will fail to perform its obligations; and
•	the risk that a fund will be subject to higher volatility because some derivative securities create leverage.

 

A fund may not invest in a derivative security if its credit, interest rate, liquidity, counterparty and other risks associated with ownership of the security are outside acceptable limits set forth in the fund’s prospectus. The funds’ Board of Trustees has reviewed the advisor’s policy regarding investments in derivative securities. That policy specifies factors that must be considered in connection with a purchase of derivative securities and provides that a fund may not invest in a derivative security if it would be possible for a fund to lose more money than the notional value of the investment. The policy also establishes a committee that must review certain proposed purchases before the purchases can be made. The advisor will report on fund activity in derivative securities to the Board of Trustees as necessary.

 

Foreign Currency Exchange Transactions

 

Each fund expects to exchange dollars for its underlying currencies, and vice versa, in the normal course of managing the fund’s underlying investments. The advisor does not expect that a fund will hold currency that is not earning income on a regular basis, although a fund may do so temporarily when suitable investments are not available. A fund may purchase and sell currencies on a spot basis (i.e., for prompt delivery and settlement), or by entering into forward currency exchange contracts (also called forward contracts) or other contracts to purchase and sell currencies for settlement at a future date. A fund will incur costs in converting assets from one currency to another. Foreign exchange dealers may charge a fee for conversion; in addition, they realize a profit based on the difference (i.e., the spread) between the prices at which they buy and sell various currencies in the spot and forward markets. Thus, a dealer may offer to sell a foreign currency to a fund at one rate and repurchase it at a lesser rate should the fund desire to resell the currency to the dealer.

 

 

6

---

 

 

Each fund may use foreign currency forward contracts to enhance returns by increasing exposure to a foreign currency, or by shifting exposure to the fluctuations in the value of foreign currencies from one foreign currency to another foreign currency. Open positions in forwards used for non-hedging purposes will be covered by the segregation of liquid assets, marked to market daily. Forward contracts are agreements to exchange a specific amount of one currency for a specified amount of another at a future date. The date may be any agreed fixed number of days in the future. The amount of currency to be exchanged, the price at which the exchange will take place, and the date of the exchange are negotiated when a fund enters into the contract and are fixed for the term of the contract. Forward contracts are traded in an interbank market conducted directly between currency traders (usually large commercial banks) and their customers. A forward contract generally has no deposit requirement and is consummated without payment of any commission. However, a fund may enter into forward contracts with deposit requirements or commissions.

 

At the maturity of a forward contract, a fund may complete the contract by paying for and receiving the underlying currency, or may seek to roll forward its contractual obligation by entering into an offsetting transaction with the same currency trader and paying or receiving the difference between the contractual exchange rate and the current exchange rate. A fund also may be able to enter into an offsetting contract prior to the maturity of the underlying contract. This practice is sometimes referred to as “cross hedging” and may be employed if, for example, the advisor believes that one foreign currency (in which a portion of a fund’s foreign currency holdings are denominated) will change in value relative to the U.S. dollar differently than another foreign currency. There is no assurance that offsetting transactions, or new forward contracts, will always be available to a fund.

 

Investors should realize that the use of forward contracts does not eliminate fluctuations in the underlying prices of the securities. Such contracts simply establish a rate of exchange that the fund can achieve at some future point in time. Additionally, although such contracts tend to minimize the risk of loss due to fluctuations in the value of the hedged currency when used as a hedge against foreign currency declines, at the same time they tend to limit any potential gain that might result from the change in the value of such currency.

 

Because investments in, and redemptions from, a fund will be in U.S. dollars, the advisor expects that a fund’s normal investment activity will involve a significant amount of currency exchange. For example, a fund may exchange its underlying foreign currencies for U.S. dollars in order to meet shareholder redemption requests or to pay expenses. These transactions may be executed in the spot or forward markets.

 

In addition, a fund may combine forward transactions in its underlying currency with investments in U.S. dollar-denominated instruments, in an attempt to construct an investment position whose overall performance will be similar to that of a security denominated in its underlying currency. If the amount of dollars to be exchanged is properly matched with the anticipated value of the dollar-denominated securities, a fund should be able to lock in the foreign currency value of the securities, and the fund’s overall investment return from the combined position should be similar to the return from purchasing a foreign currency-denominated instrument. This is sometimes referred to as a synthetic investment position or a position hedge.

 

The execution of a synthetic investment position may not be successful. It is impossible to forecast with absolute precision what the market value of a particular security will be at any given time. If the value of a dollar-denominated security is not exactly matched with a fund’s obligation under the forward contract on the contract’s maturity date, a fund may be exposed to some risk of loss from fluctuation of the dollar. Although the advisor will attempt to hold such mismatchings to a minimum, there can be no assurance that the advisor will be successful in doing so.

 

The funds may also invest in nondeliverable forward (NDF) currency transactions. An NDF is a transaction that represents an agreement between the fund and a counterparty to buy or sell a specified amount of a particular currency at an agreed upon foreign exchange rate on a future date. Unlike other currency transactions, there is no physical delivery of the currency on the settlement of an NDF transaction. Rather, the fund and the counterparty agree to net the settlement by making a payment in U.S. dollars or another fully convertible currency that represents any difference between the foreign exchange rate agreed upon at the inception of the NDF agreement and the actual exchange rate on the agreed upon future date. The funds may use an NDF contract to gain exposure to foreign currencies that are not internationally traded or if the markets for such currencies are heavily regulated or highly taxed. When currency exchange rates do not move as anticipated, a fund could sustain losses on the NDF transaction. This risk is heightened when the transactions involve currencies of emerging market countries. Additionally, in certain less developed countries or with respect to certain currencies, some of these contracts may be relatively liquid.

 

 

7

---

 

 

Foreign Securities

 

Investments in foreign securities may present certain risks, including:

 

Currency Risk – The value of the foreign investments held by a fund may be significantly affected by changes in currency exchange rates. The dollar value of a foreign security generally decreases when the value of the dollar rises against the foreign currency in which the security is denominated, and tends to increase when the value of the dollar falls against such currency. In addition, the value of fund assets may be affected by losses and other expenses incurred in converting between various currencies in order to purchase and sell foreign securities, and by currency restrictions, exchange control regulation, currency devaluations and political developments. Please see Currency Management on page 3 for more information.

 

Social, Political and Economic Risk – The economies of many of the countries in which each fund invests are not as developed as the economy of the United States and may be subject to significantly different forces. Political or social instability, expropriation, nationalization, confiscatory taxation and limitations on the removal of funds or other assets also could adversely affect the value of investments. Further, a fund may find it difficult or be unable to enforce ownership rights, pursue legal remedies or obtain judgments in foreign courts.

 

Regulatory Risk – Foreign companies generally are not subject to the regulatory controls imposed on U.S. issuers and, in general, there is less publicly available information about foreign securities than is available about domestic securities. Many foreign companies are not subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, practices and requirements comparable to those applicable to domestic companies and there may be less stringent investor protection and disclosure standards in some foreign markets. Income from foreign securities owned by a fund may be reduced by a withholding tax at the source, which would reduce dividend income payable to shareholders.

 

Market and Trading Risk – Brokerage commission rates in foreign countries, which generally are fixed rather than subject to negotiation as in the United States, are likely to be higher. The securities markets in many of the countries in which a fund invests will have substantially less trading volume than the principal U.S. markets. As a result, the securities of some companies in these countries may be less liquid, more volatile and harder to value than comparable U.S. securities. Furthermore, one securities broker may represent all or a significant part of the trading volume in a particular country, resulting in higher trading costs and decreased liquidity due to a lack of alternative trading partners. There generally is less government regulation and supervision of foreign stock exchanges, brokers and issuers, which may make it difficult to enforce contractual obligations.

 

Clearance and Settlement Risk – Foreign securities markets also have different clearance and settlement procedures, and in certain markets there have been times when settlements have been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, making it difficult to conduct such transactions. Delays in clearance and settlement could result in temporary periods when assets of a fund are uninvested and no return is earned. The inability of a fund to make intended security purchases due to clearance and settlement problems could cause the fund to miss attractive investment opportunities. Inability to dispose of portfolio securities due to clearance and settlement problems could result either in losses to the fund due to subsequent declines in the value of the portfolio security or, if a fund has entered into a contract to sell the security, liability to the purchaser.

 

Ownership Risk – Evidence of securities ownership may be uncertain in many foreign countries. As a result, there is a risk that a fund’s trade details could be incorrectly or fraudulently entered at the time of the transaction, resulting in a loss to the fund.

 

Emerging Markets Risk – The funds may invest their holdings in securities of issuers located in emerging market (developing) countries. Investing in securities of issuers in emerging market countries involves exposure to significantly higher risk than investing in countries with developed markets. Emerging market countries may have economic structures that generally are less diverse and mature, and political systems that can be expected to be less stable than those of developed countries. Securities prices in emerging market countries can be significantly more volatile than in developed countries, reflecting the greater uncertainties of investing in lesser developed markets and economies. In particular, emerging market countries may have relatively unstable governments, and may present the risk of nationalization of businesses, expropriation, confiscatory taxation or in certain instances, reversion to closed-market, centrally planned economies. Such countries may also have less protection of property rights than developed countries.

 

 

8

---

 

 

The economies of emerging market countries may be based predominantly on only a few industries or may be dependent on revenues from particular commodities or on international aid or developmental assistance, may be highly vulnerable to changes in local or global trade conditions, and may suffer from extreme and volatile debt burdens or inflation rates. In addition, securities markets in emerging market countries may trade a relatively small number of securities and may be unable to respond effectively to increases in trading volume, potentially resulting in a lack of liquidity and in volatility in the price of securities traded on those markets. Also, securities markets in emerging market countries typically offer less regulatory protection for investors.

Risk of Focusing Investment on Region or Country

 

Investing a significant portion of assets in one country or region makes a fund more dependent upon the political and economic circumstances of that particular country or region.

 

Eurozone Investment Risk – The recent global economic crisis brought several small economies in Europe to the brink of bankruptcy and many other economies into recession and weakened the banking and financial sector of many European countries. For example, the governments of Greece, Spain, Portugal and the Republic of Ireland have all recently experienced large public budget deficits, the effects of which are still unknown and may slow the overall recovery of the European economies from the recent global economic crisis. In addition, due to large public deficits, some European countries may be dependent on assistance from other European governments and institutions or agencies. Assistance may be dependent on a country’s implementation of reforms or reaching a certain level of performance. Failure to reach those objectives or an insufficient level of assistance could result in an economic downturn that could significantly affect the value of the fund’s European investments.

 

The Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union (EMU) is comprised of the European Union members that have adopted the euro currency. By adopting the euro as its currency, a member state relinquishes control of its own monetary policies. As a result, European countries are significantly affected by fiscal and monetary controls implemented by the EMU. The euro currency may not fully reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the various economies that comprise the EMU and Europe generally. One or more countries could depart from the EU, which could further weaken the EMU and, by extension, its remaining members.

 

Japanese Investment Risk – Each fund may invest in securities offered by Japanese issuers. The value of such securities may be significantly affected by economic, political and regulatory developments in Japan. The Japanese government contends with persistent economic problems, including deflation, a banking system that has suffered from non-performing loans, and tax laws that dampen growth. Other factors having a negative impact include a heavy government budget deficit and low interest rates.

 

The Japanese economy lacks diversification, relying heavily on a small number of industries, including the electronic machinery sector. Japan is relatively poor in natural resources, and so it is dependent on imports, especially in the agricultural sector. It also relies on international trade to procure commodities needed for its strong heavy industrial sector, and therefore it is vulnerable to fluctuations in commodity prices. Japan has a high volume of exports, partly due to the government’s protectionist policies, which have caused tension with Japan’s trading partners, including the United States.

 

Generally, Japanese corporations are required to provide less disclosure than that required by U.S. law and accounting practice. Japanese accounting and auditing practices differ significantly from U.S. standards in specific areas, including regarding unconsolidated subsidiaries and related structures.

 

United Kingdom Investment Risk – Each fund may invest in securities offered by United Kingdom issuers including government and government related entities. A fund may also own exposure to the foreign exchange rate of the British Pound. The sovereign risks associated with the United Kingdom are currently considered to be low. However, in recent years a rise in the fiscal deficit, a deterioration in the United Kingdom’s debt to GDP ratio and exposure to contingent liabilities to the United Kingdom banking sector have increased government and United Kingdom related investment risks. The United Kingdom government currently owns substantial stakes in two of the largest banking groups in the country, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc and Lloyds Banking Group plc.

 

 

9

---

 

 

The United Kingdom government has implemented plans to reduce the deficit and reduce government debt levels, but these plans remain reliant on moderate economic growth at a time of increasing challenges. The accommodative monetary environment has reduced the measures at the United Kingdom’s disposal to help support economic activity. The high level of household and corporate debt pose potential structural risks to United Kingdom related investments. The gradual recovery of the UK banking sector from the 2008 financial crisis also remains fragile in the face of potential recessionary economic conditions and due to international exposures, in particular to weaker Eurozone countries.

 

The United Kingdom has a high value-added and diversified economy, robust institutions, a transparent and broadly consensual political process and financial flexibility. The United Kingdom also has a good historical track record of relatively stable regulatory and taxation regimes. However, risks remain that the economy cannot grow as planned due to a fall in global demand and economic activity, government austerity plans and constrained private consumption and investment. General political risk also remains inherent to country risk. In addition, significant risks remain within the banking sector. These factors, amongst others, may negatively impact the United Kingdom economy and specific United Kingdom investments which in turn could have a significant negative impact on United Kingdom related securities and the foreign exchange rate of the British Pound.

 

Futures and O ptions

 

Each fund may enter into futures contracts, options or options on futures contracts. Futures contracts provide for the sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specific security at a specified future time and price. Generally, futures transactions will be used to:

 

•	protect against a decline in market value of a fund’s securities (taking a short futures position),
•	protect against the risk of an increase in market value for securities in which a fund generally invests at a time when the fund is not fully-invested (taking a long futures position), or
•	provide a temporary substitute for the purchase of an individual security that may not be purchased in an orderly fashion.

 

Some futures and options strategies, such as selling futures, buying puts and writing calls, hedge the fund’s investments against price fluctuations. Other strategies, such as buying futures, writing puts and buying calls, tend to increase market exposure.

 

Although other techniques may be used to control a fund’s exposure to market fluctuations, the use of futures contracts may be a more effective means of hedging this exposure. While a fund pays brokerage commissions in connection with opening and closing out futures positions, these costs are lower than the transaction costs incurred in the purchase and sale of the underlying securities.

 

For example, the sale of a future by a fund means a fund becomes obligated to deliver the security (or securities, in the case of an index future) at a specified price on a specified date. The purchase of a future means a fund becomes obligated to buy the security (or securities) at a specified price on a specified date. The portfolio manager may engage in futures and options transactions based on securities indices provided that the transactions are consistent with a fund’s investment objectives. Examples of indices that may be used include the Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australasia, Far East Index (MSCI EAFE) and Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Markets Free Index (MSCI EMF). The portfolio manager also may engage in futures and options transactions based on specific securities, such as U.S. Treasury bonds or notes. Futures contracts are traded on national futures exchanges. Domestic futures exchanges and trading are regulated under the Commodity Exchange Act by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a U.S. government agency.

 

Index futures contracts differ from traditional futures contracts in that when delivery takes place, no stocks or bonds change hands. Instead, these contracts settle in cash at the spot market value of the index. Although other types of futures contracts by their terms call for actual delivery or acceptance of the underlying securities, in most cases the contracts are closed out before the settlement date. A futures position may be closed by taking an opposite position in an identical contract (i.e., buying a contract that has previously been sold or selling a contract that has previously been bought).

 

 

10

---

 

 

Unlike when a fund purchases or sells a bond, no price is paid or received by a fund upon the purchase or sale of the future. Initially, a fund will be required to deposit an amount of cash or securities equal to a varying specified percentage of the contract amount. This amount is known as initial margin. The margin deposit is intended to ensure completion of the contract (delivery or acceptance of the underlying security) if it is not terminated prior to the specified delivery date. A margin deposit does not constitute a margin transaction for purposes of a fund’s investment restrictions. Minimum initial margin requirements are established by the futures exchanges and may be revised. In addition, brokers may establish margin deposit requirements that are higher than the exchange minimums. Cash held in the margin accounts generally is not income-producing. However, coupon bearing securities, such as Treasury bills and bonds, held in margin accounts generally will earn income. Subsequent payments to and from the broker, called variation margin, will be made on a daily basis as the price of the underlying debt securities or index fluctuates, making the future more or less valuable, a process known as marking the contract to market. Changes in variation margin are recorded by a fund as unrealized gains or losses.

 

At any time prior to expiration of the future, a fund may elect to close the position by taking an opposite position. A final determination of variation margin is then made; additional cash is required to be paid by or released to a fund and that fund realizes a loss or gain.

 

Purchasing Put and Call Options

 

By purchasing a put option, a fund obtains the right (but not the obligation) to sell the option’s underlying instrument at a fixed strike price. In return for this right, a fund pays the current market price for the option (known as the option premium). Options have various types of underlying instruments, including specific securities, indices of securities prices, and futures contracts. A fund may terminate its position in a put option it has purchased by allowing it to expire or by exercising the option. If the option is allowed to expire, a fund will lose the entire premium it paid. If a fund exercises the option, it completes the sale of the underlying instrument at the strike price. A fund also may terminate a put option position by closing it out in the secondary market at its current price if a liquid secondary market exists.

 

The buyer of a typical put option can expect to realize a gain if security prices fall substantially. However, if the underlying instrument’s price does not fall enough to offset the cost of purchasing the option, a put buyer can expect to suffer a loss (limited to the amount of the premium paid, plus related transaction costs).

 

The features of call options are essentially the same as those of put options, except that the purchaser of a call option obtains the right to purchase, rather than sell, the underlying instrument at the option’s strike price. A call buyer typically attempts to participate in potential price increases of the underlying instrument with risk limited to the cost of the option if security prices fall. At the same time, the buyer can expect to suffer a loss if security prices do not rise sufficiently to offset the cost of the option.

 

Writing Put and Call Options

 

If a fund writes a put option, it takes the opposite side of the transaction from the option’s purchaser. In return for receipt of the premium, a fund assumes the obligation to pay the strike price for the option’s underlying instrument if the other party chooses to exercise the option. When writing an option on a futures contract, a fund will be required to make margin payments to a broker or custodian as described above for futures contracts. A fund may seek to terminate its position in a put option it writes before exercise by closing out the option in the secondary market at its current price. However, if the secondary market is not liquid for a put option a fund has written, the fund must continue to be prepared to pay the strike price while the option is outstanding, regardless of price changes, and must continue to set aside assets to cover its position.

 

If security prices rise, a put writer would generally expect to profit, although the gain would be limited to the amount of the premium received. If security prices remain the same over time, the writer also would likely profit by being able to close out the option at a lower price. If security prices fall, the put writer would expect to suffer a loss. This loss should be less than the loss from purchasing the underlying instrument directly, however, because the premium received for writing the option should mitigate the effects of the decline.

