As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 2, 1998
FILE NO. 811-7858
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM N-1A
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940
AMENDMENT NO. 7
THE U.S. FIXED INCOME PORTFOLIO
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)
P.O. Box 2508 GT, George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands BWI
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (345) 949-6644
Christopher J. Kelley, c/o Funds Distributor, Inc.
60 State Street, Suite 1300, Boston, Massachusetts 02109
(Name and Address of Agent for Service)
Copy to: Steven K. West, Esq.
Sullivan & Cromwell
125 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004
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EXPLANATORY NOTE
This Registration Statement has been filed by the Registrant pursuant
to Section 8(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. However,
beneficial interests in the Registrant are not being registered under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"), because such interests will
be issued solely in private placement transactions that do not involve any
"public offering" within the meaning of Section 4(2) of the 1933 Act.
Investments in the Registrant may only be made by other investment companies,
insurance company separate accounts, common or commingled trust funds or similar
organizations or entities that are "accredited investors" within the meaning of
Regulation D under the 1933 Act. This Registration Statement does not constitute
an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any beneficial
interests in the Registrant.
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PART A
Responses to Items 1 through 3 and 5A have been omitted pursuant to
paragraph 4 of Instruction F of the General Instructions to Form N-1A.
ITEM 4. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF REGISTRANT.
The U.S. Fixed Income Portfolio (the "Portfolio") is a diversified
open-end management investment company which was organized as a trust under the
laws of the State of New York on January 29, 1993. Beneficial interests in the
Portfolio are issued solely in private placement transactions that do not
involve any "public offering" within the meaning of Section 4(2) of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"). Investments in the
Portfolio may only be made by other investment companies, insurance company
separate accounts, common or commingled trust funds or similar organizations or
entities that are "accredited investors" within the meaning of Regulation D
under the 1933 Act. This Registration Statement does not constitute an offer to
sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any "security" within the meaning
of the 1933 Act.
The Portfolio is advised by Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York
("Morgan" or the "Advisor").
Investments in the Portfolio are not deposits or obligations of, or
guaranteed or endorsed by, Morgan or any other bank. Interests in the Portfolio
are not federally insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the
Federal Reserve Board or any other governmental agency. An investment in the
Portfolio is subject to risk, as the net asset value of the Portfolio will
fluctuate with changes in the value of the Portfolio's holdings.
Part B contains more detailed information about the Portfolio,
including information related to (I) the investment policies and restrictions of
the Portfolio, (ii) the Trustees, officers, Advisor and administrators of the
Portfolio, (iii) portfolio transactions, (iv) rights and liabilities of
investors and (v) the audited financial statements of the Portfolio at October
31, 1997.
The investment objective of the Portfolio is described below, together
with the policies employed to attempt to achieve this objective. Additional
information about the investment policies of the Portfolio appears in Part B,
under Item 13. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the
Portfolio will be achieved.
The Portfolio's investment objective is to provide a high total return
consistent with moderate risk of capital and maintenance of liquidity. Total
return will consist of income plus realized and unrealized capital gains and
losses. Although the net asset value of the Portfolio will fluctuate, the
Portfolio attempts to preserve the value of its investments to the extent
consistent with its objective.
The Portfolio is designed for investors who seek a total return over
time that is higher than that generally available from a portfolio of short-term
obligations while recognizing the greater price fluctuation of longer-term
instruments. It may also be a convenient way to add fixed income exposure to
diversify an existing portfolio.
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The Advisor actively manages the Portfolio's duration, the allocation
of securities across market sectors, and the selection of specific securities
within sectors. Based on fundamental, economic and capital markets research, the
Advisor adjusts the duration of the Portfolio in light of market conditions and
the Advisor's interest rate outlook. For example, if interest rates are expected
to fall, the duration may be lengthened to take advantage of the expected
associated increase in bond prices. The Advisor also actively allocates the
Portfolio's assets among the broad sectors of the fixed income market including,
but not limited to, U.S. Government and agency securities, corporate securities,
private placements, asset-backed and mortgage-related securities. Specific
securities which the Advisor believes are undervalued are selected for purchase
within the sectors using advanced quantitative tools, analysis of credit risk,
the expertise of a dedicated trading desk, and the judgment of fixed income
portfolio managers and analysts. Under normal market conditions, the Advisor
intends to keep the Portfolio essentially fully invested with at least 65% of
the Portfolio's assets invested in bonds.
Duration is a measure of the weighted average maturity of the bonds
held in the Portfolio and can be used as a measure of the sensitivity of the
Portfolio's market value to changes in interest rates. Generally, the longer the
duration of the Portfolio, the more sensitive its market value will be to
changes in interest rates. Generally, the longer the duration of the Portfolio,
the more sensitive its market value will be to changes in interest rates. Under
normal market conditions, the Portfolio's duration will range between one year
shorter and one year longer than the duration of the U.S. investment grade fixed
income universe, as represented by Salomon Brothers Broad Investment Grade Bond
Index, the Portfolio's benchmark. Currently, the benchmark duration is
approximately 4.5 years. The maturities of the individual securities in the
Portfolio may vary widely, however.
The Advisor intends to manage the Portfolio actively in pursuit of its
investment objective. Portfolio transactions are undertaken principally to
accomplish the Portfolio's objective in relation to expected movements in the
general level of interest rates, but the Portfolio may also engage in short-term
trading consistent with its objective. To the extent the Portfolio engages in
short-term trading, it may incur increased transaction costs. The portfolio
turnover rates for the Portfolio for the fiscal years ended October 31, 1996 and
1997 were 186% and 93%, respectively.
CORPORATE BONDS, ETC. The Portfolio may invest in a broad range of debt
securities of domestic and foreign issuers. These include debt securities of
various types and maturities, e.g., debentures, notes, mortgage securities,
equipment trust certificates and other collateralized securities and zero coupon
securities. Collateralized securities are backed by a pool of assets such as
loans or receivables which generate cash flow to cover the payments due on the
securities. Collateralized securities are subject to certain risks, including a
decline in the value of the collateral backing the security, failure of the
collateral to generate the anticipated cash flow or in certain cases more rapid
prepayment because of events affecting the collateral, such as accelerated
prepayment of mortgages or other loans backing these securities or destruction
of equipment subject to equipment trust certificates. In the event of any such
prepayment the Portfolio will be required to reinvest the proceeds of
prepayments at interest rates prevailing at the time of reinvestment, which may
be lower. In addition, the value of zero coupon securities which do not pay
interest is more volatile than that of interest bearing debt securities with the
same maturity. The Portfolio does not intend to invest in common stock but may
invest to a limited extent in convertible debt or preferred stock. The Portfolio
does not expect to invest more than 25% of its total assets in securities of
foreign issuers. The Portfolio may invest up to 20% of its assets in debt
securities denominated in foreign currencies. See "Additional Investment
Information and Risk Factors" for further information on foreign investments and
convertible securities.
GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS, ETC. The Portfolio may invest in obligations
issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government and backed by the full faith and
credit of the United States. These securities include Treasury securities,
obligations of the Government National Mortgage Association ("GNMA
Certificates"), the Farmers Home Administration and the Export Import Bank. GNMA
Certificates are mortgage-backed securities which evidence an undivided interest
in mortgage pools. These securities are subject to more rapid repayment than
their stated maturity would indicate because prepayments of principal on
mortgages in the pool are passed through to the holder of the securities. During
periods of declining interest rates, prepayments of mortgages in the pool can be
expected to increase. The pass-through of these prepayments would have the
effect of reducing the Portfolio's positions in these securities and requiring
the Portfolio to reinvest the prepayments at interest rates prevailing at the
time of reinvestment. The Portfolio may also invest in obligations issued or
guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies or instrumentalities where the Portfolio
must look principally to the issuing or guaranteeing agency for ultimate
repayment; some examples of agencies or instrumentalities issuing these
obligations are the Federal Farm Credit System, the Federal Home Loan Banks and
the Federal National Mortgage Association. Although these governmental issuers
are responsible for payments on their obligations, they do not guarantee their
market value.
The Portfolio may also invest in municipal obligations which may be
general obligations of the issuer or payable only from specific revenue sources.
However, the Portfolio will invest only in municipal obligations that have been
issued on a taxable basis or have an attractive yield excluding tax
considerations. In addition, the Portfolio may invest in debt securities of
foreign governments and governmental entities denominated in the U.S. dollar and
other currencies. See "Additional Investment Information and Risk Factors" for
further information on foreign investments.
MONEY MARKET INSTRUMENTS. The Portfolio may purchase money market
instruments to invest temporary cash balances or to maintain liquidity to meet
withdrawals. However, the Portfolio may also invest in money market instruments
as a temporary defensive measure taken during, or in anticipation of, adverse
market conditions. The money market investments permitted for the Portfolio
include obligations of the U.S. Government and its agencies and
instrumentalities, other debt securities, commercial paper, bank obligations and
repurchase agreements. For more detailed information about these money market
investments, see Item 13 in Part B.
QUALITY INFORMATION. It is a current policy of the Portfolio that under
normal circumstances at least 75% of total assets will consist of securities
that at the time of purchase are rated Baa or better by Moody's Investors
Service, Inc. ("Moody's") or BBB or better by Standard & Poor's Ratings Group
("Standard & Poor's"), of which at least 65% of total assets will be rated A or
better. The remaining 25% may be invested in securities that are rated B or
better by Moody's or Standard & Poor's. In each case, the Portfolio may invest
in securities which are unrated if in the Advisor's opinion such securities are
of comparable quality. Securities rated Baa by Moody's or BBB by Standard &
Poor's are considered investment grade, but have some speculative
characteristics. Securities rated Ba or B by Moody's or BB or B by Standard &
Poor's are below investment grade and considered to be speculative with regard
to payment of interest and principal. These standards must be satisfied at the
time an investment is made. If the quality of the investment later declines, the
Portfolio may continue to hold the investment. See Appendix A in Part B for more
information on these ratings.
The Portfolio may also purchase obligations on a when-issued or delayed
delivery basis, enter into repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements, lend
its portfolio securities, purchase certain privately placed securities and enter
into certain hedging transactions that may involve options on securities and
securities indexes, futures contracts, options on futures contracts and forward
contracts on foreign currencies. For a discussion of these investments and
investment techniques, see "Additional Investment Information and Risk Factors".
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION AND RISK FACTORS
CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES. The Portfolio may invest in convertible
securities of domestic and, subject to the Portfolio's restrictions, foreign
issuers. The convertible securities in which the Portfolio may invest include
any debt securities or preferred stock which may be converted into common stock
or which carry the right to purchase common stock. Convertible securities
entitle the holder to exchange the securities for a specified number of shares
of common stock, usually of the same company, at specified prices within a
certain period of time.
BELOW INVESTMENT GRADE DEBT. Certain lower rated securities purchased
by the Portfolio, such as those rated Ba or B by Moody's or BB or B by Standard
& Poor's (commonly known as junk bonds), may be subject to certain risks with
respect to the issuing entity's ability to make scheduled payments of principal
and interest and to greater market fluctuations. While generally providing
higher coupons or interest rates income than investments in higher quality
securities, lower quality fixed income securities involve greater risk of loss
of principal and income, including the possibility of default or bankruptcy of
the issuers of such securities, and have greater price volatility, especially
during periods of economic uncertainty or change. These lower quality fixed
income securities tend to be affected by economic changes and short-term
corporate and industry developments to a greater extent than higher quality
securities, which react primarily to fluctuations in the general level of
interest rates. To the extent that the Portfolio invests in such lower quality
securities, the achievement of its investment objective may be more dependent on
the Advisor's own credit analysis.
Lower quality fixed income securities are affected by the market's
perception of their credit quality, especially during times of adverse
publicity, and the outlook for economic growth. Economic downturns or an
increase in interest rates may cause a higher incidence of default by the
issuers of these securities, especially issuers that are highly leveraged. The
market for these lower quality fixed income securities is generally less liquid
than the market for investment grade fixed income securities. It may be more
difficult to sell these lower rated securities to meet redemption requests, to
respond to changes in the market, or to determine accurately the Portfolio's net
asset value.
WHEN-ISSUED AND DELAYED DELIVERY SECURITIES. The Portfolio may purchase
securities on a when-issued or delayed delivery basis. Delivery of and payment
for these securities may take as long as a month or more after the date of the
purchase commitment. The value of these securities is subject to market
fluctuation during this period and for fixed income securities no interest
accrues to the Portfolio until settlement. At the time of settlement a when-
issued security may be valued at less than its purchase price. The Portfolio
maintains with the Custodian a separate account with a segregated portfolio of
securities in an amount at least equal to these commitments. When entering into
a when-issued or delayed delivery transaction, the Portfolio will rely on the
other party to consummate the transaction; if the other party fails to do so,
the Portfolio may be disadvantaged. It is the current policy of the Portfolio
not to enter into when-issued commitments exceeding in the aggregate 15% of the
market value of the Portfolio's total assets less liabilities other than the
obligations created by these commitments.
REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS. The Portfolio may engage in repurchase agreement
transactions with brokers, dealers or banks that meet the credit guidelines
established by the Portfolio's Trustees. In a repurchase agreement, the
Portfolio buys a security from a seller that has agreed to repurchase it at a
mutually agreed upon date and price, reflecting the interest rate effective for
the term of the agreement. The term of these agreements is usually from
overnight to one week. A repurchase agreement may be viewed as a fully
collateralized loan of money by the Portfolio to the seller. The Portfolio
always receives securities as collateral with a market value at least equal to
the purchase price plus accrued interest and this value is maintained during the
term of the agreement. If the seller defaults and the collateral value declines,
the Portfolio might incur a loss. If bankruptcy proceedings are commenced with
respect to the seller, the Portfolio's realization upon the disposition of
collateral may be delayed or limited. Investments in certain repurchase
agreements and certain other investments which may be considered illiquid are
limited. See "Illiquid Investments; Privately Placed and other Unregistered
Securities" below.
LOANS OF PORTFOLIO SECURITIES. Subject to applicable investment
restrictions, the Portfolio is permitted to lend its securities in an amount up
to 33 1/3% of the value of the Portfolio's net assets. The Portfolio may lend
its securities if such loans are secured continuously by cash or equivalent
collateral or by a letter of credit in favor of the Portfolio at least equal at
all times to 100% of the market value of the securities loaned, plus accrued
interest. While such securities are on loan, the borrower will pay the Portfolio
any income accruing thereon. Loans will be subject to termination by the
Portfolio in the normal settlement time, generally three business days after
notice, or by the borrower on one day's notice. Borrowed securities must be
returned when the loan is terminated. Any gain or loss in the market price of
the borrowed securities which occurs during the term of the loan inures to the
Portfolio and its respective investors. The Portfolio may pay reasonable
finders' and custodial fees in connection with a loan. In addition, the
Portfolio will consider all facts and circumstances, including the
creditworthiness of the borrowing financial institution, and the Portfolio will
not make any loans in excess of one year.
Loans of portfolio securities may be considered extensions of credit by
the Portfolio. The risks to the Portfolio with respect to borrowers of its
portfolio securities are similar to the risks to the Portfolio with respect to
sellers in repurchase agreement transactions. See "Repurchase Agreements" above.
The Portfolio will not lend its securities to any officer, Trustee, director,
employee or other affiliate of the Portfolio, the Advisor or the placement
agent, unless otherwise permitted by applicable law.
REVERSE REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS. The Portfolio is permitted to enter into
reverse repurchase agreements. In a reverse repurchase agreement, the Portfolio
sells a security and agrees to repurchase it at a mutually agreed upon date and
price, reflecting the interest rate effective for the term of the agreement. For
purposes of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"), it
is considered a form of borrowing by the Portfolio and, therefore, is a form of
leverage. Leverage may cause any gains or losses of the Portfolio to be
magnified. See "Investment Restrictions" for investment limitations applicable
to reverse repurchase agreements and other borrowings. For more information, see
Item 13 in Part B.
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FOREIGN INVESTMENT INFORMATION. The Portfolio may invest in securities
of foreign issuers denominated in the U.S. dollar and other currencies.
Investment in securities of foreign issuers and in obligations of foreign
branches of domestic banks involves somewhat different investment risks from
those affecting securities of U.S. domestic issuers. There may be limited
publicly available information with respect to foreign issuers, and foreign
issuers are not generally subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial
standards and requirements comparable to those applicable to domestic companies.
Dividends and interest paid by foreign issuers may be subject to withholding and
other foreign taxes which may decrease the net return on foreign investments as
compared to dividends and interest paid to the Portfolio by domestic companies.
Investors should realize that the value of the Portfolio's investments
in foreign securities may be adversely affected by changes in political or
social conditions, diplomatic relations, confiscatory taxation, expropriation,
nationalization, limitation on the removal of funds or assets, or imposition of
(or change in) exchange control or tax regulations in those foreign countries.
In addition, changes in government administrations or economic or monetary
policies in the United States or abroad could result in appreciation or
depreciation of portfolio securities and could favorably or unfavorably affect
the Portfolio's operations. Furthermore, the economies of individual foreign
nations may differ from the U.S. economy, whether favorably or unfavorably, in
areas such as growth of gross national product, rate of inflation, capital
reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payments position; it may
also be more difficult to obtain and enforce a judgment against a foreign
issuer. Any foreign investments made by the Portfolio must be made in compliance
with U.S. and foreign currency restrictions and tax laws restricting the amounts
and types of foreign investments.
