PAGE 1
Prospectus for the T. Rowe Price Limited-Term Bond Portfolio,
dated May 1, 1997, should be inserted here.
<PAGE>
PROSPECTUS
May 1, 1997
T. Rowe Price Limited-Term Bond Portfolio
<PAGE>
FACTS AT A GLANCE
Investment Goal
To provide a high level of income consistent with moderate fluctuation in
principal value. There is no assurance the fund will achieve its goal.
Strategy
Invests primarily in investment-grade, corporate bonds. Average effective
maturity will range between one and five years.
Risk/Reward
Moderate income level and share price fluctuation.
Investor Profile
Individuals who seek higher income than shorter-term funds provide and who can
accept moderate share price fluctuation.
Investment Manager
Founded in 1937 by the late Thomas Rowe Price, Jr., T. Rowe Price Associates,
Inc. ("T. Rowe Price") and its affiliates managed over $99 billion for more
than five million individual and institutional investor accounts as of December
31, 1996.
<PAGE>
T. Rowe Price Fixed Income Series, Inc.
Prospectus
May 1, 1997
THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED BY THE SECURITIES AND
EXCHANGE COMMISSION, NOR HAS THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION PASSED UPON
THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS PROSPECTUS. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY
IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.
<PAGE>
T. ROWE PRICE 2
CONTENTS
1
ABOUT THE FUND
Financial Highlights 2
Fund, Market, and Risk Characteristics 3
2
ABOUT YOUR ACCOUNT
Pricing Shares and Receiving Sale Proceeds 8
Distributions and Taxes 9
3
MORE ABOUT THE FUND
Organization and Management 10
Understanding Performance Information 12
Investment Policies and Practices 14
This prospectus contains information that a prospective Contract Holder or
Participant should know about the fund before investing. Please keep it for
future reference. A Statement of Additional Information about the fund, dated
May 1, 1997, has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is
incorporated by reference in this prospectus. To obtain a free copy, contact
your insurance company.
<PAGE>
ABOUT THE FUND
1
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
----------------------------------------------------------
Table 1, which provides information about the fund's financial history, is
based on a single share outstanding throughout each fiscal year. The table is
part of the fund's financial statements which are included in its annual
report, and are incorporated by reference into the Statement of Additional
Information (available upon request). The financial statements in the annual
report were audited by Price Waterhouse LLP, the fund's independent
accountants.
<TABLE>
Table 1 Financial Highlights
<CAPTION>
<S> <S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Income From Investment Activities
Net Asset Net Net Realized Total From
Period Value, Investment & Unrealized Investment
Ended Beginning Income (Loss) Gain (Loss) on Activities
of Period Investments
1994/a/ $ 5.00 $ 0.21 $ (0.08) $ 0.13
1995 4.92 0.33 0.14 0.47
1996 5.06 0.29 (0.13) 0.16
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<CAPTION>
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Less Distributions Net Asset Value
Net Net Realized Total Net Asset
Investment Gain Distributions Value,
Income End of Period
$ (0.21) -- $ (0.21) $ 4.92
--
(0.33) -- (0.33) 5.06
--
(0.29) -- (0.29) 4.93
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
Table 1 Financial Highlights (continued)
<CAPTION>
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Returns, Ratios, and Supplemental Data
Total Return Ratio of Ratio of Net
Period (Includes Net Assets Expenses to Investment Portfolio
Ended Reinvested ($ thousands)Average Net Income to TurnoverRate
Distributions) Assets Average Net
Assets
1994/a/ 2.62% $ 2,081 0.70%/b/ 6.63%/b/ 146.0%/b/
1995 9.88 3,966 0.70 6.60 73.7
1996 3.26 12,312 0.70 5.83 97.7
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</TABLE>
/a/ From May 13, 1994 (commencement of operations) to December 31, 1994.
/b/ Annualized.
<PAGE>
T. ROWE PRICE 4
FUND, MARKET, AND RISK CHARACTERISTICS: WHAT TO EXPECT
----------------------------------------------------------
To help you decide whether this fund is appropriate for you, this section
takes a closer look at its investment objective and approach.
o The fund should not represent your complete investment program, nor be used
for short-term trading purposes.
What is the fund's objective and investment program?
The fund's objective is to provide a high level of income consistent with
moderate fluctuation in principal value. The fund will invest at least 65% of
total assets in short- and intermediate-term, investment-grade bonds. There
are no maturity limitations on individual securities purchased, but the
fund's dollar-weighted average effective maturity will not exceed five years.
Targeting effective maturity provides additional flexibility in portfolio
management but, all else being equal, could result in higher volatility than
would be true of a fund targeting a stated maturity or maturity range.
At least 90% of the fund portfolio will be invested in securities rated in
the four highest credit categories (investment-grade securities) by a
nationally recognized rating agency or, if unrated, of equivalent quality as
determined by T. Rowe Price. Investment-grade securities include a range of
securities from the highest rated to medium quality (BBB). Securities in the
BBB category are more susceptible to adverse economic conditions or changing
circumstances and securities at the lower end of the BBB category may have
certain speculative characteristics. In an effort to enhance yield, up to 10%
of assets can be invested in below investment-grade securities, commonly
referred to as "junk" bonds, including those with the lowest rating. The
fund's income level should be higher than the money fund's, but its share
price will vary.
How does the fund's credit quality relate to its investment objective?
The fund's strong focus on investment-grade securities gives managers
considerable flexibility in seeking high yields. When the yield difference is
small between the various quality levels (from AAA through BBB), the manager
may concentrate investments in the higher-rated issues; best when the
difference is large, the manager may move down the credit scale to take
advantage of higher yields. In addition, the fund's ability to invest up to
10% of assets in noninvestment-grade bonds provides further opportunities to
increase yield, with their additional credit risk subject to further scrutiny
by T. Rowe Price research analysts. (For a detailed discussion, please see
Investment Policies and Practices-High-Yield Investing.)
<PAGE>
ABOUT THE FUND 5
What are the most important influences on a fund's performance?
Performance (total return) is determined by the change in the fund's share
price and income level over a given period. Both components are affected by
changes in interest rates.
The fund's share price will generally move in the opposite direction of
interest rates. For example, as interest rates rise, share price will likely
decline. Rising rates provide the opportunity for the fund's income to
increase, but it is unlikely that the higher income by itself will entirely
offset the fall in price.
The maturity and type of securities in the fund's portfolio determine just
how much the share price rises or falls when rates change. Generally, when
rates fall, long-term securities rise more in price than short-term
securities, and vice versa. Mortgage-backed securities usually follow this
pattern but, because of prepayments, would not be expected to rise as much in
price as Treasury or corporate bonds.
You will find more information about the types of securities the fund may own
and how they may perform further on in this section and in Section 3.
What are the main risks of investing in the fund?
o Interest rate or market risk The decline in the prices of fixed income
securities and funds that may accompany a rise in the overall level of
interest rates (please see Table 2).
o Credit risk The chance that any of the fund's holdings will have its credit
rating downgraded or will default (fail to make scheduled interest or
principal payments), potentially reducing the fund's income level and share
price.
o Currency risk The possibility that the fund's foreign holdings will be
adversely affected by fluctuations in currency markets.
o The share price and yield of the fund will fluctuate with changing market
conditions and interest rate levels. When you sell your shares, you may lose
money.
How does the portfolio manager try to reduce risk?
Consistent with the fund's objective, the portfolio manager actively seeks to
reduce risk and increase total return. Risk management tools include:
o Diversification of assets to reduce the impact of a single holding on the
fund's net asset value.
o Thorough credit research by our own analysts.
<PAGE>
T. ROWE PRICE 6
o Adjustment of fund duration to try to reduce the negative impact of rising
interest rates or take advantage of the benefits of falling rates. Duration
is a more sensitive measure than maturity of a fund's sensitivity to interest
rate changes.)
What are derivatives and can the fund invest in them?
The term derivative is used to describe financial instruments whose value is
derived from an underlying security (e.g., a stock or bond) or a market
benchmark (e.g., an interest rate index). Many types of investments
representing a wide range of potential risks and rewards fall under the
"derivatives" umbrella-from conventional instruments such as callable bonds,
futures and options, to more exotic investments such as stripped mortgage
securities and structured notes. While it was only recently that the term
derivative has become widely known among the investing public, derivatives
have in fact been employed by investment managers for many years.
The fund will invest in derivatives only if the expected risks and rewards
are consistent with its objectives, policies, and overall risk profile as
described in this prospectus. The fund will limit its use derivatives to
situations in which they may enable the fund to accomplish the following:
increase yield; hedge against a decline in principal value; invest in
eligible asset classes with greater efficiency and lower cost than is
possible through direct investment; or to adjust the fund's duration.
The fund will not invest in any high-risk, highly leveraged derivative
instrument that is expected to cause the overall price volatility of the
portfolio to be meaningfully different from that of an intermediate-term
investment-grade bond.
o Before choosing a fund, you may find it helpful to review some fundamentals
of fixed income investing.
Is the fund's yield fixed or will it vary?
It will vary. The yield is calculated every day by dividing a fund's net
income per share, expressed at annual rates, by the share price. Since both
income and share price will fluctuate, a fund's yield will also vary.
Is the fund's "yield" the same thing as the "total return"?
Not for bond funds. The total return reported for a fund is the result of
reinvested distributions (income and capital gains) and the change in share
price for a given time period. Income is always a positive contributor to
total return and can enhance a rise in share price or serve as an offset to a
drop in share price.
<PAGE>
ABOUT THE FUND 7
What is "credit quality" and how does it affect the fund's yield?