 

Writing a call option obligates a fund to sell or deliver the option’s underlying instrument in return for the strike price upon exercise of the option. The characteristics of writing call options are similar to those of writing put options, except that writing calls generally is a profitable strategy if prices remain the same or fall. Through receipt of the option premium, a call writer mitigates the effects of a price decline. At the same time, because a call writer must be prepared to deliver the underlying instrument in return for the strike price even if its current value is greater, a call writer gives up some ability to participate in security price increases.

 

 

11

---

 

 

Combined Positions

 

A fund may purchase and write options in combination with one another, or in combination with futures or forward contracts, to adjust the risk and return characteristics of the overall position. For example, a fund may purchase a put option and write a call option on the same underlying instrument to construct a combined position whose risk and return characteristics are similar to selling a futures contract. Another possible combined position would involve writing a call option at one strike price and buying a call option at a lower price to reduce the risk of the written call option in the event of a substantial price increase. Because combined options positions involve multiple trades, they result in higher transaction costs and may be more difficult to open and close out.

 

Over-the-Counter Options

 

Unlike exchange-traded options, which are standardized with respect to the underlying instrument, expiration date, contract size, and strike price, the terms of over-the-counter (OTC) options (options not traded on exchanges) generally are established through negotiation with the other party to the option contract. While this type of arrangement allows the fund greater flexibility to tailor an option to its needs, OTC options generally involve greater credit risk than exchange-traded options, which are guaranteed by the clearing organizations of the exchanges where they are traded. The risk of illiquidity also is greater with OTC options because these options generally can be closed out only by negotiation with the other party to the option.

 

Risks Related to Futures and Options Transactions

 

Futures and options prices can be volatile, and trading in these markets involves certain risks. If the portfolio manager applies a hedge at an inappropriate time or judges interest rate trends incorrectly, futures and options strategies may lower a fund’s return.

 

A fund could suffer losses if it is unable to close out its position because of an illiquid secondary market. Futures contracts may be closed out only on an exchange that provides a secondary market for these contracts, and there is no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for any particular futures contract at any particular time. Consequently, it may not be possible to close a futures position when the portfolio manager considers it appropriate or desirable to do so. In the event of adverse price movements, a fund would be required to continue making daily cash payments to maintain its required margin. If a fund had insufficient cash, it might have to sell portfolio securities to meet daily margin requirements at a time when the portfolio manager would not otherwise elect to do so. In addition, a fund may be required to deliver or take delivery of instruments underlying futures contracts it holds. The portfolio manager will seek to minimize these risks by limiting the futures contracts entered into on behalf of a fund to those traded on national futures exchanges and for which there appears to be a liquid secondary market.

 

A fund could suffer losses if the prices of its futures and options positions were poorly correlated with its other investments, or if securities underlying futures contracts purchased by a fund had different maturities than those of the portfolio securities being hedged. Such imperfect correlation may give rise to circumstances in which a fund loses money on a futures contract at the same time that it experiences a decline in the value of its hedged portfolio securities. A fund also could lose margin payments it has deposited with a margin broker if, for example, the broker became bankrupt.

 

Most futures exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount that the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price at the end of the trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond the limit. However, the daily limit governs only price movement during a particular trading day and, therefore, does not limit potential losses. In addition, the daily limit may prevent liquidation of unfavorable positions. Futures contract prices have occasionally moved to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting some futures traders to substantial losses.

 

Options on Futures

 

By purchasing an option on a futures contract, a fund obtains the right, but not the obligation, to sell the futures contract (a put option) or to buy the contract (a call option) at a fixed strike price. A fund can terminate its position in a put option by allowing it to expire or by exercising the option. If the option is exercised, a fund completes the sale of the underlying security at the strike price. Purchasing an option on a futures contract does not require a fund to make margin payments unless the option is exercised.

 

 

12

---

 

 

Correlation of Price Changes

 

Because there are a limited number of types of exchange-traded futures and options contracts, it is likely that the standardized contracts available will not match a fund’s current or anticipated investments exactly. A fund may invest in futures and options contracts based on securities with different issuers, maturities, or other characteristics from the securities in which it typically invests (for example, by hedging intermediate-term securities with a futures contract based on an index of long-term bond prices); this involves a risk that the futures position will not track the performance of a fund’s other investments.

 

Options and futures prices can diverge from the prices of their underlying instruments even if the underlying instruments correlate well with a fund’s investments. Options and futures prices are affected by factors such as current and anticipated short-term interest rates, changes in volatility of the underlying instrument, and the time remaining until expiration of the contract, which may not affect security prices the same way. Imperfect correlation also may result from differing levels of demand in the options and futures markets and securities markets, from structural differences in how options and futures and securities are traded, or from the imposition of daily price fluctuation limits or trading halts. A fund may purchase or sell options and futures contracts with a greater or lesser value than the securities it wishes to hedge or intends to purchase in an effort to compensate for differences in volatility between the contract and the securities, although this may not be successful in all cases. If price changes in a fund’s options or futures positions are poorly correlated with its other investments, the positions may fail to produce anticipated gains or result in losses that are not offset by gains in other investments.

 

Futures and Options Contracts Relating to Foreign Currencies

 

A fund may purchase and sell currency futures and purchase and write currency options to increase or decrease its exposure to different foreign currencies. A fund also may purchase and write currency options in connection with currency futures or forward contracts.

 

Currency futures contracts are similar to forward currency exchange contracts, except that they are traded on exchanges and have standard contract sizes and delivery dates. Most currency futures contracts call for payment or delivery in U.S. dollars.

 

The uses and risks of currency futures are similar to those of futures relating to securities or indices, as described above. Currency futures values can be expected to correlate with exchange rates but may not reflect other factors that affect the value of a fund’s investments. A currency hedge, for example, should protect a German-mark-denominated security from a decline in the German mark, but it will not protect a fund against a price decline resulting from a deterioration in the issuer’s creditworthiness.

 

Liquidity of Futures Contracts and Options

 

There is no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for any particular futures contract or option at any particular time. Options may have relatively low trading volume and liquidity if their strike prices are not close to the underlying instrument’s current price. In addition, exchanges may establish daily price fluctuation limits for futures contracts and options and may halt trading if a contract’s price moves upward or downward more than the limit on a given day. On volatile trading days when the price fluctuation limit is reached or a trading halt is imposed, it may be impossible for a fund to enter into new positions or close out existing positions. If the secondary market for a contract was not liquid, because of price fluctuation limits or otherwise, prompt liquidation of unfavorable positions could be difficult or impossible, and a fund could be required to continue holding a position until delivery or expiration regardless of changes in its value. Under these circumstances, a fund’s access to assets held to cover its future positions also could be impaired.

 

Futures and options trading on foreign exchanges may not be regulated as effectively as similar transactions in the U.S. and may not involve clearing mechanisms or guarantees similar to those available in the U.S. The value of a futures contract or option traded on a foreign exchange may be adversely affected by the imposition of different exercise and settlement terms, trading procedures, margin requirements and lesser trading volume.

 

 

13

---

 

 

Restrictions on the Use of Futures Contracts and Options

 

A fund may enter into futures contracts, options or options on futures contracts as permitted under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission rules. A fund has claimed exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act and, therefore, is not subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator under that Act. To the extent required by law, a fund will segregate cash, cash equivalents or other appropriate liquid securities on its records in an amount sufficient to cover its obligations under the futures contracts and options.

 

Loans of Portfolio Securities

 

In order to realize additional income, a fund may lend its portfolio securities. Such loans may not exceed one-third of a fund’s total assets valued at market, however, this limitation does not apply to purchases of debt securities in accordance with a fund’s investment objectives, policies and limitations, or to repurchase agreements with respect to portfolio securities.

 

Cash received from the borrower as collateral through loan transactions may be invested in other eligible securities. Investing this cash subjects that investment to market appreciation or depreciation. If a borrower defaults on a securities loan because of insolvency or other reasons, the lending fund could experience delays or costs in recovering the securities it loaned; if the value of the loaned securities increased over the value of the collateral, a fund could suffer a loss. To minimize the risk of default on securities loans, the advisor adheres to guidelines prescribed by the Board of Trustees governing lending of securities. These guidelines strictly govern:

 

•	the type and amount of collateral that must be received by the fund;
•	the circumstances under which additions to that collateral must be made by borrowers;
•	the return to be received by the fund on the loaned securities;
•	the limitations on the percentage of fund assets on loan; and
•	the credit standards applied in evaluating potential borrowers of portfolio securities.

 

In addition, the guidelines require that the fund have the option to terminate any loan of a portfolio security at any time and set requirements for recovery of securities from borrowers.

 

Mortgage-Related Securities

 

To the extent permitted by its investment objective, a fund may invest in mortgage-related securities.

 

Background

 

A mortgage-backed security represents an ownership interest in a pool of mortgage loans. The loans are made by financial institutions to finance home and other real estate purchases. As the loans are repaid, investors receive payments of both interest and principal.

 

Like fixed-income securities, mortgage-backed securities pay a stated rate of interest during the life of the security. However, unlike a bond, which returns principal to the investor in one lump sum at maturity, mortgage-backed securities return principal to the investor in increments during the life of the security.

 

Because the timing and speed of principal repayments vary, the cash flow on mortgage-backed securities is irregular. If mortgage holders sell their homes, refinance their loans, prepay their mortgages or default on their loans, the principal is distributed pro rata to investors.

 

As with other fixed-income securities, the prices of mortgage-backed securities fluctuate in response to changing interest rates; when interest rates fall, the prices of mortgage-backed securities rise, and vice versa. Changing interest rates have additional significance for mortgage-backed securities investors, however, because they influence prepayment rates (the rates at which mortgage holders prepay their mortgages), which in turn affect the yields on mortgage-backed securities. When interest rates decline, prepayment rates generally increase. Mortgage holders take advantage of the opportunity to refinance their mortgages at lower rates with lower monthly payments. When interest rates rise, mortgage holders are less inclined to refinance their mortgages. The effect of prepayment activity on yield depends on whether the mortgage-backed security was purchased at a premium or at a discount.

 

 

14

---

 

 

A fund may receive principal sooner than it expected because of accelerated prepayments. Under these circumstances, a fund might have to reinvest returned principal at rates lower than it would have earned if principal payments were made on schedule. Conversely, a mortgage-backed security may exceed its anticipated life if prepayment rates decelerate unexpectedly. Under these circumstances, the fund might miss an opportunity to earn interest at higher prevailing rates.

 

A fund may invest in covered bonds or covered mortgages. Covered bonds are securities issued by a bank and backed by a dedicated group of loans known as a cover pool.

 

Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs)

 

A CMO is a multiclass bond backed by a pool of mortgage pass-through certificates or mortgage loans. In structuring a CMO, an issuer distributes cash flow from the underlying collateral over a series of classes called tranches. Each CMO is a set of two or more tranches, with average lives and cash flow patterns designed to meet specific investment objectives. The average life expectancies of the different tranches in a four-part deal, for example, might be two, five, seven and 20 years.

 

As payments on the underlying mortgage loans are collected, the CMO issuer pays the coupon rate of interest to the bondholders in each tranche. At the outset, scheduled and unscheduled principal payments go to investors in the first tranches. Investors in later tranches do not begin receiving principal payments until the prior tranches are paid off. This basic type of CMO is known as a sequential pay or plain vanilla CMO.

 

Some CMOs are structured so that the prepayment or market risks are transferred from one tranche to another. Prepayment stability is improved in some tranches if other tranches absorb more prepayment variability.

 

The final tranche of a CMO often takes the form of a Z-bond, also known as an accrual bond or accretion bond. Holders of these securities receive no cash until the earlier tranches are paid in full. During the period that the other tranches are outstanding, periodic interest payments are added to the initial face amount of the Z-bond but are not paid to investors. When the prior tranches are retired, the Z-bond receives coupon payments on its higher principal balance plus any principal prepayments from the underlying mortgage loans. The existence of a Z-bond tranche helps stabilize cash flow patterns in the other tranches. In a changing interest rate environment, however, the value of the Z-bond tends to be more volatile.

 

As CMOs have evolved, some classes of CMO bonds have become more prevalent. The planned amortization class (PAC) and targeted amortization class (TAC), for example, were designed to reduce prepayment risk by establishing a sinking-fund structure. PAC and TAC bonds assure to varying degrees that investors will receive payments over a predetermined period under various prepayment scenarios. Although PAC and TAC bonds are similar, PAC bonds are better able to provide stable cash flows under various prepayment scenarios than TAC bonds because of the order in which these tranches are paid.

 

The existence of a PAC or TAC tranche can create higher levels of risk for other tranches in the CMO because the stability of the PAC or TAC tranche is achieved by creating at least one other tranche — known as a companion bond, support or non-PAC bond — that absorbs the variability of principal cash flows. Because companion bonds have a high degree of average life variability, they generally pay a higher yield. A TAC bond can have some of the prepayment variability of a companion bond if there is also a PAC bond in the CMO issue.

 

Floating-rate CMO tranches (floaters) pay a variable rate of interest. Institutional investors with short-term liabilities, such as commercial banks, often find floating-rate CMOs attractive investments. Super floaters and inverse floaters are variations on the floater structure that have highly variable cash flows.

 

 

15

---

 

 

Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS)

 

CMBS are securities created from a pool of commercial mortgage loans, such as loans for hotels, shopping centers, office buildings, apartment buildings, and the like. Interest and principal payments from these loans are passed on to the investor according to a particular schedule of payments. The credit quality of CMBS depends primarily on the quality of the underlying loans and on the structure of the particular deal. Generally, deals are structured with senior and subordinate classes. Multiple classes may permit the issuance of securities with payment terms, interest rates, or other characteristics differing both from those of each other and those of the underlying assets. Examples include classes having characteristics such as floating interest rates or scheduled amortization of principal. Rating agencies rate the individual classes of the deal based on the degree of seniority or subordination of a particular class and other factors. The value of these securities may change because of actual or perceived changes in the creditworthiness of individual borrowers, their tenants, the servicing agents, or the general state of commercial real estate and other factors.

 

CMBS may be partially stripped so that each investor class receives some interest and some principal. When securities are completely stripped, however, all of the interest is distributed to holders of one type of security, known as an interest-only security (IO), and all of the principal is distributed to holders of another type of security known as a principal-only security (PO). The funds are permitted to invest in IO classes of CMBS. As interest rates rise and fall, the value of IOs tends to move in the same direction as interest rates. The cash flows and yields on IO classes are extremely sensitive to the rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the related underlying mortgage assets. In the cases of IOs, prepayments affect the amount of cash flows provided to the investor. If the underlying mortgage assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, an investor may fail to fully recoup its initial investment in an IO class of a stripped mortgage-backed security, even if the IO class is rated AAA or Aaa or is derived from a full faith and credit obligation. However, because commercial mortgages are often locked out from prepayment, or have high prepayment penalties or a defeasance mechanism, the prepayment risk associated with a CMBS IO class is generally less than that of a residential IO.

 

Adjustable Rate Mortgage Securities

 

Adjustable rate mortgage securities (ARMs) have interest rates that reset at periodic intervals. Acquiring ARMs permits a fund to participate in increases in prevailing current interest rates through periodic adjustments in the coupons of mortgages underlying the pool on which ARMs are based. In addition, when prepayments of principal are made on the underlying mortgages during periods of rising interest rates, a fund can reinvest the proceeds of such prepayments at rates higher than those at which they were previously invested. Mortgages underlying most ARMs, however, have limits on the allowable annual or lifetime increases that can be made in the interest rate that the mortgagor pays. Therefore, if current interest rates rise above such limits over the period of the limitation, a fund holding an ARM does not benefit from further increases in interest rates. Moreover, when interest rates are in excess of coupon rates (i.e., the rates being paid by mortgagors) of the mortgages, ARMs behave more like fixed income securities and less like adjustable rate securities and are subject to the risks associated with fixed income securities. In addition, during periods of rising interest rates, increases in the coupon rate of adjustable rate mortgages generally lag current market interest rates slightly, thereby creating the potential for capital depreciation on such securities.

 

GNMA Certificates

 

The Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) is a wholly owned corporate instrumentality of the United States within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The National Housing Act of 1934 (Housing Act), as amended, authorizes GNMA to guarantee the timely payment of interest and repayment of principal on certificates that are backed by a pool of mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration under the Housing Act, or by Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (FHA Loans), or guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs under the Servicemen’s

 

Readjustment Act of 1944 (VA Loans), as amended, or by pools of other eligible mortgage loans. The Housing Act provides that the full faith and credit of the U.S. government is pledged to the payment of all amounts that may be required to be paid under any guarantee. GNMA has unlimited authority to borrow from the U.S. Treasury in order to meet its obligations under this guarantee.

 

 

16

---

 

 

GNMA certificates represent a pro rata interest in one or more pools of the following types of mortgage loans: (a) fixed-rate level payment mortgage loans; (b) fixed-rate graduated payment mortgage loans (GPMs); (c) fixed-rate growing equity mortgage loans (GEMs); (d) fixed-rate mortgage loans secured by manufactured (mobile) homes (MHs); (e) mortgage loans on multifamily residential properties under construction (CLCs); (f) mortgage loans on completed multifamily projects (PLCs); (g) fixed-rate mortgage loans that use escrowed funds to reduce the borrower’s monthly payments during the early years of the mortgage loans (buydown mortgage loans); and (h) mortgage loans that provide for payment adjustments based on periodic changes in interest rates or in other payment terms of the mortgage loans.

 

Fannie Mae Certificates

 

The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or Fannie Mae) is a federally chartered and privately owned corporation established under the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act. Fannie Mae was originally established in 1938 as a U.S. government agency designed to provide supplemental liquidity to the mortgage market and was reorganized as a stockholder-owned and privately managed corporation by legislation enacted in 1968. Fannie Mae acquires capital from investors who would not ordinarily invest in mortgage loans directly and thereby expands the total amount of funds available for housing. This money is used to buy home mortgage loans from local lenders, replenishing the supply of capital available for mortgage lending.

 

Fannie Mae certificates represent a pro rata interest in one or more pools of FHA Loans, VA Loans, or, most commonly, conventional mortgage loans (i.e., mortgage loans that are not insured or guaranteed by a government agency) of the following types: (a) fixed-rate level payment mortgage loans; (b) fixed-rate growing equity mortgage loans; (c) fixed-rate graduated payment mortgage loans; (d) adjustable-rate mortgage loans; and (e) fixed-rate mortgage loans secured by multifamily projects.

 

Fannie Mae certificates entitle the registered holder to receive amounts representing a pro rata interest in scheduled principal and interest payments (at the certificate’s pass-through rate, which is net of any servicing and guarantee fees on the underlying mortgage loans), any principal prepayments, and a proportionate interest in the full principal amount of any foreclosed or otherwise liquidated mortgage loan. The full and timely payment of interest and repayment of principal on each Fannie Mae certificate is guaranteed by Fannie Mae; this guarantee is not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. See Recent Events Regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac below.