In addition, while the volume of transactions effected on foreign
exchanges has increased in recent years, in most cases it remains appreciably
below that of domestic security exchanges. Accordingly, the Portfolio's foreign
investments may be less liquid and their prices may be more volatile than
comparable investments in securities of U.S. companies. Moreover, the settlement
periods for foreign securities, which are often longer than those for securities
of U.S. issuers, may affect portfolio liquidity. In addition, there is generally
less government supervision and regulation of securities exchanges, brokers and
issuers located in foreign countries than in the United States.
The Portfolio may invest in dollar-denominated securities of foreign
issuers directly or in the form of American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs"),
European Depositary Receipts ("EDRs") or other similar securities of foreign
issuers. These securities may not necessarily be denominated in the same
currency as the securities they represent. ADRs are receipts typically issued by
a U.S. bank or trust company evidencing ownership of the underlying foreign
securities. Certain such institutions issuing ADRs may not be sponsored by the
issuer of the underlying foreign securities. A non-sponsored depository may not
provide the same shareholder information that a sponsored depository is required
to provide under its contractual arrangements with the issuer of the underlying
foreign securities. EDRs are receipts issued by a European financial institution
evidencing a similar arrangement. Generally, ADRs, in registered form, are
designed for use in the U.S. securities markets, and EDRs, in bearer form, are
designed for use in European securities markets.
Since the Portfolio's investments in foreign securities involve foreign
currencies, the value of its assets as measured in U.S. dollars may be affected
favorably or unfavorably by changes in currency rates and in exchange control
regulations, including currency blockage. See "Foreign Currency Exchange
Transactions."
FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE TRANSACTIONS. Because the Portfolio may buy
and sell securities and receive interest in currencies other than the U.S.
dollar, the Portfolio may enter from time to time into foreign currency exchange
transactions. The Portfolio either enters into these transactions on a spot
(i.e., cash) basis at the spot rate prevailing in the foreign currency exchange
market or uses forward contracts to purchase or sell foreign currencies. The
cost of the Portfolio's spot currency exchange transactions is generally the
difference between the bid and offer spot rate of the currency being purchased
or sold.
A forward foreign currency exchange contract is an obligation by the
Portfolio to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be
any fixed number of days from the date of the contract. Forward foreign currency
exchange contracts establish an exchange rate at a future date. These contracts
are derivative instruments, as their value derives from the spot exchange rates
of the currencies exchanged under the contract. These contracts are entered into
in the interbank market directly between currency traders (usually large
commercial banks) and their customers. A forward foreign currency exchange
contract generally has no deposit requirement, and is traded at a net price
without commission. The Portfolio will not enter into forward contracts for
speculative purposes. Neither spot transactions nor forward foreign currency
exchange contracts eliminate fluctuations in the prices of the Portfolio's
securities or in foreign exchange rates, or prevent loss if the prices of these
securities should decline.
The Portfolio may enter into foreign currency exchange transactions in
an attempt to protect against changes in foreign currency exchange rates between
the trade and settlement dates of specific securities transactions or
anticipated securities transactions. The Portfolio may also enter into forward
contracts to hedge against a change in foreign currency exchange rates that
would cause a decline in the value of existing investments denominated or
principally traded in a foreign currency. To do this, the Portfolio would enter
into a forward contract to sell the foreign currency in which the investment is
denominated or principally traded in exchange for U.S. dollars or in exchange
for another foreign currency. The Portfolio will only enter into forward
contracts to sell a foreign currency in exchange for another foreign currency if
the Advisor expects the foreign currency purchased to appreciate against the
U.S. dollar.
Although these transactions are intended to minimize the risk of loss
due to a decline in the value of the hedged currency, at the same time they
limit any potential gain that might be realized should the value of the hedged
currency increase. In addition, forward contracts that convert a foreign
currency into another foreign currency will cause the Portfolio to assume the
risk of fluctuations in the value of the currency purchased against the hedged
currency and the U.S. dollar. The precise matching of the forward contract
amounts and the value of the securities involved will not generally be possible
because the future value of such securities in foreign currencies will change as
a consequence of market movements in the value of such securities between the
date the forward contract is entered into and the date it matures. The
projection of currency market movements is extremely difficult, and the
successful execution of a hedging strategy is highly uncertain.
ILLIQUID INVESTMENTS; PRIVATELY PLACED AND OTHER UNREGISTERED
SECURITIES. The Portfolio may not acquire any illiquid securities if, as a
result thereof, more than 15% of the Portfolio's net assets would be in illiquid
investments. Subject to this non-fundamental policy limitation, the Portfolio
may acquire investments that are illiquid or have limited liquidity, such as
private placements or investments that are not registered under the 1933 Act and
cannot be offered for public sale in the United States without first being
registered under the 1933 Act. An illiquid investment is any investment that
cannot be disposed of within seven days in the normal course of business at
approximately the amount at which it is valued by the Portfolio. The price the
Portfolio pays for illiquid securities or receives upon resale may be lower than
the price paid or received for similar securities with a more liquid market.
Accordingly the valuation of these securities will reflect any limitations on
their liquidity.
The Portfolio may also purchase Rule 144A securities sold to
institutional investors without registration under the 1933 Act. These
securities may be determined to be liquid in accordance with guidelines
established by the Advisor and approved by the Trustees. The Trustees will
monitor the Advisor's implementation of these guidelines on a periodic basis.
FUTURES AND OPTIONS TRANSACTIONS
The Portfolio is permitted to enter into futures and options
transactions described below for hedging purposes, although not for speculation.
For a more detailed description of these transactions, see "Options and Futures
Transactions" in Item 13 in Part B.
The Portfolio may (a) purchase exchange traded and OTC put and call options
on fixed income securities and indexes of fixed income securities, (b) purchase
and sell futures contracts on fixed income securities and indexes of fixed
income securities, and (c) purchase put and call options on futures contracts on
fixed income securities and indexes of fixed income securities. Each of these
instruments is a derivative instrument as its value derives from the underlying
asset or index.
The Portfolio may use futures contracts and options for hedging
purposes. The Portfolio may not use futures contracts and options for
speculation.
The Portfolio may utilize options and futures contracts to manage their
exposure to changing interest rates and/or security prices. Some options and
futures strategies, including selling futures contracts and buying puts, tend to
hedge the Portfolio's investments against price fluctuations. Other strategies,
including buying futures contracts and buying calls, tend to increase market
exposure. Options and futures contracts may be combined with each other or with
forward contracts in order to adjust the risk and return characteristics of the
Portfolio's overall strategy in a manner deemed appropriate to the Advisor and
consistent with the Portfolio's objective and policies. Because combined options
positions involve multiple trades, they result in higher transaction costs and
may be more difficult to open and close out.
The use of options and futures is a highly specialized activity which
involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with
ordinary portfolio securities transactions, and there can be no guarantee that
their use will increase the Portfolio's return. While the use of these
instruments by the Portfolio may reduce certain risks associated with owning its
portfolio securities, these techniques themselves entail certain other risks. If
the Advisor applies a strategy at an inappropriate time or judges market
conditions or trends incorrectly, options and futures strategies may lower the
Portfolio's return. Certain strategies limit the Portfolio's possibilities to
realize gains as well as its exposure to losses. The Portfolio could also
experience losses if the prices of its options and futures positions were poorly
correlated with its other investments, or if it could not close out its
positions because of an illiquid secondary market. In addition, the Portfolio
will incur transaction costs, including trading commissions and option premiums,
in connection with its futures and options transactions and these transactions
could significantly increase the Portfolio's turnover rate.
The Portfolio may purchase put and call options on securities, indexes
of securities and futures contracts, or purchase and sell futures contracts,
only if such options are written by other persons and if (i) the aggregate
premiums paid on all such options which are held at any time do not exceed 20%
of the Portfolio's net assets, and (ii) the aggregate margin deposits required
on all such futures or options thereon held at any time do not exceed 5% of the
Portfolio's total assets.
PURCHASING PUT AND CALL OPTIONS. By purchasing a put option, the
Portfolio obtains the right (but not the obligation) to sell the instrument
underlying the option at a fixed strike price. In return for this right, the
Portfolio pays the current market price for the option (known as the option
premium). Options have various types of underlying instruments, including
specific securities, indexes of securities, indexes of securities prices, and
futures contracts. The Portfolio may terminate its position in a put option it
has purchased by allowing it to expire or by exercising the option. The
Portfolio may also close out a put option position by entering into an
offsetting transaction, if a liquid market exists. If the option is allowed to
expire, the Portfolio will lose the entire premium it paid. If the Portfolio
exercises a put option on a security, it will sell the instrument underlying the
option at the strike price. If the Portfolio exercises an option on an index,
settlement is in cash and does not involve the actual sale of securities. An
option may be exercised on any day up to its expiration date.
The buyer of a typical put option can expect to realize a gain if the
price of the underlying instrument falls substantially. However, if the price of
the instrument underlying the option 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 instrument underlying the option at the option's
strike price. A call buyer typically attempts to participate in potential price
increases of the instrument underlying the option 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.
OPTIONS ON INDEXES. The Portfolio may purchase put and call options on
any securities index based on securities in which the Portfolio may invest.
Options on securities indexes are similar to options on securities, except that
the exercise of securities index options is settled by cash payment and does not
involve the actual purchase or sale of securities. In addition, these options
are designed to reflect price fluctuations in a group of securities or segment
of the securities market rather than price fluctuations in a single security.
The Portfolio, in purchasing index options, is subject to the risk that the
value of its portfolio securities may not change as much as an index because the
Portfolio's investments generally will not match the composition of an index.
For a number of reasons, a liquid market may not exist and thus the
Portfolio may not be able to close out an option position that it has previously
entered into. When the Portfolio purchases an OTC option, it will be relying on
its counterparty to perform its obligations, and the Portfolio may incur
additional losses if the counterparty is unable to perform.
FUTURES CONTRACTS. When the Portfolio purchases a futures contract, it
agrees to purchase a specified quantity of an underlying instrument at a
specified future date or to make a cash payment based on the value of a
securities index. When the Portfolio sells a futures contract, it agrees to sell
a specified quantity of the underlying instrument at a specified future date or
to receive a cash payment based on the value of a securities index. The price at
which the purchase and sale will take place is fixed when the Portfolio enters
into the contract. Futures can be held until their delivery dates or the
position can be (and normally is) closed out before then. There is no assurance,
however, that a liquid market will exist when the Portfolio wishes to close out
a particular position.
When the Portfolio purchases a futures contract, the value of the
futures contract tends to increase and decrease in tandem with the value of its
underlying instrument. Therefore, purchasing futures contracts will tend to
increase the Portfolio's exposure to positive and negative price fluctuations in
the underlying instrument, much as if it had purchased the underlying instrument
directly. When the Portfolio sells a futures contract, by contrast, the value of
its futures position will tend to move in a direction contrary to the value of
the underlying instrument. Selling futures contracts, therefore, will tend to
offset both positive and negative market price changes, much as if the
underlying instrument had been sold.
The purchaser or seller of a futures contract is not required to
deliver or pay for the underlying instrument unless the contract is held until
the delivery date. However, when the Portfolio buys or sells a futures contract
it will be required to deposit "initial margin" with its Custodian in a
segregated account in the name of its futures broker, known as a futures
commission merchant (FCM). Initial margin deposits are typically equal to a
small percentage of the contract's value. If the value of either party's
position declines, that party will be required to make additional "variation
margin" payments equal to the change in value on a daily basis. The party that
has a gain may be entitled to receive all or a portion of this amount. The
Portfolio may be obligated to make payments of variation margin at a time when
it is disadvantageous to do so. Furthermore, it may not always be possible for
the Portfolio to close out its futures positions. Until it closes out a futures
position, the Portfolio will be obligated to continue to pay variation margin.
Initial and variation margin payments do not constitute purchasing on margin for
purposes of the Portfolio's investment restrictions. In the event of the
bankruptcy of an FCM that holds margin on behalf of the Portfolio, the Portfolio
may be entitled to return of margin owed to it only in proportion to the amount
received by the FCM's other customers, potentially resulting in losses to the
Portfolio.
The Portfolio will segregate liquid assets in connection with its use
of options and futures contracts to the extent required by the staff of the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Securities held in a segregated account
cannot be sold while the futures contract or option is outstanding, unless they
are replaced with other suitable assets. As a result, there is a possibility
that segregation of a large percentage of the Portfolio's assets could impede
portfolio management or the Portfolio's ability to meet redemption requests or
other current obligations.
INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS
As a diversified investment company, 75% of the assets of the Portfolio
are subject to the following fundamental limitations: (a) the Portfolio may not
invest more than 5% of its total assets in the securities of any one issuer,
except U.S. Government securities, and (b) the Portfolio may not own more than
10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer.
The investment objective of the Portfolio, together with the investment
restrictions described below and in Part B, except as noted, are deemed
fundamental policies, i.e., they may be changed only with the approval of a
majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Portfolio as defined in the
1940 Act.
The Portfolio may not (I) purchase securities or other obligations of
issuers conducting their principal business activity in the same industry if its
investments in such industry would exceed 25% of the value of the Portfolio's
total assets, except this limitation shall not apply to investments in U.S.
Government securities; (ii) enter into reverse repurchase agreements and other
permitted borrowings which constitute senior securities under the 1940 Act,
exceeding in the aggregate one-third of the market value of the Portfolio's
total assets, less certain liabilities; or (iii) borrow money, except from banks
for extraordinary or emergency purposes and then only in amounts up to 30% of
the value of the Portfolio's total assets taken at cost at the time of borrowing
and except in connection with reverse repurchase agreements, or purchase
securities while borrowings, including reverse repurchase agreements, exceed 5%
of its total assets; or mortgage, pledge, or hypothecate any assets except in
connection with any such borrowing in amounts up to 30% of the value of the
Portfolio's net assets at the time of borrowing.
For a more detailed discussion of the above investment restrictions, as
well as a description of certain other investment restrictions, see Item 13 in
Part B.
ITEM 5. MANAGEMENT OF THE PORTFOLIO.
The Board of Trustees provides broad supervision over the affairs of
the Portfolio. The Portfolio has retained the services of Morgan as investment
adviser and administrative services agent. The Portfolio has retained the
services of Funds Distributor, Inc. ("FDI") as co-administrator (the "Co-
Administrator").
The Portfolio has not retained the services of a principal underwriter
or distributor, since interests in the Portfolio are offered solely in private
placement transactions. FDI, acting as agent for the Portfolio, serves as
exclusive placement agent of interests in the Portfolio. FDI receives no
additional compensation for serving as exclusive placement agent to the
Portfolio.
The Portfolio has entered into an Amended and Restated Portfolio Fund
Services Agreement dated July 11, 1996 with Pierpont Group, Inc. ("Pierpont
Group") to assist the Trustees in exercising their overall supervisory
responsibilities for the Portfolio. The fees to be paid under the agreement
approximate the reasonable cost of Pierpont Group in providing these services.
Pierpont Group was organized in 1989 at the request of the Trustees of The
Pierpont Family of Funds for the purpose of providing these services at cost to
those funds. See Item 14 in Part B. The principal offices of Pierpont Group are
located at 461 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10017.
INVESTMENT ADVISOR. The Portfolio has retained the services of Morgan
as investment advisor. Morgan, with principal offices at 60 Wall Street, New
York, New York 10260, is a New York trust company which conducts general banking
and trust business. Morgan is a wholly-owned subsidiary of J.P. Morgan & Co.
Incorporated ("J.P. Morgan"), a bank holding company organized under the laws of
Delaware. Through offices in New York City and abroad, J.P. Morgan, through the
Advisor and other subsidiaries, offers a wide range of services to governmental,
institutional, corporate and individual customers and acts as investment adviser
to individual and institutional clients with combined assets under management of
approximately $250 billion. Morgan provides investment advice and portfolio
management services to the Portfolio. Subject to the supervision of the
Portfolio's Trustees, Morgan, as the Advisor, makes the Portfolio's day-to-day
investment decisions, arranges for the execution of portfolio transactions and
generally manages the Portfolio's investments. See Item 16 in Part B.
The Advisor uses a sophisticated, disciplined, collaborative process
for managing all asset classes. For fixed income portfolios, this process
focuses on the systematic analysis of real interest rates, sector
diversification, quantitative and credit analysis, and, for foreign fixed income
securities, country selection. Morgan has managed portfolios of international
fixed income securities on behalf of its clients since 1977. The portfolio
managers making investments in international fixed income securities work in
conjunction with fixed income, credit, capital market and economic research
analysts, as well as traders and administrative officers.
The following persons are primarily responsible for the day-to-day
management and implementation of Morgan's process for the Portfolio (the
inception date of each person's responsibility for the Portfolio and his or her
business experience for the past five years is indicated parenthetically):
William G. Tenille, Vice President (since January, 1994; employed by Morgan
since March, 1992; previously Managing Director, Manufacturers Hanover Trust
Company) and Connie J. Plaehn, Managing Director (since July, 1993; employed by
Morgan since prior to 1992).