Credit quality refers to a bond issuer's expected ability to make all
required interest and principal payments in a timely manner. Because highly
rated issuers represent less risk, they can borrow at lower interest rates
than less creditworthy issuers. Therefore, a fund investing in high-quality
securities should have a lower yield than an otherwise comparable fund
investing in lower credit-quality securities.
What is meant by a bond fund's "maturity"?
Every bond has a stated maturity date when the issuer must repay the bond's
entire principal value to the investor. However, many corporate and municipal
bonds are "callable," meaning their principal can be repaid before their
stated maturity dates on (or after) specified call dates. Bonds are most
likely to be called when interest rates are falling, because the issuer wants
to refinance at a lower rate. In such an environment, a bond's "effective
maturity" is usually its nearest call date. For example, the effective
maturity of mortgage-backed bonds is determined by the rate at which
homeowners pay down the principal on the underlying mortgages.
A bond mutual fund has no maturity in the strict sense of the word, but it
does have an average maturity and an average effective maturity. This number
is an average of the stated or effective maturities of the underlying bonds,
with each bond's maturity "weighted" by the percentage of fund assets it
represents. Funds that target effective maturities would use the effective
(rather than stated) maturities of the underlying instruments when computing
the average. Targeting effective maturity provides additional flexibility in
portfolio management but, all else being equal, could result in higher
volatility than a fund targeting a stated maturity or maturity range.
What is a bond fund's "duration"?
Duration is a calculation that seeks to measure the price sensitivity of a
bond or a bond fund to changes in interest rates. It measures bond price
sensitivity to interest rate changes more accurately than maturity because it
takes into account the time value of cash flows generated over the bond's
life. Future interest and principal payments are discounted to reflect their
present value and then are multiplied by the number of years they will be
received to produce a value that is expressed in years, i.e., the duration.
Effective duration takes into account call features and sinking fund payments
that may shorten a bond's life.
Since duration can also be computed for bond funds, you can estimate the
effect of interest rates on a fund's share price. Simply multiply the fund's
duration (available for T. Rowe Price bond funds in our shareholder reports)
by
<PAGE>
T. ROWE PRICE 8
an expected change in interest rates. For example, the price of a bond fund
with a duration of five years would be expected to fall approximately 5% if
rates rose by one percentage point.
How is a bond's price affected by changes in interest rates?
When interest rates rise, a bond's price usually falls, and vice versa. In
general, the longer a bond's maturity, the greater the price increase or
decrease in response to a given change in interest rates, as shown in Table
2.
<TABLE>
Table 2
<CAPTION>
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
How Interest Rates Affect Bond Prices
Price of a $1,000 Bond if Interest Rates:
Bond Maturity Coupon Increase 2% Decrease 2%
1% 1%
1 year 6.00% $991 $981 $1,010 $1,019
5 years 6.75 959 920 1,043 1,088
10
years 6.91 932 869 1,075 1,157
30 years 7.10 888 795 1,137 1,306
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
</TABLE>
Coupons reflect yields on Treasury securities as of March 31, 1997. This is an
illustration and does not represent expected yields or share price changes of
any T. Rowe Price fund.
Since the average effective maturity of bonds held by the fund is expected to
be approximately five years, the fund's share price, like the value of the
underlying bonds in its portfolio should fluctuate less than a fund which
holds bonds with longer average effective maturities.
How can I decide if the fund is appropriate for me?
Review your own financial objectives, time horizon, and risk tolerance to
choose a fund (or funds) suitable for your particular needs. For example, the
fund is expected to be a good choice for investors seeking more income than
provided by very short-term investments, such as money market funds and CDs,
with less principal risk than longer-term investments. Keep in mind that the
share price of any bond fund will fluctuate. If you are investing primarily
for principal safety and liquidity, you should consider a money market fund.
Is there other information I need to review before making a decision?
Be sure to read Investment Policies and Practices in Section 3, which
discusses the principal types of portfolio securities that the fund may
purchase as well as the types of management practices that the fund may use.
<PAGE>
ABOUT YOUR ACCOUNT
2
PRICING SHARES AND RECEIVING SALE PROCEEDS
----------------------------------------------------------
Here are some procedures you should know when investing in the fund. For
instructions on how to purchase and redeem shares of the fund, read the
separate account prospectus.
Shares of the fund may be offered to insurance company separate accounts
established for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts. They may
also be offered to insurance company separate accounts established for the
purpose of funding variable life contracts. Variable annuity and variable
life Contract Holders or Participants are not the shareholders of the fund.
Rather, the separate account is the shareholder. The variable annuity and
variable life contracts are described in separate prospectuses issued by the
insurance companies. The fund assumes no responsibility for such
prospectuses, or variable annuity or life contracts.
Shares of the fund are sold and redeemed without the imposition of any sales
commission or redemption charge. However, certain other charges may apply to
annuity or life contracts. Those charges are disclosed in the separate
account prospectus.
How and when shares are priced
The share price (also called "net asset value" or NAV per share) for the fund
is calculated at 4 p.m. ET each day the New York Stock Exchange is open for
business. To calculate the NAV, the fund's assets are valued and totaled,
liabilities are subtracted, and the balance, called net assets, is divided by
the number of shares outstanding.
How your purchase, sale, or exchange price is determined
Purchases
The insurance companies purchase shares of the fund for separate accounts,
using premiums allocated by the Contract Holders or Participants. Shares are
purchased at the NAV next determined after the insurance company receives the
premium payment in acceptable form. Initial and subsequent payments allocated
to the fund are subject to the limits stated in the separate account
prospectus issued by the insurance company.
Redemptions
The insurance companies redeem shares of the fund to make benefit or
surrender payments under the terms of its Contracts. Redemptions are
processed on any day on which the New York Stock Exchange is open and are
priced at the fund's NAV next determined after the insurance company receives
a surrender request in acceptable form.
<PAGE>
T. ROWE PRICE 10
Note: The time at which transactions and shares are priced and the time until
which orders are accepted may be changed in case of an emergency or if the
New York Stock Exchange closes at a time other than 4 p.m. ET.
How you can receive the proceeds from a sale
Payment for redeemed shares will be made promptly, but in no event later than
seven days. However, the right of redemption may be suspended or the date of
payment postponed in accordance with the Investment Company Act of 1940. The
amount received upon redemption of the shares of the fund may be more or less
than the amount paid for the shares, depending on the fluctuations in the
market value of the assets owned by a fund.
Dividends and Other Distributions
For a discussion of the tax status of your variable annuity contract, please
refer to the attached separate account prospectus.
Dividends and other distributions
The policy of the fund is to distribute all of its net investment income and
net capital gains each year to its shareholders, which are the separate
accounts established by the various insurance companies in connection with
their issuance of variable annuity and life contracts. Dividends from net
investment income are declared daily and paid montly. All fund distributions
made to a separate account will be reinvested automatically in additional
fund shares, unless a shareholder (separate account) elects to receive
distributions in cash. Under current law, dividends and distributions made by
the fund to separate accounts, generally, are not taxable to the separate
accounts, the insurance company or the Contract Holder, provided that the
separate account meets the diversification requirements of Section 817(h) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and other tax related
requirements are satisfied. The fund intends to diversify its investments in
the manner required under Code Section 817(h).
Foreign Transactions
If the fund pays nonrefundable taxes to foreign governments during the year,
the taxes will reduce the fund's dividends.
<PAGE>
MORE ABOUT THE FUND
3
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
----------------------------------------------------------
How is the fund organized?
The T. Rowe Price Fixed Income Series, Inc. (the "Corporation") was
incorporated in Maryland in 1994, and is a "diversified, open-end investment
company," or mutual fund. Mutual funds pool money received from shareholders
and invest it to try to achieve specific objectives. Currently, the
corporation consists of two series, each representing a separate class of
shares having different objectives and investment policies. The two series
are: the Limited-Term Bond Portfolio, established in 1994, and the Prime
Reserve Portfolio, established in 1996, which is described in a separate
prospectus. The Corporation's charter provides that the Board of Directors
may issue additional series of shares and/or additional classes of shares for
each series.
o Shareholders benefit from T. Rowe Price's 60 years of investment management
experience.
What is meant by "shares"?
As with all mutual funds, investors purchase shares when they put money in a
fund. These shares are part of a fund's authorized capital stock, but share
certificates are not issued.
Each share and fractional share entitles the shareholder to:
o Receive a proportional interest in a fund's income and capital gain
distributions.
o Cast one vote per share on certain fund matters, including the election of
fund directors, changes in fundamental policies, or approval of changes in
the fund's management contract.
The shares of the fund have equal voting rights. The various insurance
companies own the outstanding shares of the fund in their separate accounts.
These separate accounts are registered under the 1940 Act or are excluded
from registration thereunder. Under current law, the insurance companies must
vote the shares held in registered separate accounts in accordance with
voting instructions received from variable Contract Holders or Participants
having the right to give such instructions.
Do T. Rowe Price funds have annual shareholder meetings?
The funds are not required to hold annual meetings and, in order to avoid
unnecessary costs to fund shareholders, do not intend to do so except when
certain matters, such as a change in a fund's fundamental policies, are to be
<PAGE>
T. ROWE PRICE 12
decided. In addition, shareholders representing at least 10% of all eligible
votes may call a special meeting if they wish for the purpose of voting on
the removal of any fund director or trustee. If a meeting is held and you
cannot attend, you can vote by proxy. Before the meeting, the fund will send
you proxy materials that explain the issues to be decided and include a
voting card for you to mail back.