 

Freddie Mac Certificates

 

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC or Freddie Mac) is a corporate instrumentality of the United States created pursuant to the Emergency Home Finance Act of 1970 (FHLMC Act), as amended. Freddie Mac was established primarily for the purpose of increasing the availability of mortgage credit. Its principal activity consists of purchasing first-lien conventional residential mortgage loans (and participation interests in such mortgage loans) and reselling these loans in the form of mortgage-backed securities, primarily Freddie Mac certificates.

 

Freddie Mac certificates represent a pro rata interest in a group of mortgage loans (a Freddie Mac certificate group) purchased by Freddie Mac. The mortgage loans underlying Freddie Mac certificates consist of fixed- or adjustable-rate mortgage loans with original terms to maturity of between 10 and 30 years, substantially all of which are secured by first-liens on one- to four-family residential properties or multifamily projects. Each mortgage loan must meet standards set forth in the FHLMC Act. A Freddie Mac certificate group may include whole loans, participation interests in whole loans, undivided interests in whole loans, and participations composing another Freddie Mac certificate group.

 

Freddie Mac guarantees to each registered holder of a Freddie Mac certificate the timely payment of interest at the rate provided for by the certificate. Freddie Mac also guarantees ultimate collection of all principal on the related mortgage loans, without any offset or deduction, but generally does not guarantee the timely repayment of principal. Freddie Mac may remit principal at any time after default on an underlying mortgage loan, but no later than 30 days following (a) foreclosure sale, (b) payment of a claim by any mortgage insurer, or (c) the expiration of any right of redemption, whichever occurs later, and in any event no later than one year after demand has been made upon the mortgager for accelerated payment of principal. Obligations guaranteed by Freddie Mac are not backed by the full faith and credit pledge of the U.S. government. See Recent Events Regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac below.

 

 

17

---

 

 

Recent Events Regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

 

Since September 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have operated under a conservatorship administered by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). In addition, the U.S. Treasury has entered into senior preferred stock purchase agreements to provide additional financing to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Under the terms of the agreements (as amended), the Treasury has committed funding to each entity up to $200 billion plus the cumulative amount of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac’s net worth deficit as of the end of any calendar quarter in 2010, 2011 and 2012, less any positive net worth as of December 31, 2012. While the Treasury’s capital support is substantial, it is not unlimited. Finally, any anticipated Congressional action to address structural change in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may have an impact on the value of their outstanding debt.

 

Stripped Mortgage-Backed Securities

 

Stripped mortgage-backed securities are created by segregating the cash flows from underlying mortgage loans or mortgage securities to create two or more new securities, each with a specified percentage of the underlying security’s principal or interest payments. Mortgage-backed securities may be partially stripped so that each investor class receives some interest and some principal. When securities are completely stripped, however, all of the interest is distributed to holders of one type of security, known as an interest-only security, or IO, and all of the principal is distributed to holders of another type of security known as a principal-only security, or PO. Strips can be created in a pass-through structure or as tranches of a CMO.

 

The market values of IOs and POs are very sensitive to interest rate and prepayment rate fluctuations. POs, for example, increase (or decrease) in value as interest rates decline (or rise). The price behavior of these securities also depends on whether the mortgage collateral was purchased at a premium or discount to its par value. Prepayments on discount coupon POs generally are much lower than prepayments on premium coupon POs. IOs may be used to hedge a fund’s other investments because prepayments cause the value of an IO strip to move in the opposite direction from other mortgage-backed securities.

 

Municipal Obligations

 

The funds may invest in tax-exempt or taxable municipal obligations, which are generally issued by state and local governments or government entities. Interest payments from municipal obligations are generally exempt from federal income tax. Interest payments from certain municipal obligations, however, are subject to federal income tax because of the degree of non-government involvement in the transaction or because federal tax code limitations on the issuance of tax-exempt bonds that benefit private entities have been exceeded. Some typical examples of these taxable municipal obligations include industrial revenue bonds and economic development bonds issued by state or local governments to aid private enterprise. The interest on a taxable municipal bond is often exempt from state taxation in the issuing state.

 

Other Investment Companies

 

A fund may invest in other investment companies, such as closed-end investment companies, unit investment trusts, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other open-end investment companies, provided that the investment is consistent with a fund’s investment policies and restrictions. Under the Investment Company Act, a fund’s investment in such securities, subject to certain exceptions, currently is limited to

 

•	3% of the total voting stock of any one investment company
•	5% of the fund’s total assets with respect to any one investment company and
•	10% of the fund’s total assets in the aggregate.

 

A fund’s investments in other investment companies may include money market funds managed by the advisor. Investments in money market funds are not subject to the percentage limitations set forth above.

 

Such purchases will be made in the open market where no commission or profit to a sponsor or dealer results from the purchase other than the customary brokers’ commissions. As a shareholder of another investment company, a fund would bear, along with other shareholders, its pro rata portion of the other investment company’s expenses, including advisory fees. These expenses would be in addition to the management fee that each fund bears directly in connection with its own operations.

 

 

18

---

 

 

ETFs, such as Standard & Poor’s Depositary Receipts (SPDRs) and the Barclays Aggregate Bond ETF, are types of funds bought and sold on a securities exchange. An ETF trades like common stock and usually represents a fixed portfolio of securities designed to track the performance and dividend yield of a particular domestic or foreign market index. A fund may purchase an ETF to temporarily gain exposure to a portion of the U.S. or a foreign market while awaiting purchase of underlying securities. The risks of owning an ETF generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying securities they are designed to track, although the lack of liquidity on an ETF could result in it being more volatile and the market price for the ETF may be higher than or lower than the ETF’s net asset value. Additionally, ETFs have management fees, which increase their cost.

 

Repurchase Agreements

 

Each fund may invest in repurchase agreements when they present an attractive short-term return on cash that is not otherwise committed to the purchase of securities pursuant to the investment policies of the fund.

 

A repurchase agreement occurs when, at the time a fund purchases an interest-bearing obligation, the seller (a bank or a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) agrees to purchase it on a specified date in the future at an agreed-upon price. The repurchase price reflects an agreed-upon interest rate during the time a fund’s money is invested in the security.

 

Because the security purchased constitutes collateral for the repurchase obligation, a repurchase agreement can be considered a loan collateralized by the security purchased. A fund’s risk is the seller’s ability to pay the agreed-upon repurchase price on the repurchase date. If the seller defaults, a fund may incur costs in disposing of the collateral, which would reduce the amount realized thereon. If the seller seeks relief under the bankruptcy laws, the disposition of the collateral may be delayed or limited. To the extent the value of the security decreases, a fund could experience a loss.

 

Each fund will limit repurchase agreement transactions to securities issued by the U.S. government and its agencies and instrumentalities, and will enter into such transactions with those banks and securities dealers who are deemed creditworthy pursuant to criteria adopted by the funds’ advisor.

 

Repurchase agreements maturing in more than seven days would count toward a fund’s 15% limit on illiquid securities.

 

Short-Term Securities

 

In order to meet anticipated redemptions, anticipated purchases of additional securities for a fund’s portfolio, or, in some cases, for temporary defensive purposes, each fund may invest a portion of its assets in money market and other short-term securities.

 

Examples of those securities include:

 

•	Securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government and its agencies and instrumentalities;
•	Commercial Paper;
•	Certificates of Deposit and Euro Dollar Certificates of Deposit;
•	Bankers’ Acceptances;
•	Short-term notes, bonds, debentures or other debt instruments;
•	Repurchase agreements; and
•	Money market funds.

 

 

19

---

 

 

Swap Agreements

 

Each fund may invest in swap agreements, consistent with its investment objective and strategies. A fund may enter into a swap agreement in order to, for example, attempt to obtain or preserve a particular return or spread at a lower cost than obtaining a return or spread through purchases and/or sales of instruments in other markets; protect against currency fluctuations; attempt to manage duration to protect against any increase in the price of securities a fund anticipates purchasing at a later date; or gain exposure to certain markets in the most economical way possible.

 

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 particular predetermined investments or instruments, which may be adjusted for an interest 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, in a particular foreign currency, or in a “basket” of securities representing a particular index. Forms of swap agreements include, for example, interest rate swaps, under which fixed- or floating-rate interest payments on a specific principal amount are exchanged and total return swaps, under which one party agrees to pay the other the total return of a defined underlying asset (usually an index [including inflation indexes], stock, bond or defined portfolio of loans and mortgages) in exchange for fee payments, often a variable stream of cash flows based on LIBOR. A fund may enter into credit default swap agreements to hedge an existing position by purchasing or selling credit protection. Credit default swaps enable an investor to buy/sell protection against a credit event of a specific issuer. The seller of credit protection against a security or basket of securities receives an up-front or periodic payment to compensate against potential default event(s). A fund may enhance returns by selling protection or attempt to mitigate credit risk by buying protection. Market supply and demand factors may cause distortions between the cash securities market and the credit default swap market.

 

Whether a fund’s use of swap agreements will be successful depends on the advisor’s ability to predict correctly whether certain types of investments are likely to produce greater returns than other investments. Interest rate swaps could result in losses if interest rate changes are not correctly anticipated by a fund. Total return swaps could result in losses if the reference index, security, or investments do not perform as anticipated by a fund. Credit default swaps could result in losses if a fund does not correctly evaluate the creditworthiness of the issuer on which the credit default swap is based. Because they are two-party contracts and because they may have terms of greater than seven days, swap agreements may be considered to be illiquid. Moreover, a fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under a swap agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a swap agreement counterparty. A fund will enter into swap agreements only with counterparties that meet certain standards of creditworthiness. Certain restrictions imposed on a fund by the Internal Revenue Code may limit a fund’s ability to use swap agreements. The swaps market is an evolving market and is largely unregulated. It is possible that developments in the swaps market, including potential government regulation, could adversely affect a fund’s ability to terminate existing swap agreements or to realize amounts to be received under such agreements.

 

U.S. Government Securities

 

Each fund may invest in U.S. government securities including bills, notes and bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury and securities issued or guaranteed by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. government.

 

Some U.S. government securities are supported by the direct full faith and credit of the U.S. government; others are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury; others, such as securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), are supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. government to purchase the agencies’ obligations; and others are supported only by the credit of the issuing or guaranteeing instrumentality. There is no assurance that the U.S. government will provide financial support to an instrumentality it sponsors when it is not obligated by law to do so.

 

 

20

---

 

 

When-Issued and Forward Commitment Agreements

 

Each fund may sometimes purchase new issues of securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis in which the transaction price and yield are each fixed at the time the commitment is made, but payment and delivery occur at a future date.

 

For example, a fund may sell a security and at the same time make a commitment to purchase the same or a comparable security at a future date and specified price. Conversely, a fund may purchase a security and at the same time make a commitment to sell the same or a comparable security at a future date and specified price. These types of transactions are executed simultaneously in what are known as dollar-rolls, buy/sell back transactions, cash and carry, or financing transactions. For example, a broker-dealer may seek to purchase a particular security that a fund owns. A fund will sell that security to the broker-dealer and simultaneously enter into a forward commitment agreement to buy it back at a future date. This type of transaction generates income for the fund if the dealer is willing to execute the transaction at a favorable price in order to acquire a specific security.

 

When purchasing securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis, a fund assumes the rights and risks of ownership, including the risks of price and yield fluctuations. Market rates of interest on debt securities at the time of delivery may be higher or lower than those contracted for on the when-issued security. Accordingly, the value of the security may decline prior to delivery, which could result in a loss to a fund. While a fund will make commitments to purchase or sell securities with the intention of actually receiving or delivering them, it may sell the securities before the settlement date if doing so is deemed advisable as a matter of investment strategy.

 

In purchasing securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis, a fund will segregate cash, cash equivalents or other appropriate liquid securities on its record in an amount sufficient to meet the purchase price. To the extent a fund remains fully invested or almost fully invested at the same time it has purchased securities on a when-issued basis, there will be greater fluctuations in its net asset value than if it solely set aside cash to pay for when-issued securities. When the time comes to pay for the when-issued securities, a fund will meet its obligations with available cash, through the sale of securities, or, although it would not normally expect to do so, by selling the when-issued securities themselves (which may have a market value greater or less than the fund’s payment obligation). Selling securities to meet when-issued or forward commitment obligations may generate taxable capital gains or losses.

Investment Policies

 

Unless otherwise indicated, with the exception of the percentage limitations on borrowing, the policies described below apply at the time a fund enters into a transaction. Accordingly, any later increase or decrease beyond the specified limitation resulting from a change in a fund’s assets will not be considered in determining whether it has complied with its investment policies.

 

 

21

---

 

Fundamental Investment Policies

 

The funds’ fundamental investment policies are set forth below. These investment policies, a fund’s investment objective set forth in its prospectus, and a fund’s status as diversified may not be changed without approval of a majority of the outstanding votes of shareholders of the fund, as determined in accordance with the Investment Company Act.

 

Subject	Policy
Senior Securities	A fund may not issue senior securities, except as permitted under the Investment Company Act.
Borrowing	A fund may not borrow money, except that a fund may borrow for temporary or emergency purposes (not for leveraging or investment) in an amount not exceeding 33⅓% of the fund’s total assets (including the amount borrowed) less liabilities (other than borrowings).
Lending	A fund may not lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than 33⅓% of the fund’s total assets would be lent to other parties, except, (i) through the purchase of debt securities in accordance with its investment objective, policies and limitations or (ii) by engaging in repurchase agreements with respect to portfolio securities.
Real Estate	A fund may not purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments. This policy shall not prevent a fund from investing in securities or other instruments backed by real estate or securities of companies that deal in real estate or are engaged in the real estate business.
Concentration	A fund may not concentrate its investments in securities of issuers in a particular industry (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or any of its agencies or instrumentalities).
Underwriting	A fund may not act as an underwriter of securities issued by others, except to the extent that the fund may be considered an underwriter within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 in the disposition of restricted securities.
Commodities	A fund may not purchase or sell physical commodities unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments provided that this limitation shall not prohibit the fund from purchasing or selling options and futures contracts or from investing in securities or other instruments backed by physical commodities.
Control	A fund may not invest for purposes of exercising control over management.

 

For purposes of the investment policies relating to lending and borrowing, the funds have received an exemptive order from the SEC regarding an interfund lending program. Under the terms of the exemptive order, the funds may borrow money from or lend money to other American Century Investments-advised funds that permit such transactions. All such transactions will be subject to the limits for borrowing and lending set forth above. The funds will borrow money through the program only when the costs are equal to or lower than the costs of short-term bank loans. Interfund loans and borrowings normally extend only overnight but can have a maximum duration of seven days. The funds will lend through the program only when the returns are higher than those available from other short-term instruments (such as repurchase agreements). The funds may have to borrow from a bank at a higher interest rate if an interfund loan is called or not renewed. Any delay in repayment to a lending fund could result in a lost investment opportunity or additional borrowing costs.

 

For purposes of the investment policy relating to concentration, a fund shall not purchase any securities that would cause 25% or more of the value of the fund’s total assets at the time of purchase to be invested in the securities of one or more issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry, provided that

 

(a)	there is no limitation with respect to obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, any state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia or any of their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions and repurchase agreements secured by such obligations,
(b)	wholly owned finance companies will be considered to be in the industries of their parents if their activities are primarily related to financing the activities of their parents,
(c)	utilities will be divided according to their services, for example, gas, gas transmission, electric and gas, electric, and telephone will each be considered a separate industry, and
(d)	personal credit and business credit businesses will be considered separate industries.

 

 

22

---

 

Nonfundamental Investment Policies

 

In addition, the funds are subject to the following investment policies that are not fundamental and may be changed by the Board of Trustees.

 

Subject	Policy
Leveraging	A fund may not purchase additional investment securities at any time during which outstanding borrowings exceed 5% of the total assets of the fund.
Liquidity	A fund may not purchase any security or enter into a repurchase agreement if, as a result, more than 15% of its net assets would be invested in illiquid securities. Illiquid securities include repurchase agreements not entitling the holder to payment of principal and interest within seven days and in securities that are illiquid by virtue of legal or contractual restrictions on resale or the absence of a readily available market.
Short Sales	A fund may not sell securities short, unless it owns or has the right to obtain securities equivalent in-kind and amount to the securities sold short, and provided that transactions in futures contracts and options are not deemed to constitute selling securities short.
Margin	A fund may not purchase securities on margin, except to obtain such short-term credits as are necessary for the clearance of transactions, and provided that margin payments in connection with futures contracts and options on futures contracts shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin.
Futures and Options	A fund may enter into futures contracts and write and buy put and call options relating to futures contracts. A fund may not, however, enter into leveraged futures transactions if it would be possible for the fund to lose more than the notional value of the investment.
Issuers with Limited Operating Histories	A fund may invest a portion of its assets in the securities of issuers with limited operating histories. An issuer is considered to have a limited operating history if that issuer has a record of less than three years of continuous operation. Periods of capital formation, incubation, consolidations, and research and development may be considered in determining whether a particular issuer has a record of three years of continuous operation.

 

The Investment Company Act imposes certain additional restrictions upon the funds’ ability to acquire securities issued by insurance companies, broker-dealers, underwriters or investment advisors, and upon transactions with affiliated persons as defined by the Act. It also defines and forbids the creation of cross and circular ownership. Neither the SEC nor any other agency of the federal or state government participates in or supervises the management of the funds or their investment practices or policies.

 

Temporary Defensive Measures

 

For temporary defensive purposes, a fund may invest in securities that may not fit its investment objective or its stated market. During a temporary defensive period, a fund may direct its assets to the following investment vehicles:

 

•	interest-bearing bank accounts or Certificates of Deposit;
•	U.S. government securities and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities; and
•	money market funds.

 

To the extent a fund assumes a defensive position, it will not be pursuing its investment objective.

 

 

23

---

 

 

Portfolio Turnover

 

The portfolio turnover rate of each fund for its most recent fiscal year is included in the Fund Summary section of that fund’s prospectus. The portfolio turnover rate for each fund’s last five fiscal years (or shorter period if the fund is less than five years old) is shown in the Financial Highlights tables in the prospectus.

 

The portfolio manager will sell securities without regard to the length of time the security has been held. Accordingly, the fund’s rate of portfolio turnover may be substantial.

 

The portfolio managers intend to purchase a particular security whenever they believe it will contribute to the stated objective of a particular fund. In order to achieve each fund’s investment objective, the portfolio managers may sell a given security, regardless of the length of time it has been held in the portfolio, and, regardless of the gain or loss realized on the sale. The managers may sell a portfolio security if they believe that the security is not fulfilling its purpose because, among other things, it did not live up to the managers’ expectations, because it may be replaced with another security holding greater promise, because it has reached its optimum potential, because of a change in the circumstances of a particular company or industry or in general economic conditions, or because of some combination of such reasons.

 

Because investment decisions are based on a particular security’s anticipated contribution to a fund’s objectives, the managers believe that the rate of portfolio turnover is irrelevant when they determine that a change is required to pursue the fund’s investment objective. As a result, a fund’s annual portfolio turnover rate cannot be anticipated and may be higher than other mutual funds with similar investment objectives. Portfolio turnover also may affect the character of capital gains realized and distributed by the fund, if any, since short-term capital gains are taxable as ordinary income.