As compensation for the services rendered and related expenses borne by
Morgan under the Investment Advisory Agreement with the Portfolio, the Portfolio
has agreed to pay Morgan a fee, which is computed daily and may be paid monthly,
at the annual rate of 0.30% of the Portfolio's average daily net assets.
Under a separate agreement, Morgan also provides administrative and related
services to the Portfolio. See "Administrative Services Agent" below.
CO-ADMINISTRATOR. Pursuant to a Co-Administration Agreement with the
Portfolio, FDI serves as the Co-Administrator for the Portfolio. FDI (I)
provides office space, equipment and clerical personnel for maintaining the
organization and books and records of the Portfolio; (ii) provides officers for
the Portfolio; (iii) files Portfolio regulatory documents and mails Portfolio
communications to Trustees and investors; and (iv) maintains related books and
records. See "Administrative Services Agent" below.
For its services under the Co-Administration Agreement, the Portfolio
has agreed to pay FDI fees equal to its allocable share of an annual
complex-wide charge of $425,000 plus FDI's out-of-pocket expenses. The amount
allocable to the Portfolio is based on the ratio of its net assets to the
aggregate net assets of the Portfolio and certain other registered investment
companies subject to similar agreements with FDI.
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AGENT. Pursuant to the Administrative Services
Agreement with the Portfolio, Morgan provides certain administrative and related
services to the Portfolio, including services related to tax compliance,
preparation of financial statements, calculation of performance data, oversight
of service providers and certain regulatory and Board of Trustees matters.
Under the Administrative Services Agreement, the Portfolio has agreed
to pay Morgan fees equal to its allocable share of an annual complex-wide
charge. This charge is calculated daily based on the aggregate net assets of the
Portfolio and certain other registered investment companies managed by the
Advisor in accordance with the following annual schedule: 0.09% on the first $7
billion of their aggregate average daily net assets and 0.04% of their aggregate
average daily net assets in excess of $7 billion, less the complex-wide fees
payable to FDI.
PLACEMENT AGENT. FDI, a registered broker-dealer, also serves as
exclusive placement agent for the Portfolio. FDI is a wholly owned indirect
subsidiary of Boston Institutional Group, Inc. FDI's principal business address
is 60 State Street, Suite 1300, Boston, Massachusetts 02109.
CUSTODIAN. State Street Bank and Trust Company ("State Street"), 225
Franklin Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02110 serves as the Portfolio's custodian
and fund accounting and transfer agent. State Street keeps the books of account
for the Portfolio.
EXPENSES. In addition to the fees payable to the service providers
identified above, the Portfolio is responsible for usual and customary expenses
associated with its operations. Such expenses include organization expenses,
legal fees, accounting and audit expenses, insurance costs, the compensation and
expenses of the Trustees, registration fees under federal and foreign securities
laws, extraordinary expenses and brokerage expenses.
Morgan has agreed that it will reimburse the Portfolio through at least
February 28, 1999, to the extent necessary to maintain the Portfolio's total
operating expenses at the annual rate of 0.50% of the Portfolio's average daily
net assets. This limit does not cover extraordinary expenses during the period.
There is no assurance that Morgan will continue this waiver beyond the specified
period. For the fiscal year ended October 31, 1997, the Portfolio's total
expenses were 0.37% of its average net assets.
ITEM 6. CAPITAL STOCK AND OTHER SECURITIES.
The Portfolio is organized as a trust under the laws of the State of
New York. Under the Declaration of Trust, the Trustees are authorized to issue
beneficial interests in the Portfolio. Each investor is entitled to a vote in
proportion to the amount of its investment in the Portfolio. Investments in the
Portfolio may not be transferred, but an investor may withdraw all or any
portion of its investment at any time at net asset value. Investors in the
Portfolio (e.g., other investment companies, insurance company separate accounts
and common and commingled trust funds) will each be liable for all obligations
of the Portfolio. However, the risk of an investor in the Portfolio incurring
financial loss on account of such liability is limited to circumstances in which
both inadequate insurance existed and the Portfolio itself was unable to meet
its obligations.
As of January 31, 1998, the J.P. Morgan Institutional Bond Fund (the
"Fund"), the J.P. Morgan Bond Fund and the J.P. Morgan Ultra Bond Fund owned
78.73%, 16.67% and 4.60%, respectively, of the outstanding beneficial interests
in the Portfolio. So long as the Funds control the Portfolio, they may take
actions without the approval of any other holder of beneficial interests in the
Portfolio.
Investments in the Portfolio have no preemptive or conversion rights
and are fully paid and nonassessable, except as set forth below. The Portfolio
is not required and has no current intention of holding annual meetings of
investors, but the Portfolio will hold special meetings of investors when in the
judgment of the Trustees it is necessary or desirable to submit matters for an
investor vote. Changes in fundamental policies will be submitted to investors
for approval. Investors have under certain circumstances (e.g., upon application
and submission of certain specified documents to the Trustees by a specified
percentage of the outstanding interests in the Portfolio) the right to
communicate with other investors in connection with requesting a meeting of
investors for the purpose of removing one or more Trustees. Investors also have
the right to remove one or more Trustees without a meeting by a declaration in
writing by a specified percentage of the outstanding interests in the Portfolio.
Upon liquidation of the Portfolio, investors would be entitled to share pro rata
in the net assets of the Portfolio available for distribution to investors.
The net asset value of the Portfolio is determined each business day
other than the holidays listed in Part B ("Portfolio Business Day"). This
determination is made once each Portfolio Business Day at the close of trading
on the New York Stock Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m.) (the "Valuation Time"). See
Item 19 in Part B.
The "net income" of the Portfolio will consist of (I) all income
accrued, less the amortization of any premium, on the assets of the Portfolio,
less (ii) all actual and accrued expenses of the Portfolio determined in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Interest income
includes discount earned (including both original issue and market discount) on
discount paper accrued ratably to the date of maturity and any net realized
gains or losses on the assets of the Portfolio. All the net income of the
Portfolio is allocated pro rata among the investors in the Portfolio.
The end of the Portfolio's fiscal year is October 31.
Under the anticipated method of operation of the Portfolio, the
Portfolio will not be subject to any income tax. However, each investor in the
Portfolio will be taxable on its share (as determined in accordance with the
governing instruments of the Portfolio) of the Portfolio's ordinary income and
capital gain in determining its income tax liability. The determination of such
share will be made in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended (the "Code") and regulations promulgated thereunder.
It is intended that the Portfolio's assets, income and distributions
will be managed in such a way that an investor in the Portfolio will be able to
satisfy the requirements of Subchapter M of the Code, assuming that the investor
invested all of its assets in the Portfolio.
Investor inquiries may be directed to FDI, in care of State Street
Cayman Trust Company, Ltd., at Elizabethan Square, Shedden Road, George Town,
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, BWI (345-949-6644).
ITEM 7. PURCHASE OF SECURITIES.
Beneficial interests in the Portfolio are issued solely in private
placement transactions that do not involve any "public offering" within the
meaning of Section 4(2) of the 1933 Act. Investments in the Portfolio may only
be made by other investment companies, insurance company separate accounts,
common or commingled trust funds, or similar organizations or entities which are
"accredited investors" as defined in Rule 501 under the 1933 Act. This
Registration Statement does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation
of an offer to buy, any "security" within the meaning of the 1933 Act.
An investment in the Portfolio may be made without a sales load. All
investments are made at net asset value next determined after an order is
received in "good order" by the Portfolio. The net asset value of the Portfolio
is determined on each Portfolio Business Day.
There is no minimum initial or subsequent investment in the Portfolio.
However, because the Portfolio intends to be as fully invested at all times as
is reasonably practicable in order to enhance the yield on its assets,
investments must be made in federal funds (i.e., monies credited to the account
of the Custodian by a Federal Reserve Bank).
The Portfolio may, at its own option, accept securities in payment for
investments in its beneficial interests. The securities delivered in kind are
valued by the method described in Item 19 of Part B as of the business day prior
to the day the Portfolio receives the securities. Securities may be accepted in
payment for beneficial interests only if they are, in the judgment of Morgan,
appropriate investments for the Portfolio. In addition, securities accepted in
payment for beneficial interests must: (I) meet the investment objective and
policies of the Portfolio; (ii) be acquired by the Portfolio for investment and
not for resale; (iii) be liquid securities which are not restricted as to
transfer either by law or liquidity of market; and (iv) if stock, have a value
which is readily ascertainable as evidenced by a listing on a stock exchange,
OTC market or by readily available market quotations from a dealer in such
securities. The Portfolio reserves the right to accept or reject at its own
option any and all securities offered in payment for beneficial interests.
The Portfolio and FDI reserve the right to cease accepting investments
at any time or to reject any investment order.
Each investor in the Portfolio may add to or reduce its investment in
the Portfolio on each Portfolio Business Day. At the Valuation Time on each such
day, the value of each investor's beneficial interest in the Portfolio will be
determined by multiplying the net asset value of the Portfolio by the
percentage, effective for that day, which represents that investor's share of
the aggregate beneficial interests in the Portfolio. Any additions or
reductions, which are to be effected at the Valuation Time on such day, will
then be effected. The investor's percentage of the aggregate beneficial
interests in the Portfolio will then be recomputed as the percentage equal to
the fraction (I) the numerator of which is the value of such investor's
investment in the Portfolio at the Valuation Time on such day plus or minus, as
the case may be, the amount of net additions to or reductions in the investor's
investment in the Portfolio effected at the Valuation Time, and (ii) the
denominator of which is the aggregate net asset value of the Portfolio as of the
Valuation Time on such day, plus or minus, as the case may be, the amount of net
additions to or reductions in the aggregate investments in the Portfolio by all
investors in the Portfolio. The percentage so determined will then be applied to
determine the value of the investor's interest in the Portfolio as of the
Valuation Time on the following Portfolio Business Day.
ITEM 8. REDEMPTION OR REPURCHASE.
An investor in the Portfolio may reduce all or any portion of its
investment at the net asset value next determined after a request in "good
order" is furnished by the investor to the Portfolio. The proceeds of a
reduction will be paid by the Portfolio in federal funds normally on the next
Portfolio Business Day after the reduction is effected, but in any event within
seven days. Investments in the Portfolio may not be transferred.
The right of any investor to receive payment with respect to any
reduction may be suspended or the payment of the proceeds therefrom postponed
during any period in which the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") is closed
(other than weekends or holidays) or trading on the NYSE is restricted or, to
the extent otherwise permitted by the 1940 Act, if an emergency exists.
The Portfolio reserves the right under certain circumstances, such as
accommodating requests for substantial withdrawals or liquidations, to pay
distributions in kind to investors (i.e., to distribute portfolio securities as
opposed to cash). If securities are distributed, an investor could incur
brokerage, tax or other charges in converting the securities to cash. In
addition, distribution in kind may result in a less diversified portfolio of
investments or adversely affect the liquidity of the Portfolio or the investor's
portfolio, as the case may be.
ITEM 9. PENDING LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
Not applicable.
<PAGE>
PART B
ITEM 10. COVER PAGE.
Not applicable.
ITEM 11. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE
General Information and History B-1
Investment Objective and Policies B-1
Management of the Fund B-16
Control Persons and Principal Holders
of Securities B-20
Investment Advisory and Other Services B-21
Brokerage Allocation and Other Practices B-25
Capital Stock and Other Securities B-27
Purchase, Redemption and Pricing of
Securities Being Offered B-28
Tax Status B-29
Underwriters B-31
Calculations of Performance Data B-31
Financial Statements B-31
ITEM 12. GENERAL INFORMATION AND HISTORY.
Not applicable.
ITEM 13. INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES.
The investment objective of The U.S. Fixed Income Portfolio (the
"Portfolio") is to provide a high total return consistent with moderate risk of
capital and maintenance of liquidity. The Portfolio attempts to achieve its
investment objective by investing in high grade corporate and government debt
obligations and related securities of domestic and foreign issuers described in
Part A and this Part B.
The Portfolio is advised by Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York
("Morgan" or the "Advisor").
INVESTMENT PROCESS
Duration/yield curve management: Morgan's duration decision begins with
an analysis of real yields, which its research indicates are generally a
reliable indicator of longer term interest rate trends. Other factors Morgan
studies with regard to interest rates include economic growth and inflation,
capital flows and monetary policy. Based on this analysis, Morgan forms a view
of the most likely changes in the level and shape of the yield curve -- as well
as the timing of those changes -- and sets the Portfolio's duration and maturity
structure accordingly. To help contain interest rate risk, Morgan typically
limits the overall duration of the Portfolio to a range between one year shorter
and one year longer than that of the Salomon Brothers Broad Investment Grade
Bond Index, the benchmark index.
Sector allocations: Sector allocations are driven by Morgan's
fundamental and quantitative analysis of the relative valuation of a broad array
of fixed income sectors. Specifically, Morgan utilizes market and credit
analysts to assess whether the current risk-adjusted yield spreads of various
sectors are likely to widen or narrow. Morgan then overweights (underweights)
those sectors its analysis indicates offer the most (least) relative value,
basing the speed and magnitude of these shifts on valuation considerations.
Security selection: Securities are selected by the portfolio manager,
with substantial input from Morgan's fixed income analysis and traders. Using
quantitative analysis as well as traditional valuation methods, Morgan's
applied-research analysts aim to optimize security selection within the bounds
of the Portfolio's investment objective. In addition, credit analysts --
supported by Morgan's equity analysts -- assess the creditworthiness of issuers
and counterparties. A dedicated trading desk contributes to security selection
by tracking new issuance, monitoring dealer inventories, and identifying
attractively priced bonds. The traders also handle all transactions for the
Portfolio.
The following discussion supplements the information regarding the
investment objective of the Portfolio and the policies to be employed to achieve
this objective as set forth above and in Part A.
MONEY MARKET INSTRUMENTS
As discussed in Part A, the Portfolio may invest in money market
instruments to the extent consistent with its investment objective and policies.
A description of the various types of money market instruments that may be
purchased by the Portfolio appears below. Also see "Quality and Diversification
Requirements".
U.S. TREASURY SECURITIES. The Portfolio may invest in direct obligations of
the U.S. Treasury, including Treasury bills, notes and bonds, all of which are
backed as to principal and interest payments by the full faith and credit of the
United States.
ADDITIONAL U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS. The Portfolio may invest in
obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies or
instrumentalities. These obligations may or may not be backed by the "full faith
and credit" of the United States. In the case of securities not backed by the
full faith and credit of the United States, the Portfolio must look principally
to the federal agency issuing or guaranteeing the obligation for ultimate
repayment and may not be able to assert a claim against the United States itself
in the event the agency or instrumentality does not meet its commitments.
Securities in which the Portfolio may invest that are not backed by the full
faith and credit of the United States include, but are not limited to,
obligations of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Corporation, and the U.S. Postal Service, each of which has the right to borrow
from the U.S. Treasury to meet its obligations. Securities in which the
Portfolio may invest that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the
United States include obligations of the Federal Farm Credit System and the
Federal Home Loan Banks, both of whose obligations may be satisfied only by the
individual credits of each issuing agency. Securities which are backed by the
full faith and credit of the U.S. include obligations of the Government National
Mortgage Association, the Farmers Home Administration, and the Export-Import
Bank.
FOREIGN GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS. The Portfolio, subject to its applicable
investment policies, may also invest in short-term obligations of foreign
sovereign governments or of their agencies, instrumentalities, authorities or
political subdivisions. These securities may be denominated in the U.S. dollar
or in another currency. See "Foreign Investments".
BANK OBLIGATIONS. The Portfolio, unless otherwise noted in Part A or
below, may invest in negotiable certificates of deposit, time deposits and
bankers' acceptances of (I) banks, savings and loan associations and savings
banks which have more than $2 billion in total assets and are organized under
the laws of the United States or any state, (ii) foreign branches of these banks
or of foreign banks of equivalent size (Euros) and (iii) U.S. branches of
foreign banks of equivalent size (Yankees). The Portfolio will not invest in
obligations for which the Advisor, or any of its affiliated persons, is the
ultimate obligor or accepting bank. The Portfolio may also invest in obligations
of international banking institutions designated or supported by national
governments to promote economic reconstruction, development or trade between
nations (e.g., the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development
Bank, or the World Bank).
COMMERCIAL PAPER. The Portfolio may invest in commercial paper,
including master demand obligations. Master demand obligations are obligations
that provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid and permit
daily changes in the amount borrowed. Master demand obligations are governed by
agreements between the issuer and Morgan acting as agent, for no additional fee,
in its capacity as investment advisor to the Portfolio and as fiduciary for
other clients for whom it exercises investment discretion. The monies loaned to
the borrower come from accounts managed by the Advisor or its affiliates,
pursuant to arrangements with such accounts. Interest and principal payments are
credited to such accounts. The Advisor, acting as a fiduciary on behalf of its
clients, has the right to increase or decrease the amount provided to the
borrower under an obligation. The borrower has the right to pay without penalty
all or any part of the principal amount then outstanding on an obligation
together with interest to the date of payment. Since these obligations typically
provide that the interest rate is tied to the Treasury Bill auction rate, the
rate on master demand obligations is subject to change. Repayment of a master
demand obligation to participating accounts depends on the ability of the
borrower to pay the accrued interest and principal of the obligation on demand
which is continuously monitored by the Advisor. Since master demand obligations
typically are not rated by credit rating agencies, the Portfolio may invest in
such unrated obligations only if at the time of an investment the obligation is
determined by the Advisor to have a credit quality which satisfies the
Portfolio's quality restrictions. See "Quality and Diversification
Requirements". Although there is no secondary market for master demand
obligations, such obligations are considered by the Portfolio to be liquid
because they are payable upon demand. The Portfolio does not have any specific
percentage limitation on investments in master demand obligations. It is
possible that the issuer of a master demand obligation could be a client of
Morgan to whom Morgan, in its capacity as a commercial bank, has made a loan.
REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS. The Portfolio may enter into repurchase
agreements with brokers, dealers or banks that meet the credit guidelines
approved by the Trustees. In a repurchase agreement, the Portfolio buys a
security from a seller that has agreed to repurchase the same security at a
mutually agreed upon date and price. The resale price normally is in excess of
the purchase price, reflecting an agreed upon interest rate. This interest rate
is effective for the period of time the Portfolio is invested in the agreement
and is not related to the coupon rate on the underlying security. A repurchase
agreement may also be viewed as a fully collateralized loan of money by the
Portfolio to the seller. The period of these repurchase agreements will usually
be short, from overnight to one week, and at no time will the Portfolio invest
in repurchase agreements for more than thirteen months. The securities which are
subject to repurchase agreements, however, may have maturity dates in excess of
thirteen months from the effective date of the repurchase agreement. The
Portfolio will always receive securities as collateral whose market value is,
and during the entire term of the agreement remains, at least equal to 100% of
the dollar amount invested by the Portfolio in each agreement plus accrued
interest, and the Portfolio will make payment for such securities only upon
physical delivery or upon evidence of book entry transfer to the account of the
Custodian. If the seller defaults, the Portfolio might incur a loss if the value
of the collateral securing the repurchase agreement declines and might incur
disposition costs in connection with liquidating the collateral. In addition, if
bankruptcy proceedings are commenced with respect to the seller of the security,
realization upon disposal of the collateral by the Portfolio may be delayed or
limited.
The Portfolio may make investments in other debt securities with
remaining effective maturities of not more than 13 months, including without
limitation corporate and foreign bonds, asset-backed securities and other
obligations described in Part A or this Part B.
CORPORATE BONDS AND OTHER DEBT SECURITIES
As discussed in Part A, the Portfolio may invest in bonds and other
debt securities of domestic and foreign issuers to the extent consistent with
its investment objectives and policies. A description of these investments
appears in Part A and below. See "Quality and Diversification Requirements". For
information on short-term investments in these securities, see "Money Market
Instruments".
MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES. The Portfolio may invest in mortgage-backed
securities. Each mortgage pool underlying mortgage-backed securities consists of
mortgage loans evidenced by promissory notes secured by first mortgages or first
deeds of trust or other similar security instruments creating a first lien on
owner occupied and non-owner occupied one-unit to four-unit residential
properties, multifamily (i.e., five or more) properties, agriculture properties,
commercial properties and mixed use properties. The investment characteristics
of adjustable and fixed rate mortgage-backed securities differ from those of
traditional fixed income securities. The major differences include the payment
of interest and principal on mortgage-backed securities on a more frequent
(usually monthly) schedule and the possibility that principal may be prepaid at
any time due to prepayments on the underlying mortgage loans or other assets.
These differences can result in significantly greater price and yield volatility
than is the case with traditional fixed income securities. As a result, a faster
than expected prepayment rate will reduce both the market value and the yield to
maturity from those which were anticipated. A prepayment rate that is slower
than expected will have the opposite effect of increasing yield to maturity and
market value.
GOVERNMENT GUARANTEED MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES. Government National
Mortgage Association mortgage-backed certificates ("Ginnie Maes") are supported
by the full faith and credit of the United States. Certain other U.S. Government
securities, issued or guaranteed by federal agencies or government sponsored
enterprises, are not supported by the full faith and credit of the United
States, but may be supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S.
Treasury. These securities include obligations of instrumentalities such as the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Macs") and the Federal National
Mortgage Association ("Fannie Maes"). No assurance can be given that the U.S.
Government will provide financial support to these federal agencies,
authorities, instrumentalities and government sponsored enterprises in the
future.
There are several types of guaranteed mortgage-backed securities
currently available, including guaranteed mortgage pass-through certificates and
multiple class securities, which include guaranteed real estate mortgage
investment conduit certificates ("REMIC Certificates"), other collateralized
mortgage obligations ("CMOs") and stripped mortgage-backed securities.
Mortgage pass-through securities are fixed or adjustable rate
mortgage-backed securities which provide for monthly payments that are a
"pass-through" of the monthly interest and principal payments (including any
prepayments) made by the individual borrowers on the pooled mortgage loans, net
of any fees or other amounts paid to any guarantor, administrator and/or
servicer of the underlying mortgage loans.
Multiple class securities include CMOs and REMIC Certificates issued by
U.S. Government agencies, instrumentalities (such as Fannie Mae) and sponsored
enterprises (such as Freddie Mac) or by trusts formed by private originators of,
or investors in, mortgage loans, including savings and loan associations,
mortgage bankers, commercial banks, insurance companies, investment banks and
special purpose subsidiaries of the foregoing. In general, CMOs are debt
obligations of a legal entity that are collateralized by, and multiple class
mortgage-backed securities represent direct ownership interests in, a pool of
mortgage loans or mortgaged-backed securities and payments on which are used to
make payments on the CMOs or multiple class mortgage-backed securities.
CMOs and guaranteed REMIC Certificates issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac are types of multiple class mortgage-backed securities. Investors may
purchase beneficial interests in REMICs, which are known as "regular" interests
or "residual" interests. The Portfolio does not intend to purchase residual
interests in REMICs. The REMIC Certificates represent beneficial ownership
interests in a REMIC trust, generally consisting of mortgage loans or Fannie
Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae guaranteed mortgage-backed securities (the
"Mortgage Assets"). The obligations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under their
respective guaranty of the REMIC Certificates are obligations solely of Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac, respectively.
CMOs and REMIC Certificates are issued in multiple classes. Each class
of CMOs or REMIC Certificates, often referred to as a "tranche," is issued at a
specific adjustable or fixed interest rate and must be fully retired no later
than its final distribution date. Principal prepayments on the assets underlying
the CMOs or REMIC Certificates may cause some or all of the classes of CMOs or
REMIC Certificates to be retired substantially earlier than their final
scheduled distribution dates. Generally, interest is paid or accrues on all
classes of CMOs or REMIC Certificates on a monthly basis.
STRIPPED MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES. Stripped mortgage-backed
securities ("SMBS") are derivative multiclass mortgage securities, issued or
guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities or by
private issuers. Although the market for such securities is increasingly liquid,
privately issued SMBS may not be readily marketable and will be considered
illiquid for purposes of the Portfolio's limitation on investments in illiquid
securities. The Advisor may determine that SMBS which are U.S. Government
securities are liquid for purposes of the Portfolio's limitation on investments
in illiquid securities in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board of
Trustees. The market value of the class consisting entirely of principal
payments generally is unusually volatile in response to changes in interest
rates. The yields on a class of SMBS that receives all or most of the interest
from Mortgage Assets are generally higher than prevailing market yields on other
mortgage-backed securities because their cash flow patterns are more volatile
and there is a greater risk that the initial investment will not be fully
recouped.
ZERO COUPON, PAY-IN-KIND AND DEFERRED PAYMENT SECURITIES. While
interest payments are not made on such securities, holders of such securities
are deemed to have received "phantom income." Because the Portfolio will
distribute "phantom income" to investors, the Portfolio may have fewer assets
with which to purchase income producing securities.
ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES. Asset-backed securities directly or indirectly
represent a participation interest in, or are secured by and payable from, a
stream of payments generated by particular assets such as motor vehicle or
credit card receivables. Payments of principal and interest may be guaranteed up
to certain amounts and for a certain time period by a letter of credit issued by
a financial institution unaffiliated with the entities issuing the securities.
The asset-backed securities in which the Portfolio may invest are subject to the
Portfolio's overall credit requirements. However, asset-backed securities, in
general, are subject to certain risks. Most of these risks are related to
limited interests in applicable collateral. For example, credit card debt
receivables are generally unsecured and the debtors are entitled to the
protection of a number of state and federal consumer credit laws, many of which
give such debtors the right to set off certain amounts on credit card debt
thereby reducing the balance due. Additionally, if the letter of credit is
exhausted, holders of asset-backed securities may also experience delays in
payments or losses if the full amounts due on underlying sales contracts are not
realized. Because asset-backed securities are relatively new, the market
experience in these securities is limited and the market's ability to sustain
liquidity through all phases of the market cycle has not been tested.
TAX EXEMPT OBLIGATIONS
As discussed in Part A, the Portfolio may, in certain circumstances,
invest in tax exempt obligations to the extent consistent with the Portfolio's
investment objective and policies. A description of the various types of tax
exempt obligations which may be purchased by the Portfolio appears in Part A and
below. See "Quality and Diversification Requirements".
MUNICIPAL BONDS. Municipal bonds are debt obligations issued by the
states, territories and possessions of the United States and the District of
Columbia, by their political subdivisions and by duly constituted authorities
and corporations. For example, states, territories, possessions and
municipalities may issue municipal bonds to raise funds for various public
purposes such as airports, housing, hospitals, mass transportation, schools,
water and sewer works. They may also issue municipal bonds to refund outstanding
obligations and to meet general operating expenses. Public authorities issue
municipal bonds to obtain funding for privately operated facilities, such as
housing and pollution control facilities, for industrial facilities or for water
supply, gas, electricity or waste disposal facilities.
Municipal bonds may be general obligation or revenue bonds. General
obligation bonds are secured by the issuer's pledge of its full faith, credit
and taxing power for the payment of principal and interest. Revenue bonds are
payable from revenues derived from particular facilities, from the proceeds of a
special excise tax or from other specific revenue sources. They are not
generally payable from the general taxing power of a municipality.
MUNICIPAL NOTES. Municipal notes are subdivided into three categories of
short-term obligations: municipal notes, municipal commercial paper and
municipal demand obligations.
Municipal notes are short-term obligations with a maturity at the time
of issuance ranging from six months to five years. The principal types of
municipal notes include tax anticipation notes, bond anticipation notes, revenue
anticipation notes, grant anticipation notes and project notes. Notes sold in
anticipation of collection of taxes, a bond sale, or receipt of other revenues
are usually general obligations of the issuing municipality or agency.
Municipal commercial paper typically consists of very short-term,
unsecured, negotiable promissory notes that are sold to meet seasonal working
capital or interim construction financing needs of a municipality or agency.
While these obligations are intended to be paid from general revenues or
refinanced with long-term debt, they frequently are backed by letters of credit,
lending agreements, note repurchase agreements or other credit facility
agreements offered by banks or institutions.
Municipal demand obligations are subdivided into two types: variable rate
demand notes and master demand obligations.
Variable rate demand notes are tax exempt municipal obligations or
participation interests that provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest
rate paid on the notes. They permit the holder to demand payment of the notes,
or to demand purchase of the notes at a purchase price equal to the unpaid
principal balance, plus accrued interest either directly by the issuer or by
drawing on a bank letter of credit or guaranty issued with respect to such note.
The issuer of the municipal obligation may have a corresponding right to prepay
at its discretion the outstanding principal of the note plus accrued interest
upon notice comparable to that required for the holder to demand payment. The
variable rate demand notes in which the Portfolio may invest are payable, or are
subject to purchase, on demand usually on notice of seven calendar days or less.
The terms of the notes provide that interest rates are adjustable at intervals
ranging from daily to six months, and the adjustments are based upon the prime
rate of a bank or other appropriate interest rate index specified in the
respective notes. Variable rate demand notes are valued at amortized cost; no
value is assigned to the right of the Portfolio to receive the par value of the
obligation upon demand or notice.
Master demand obligations are tax exempt municipal obligations that
provide for a periodic adjustment in the interest rate paid and permit daily
changes in the amount borrowed. The interest on such obligations is, in the
opinion of counsel for the borrower, exempt from federal income tax. Although
there is no secondary market for master demand obligations, such obligations are
considered by the Portfolio to be liquid because they are payable upon demand.
The Portfolio has no specific percentage limitations on investments in master
demand obligations.
FOREIGN INVESTMENTS
The Portfolio may invest in certain foreign securities. The Portfolio
may invest in fixed income securities of foreign issuers denominated in the U.S.
dollar and other currencies. The Portfolio may invest up to 20% of its total
assets in debt securities of foreign issuers denominated in foreign currencies.
The Portfolio does not expect to invest more than 25% of its total assets at the
time of purchase in securities of foreign issuers. Any foreign commercial paper
must not be subject to foreign withholding tax at the time of purchase. Foreign
investments may be made directly in securities of foreign issuers or in the form
of American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") and European Depositary Receipts
("EDRs"). Generally, ADRs and EDRs are receipts issued by a bank or trust
company that evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign
corporation and that are designed for use in the domestic, in the case of ADRs,
or European, in the case of EDRs, securities markets.
Since investments in foreign securities may involve foreign currencies,
the value of the Portfolio's assets as measured in U.S. dollars may be affected
favorably or unfavorably by changes in currency rates and in exchange control
regulations, including currency blockage. The Portfolio may enter into forward
commitments for the purchase or sale of foreign currencies in connection with
the settlement of foreign securities transactions or to manage the Portfolio's
currency exposure related to foreign investments. See "Additional Investment
Information" in Part A.
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENTS
WHEN-ISSUED AND DELAYED DELIVERY SECURITIES. The Portfolio may purchase
securities on a when-issued or delayed delivery basis. For example, delivery of
and payment for these securities can take place a month or more after the date
of the purchase commitment. The purchase price and the interest rate payable, if
any, on the securities are fixed on the purchase commitment date or at the time
the settlement date is fixed. The value of such securities is subject to market
fluctuation and for fixed income securities no interest accrues to the Portfolio
until settlement takes place. At the time the Portfolio makes the commitment to
purchase securities on a when-issued or delayed delivery basis, it will record
the transaction, reflect the value each day of such securities in determining
its net asset value and, if applicable, calculate the maturity for the purposes
of average maturity from that date. At the time of settlement a when-issued
security may be valued at less than the purchase price. To facilitate such
acquisitions, the Portfolio will maintain with the Custodian a segregated
account with liquid assets, consisting of cash, U.S. Government securities or
other appropriate securities, in an amount at least equal to such commitments.
On delivery dates for such transactions, the Portfolio will meet its obligations
from maturities or sales of the securities held in the segregated account and/or
from cash flow. If the Portfolio chooses to dispose of the right to acquire a
when-issued security prior to its acquisition, it could, as with the disposition
of any other portfolio obligation, incur a gain or loss due to market
fluctuation. It is the current policy of the Portfolio not to enter into
when-issued commitments exceeding in the aggregate 15% of the market value of
the Portfolio's total assets, less liabilities other than the obligations
created by when-issued commitments.
INVESTMENT COMPANY SECURITIES. Securities of other investment companies
may be acquired by the Portfolio to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act.
These limits require that, as determined immediately after a purchase is made,
(i) not more than 5% of the value of the Portfolio's total assets will be
invested in the securities of any one investment company, (ii) not more than 10%
of the value of its total assets will be invested in the aggregate in securities
of investment companies as a group, and (iii) not more than 3% of the
outstanding voting stock of any one investment company will be owned by the
Portfolio. As a shareholder of another investment company, the Portfolio 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 advisory and other expenses that the Portfolio bears directly
in connection with its own operations. The Portfolio has applied for exemptive
relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to permit the
Portfolio to invest in affiliated investment companies. If the requested relief
is granted, the Portfolio would then be permitted to invest in affiliated Funds,
subject to certain conditions specified in the applicable order.
REVERSE REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS. The Portfolio may enter into reverse
repurchase agreements. In a reverse repurchase agreement, the Portfolio sells a
security and agrees to repurchase the same security at a mutually agreed upon
date and price. For purposes of the 1940 Act, a reverse repurchase agreement is
also considered as the borrowing of money by the Portfolio and, therefore, a
form of leverage. The Portfolio will invest the proceeds of borrowings under
reverse repurchase agreements. In addition, the Portfolio will enter into a
reverse repurchase agreement only when the interest income to be earned from the
investment of the proceeds is greater than the interest expense of the
transaction. The Portfolio will not invest the proceeds of a reverse repurchase
agreement for a period which exceeds the duration of the reverse repurchase
agreement. The Portfolio will establish and maintain with the Custodian a
separate account with a segregated portfolio of securities in an amount at least
equal to its purchase obligations under its reverse repurchase agreements. If
interest rates rise during the term of a reverse repurchase agreement, the
Portfolio's entering into the reverse repurchase agreement may have a negative
impact on the Portfolio's net asset value. See "Investment Restrictions" below
for the Portfolio's limitations on reverse repurchase agreements and bank
borrowings.