Who runs the fund?
General Oversight
The Corporation is governed by a Board of Directors that meets regularly to
review fund investments, performance, expenses, and other business affairs.
The Board elects the Corporation's officers. The policy of the Corporation is
that the majority of Board members will be independent of T. Rowe Price.
o All decisions regarding the purchase and sale of fund investments are made
by T. Rowe Price-specifically by the fund's portfolio managers.
Portfolio Management
The fund has an Investment Advisory Committee composed of the following
members: Edward A. Wiese, Chairman, Paul W. Boltz, Robert P. Campbell,
Christy M. DiPietro, Charles B. Hill, Cheryl A. Redwood, Robert M. Rubino,
Thomas E. Tewksbury, Mark J. Vaselkiv, and Gwendolyn G. Wagner. Mr. Wiese
joined T. Rowe Price in 1984 and has been managing investments since
1985.
Marketing
T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of T. Rowe
Price, distributes (sells) shares of these and all other T. Rowe Price funds.
Shareholder Services
T. Rowe Price Services, Inc., another wholly owned subsidiary, acts as the
fund's transfer and dividend disbursing agent and provides shareholder and
administrative services. T. Rowe Price calculates the daily share price and
maintains the portfolio and general accounting records of the fund. The
address for T. Rowe Price Services is 100 East Pratt St., Baltimore, MD
21202.
How are fund expenses determined?
Under the management agreement, all expenses of the fund will be paid by
T. Rowe Price, except interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, directors' fees
and expenses (including counsel fees and expenses), and extraordinary
expenses. The Board of Directors of the Corporation reserves the right to
impose additional fees against shareholder accounts to defray expenses which
would otherwise be paid by T. Rowe Price under the management agreement. The
Board does not anticipate levying such charges; such a fee, if charged, may
be retained by the fund or paid to T. Rowe Price.
<PAGE>
ABOUT YOUR ACCOUNT 13
The Management Fee
The fund pays T. Rowe Price an annual all-inclusive fee of 0.70% based on its
average daily net assets. The fund calculates and accrues the fee daily. This
fee pays for investment management services and other operating costs.
Variable Annuity and Variable Life Charges
Variable annuity and variable life fees and charges are in addition to those
described previously and are described in variable annuity and life
prospectuses.
The fund may serve as an investment medium for both variable annuity
contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the fund may be
offered to separate accounts established by any number of insurance
companies. The fund currently does not foresee any disadvantages to variable
annuity contract owners due to the fact that the fund may serve as an
investment medium for both variable life insurance policies and annuity
contracts; however, due to differences in tax treatment or other
considerations, it is theoretically possible that the interests of owners of
annuity contracts and insurance policies for which the fund serves as an
investment medium might at some time be in conflict. However, the
Corporation's Board of Directors is required to monitor events to identify
any material conflicts between variable annuity contract owners and variable
life policy owners, and will determine what action, if any, should be taken
in the event of such a conflict. If such a conflict were to occur, an
insurance company participating in the fund might be required to redeem the
investment of one or more of its separate accounts from the fund. This might
force the fund to sell securities at disadvantageous prices.
UNDERSTANDING PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------------------
This section should help you understand the terms used to describe fund
performance. You will come across them in shareholder reports you receive
from us.
Total Return
This tells you how much an investment in a fund has changed in value over a
given time period. It reflects any net increase or decrease in the share
price and assumes that all dividends and capital gains (if any) paid during
the period were reinvested in additional shares. Including reinvested
distributions means that total return numbers include the effect of
compounding, i.e., you receive income and capital gain distributions on a
rising number of shares.
Advertisements for a fund may include cumulative or compound average annual
total return figures, which may be compared with various indices, other
performance measures, or other mutual funds.
<PAGE>
T. ROWE PRICE 14
o Total return is the most widely used performance measure. Detailed
performance information is included in the fund's annual and semiannual
shareholder reports, which are all available without charge.
Cumulative Total Return
This is the actual rate of return on an investment for a specified period. A
cumulative return does not indicate how much the value of the investment may
have fluctuated between the beginning and the end of the period specified.
Average Annual Total Return
This is always hypothetical. Working backward from the actual cumulative
return, it tells you what constant year-by-year return would have produced
the actual cumulative return. By smoothing out all the variations in annual
performance, it gives you an idea of the investment's annual contribution to
your portfolio provided you held it for the entire period in question.
Total returns and yields quoted for the fund include the effect of deducting
the fund's expenses, but may not include charges and expenses attributable to
any particular insurance product. Since you can only purchase shares of the
fund through an insurance product, you should carefully review the prospectus
of the insurance product you have chosen for information on relevant charges
and expenses. Excluding these charges from quotations of the fund's
performance has the effect of increasing the performance quoted.
Yield
The current or "dividend" yield on a fund or any investment tells you the
relationship between the investment's current level of annual income and its
price on a particular day. The dividend yield reflects the actual income paid
to shareholders for a given period, annualized, and divided by the fund's net
asset value. For example, a fund providing $5 of annual income per share and
a price of $50 has a current yield of 10%. Yields can be calculated for any
time period.
The advertised or "SEC" yield is found by determining the net income per
share (as defined by the SEC) earned by a fund during a 30-day base period
and dividing this amount by the per share price on the last day of the base
period. The SEC yield may differ from the dividend yield.
o You will see frequent references to a fund's yield in our reports, in
advertisements, in media stories, and so on.
<PAGE>
ABOUT YOUR ACCOUNT 15
INVESTMENT POLICIES AND PRACTICES
----------------------------------------------------------
This section takes a detailed look at some of the types of securities the
fund may hold in its portfolio and the various kinds of investment practices
that may be used in day-to-day portfolio management. The fund's investment
program is subject to further restrictions and risks described in the
Statement of Additional Information.
Shareholder approval is required to substantively change the fund's objective
and certain investment restrictions noted in the following section as
"fundamental policies." The managers also follow certain "operating
policies," which can be changed without shareholder approval. However,
significant changes are discussed with shareholders in fund reports. The fund
adheres to applicable investment restrictions and policies at the time it
makes an investment. A later change in circumstances will not require the
sale of an investment if it was proper at the time it was made.
The fund's holdings of certain kinds of investments cannot exceed maximum
percentages of total assets, which are set forth herein. For instance, this
fund is not permitted to invest more than 10% of total assets in hybrid
instruments. While these restrictions provide a useful level of detail about
the fund's investment program, investors should not view them as an accurate
gauge of the potential risk of such investments. For example, in a given
period, a 5% investment in hybrid instruments could have significantly more
of an impact on the fund's share price than its weighting in the portfolio.
The net effect of a particular investment depends on its volatility and the
size of its overall return in relation to the performance of all the fund's
other investments.
Changes in the fund's holdings, the fund's performance, and the contribution
of various investments are discussed in the shareholder reports sent to you.
o Fund managers have considerable leeway in choosing investment strategies and
selecting securities they believe will help the fund achieve its objective.
Types of Portfolio Securities
In seeking to meet its investment objective, the fund may invest in any type
of security or instrument (including certain potentially high-risk
derivatives described in this section) whose investment characteristics are
consistent with the fund's investment program. The following pages describe
the principal types of portfolio securities and investment management
practices of the fund.
Fundamental policy The fund will not purchase a security if, as a result,
with respect to 75% of its total assets, more than 5% of its total assets
would be invested in securities of a single issuer or more than 10% of the
voting securities of the issuer would be held by the fund.
<PAGE>
T. ROWE PRICE 16
Bonds
A bond is an interest-bearing security- an IOU-issued by companies or
governmental units. The issuer has a contractual obligation to pay interest
at a stated rate on specific dates and to repay principal (the bond's face
value) on a specified date. An issuer may have the right to redeem or "call"
a bond before maturity, and the investor may have to reinvest the proceeds at
lower market rates.
A bond's annual interest income, set by its coupon rate, is usually fixed for
the life of the bond. Its yield (income as a percent of current price) will
fluctuate to reflect changes in interest rate levels. A bond's price usually
rises when interest rates fall, and vice versa, so its yield stays current.
Bonds may be unsecured (backed by the issuer's general creditworthiness only)
or secured (also backed by specified collateral).
Certain bonds have interest rates that are adjusted periodically, which tend
to minimize fluctuations in their principal value. The maturity of those
securities may be shortened under certain specified conditions.
Bonds may be designated as senior or subordinated obligations. Senior
obligations generally have the first claim on a corporation's earnings and
assets and, in the event of liquidation, are paid before subordinated debt.
Asset-Backed Securities
An underlying pool of assets, such as credit card or automobile trade
receivables or corporate loans or bonds, backs these bonds and provides the
interest and principal payments to investors. On occasion, the pool of assets
may also include a swap obligation, which is used to change the cash flows on
the underlying assets. As an example, a swap may be used to allow floating
rate assets to back a fixed rate obligation. Credit quality depends primarily
on the quality of the underlying assets, the level of credit support, if any,
provided by the issuer, and the credit quality of the swap counterparty, if
any. The underlying assets (i.e., loans) are subject to prepayments which can
shorten the securities' weighted average life and may lower their return. The
value of these securities also may change because of actual or perceived
changes in the creditworthiness of the originator, the servicing agent, the
financial institution providing the credit support, or of the swap
counterparty. There is no limit on the fund's investment in these securities.