 

Because the managers do not take portfolio turnover rate into account in making investment decisions, (1) the managers have no intention of maintaining any particular rate of portfolio turnover, whether high or low, and (2) the portfolio turnover rates in the past should not be considered as representative of the rates that will be attained in the future.

 

Variations in a fund’s portfolio turnover rate from year to year may be due to a fluctuating volume of shareholder purchase and redemption activity, varying market conditions, and/or changes in the manager’s investment outlook.

 

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

 

The advisor (ACIM) has adopted policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of fund portfolio holdings and characteristics, which are described below.

 

Distribution to the Public

 

Full portfolio holdings for each fund will be made available for distribution 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter, and will be posted on americancentury.com at approximately the same time. This disclosure is in addition to the portfolio disclosure in annual and semi-annual shareholder reports, and on Form N-Q, which disclosures are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 60 days of each fiscal quarter end and also posted on americancentury.com at the time the filings are made.

 

Top 10 holdings for each fund will be made available for distribution 30 days after the end of each month, and will be posted on americancentury.com at approximately the same time.

 

Portfolio characteristics that are derived from portfolio holdings but do not identify any specific security will be made available for distribution 15 days after the end of the period to which such data relates. Characteristics that identify any specific security will be made available 30 days after the end of the period to which such data relates. Characteristics in both categories will generally be posted on americancentury.com at approximately the time they are made available for distribution. Data derived from portfolio returns and any other characteristics not deemed confidential will be available for distribution at any time. The advisor may make determinations of confidentiality on a fund-by-fund basis, and may add or delete characteristics to or from those considered confidential at any time.

 

Any American Century Investments fund that sells securities short as an investment strategy will disclose full portfolio holdings only in annual and semi-annual shareholder reports and on form N-Q. These funds will make long holdings available for distribution 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter, but the funds will keep short holdings confidential. Top 10 long holdings and portfolio characteristics will be made available for distribution in accordance with the policies set forth above.

 

 

24

---

 

 

So long as portfolio holdings are disclosed in accordance with the above parameters, the advisor makes no distinction among different categories of recipients, such as individual investors, institutional investors, intermediaries that distribute the fund’s shares, third-party service providers, rating and ranking organizations, and fund affiliates. Because this information is publicly available and widely disseminated, the advisor places no conditions or restrictions on, and does not monitor, its use. Nor does the advisor require special authorization for its disclosure.

 

Accelerated Disclosure

 

The advisor recognizes that certain parties, in addition to the advisor and its affiliates, may have legitimate needs for information about portfolio holdings and characteristics prior to the times prescribed above. Such accelerated disclosure is permitted under the circumstances described below.

 

Ongoing Arrangements

 

Certain parties, such as investment consultants who provide regular analysis of fund portfolios for their clients and intermediaries who pass through information to fund shareholders, may have legitimate needs for accelerated disclosure. These needs may include, for example, the preparation of reports for customers who invest in the funds, the creation of analyses of fund characteristics for intermediary or consultant clients, the reformatting of data for distribution to the intermediary’s or consultant’s clients, and the review of fund performance for ERISA fiduciary purposes.

 

In such cases, accelerated disclosure is permitted if the service provider enters an appropriate non-disclosure agreement with the fund’s distributor in which it agrees to treat the information confidentially until the public distribution date and represents that the information will be used only for the legitimate services provided to its clients (i.e., not for trading). Non-disclosure agreements require the approval of an attorney in the advisor’s legal department. The advisor’s compliance department receives quarterly reports detailing which clients received accelerated disclosure, what they received, when they received it and the purposes of such disclosure. Compliance personnel are required to confirm that an appropriate non-disclosure agreement has been obtained from each recipient identified in the reports.

 

Those parties who have entered into non-disclosure agreements as of December 31, 2011, are as follows:

 

•	American Fidelity Assurance Co.
•	Ameritas Life Insurance Corporation
•	Annuity Investors Life Insurance Company
•	Asset Services Company L.L.C.
•	AUL/American United Life Insurance Company
•	Bell Globemedia Publishing
•	Bellwether Consulting, LLC
•	Bidart & Ross
•	Callan Associates, Inc.
•	Calvert Asset Management Company, Inc.
•	Cambridge Financial Services, Inc.
•	Capital Cities, LLC
•	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
•	Cleary Gull Inc.
•	Commerce Bank, N.A.
•	Connecticut General Life Insurance Company
•	Consulting Services Group, LLC
•	Curcio Webb LLC
•	Defined Contribution Advisors, Inc.
•	DWS Investments Distributors, Inc.
•	EquiTrust Life Insurance Company
•	Evaluation Associates, LLC
•	Evergreen Investment Management Company, LLC
•	Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company
•	First MetLife Investors Insurance Company

 

 

25

---

 

 

•	Fund Evaluation Group, LLC
•	The Guardian Life Insurance & Annuity Company, Inc.
•	Hammond Associates, Inc.
•	Hewitt Associates LLC
•	ICMA Retirement Corporation
•	ING Insurance Company of America
•	Iron Capital Advisors
•	J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services LLC
•	Jefferson National Life Insurance Company
•	John Hancock Financial Services, Inc.
•	Kansas City Life Insurance Company
•	Kmotion, Inc.
•	Liberty Life Insurance Company
•	The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company
•	Lipper Inc.
•	Marquette Associates
•	Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
•	Merrill Lynch
•	MetLife Investors Insurance Company
•	MetLife Investors Insurance Company of California
•	Midland National Life Insurance Company
•	Minnesota Life Insurance Company
•	Modern Woodmen of America
•	Morgan Keegan & Co., Inc.
•	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
•	Morningstar Associates LLC
•	Morningstar Investment Services, Inc.
•	National Life Insurance Company
•	Nationwide Financial
•	New England Pension Consultants
•	The Newport Group
•	Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.
•	NYLIFE Distributors, LLC
•	Principal Life Insurance Company
•	Prudential Financial
•	RidgeWorth Capital Management, Inc.
•	Rocaton Investment Advisors, LLC
•	RogersCasey, Inc.
•	S&P Financial Communications
•	Security Benefit Life Insurance Co.
•	Slocum
•	SunTrust Bank
•	Symetra Life Insurance Company
•	Union Bank of California, N.A.
•	The Union Central Life Insurance Company
•	Valic Financial Advisors Inc.
•	VALIC Retirement Services Company
•	Vestek Systems, Inc.
•	Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

 

 

26

---

 

 

Once a party has executed a non-disclosure agreement, it may receive any or all of the following data for funds in which its clients have investments or are actively considering investment:

 

(1)	Full holdings quarterly as soon as reasonably available;
(2)	Full holdings monthly as soon as reasonably available;
(3)	Top 10 holdings monthly as soon as reasonably available; and
(4)	Portfolio characteristics monthly as soon as reasonably available.

 

The types, frequency and timing of disclosure to such parties vary. In most situations, the information provided pursuant to a non-disclosure agreement is limited to certain portfolio characteristics and/or top 10 holdings, which information is provided on a monthly basis. In limited situations, and when approved by a member of the legal department and responsible chief investment officer, full holdings may be provided.

 

Single Event Requests

 

In certain circumstances, the advisor may provide fund holding information on an accelerated basis outside of an ongoing arrangement with manager-level or higher authorization. For example, from time to time the advisor may receive requests for proposals (RFPs) from consultants or potential clients that request information about a fund’s holdings on an accelerated basis. As long as such requests are on a one-time basis, and do not result in continued receipt of data, such information may be provided in the RFP as of the most recent month end regardless of lag time. Such information will be provided with a confidentiality legend and only in cases where the advisor has reason to believe that the data will be used only for legitimate purposes and not for trading.

 

In addition, the advisor occasionally may work with a transition manager to move a large account into or out of a fund. To reduce the impact to the fund, such transactions may be conducted on an in-kind basis using shares of portfolio securities rather than cash. The advisor may provide accelerated holdings disclosure to the transition manager with little or no lag time to facilitate such transactions, but only if the transition manager enters into an appropriate non-disclosure agreement.

 

Service Providers

 

Various service providers to the fund and the fund’s advisor must have access to some or all of the fund’s portfolio holdings information on an accelerated basis from time to time in the ordinary course of providing services to the funds. These service providers include the fund’s custodian (daily, with no lag), auditors (as needed) and brokers involved in the execution of fund trades (as needed). Additional information about these service providers and their relationships with the fund and the advisor are provided elsewhere in this statement of additional information. In addition, the fund’s investment advisor may use analytical systems provided by third party data aggregators who have access to the fund’s portfolio holdings daily, with no lag. These data aggregators enter into non-disclosure agreements after authorization by an appropriate officer of the advisor.

 

Additional Safeguards

 

The advisor’s policies and procedures include a number of safeguards designed to control disclosure of portfolio holdings and characteristics so that such disclosure is consistent with the best interests of fund shareholders. First, the frequency with which this information is disclosed to the public, and the length of time between the date of the information and the date on which the information is disclosed, are selected to minimize the possibility of a third party improperly benefiting from fund investment decisions to the detriment of fund shareholders. Second, distribution of portfolio holdings information, including compliance with the advisor’s policies and the resolution of any potential conflicts that may arise, is monitored quarterly. Finally, the fund’s Board of Trustees exercises oversight of disclosure of the fund’s portfolio securities. The board has received and reviewed a summary of the advisor’s policy and is informed on a quarterly basis of any changes to or violations of such policy detected during the prior quarter.

 

Neither the advisor nor the funds receive any compensation from any party for the distribution of portfolio holdings information.

 

The advisor reserves the right to change its policies and procedures with respect to the distribution of portfolio holdings information at any time. There is no guarantee that these policies and procedures will protect the funds from the potential misuse of holdings information by individuals or firms in possession of such information.

 

 

27

---

 

Management

 

Board of Trustees

 

The individuals listed below serve as trustees of the funds. Each trustee will continue to serve in this capacity until death, retirement, resignation or removal from office. The mandatory retirement age for trustees who are not “interested persons,” as that term is defined in the Investment Company Act (independent trustees), is 73. However, the mandatory retirement age may be extended for a period not to exceed two years with the approval of the remaining independent trustees.

 

Mr. Thomas is the only trustee who is an “interested person” because he currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of American Century Companies, Inc. (ACC), the parent company of American Century Investment Management, Inc. (ACIM or the advisor).

 

The other trustees (more than three-fourths of the total number) are independent; that is, they have never been employees, directors or officers of, and have no financial interest in, ACC or any of its wholly owned, direct or indirect, subsidiaries, including ACIM, American Century Investment Services, Inc. (ACIS) and American Century Services, LLC (ACS). The trustees serve in this capacity for eight (in the case of Mr. Thomas, 15) registered investment companies in the American Century Investments family of funds.

 

The following presents additional information about the trustees. The mailing address for each trustee other than Mr. Thomas is 1665 Charleston Road, Mountain View, California 94043. The mailing address for Mr. Thomas is 4500 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111.

 

Name (Year of Birth)	Position(s) Held with Funds	Length of Time Served	Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years		Number of American Century Portfolios Overseen by Trustee	Other Directorships Held During Past 5 Years
Independent Trustees
Tanya S. Beder (1955)	Trustee	Since 2011	Chairman, SBCC Group Inc . (investment advisory services)(2006 to present); Fellow in Practice , International Center for Finance , Yale University School of Management   (1985 to present)		42	None
Jeremy I. Bulow (1954)	Trustee	Since 2011	Professor of Economics, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business   (1979 to present)		42	None
John Freidenrich (1937)	Trustee	Since 2005	Founder, Member and Manager, Regis Management Company, LLC   (investment management firm) (April 2004 to present)		42	None
Ronald J. Gilson (1946)	Trustee and Chairman of the Board	Since 1995	Charles J. Meyers Professor of Law and Business, Stanford Law School   (1979 to present); Marc and Eva Stern Professor of Law and Business, Columbia University School of Law   (1992 to present)		42	None
Frederick L. A. Grauer (1946)	Trustee	Since 2008	Senior Advisor, BlackRock, Inc.   (investment management firm) (2010 to 2011); Senior Advisor, Barclays Global Investors   (investment management firm) (2003 to 2009)		42	None

 

28

---

 

Peter F. Pervere (1947)	Trustee	Since 2007	Retired		42	Intraware, Inc. (2003 to 2009)
Myron S. Scholes (1941)	Trustee	Since 1980	Chairman, Platinum Grove Asset Management, L.P.   (asset manager) (1999 to 2009); Frank E. Buck Professor of Finance-Emeritus, Stanford Graduate School of Business   (1996 to present)		42	Dimensional Fund Advisors (investment advisor); CME Group, Inc. (futures and options exchange)
John B. Shoven (1947)	Trustee	Since 2002	Professor of Economics, Stanford University (1973 to present)		42	Cadence Design Systems; E x ponent; Financial Engines
Interested Trustee
Jonathan S. Thomas (1963)	Trustee and President	Since 2007	President and Chief Executive Officer, ACC (March 2007 to present); Chief Administrative Officer, ACC (February 2006 to February 2007); Executive Vice President, ACC (November 2005 to February 2007). Also serves as: Chief Executive Officer and Manager, ACS ; Executive Vice President, ACIM ; Director, ACC , ACIM and other ACC subsidiaries		108	None

 

Qualifications of Trustees

 

Generally, no one factor was decisive in the selection of the trustees to the board. Qualifications considered by the board to be important to the selection and retention of trustees include the following: (i) the individual’s business and professional experience and accomplishments; (ii) the individual’s educational background and accomplishments; (iii) the individual’s experience and expertise performing senior policy-making functions in business, government, education, accounting, law and/or administration; (iv) how the individual’s expertise and experience would contribute to the mix of relevant skills and experience on the board; (v) the individual’s ability to work effectively with the other members of the board; and (vi) the individual’s ability and willingness to make the time commitment necessary to serve as an effective trustee. In addition, the individuals’ ability to review and critically evaluate information, their ability to evaluate fund service providers, their ability to exercise good business judgment on behalf of fund shareholders, their prior service on the board, and their familiarity with the funds are considered important assets.

 

While the board has not adopted a specific policy on diversity, it takes overall diversity into account when considering and evaluating nominees for trustee. The board generally considers the manner in which each trustee's professional experience, background, skills, and other individual attributes will contribute to the effectiveness of the board. Additional information about each trustee's individual educational and professional experience (supplementing the information provided in the table above) follows.

 

Tanya S. Beder: BA, Yale University; MBA, Harvard University; formerly, Chief Executive Officer, Tribeca Global Management LLC (asset management firm); formerly, Managing Director and Head of Strategic Quantitative Investment Division, Caxton Associates LLC; formerly, President and Co-Founder, Capital Market Risk Advisors Inc.; formerly Founder and Chief Executive Officer, SB Consulting Corp.

 

Jeremy I. Bulow: BA, MA, Yale University; PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; formerly, Director, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission

 

 

29

---

 

 

John Freidenrich: AB in Economics, Stanford University; LLB, Stanford Law School; formerly, Partner and Founder, Ware and Freidenrich Law Firm and Bay Partners; formerly, President, Board of Trustees, Stanford University

 

Ronald J. Gilson: BA, Washington University; JD, Yale Law School; formerly, Attorney, Steinhart, Goldberg, Feigenbaum & Ladar

 

Frederick L.A. Grauer: BA in Economics, University of British Columbia; MA in Economics, University of Chicago; PhD in Business, Stanford University; formerly, Executive Chairman, Barclays Global Investors; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors; and Vice President, Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Group; formerly, Faculty Member, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University and Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

 

Peter F. Pervere: Education/Other Professional Experience: BA in History, Stanford University; CPA; formerly, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Commerce One, Inc. (software and services provider); formerly, Vice President and Corporate Controller, Sybase, Inc.; formerly with accounting firm of Arthur Young & Co.

 

Myron S. Scholes: BA in Economics, McMaster University (Ontario); MBA and PhD, University of Chicago; formerly, Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institute; formerly, Edward Eagle Brown Professor of Finance, University of Chicago; recipient of the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

 

John B. Shoven: BA in Physics, University of California; PhD in Economics, Yale University; Director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (1999 to present); formerly, Chair of Economics and Dean of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University

 

Jonathan S. Thomas: BA in Economics, University of Massachusetts; MBA, Boston College; formerly held senior leadership roles with Fidelity Investments, Boston Financial Services, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley; serves on the Board of Governors of the Investment Company Institute

 

Responsibilities of the Board

 

The board is responsible for overseeing the advisor’s management and operations of the fund pursuant to the management agreement. Trustees also have significant responsibilities under the federal securities laws. Among other things, they:

 

•	oversee the performance of the funds;
•	oversee the quality of the advisory and shareholder services provided by the advisor;
•	review annually the fees paid to the advisor for its services;
•	monitor potential conflicts of interest between the funds and the advisor;
•	oversee custody of assets and the valuation of securities; and
•	oversee the funds’ compliance program.

 

In performing their duties, board members receive detailed information about the funds and the advisor regularly throughout the year, and meet at least quarterly with management of the advisor to review reports about fund operations. The trustees’ role is to provide oversight and not to provide day-to-day management.

 

The board has all powers necessary or convenient to carry out its responsibilities. Consequently, the board may adopt bylaws providing for the regulation and management of the affairs of the funds and may amend and repeal them to the extent that such bylaws do not reserve that right to the funds’ shareholders. They may increase or reduce the number of board members and may, subject to the Investment Company Act, fill board vacancies. Board members also may elect and remove such officers and appoint and terminate such agents as they consider appropriate. They may establish and terminate committees consisting of two or more trustees who may exercise the powers and authority of the board as determined by the trustees. They may, in general, delegate such authority as they consider desirable to any officer of the funds, to any board committee and to any agent or employee of the funds or to any custodian, transfer agent, investor servicing agent, principal underwriter or other service provider for a fund.

 

 

30

---

 

 

To communicate with the board, or a member of the board, a shareholder should send a written communication addressed to the board or member of the board to the attention of the Corporate Secretary at the following address: P.O. Box 418210, Kansas City, Missouri 64141-9210. Shareholders who prefer to communicate by email may send their comments to corporatesecretary@americancentury.com. All shareholder communications received will be forwarded to the board or to the independent chairman of such board.

 

Board Leadership Structure and Standing Board Committees

 

Ronald J. Gilson currently serves as the independent chairman of the board and has served in such capacity since 1995. Of the board’s members, Jonathan S. Thomas is the only member who is an “interested person” as that term is defined in the Investment Company Act. The remaining members are independent trustees. The independent trustees meet separately to consider a variety of matters that are scheduled to come before the board and meet periodically with the fund’s Chief Compliance Officer and fund auditors. They are advised by independent legal counsel. No independent trustee may serve as an officer or employee of a fund. The board has also established several committees, as described below. Each committee is comprised solely of independent trustees. The board believes that the current leadership structure, with independent trustees filling all but one position on the board, with an independent trustee serving as chairman of the board and with the board committees comprised only of independent trustees, is appropriate and allows for independent oversight of the fund.