MORTGAGE DOLLAR ROLL TRANSACTIONS. The Portfolio may engage in mortgage
dollar roll transactions with respect to mortgage securities issued by the
Government National Mortgage Association, the Federal National Mortgage
Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. In a mortgage dollar
roll transaction, the Portfolio sells a mortgage backed security and
simultaneously agrees to repurchase a similar security on a specified future
date at an agreed upon price. During the roll period, the Portfolio will not be
entitled to receive any interest or principal paid on the securities sold. The
Portfolio is compensated for the lost interest on the securities sold by the
difference between the sales price and the lower price for the future repurchase
as well as by the interest earned on the reinvestment of the sales proceeds. The
Portfolio may also be compensated by receipt of a commitment fee. When the
Portfolio enters into a mortgage dollar roll transaction, liquid assets in an
amount sufficient to pay for the future repurchase are segregated with the
Custodian. Mortgage dollar roll transactions are considered reverse repurchase
agreements for purposes of the Portfolio's investment restrictions.
LOANS OF PORTFOLIO SECURITIES. The Portfolio may lend its securities if
such loans are secured continuously by cash or equivalent collateral or by a
letter of credit in favor of the Portfolio at least equal at all times to 100%
of the market value of the securities loaned, plus accrued interest. While such
securities are on loan, the borrower will pay the Portfolio any income accruing
thereon. Loans will be subject to termination by the Portfolio in the normal
settlement time, generally three business days after notice, or by the borrower
on one day's notice. Borrowed securities must be returned when the loan is
terminated. Any gain or loss in the market price of the borrowed securities
which occurs during the term of the loan inures to the Portfolio and its
investors. The Portfolio may pay reasonable finders' and custodial fees in
connection with a loan. In addition, the Portfolio will consider all facts and
circumstances before entering into such an agreement, including the
creditworthiness of the borrowing financial institution, and the Portfolio will
not make any loans in excess of one year. The Portfolio will not lend its
securities to any officer, Trustee, Director, employee, or other affiliate of
the Portfolio, the Advisor or the placement agent, unless otherwise permitted by
applicable law.
PRIVATELY PLACED AND CERTAIN UNREGISTERED SECURITIES. The Portfolio may
invest in privately placed, restricted, Rule 144A or other unregistered
securities as described in Part A.
As to illiquid investments, the Portfolio is subject to a risk that
should the Portfolio decide to sell them when a ready buyer is not available at
a price the Portfolio deems representative of their value, the value of the
Portfolio's net assets could be adversely affected. Where an illiquid security
must be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act")
before it may be sold, the Portfolio may be obligated to pay all or part of the
registration expenses, and a considerable period may elapse between the time of
the decision to sell and the time the Portfolio may be permitted to sell a
security under an effective registration statement. If, during such a period,
adverse market conditions were to develop, the Portfolio might obtain a less
favorable price than prevailed when it decided to sell.
QUALITY AND DIVERSIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
The Portfolio intends to meet the diversification requirements of the
1940 Act. To meet these requirements, 75% of the assets of the Portfolio are
subject to the following fundamental limitations: (1) the Portfolio may not
invest more than 5% of its total assets in the securities of any one issuer,
except obligations of the U.S. Government, its agencies and instrumentalities,
and (2) the Portfolio may not own more than 10% of the outstanding voting
securities of any one issuer. As for the other 25% of the Portfolio's assets not
subject to the limitation described above, there is no limitation on investment
of these assets under the 1940 Act, so that all of such assets may be invested
in securities of any one issuers. Investments not subject to the limitations
described above could involve an increased risk to the Portfolio should an
issuer, or a state or its related entities, be unable to make interest or
principal payments or should the market value of such securities decline.
The Portfolio invests principally in a diversified portfolio of
securities with the quality ratings described in Part A. These securities are
considered "high grade," "investment grade" and "below investment grade" as
described in Appendix A. In addition, at the time the Portfolio invests in any
commercial paper, bank obligation or repurchase agreement, the issuer must have
outstanding debt rated A or higher by Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
("Moody's") or Standard & Poor's Ratings Group ("Standard & Poor's"), the
issuer's parent corporation, if any, must have outstanding commercial paper
rated Prime-1 by Moody's or A-1 by Standard & Poor's, or if no such ratings are
available, the investment must be of comparable quality in the Advisor's
opinion. See Item 4 in Part A for a description of lower rated securities.
OPTIONS AND FUTURES TRANSACTIONS
EXCHANGE TRADED AND OVER-THE-COUNTER OPTIONS. All options purchased or
sold by the Portfolio will be traded on a securities exchange or will be
purchased or sold by securities dealers (OTC options) that meet creditworthiness
standards approved by the Board of Trustees. While exchange-traded options are
obligations of the Options Clearing Corporation, in the case of OTC options, the
Portfolio relies on the dealer from which it purchased the option to perform if
the option is exercised. Thus, when the Portfolio purchases an OTC option, it
relies on the dealer from which it purchased the option to make or take delivery
of the underlying securities. Failure by the dealer to do so would result in the
loss of the premium paid by the Portfolio as well as loss of the expected
benefit of the transaction.
Provided that the Portfolio has arrangements with certain qualified
dealers who agree that the Portfolio may repurchase any option it writes for a
maximum price to be calculated by a predetermined formula, the Portfolio may
treat the underlying securities used to cover the written OTC options as liquid.
In these cases, the OTC option itself would only be considered illiquid to the
extent that the maximum repurchase price under the formula exceeds the intrinsic
value of the option.
FUTURES CONTRACTS AND OPTIONS ON FUTURES CONTRACTS. In entering into
futures and options transactions the Portfolio may purchase or sell futures
contracts and purchase put and call options, including put and call options on
futures contracts. Futures contracts obligate the buyer to take and the seller
to make delivery at a future date of a specified quantity of a financial
instrument or an amount of cash based on the value of a securities index.
Currently, futures contracts are available on various types of fixed income
securities, including but not limited to U.S. Treasury bonds, notes and bills,
Eurodollar certificates of deposit and on indexes of fixed income securities and
indexes of equity securities.
Unlike a futures contract, which requires the parties to buy and sell a
security or make a cash settlement payment based on changes in a financial
instrument or securities index on an agreed date, an option on a futures
contract entitles its holder to decide on or before a future date whether to
enter into such a contract. If the holder decides not to exercise its option,
the holder may close out the option position by entering into an offsetting
transaction or may decide to let the option expire and forfeit the premium
thereon. The purchaser of an option on a futures contract pays a premium for the
option but makes no initial margin payments or daily payments of cash in the
nature of "variation" margin payments to reflect the change in the value of the
underlying contract as does a purchaser or seller of a futures contract.
The seller of an option on a futures contract receives the premium paid
by the purchaser and may be required to pay initial margin. Amounts equal to the
initial margin and any additional collateral required on any options on futures
contracts sold by the Portfolio are paid by the Portfolio into a segregated
account, in the name of the Futures Commission Merchant, as required by the 1940
Act and the SEC's interpretations thereunder.
CORRELATION OF PRICE CHANGES. Because there are a limited number of
types of exchange-traded options and futures contracts, it is likely that the
standardized options and futures contracts available will not match the
Portfolio's current or anticipated investments exactly. The Portfolio may invest
in options and futures contracts based on securities with different issuers,
maturities, or other characteristics from the securities in which it typically
invests, which involves a risk that the options or futures position will not
track the performance of the Portfolio's other investments.
Options and futures contracts prices can also diverge from the prices
of their underlying instruments, even if the underlying instruments match the
Portfolio's investments well. Options and futures contracts prices are affected
by such factors 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 may also result from differing levels of demand in the options and
futures markets and the securities markets, from structural differences in how
options and futures and securities are traded, or from imposition of daily price
fluctuation limits or trading halts. The Portfolio 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 order to attempt 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 the Portfolio'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.
LIQUIDITY OF OPTIONS AND FUTURES CONTRACTS. There is no assurance a
liquid market will exist for any particular option or futures contract at any
particular time even if the contract is traded on an exchange. In addition,
exchanges may establish daily price fluctuation limits for options and futures
contracts and may halt trading if a contract's price moves up or down more than
the limit in 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 the
Portfolio to enter into new positions or close out existing positions. If the
market for a contract is not liquid because of price fluctuation limits or
otherwise, it could prevent prompt liquidation of unfavorable positions, and
could potentially require the Portfolio to continue to hold a position until
delivery or expiration regardless of changes in its value. As a result, the
Portfolio's access to other assets held to cover its options or futures
positions could also be impaired. (See "Exchange Traded and Over-the-Counter
Options" above for a discussion of the liquidity of options not traded on an
exchange).
POSITION LIMITS. Futures exchanges can limit the number of futures and
options on futures contracts that can be held or controlled by an entity. If an
adequate exemption cannot be obtained, the Portfolio or the Advisor may be
required to reduce the size of its futures and options positions or may not be
able to trade a certain futures or options contract in order to avoid exceeding
such limits.
ASSET COVERAGE FOR FUTURES CONTRACTS AND OPTIONS POSITIONS. The
Portfolio intends to comply with Section 4.5 of the regulations under the
Commodity Exchange Act, which limits the extent to which the Portfolio can
commit assets to initial margin deposits and option premiums. In addition, the
Portfolio will comply with guidelines established by the SEC with respect to
coverage of options and futures contracts by mutual funds, and if the guidelines
so require, will set aside appropriate liquid assets in a segregated custodial
account in the amount prescribed. Securities held in a segregated account cannot
be sold while the futures contract or option is outstanding, unless they are
replaced with other suitable assets. As a result, there is a possibility that
segregation of a large percentage of the Portfolio's assets could impede
portfolio management or the Portfolio's ability to meet redemption requests or
other current obligations.
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER. The portfolio turnover rates for the Portfolio for
the fiscal years ended October 31, 1996 and 1997 were 186% and 93%,
respectively. A rate of 100% indicates that the equivalent of all of the
Portfolio's assets have been sold and reinvested in a year. High portfolio
turnover may result in the realization of substantial net capital gains. To the
extent net short term capital gains are realized, any distributions resulting
from such gains are considered ordinary income for federal income tax purposes.
See Item 20 below.
INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS
The investment restrictions below have been adopted by the Portfolio.
Except where otherwise noted, these investment restrictions are "fundamental"
policies which, under the 1940 Act, may not be changed without the vote of a
"majority of the outstanding voting securities" (as defined in the 1940 Act) of
the Portfolio. A "majority of the outstanding voting securities" is defined in
the 1940 Act as the lesser of (a) 67% or more of the voting securities present
at a security holders meeting if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding
voting securities are present or represented by proxy, or (b) more than 50% of
the outstanding voting securities. The percentage limitations contained in the
restrictions below apply at the time of the purchase of securities.
The Portfolio may not:
1. Borrow money, except from banks for extraordinary or emergency purposes
and then only in amounts up to 30% of the value of the Portfolio's total assets,
taken at cost at the time of such borrowing and except in connection with
reverse repurchase agreements permitted by Investment Restriction No. 8, or
mortgage, pledge, or hypothecate any assets except in connection with any such
borrowing in amounts up to 30% of the value of the Portfolio's net assets at the
time of such borrowing. The Portfolio will not purchase securities while
borrowings (including reverse repurchase agreements) exceed 5% of the
Portfolio's total assets. This borrowing provision facilitates the orderly sale
of portfolio securities, for example, in the event of abnormally heavy
redemption requests. This provision is not for investment purposes. Collateral
arrangements for premium and margin payments in connection with the Portfolio's
hedging activities are not deemed to be a pledge of assets;
2. Purchase the securities or other obligations of any one issuer if,
immediately after such purchase, more than 5% of the value of the Portfolio's
total assets would be invested in securities or other obligations of any one
such issuer. This limitation shall not apply to securities issued or guaranteed
by the U. S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities or to permitted
investments of up to 25% of the Portfolio's total assets;
3. Purchase the securities of an issuer if, immediately after such
purchase, the Portfolio owns more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities
of such issuer. This limitation shall not apply to permitted investments of up
to 25% of the Portfolio's total assets;
4. Purchase securities or other obligations of issuers conducting their
principal business activity in the same industry if, immediately after
such purchase the value of its investments in such industry would
exceed 25% of the value of the Portfolio's total assets. For purposes
of industry concentration, there is no percentage limitation with
respect to investments in U.S. Government securities;
5. Make loans, except through the purchase or holding of debt obligations
(including privately placed securities) or the entering into of
repurchase agreements, or loans of portfolio securities in accordance
with the Portfolio's investment objective and policies;
6. Purchase or sell puts, calls, straddles, spreads, or any combination
thereof, real estate, commodities, commodity contracts, except for the
Portfolio's interest in hedging activities as described under
"Investment Objectives and Policies"; or interests in oil, gas, or
mineral exploration or development programs. However, the Portfolio may
purchase debt obligations secured by interests in real estate or issued
by companies which invest in real estate or interests therein including
real estate investment trusts;
7. Purchase securities on margin, make short sales of securities, or
maintain a short position, except in the course of the Portfolio's
hedging activities, unless at all times when a short position is open
the Portfolio owns an equal amount of such securities; provided that
this restriction shall not be deemed to be applicable to the purchase
or sale of when-issued or delayed delivery securities;
8. Issue any senior security, except as appropriate to evidence
indebtedness which constitutes a senior security and which the Portfolio is
permitted to incur pursuant to Investment Restriction No. 1 and except that the
Portfolio may enter into reverse repurchase agreements, provided that the
aggregate of senior securities, including reverse repurchase agreements, shall
not exceed one-third of the market value of the Portfolio's total assets, less
liabilities other than obligations created by reverse repurchase agreements. The
Portfolio's arrangements in connection with its hedging activities as described
in "Investment Objectives and Policies" shall not be considered senior
securities for purposes hereof;
9. Acquire securities of other investment companies, except as permitted by
the 1940 Act; or
10. Act as an underwriter of securities.
NON-FUNDAMENTAL INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS. The investment restriction
described below is not a fundamental policy of the Portfolio and may be changed
by the Trustees. This non-fundamental investment policy requires that the
Portfolio may not:
(I) acquire any illiquid securities, such as repurchase agreements with
more than seven days to maturity or fixed time deposits with a duration of over
seven calendar days, if as a result thereof, more than 15% of the market value
of the Portfolio's net assets would be in investments that are illiquid.
There will be no violation of any investment restriction if that
restriction is complied with at the time the relevant action is taken
notwithstanding a later change in market value of an investment, in net or total
assets, in the securities rating of the investment, or any other later change.
ITEM 14. MANAGEMENT OF THE PORTFOLIO.
The Trustees and officers of the Portfolio, their business addresses,
principal occupations during the past five years and dates of birth are set
forth below. Their titles may have varied during that period. An asterisk
indicates that a Trustee is an "interested person" (as defined in the 1940 Act)
of the Portfolio.
TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS
Frederick S. Addy - Trustee; Retired; Prior to April 1994, Executive
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Amoco Corporation. His address is
5300 Arbutus Cove, Austin, TX 78746, and his date of birth is January 1, 1932.
William G. Burns - Trustee; Retired; Former Vice Chairman and Chief
Financial Officer, NYNEX. His address is 2200 Alaqua Drive, Longwood, FL 32779,
and his date of birth is November 2, 1932.
Arthur C. Eschenlauer - Trustee; Retired; Former Senior Vice President,
Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York. His address is 14 Alta Vista Drive,
RD #2, Princeton, NJ 08540, and his date of birth is May 23, 1934.
Matthew Healey* - Trustee; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Chairman,
Pierpont Group, Inc. ("Pierpont Group ") since prior to 1993. His address is
Pine Tree Club Estates, 10286 Saint Andrews Road, Boynton Beach, FL 33436, and
his date of birth is August 23, 1937.
Michael P. Mallardi - Trustee; Retired; Prior to April 1996, Senior Vice
President, Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. and President, Broadcast Group. His address
is 10 Charnwood Drive, Suffern, NY 10910, and his date of birth is March 17,
1934.
---------------- * Mr. Healey is an "interested person" of the Portfolio
and Advisor as that term is defined in the 1940 Act.
Each Trustee is currently paid an annual fee of $75,000 (adjusted as of
April 1, 1995) for serving as Trustee of the Master Portfolios (as defined
below), the J.P. Morgan Funds, the J.P. Morgan Institutional Funds and J.P.
Morgan Series Trust and is reimbursed for expenses incurred in connection with
service as a Trustee. The Trustees may hold various other directorships
unrelated to the Portfolio.
Trustee compensation expenses paid by the Portfolio for the calendar year
ended December 31, 1997 is set forth below.
- ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------
TOTAL TRUSTEE COMPENSATION ACCRUED BY
THE MASTER PORTFOLIOS(*), THE J.P.
AGGREGATE TRUSTEE MORGAN INSTITUTIONAL FUNDS AND THE J.P.