Mortgage-Backed Securities
The fund may invest in a variety of mortgage-backed securities. Mortgage
lenders pool individual home mortgages with similar characteristics to back a
certificate or bond, which is sold to investors such as the fund. Interest
and principal payments generated by the underlying mortgages are passed
through to the investors. The "big three" issuers are the Government National
Mortgage
<PAGE>
MORE ABOUT THE FUND 17
Association (GNMA), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae),
and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). GNMA
certificates are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government,
while others, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac certificates, are only
supported by the ability to borrow from the U.S. Treasury or supported only
by the credit of the agency. Private mortgage bankers and other institutions
also issue mortgage-backed securities.
Mortgage-backed securities are subject to scheduled and unscheduled principal
payments as homeowners pay down or prepay their mortgages. As these payments
are received, they must be reinvested when interest rates may be higher or
lower than on the original mortgage security. Therefore, these securities are
not an effective means of locking in long-term interest rates. In addition,
when interest rates fall, the pace of mortgage prepayments picks up. These
refinanced mortgages are paid off at face value (par), causing a loss for any
investor who may have purchased the security at a price above par. In such an
environment, this risk limits the potential price appreciation of these
securities and can negatively affect the fund's net asset value. When rates
rise, the prices of mortgage-backed securities can be expected to decline,
although historically these securities have experienced smaller price
declines than comparable quality bonds. In addition, when rates rise, and
prepayments slow, the effective duration of mortgage-backed securities
extends resulting in increased volatility.
o Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs) CMOs are debt securities that are
fully collateralized by a portfolio of mortgages or mortgage-backed
securities. All interest and principal payments from the underlying mortgages
are passed through to the CMOs in such a way as to create, in most cases,
more definite maturities than is the case with the underlying mortgages. CMOs
may pay fixed or variable rates of interest, and certain CMOs have priority
over others with respect to the receipt of prepayments.
o Stripped Mortgage Securities Stripped mortgage securities (a type of
potentially high-risk derivative) are created by separating the interest and
principal payments generated by a pool of mortgage-backed securities or a CMO
to create additional classes of securities. Generally, one class receives
only interest payments (IOs) and one principal payments (POs). Unlike other
mortgage-backed securities and POs, the value of IOs tends to move in the
same direction as interest rates. The fund could use IOs as a hedge against
falling prepayment rates (interest rates are rising) and/or a bear market
environment. POs can be used as a hedge against rising prepayment rates
(interest rates are falling) and/or a bull market environment. IOs and POs
are acutely sensitive to interest rate changes and to the rate of principal
prepayments.
<PAGE>
T. ROWE PRICE 18
A rapid or unexpected increase in prepayments can severely depress the price
of IOs, while a rapid or unexpected decrease in prepayments could have the
same effect on POs. These securities are very volatile in price and may have
lower liquidity than most other mortgage-backed securities. Certain
non-stripped CMOs may also exhibit these qualities, especially those that pay
variable rates of interest that adjust inversely with and more rapidly than
short-term interest rates. In addition, if interest rates rise rapidly and
prepayment rates slow more than expected, certain CMOs, in addition to losing
value, can exhibit characteristics of longer securities and become more
volatile. There is no guarantee the fund's investment in CMOs, IOs, or POs
will be successful, and the fund's total return could be adversely affected
as a result.
Operating policy The fund may invest up to 10% of its total assets in
stripped mortgage securities.
Hybrid Instruments
These instruments (a type of potentially high-risk derivative) can combine
the characteristics of securities, futures, and options. For example, the
principal amount or interest rate of a hybrid could be tied (positively or
negatively) to the price of some commodity, currency, or securities index or
another interest rate (each a "benchmark"). Hybrids can be used as an
efficient means of pursuing a variety of investment goals, including currency
hedging, duration management, and increased total return. Hybrids may not
bear interest or pay dividends. The value of a hybrid or its interest rate
may be a multiple of a benchmark and, as a result, may be leveraged and move
(up or down) more steeply and rapidly than the benchmark. These benchmarks
may be sensitive to economic and political events, such as commodity
shortages and currency devaluations, which cannot be readily foreseen by the
purchaser of a hybrid. Under certain conditions, the redemption value of a
hybrid could be zero. Thus, an investment in a hybrid may entail significant
market risks that are not associated with a similar investment in a
traditional, U.S. dollar-denominated bond that has a fixed principal amount
and pays a fixed rate or floating rate of interest. The purchase of hybrids
also exposes the fund to the credit risk of the issuer of the hybrid. These
risks may cause significant fluctuations in the net asset value of the fund.
o Hybrids can have volatile prices and limited liquidity and their use by the
fund may not be successful.
Operating policy The fund may invest up to 10% of its total assets in hybrid
instruments.
<PAGE>
MORE ABOUT THE FUND 19
High-Yield/High-Risk Investing
The total return and yield of lower-quality (high-yield/high-risk) bonds,
commonly referred to as "junk" bonds, can be expected to fluctuate more than
the total return and yield of higher-quality bonds. Junk bonds (those rated
below BBB or in default) are regarded as predominantly speculative with
respect to the issuer's ability to meet principal and interest payments.
Successful investment in lower-medium- and low-quality bonds involves greater
investment risk and is highly dependent on T. Rowe Price's credit analysis. A
real or perceived economic downturn or rising interest rates could cause a
decline in high-yield bond prices, by lessening the ability of issuers to
make principal and interest payments. These bonds are often thinly traded and
can be more difficult to sell and value accurately than high-quality bonds.
Because objective pricing data may be less available, judgment may play a
greater role in the valuation process.
Operating policy The fund will not purchase a noninvestment-grade debt
security (or junk bond) if immediately after such purchase the fund would
have more than 10% of its total assets invested in such securities.
Private Placements
These securities are sold directly to a small number of investors, usually
institutions. Unlike public offerings, such securities are not registered
with the SEC. Although certain of these securities may be readily sold, for
example, under Rule 144A, others may be illiquid, and their sale may involve
substantial delays and additional costs.
Operating policy The fund will not invest more than 15% of its net assets in
illiquid securities.
Foreign Securities
The fund may invest in foreign securities, including nondollar-denominated
securities traded outside of the U.S. and dollar-denominated securities of
foreign issuers. Such investments increase a portfolio's diversification and
may enhance return, but they also involve some special risks such as exposure
to potentially adverse local political and economic developments;
nationalization and exchange controls; potentially lower liquidity and higher
volatility; possible problems arising from accounting, disclosure,
settlement, and regulatory practices that differ from U.S. standards; and the
chance that fluctuations in foreign exchange rates will decrease the
investment's value (favorable changes can increase its value). To the extent
the fund invests in developing countries, these risks are increased.
Operating policy The fund may invest without limitation, in U.S.
dollar-denominated debt securities issued by foreign issuers, foreign
branches of U.S. banks, and U.S. branches of foreign banks. The fund may also
invest up to 35%
<PAGE>
T. ROWE PRICE 20
of its total assets (excluding reserves) in non-U.S. dollar-denominated fixed
income securities principally traded in financial markets outside the United
States.
Types of Management Practices
Cash Position
The fund will hold a certain portion of its assets in U.S. and foreign
dollar-denominated money market securities, including repurchase agreements,
in the two highest rating categories, maturing in one year or less. For
temporary, defensive purposes, the fund may invest without limitation in such
securities. This reserve position provides flexibility in meeting
redemptions, expenses, and the timing of new investments and serves as a
short-term defense during periods of unusual market volatility.
Borrowing Money and Transferring Assets
The fund can borrow money from banks as a temporary measure for emergency
purposes, to facilitate redemption requests, or for other purposes consistent
with the fund's investment objective and program. Such borrowings may be
collateralized with fund assets, subject to restrictions.
Fundamental policy Borrowings may not exceed 33/1//\\/3/\\% of total fund
assets.
Operating policies The fund may not transfer as collateral any portfolio
securities except as necessary in connection with permissible borrowings or
investments, and then such transfers may not exceed 33/1//\\/3/\\% of the
fund's total assets. The fund may not purchase additional securities when
borrowings exceed 5% of total assets.
In accordance with California law, the fund may not borrow more than 10% of
its net asset value when borrowing for any general purposes; and the fund may
not borrow more than 25% of net asset value when borrowing as a temporary
measure to facilitate redemptions. Net asset value of a portfolio is the
market value of all investments or assets owned less outstanding liabilities
of the portfolio at the time that any new or additional borrowing is
undertaken.
Futures and Options
Futures (a type of potentially high-risk derivative) are often used to manage
or hedge risk because they enable the investor to buy or sell an asset in the
future at an agreed upon price. Options (another type of potentially
high-risk derivative) give the investor the right, but not the obligation, to
buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price in the future. The fund may buy
and sell futures and options contracts for any number of reasons, including:
to manage its exposure to changes in interest rates, bond prices, and foreign
currencies; as an efficient means of adjusting its overall exposure to
certain markets; in an effort
<PAGE>
MORE ABOUT THE FUND 21
to enhance income; to protect the value of portfolio securities; and to
adjust the portfolio's duration. The fund may purchase, sell, or write call
and put options on securities, financial indices, and foreign currencies.
Futures contracts and options may not always be successful hedges; their
prices can be highly volatile. Using them could lower the fund's total
return, and the potential loss from the use of futures can exceed the fund's
initial investment in such contracts.
Operating policies Futures: Initial margin deposits and premiums on options
used for non-hedging purposes will not equal more than 5% of the fund's net
asset value. Options on securities: The total market value of securities
against which the fund has written call or put options may not exceed 25% of
its total assets. The fund will not commit more than 5% of its total assets
to premiums when purchasing call or put options.