 

The board has an Audit and Compliance Committee that approves the funds’ engagement of the independent registered public accounting firm and recommends approval of such engagement to the independent trustees. The committee also oversees the activities of the accounting firm, receives regular reports regarding fund accounting, oversees securities valuation (approving the funds’ or the trust’s valuation policy and receiving reports regarding instances of fair valuation thereunder), and receives regular reports from the advisor’s internal audit department. The committee also reviews the results of the funds’ compliance testing program, meets regularly with the fund’s Chief Compliance Officer, and monitors implementation of the funds’ Code of Ethics. The committee currently consists of Peter F. Pervere (chair), Tanya S. Beder and Ronald J. Gilson. It met four times during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011.

 

The board also has a Portfolio Committee that meets quarterly to review the investment activities and strategies used to manage the funds’ assets and monitor investment performance. The committee regularly receives reports from the advisor’s Chief Investment Officer, portfolio managers, credit analysts and other investment personnel concerning the funds’ investments. The committee also receives information regarding fund trading activities and monitors derivative usage. It currently consists of Myron S. Scholes (chair), Jeremy I Bulow, John Freidenrich and Frederick L.A. Grauer. The committee met four times during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011.

 

The Client Experience Oversight Committee reviews the level and quality of transfer agent and administrative services provided to the funds and their shareholders. It receives and reviews reports comparing those services to those of fund competitors and seeks to improve such services where feasible and appropriate. The committee currently consists of John B. Shoven (chair), Peter F. Pervere and Ronald J. Gilson. It met four times during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011.

 

The Risk Management Oversight Committee coordinates the board’s oversight of the funds’ risk management processes and monitors the systems, practices and procedures the advisor uses to manage the funds’ risks. It also makes recommendations to the board regarding the allocation of risk oversight activities among the board’s committees. The committee currently consists of Tanya S. Beder (chair), Ronald J. Gilson, Frederick L.A. Grauer and Myron S. Scholes. It met two times during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011.

 

 

31

---

 

 

Finally, the board has a Corporate Governance Committee that is responsible for reviewing board procedures and committee structures. The committee also considers and recommends individuals for nomination as trustees. The names of potential trustee candidates may be drawn from a number of sources, including recommendations from members of the board, the advisor (in the case of interested trustees only), shareholders and third party search firms. The committee seeks to identify and recruit the best available candidates and will evaluate qualified shareholder nominees on the same basis as those identified through other sources. The committee does not have a charter. Although not written, the fund has a policy of considering all candidates recommended in writing by shareholders. Shareholders may submit trustee nominations in writing to the Corporate Secretary, P.O. Box 418210, Kansas City, Missouri 64141-9210, or by email to corporatesecretary@americancentury.com. The nomination should include the following information:

 

•	Shareholder’s name, the fund name, number of fund shares owned and length of period held;
•	Name, age and address of the candidate;
•	A detailed resume describing, among other things, the candidate’s educational background, occupation, employment history, financial knowledge and expertise and material outside commitments (e.g., memberships on other boards and committees, charitable foundations, etc.);
•	Any other information relating to the candidate that is required to be disclosed in solicitations of proxies for election of trustees in an election contest pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934;
•	A supporting statement that (i) describes the candidate’s reasons for seeking election to the board and (ii) documents his/her qualifications to serve as a trustee; and
•	A signed statement from the candidate confirming his/her willingness to serve on the board.

 

The Corporate Governance Committee also may recommend the creation of new committees, evaluate the membership structure of new and existing committees, consider the frequency and duration of board and committee meetings and otherwise evaluate the responsibilities, processes, resources, performance and compensation of the board. It currently consists of John Freidenrich, Ronald J. Gilson, Frederick L.A. Grauer and John B. Shoven. The committee met five times during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011.

 

Risk Oversight by the Board

 

As previously disclosed, the board oversees the advisor’s management of the funds and meets at least quarterly with management of the advisor to review reports and receive information regarding fund operations. Risk oversight relating to the funds is one component of the board’s oversight and is undertaken in connection with the duties of the board. As described in the previous section, the board’s committees, including the Risk Management Oversight Committee, assist the board in overseeing various types of risks relating to the funds. The board receives regular reports from each committee regarding the committee’s areas of oversight responsibility and, through those reports and its regular interactions with management of the advisor during and between meetings, analyzes, evaluates, and provides feedback on the advisor’s risk management processes. In addition, the board receives information regarding, and has discussions with senior management of the advisor about, the advisor’s enterprise risk management systems and strategies. There can be no assurance that all elements of risk, or even all elements of material risk, will be disclosed to or identified by the board, or that the advisor’s risk management systems and strategies, and the board’s oversight thereof, will mitigate all elements of risk, or even all elements of material risk, to the funds.

 

 

32

---

 

 

Board Compensation

 

Each independent trustee receives compensation for service as a member of the board, based on a schedule that takes into account the number of meetings attended and the assets of the funds for which the meetings are held. None of the interested trustees or officers of the fund receive compensation from the funds. Under the terms of each management agreement with the advisor, the fund is responsible for paying such fees and expenses. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, the funds and the American Century family of funds paid the independent trustees the amounts shown in the following table. Because Jeremy I. Bulow was not a trustee as of June 30, 2011, he is not included in the table.

 

Name of Trustee	Total Compensation from the Fund 1	Total Compensation from the American Century Investments Family of Funds 2
Tanya S. Beder	$3,676	$94,000
John Freidenrich	$6,959	$170,022
Ronald J. Gilson	$11,097	$270,786
Frederick L.A. Grauer	$6,552	$160,522
Peter F. Pervere	$7,093	$173,026
Myron S. Scholes	$6,731	$164,524
John B. Shoven	$6,742	$164,524

 

1	Includes compensation paid to the trustees for fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, and also includes amounts deferred at the election of the trustees under the American Century Mutual Funds’ Independent Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan.

 

2	Includes compensation paid by the investment companies of the American Century Investments family of funds served by this board. The total amount of deferred compensation included in the table is as follows: Ms. Beder, $75,200; Mr. Gilson, $270,786; and Mr. Pervere, $8,651.

 

None of the funds currently provides any pension or retirement benefits to the trustees except pursuant to the American Century Mutual Funds’ Independent Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan adopted by the trust. Under the plan, the independent trustees may defer receipt of all or any part of the fees to be paid to them for serving as trustees of the funds. All deferred fees are credited to accounts established in the names of the trustees. The amounts credited to each account then increase or decrease, as the case may be, in accordance with the performance of one or more American Century funds selected by the trustee. The account balance continues to fluctuate in accordance with the performance of the selected fund or funds until final payment of all amounts credited to the account. Trustees are allowed to change their designation of funds from time to time.

 

No deferred fees are payable until such time as a trustee resigns, retires or otherwise ceases to be a member of the board. Trustees may receive deferred fee account balances either in a lump sum payment or in substantially equal installment payments to be made over a period not to exceed 10 years. Upon the death of a trustee, all remaining deferred fee account balances are paid to the trustee’s beneficiary or, if none, to the trustee’s estate.

 

The plan is an unfunded plan and, accordingly, the fund has no obligation to segregate assets to secure or fund the deferred fees. To date, the funds have voluntarily funded their obligations. The rights of trustees to receive their deferred fee account balances are the same as the rights of a general unsecured creditor of the fund. The plan may be terminated at any time by the administrative committee of the plan. If terminated, all deferred fee account balances will be paid in a lump sum.

 

 

33

---

 

 

Ownership of Fund Shares

 

The trustees owned shares in the funds as of December 31, 2011, as shown in the table below.

 

	Name of Trustees
	Jonathan S. Thomas 1	Tanya S. Beder	Jeremy I. Bulow	John Freidenrich
Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund:
International Bond	A	A	A	A
Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustees in Family of Investment Companies	E	A	B	A

 

Ranges: A—none, B—$1-$10,000, C—$10,001-$50,000, D—$50,001-$100,000, E—More than $100,000

 

1	This trustee owns shares of one or more registered investment companies in the American Century Investments family of funds that are not overseen by this board.

	Name of Trustees
	Ronald J. Gilson 1	Frederick L.A. Grauer	Peter F. Pervere 1	Myron S. Scholes 1	John B. Shoven 1
Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund:
International Bond	A	A	A	A	A
Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Trustees in Family of Investment Companies	E	A	A	E	E

 

Ranges: A—none, B—$1-$10,000, C—$10,001-$50,000, D—$50,001-$100,000, E—More than $100,000

 

1	This trustee owns shares of one or more registered investment companies in the American Century Investments family of funds that are not overseen by this board.

 

Beneficial Ownership of Affiliates by Independent Trustees

 

No independent trustee or his or her immediate family members beneficially owned shares of the advisor, the principal underwriter of the funds or any other person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the advisor or the funds’ principal underwriter as of December 31, 2011.

 

 

34

---

 

 

Officers

 

The following table presents certain information about the executive officers of the funds. Each officer serves as an officer for each of the 15 investment companies in the American Century family of funds, unless otherwise noted. No officer is compensated for his or her service as an officer of the funds. The listed officers are interested persons of the funds and are appointed or re-appointed on an annual basis. The mailing address for each of the officers listed below is 4500 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111.

 

Name (Year of Birth)	Offices with the Funds	Principal Occupation(s) During the Past Five Years
Jonathan S. Thomas (1963)	Trustee and President since 2007	President and Chief Executive Officer, ACC (March 2007 to present); Chief Administrative Officer, ACC (February 2006 to February 2007); Executive Vice President, ACC (November 2005 to February 2007). Also serves as: Chief Executive Officer and Manager, ACS; Executive Vice President, ACIM; Director, ACC, ACIM and other ACC subsidiaries
Barry Fink (1955)	Executive Vice President since 2007	Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President, ACC (September 2007 to present); President, ACS (October 2007 to present); Managing Director, Morgan Stanley (2000 to 2007). Also serves as: Manager, ACS and Director, ACC and certain ACC subsidiaries
Maryanne L. Roepke (1956)	Chief Compliance Officer since 2006 and Senior Vice President since 2000	Chief Compliance Officer, American Century funds , ACIM and ACS (August 2006 to present). Also serves as: Senior Vice President, ACS
Charles A. Etherington (1957)	General Counsel since 2007 and Senior Vice President since 2006	Attorney, ACC (February 1994 to present); Vice President, ACC (November 2005 to present), General Counsel, ACC (March 2007 to present); Also serves as General Counsel, ACIM, ACS, ACIS and other ACC subsidiaries; and Senior Vice President, ACIM and ACS
Robert J. Leach (1966)	Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer since 2006	Vice President, ACS (February 2000 to present)
David H. Reinmiller (1963)	Vice President since 2001	Attorney, ACC (January 1994 to present); Associate General Counsel, ACC (January 2001 to present); Also serves as Vice President, ACIM and ACS
Ward D. Stauffer (1960)	Secretary since 2005	Attorney, ACC (June 2003 to present)

Code of Ethics

 

The funds, their investment advisor and principal underwriter have adopted codes of ethics under Rule 17j-1 of the Investment Company Act. They permit personnel subject to the codes to invest in securities, including securities that may be purchased or held by the funds, provided that they first obtain approval from the compliance department before making such investments.

 

 

35

---

 

 

Proxy Voting Guidelines

 

The advisor is responsible for exercising the voting rights associated with the securities purchased and/or held by the funds. In exercising its voting obligations, the advisor is guided by general fiduciary principles. It must act prudently, solely in the interest of the funds, and for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to them. The advisor attempts to consider all factors of its vote that could affect the value of the investment. The funds’ Board of Trustees has approved the advisor’s proxy voting guidelines to govern the advisor’s proxy voting activities. The advisor and the board have agreed on certain significant contributors to shareholder value with respect to a number of matters that are often the subject of proxy solicitations for shareholder meetings. The proxy voting guidelines specifically address these considerations and establish a framework for the advisor’s consideration of the vote that would be appropriate for the funds. In particular, the proxy voting guidelines outline principles and factors to be considered in the exercise of voting authority for proposals addressing:

 

•	Election of Directors
•	Ratification of Selection of Auditors
•	Equity-Based Compensation Plans
•	Anti-Takeover Proposals
	■  Cumulative Voting
	■  Staggered Boards
	■  ”Blank Check” Preferred Stock
	■  Elimination of Preemptive Rights
	■  Non-targeted Share Repurchase
	■  Increase in Authorized Common Stock
	■  ”Supermajority” Voting Provisions or Super Voting Share Classes
	■  ”Fair Price” Amendments
	■  Limiting the Right to Call Special Shareholder Meetings
	■  Poison Pills or Shareholder Rights Plans
	■  Golden Parachutes
	■  Reincorporation
	■  Confidential Voting
	■  Opting In or Out of State Takeover Laws
•	Shareholder Proposals Involving Social, Moral or Ethical Matters
•	Anti-Greenmail Proposals
•	Changes to Indemnification Provisions
•	Non-Stock Incentive Plans
•	Director Tenure
•	Directors’ Stock Options Plans
•	Director Share Ownership

 

Finally, the proxy voting guidelines establish procedures for voting of proxies in cases in which the advisor may have a potential conflict of interest. Companies with which the advisor has direct business relationships could theoretically use these relationships to attempt to unduly influence the manner in which American Century Investments votes on matters for the funds. To ensure that such a conflict of interest does not affect proxy votes cast for the funds, all discretionary (including case-by-case) voting for these companies will be voted in direct consultation with a committee of the independent trustees of the funds.

 

A copy of the advisor’s proxy voting guidelines and information regarding how the advisor voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 are available on the “About Us” page at americancentury.com. The advisor’s proxy voting record also is available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov.

 

 

36

---

 

 

Service Providers

 

The funds have no employees. To conduct the funds’ day-to-day activities, the trust has hired a number of service providers. Each service provider has a specific function to fill on behalf of the funds that is described below.

 

ACIM, ACS and ACIS are wholly owned, directly or indirectly, by ACC. The Stowers Institute for Medical Research (SIMR) controls ACC by virtue of its beneficial ownership of more than 25% of the voting securities of ACC. SIMR is part of a not-for-profit biomedical research organization dedicated to finding the keys to the causes, treatments and prevention of disease.

Inve stment Advisor

 

American Century Investment Management, Inc. (ACIM) serves as the investment advisor for each of the funds. A description of the responsibilities of the advisor (ACIM) appears in each prospectus under the heading Management.

 

For the services provided to each fund, the advisor receives a unified management fee based on a percentage of the daily net assets of each class of shares of the fund. For more information about the unified management fee, see The Investment Advisor under the heading Management in each fund’s prospectus.

 

Global Bond Fund

 

The unified management fee for each of the Investor Class, A Class, C Class and R Class is 0.95%. The unified management fee for the Institutional Class is 0.75%. The amount of the fee is calculated daily and paid monthly in arrears.

 

International Bond Fund

 

The annual rate at which the unified management fee is assessed is determined daily in a multi-step process. First, the trust’s fund is categorized according to the broad asset class in which it invests (e.g., money market, bond or equity), and the assets of the fund in each category are totaled (“Fund Category Assets”). Second, the assets are totaled for certain other accounts managed by the advisor (“Other Account Category Assets”). To be included, these accounts must have the same management team and investment objective as a fund in the same category with the same Board of Trustees as the trust. Together, the Fund Category Assets and the Other Account Category Assets comprise the “Investment Category Assets.” The Investment Category Fee Rate is then calculated by applying the fund’s Investment Category Fee Schedule to the Investment Category Assets and dividing the result by the Investment Category Assets.

 

Finally, a separate Complex Fee Schedule is applied to the assets of all of the funds in the American Century Investments family of funds (the “Complex Assets”), and the Complex Fee Rate is calculated based on the resulting total. The Investment Category Fee Rate and the Complex Fee Rate are then added to determine the Management Fee Rate payable by a class of the fund to the advisor.

 

For purposes of determining the assets that comprise the Fund Category Assets, Other Account Category Assets and Complex Assets, the assets of registered investment companies managed by the advisor that invest primarily in the shares of other registered investment companies shall not be included.

 

 

37

---

 

 

The schedules by which the unified management fee for International Bond is determined are shown below.

 

Investment Category Fee Schedule for International Bond
Category Assets	Fee Rate
First $1 billion	0.6100%
Next $1 billion	0.5580%
Next $3 billion	0.5280%
Next $5 billion	0.5080%
Next $15 billion	0.4950%
Next $25 billion	0.4930%
Thereafter	0.4925%

 

The Complex Fee is determined according to the schedule below.

 

Complex Assets	Investor, A, C and R Class Fee Rate	Institutional Class Fee Rate
First $2.5 billion	0.3100%	0.1100%
Next $7.5 billion	0.3000%	0.1000%
Next $15 billion	0.2985%	0.0985%
Next $25 billion	0.2970%	0.0970%
Next $25 billion	0.2870%	0.0870%
Next $25 billion	0.2800%	0.0800%
Next $25 billion	0.2700%	0.0700%
Next $25 billion	0.2650%	0.0650%
Next $25 billion	0.2600%	0.0600%
Next $25 billion	0.2550%	0.0550%
Thereafter	0.2500%	0.0500%

 

On each calendar day, each class of each fund accrues a management fee that is equal to the class’s Management Fee Rate times the net assets of the class divided by 365 (366 in leap years). On the first business day of each month, the funds pay a management fee to the advisor for the previous month. The fee for the previous month is the sum of the calculated daily fees for each class of a fund during the previous month.

 

The management agreement between the trust and the advisor shall continue in effect for a period of two years from its effective date (unless sooner terminated in accordance with its terms) and shall continue in effect from year to year thereafter for each fund so long as such continuance is approved at least annually by:

 

(1)	either the funds’ Board of Trustees, or a majority of the outstanding voting securities of such fund (as defined in the Investment Company Act); and
(2)	the vote of a majority of the trustees of the funds who are not parties to the agreement, or interested persons of the advisor, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval.

 

The management agreement states that the funds’ Board of Trustees or a majority of the outstanding voting securities of each class of such fund may terminate the management agreement at any time without payment of any penalty on 60 days’ written notice to the advisor. The management agreement shall be automatically terminated if it is assigned.

 

 

38

---

 

 

The management agreement states that the advisor shall not be liable to the funds or its shareholders for anything other than willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of its obligations and duties.

 

The management agreement also provides that the advisor and its officers, trustees or directors and employees may engage in other business, render services to others, and devote time and attention to any other business whether of a similar or dissimilar nature.

 

Certain investments may be appropriate for the funds and also for other clients advised by the advisor. Investment decisions for the funds and other clients are made with a view to achieving their respective investment objectives after consideration of such factors as their current holdings, availability of cash for investment and the size of their investment generally. A particular security may be bought or sold for only one client or fund, or in different amounts and at different times for more than one but less than all clients or funds. A particular security may be bought for one client or fund on the same day it is sold for another client or fund, and a client or fund may hold a short position in a particular security at the same time another client or fund holds a long position. In addition, purchases or sales of the same security may be made for two or more clients or funds on the same date. The advisor has adopted procedures designed to ensure such transactions will be allocated among clients and funds in a manner believed by the advisor to be equitable to each. In some cases this procedure could have an adverse effect on the price or amount of the securities purchased or sold by the fund.