COMPENSATION PAID BY THE MORGAN FUNDS DURING 1997(**)
NAME OF TRUSTEE PORTFOLIO DURING 1997
- -------------------- -------------------------- -------------------------------
Frederick S. Addy, $379.25 $72,500
Trustee
- -------------------- -------------------------- -------------------------------
William G. Burns, $379.25 $72,500
Trustee
- -------------------- -------------------------- -------------------------------
Arthur C. Eschenlauer $379.25 $72,500
Trustee
- --------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------------
Matthew Healey, $379.25 $72,500
Trustee(***),
Chairman and
Chief Executive
Officer
- -------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------------
Michael P. Mallardi, $379.25 $72,500
Trustee
- ---------------------- --------------------------------- -----------------------
(*) Includes the Portfolio and 21 other portfolios (collectively, the
"Master Portfolios") for which Morgan acts as investment adviser.
(**) No investment company within the fund complex has a pension or
retirement plan. Currently there are 18 investment companies (15 investment
companies comprising the Master Portfolios, the J.P. Morgan Funds, the J.P.
Morgan Institutional Funds and J.P. Morgan Series Trust) in the fund complex.
(***) During 1997, Pierpont Group paid Mr. Healey, in his role as Chairman of
Pierpont Group, compensation in the amount of $147,500, contributed
$22,100 to a defined contribution plan on his behalf and paid $20,500
in insurance premiums for his benefit.
The Trustees of the Portfolio are the same as the Trustees of each of
the other Master Portfolios, the J.P. Morgan Funds and the J.P. Morgan
Institutional Funds and J.P. Morgan Series Trust. In accordance with applicable
state requirements, a majority of the disinterested Trustees have adopted
written procedures reasonably appropriate to deal with potential conflicts of
interest arising from the fact that the same individuals are Trustees of the
Master Portfolios, the J.P. Morgan Funds and the J.P. Morgan Institutional
Funds, up to and including creating a separate board of trustees.
The Trustees of the Portfolio, in addition to reviewing actions of the
Portfolio's various service providers, decide upon matters of general policy.
The Portfolio has entered into a Portfolio Fund Services Agreement with Pierpont
Group to assist the Trustees in exercising their overall supervisory
responsibilities for the Portfolio's affairs. Pierpont Group was organized in
July 1989 to provide services for The Pierpont Family of Funds, and the Trustees
are the sole shareholders of Pierpont Group. The Portfolio has agreed to pay
Pierpont Group a fee in an amount representing its reasonable costs in
performing these services to the Portfolio and other registered investment
companies subject to similar agreements with Pierpont Group. These costs are
periodically reviewed by the Trustees. The aggregate fees paid to Pierpont Group
by the Portfolio for the fiscal years ended October 31, 1995, 1996 and 1997 were
$40,729, $36,922 and $35,577, respectively. The Portfolio has no employees; its
executive officers (listed below), other than the Chief Executive Officer, are
provided and compensated by Funds Distributor, Inc. ("FDI"), a wholly owned,
indirect subsidiary of Boston Institutional Group, Inc. The Portfolio's officers
conduct and supervise the business operations of the Portfolio.
The officers of the Portfolio, their principal occupations during the
past five years and their dates of birth are set forth below. The business
address of each of the officers unless otherwise noted is 60 State Street, Suite
1300, Boston, Massachusetts 02109.
MATTHEW HEALEY; Chief Executive Officer; Chairman, Pierpont Group,
since prior to 1993. His address is Pine Tree Club Estates, 10286 Saint Andrews
Road, Boynton Beach, FL 33436. His date of birth is August 23, 1937.
MARIE E. CONNOLLY; Vice President and Assistant Treasurer. President and
Chief Executive Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and Director of FDI and
Premier Mutual Fund Services, Inc. an affiliate of FDI ("Premier Mutual") and an
officer of certain investment companies advised or administered by the Dreyfus
Corporation ("Dreyfus") or its affiliates. From December 1991 to July 1994, she
was President and Chief Compliance Officer of FDI. Her date of birth is August
1, 1957.
DOUGLAS C. CONROY; Vice President and Assistant Treasurer. Assistant Vice
President and Manager of Treasury Services and Administration of FDI and an
officer of certain investment companies advised or administered by Dreyfus or
its affiliates. Prior to April 1997, Mr. Conroy was Supervisor of Treasury
Services and Administration of FDI. From April 1993 to January 1995, Mr. Conroy
was a Senior Fund Accountant for Investors Bank & Trust Company. Prior to March
1993, Mr. Conroy was employed as a fund accountant at The Boston Company, Inc.
His date of birth is March 31, 1969.
JACQUELINE HENNING; Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer. Managing
Director, State Street Cayman Trust Company, Ltd. since October 1994. Prior to
October 1994, Mrs. Henning was head of mutual funds at Morgan Grenfell in Cayman
and for five years was Managing Director of Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Company
(Cayman) Limited from September 1988 to September 1993. Address: P.O. Box 2508
GT, Elizabethan Square, 2nd Floor, Shedden Road, George Town, Grand Cayman,
Cayman Islands. Her date of birth is March 24, 1942.
RICHARD W. INGRAM; President and Treasurer. Executive Vice President
and Director of Client Services and Treasury Administration of FDI, Senior Vice
President of Premier Mutual and an officer of RCM Capital Funds, Inc., RCM
Equity Funds, Inc., together "RCM", Waterhouse Investors Cash Management Fund,
Inc. ("Waterhouse") and certain investment companies advised or administered by
Dreyfus or Harris Trust and Savings Bank ("Harris") or their respective
affiliates. Prior to 1997, Mr. Ingram was Senior Vice President and Director of
Client Services and Treasury Administration of FDI. From March 1994 to November
1995, Mr. Ingram was Vice President and Division Manager of First Data Investor
Services Group, Inc. From 1989 to 1994, Mr. Ingram was Vice President, Assistant
Treasurer and Tax Director - Mutual Funds of The Boston Company, Inc. His date
of birth is September 15, 1955.
KAREN JACOPPO-WOOD; Vice President and Assistant Secretary. Assistant Vice
President of FDI and an officer of RCM Waterhouse and Harris or their respective
affiliates. From June 1994 to January 1996, Ms. Jacoppo-Wood was a Manager, SEC
Registration, Scudder, Stevens & Clark, Inc. From 1988 to May 1994, Ms.
Jacoppo-Wood was a senior paralegal at The Boston Company Advisors, Inc.
("TBCA"). Her date of birth is December 29, 1966.
CHRISTOPHER J. KELLEY; Vice President and Assistant Secretary. Vice
President and Associate General Counsel of FDI and Premier Mutual and an officer
of Waterhouse and certain investment companies advised or administered by Harris
or its affiliates. From April 1994 to July 1996, Mr. Kelley was Assistant
Counsel at Forum Financial Group. From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Kelley was employed by
Putnam Investments in legal and compliance capacities. His date of birth is
December 24, 1964.
LENORE J. MCCABE; Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer. Assistant
Vice President, State Street Bank and Trust Company since November 1994.
Assigned as Operations Manager, State Street Cayman Trust Company, Ltd. since
February 1995. Prior to November, 1994, employed by Boston Financial Data
Services, Inc. as Control Group Manager. Address: P.O. Box 2508 GT, Elizabethan
Square, 2nd Floor, Shedden Road, George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. Her
date of birth is May 31, 1961.
MARY A. NELSON; Vice President and Assistant Treasurer. Vice President
and Manager of Treasury Services and Administration of FDI and Premier Mutual,
an Officer of RCM, Waterhouse and certain investment companies advised or
administered by Dreyfus or Harris or their respective affiliates. From 1989 to
1994, Ms. Nelson was an Assistant Vice President and client manager for The
Boston Company, Inc. Her date of birth is April 22, 1964.
MARY JO PACE; Assistant Treasurer. Vice President, Morgan Guaranty Trust
Company of New York. Ms. Pace serves in the Funds Administration group as a
Supervisor for the Budgeting and Expense Division. Prior to September 1995, Ms.
Pace served as a Funds Administrator for Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New
York. Her address is 60 Wall Street, New York, New York 10260. Her date of birth
13, 1966.
MICHEAL S. PETRUCELLI; Vice President and Assistant Secretary. Senior Vice
President and Director of Strategic Client Initiatives for FDI since December
1996. From December 1989 through November 1996, Mr. Petrucelli was employed with
GE Investments where he held various financial, business development and
compliance positions. He also served as Treasurer of the GE Funds and as
Director of GE Investment Services. Address: 200 Park Avenue, New York, New York
10166. His date of birth is May 18, 1961.
CHRISTINE ROTUNDO; Assistant Treasurer. Vice President, Morgan Guaranty
Trust Company of New York. Ms. Rotundo serves in the Funds Administration group
and is responsible for U.S. mutual fund tax matters. Prior to September 1995,
Ms. Rotundo served as a Senior Tax Manager in the Investment Company Services
Group of Deloitte & Touche LLP. Her address is 60 Wall Street, New York, New
York 10260. Her date of birth is September 26, 1965.
JOSEPH F. TOWER III; Vice President and Assistant Treasurer. Executive Vice
President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Chief Administrative Officer
and Director of FDI. Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial
Officer, Chief Administrative Officer and Director of Premier Mutual and an
officer of Waterhouse and certain investment companies advised or administered
by Dreyfus or its affiliates. Prior to April 1997, Mr. Tower was Senior Vice
President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer, Chief Administrative Officer
and Director of FDI. From July 1988 to November 1993, Mr. Tower was Financial
Manager of The Boston Company, Inc. His date of birth is June 13, 1962.
The Portfolio's Declaration of Trust provides that it will indemnify
its Trustees and officers against liabilities and expenses incurred in
connection with litigation in which they may be involved because of their
offices with the Portfolio, unless, as to liability to the Portfolio or its
investors, it is finally adjudicated that they engaged in willful misfeasance,
bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in
their offices, or unless with respect to any other matter it is finally
adjudicated that they did not act in good faith in the reasonable belief that
their actions were in the best interests of the Portfolio. In the case of
settlement, such indemnification will not be provided unless it has been
determined by a court or other body approving the settlement or other
disposition, or by a reasonable determination, based upon a review of readily
available facts, by vote of a majority of disinterested Trustees or in a written
opinion of independent counsel, that such officers or Trustees have not engaged
in willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of
their duties.
ITEM 15. CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES.
As of January 31, 1998, the J.P. Morgan Institutional Bond Fund (the
"Fund"), the J.P. Morgan Bond Fund and the J.P. Morgan Ultra Bond Fund owned
78.73%, 16.67% and 4.60%, respectively, of the outstanding beneficial interests
in the Portfolio. So long as the Fund controls the Portfolio, it may take
actions without the approval of any other holder of beneficial interests in the
Portfolio.
Each of the Funds has informed the Portfolio that whenever it is
requested to vote on matters pertaining to the Portfolio (other than a vote by
the Portfolio to continue the operation of the Portfolio upon the withdrawal of
another investor in the Portfolio), it will hold a meeting of its shareholders
and will cast its vote as instructed by those shareholders.
The officers and Trustees of the Portfolio own none of the outstanding
beneficial interests in the Portfolio.
ITEM 16. INVESTMENT ADVISORY AND OTHER SERVICES.
INVESTMENT ADVISOR. The investment advisor to the Portfolio is Morgan
Guaranty Trust Company of New York, a wholly-owned subsidiary of J.P. Morgan &
Co. Incorporated ("J.P. Morgan"), a bank holding company organized under the
laws of the State of Delaware. The Advisor, whose principal offices are at 60
Wall Street, New York, New York 10260, is a New York trust company which
conducts a general banking and trust business. The Advisor is subject to
regulation by the New York State Banking Department and is a member bank of the
Federal Reserve System.
Through offices in New York City and abroad, the Advisor offers a wide
range of services, primarily to governmental, institutional, corporate and high
net worth individual customers in the United States and throughout the world.
J.P. Morgan, through the Advisor and other subsidiaries, acts as
investment advisor to individuals, governments, corporations, employee benefit
plans, mutual funds and other institutional investors with combined assets under
management of approximately $250 billion.
J.P. Morgan has a long history of service as adviser, underwriter and
lender to an extensive roster of major companies and as a financial advisor to
national governments. The firm, through its predecessor firms, has been in
business for over a century and has been managing investments since 1913.
The basis of the Advisor's investment process is fundamental investment
research as the firm believes that fundamentals should determine an asset's
value over the long term. J.P. Morgan currently employs over 100 full time
research analysts, among the largest research staffs in the money management
industry, in its investment management divisions located in New York, London,
Tokyo, Frankfurt, Melbourne and Singapore to cover companies, industries and
countries on site. In addition, the investment management divisions employ
approximately 300 capital market researchers, portfolio managers and traders.
The conclusions of the equity analysts' fundamental research is quantified into
a set of projected returns for individual companies through the use of a
dividend discount model. These returns are projected for 2 to 5 years to enable
analysts to take a longer term view. These returns, or normalized earnings, are
used to establish relative values among stocks in each industrial sector. These
values may not be the same as the markets' current valuations of these
companies. This provides the basis for ranking the attractiveness of the
companies in an industry according to five distinct quintiles or rankings. This
ranking is one of the factors considered in determining the stocks purchased and
sold in each sector. The Advisor's fixed income investment process is based on
analysis of real rates, sector diversification and quantitative and credit
analysis.
The investment advisory services the Advisor provides to the Portfolio
are not exclusive under the terms of the Advisory Agreement. The Advisor is free
to and does render similar investment advisory services to others. The Advisor
serves as investment advisor to personal investors and other investment
companies and acts as fiduciary for trusts, estates and employee benefit plans.
Certain of the assets of trusts and estates under management are invested in
common trust funds for which the Advisor serves as trustee. The accounts which
are managed or advised by the Advisor have varying investment objectives and the
Advisor invests assets of such accounts in investments substantially similar to,
or the same as, those which are expected to constitute the principal investments
of the Portfolio. Such accounts are supervised by officers and employees of the
Advisor who may also be acting in similar capacities for the Portfolio. See Item
17 below.
J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc., also a wholly-owned subsidiary
of J.P. Morgan, is a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers
Act of 1940, as amended, which manages employee benefit funds of corporations,
labor unions and state and local governments and the accounts of other
institutional investors, including investment companies. Certain of the assets
of employee benefit accounts under its management are invested in commingled
pension trust funds for which the Advisor serves as trustee. J.P. Morgan
Investment Management Inc. advises the Advisor on investment of the commingled
pension trust funds.
The Portfolio is managed by officers of the Advisor who, in acting for
their customers, including the Portfolio, do not discuss their investment
decisions with any personnel of J.P. Morgan or any personnel of other divisions
of the Advisor or with any of its affiliated persons, with the exception of J.P.
Morgan Investment Management Inc.
As compensation for the services rendered and related expenses such as
salaries of advisory personnel borne by the Advisor under the Investment
Advisory Agreement, the Portfolio has agreed to pay the Advisor a fee, which is
computed daily and may be paid monthly, equal to the annual rate of 0.30% of the
Portfolio's average daily net assets. For the fiscal years ended October 31,
1995, 1996 and 1997, the Portfolio paid $1,339,147, $2,402,660 and $2,908,384,
respectively, in advisory fees.
The Investment Advisory Agreement provides that it will continue in
effect for a period of two years after execution only if specifically approved
annually thereafter (i) by a vote of the holders of a majority of the
Portfolio's outstanding securities or by its Trustees and (ii) by a vote of a
majority of the Portfolio's Trustees who are not parties to the Investment
Advisory Agreement or "interested persons" as defined by the 1940 Act cast in
person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. The
Investment Advisory Agreement will terminate automatically if assigned and is
terminable at any time without penalty by a vote of a majority of the Trustees,
or by a vote of the holders of a majority of the Portfolio's outstanding voting
securities, on 60 days' written notice to the Advisor and by the Advisor on 90
days' written notice to the Portfolio.
The Glass-Steagall Act and other applicable laws generally prohibit
banks such as the Advisor from engaging in the business of underwriting or
distributing securities, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System has issued an interpretation to the effect that under these laws a bank
holding company registered under the federal Bank Holding Company Act or certain
subsidiaries thereof may not sponsor, organize, or control a registered open-end
investment company continuously engaged in the issuance of its shares, such as
the Portfolio. The interpretation does not prohibit a holding company or a
subsidiary thereof from acting as investment advisor and custodian to such an
investment company. The Advisor believes that it may perform the services for
the Portfolio contemplated by the Advisory Agreement without violation of the
Glass-Steagall Act or other applicable banking laws or regulations. State laws
on this issue may differ from the interpretation of relevant federal law, and
banks and financial institutions may be required to register as dealers pursuant
to state securities laws. However, it is possible that future changes in either
federal or state statutes and regulations concerning the permissible activities
of banks or trust companies, as well as further judicial or administrative
decisions and interpretations of present and future statutes and regulations,
might prevent Morgan from continuing to perform such services for the Portfolio.
If the Advisor were prohibited from acting as investment advisor to the
Portfolio, it is expected that the Trustees of the Portfolio would recommend to
investors that they approve the Portfolio's entering into a new investment
advisory agreement with another qualified investment advisor selected by the
Trustees.
Under a separate agreement, Morgan also provides administrative and
related services to the Portfolio. See "Administrative Services Agent" in Part A
above.