Interest Rate Swaps
The fund may enter into various interest rate transactions (a type of
potentially high-risk derivative investment) such as interest rate swaps and
the purchase or sale of interest rate caps, collars, and floors, to preserve
a return or spread on a particular investment or portion of its portfolio, to
create synthetic securities, or to structure transactions designed for other
purposes.
Operating policy The fund will not invest more than 10% of its total assets
in interest rate swaps.
Managing Foreign Currency Risk
Investors in foreign securities may "hedge" their exposure to potentially
unfavorable currency changes by purchasing a contract to exchange one
currency for another on some future date at a specified exchange rate. In
certain circumstances, a "proxy currency" may be substituted for the currency
in which the investment is denominated, a strategy known as "proxy hedging."
The fund may also use these contracts to create a synthetic bond-issued by a
U.S. company, for example, but with the dollar component transformed into a
foreign currency. Although foreign currency transactions will be used
primarily to protect the fund's foreign securities from adverse currency
movements relative to the dollar, they involve the risk that anticipated
currency movements will not occur and the fund's total return could be
reduced.
Operating policy The fund will not commit more than 10% of its total assets
to forward currency contracts.
<PAGE>
T. ROWE PRICE 22
Lending of Portfolio Securities
Like other mutual funds, the funds may lend securities to broker-dealers,
other institutions, or other persons to earn additional income. The principal
risk is the potential insolvency of the broker-dealer or other borrower. In
this event, a fund could experience delays in recovering its securities and
possibly capital losses.
Fundamental policy The value of loaned securities may not exceed
33/1//\\/3/\\% of total fund assets.
When-Issued Securities and Forward Commitment Contracts
The funds may purchase securities on a when-issued or delayed delivery basis
or may purchase or sell securities on a forward commitment basis. There is no
limit on the funds' investment in these securities. The price of these
securities is fixed at the time of the commitment to buy, but delivery and
payment can take place a month or more later. During the interim period, the
market value of the securities can fluctuate, and no interest accrues to the
purchaser. At the time of delivery, the value of the securities may be more
or less than the purchase or sale price. To the extent the funds remain fully
or almost fully invested (in securities with a remaining maturity of more
than one year) at the same time they purchases these securities, there will
be greater fluctuations in the funds' net asset values than if the funds did
not purchase them.
Portfolio Turnover
The fund will not generally trade in securities for short-term profits, but,
when circumstances warrant, securities may be purchased and sold without
regard to the length of time held. The fund's portfolio turnover rate for the
fiscal years ended December 31, 1996 and 1995 were 97.7% and 73.7%,
respectively. For the fiscal period ended December 31, 1994, the fund's
annualized portfolio turnover rate was 146.0%.
Bond Ratings and High-Yield Bonds
Larger bond issues are evaluated by rating agencies such as Moody's and
Standard & Poor's on the basis of the issuer's ability to meet all required
interest and principal payments. the highest ratings are assigned to issuers
perceived to be the best credit risks. T. Rowe Price research analysts also
evaluate all portfolio holdings of each fund, including those rated by an
outside agency. Other things being equal, lower-rated bonds have higher
yields due to greater risk. High-yield bonds, also called "junk" bonds, are
those rated below BBB.
Table 3 shows the rating scale used by the major rating agencies. T. Rowe
Price considers publicly available ratings but emphasizes its own credit
analysis when selecting investments.
<PAGE>
MORE ABOUT THE FUND 23
<TABLE>
Table 3
<CAPTION>
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Ratings of Corporate Debt Securities
Moody's Standard Fitch Definition
Investor & Poor's Investors
Services Services Services, Inc.
Long Term Aaa AAA AAA Highest quality
Aa AA AA High quality
A A A Upper medium grade
Baa BBB BBB Medium grade
Ba BB BB Speculative
B B B Highly speculative
C
Caa CCC, CC CCC, CC Vulnerable to default
C
Ca C C Default is imminent
C D DDD, DD, D Probably in default
Moody's S&P Fitch
Commercial P-1 Superior quality A-1+ Extremely strong F-1+ Exceptionally strong quality
Paper
C
A-1 Strong quality F-1 Very strong quality
C
P-2 Strong quality A-2 Satisfactory quality F-2 Good credit quality
C
P-3 Acceptable quality A-3 Adequate quality F-3 Fair credit quality
C
B Speculative quality F-S Weak credit quality
C
C Doubtful quality
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
T. ROWE PRICE 24
<PAGE>
MORE ABOUT THE FUND 25
PAGE 2
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
T. Rowe Price Fixed Income Series, Inc. (the "Corporation")
T. Rowe Price Limited-Term Bond Portfolio
(the "Fund")
Shares of the Fund may be offered to insurance company
separate accounts established for the purpose of funding variable
annuity contracts. They may also be offered to insurance company
separate accounts established for the purpose of funding variable
life contracts. Variable annuity and variable life Contract
Holders or Participants are not the shareholders of the Fund.
Rather, the separate account is the shareholder. The variable
annuity and variable life contracts are described in separate
prospectuses issued by the insurance companies. The Fund assumes
no responsibility for such prospectuses, or variable annuity or
life contracts.
In the future, it is possible that the Fund may offer its
shares to separate accounts funding variable annuities, variable
life insurance or other insurance products of other insurance
companies.
This Statement of Additional Information is not a prospectus
but should be read in conjunction with the Fund's prospectus
dated May 1, 1997, which may be obtained from T. Rowe Price
Investment Services, Inc., 100 East Pratt Street, Baltimore,
Maryland 21202.
The date of this Statement of Additional Information is May
1, 1997.
SAI-LTP 5/1/97
PAGE 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page Page
Adjustable Rate Investment Program . . . . . 8
Securities . . . . . . . 19 Investment Restrictions . 36
Adjustable Rate Mortgage Legal Counsel . . . . . . 55
Securities . . . . . . . 13 Lending of Portfolio
Asset-Backed Securities . 15 Securities . . . . . . . 21
Capital Stock . . . . . . 54 Management of Fund . . . . 40
Code of Ethics . . . . . 44 Mortgage-Related
Custodian . . . . . . . . 44 Securities . . . . . . . . 9
Dealer Options . . . . . 26 Net Asset Value Per Share 50
Distributor for Fund . . 43 Options . . . . . . . . . 22
Dividends . . . . . . . . 50 Portfolio Management
Federal Registration Practices . . . . . . . . 21
of Shares . . . . . . . 55 Portfolio Transactions . . 45
Foreign Currency Pricing of Securities . . 49
Transactions . . . . . . 34 Principal Holders of
Futures Contracts . . . . 28 Securities . . . . . . . 42
Hybrid Instruments . . . 17 Rating of Commercial
Illiquid or Restricted Paper . . . . . . . . . . 56
Securities . . . . . . 20 Rating of Corporate Debt
Independent Accountants . 55 Securities . . . . . . . 56
Interest Rate Repurchase Agreements . . 22
Transactions . . . . . . 27 Risk Factors of Foreign
Investment Management Investing . . . . . . . . . 4
Services . . . . . . . . 42 Shareholder Services . . . 44
Investment Objective and Tax Status . . . . . . . . 50
Policies . . . . . . . . 2 When-Issued Securities
Investment Performance . 52 and Forward Commitment
Contracts . . . . . . . . 20
Yield Information . . . . 52
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES
The following information supplements the discussion of the
Fund's investment objective and policies discussed in the Fund's
prospectus. The Fund will not make a material change in its
investment objective without obtaining shareholder approval.
Unless otherwise specified, the investment programs and
restrictions of the Fund are not fundamental policies. The
Fund's operating policies are subject to change by its Board of
Directors without shareholder approval. However, shareholders
will be notified of a material change in an operating policy.
The Fund's fundamental policies may not be changed without the
approval of at least a majority of the outstanding shares of the
Fund or, if it is less, 67% of the shares represented at a
PAGE 4
meeting of shareholders at which the holders of 50% or more of
the shares are represented.
The Fund's investment objective is to seek a high level of
income consistent with modest price fluctuation by investing
primarily in investment grade securities. The strategy of the
Fund described below is intended to result in lower share price
fluctuation than a long-term bond fund. Additionally, the Fund
is expected to provide a yield above that of a money market fund
but below that of a long-term bond fund.
RISK FACTORS
Because of its investment policy, the Fund may not be
suitable or appropriate for all investors. The Fund is not a
money market fund and is not an appropriate investment for those
whose primary objective is principal stability. There is risk in
all investment. The Fund is designed for the investor who seeks
to participate in a diversified portfolio of short- and
intermediate-term investment grade bonds and other debt
securities (up to 10% of which may be below investment grade)
which provide a higher rate of income than a money market fund
and less risk of capital fluctuation than a portfolio of long-
term debt securities. The value of the portfolio securities of
the Fund will fluctuate based upon market conditions. Although
the Fund seeks to reduce risk by investing in a diversified
portfolio, such diversification does not eliminate all risk.
There can, of course, be no assurance that the Fund will achieve
these results. Reference is also made to the sections entitled
"Types of Securities" and "Portfolio Management Practices" for
discussions of the risks associated with the investments and
practices described therein as they apply to the Fund.
Debt Obligations. Yields on short and intermediate-term
securities are dependent on a variety of factors, including the
general conditions of the money and bond markets, the size of a
particular offering, the maturity of the obligation, and the
credit quality and rating of the issue. Debt securities with
longer maturities tend to have higher yields and are generally
subject to potentially greater capital appreciation and
depreciation than obligations with shorter maturities and lower
yields. The market prices of debt securities usually vary,
depending upon available yields. An increase in interest rates
will generally reduce the value of portfolio investments, and a
decline in interest rates will generally increase the value of
portfolio investments. The ability of the Fund to achieve its
investment objective is also dependent on the continuing ability
of the issuers of the debt securities in which the Fund invests
PAGE 5
to meet its obligations for the payment of interest and principal
when due. Although the Fund seeks to reduce risk by portfolio
diversification, credit analysis (considered by T. Rowe Price to
be among the most stringent in the investment management
industry), and attention to trends in the economy, industries and
financial markets, such efforts will not eliminate all risk.