 

The advisor may aggregate purchase and sale orders of the funds with purchase and sale orders of its other clients when the advisor believes that such aggregation provides the best execution for the funds. The Board of Trustees has approved the policy of the advisor with respect to the aggregation of portfolio transactions. Fixed-income securities transactions are not executed through a centralized trading desk. Instead, portfolio teams are responsible for executing trades with broker-dealers in a predominantly dealer marketplace. Trade allocation decisions are made by the portfolio managers at the time of trade execution and orders entered on the fixed-income order management system. The advisor will not aggregate portfolio transactions of the funds unless it believes such aggregation is consistent with its duty to seek best execution on behalf of the funds and the terms of the management agreement. The advisor receives no additional compensation or remuneration as a result of such aggregation.

 

Unified management fees incurred by the fund for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2011, June 30, 2010 and June 30, 2009 are indicated in the following table. Because Global Bond Fund launched after the most recent fiscal year end, it is not included in this table.

 

Unified Management Fees
Fund	2011	2010	2009
International Bond	$11,311,394	$13,391,148	$14,178,253

 

From the International Bond Fund’s inception to January 30, 2009, J.P. Morgan Investment Management, Inc. (JPMIM) served as its subadvisor. For the fiscal years ended June 30, 2011, June 30, 2010 and June 30, 2009, the advisor paid JPMIM subadvisory fees as listed in the following table:

 

JPMIM Subadvisory Fees
2011	$0
2010	$0
2009 1	$1,755,799

 

1	For the period July 1, 2008 to January 30, 2009.

 

 

39

---

 

 

Portfolio Manager

 

Accounts Managed

 

The portfolio managers are responsible for the day-to-day management of various accounts, as indicated by the following table. None of these accounts has an advisory fee based on the performance of the account.

 

Accounts Managed (As of June 30, 2011)
		Registered Investment Companies (e.g., other American Century Investments funds and American Century Investments- subadvised funds)	Other Pooled Investment Vehicles (e.g., commingled trusts and 529 education savings plans)	Other Accounts (e.g., separate accounts and corporate accounts, including incubation strategies and corporate money)
John A. Lovito	Number of Accounts	2 1	0	1
	Assets	$1.4 billion 2	N/A	$25.4 million
Federico Garcia Zamora	Number of Accounts	2 1	0	1
	Assets	$1.4 billion 2	N/A	$25.4 million
Simon Chester 3	Number of Accounts	1 4	0	1
	Assets	$1.3 billion 2	N/A	$25.5 million
Robert V. Gahagan 5	Number of Accounts	18 6	2	2
	Assets	$21.8 billion 7	$192.4 million	$458.5 million
G. David MacEwen 5	Number of Accounts	8 8	1	2
	Assets	$10.1 billion 7	$12.6 million	$458.5 million

 

1	As of January 31, 2012, the inception date of Global Bond, the number of registered investment companies is 3.

 

2	Includes $1.3 billion in International Bond Fund. Because Global Bond is new, assets related to that fund are not included.

 

3	This information is provided as of July 12, 2011.

 

4	As of January 31, 2012, the inception of Global Bond, the number of registered investment companies is 2.

 

5	Information is provided as of January 12, 2012.

 

6	As of January 31, 2012, the inception date of Global Bond, the number of registered investment companies is 19.

 

7	Because Global Bond is new, assets related to that fund are not included.

 

8	As of January 31, 2012, the inception date of Global Bond, the number of registered investment companies is 9.

 

Potential Conflicts of Interest

 

Certain conflicts of interest may arise in connection with the management of multiple portfolios. Potential conflicts include, for example, conflicts among investment strategies, such as one portfolio buying or selling a security while another portfolio has a differing, potentially opposite position in such security. This may include one portfolio taking a short position in the security of an issuer that is held long in another portfolio (or vice versa). Other potential conflicts may arise with respect to the allocation of investment opportunities, which are discussed in more detail below. American Century Investments has adopted policies and procedures that are designed to minimize the effects of these conflicts.

 

 

40

---

 

 

Responsibility for managing American Century Investments client portfolios is organized according to investment discipline. Investment disciplines include, for example, quantitative equity, U.S. growth mid- and small-cap, U.S. growth large-cap, value, global and non-U.S. fixed-income and asset allocation. Within each discipline are one or more portfolio teams responsible for managing specific client portfolios. Generally, client portfolios with similar strategies are managed by the same team using the same objective, approach, and philosophy. Accordingly, portfolio holdings, position sizes, and industry and sector exposures tend to be similar across similar portfolios, which minimizes the potential for conflicts of interest. In addition, American Century Investments maintains an ethical wall around each of its equity investment disciplines (U.S. growth large-cap, U.S. growth mid- and small-cap, value, quantitative equity and global and non-U.S.), meaning that access to information regarding any portfolio’s transactional activities is only available to team members of the investment discipline that manages such portfolio. The ethical wall is intended to aid in preventing the misuse of portfolio holdings information and trading activity in other disciplines.

 

For each investment strategy, one portfolio is generally designated as the “policy portfolio.” Other portfolios with similar investment objectives, guidelines and restrictions, if any, are referred to as “tracking portfolios.” When managing policy and tracking portfolios, a portfolio team typically purchases and sells securities across all portfolios that the team manages. American Century Investments’ trading systems include various order entry programs that assist in the management of multiple portfolios, such as the ability to purchase or sell the same relative amount of one security across several funds. In some cases a tracking portfolio may have additional restrictions or limitations that cause it to be managed separately from the policy portfolio. Portfolio managers make purchase and sale decisions for such portfolios alongside the policy portfolio to the extent the overlap is appropriate, and separately, if the overlap is not.

 

American Century Investments may aggregate orders to purchase or sell the same security for multiple portfolios when it believes such aggregation is consistent with its duty to seek best execution on behalf of its clients. Orders of certain client portfolios may, by investment restriction or otherwise, be determined not available for aggregation. American Century Investments has adopted policies and procedures to minimize the risk that a client portfolio could be systematically advantaged or disadvantaged in connection with the aggregation of orders. To the extent equity trades are aggregated, shares purchased or sold are generally allocated to the participating portfolios pro rata based on order size. Because initial public offerings (IPOs) are usually available in limited supply and in amounts too small to permit across-the-board pro rata allocations, American Century Investments has adopted special procedures designed to promote a fair and equitable allocation of IPO securities among clients over time. Fixed-income securities transactions are not executed through a centralized trading desk. Instead, portfolio teams are responsible for executing trades with broker/dealers in a predominantly dealer marketplace. Trade allocation decisions are made by the portfolio manager at the time of trade execution and orders entered on the fixed-income order management system.

 

Finally, investment of American Century Investments’ corporate assets in proprietary accounts may raise additional conflicts of interest. To mitigate these potential conflicts of interest, American Century Investments has adopted policies and procedures intended to provide that trading in proprietary accounts is performed in a manner that does not give improper advantage to American Century Investments to the detriment of client portfolios.

 

Compensation

 

American Century Investments portfolio manager compensation is structured to align the interests of portfolio managers with those of the shareholders whose assets they manage. As of June 30, 2011, it included the components described below, each of which is determined with reference to a number of factors such as overall performance, market competition, and internal equity. Compensation is not directly tied to the value of assets held in client portfolios.

 

Base Salary

 

Portfolio managers receive base pay in the form of a fixed annual salary.

 

 

41

---

 

 

Bonus

 

A significant portion of portfolio manager compensation takes the form of an annual incentive bonus tied to performance. Bonus payments are determined by a combination of factors. One factor is fund investment performance. Fund investment performance is generally measured by a combination of one- and three-year pre-tax performance relative to various benchmarks and/or internally-customized peer groups, such as those indicated below. The performance comparison periods may be adjusted based on a fund’s inception date or a portfolio manager’s tenure on the fund. In 2008, American Century Investments began placing increased emphasis on long-term performance and is phasing in five-year performance comparison periods.

 

Fund	Benchmarks	Peer Group 1
Global Bond	Barclays Capital Global Aggregate Bond Index (USD, Unhedged)	Morningstar World Bond Cetegory
International Bond	Barclays Capital Global Treasury ex-U.S. Bond Index; 25% weight in Japan and 5% maximum weights in Austria, Ireland, Finland and Portugal; minimum AA quality; FX-adjusted (investable index)	Lipper International Income Funds

 

1

Custom peer groups are constructed using all the funds in the indicated categories as a starting point. Funds are then eliminated from the peer group based on a standardized methodology designed to result in a final peer group that is both more stable (i.e., has less peer turnover) over the long term and that more closely represents the fund’s true peers based on internal investment mandates.

 

Portfolio managers may have responsibility for multiple American Century Investments mutual funds. In such cases, the performance of each is assigned a percentage weight appropriate for the portfolio manager’s relative levels of responsibility. Portfolio managers also may have responsibility for other types of similarly managed portfolios. If the performance of a similarly managed account is considered for purposes of compensation, it is either measured in the same way as a comparable American Century Investments mutual fund (i.e., relative to the performance of a benchmark and/or peer group) or relative to the performance of such mutual fund.

 

A second factor in the bonus calculation relates to the performance of a number of American Century Investments funds managed according to one of the following investment styles: U.S. growth, U.S. value, international, quantitative and fixed-income. Performance is measured for each product individually as described above and then combined to create an overall composite for the product group. These composites may measure one-year performance (equal weighted) or a combination of one- and three-year performance (equal or asset weighted) depending on the portfolio manager’s responsibilities and products managed. This feature is designed to encourage effective teamwork among portfolio management teams in achieving long-term investment success for similarly styled portfolios.

 

A portion of portfolio managers’ bonuses may be tied to individual performance goals, such as research projects and the development of new products.

 

Restricted Stock Plan

 

Portfolio managers are eligible for grants of restricted stock of ACC. These grants are discretionary, and eligibility and availability can vary from year to year. The size of an individual’s grant is determined by individual and product performance as well as other product-specific considerations. Grants can appreciate/depreciate in value based on the performance of the ACC stock during the restriction period (generally three to four years).

 

Deferred Compensation Plans

 

Portfolio managers are eligible for grants of deferred compensation. These grants are used in very limited situations, primarily for retention purposes. Grants are fixed and can appreciate/depreciate in value based on the performance of the American Century Investments mutual funds in which the portfolio manager chooses to invest them.

 

 

42

---

 

Ownership of Securities

 

The following table indicates the dollar range of securities of the fund beneficially owned by each fund’s portfolio managers as of June 30, 2011. Because Global Bond Fund is new, it is not included in the table.

 

Ownership of Securities
	Aggregate Dollar Range of Securities in Fund
International Bond Fund
John A. Lovito	D
Federico Garcia Zamora	C
Simon Chester 1	A

 

Ranges: A – none; B – $1-$10,000; C – $10,001-$50,000; D – $50,001-$100,000; E – $100,001-$500,000; F – $500,001-$1,000,000; G – More than $1,000,000.

 

1	This information is provided as of July 12, 2011.

 

Transfer Agent and Administrator

 

American Century Services, LLC (ACS), 4500 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111, serves as transfer agent and dividend-paying agent for the funds. It provides physical facilities, computer hardware and software and personnel, for the day-to-day administration of the funds and the advisor. The advisor pays ACS’s costs for serving as transfer agent and dividend-payment agent for the funds out of the advisor’s unified management fee. For a description of this fee and the terms of its payment, see the above discussion under the caption Investment Advisor on page 37.

 

From time to time, special services may be offered to shareholders who maintain higher share balances in our family of funds. These services may include the waiver of minimum investment requirements, expedited confirmation of shareholder transactions, newsletters and a team of personal representatives. Any expenses associated with these special services will be paid by the advisor.

 

Sub-Administrator

 

The advisor has entered into an Administration Agreement with State Street Bank and Trust Company (SSB) to provide certain fund accounting, fund financial reporting, tax and treasury/tax compliance services for the funds, including striking the daily net asset value for the funds. The advisor pays SSB a monthly fee as compensation for these services that is based on the total net assets of accounts in the American Century complex serviced by SSB. ACS does pay SSB for some additional services on a per fund basis. While ACS continues to serve as the administrator of the funds, SSB provides sub-administrative services that were previously undertaken by ACS.

 

Distributor

 

The funds’ shares are distributed by American Century Investment Services, Inc. (ACIS), a registered broker-dealer. The distributor is a wholly owned subsidiary of ACC, and its principal business address is 4500 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111.

 

The distributor is the principal underwriter of the funds’ shares. The distributor makes a continuous, best-efforts underwriting of the funds’ shares. This means the distributor has no liability for unsold shares. The advisor pays ACIS’s costs for serving as principal underwriter of the funds’ shares out of the advisor’s unified management fee. For a description of this fee and the terms of its payment, see the above discussion under the caption Investment Advisor on page 37. ACIS does not earn commissions for distributing the funds’ shares.

 

Certain financial intermediaries unaffiliated with the distributor or the funds may perform various administrative and shareholder services for their clients who are invested in the funds. These services may include assisting with fund purchases, redemptions and exchanges, distributing information about the funds and their performance, preparing and distributing client account statements, and other administrative and shareholder services that would otherwise be provided by the distributor or its affiliates. The distributor may pay fees out of its own resources to such financial intermediaries for providing these services.

 

 

43

---

 

 

Custodian Banks

 

State Street Bank and Trust Company (SSB), Lafayette Corporate Center, 2 Avenue de Lafayette, Boston, Massachusetts 02111 serves as custodian of the funds’ cash and securities. Foreign securities, if any, are held by foreign banks participating in a network coordinated by SSB. Commerce Bank, N.A., 1000 Walnut, Kansas City, Missouri 64105, also serves as custodian of the funds’ cash to facilitate purchases and redemptions of fund shares. The custodians take no part in determining the investment policies of the funds or in deciding which securities are purchased or sold by the funds. The funds, however, may invest in certain obligations of the custodians and may purchase or sell certain securities from or to the custodians.

 

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is the independent registered public accounting firm of the funds. The address of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is 1100 Walnut, Suite 1300, Kansas City, Missouri 64106. As the independent registered public accounting firm of the funds, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP provides services including:

 

(1)	auditing the annual financial statements and financial highlights for the funds, and
(2)	assisting and consulting in connection with SEC filings.

 

Brokerage Allocation

 

The advisor places orders for equity portfolio transactions with broker-dealers, who receive commissions for their services. Generally, commissions relating to securities traded on foreign exchanges will be higher than commissions relating to securities traded on U.S. exchanges. The advisor purchases and sells fixed-income securities through principal transactions, meaning the advisor normally purchases securities on a net basis directly from the issuer or a primary market-maker acting as principal for the securities. The funds generally do not pay a stated brokerage commission on these transactions, although the purchase price for debt securities usually includes an undisclosed compensation. Purchases of securities from underwriters typically include a commission or concession paid by the issuer to the underwriter, and purchases from dealers serving as market-makers typically include a dealer’s mark-up (i.e., a spread between the bid and asked prices).

 

Under the management agreement between the funds and the advisor, the advisor has the responsibility of selecting brokers and dealers to execute portfolio transactions. The funds’ policy is to secure the most favorable prices and execution of orders on its portfolio transactions. The advisor selects broker-dealers on their perceived ability to obtain “best execution” in effecting transactions in its clients’ portfolios. In selecting broker-dealers to effect portfolio transactions relating to equity securities, the advisor considers the full range and quality of a broker-dealer’s research and brokerage services, including, but not limited to, the following:

 

•	applicable commission rates and other transaction costs charged by the broker-dealer
•	value of research provided to the advisor by the broker-dealer (including economic forecasts, fundamental and technical advice on individual securities, market analysis, and advice, either directly or through publications or writings, as to the value of securities, availability of securities or of purchasers/sellers of securities)
•	timeliness of the broker-dealer’s trade executions
•	efficiency and accuracy of the broker-dealer’s clearance and settlement processes
•	broker-dealer’s ability to provide data on securities executions
•	financial condition of the broker-dealer
•	the quality of the overall brokerage and customer service provided by the broker-dealer

 

In transactions to buy and sell fixed-income securities, the selection of the broker-dealer is determined by the availability of the desired security and its offering price, as well as the broker-dealer’s general execution and operational and financial capabilities in the type of transaction involved. The advisor will seek to obtain prompt execution of orders at the most favorable prices or yields. The advisor does not consider the receipt of products or services other than brokerage or research services in selecting broker-dealers.

 

 

44

---

 

 

On an ongoing basis, the advisor seeks to determine what levels of commission rates are reasonable in the marketplace. In evaluating the reasonableness of commission rates, the advisor considers:

 

•	rates quoted by broker-dealers
•	the size of a particular transaction, in terms of the number of shares, dollar amount, and number of clients involved
•	the ability of a broker-dealer to execute large trades while minimizing market impact the complexity of a particular transaction
•	the nature and character of the markets on which a particular trade takes place
•	the level and type of business done with a particular firm over a period of time
•	the ability of a broker-dealer to provide anonymity while executing trades
•	historical commission rates
•	rates that other institutional investors are paying, based on publicly available information

 

The brokerage commissions paid by the funds may exceed those that another broker-dealer might have charged for effecting the same transactions, because of the value of the brokerage and research services provided by the broker-dealer. Research services furnished by broker-dealers through whom the funds effect securities transactions may be used by the advisor in servicing all of its accounts, and not all such services may be used by the advisor in managing the portfolios of the funds.

 

Pursuant to its internal allocation procedures, the advisor regularly evaluates the brokerage and research services provided by each broker-dealer that it uses. On a semi-annual basis, each member of the advisor’s portfolio management team rates the quality of research and brokerage services provided by each broker-dealer that provides execution services and research to the advisor for its clients’ accounts. The resulting scores are used to rank these broker-dealers on a broker research list. In the event that the advisor has determined that best execution for a particular transaction may be obtained by more than one broker-dealer, the advisor may consider the relative positions of the broker-dealer on this list in determining the party through which to execute the transaction. Actual business received by any firm may be more or less than other broker-dealers with a similar rank. Execution-only brokers are used where deemed appropriate.

 

In the fiscal years ended June 30, 2011, June 30, 2010 and June 30, 2009, the brokerage commissions including, as applicable, futures commissions, of each fund are listed in the following table. Because Global Bond Fund is new, it is not included in the table.

 

Fund	2011	2010	2009
International Bond	$21,054	$14,489	$137,999

 

Brokerage commissions paid by a fund may vary significantly from year to year as a result of changing asset levels throughout the year, portfolio turnover, varying market conditions, and other factors. The decrease in brokerage commissions in 2010 is due to a change in the fund management team and its investment approach, including reduced use of futures agreements.

 

Regular Broker-Dealers

 

As of the end of its most recently completed fiscal year, International Bond Fund owned no securities of its regular brokers or dealers (as defined by Rule 10b-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940) or of their parent companies. Because Global Bond Fund is new, it is not included.

 

 

45

---

 

 

Information About Fund Shares

 

The Declaration of Trust permits the Board of Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest without par value, which may be issued in series (or funds). Each of the funds named on the front of this statement of additional information is a series of shares issued by the trust. In addition, each series (or fund) may be divided into separate classes. See Multiple Class Structure which follows. Additional funds and classes may be added without a shareholder vote.

