industry group may be adversely impacted by changes in commodity prices or
exchange rates, depletion of resources, over-production, litigation, and government regulations, among other factors.
Concentration Risk.
To the extent that the Fund's investments are concentrated in a particular issuer or issuers, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the Fund
may be susceptible to loss due to adverse occurrences affecting that issuer or issuers, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class.
Currency Risk
.
Because the Fund's NAV is determined in U.S. dollars, the Fund's NAV could decline if the currency of a non-U.S. market in which the Fund invests depreciates against the U.S. dollar.
Custody Risk
.
Less developed markets are more likely to experience problems with the clearing and settling of trades and the holding of securities by local banks, agents and depositories.
Dividend-Paying Stock Risk.
The Fund’s emphasis on dividend-paying stocks involves the risk that such stocks may fall out of favor with investors and underperform the market. Also, a company may reduce or eliminate its
dividend.
Equity Securities Risk
.
Equity securities are subject to changes in value and their values may be more volatile than those of other asset classes.
Financials Sector Risk
.
Performance of companies in the financials sector may be adversely impacted by many factors,
including, among others, government regulations, economic conditions, credit
rating downgrades, changes in interest rates, and decreased liquidity in credit markets. This sector has experienced significant losses in the recent past, and the impact of more stringent capital requirements and of recent or future regulation on
any individual financial company or on the sector as a whole cannot be predicted.
Geographic Risk
.
A natural or other disaster could occur in a geographic region in which the Fund invests, which could affect the economy or particular business operations of companies in the specific geographic
region, causing an adverse impact on the Fund's investments in the affected region.
Index-Related Risk.
There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the Underlying Index and therefore achieve its investment objective. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could
have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the Underlying Index. Errors in index data may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected for a period of time,
and may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its Shareholders.
Issuer Risk
.
Fund performance depends on the performance of individual securities to which the Fund has exposure. Changes in the financial condition or credit rating of an issuer of those securities may cause the
value of the securities to decline. There is no guarantee that an issuer that paid dividends in the past will continue to do so in the future or will continue paying dividends at the same level.