There can, of course, be no assurance that the Fund will achieve
its investment objective.
Mortgage Securities. The Fund may invest significantly in
mortgage securities. Because they consist of underlying
mortgages, Mortgage Securities may not be an effective means of
"locking in" long-term interest rates due to the need for the
Fund to reinvest scheduled and unscheduled principal payments.
The incidence of unscheduled principal prepayments is also likely
to increase in mortgage pools owned by the Fund when prevailing
mortgage loan rates fall below the mortgage rates of the
securities underlying the individual pool. The effect of such
prepayments in a falling rate environment is to (1) cause the
Fund to reinvest principal payments at the then lower prevailing
interest rate, and (2) reduce the potential for capital
appreciation beyond the face amount of the security and adversely
affect the return to the Fund. Conversely, in a rising interest
rate environment such prepayments can be reinvested at higher
prevailing interest rates which will reduce the potential effect
of capital depreciation to which bonds are subject when interest
rates rise. In addition, prepayments of mortgage securities
purchased at a premium (or discount) will cause such securities
to be paid off at par, resulting in a loss (gain) to the Fund.
T. Rowe Price will actively manage the Fund's portfolio in an
attempt to reduce the risk associated with investment in
mortgage-backed securities.
After purchase by a Fund, a security may cease to be rated
or its rating may be reduced below the minimum required for
purchase by the Fund. For the Fund, neither event would require
a sale of such security by the Fund. However, T. Rowe Price
Associates, Inc. ("T. Rowe Price") will consider such event in
its determination of whether the Fund should continue to hold the
security. To the extent that the ratings given by Moody's
Investors Service, Inc. ("Moody's"), Standard & Poor's
Corporation ("S&P"), or Fitch Investors Service, Inc. ("Fitch")
may change as a result of changes in such organizations or their
rating systems, the Fund will attempt to use comparable ratings
as standards for investments in accordance with the investment
policies contained in the prospectus. When purchasing unrated
securities, T. Rowe Price, under the supervision of the Fund's
Board of Directors, determines whether the unrated security is of
a quality comparable to that which the Fund is allowed to
purchase.
PAGE 6
The Fund's share price and yield will fluctuate with
changing market conditions, and your investment may be worth more
or less when redeemed than when purchased. The Fund should not
be relied upon as a complete investment program, nor used to play
short-term swings in the bond markets. The Fund cannot guarantee
it will achieve its investment objective.
Risk Factors of Foreign Investing
There are special risks in foreign investing. Certain of
these risks are inherent in any mutual fund while others relate
more to the countries in which the Fund will invest. Many of the
risks are more pronounced for investments in developing or
emerging countries, such as many of the countries of Southeast
Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Although there is no universally accepted definition, a
developing country is generally considered to be a country which
is in the initial stages of its industrialization cycle with a
per capita gross national product of less than $8,000.
Political and Economic Factors. Individual foreign
economies of certain countries may differ favorably or
unfavorably from the United States' economy in such respects as
growth of gross national product, rate of inflation, capital
reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payments
position. The internal politics of certain foreign countries are
not as stable as in the United States. For example, in 1991, the
existing government in Thailand was overthrown in a military
coup. In 1992, there were two military coup attempts in
Venezuela and in 1992 the President of Brazil was impeached. In
addition, significant external political risks currently affect
some foreign countries. Both Taiwan and China still claim
sovereignty of one another and there is a demilitarized border
between North and South Korea.
Governments in certain foreign countries continue to
participate to a significant degree, through ownership interest
or regulation, in their respective economies. Action by these
governments could have a significant effect on market prices of
securities and payment of dividends. The economies of many
foreign countries are heavily dependent upon international trade
and are accordingly affected by protective trade barriers and
economic conditions of their trading partners. The enactment by
these trading partners of protectionist trade legislation could
have a significant adverse effect upon the securities markets of
such countries.
Currency Fluctuations. The Fund will invest in securities
denominated in various currencies. Accordingly, a change in the
PAGE 7
value of any such currency against the U.S. dollar will result in
a corresponding change in the U.S. dollar value of the Fund's
assets denominated in that currency. Such changes will also
affect the Fund's income. Generally, when a given currency
appreciates against the dollar (the dollar weakens) the value of
the Fund's securities denominated in that currency will rise.
When a given currency depreciates against the dollar (the dollar
strengthens) the value of the Fund's securities denominated in
that currency would be expected to decline.
Investment and Repatriation of Restrictions. Foreign
investment in the securities markets of certain foreign countries
is restricted or controlled in varying degrees. These
restrictions may limit at times and preclude investment in
certain of such countries and may increase the cost and expenses
of the Fund. Investments by foreign investors are subject to a
variety of restrictions in many developing countries. These
restrictions may take the form of prior governmental approval,
limits on the amount or type of securities held by foreigners,
and limits on the types of companies in which foreigners may
invest. Additional or different restrictions may be imposed at
any time by these or other countries in which the Fund invest.
In addition, the repatriation of both investment income and
capital from several foreign countries is restricted and
controlled under certain regulations, including in some cases the
need for certain government consents. For example, capital
invested in Chile normally cannot be repatriated for one year.
Market Characteristics. Foreign stock and bond markets are
generally not as developed or efficient as, and may be more
volatile than, those in the United States. While growing in
volume, they usually have substantially less volume than U.S.
markets and the Fund's portfolio securities may be less liquid
and subject to more rapid and erratic price movements than
securities of comparable U.S. companies. Equity securities may
trade at price/earnings multiples higher than comparable United
States securities and such levels may not be sustainable. Fixed
commissions on foreign stock exchanges are generally higher than
negotiated commissions on United States exchanges, although the
Fund will endeavor to achieve the most favorable net results on
their portfolio transactions. There is generally less government
supervision and regulation of foreign stock exchanges, brokers
and listed companies than in the United States. Moreover,
settlement practices for transactions in foreign markets may
differ from those in United States markets. Such differences may
include delays beyond periods customary in the United States and
practices, such as delivery of securities prior to receipt of
payment, which increase the likelihood of a "failed settlement."
Failed settlements can result in losses to a Fund.
PAGE 8
Investment Funds. The Fund may invest in investment funds
which have been authorized by the governments of certain
countries specifically to permit foreign investment in securities
of companies listed and traded on the stock exchanges in these
respective countries. The Fund's investment in these funds is
subject to the provisions of the 1940 Act. If the Fund invests
in such investment funds, the Fund's shareholders will bear not
only their proportionate share of the expenses of the Fund
(including operating expenses and the fees of the investment
manager), but also will bear indirectly similar expenses of the
underlying investment funds. In addition, the securities of
these investment funds may trade at a premium over their net
asset value.
Information and Supervision. There is generally less
publicly available information about foreign companies comparable
to reports and ratings that are published about companies in the
United States. Foreign companies are also generally not subject
to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting
standards, practices and requirements comparable to those
applicable to United States companies. It also may be more
difficult to keep currently informed of corporate actions which
affect the prices of portfolio securities.
Taxes. The dividends and interest payable on certain of the
Fund's foreign portfolio securities may be subject to foreign
withholding taxes, thus reducing the net amount of income
available for distribution to the Fund's shareholders. A
shareholder otherwise subject to United States federal income
taxes may, subject to certain limitations, be entitled to claim a
credit or deduction for U.S. federal income tax purposes for his
or her proportionate share of such foreign taxes paid by the
Fund. (See "Tax Status.")
Other. With respect to certain foreign countries,
especially developing and emerging ones, there is the possibility
of adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations,
expropriation or confiscatory taxation, limitations on the
removal of funds or other assets of the Fund, political or social
instability, or diplomatic developments which could affect
investments by U.S. persons in those countries.
Eastern Europe and Russia. Changes occurring in Eastern
Europe and Russia today could have long-term potential
consequences. As restrictions fall, this could result in rising
standards of living, lower manufacturing costs, growing consumer
spending, and substantial economic growth. However, investment
in the countries of Eastern Europe and Russia is highly
speculative at this time. Political and economic reforms are too
recent to establish a definite trend away from centrally-planned
PAGE 9
economies and state owned industries. In many of the countries
of Eastern Europe and Russia, there is no stock exchange or
formal market for securities. Such countries may also have
government exchange controls, currencies with no recognizable
market value relative to the established currencies of western
market economies, little or no experience in trading in
securities, no financial reporting standards, a lack of a banking
and securities infrastructure to handle such trading, and a legal
tradition which does not recognize rights in private property.
In addition, these countries may have national policies which
restrict investments in companies deemed sensitive to the
country's national interest. Further, the governments in such
countries may require governmental or quasi-governmental
authorities to act as custodian of a Fund's assets invested in
such countries and these authorities may not qualify as a foreign
custodian under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and exemptive
relief from such Act may be required. All of these
considerations are among the factors which could cause
significant risks and uncertainties to investment in Eastern
Europe and Russia. Each Fund will only invest in a company
located in, or a government of, Eastern Europe and Russia, if it
believes the potential return justifies the risk. To the extent
any securities issued by companies in Eastern Europe and Russia
are considered illiquid, each Fund will be required to include
such securities within its 15% restriction on investing in
illiquid securities.