 

Each fund votes separately on matters affecting that fund exclusively. Voting rights are not cumulative, so that investors holding more than 50% of the trust’s (all funds’) outstanding shares may be able to elect a Board of Trustees. The trust undertakes dollar-based voting, meaning that the number of votes a shareholder is entitled to is based upon the dollar amount of the shareholder’s investment. The election of trustees is determined by the votes received from all the trust’s shareholders without regard to whether a majority of shares of any one fund voted in favor of a particular nominee or all nominees as a group.

 

Each shareholder has rights to dividends and distributions declared by the fund he or she owns and to the net assets of such fund upon its liquidation or dissolution proportionate to his or her share ownership interest in the fund. Shares of each fund have equal voting rights, although each fund votes separately on matters affecting that fund exclusively.

 

The trust shall continue unless terminated by (1) approval of at least two-thirds of the shares of each fund entitled to vote or (2) the trustees by written notice to shareholders of each fund. Any fund may be terminated by (1) approval of at least two-thirds of the shares of that fund or (2) the trustees by written notice to shareholders of that fund.

 

Upon termination of the trust or a fund, as the case may be, the trust shall pay or otherwise provide for all charges, taxes, expenses and liabilities belonging to the trust or the fund. Thereafter, the trust shall reduce the remaining assets belonging to each fund (or the particular fund) to cash, shares of other securities or any combination thereof, and distribute the proceeds belonging to each fund (or the particular fund) to the shareholders of that fund ratably according to the number of shares of that fund held by each shareholder on the termination date.

 

Shareholders of a Massachusetts business trust could, under certain circumstances, be held personally liable for its obligations. However, the Declaration of Trust contains an express disclaimer of shareholder liability for acts or obligations of the trust. The Declaration of Trust also provides for indemnification and reimbursement of expenses of any shareholder held personally liable for obligations of the trust. The Declaration of Trust provides that the trust will, upon request, assume the defense of any claim made against any shareholder for any act or obligation of the trust and satisfy any judgment thereon. The Declaration of Trust further provides that the trust may maintain appropriate insurance (for example, fidelity, bonding and errors and omissions insurance) for the protection of the trust, its shareholders, trustees, officers, employees and agents to cover possible tort and other liabilities. Thus, the risk of a shareholder incurring financial loss as a result of shareholder liability is limited to circumstances in which both inadequate insurance exists and the trust is unable to meet its obligations.

 

The assets belonging to each series or class of shares are held separately by the custodian and the shares of each series or class represent a beneficial interest in the principal, earnings and profit (or losses) of investments and other assets held for each fund or class. Your rights as a shareholder are the same for all series of securities unless otherwise stated. Within their respective series or class, all shares have equal redemption rights. Each share, when issued, is fully paid and non-assessable.

 

46

---

 

 

Multiple Class Structure

 

The Board of Trustees has adopted a multiple class plan pursuant to Rule 18f-3 adopted by the SEC. The plan is described in the prospectus of any fund that offers more than one class. Pursuant to such plan, the funds may issue up to five classes of shares: an Investor Class, Institutional Class, A Class, C Class and R Class.

 

The Investor Class is made available to investors directly from American Century Investments and/or through some financial intermediaries. Investor Class shares charge a single unified management fee, without any load or commission payable to American Century Investments. Additional information regarding eligibility for Investor Class shares may be found in the funds’ prospectuses. The Institutional Class is made available to institutional shareholders or through financial intermediaries whose clients do not require the same level of shareholder and administrative services from the advisor as Investor Class shareholders. As a result, the advisor is able to charge this class a lower total management fee. The A and C Classes also are made available through financial intermediaries, for purchase by individual investors who receive advisory and personal services from the intermediary. The R Class is made available through financial intermediaries and is generally used in 401(k) and other retirement plans. The unified management fee for the A, C and R Classes is the same as for Investor Class, but the A, C and R Class shares each are subject to a separate Master Distribution and Individual Shareholder Services Plan (the A Class Plan, C Class Plan and R Class Plan, respectively and collectively, the plans) described below. The plans have been adopted by the fund’s Board of Trustees in accordance with Rule 12b-1 adopted by the SEC under the Investment Company Act.

 

Rule 12b-1

 

Rule 12b-1 permits an investment company to pay expenses associated with the distribution of its shares in accordance with a plan adopted by its Board of Trustees and approved by its shareholders. Pursuant to such rule, the Board of Trustees of the funds’ A, C and R Classes have approved and entered into the A Class Plan, C Class Plan and R Class Plan, respectively. The plans are described below.

 

In adopting the plans, the Board of Trustees (including a majority of trustees who are not interested persons of the funds [as defined in the Investment Company Act], hereafter referred to as the independent trustees) determined that there was a reasonable likelihood that the plans would benefit the funds and the shareholders of the affected class. Some of the anticipated benefits include improved name recognition of the funds generally; and growing assets in existing funds, which helps retain and attract investment management talent, provides a better environment for improving fund performance, and can lower the total expense ratio for funds with stepped-fee schedules. Pursuant to Rule 12b-1, information about revenues and expenses under the plans is presented to the Board of Trustees quarterly. Continuance of the plans must be approved by the Board of Trustees, including a majority of the independent trustees, annually. The plans may be amended by a vote of the Board of Trustees, including a majority of the independent trustees, except that the plans may not be amended to materially increase the amount to be spent for distribution without majority approval of the shareholders of the affected class. The plans terminate automatically in the event of an assignment and may be terminated upon a vote of a majority of the independent trustees or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the affected class.

 

All fees paid under the plans will be made in accordance with Section 2830 of the Conduct Rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

 

The Share Class Plans

 

As described in the prospectuses, the A, C and R Class shares of the funds are made available to participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans and to persons purchasing through broker-dealers, banks, insurance companies and other financial intermediaries that provide various administrative, shareholder and distribution services. The funds’ distributor enters into contracts with various banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and other financial intermediaries, with respect to the sale of the funds’ shares and/or the use of the funds’ shares in various investment products or in connection with various financial services.

 

Certain recordkeeping and administrative services that would otherwise be performed by the funds’ transfer agent may be performed by a plan sponsor (or its agents) or by a financial intermediary for A, C and R Class investors. In addition to such services, the financial intermediaries provide various individual shareholder and distribution services.

 

47

---

 

 

To enable the funds’ shares to be made available through such plans and financial intermediaries, and to compensate them for such services, the funds’ Board of Trustees has adopted the A, C and R Class Plans. Pursuant to the plans, the following fees are paid and described further below.

 

Prior to October 21, 2011, International Bond Fund also offered B Class shares. However, B Class shares were converted to A Class shares and B Class shares are no longer available for the fund.

 

A Class

 

The A Class pays the funds’ distributor 0.25% annually of the average daily net asset value of the A Class shares. The distributor may use these fees to pay for certain ongoing shareholder and administrative services and for distribution services, including past distribution services. This payment is fixed at 0.25% and is not based on expenses incurred by the distributor.

 

C Class

 

The C Class pays the funds’ distributor 1.00% annually of the average daily net asset value of the funds’ C Class shares, 0.25% of which is paid for certain ongoing individual shareholder and administrative services and 0.75% of which is paid for distribution services, including past distribution services. This payment is fixed at 1.00% and is not based on expenses incurred by the distributor.

 

R Class

 

The R Class pays the funds’ distributor 0.50% annually of the average daily net asset value of the R Class shares. The distributor may use these fees to pay for certain ongoing shareholder and administrative services and for distribution services, including past distribution services. This payment is fixed at 0.50% and is not based on expenses incurred by the distributor.

 

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, the aggregate amount of fees paid under each class plan for International Bond Fund was: A Class, $263,450; B Class, $3,178 (note: B Class shares converted to A Class shares on October 21, 2011); C Class, $72,769; and R Class, $1,105. Because Global Bond is new, it is not included.

 

The distributor then makes these payments to the financial intermediaries (including underwriters and broker-dealers, who may use some of the proceeds to compensate sales personnel) who offer the A, C and R Class shares (and prior to their conversion, B Class shares) for the services described below. No portion of these payments is used by the distributor to pay for advertising, printing costs or interest expenses.

 

Payments may be made for a variety of individual shareholder services, including, but not limited to:

 

(a)	providing individualized and customized investment advisory services, including the consideration of shareholder profiles and specific goals;
(b)	creating investment models and asset allocation models for use by shareholders in selecting appropriate funds;
(c)	conducting proprietary research about investment choices and the market in general;
(d)	periodic rebalancing of shareholder accounts to ensure compliance with the selected asset allocation;
(e)	consolidating shareholder accounts in one place;
(f)	paying service fees for providing personal, continuing services to investors, as contemplated by the Conduct Rules of FINRA; and
(g)	other individual services.

 

Individual shareholder services do not include those activities and expenses that are primarily intended to result in the sale of additional shares of the funds.

 

Distribution services include any activity undertaken or expense incurred that is primarily intended to result in the sale of A, C and/or R Class shares (and prior to their conversion, B Class shares), which services may include but are not limited to:

 

 

48

---

 

 

(a)	paying sales commissions, on-going commissions and other payments to brokers, dealers, financial institutions or others who sell these shares pursuant to selling agreements;
(b)	compensating registered representatives or other employees of the distributor who engage in or support distribution of these shares;
(c)	compensating and paying expenses (including overhead and telephone expenses) of the distributor;
(d)	printing prospectuses, statements of additional information and reports for other-than-existing shareholders;
(e)	preparing, printing and distributing sales literature and advertising materials provided to the funds’ shareholders and prospective shareholders;
(f)	receiving and answering correspondence from prospective shareholders, including distributing prospectuses, statements of additional information, and shareholder reports;
(g)	providing facilities to answer questions from prospective shareholders about fund shares;
(h)	complying with federal and state securities laws pertaining to the sale of fund shares;
(i)	assisting shareholders in completing application forms and selecting dividend and other account options;
(j)	providing other reasonable assistance in connection with the distribution of fund shares;
(k)	organizing and conducting sales seminars and payments in the form of transactional and compensation or promotional incentives;
(l)	profit on the foregoing; and
(m)	such other distribution and services activities as the advisor determines may be paid for by the funds pursuant to the terms of the agreement between the corporation and the funds’ distributor and in accordance with Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act.

 

Valuation of the Fund’s Securities

 

Each fund’s net asset value (NAV) is calculated by adding the value of all portfolio securities and other assets, deducting liabilities and dividing the result by the number of shares outstanding. Expenses and interest earned on portfolio securities are accrued daily.

 

All classes of the funds except the A Class are offered at their NAV, as described below. The A Class of the funds is offered at its public offering price, which is the net asset value plus the appropriate sales charge. This calculation may be expressed as a formula:

 

Offering Price = NAV/(1 – Sales Charge as a % of Offering Price)

 

For example, if the NAV of a fund’s A Class shares is $5.00, the public offering price would be $5.00/(1-4.50%) = $5.24.

 

Each fund’s NAV is calculated as of the close of business of the New York Stock Exchange (the NYSE), each day the NYSE is open for business. The NYSE usually closes at 4 p.m. Eastern time. The NYSE typically observes the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Although the fund expects the same holidays to be observed in the future, the NYSE may modify its holiday schedule at any time.

 

Debt securities not traded on a principal securities exchange are valued through valuations obtained from a commercial pricing service or at the most recent mean of the bid and asked prices provided by investment dealers in accordance with procedures established by the Board of Trustees.

 

The advisor typically completes its trading on behalf of the fund in various markets before the NYSE closes for the day. Foreign currency exchange rates also are determined prior to the close of the NYSE. If an event were to occur after the value of a security was established but before the NAV per share was determined that was likely to materially change the NAV, then that security would be valued as determined in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees.

 

Securities maturing within 60 days of the valuation date may be valued at cost, plus or minus an amortized discount or premium, unless the trustees determine that this would not result in fair valuation of a given security. Other assets and securities for which quotations are not readily available are valued in good faith using methods approved by the Board of Trustees.

 

The value of an exchange-traded foreign security is determined in its national currency as of the close of trading on the foreign exchange on which it is traded or as of the close of business on the NYSE, if that is earlier. That value is then translated to dollars at the prevailing foreign exchange rate.

 

 

49

---

 

 

Trading in securities on European and Far Eastern securities exchanges and over-the-counter markets is normally completed at various times before the close of business on each day that the NYSE is open. If an event were to occur after the value of a security was established, but before the NAV was determined, that was likely to materially change the NAV, then that security would be valued as determined in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees.

 

Trading of these securities in foreign markets may not take place on every day that the NYSE is open. In addition, trading may take place in various foreign markets and on some electronic trading networks on Saturdays or on other days when the NYSE is not open and on which the funds’ NAVs are not calculated. Therefore, these calculations do not take place contemporaneously with the determination of the prices of many of the portfolio securities used in such calculation, and the value of the funds’ portfolios may be affected on days when shares of the funds may not be purchased or redeemed.

 

Ta xes

 

Federal Income Tax

 

Each fund intends to qualify annually as a regulated investment company (RIC) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). RICs are not subject to federal and state income taxes. To qualify as a RIC a fund must, among other requirements, distribute substantially all of its net investment income and net realized capital gains (if any) to investors. If a fund loses its RIC status, it becomes liable for taxes, significantly reducing its distributions to investors and eliminating investors’ ability to treat distributions received from the fund in the same manner in which they were realized by the fund. However, the Regulated Investment Company Modernization Act of 2010, under certain circumstances, allows funds to cure deficiencies that would otherwise result in the loss of RIC status.

 

To qualify as a regulated investment company, a fund must meet certain requirements of the Code, among which are requirements relating to sources of its income and diversification of its assets. A fund is also required to distribute 90% of its investment company taxable income each year. Additionally, a fund must declare dividends by December 31 of each year equal to at least 98% of ordinary income (as of December 31) and 98.2% of capital gains (as of October 31) to avoid the nondeductible 4% federal excise tax on any undistributed amounts.

 

Certain bonds purchased by a fund may be treated as bonds that were originally issued at a discount. Original issue discount represents interest for federal income tax purposes and can generally be defined as the difference between the price at which a security was issued and its stated redemption price at maturity. Although no cash is actually received by a fund until the maturity of the bond, original issue discount is treated for federal income tax purposes as income earned by a fund over the term of the bond, and therefore is subject to the distribution requirements of the Code. The annual amount of income earned on such a bond by a fund generally is determined on the basis of a constant yield to maturity that takes into account the semiannual compounding of accrued interest. In addition, some of the bonds may be purchased by a fund at a discount that exceeds the original issue discount on such bonds, if any. This additional discount represents market discount for federal income tax purposes. The gain realized on the disposition of any bond having market discount generally will be treated as taxable ordinary income to the extent it does not exceed the accrued market discount on such bond (unless a fund elects to include market discount in income in tax years to which it is attributable or if the amount is considered de minimis). Generally, market discount accrues on a daily basis for each day the bond is held by a fund on a constant yield to maturity basis. In the case of any debt security having a fixed maturity date of not more than one year from date of issue, the gain realized on disposition generally will be treated as a short-term capital gain.

 

If fund shares are purchased through taxable accounts, distributions either of cash or additional shares of net investment income and net short-term capital gains are taxable to you as ordinary income, unless they are designated as qualified dividend income and you meet a minimum required holding period with respect to your shares of a fund, in which case such distributions are taxed at the long-term capital gains tax rates. Unless applicable tax provisions are extended, all distributions of income will be taxed at ordinary income tax rates in 2013. Qualified dividend income is a dividend received by a fund from the stock of a domestic or qualifying foreign corporation, provided that the fund has held the stock for a required holding period. The required holding period for qualified dividend income is met if the underlying shares are held more than 60 days in the 121-day period beginning 60 days prior to the ex-dividend date. Dividends received by a fund on shares of stock of domestic corporations may qualify for the 70% dividends received deduction available to corporate shareholders to the extent that a fund held those shares for more than 45 days.

 

 

50

---

 

 

Distributions from gains on assets held by a fund longer than 12 months are taxable as long-term gains regardless of the length of time you have held your shares in the fund. If you purchase shares in a fund and sell them at a loss within six months, your loss on the sale of those shares will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any long-term capital gains dividends you received on those shares.

 

Dividends and interest received by a fund on foreign securities may give rise to withholding and other taxes imposed by foreign countries. However, tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes. Foreign countries generally do not impose taxes on capital gains with respect to investments by non-resident investors. Any foreign taxes paid by a fund will reduce its dividends distributions to investors.

 

If more than 50% of the value of a fund’s total assets at the end of its fiscal year consists of securities of foreign corporations, the fund may qualify for and make an election with the Internal Revenue Service with respect to such fiscal year so that fund shareholders may be able to claim a foreign tax credit in lieu of a deduction for foreign income taxes paid by the fund. If such an election is made, the foreign taxes paid by the fund will be treated as income received by you. In order for you to utilize the foreign tax credit, you must have held your shares for 16 days or more during the 31-day period, beginning 15 days prior to the ex-dividend date for the mutual fund shares. The mutual fund must meet a similar holding period requirement with respect to foreign securities to which a dividend is attributable. Any portion of the foreign tax credit that is ineligible as a result of the fund not meeting the holding period requirement will be deducted in computing net investment income.

 

A fund’s transactions in foreign currencies, forward contracts, options and futures contracts (including options and futures contracts on foreign currencies) will be subject to special provisions of the Code that, among other things, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the fund (i.e., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital), accelerate recognition of income to the fund, defer fund losses, and affect the determination of whether capital gains and losses are characterized as long-term or short-term capital gains or losses. These rules could therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also may require a fund to mark-to-market certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were sold), which may cause the fund to recognize income without receiving cash with which to make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the distribution requirements of the Code for relief from income and excise taxes. A fund will monitor its transactions and may make such tax elections as fund management deems appropriate with respect to foreign currency, options, futures contracts or forward contracts. A fund’s status as a regulated investment company may limit its transactions involving foreign currency, futures, options and forward contracts.

 

Under the Code, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates that occur between the time a fund accrues income or other receivables or accrues expenses or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time a fund actually collects such receivables or pays such liabilities generally are treated as ordinary income or loss. Similarly, in disposing of debt securities denominated in foreign currencies, certain forward currency contracts, or other instruments, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in the value of a foreign currency between the date the security, contract, or other instrument is acquired and the date it is disposed of are also usually treated as ordinary income or loss. Under Section 988 of the Code, these gains or losses may increase or decrease the amount of a fund’s investment company taxable income distributed to shareholders as ordinary income.

 

As of June 30, 2011, International Bond Fund had no capital loss carryovers. When a fund has a capital loss carryover, it does not make capital gains distributions until the loss has been offset. Because Global Bond Fund is new, it is not included.

 

If you have not complied with certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and Regulations, either American Century Investments or your financial intermediary is required by federal law to withhold and remit to the IRS the applicable federal withholding rate of reportable payments (which may include dividends, capital gains distributions and redemption proceeds). Those regulations require you to certify that the Social Security number or tax identification number you provide is correct and that you are not subject to withholding for previous under-reporting to the IRS. You will be asked to make the appropriate certification on your account application. Payments reported by us to the IRS that omit your Social Security number or tax identification number will subject us to a non-refundable penalty of $50, which will be charged against your account if you fail to provide the certification by the time the report is filed.