CO-ADMINISTRATOR. Under the Portfolio's Co-Administration Agreement
dated August 1, 1996, FDI serves as the Portfolio's Co-Administrator. The Co-
Administration Agreement may be renewed or amended by the Trustees without an
investor vote. The Co-Administration Agreement is terminable at any time without
penalty by a vote of a majority of the Trustees of the Portfolio on not more
than 60 days' written notice nor less than 30 days' written notice to the other
party. The Co-Administrator may, subject to the consent of the Trustees of the
Portfolio, subcontract for the performance of its obligations, provided,
however, that unless the Portfolio expressly agrees in writing, the Co-
Administrator shall be fully responsible for the acts and omissions of any
subcontractor as it would for its own acts or omissions. See "Administrative
Services Agent" below.
For its services under the Co-Administration Agreement, the Portfolio
has agreed to pay FDI fees equal to its allocable share of an annual
complex-wide charge of $425,000 plus FDI's out-of-pocket expenses. The amount
allocable to the Portfolio is based on the ratio of its net assets to the
aggregate net assets of the J.P. Morgan Funds, the J.P. Morgan Institutional
Funds, the Master Portfolios, J.P. Morgan Series Trust and J.P. Morgan Series
Trust II. For the period from August 1, 1996 through October 31, 1997,
administrative fees of $23,296 were paid by the Portfolio to FDI.
The following administrative fees were paid by the Portfolio to Signature
Broker-Dealer Services, Inc. ("SBDS") (which provided placement agent and
administrative services to the Portfolio prior to August 1, 1996): For the
fiscal year ended October 31, 1994: $16,107. For the fiscal year ended October
31, 1995: $27,436. For the period from November 1, 1995 through July 31, 1996:
$65,610.
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AGENT. The Portfolio has entered into a
Restated Administrative Services Agreement (the "Services Agreement") with
Morgan, pursuant to which Morgan is responsible for certain administrative and
related services provided to the Portfolio.
Under the Services Agreement, effective August 1, 1996, the Portfolio
has agreed to pay Morgan fees equal to its allocable share of an annual
complex-wide charge. This charge is calculated daily based on the aggregate net
assets of the Master Portfolios and J.P. Morgan Series Trust in accordance with
the following annual schedule: 0.09% on the first $7 billion of their aggregate
average daily net assets and 0.04% of their aggregate average daily net assets
in excess of $7 billion, less the complex-wide fees payable to FDI. The portion
of this charge payable by the Portfolio is determined by the proportionate share
that its net assets bear to the total net assets of the J.P. Morgan Funds, the
J.P. Morgan Institutional Funds, the Master Portfolios, the other investors in
the Master Portfolios for which Morgan provides similar services and J.P. Morgan
Series Trust.
Under administrative services agreements in effect with Morgan from
December 29, 1995 through July 31, 1996, the Portfolio paid Morgan a fee equal
to its proportionate share of an annual complex-wide charge. This charge was
calculated daily based on the aggregate net assets of the Master Portfolios in
accordance with the following schedule: 0.06% of the first $7 billion of the
Master Portfolios' aggregate average daily net assets and 0.03% of the Master
Portfolios' aggregate average daily net assets in excess of $7 billion. Prior to
December 29, 1995, the Portfolio had entered into a financial and fund
accounting services agreement with Morgan, the provisions of which included
certain of the activities described above and, prior to September 1, 1995, also
included reimbursement of usual and customary expenses.
For the fiscal years ended October 31, 1995, 1996 and 1997, the
Portfolio paid Morgan $167,081, $191,348 and $300,675, respectively, in
administrative service fees.
CUSTODIAN. State Street Bank and Trust Company ("State Street"), 225
Franklin Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, serves as the Portfolio's
custodian and fund accounting and transfer agent. Pursuant to the Custodian
Contract, State Street is responsible for maintaining the books of account and
records of portfolio transactions and holding portfolio securities and cash. In
the case of foreign assets held outside the United States, the Custodian employs
various sub-custodians, who were approved by the Trustees of the Portfolio in
accordance with the regulations of the SEC. The Custodian maintains portfolio
transaction records, calculates book and tax allocations for the Portfolio, and
computes the value of the interest of each investor.
INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS. The independent accountants of the Portfolio
are Price Waterhouse LLP, 1177 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10036.
Price Waterhouse LLP conducts an annual audit of the financial statements of the
Portfolio, assists in the preparation and/or review of the Portfolio's federal
and state income tax returns and consults with the Portfolio as to matters of
accounting and federal and state income taxation.
EXPENSES. In addition to the fees payable to the service providers
identified above, the Portfolio is responsible for usual and customary expenses
associated with its operations. Such expenses include organization expenses,
legal fees, insurance costs, the compensation and expenses of the Trustees,
registration fees under federal securities laws, and extraordinary expenses
applicable to the Portfolio. Such expenses also include registration fees under
foreign securities laws and brokerage expenses. Under fee arrangements prior to
September 1, 1995, Morgan as service agent was responsible for reimbursements to
the Portfolio for SBDS's fees as administrator and the usual and customary
expenses described above (excluding organization and extraordinary expenses,
custodian fees and brokerage expenses).
ITEM 17. BROKERAGE ALLOCATION AND OTHER PRACTICES.
The Advisor places orders for the Portfolio for all purchases and sales
of portfolio securities, enters into repurchase agreements, and may enter into
reverse repurchase agreements and execute loans of portfolio securities on
behalf of the Portfolio. See Item 13 above.
<PAGE>
Fixed income and debt securities and municipal bonds and notes are
generally traded at a net price with dealers acting as principal for their own
accounts without a stated commission. The price of the security usually includes
profit to the dealers. In underwritten offerings, securities are purchased at a
fixed price which includes an amount of compensation to the underwriter,
generally referred to as the underwriter's concession or discount. On occasion,
certain securities may be purchased directly from an issuer, in which case no
commissions or discounts are paid.
Portfolio transactions for the Portfolio will be undertaken principally
to accomplish the Portfolio's objective in relation to expected movements in the
general level of interest rates. The Portfolio may engage in short term trading
consistent with its objective.
In connection with portfolio transactions for the Portfolio, the
Advisor intends to seek best price and execution on a competitive basis for both
purchases and sales of securities.
In selecting a broker, the Advisor considers a number of factors
including: the price per unit of the security; the broker's reliability for
prompt, accurate confirmations and on-time delivery of securities; as well as
the firm's financial condition. The Trustees of the Portfolio review regularly
the reasonableness of other transaction costs incurred by the Portfolio in light
of facts and circumstances deemed relevant from time to time, and, in that
connection, will receive reports from the Advisor and published data concerning
transaction costs incurred by institutional investors generally. Research
services provided by brokers to which the Advisor has allocated brokerage
business in the past include economic statistics and forecasting services,
industry and company analyses, portfolio strategy services, quantitative data,
and consulting services from economists and political analysts. Research
services furnished by brokers are used for the benefit of all the Advisor's
clients and not solely or necessarily for the benefit of the Portfolio. The
Advisor believes that the value of research services received is not
determinable and does not significantly reduce its expenses. The Portfolio does
not reduce its fee to the Advisor by any amount that might be attributable to
the value of such services.
Subject to the overriding objective of obtaining the best possible
execution of orders, the Advisor may allocate a portion of the Portfolio's
portfolio brokerage transactions to affiliates of the Advisor. In order for
affiliates of the Advisor to effect any portfolio transactions for the
Portfolio, the commissions, fees or other remuneration received by such
affiliates must be reasonable and fair compared to the commissions, fees, or
other remuneration paid to other brokers in connection with comparable
transactions involving similar securities being purchased or sold on a
securities exchange during a comparable period of time. Furthermore, the
Trustees of the Portfolio, including a majority of the Trustees who are not
"interested persons," have adopted procedures which are reasonably designed to
provide that any commissions, fees, or other remuneration paid to such
affiliates are consistent with the foregoing standard.
The Portfolio's portfolio securities will not be purchased from or
through or sold to or through the exclusive placement agent or Advisor or any
other "affiliated person" (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the exclusive
placement agent or Advisor when such entities are acting as principals, except
to the extent permitted by law. In addition, the Portfolio will not purchase
securities during the existence of any underwriting group relating thereto of
which the Advisor or an affiliate of the Advisor is a member, except to the
extent permitted by law.
On those occasions when the Advisor deems the purchase or sale of a
security to be in the best interests of the Portfolio as well as other
customers, including other Portfolios, the Advisor, to the extent permitted by
applicable laws and regulations, may, but is not obligated to, aggregate the
securities to be sold or purchased for the Portfolio with those to be sold or
purchased for other customers in order to obtain best execution, including lower
brokerage commissions if appropriate. In such event, allocation of the
securities so purchased or sold as well as any expenses incurred in the
transaction will be made by the Advisor in the manner it considers to be most
equitable and consistent with its fiduciary obligations to the Portfolio. In
some instances, this procedure might adversely affect the Portfolio.
If the Portfolio effects a closing purchase transaction with respect to
an option written by it, normally such transaction will be executed by the same
broker-dealer who executed the sale of the option. The writing of options by the
Portfolio will be subject to limitations established by each of the exchanges
governing the maximum number of options in each class which may be written by a
single investor or group of investors acting in concert, regardless of whether
the options are written on the same or different exchanges or are held or
written in one or more accounts or through one or more brokers. The number of
options which the Portfolio may write may be affected by options written by the
Advisor for other investment advisory clients. An exchange may order the
liquidation of positions found to be in excess of these limits, and it may
impose certain other sanctions.
ITEM 18. CAPITAL STOCK AND OTHER SECURITIES.
Under the Declaration of Trust, the Trustees are authorized to issue
beneficial interests in the Portfolio. Investors are entitled to participate pro
rata in distributions of taxable income, loss, gain and credit of the Portfolio.
Upon liquidation or dissolution of the Portfolio, investors are entitled to
share pro rata in the Portfolio's net assets available for distribution to its
investors. Investments in the Portfolio have no preference, preemptive,
conversion or similar rights and are fully paid and nonassessable, except as set
forth below. Investments in the Portfolio may not be transferred. Certificates
representing an investor's beneficial interest in the Portfolio are issued only
upon the written request of an investor.
Each investor is entitled to a vote in proportion to the amount of its
investment in the Portfolio. Investors in the Portfolio do not have cumulative
voting rights, and investors holding more than 50% of the aggregate beneficial
interest in the Portfolio may elect all of the Trustees if they choose to do so
and in such event the other investors in the Portfolio would not be able to
elect any Trustee. The Portfolio is not required and has no current intention to
hold annual meetings of investors but the Portfolio will hold special meetings
of investors when in the judgment of the Portfolio's Trustees it is necessary or
desirable to submit matters for an investor vote. No material amendment may be
made to the Portfolio's Declaration of Trust without the affirmative majority
vote of investors (with the vote of each being in proportion to the amount of
its investment).
The Portfolio may enter into a merger or consolidation, or sell all or
substantially all of its assets, if approved by the vote of two thirds of its
investors (with the vote of each being in proportion to its percentage of the
beneficial interests in the Portfolio), except that if the Trustees recommend
such sale of assets, the approval by vote of a majority of the investors (with
the vote of each being in proportion to its percentage of the beneficial
interests of the Portfolio) will be sufficient. The Portfolio may also be
terminated (I) upon liquidation and distribution of its assets if approved by
the vote of two thirds of its investors (with the vote of each being in
proportion to the amount of its investment) or (ii) by the Trustees by written
notice to its investors.
The Portfolio is organized as a trust under the laws of the State of
New York. Investors in the Portfolio will be held personally liable for its
obligations and liabilities, subject, however, to indemnification by the
Portfolio in the event that there is imposed upon an investor a greater portion
of the liabilities and obligations of the Portfolio than its proportionate
beneficial interest in the Portfolio. The Declaration of Trust also provides
that the Portfolio shall maintain appropriate insurance (for example, fidelity
bonding and errors and omissions insurance) for the protection of the Portfolio,
its investors, Trustees, officers, employees and agents covering possible tort
and other liabilities. Thus, the risk of an investor incurring financial loss on
account of investor liability is limited to circumstances in which both
inadequate insurance existed and the Portfolio itself was unable to meet its
obligations.
The Portfolio's Declaration of Trust further provides that obligations
of the Portfolio are not binding upon the Trustees individually but only upon
the property of the Portfolio and that the Trustees will not be liable for any
action or failure to act, but nothing in the Declaration of Trust protects a
Trustee against any liability to which he would otherwise be subject by reason
of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of
the duties involved in the conduct of his office.
ITEM 19. PURCHASE, REDEMPTION AND PRICING OF SECURITIES BEING OFFERED.
Beneficial interests in the Portfolio are issued solely in private
placement transactions that do not involve any "public offering" within the
meaning of Section 4(2) of the 1933 Act.
The value of investments listed on a domestic securities
exchange, is based on the last sale prices on such exchange. In the absence of
recorded sales, investments are valued at the average of readily available
closing bid and asked prices on such exchange. Securities listed on a foreign
exchange are valued at the last quoted sale prices on such exchange. Unlisted
securities are valued at the average of the quoted bid and asked prices in the
OTC market. The value of each security for which readily available market
quotations exist is based on a decision as to the broadest and most
representative market for such security. For purposes of calculating net asset
value, all assets and liabilities initially expressed in foreign currencies will
be converted into U.S. dollars at the prevailing currency exchange rate on the
valuation date.
Securities or other assets for which market quotations are not readily
available (including certain restricted and illiquid securities) are valued at
fair value in accordance with procedures established by and under the general
supervision and responsibility of the Trustees. Such procedures include the use
of independent pricing services which use prices based upon yields or prices of
securities of comparable quality, coupon, maturity and type; indications as to
values from dealers; and general market conditions. Short-term investments which
mature in 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost if their original
maturity was 60 days or less, or by amortizing their value on the 61st day prior
to maturity, if their original maturity when acquired by the Portfolio was more
than 60 days, unless this is determined not to represent fair value by the
Trustees.
Trading in securities on most foreign exchanges and OTC markets is
normally completed before the close of trading of the New York Stock Exchange
(normally 4:00pm) and may also take place on days on which the New York Stock
Exchange is closed. If events materially affecting the value of securities occur
between the time when the exchange on which they are traded closes and the time
when a Portfolio's net asset value is calculated, such securities will be valued
at fair value in accordance with procedures established by and under the general
supervision of the Trustees.
If the Portfolio determines that it would be detrimental to the best
interest of the remaining investors in the Portfolio to make payment wholly or
partly in cash, payment of the redemption price may be made in whole or in part
by a distribution in kind of securities from the Portfolio, in lieu of cash, in
conformity with the applicable rule of the SEC. If interests are redeemed in
kind, the redeeming investor might incur transaction costs in converting the
assets into cash. The Portfolio is in the process of seeking exemptive relief
from the SEC with respect to redemptions in kind. If the requested relief is
granted, the Portfolio would then be permitted to pay redemptions to investors
owning 5% or more of the outstanding beneficial interests in the Portfolio in
securities, rather than in cash, to the extent permitted by the SEC and
applicable law. The method of valuing portfolio securities is described above
and such valuation will be made as of the same time the redemption price is
determined. The Portfolio has elected to be governed by Rule 18f-1 under the
1940 Act pursuant to which the Portfolio is obligated to redeem interests solely
in cash up to the lesser of $250,000 or 1% of the net asset value of the
Portfolio during any 90 day period for any one investor. The Portfolio will not
redeem in kind except in circumstances in which an investor is permitted to
redeem in kind.
The net asset value of the Portfolio will not be computed on a day
which no orders to purchase or withdraw beneficial interests in the Portfolio
has been received or on the days the following legal holidays are observed: New
Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Good Friday, Memorial
Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. On days
when U.S. trading markets close early in observance of these holidays, the
Portfolio would expect to close for purchases and withdrawals at the same time.
The Portfolio may also close for purchases and withdrawals at such other times
as may be determined by the Trustees to the extent permitted by applicable law.
The days on which net asset value is determined are the Portfolio's business
days.
ITEM 20. TAX STATUS.
The Portfolio is organized as a New York trust. The Portfolio is not
subject to any income or franchise tax in the State of New York. However, each
investor in the Portfolio will be subject to U.S. Federal income tax in the
manner described below on its share (as determined in accordance with the
governing instruments of the Portfolio) of the Portfolio's ordinary income and
capital gain in determining its income tax liability. The determination of such
share will be made in accordance with the Code and regulations promulgated
thereunder.
Although, as described above, the Portfolio will not be subject to
federal income tax, it will file appropriate income tax returns.
It is intended that the Portfolio's assets will be managed in such a
way that an investor in the Portfolio will be able to satisfy the requirements
of Subchapter M of the Code. For the Portfolio to qualify as a regulated
investment company under Subchapter M of the Code, the Portfolio limits its
investments so that at the close of each quarter of its taxable year (a) no more
than 25% of its total assets are invested in the securities of any one issuer,
except government securities, and (b) with regard to 50% of its total assets, no
more than 5% of its total assets are invested in the securities of a single
issuer, except U.S. Government securities.
Gains or losses on sales of securities by the Portfolio will be treated
as long-term capital gains or losses if the securities have been held by it for
more than one year except in certain cases where the Portfolio acquires a put or
writes a call thereon. Long-term capital gain of individual investors will be
subject to a reduced rate of tax if the portfolio securities have been held by
the Portfolio for more than one year at the time of sale and will be subject to
a further reduced rate of tax if the portfolio securities have been held by the
Portfolio for more than eighteen months at the time of sale. Other gains or
losses on the sale of securities will be short-term capital gains or losses.