Latin America
To the extent the fund invests in Latin America, such
investments will be subject to the factors discussed below.
Inflation. Most Latin American countries have experienced,
at one time or another, severe and persistent levels of
inflation, including, in some cases, hyperinflation. This has,
in turn, led to high interest rates, extreme measures by
governments to keep inflation in check and a generally
debilitating effect on economic growth. Although inflation in
many countries has lessened, there is no guarantee it will remain
at lower levels.
Political Instability. The political history of certain
Latin American countries has been characterized by political
uncertainty, intervention by the military in civilian and
economic spheres, and political corruption. Such developments,
if they were to reoccur, could reverse favorable trends toward
market and economic reform, privatization and removal of trade
barriers and result in significant disruption in securities
markets.
PAGE 10
Foreign Currency. Certain Latin American countries may have
managed currencies which are maintained at artificial levels to
the U.S. dollar rather than at levels determined by the market.
This type of system can lead to sudden and large adjustments in
the currency which, in turn, can have a disruptive and negative
effect on foreign investors. For example, in late 1994 the value
of the Mexican peso lost more than one-third of its value
relative to the dollar. Certain Latin American countries also
may restrict the free conversion of their currency into foreign
currencies, including the U.S. dollar. There is no significant
foreign exchange market for certain currencies and it would, as a
result, be difficult for the Fund to engage in foreign currency
transactions designed to protect the value of the Fund's
interests in securities denominated in such currencies.
Sovereign Debt. A number of Latin American countries are
among the largest debtors of developing countries. There have
been moratoria on, and reschedulings of, repayment with respect
to these debts. Such events can restrict the flexibility of
these debtor nations in the international markets and result in
the imposition of onerous conditions on their economies.
Special Risks of Investing in Junk Bonds
The following special considerations are additional risk
factors associated with the Fund's investments in lower rated
debt securities.
Youth and Growth of the Lower Rated Debt Securities Market.
The market for lower rated debt securities is relatively new and
its growth has paralleled a long economic expansion. Past
experience may not, therefore, provide an accurate indication of
future performance of this market, particularly during periods of
economic recession. An economic downturn or increase in interest
rates is likely to have a greater negative effect on this market,
the value of lower rated debt securities in the Fund's portfolio,
the Fund's net asset value and the ability of the bonds' issuers
to repay principal and interest, meet projected business goals
and obtain additional financing than on higher rated securities.
These circumstances also may result in a higher incidence of
defaults than with respect to higher rated securities. An
investment in this Fund is more speculative than investment in
shares of a fund which invests only in higher rated debt
securities.
Sensitivity to Interest Rate and Economic Changes. Prices
of lower rated debt securities may be more sensitive to adverse
economic changes or corporate developments than higher rated
investments. Debt securities with longer maturities, which may
have higher yields, may increase or decrease in value more than
PAGE 11
debt securities with shorter maturities. Market prices of lower
rated debt securities structured as zero coupon or pay-in-kind
securities are affected to a greater extent by interest rate
changes and may be more volatile than securities which pay
interest periodically and in cash. Where it deems it appropriate
and in the best interests of Fund shareholders, the Fund may
incur additional expenses to seek recovery on a debt security on
which the issuer has defaulted and to pursue litigation to
protect the interests of security holders of its portfolio
companies.
Liquidity and Valuation. Because the market for lower rated
securities may be thinner and less active than for higher rated
securities, there may be market price volatility for these
securities and limited liquidity in the resale market. Nonrated
securities are usually not as attractive to as many buyers as
rated securities are, a factor which may make nonrated securities
less marketable. These factors may have the effect of limiting
the availability of the securities for purchase by the Fund and
may also limit the ability of the Fund to sell such securities at
their fair value either to meet redemption requests or in
response to changes in the economy or the financial markets.
Adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether or not based
on fundamental analysis, may decrease the values and liquidity of
lower rated debt securities, especially in a thinly traded
market. To the extent the Fund owns or may acquire illiquid or
restricted lower rated securities, these securities may involve
special registration responsibilities, liabilities and costs, and
liquidity and valuation difficulties. Changes in values of debt
securities which the Fund owns will affect its net asset value
per share. If market quotations are not readily available for
the Fund's lower rated or nonrated securities, these securities
will be valued by a method that the Fund's Board of Directors
believes accurately reflects fair value. Judgment plays a
greater role in valuing lower rated debt securities than with
respect to securities for which more external sources of
quotations and last sale information are available.
Taxation. Special tax considerations are associated with
investing in lower rated debt securities structured as zero
coupon or pay-in-kind securities. The Fund accrues income on
these securities prior to the receipt of cash payments. The Fund
must distribute substantially all of its income to its
shareholders to qualify for pass-through treatment under the tax
laws and may, therefore, have to dispose of its portfolio
securities to satisfy distribution requirements.
PAGE 12
INVESTMENT PROGRAM
Set forth below is additional information about certain of
the investments described in the Fund's prospectus.
Types of Securities
Debt Securities
Fixed income securities in which the Fund may invest
include, but are not limited to, those described below.
U.S. Government Obligations. Bills, notes, bonds, and other
debt securities issued by the U.S. Treasury. These are direct
obligations of the U.S. Government and differ mainly in the
length of its maturities.
U.S. Government Agency Securities. Issued or guaranteed by
U.S. Government sponsored enterprises and federal agencies.
These include securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage
Association, Government National Mortgage Association, Federal
Home Loan Bank, Federal Land Banks, Farmers Home Administration,
Banks for Cooperatives, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks,
Federal Financing Bank, Farm Credit Banks, the Small Business
Association, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Some of these
securities are supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S.
Treasury; and the remainder are supported only by the credit of
the instrumentality, which may or may not include the right of
the issuer to borrow from the Treasury.
Bank Obligations. Certificates of deposit, bankers'
acceptances, and other short-term debt obligations. Certificates
of deposit are short-term obligations of commercial banks. A
bankers' acceptance is a time draft drawn on a commercial bank by
a borrower, usually in connection with international commercial
transactions. Certificates of deposit may have fixed or variable
rates. The Fund may invest in U.S. banks, foreign branches of
U.S. banks, U.S. branches of foreign banks and foreign branches
of foreign banks.
Corporate Debt Securities. Outstanding nonconvertible
corporate debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures).
Corporate notes may have fixed, variable, or floating rates.
Commercial Paper. Short-term promissory notes issued by
corporations primarily to finance short-term credit needs.
Certain notes may have floating or variable rates.
PAGE 13
Foreign Government Securities. Issued or guaranteed by a
foreign government, province, instrumentality, political
subdivision or similar unit thereof.
Savings and Loan Obligations. Negotiable certificates of
deposit and other short-term debt obligations of savings and loan
associations.
Supranational Agencies. The Fund may also invest in the
securities of certain supranational entities, such as the
International Development Bank.
Mortgage-Related Securities
Investment in Mortgage-Backed Securities
The mortgage-related securities which the Fund may invest
include, but are not limited to, those described below.
Mortgage-Backed Securities. Mortgage-backed securities are
securities representing an interest in a pool of mortgages. The
mortgages may be of a variety of types, including adjustable
rate, conventional 30-year fixed rate, graduated payment, and 15-
year. Principal and interest payments made on the mortgages in
the underlying mortgage pool are passed through to the Fund.
This is in contrast to traditional bonds where principal is
normally paid back at maturity in a lump sum. Unscheduled
prepayments of principal shorten the securities' weighted average
life and may lower its total return. (When a mortgage in the
underlying mortgage pool is prepaid, an unscheduled principal
prepayment is passed through to the Fund. This principal is
returned to the Fund at par. As a result, if a mortgage security
were trading at a premium, its total return would be lowered by
prepayments, and if a mortgage security were trading at a
discount, its total return would be increased by prepayments.)
The value of these securities also may change because of changes
in the market's perception of the creditworthiness of the federal
agency that issued them. In addition, the mortgage securities
market in general may be adversely affected by changes in
governmental regulation or tax policies.
U.S. Government Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities. These
are obligations issued or guaranteed by the United States
Government or one of its agencies or instrumentalities, such as
the Government National Mortgage Association ("Ginnie Mae" or
"GNMA"), the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"
or "FNMA") and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
("Freddie Mac" or "FHLMC"). FNMA and FHLMC obligations are not
backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government as
GNMA certificates are, but FNMA and FHLMC securities are
PAGE 14
supported by the instrumentality's right to borrow from the
United States Treasury. U.S. Government Agency Mortgage-Backed
Certificates provide for the pass-through to investors of its
pro-rata share of monthly payments (including any prepayments)
made by the individual borrowers on the pooled mortgage loans,
net of any fees paid to the guarantor of such securities and the
servicer of the underlying mortgage loans. Each of GNMA, FNMA
and FHLMC guarantees timely distributions of interest to
certificate holders. GNMA and FNMA guarantee timely
distributions of scheduled principal. FHLMC has in the past
guaranteed only the ultimate collection of principal of the
underlying mortgage loan; however, FHLMC now issues
Mortgage-Backed Securities (FHLMC Gold PCs) which also guarantee
timely payment of monthly principal reductions.