 

A redemption of shares of a fund (including a redemption made in an exchange transaction) will be a taxable transaction for federal income tax purposes and you generally will recognize gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the basis of the shares and the amount received. If a loss is realized on the redemption of fund shares, the reinvestment in additional fund shares within 30 days before or after the redemption may be subject to the “wash sale” rules of the Code, resulting in a postponement of the recognition of such loss for federal income tax purposes.

 

 

51

---

 

 

State and Local Taxes

 

Distributions by the funds also may be subject to state and local taxes, even if all or a substantial part of such distributions are derived from interest on U.S. government obligations which, if you received such interest directly, would be exempt from state income tax. However, most but not all states allow this tax exemption to pass through to fund shareholders when a fund pays distributions to its shareholders. You should consult your tax advisor about the tax status of such distributions in your state.

 

The information above is only a summary of some of the tax considerations affecting the funds and their shareholders. No attempt has been made to discuss individual tax consequences. A prospective investor should consult with his or her tax advisors or state or local tax authorities to determine whether the funds are suitable investments.

Financial Statements

 

The financial statements of International Bond Fund have been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, independent registered public accounting firm. Their Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm and the financial statements included in the fund’s annual report for the fiscal period ended June 30, 2011, are incorporated herein by reference. Because Global Bond Fund is new, it does not have financial statements or financial highlights.

 

 

52

---

 

Appendix A – Principal Shareholders

 

As of January 3, 2012, the following shareholders owned more than 5% of the outstanding shares of a class of the fund. The table shows shares owned of record unless otherwise noted. Because Global Bond Fund was not in operation as of January 3, 2012, it is not included.

 

Fund/ Class	Shareholder	Percentage of Outstanding Shares Owned of Record
International Bond
Investor Class
	Citigroup Global Markets Inc. New York, New York	30%
	Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. San Francisco, California	12%
	Pershing LLC Jersey City, New Jersey	8%
	National Financial Services Corp. New York, New York	6%
Institutional Class
	National Financial Services Corp. New York, New York	38%
	American Century Serv. Corp. SSB&T Custodian LIVE STRONG 2015 Portfolio IBond Omnibus Kansas City, Missouri Shares owned of record and beneficially	16%
	American Century Serv. Corp. SSB&T Custodian LIVE STRONG 2025 Portfolio IBond Omnibus Kansas City, Missouri Shares owned of record and beneficially	12%
	American Century Serv. Corp. SSB&T Custodian LIVE STRONG 2020 Portfolio International Bond Omnibus Kansas City, Missouri Shares owned of record and beneficially	8%
	American Century Serv. Corp. SSB&T Custodian LIVE STRONG Income Portfolio IBond Omnibus Kansas City, Missouri Shares owned of record and beneficially	7%
A Class
	KS Postsecondary Education SP SSB&T Custodian Kansas City, Missouri Includes 10.33% registered for the benefit of Schwab-Moderate Intl Bond Advisor Omnibus; 9.05% registered for the benefit of Schwab-Moderately Aggressive Intl Bond Advisor Omnibus; 8.39% registered for the benefit of Schwab-Conservative Intl Bond Advisor Omnibus and 8.11% registered for the benefit of Schwab-Moderately Conservative Intl Bond Advisor Omnibus.	40%
	American Enterprise Investment Svc Minneapolis, Minnesota	30%

 

 

A-1

---

 

 

Fund/ Class	Shareholder		Percentage of Outstanding Shares Owned of Record
International Bond
C Class
		MLPF&S Jacksonville, Florida	32%
		Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. San Francisco, California	29%
R Class
		MG Trust Company Cust Denver, Colorado Includes 15.98% registered for the benefit of Cooper Safe Harbor 401K Plan, 10.86% registered for the benefit of Rich Wightman & Company Certified, 6.87% registered for the benefit of NL Technology LLC 401K Plan, 5.50% registered for the benefit of DKY Architects 401K Plan, and 5.40% registered for the benefit of August Law Group 401K PS Plan.	56%
		Frontier Trust Co Fargo, North Dakota Includes 18.28% registered for the benefit of Crestview Mutual Water Co EE Savi and 5.42% registered for the benefit of PMC Associates 401K Plan	24%
		Alerus Financial FBO GMI Inc. 401k Plan Saint Paul, Minnesota	12%
		Pershing LLC Jersey City, New Jersey	5%

 

The fund is unaware of any other shareholders, beneficial or of record, who own more than 5% of any class of the fund’s outstanding shares or who own more than 25% of the voting securities of the trust. A shareholder owning beneficially more than 25% of the trust’s outstanding shares may be considered a controlling person. The vote of any such person could have a more significant effect on matters presented at a shareholders’ meeting than votes of other shareholders. As of January 3, 2012, the officers and trustees of the fund, as a group, owned less than 1% of any class of the fund’s outstanding shares.

 

 

A-2

---

 

Appendix B – Sales Charges and Payments to Dealers

 

Sales Charges

 

The sales charges applicable to the A and C Classes of the funds are described in the prospectuses for those classes in the section titled Investing Through a Financial Intermediary . Shares of the A Class are subject to an initial sales charge, which declines as the amount of the purchase increases. Additional information regarding reductions and waivers of the A Class sales charge may be found in the funds’ prospectuses. Prior to October 21, 2011, International Bond Fund also offered B Class shares. However, B Class shares were converted to A Class shares and B Class shares are no longer available for the fund.

 

Shares of the A and C Classes are subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) upon redemption of the shares in certain circumstances. The specific charges and when they apply are described in the relevant prospectuses. The CDSC may be waived for certain redemptions by some shareholders, as described in the prospectuses.

 

An investor may terminate his relationship with an intermediary at any time. If the investor does not establish a relationship with a new intermediary and transfer any accounts to that new intermediary, such accounts may be exchanged to the Investor Class of the fund, if such class is available. The investor will be the shareholder of record of such accounts. In this situation, any applicable CDSCs will be charged when the exchange is made. Because Global Bond Fund was not in operation as of the fiscal year end, it is not included.

 

The aggregate CDSCs paid to the distributor from the A, B and C Classes of International Bond in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, were:

 

A Class:	$1,575
B Class (note: B Class shares converted to A Class shares on October 21, 2011)	$749
C Class	$4,166

 

Payments to Dealers

 

The funds’ distributor expects to pay dealer commissions to the financial intermediaries who sell A and/or C Class shares of the funds at the time of such sales. Payments for A Class shares will be as follows

 

Purchase Amount	Dealer Commission as a % of Offering Price
< $99,999	4.00%
$100,000 - $249,999	3.00%
$250,000 - $499,999	2.00%
$500,000 - $999,999	1.75%
$1,000,000 - $3,999,999	1.00%
$4,000,000 - $9,999,999	0.50%
> $10,000,000	0.25%

 

No dealer commission will be paid on purchases by employer-sponsored retirement plans. For this purpose, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs or SARSEPs. Payments will equal 1.00% of the purchase price of the C Class shares sold by the intermediary. The distributor will retain the 12b-1 fee paid by the C Class of funds for the first 12 months after the shares are purchased. This fee is intended in part to permit the distributor to recoup a portion of on-going sales commissions to dealers plus financing costs, if any. Beginning with the first day of the 13th month, the distributor will make the C Class distribution and individual shareholder services fee payments described above to the financial intermediaries involved on a quarterly basis. In addition, C Class purchases, and A Class purchases greater than $1,000,000, are subject to a CDSC as described in the prospectuses.

 

 

B-1

---

 

 

From time to time, the distributor may make additional payments to dealers, including but not limited to payment assistance for conferences and seminars, provision of sales or training programs for dealer employees and/or the public (including, in some cases, payment for travel expenses for registered representatives and other dealer employees who participate), advertising and sales campaigns about a fund or funds, and assistance in financing dealer-sponsored events. Other payments may be offered as well, and all such payments will be consistent with applicable law, including the then-current rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Such payments will not change the price paid by investors for shares of the funds.

 

 

B-2

---

 

Appendix C – Buying and Selling Fund Shares

 

Information about buying, selling, exchanging and, if applicable, converting fund shares is contained in the funds’ prospectuses. The prospectuses are available to investors without charge and may be obtained by calling us.

 

Employer-sponsored retirement plans

 

Certain group employer-sponsored retirement plans that hold a single account for all plan participants with the fund, or shares are purchased by certain retirement plans that are part of a retirement plan or platform offered by banks, broker-dealers, financial advisors or insurance companies, or serviced by retirement recordkeepers are eligible to purchase Investor, Institutional, A, C and R Class shares. A and C Class purchases are available at net asset value with no dealer commission paid to the financial professional, nor incur a CDSC. A, C and R Class shares purchased in employer-sponsored retirement plans are subject to applicable distribution and service (12b-1) fees, which the financial intermediary begins receiving immediately at the time of purchase. There is no plan size or participant number requirement by class.

 

•	401(a) plans
•	pension plans
•	profit sharing plans
•	401(k) plans
•	money purchase plans
•	target benefit plans
•	Taft-Hartley multi-employer pension plans
•	SERP and “Top Hat” plans
•	ERISA trusts
•	employee benefit plans and trusts
•	employer-sponsored health plans
•	457 plans
•	KEOGH or HR(10) plans
•	employer-sponsored 403(b) plans
•	nonqualified deferred compensation plans
•	nonqualified excess benefit plans
•	nonqualified retirement plans

 

Traditional and Roth IRAs are not considered employer-sponsored retirement plans, and SIMPLE IRAs, SEP IRAs and SARSEPs are collectively referred to as Business IRAs. SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA or SARSEP retirement plans that (i) held shares of an A Class fund prior to March 1, 2009 that received sales charge waivers or (ii) held shares of an Advisor Class fund that was renamed A Class on March 1, 2010, may permit additional purchases by new and existing participants in A Class shares without an initial sales charge.

 

R Class IRA Accounts established prior to August 1, 2006 may make additional purchases.

 

 

C-1

---

 

 

Waiver of Minimum Initial Investment Amounts — Institutional Class

 

American Century Investments may permit a financial intermediary to waive applicable minimum initial investment amounts per shareholder for Institutional Class shares in the following situations:

 

•	Broker-dealers purchasing fund shares for clients in broker-sponsored discretionary fee-based advisory programs where the portfolio manager of the program acts on behalf of the shareholder through omnibus accounts;
•	Trust companies and bank wealth management organizations purchasing shares in a fiduciary, discretionary trustee or advisory account on behalf of the shareholder, through omnibus accounts or nominee name accounts;
•	Financial intermediaries with clients of a registered investment advisor (RIA) purchasing fund shares in fee based advisory accounts with a $100,000 initial minimum per client or $250,000 aggregated initial investment across multiple clients, where the RIA is purchasing shares through certain broker-dealers through omnibus accounts;
•	Qualified Tuition Programs under Section 529 that have entered into an agreement with the distributor;
•	Certain employer-sponsored retirement plans, as approved by American Century Investments; and
•	Certain other situations deemed appropriate by American Century Investments.

 

C-2

---

 

Appendix D – Explanation of Fixed-Income Securities Ratings

 

As described in the prospectus, the funds invest in fixed-income securities. Those investments, however, are subject to certain credit quality restrictions, as noted in the prospectus. The following is a summary of the rating categories referenced in the prospectuses.

 

Ratings of Corporate Debt Securities
Standard & Poor’s
AAA	This is the highest rating assigned by S&P to a debt obligation. It indicates an extremely strong capacity to pay interest and repay principal.
AA	Debt rated in this category is considered to have a very strong capacity to pay interest and repay principal. It differs from the highest-rated obligations only in small degree.
A	Debt rated A has a strong capacity to pay interest and repay principal, although it is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than debt in higher-rated categories.
BBB	Debt rated in this category is regarded as having an adequate capacity to pay interest and repay principal. While it normally exhibits adequate protection parameters, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity to pay interest and repay principal for debt in this category than in higher-rated categories. Debt rated below BBB is regarded as having significant speculative characteristics.
BB	Debt rated in this category has less near-term vulnerability to default than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions that could lead to inadequate capacity to meet timely interest and principal payments. The BB rating also is used for debt subordinated to senior debt that is assigned an actual or implied BBB rating.
B	Debt rated in this category is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated BB, but currently has the capacity to pay interest and repay principal. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to pay interest and repay principal.
CCC	Debt rated in this category is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions to meet timely payment of interest and repayment of principal. In the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, it is not likely to have the capacity to pay interest and repay principal. The CCC rating category is also used for debt subordinated to senior debt that is assigned an actual or implied B or B- rating.
CC	Debt rated in this category is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment. This rating category is also applied to debt subordinated to senior debt that is assigned an actual or implied CCC rating.
C	The rating C typically is applied to debt subordinated to senior debt, and is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment of interest and principal. This rating may be used to cover a situation where a bankruptcy petition has been filed or similar action taken, but debt service payments are being continued.
D	Debt rated in this category is in default. This rating is used when interest payments or principal repayments are not made on the date due even if the applicable grace period has not expired, unless S&P believes that such payments will be made during such grace period. It also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action if debt service payments are jeopardized.

 

D-1

---

 

Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.
Aaa	This is the highest rating assigned by Moody’s to a debt obligation. It indicates an extremely strong capacity to pay interest and repay principal.
Aa	Debt rated in this category is considered to have a very strong capacity to pay interest and repay principal and differs from Aaa issues only in a small degree. Together with Aaa debt, it comprises what are generally known as high-grade bonds.
A	Debt rated in this category possesses many favorable investment attributes and is to be considered as upper-medium-grade debt. Although capacity to pay interest and repay principal are considered adequate, it is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than debt in higher-rated categories.
Baa	Debt rated in this category is considered as medium-grade debt having an adequate capacity to pay interest and repay principal. While it normally exhibits adequate protection parameters, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity to pay interest and repay principal for debt in this category than in higher-rated categories. Debt rated below Baa is regarded as having significant speculative characteristics.
Ba	Debt rated Ba has less near-term vulnerability to default than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial or economic conditions that could lead to inadequate capacity to meet timely interest and principal payments. Often the protection of interest and principal payments may be very moderate.
B	Debt rated B has a greater vulnerability to default, but currently has the capacity to meet financial commitments. Assurance of interest and principal payments or of maintenance of other terms of the contract over any long period of time may be small. The B rating category is also used for debt subordinated to senior debt that is assigned an actual or implied Ba or Ba3 rating.
Caa	Debt rated Caa is of poor standing, has a currently identifiable vulnerability to default, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial and economic conditions to meet timely payment of interest and repayment of principal. In the event of adverse business, financial or economic conditions, it is not likely to have the capacity to pay interest and repay principal. Such issues may be in default or there may be present elements of danger with respect to principal or interest. The Caa rating is also used for debt subordinated to senior debt that is assigned an actual or implied B or B3 rating.
Ca	Debt rated in this category represent obligations that are speculative in a high degree. Such debt is often in default or has other marked shortcomings.
C	This is the lowest rating assigned by Moody’s, and debt rated C can be regarded as having extremely poor prospects of attaining investment standing.

Fitch Investors Service, Inc.
AAA	Debt rated in this category has the lowest expectation of credit risk. Capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is exceptionally strong and highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.
AA	Debt rated in this category has a very low expectation of credit risk. Capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is very strong and not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.
A	Debt rated in this category has a low expectation of credit risk. Capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is strong, but may be more vulnerable to changes in circumstances or in economic conditions than debt rated in higher categories.
BBB	Debt rated in this category currently has a low expectation of credit risk and an adequate capacity for timely payment of financial commitments. However, adverse changes in circumstances and in economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity. This is the lowest investment grade category.
BB	Debt rated in this category has a possibility of developing credit risk, particularly as the result of adverse economic change over time. However, business or financial alternatives may be available to allow financial commitments to be met. Securities rated in this category are not investment grade.

 

 

D-2

---

 

 

Fitch Investors Service, Inc.
B		Debt rated in this category has significant credit risk, but a limited margin of safety remains. Financial commitments currently are being met, but capacity for continued debt service payments is contingent upon a sustained, favorable business and economic environment.
CCC, CC, C		Debt rated in these categories has a real possibility for default. Capacity for meeting financial commitments depends solely upon sustained, favorable business or economic developments. A CC rating indicates that default of some kind appears probable; a C rating signals imminent default.
DDD, DD, D		The ratings of obligations in these categories are based on their prospects for achieving partial or full recovery in a reorganization or liquidation of the obligor. While expected recovery values are highly speculative and cannot be estimated with any precision, the following serve as general guidelines. DDD obligations have the highest potential for recovery, around 90%-100% of outstanding amounts and accrued interest. DD indicates potential recoveries in the range of 50%-90% and D the lowest recovery potential, i.e., below 50%. Entities rated in these categories have defaulted on some or all of their obligations.   Entities rated DDD have the highest prospect for resumption of performance or continued operation with or without a formal reorganization process. Entities rated DD and D are generally undergoing a formal reorganization or liquidation process; those rated DD are likely to satisfy a higher portion of their outstanding obligations, while entities rated D have a poor prospect of repaying all obligations.

 

To provide more detailed indications of credit quality, the Standard & Poor’s ratings from AA to CCC may be modified by the addition of a plus or minus sign to show relative standing within these major rating categories. Similarly, Moody’s adds numerical modifiers (1, 2, 3) to designate relative standing within its major bond rating categories. Fitch also rates bonds and uses a ratings system that is substantially similar to that used by Standard & Poor’s.

 

Commercial Paper Ratings
S&P	Moody’s	Description
A-1	Prime-1 (P-1)	This indicates that the degree of safety regarding timely payment is strong. Standard & Poor’s rates those issues determined to possess extremely strong safety characteristics as A-1+.
A-2	Prime-2 (P-2)	Capacity for timely payment on commercial paper is satisfactory, but the relative degree of safety is not as high as for issues designated A-1. Earnings trends and coverage ratios, while sound, will be more subject to variation. Capitalization characteristics, while still appropriated, may be more affected by external conditions. Ample alternate liquidity is maintained.
A-3	Prime-3 (P-3)	Satisfactory capacity for timely repayment. Issues that carry this rating are somewhat more vulnerable to the adverse changes in circumstances than obligations carrying the higher designations.

Municipal Note and Variable Rate Security Ratings
S&P	Moody’s	Description
SP-1	MIG-1; VMIG-1	Notes are of the highest quality enjoying strong protection from established cash flows of funds for their servicing or from established and broad-based access to the market for refinancing, or both.
SP-2	MIG-2; VMIG-2	Notes are of high quality with margins of protection ample, although not so large as in the preceding group.
SP-3	MIG-3; VMIG-3	Notes are of favorable quality with all security elements accounted for, but lacking the undeniable strength of the preceding grades. Market access for refinancing, in particular, is likely to be less well established.
SP-4	MIG-4; VMIG-4	Notes are of adequate quality carrying specific risk but having protection and not distinctly or predominantly speculative.

 

D-3

---

 

 

American Century Investments americancentury.com
Retail Investors P.O. Box 419200 Kansas City, Missouri 64141-6200 1-800-345-2021 or 816-531-5575	Financial Professionals P.O. Box 419786 Kansas City, Missouri 64141-6786 1-800-345-6488

 

 

Investment Company Act File No. 811-06441

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CL-SAI-73998   1201