Gains and losses on the sale, lapse or other termination of options on
securities will be treated as gains and losses from the sale of securities. If
an option written by the Portfolio lapses or is terminated through a closing
transaction, such as a repurchase by the Portfolio of the option from its
holder, the Portfolio will realize a short-term capital gain or loss, depending
on whether the premium income is greater or less than the amount paid by the
Portfolio in the closing transaction. If securities are purchased by the
Portfolio pursuant to the exercise of a put option written by it, the Portfolio
will subtract the premium received from its cost basis in the securities
purchased.
Under the Code, gains or losses attributable to disposition of foreign
currency or to foreign currency contracts, or to fluctuations in exchange rates
between the time the Portfolio accrues income or receivables or expenses or
other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time the Portfolio
actually collects such income or pays such liabilities, are treated as ordinary
income or ordinary loss. Similarly, gains or losses on the disposition of debt
securities held by the Portfolio, if any, denominated in foreign currency, to
the extent attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the
acquisition and disposition dates, are also treated as ordinary income or loss.
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts, options and futures
contracts entered into by the Portfolio may create "straddles" for U.S. federal
income tax purposes and this may affect the character and timing of gains or
losses realized by the Portfolio on forward foreign currency exchange contracts,
options and futures contracts or on the underlying securities.
Certain options, futures and foreign currency contracts held by the
Portfolio at the end of each fiscal year will be required to be "marked to
market" for federal income tax purposes--i.e., treated as having been sold at
market value. For options and futures contracts, 60% of any gain or loss
recognized on these deemed sales and on actual dispositions will be treated as
long-term capital gain or loss, and the remainder will be treated as short-term
capital gain or loss regardless of how long the Portfolio has held such options
or futures. Any gain or loss recognized on foreign currency contracts will be
treated as ordinary income.
FOREIGN INVESTORS. It is intended that the Portfolio will conduct its
affairs such that its income and gains will not be effectively connected with
the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. Provided the Portfolio conducts its
affairs in such a manner, allocations of U.S. source dividend income to an
investor who, as to the United States, is a foreign trust, foreign corporation
or other foreign investor will be subject to U.S. withholding tax at the rate of
30% (or lower treaty rate), and allocations of portfolio interest (as defined in
the Code) or short term or net long term capital gains to such investors
generally will not be subject to U.S.
tax.
STATE AND LOCAL TAXES. The Portfolio may be subject to state or local
taxes in jurisdictions in which the Portfolio is deemed to be doing business. In
addition, the treatment of the Portfolio and its investors in those states which
have income tax laws might differ from treatment under the federal income tax
laws. Investors should consult their own tax advisors with respect to any state
or local taxes.
FOREIGN TAXES. The Portfolio may be subject to foreign withholding taxes
with respect to income received from sources within foreign countries.
OTHER TAXATION. The investment by an investor in the Portfolio does not
cause the investor to be liable for any income or franchise tax in the State of
New York. Investors are advised to consult their own tax advisors with respect
to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the Portfolio.
ITEM 21. UNDERWRITERS.
The exclusive placement agent for the Portfolio is FDI, which receives
no additional compensation for serving in this capacity. Investment companies,
insurance company separate accounts, common and commingled trust funds and
similar organizations and entities may continuously invest in the Portfolio.
ITEM 22. CALCULATIONS OF PERFORMANCE DATA.
Not applicable.
ITEM 23. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
The Portfolio's October 31, 1997 annual report to investors filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 30(b) of the 1940 Act
and Rule 30b2-1 thereunder is incorporated herein by reference (Accession Number
0001047469-98-000473, filed January 8, 1998).
<PAGE>
APPENDIX A
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITY RATINGS
STANDARD & POOR'S
CORPORATE AND MUNICIPAL BONDS
AAA - Debt rated AAA have the highest ratings assigned by Standard & Poor's
to a debt obligation. Capacity to pay interest and repay principal is
extremely strong.
AA - Debt rated AA have a very strong capacity to pay interest and repay
principal and differ from the highest rated issues only in a small degree.
A - Debt rated A have a strong capacity to pay interest and repay
principal although they are somewhat more susceptible to the adverse
effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than debt
in higher rated categories.
BBB - Debt rated BBB are regarded as having an adequate capacity to pay
interest and repay principal. Whereas they normally exhibit 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 for debt in
higher rated categories.
BB - Debt rated BB are regarded as having less near-term vulnerability to
default than other speculative issues. However, they face major ongoing
uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial or economic
conditions which could lead to inadequate capacity to meet timely
interest and principal payments.
B - An obligation rated B is more vulnerable to nonpayment than
obligations rated BB, but the obligor currently has the capacity to
meet its financial commitment on the obligation. Adverse business,
financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor's
capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitment on the
obligation.
CCC - An obligation rated CCC is currently vulnerable to nonpayment, and is
dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions
for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. In
the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, the
obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial
commitment on the obligation.
CC - An obligation rated CC is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment.
C - The C rating may be used to cover a situation where a bankruptcy
petition has been filed or similar action has been taken, but payments
on this obligation are being continued.
COMMERCIAL PAPER, INCLUDING TAX EXEMPT
A - Issues assigned this highest rating are regarded as having the
greatest capacity for timely payment. Issues in this category are
further refined with the designations 1, 2, and 3 to indicate the
relative degree of safety.
A-1 - This designation indicates that the degree of safety regarding timely
payment is very strong.
SHORT-TERM TAX-EXEMPT NOTES
SP-1 - The short-term tax-exempt note rating of SP-1 is the highest rating
assigned by Standard & Poor's and has a very strong or strong capacity to pay
principal and interest. Those issues determined to possess overwhelming safety
characteristics are given a "plus" (+) designation.
SP-2 - The short-term tax-exempt note rating of SP-2 has a satisfactory
capacity to pay principal and interest.
MOODY'S
CORPORATE AND MUNICIPAL BONDS
Aaa - Bonds which are rated Aaa are judged to be of the best quality. They
carry the smallest degree of investment risk and are generally referred
to as "gilt edge." Interest payments are protected by a large or by an
exceptionally stable margin and principal is secure. While the various
protective elements are likely to change, such changes as can be
visualized are most unlikely to impair the fundamentally strong
position of such issues.
Aa - Bonds which are rated Aa are judged to be of high quality by all
standards. Together with the Aaa group they comprise what are generally
known as high grade bonds. They are rated lower than the best bonds
because margins of protection may not be as large as in Aaa securities
or fluctuation of protective elements may be of greater amplitude or
there may be other elements present which make the long term risks
appear somewhat larger than in Aaa securities.
A - Bonds which are rated A possess many favorable investment attributes
and are to be considered as upper medium grade obligations. Factors
giving security to principal and interest are considered adequate but
elements may be present which suggest a susceptibility to impairment
sometime in the future.
Baa - Bonds which are rated Baa are considered as medium grade obligations,
i.e., they are neither highly protected nor poorly secured. Interest
payments and principal security appear adequate for the present but
certain protective elements may be lacking or may be characteristically
unreliable over any great length of time. Such bonds lack outstanding
investment characteristics and in fact have speculative characteristics
as well.
Ba - Bonds which are rated Ba are judged to have speculative elements;
their future cannot be considered as well-assured. Often the protection
of interest and principal payments may be very moderate, and thereby
not well safeguarded during both good and bad times over the future.
Uncertainty of position characterizes bonds in this class.
B - Bonds which are rated B generally lack characteristics of the
desirable investment. Assurance of interest and principal payments or
of maintenance of other terms of the contract over any long period of
time may be small.
Caa - Bonds which are rated Caa are of poor standing. Such issues may be in
default or there may be present elements of danger with respect to
principal or interest.
Ca - Bonds which are rated Ca represent obligations which are speculative
in a high degree. Such issues are often in default or have other marked
shortcomings.
C - Bonds which are rated C are the lowest rated class of bonds and
issues so rated can be regarded as having extremely poor prospects of
ever attaining any real investment standing.
COMMERCIAL PAPER, INCLUDING TAX EXEMPT
Prime-1 - Issuers rated Prime-1 (or related supporting institutions)
have a superior capacity for repayment of short-term
promissory obligations. Prime-1 repayment capacity will
normally be evidenced by the following characteristics:
- Leading market positions in well established industries. - High rates of
return on funds employed. - Conservative capitalization structures with moderate
reliance on debt and ample asset protection. - Broad margins in earnings
coverage of fixed financial charges and high internal cash generation. - Well
established access to a range of financial markets and assured sources of
alternate liquidity.
SHORT-TERM TAX EXEMPT NOTES
MIG-1 The short-term tax-exempt note rating MIG-1 is the highest
rating assigned by Moody's for notes judged to be the best
quality. Notes with this rating enjoy 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.
MIG-2 - MIG-2 rated notes are of high quality but with margins of
protection not as large as MIG-1.
<PAGE>
PART C
ITEM 24. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS.
(A) FINANCIAL STATEMENTS INCLUDED IN PART A:
Not applicable.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE INTO PART B:
The audited financial statements included in Item 23 are as follows:
Schedule of Investments at October 31, 1997 Statement of Assets and
Liabilities at October 31, 1997 Statement of Operations Statement of
Changes in Net Assets for the fiscal year ended October 31, 1996 and
1997 Supplementary Data Notes to Financial Statements at October 31,
1997
(B) EXHIBITS
1 Declaration of Trust, as amended, of the Registrant.2
2 Restated By-Laws of the Registrant.2
5 Investment Advisory Agreement between the Registrant and Morgan Guaranty
Trust Company of New York ("Morgan").2
8 Custodian Contract between the Registrant and State Street Bank and Trust
Company ("State Street").2
9(a) Co-Administration Agreement between the Registrant and Funds
Distributor, Inc. dated August 1, 1996 ("Co-Administration Agreement").1
9(a)(1) Amended Exhibit I to Co-Administration Agreement.2
9(b) Transfer Agency and Service Agreement between the Registrant and State
Street.2
9(c) Restated Administrative Services Agreement between the Registrant and
Morgan dated August 1, 1996 ("Administrative Services Agreement").1
9(c)(1) Amended Exhibit I to Administrative Services Agreement.2
9(d) Amended and Restated Portfolio Fund Services Agreement between the
Registrant and Pierpont Group, Inc. dated July 11, 1996.1
13 Investment representation letters of initial investors.2
27 Financial Data Schedule.3
1Incorporated herein by reference to Amendment No. 5 to the Registrant's
Registration Statement on Form N-1A as filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on October 9, 1996 (Accession Number 0000912057-96-022357).
2Incorporated herein by reference to Amendment No. 6 to the Registrant's
Registration Statement on Form N-1A as filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on February 14, 1997 (Accession Number 0001016964-97-000020).
3Filed herewith.
ITEM 25. PERSONS CONTROLLED BY OR UNDER COMMON CONTROL WITH REGISTRANT.
Not applicable.
ITEM 26. NUMBER OF HOLDERS OF SECURITIES.
Title of Class: Beneficial Interests
Number of Record Holders: 2 (as of January 31, 1998)
ITEM 27. INDEMNIFICATION.
Reference is hereby made to Article V of the Registrant's Declaration
of Trust, filed as an Exhibit to its Registration Statement on Form N-1A.
The Trustees and officers of the Registrant and the personnel of the
Registrant's co-administrator are insured under an errors and omissions
liability insurance policy. The Registrant and its officers are also insured
under the fidelity bond required by Rule 17g-1 under the Investment Company Act
of 1940, as amended.
ITEM 28. BUSINESS AND OTHER CONNECTIONS OF INVESTMENT ADVISOR.
Morgan is a New York trust company which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
J.P. Morgan & Co. Incorporated. Morgan conducts a general banking and trust
business.
To the knowledge of the Registrant, none of the directors, except those
set forth below, or executive officers of Morgan is or has been during the past
two fiscal years engaged in any other business, profession, vocation or
employment of a substantial nature, except that certain officers and directors
of Morgan also hold various positions with, and engage in business for, J.P.
Morgan & Co. Incorporated, which owns all the outstanding stock of Morgan. Set
forth below are the names, addresses, and principal business of each director of
Morgan who is engaged in another business, profession, vocation or employment of
a substantial nature.
Paul A. Allaire: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Xerox Corporation
(office imaging system). His address is Xerox Corporation, P.O. Box 1600, 800
Long Ridge Road, Stamford, CT 06904.
Riley P. Bechtel: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bechtel Group, Inc.
(architectural design and construction). His address is Bechtel Group, Inc.,
P.O. Box 193965, San Francisco, CA 94119-3965.
Lawrence A. Bossidy: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Allied Signal
Inc. (advanced technology and manufacturing company). His address is Allied
Signal Inc., P.O. Box 3000, Morristown, N.J. 07962-2245.
Martin Feldstein: President and Chief Executive Officer, National Bureau of
Economic Research, Inc. (national research institution). His address is National
Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA
02138-5398.
Ellen V. Futter: President, American Museum of Natural History
(not-for-profit organization). Her address is American Museum of Natural
History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024.
Hanna H. Gray: President Emeritus, The University of Chicago (academic
institution). Her address is The University of Chicago, Department of History,
1126 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637.
James R. Houghton: Retired Chairman, Corning Incorporated (glass products).
His address is R.D.#2 Spencer Hill Road, Corning, NY 14830.
James L. Ketelsen: Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Tenneco
Inc. (oil, pipe-lines, and manufacturing). His address is 10 South Briar Hollow
7, Houston, TX 77027.
John A. Krol: President and Chief Executive Officer, E.I. Du Pont de
Nemours & Company (chemicals and energy company). His address is E.I. Du Pont de
Nemours & Company, 1007 Market Street, Wilmington, DE 19898.
Lee R. Raymond: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Exxon Corporation
(oil, natural gas, and other petroleum products). His address is Exxon
Corporation, 5959 Las Colinas Boulevard, Irving, TX 75039-2298.
Richard D. Simmons: Retired; Former President, The Washington Post Company
and International Herald Tribune (newspapers). His address is P.O. Box 242,
Sperryville, VA 22740.
Douglas C. Yearley: Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Phelps
Dodge Corporation (chemicals). His address is Phelps Dodge Corporation, 2600 N.
Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004-3014.
ITEM 29. PRINCIPAL UNDERWRITERS.
Not applicable.
ITEM 30. LOCATION OF ACCOUNTS AND RECORDS.
The accounts and records of the Registrant are located, in whole or in
part, at the office of the Registrant and the following locations:
Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York, 60 Wall Street, New York, NY
10260-0060 and 522 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036 (records relating to its
functions as investment adviser and administrative services agent).
State Street Bank and Trust Company, 225 Franklin Street, Boston,
Massachusetts 02110 (records relating to its functions as custodian and fund
accounting and transfer agent).
Funds Distributor, Inc., 60 State Street, Suite 1300, Boston, MA 02109
and c/o State Street Cayman Trust Company, Ltd., Elizabethan Square, Shedden
Road, George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, BWI (records relating to its
functions as co- administrator and exclusive placement agent).
Pierpont Group, Inc., 461 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10017
(records relating to its assisting the Trustees in carrying out their duties in
supervising the Registrant's affairs).
ITEM 31. MANAGEMENT SERVICES.
Not applicable.
ITEM 32. UNDERTAKINGS.
Not applicable.
<PAGE>
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as
amended, the Registrant has duly caused this Amendment to its Registration
Statement on Form N-1A to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized, in George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, BWI, on the 27th
day of February, 1998.
THE U.S. FIXED INCOME PORTFOLIO
By /S/LENORE J. MCCABE
-----------------------------------------
Lenore J. McCabe
Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer
<PAGE>
INDEX TO EXHIBITS
EXHIBIT NO. DESCRIPTION OF EXHIBITS
EX-27 Financial Data Schedule
<PAGE>
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<LEGEND>
This schedule contains summary financial data extracted from the annual report
dated October 31, 1997 for the U.S. Fixed Income Portfolio and is qualified in
its entirety by reference to such annual report.
</LEGEND>
<MULTIPLIER> 1000
<S> <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE> YEAR
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> OCT-31-1997
<PERIOD-END> OCT-31-1997
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST> 1051688
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE> 1070354
<RECEIVABLES> 21484
<ASSETS-OTHER> 700
<OTHER-ITEMS-ASSETS> 0
<TOTAL-ASSETS> 1092539
<PAYABLE-FOR-SECURITIES> 10594
<SENIOR-LONG-TERM-DEBT> 0
<OTHER-ITEMS-LIABILITIES> 390
<TOTAL-LIABILITIES> 10984
<SENIOR-EQUITY> 0
<PAID-IN-CAPITAL-COMMON> 1081555
<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK> 0
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR> 0
<ACCUMULATED-NII-CURRENT> 0
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII> 0
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS> 0
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS> 0
<ACCUM-APPREC-OR-DEPREC> 0
<NET-ASSETS> 1081555
<DIVIDEND-INCOME> 1306
<INTEREST-INCOME> 67262
<OTHER-INCOME> 0
<EXPENSES-NET> 3547
<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME> 65021
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</TABLE>