Ginnie Mae Certificates. Ginnie Mae is a wholly-owned
corporate instrumentality of the United States within the
Department of Housing and Urban Development. The National
Housing Act of 1934, as amended (the "Housing Act"), authorizes
Ginnie Mae to guarantee the timely payment of the principal of
and interest on certificates that are based on and backed by a
pool of mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing
Administration under the Housing Act, or Title V of the Housing
Act of 1949 ("FHA Loans"), or guaranteed by the Department of
Veterans Affairs under the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944,
as amended ("VA Loans"), or by pools of other eligible mortgage
loans. The Housing Act provides that the full faith and credit
of the United States government is pledged to the payment of all
amounts that may be required to be paid under any guaranty. In
order to meet its obligations under such guaranty, Ginnie Mae is
authorized to borrow from the United States Treasury with no
limitations as to amount.
Fannie Mae Certificates. Fannie Mae is a federally
chartered and privately owned corporation organized and existing
under the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act of
1938. FNMA Certificates represent a pro-rata interest in a group
of mortgage loans purchased by Fannie Mae. FNMA guarantees the
timely payment of principal and interest on the securities it
issues. The obligations of FNMA are not backed by the full faith
and credit of the U.S. Government.
Freddie Mac Certificates. Freddie Mac is a corporate
instrumentality of the United States created pursuant to the
Emergency Home Finance Act of 1970, as amended (the "FHLMC Act").
Freddie Mac Certificates represent a pro-rata interest in a group
of mortgage loans (a "Freddie Mac Certificate group") purchased
by Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac guarantees timely payment of
interest and principal on certain securities it issues and timely
payment of interest and eventual payment of principal on other
PAGE 15
securities is issues. The obligations of Freddie Mac are
obligations solely of Freddie Mac and are not backed by the full
faith and credit of the U.S. Government.
Farmer Mac Certificates. The Federal Agricultural Mortgage
Corporation ("Farmer Mac") is a federally chartered
instrumentality of the United States established by Title VIII of
the Farm Credit Act of 1971, as amended ("Charter Act"). Farmer
Mac was chartered primarily to attract new capital for financing
of agricultural real estate by making a secondary market in
certain qualified agricultural real estate loans. Farmer Mac
provides guarantees of timely payment of principal and interest
on securities representing interests in, or obligations backed
by, pools of mortgages secured by first liens on agricultural
real estate ("Farmer Mac Certificates"). Similar to Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac, Farmer Mac's Certificates are not supported by
the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government; rather, Farmer
Mac may borrow up from the U.S. Treasury to meet its guaranty
obligations.
When mortgages in the pool underlying a Mortgage-Backed
Security are prepaid by mortgagors or by result of foreclosure,
such principal payments are passed through to the certificate
holders. Accordingly, the life of the Mortgage-Backed Security
is likely to be substantially shorter than the stated maturity of
the mortgages in the underlying pool. Because of such variation
in prepayment rates, it is not possible to predict the life of a
particular Mortgage-Backed Security, but FHA statistics indicate
that 25- to 30-year single family dwelling mortgages have an
average life of approximately 12 years. The majority of Ginnie
Mae Certificates are backed by mortgages of this type, and,
accordingly, the generally accepted practice treats Ginnie Mae
Certificates as 30-year securities which prepay full in the 12th
year. FNMA and Freddie Mac Certificates may have differing
prepayment characteristics.
Fixed Rate Mortgage-Backed Securities bear a stated "coupon
rate" which represents the effective mortgage rate at the time of
issuance, less certain fees to GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC for providing
the guarantee, and the issuer for assembling the pool and for
passing through monthly payments of interest and principal.
Payments to holders of Mortgage-Backed Securities consist of
the monthly distributions of interest and principal less the
applicable fees. The actual yield to be earned by a holder of
Mortgage-Backed Securities is calculated by dividing interest
payments by the purchase price paid for the Mortgage-Backed
Securities (which may be at a premium or a discount from the face
value of the certificate).
PAGE 16
Monthly distributions of interest, as contrasted to semi-
annual distributions which are common for other fixed interest
investments, have the effect of compounding and thereby raising
the effective annual yield earned on Mortgage-Backed Securities.
Because of the variation in the life of the pools of mortgages
which back various Mortgage-Backed Securities, and because it is
impossible to anticipate the rate of interest at which future
principal payments may be reinvested, the actual yield earned
from a portfolio of Mortgage-Backed Securities will differ
significantly from the yield estimated by using an assumption of
a certain life for each Mortgage-Backed Security included in such
a portfolio as described above.
U.S. Government Agency Multiclass Pass-Through Securities.
Unlike CMOs, U.S. Government Agency Multiclass Pass-Through
Securities, which include FNMA Guaranteed REMIC Pass-Through
Certificates and FHLMC Multi-Class Mortgage Participation
Certificates, are ownership interests in a pool of Mortgage
Assets. Unless the context indicates otherwise, all references
herein to CMOs include multiclass pass-through securities.
Multi-Class Residential Mortgage Securities. Such
securities represent interests in pools of mortgage loans to
residential home buyers made by commercial banks, savings and
loan associations or other financial institutions. Unlike GNMA,
FNMA and FHLMC securities, the payment of principal and interest
on Multi-Class Residential Mortgage Securities is not guaranteed
by the U.S. Government or any of its agencies. Accordingly,
yields on Multi-Class Residential Mortgage Securities have been
historically higher than the yields on U.S. government mortgage
securities. However, the risk of loss due to default on such
instruments is higher since they are not guaranteed by the U.S.
Government or its agencies. Additionally, pools of such
securities may be divided into senior or subordinated segments.
Although subordinated mortgage securities may have a higher yield
than senior mortgage securities, the risk of loss of principal is
greater because losses on the underlying mortgage loans must be
borne by persons holding subordinated securities before those
holding senior mortgage securities.
Privately-Issued Mortgage-Backed Certificates. These are
pass-through certificates issued by non-governmental issuers.
Pools of conventional residential mortgage loans created by such
issuers generally offer a higher rate of interest than government
and government-related pools because there are no direct or
indirect government guarantees of payment. Timely payment of
interest and principal of these pools is, however, generally
supported by various forms of insurance or guarantees, including
individual loan, title, pool and hazard insurance. The insurance
and guarantees are issued by government entities, private
PAGE 17
insurance or the mortgage poolers. Such insurance and guarantees
and the creditworthiness of the issuers thereof will be
considered in determining whether a mortgage-related security
meets the Fund's quality standards. The Fund may buy mortgage-
related securities without insurance or guarantees if through an
examination of the loan experience and practices of the poolers,
the investment manager determines that the securities meet the
Fund's quality standards.
The Fund expects that governmental, government-related or
private entities may create mortgage loan pools offering pass-
through investments in addition to those described above. The
mortgages underlying these securities may be alternative mortgage
instruments, that is, mortgage instruments whose principal or
interest payments may vary or whose terms to maturity may differ
from customary long-term fixed rate mortgages. As new types of
mortgage-related securities are developed and offered to
investors, the investment manager will, consistent with the
Fund's objective, policies and quality standards, consider making
investments in such new types of securities.
Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs)
CMOs are bonds that are collateralized by whole loan
mortgages or mortgage pass-through securities. The bonds issued
in a CMO deal are divided into groups, and each group of bonds is
referred to as a "tranche". Under the traditional CMO structure,
the cash flows generated by the mortgages or mortgage pass-
through securities in the collateral pool are used to first pay
interest and then pay principal to the CMO bondholders. The
bonds issued under a CMO structure are retired sequentially as
opposed to the pro rata return of principal found in traditional
pass-through obligations. Subject to the various provisions of
individual CMO issues, the cash flow generated by the underlying
collateral (to the extent it exceeds the amount required to pay
the stated interest) is used to retire the bonds. Under the CMO
structure, the repayment of principal among the different
tranches is prioritized in accordance with the terms of the
particular CMO issuance. The "fastest-pay" tranche of bonds, as
specified in the prospectus for the issuance, would initially
receive all principal payments. When that tranche of bonds is
retired, the next tranche, or tranches, in the sequence, as
specified in the prospectus, receive all of the principal
payments until they are retired. The sequential retirement of
bond groups continues until the last tranche, or group of bonds,
is retired. Accordingly, the CMO structure allows the issuer to
use cash flows of long maturity, monthly-pay collateral to
formulate securities with short, intermediate and long final
maturities and expected average lives.
PAGE 18
In recent years, new types of CMO structures have evolved.
These include floating rate CMOs, planned amortization classes,
accrual bonds and CMO residuals. These newer structures affect
the amount and timing of principal and interest received by each
tranche from the underlying collateral. Under certain of these
new structures, given classes of CMOs have priority over others
with respect to the receipt of prepayments on the mortgages.
Therefore, depending on the type of CMOs in which the Fund
invests, the investment may be subject to a greater or lesser
risk of prepayment than other types of mortgage-related
securities.
The primary risk of any mortgage security is the uncertainty
of the timing of cash flows. For CMOs, the primary risk results
from the rate of prepayments on the underlying mortgages serving
as collateral. An increase or decrease in prepayment rates
(resulting from a decrease or increase in mortgage interest
rates) will affect the yield, average life and price of CMOs.
The prices of certain CMOs, depending on its structure and the
rate of prepayments, can be volatile. Some CMOs may also not be
as liquid as other securities.
Stripped Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities
Stripped Agency Mortgage-Backed securities represent
interests in a pool of mortgages, the cash flow of which has been
separated into its interest and principal components. "IOs"
(interest only securities) receive the interest portion of the
cash flow while "POs" (principal only securities) receive the
principal portion. Stripped Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities
may be issued by U.S. Government Agencies or by private issuers
similar to those described below with respect to CMOs and
privately-issued mortgage-backed certificates. As interest rates
rise and fall, the value of IOs tends to move in the same
direction as interest rates. The value of the other
mortgage-backed securities described herein, like other debt
instruments, will tend to move in the opposite direction compared
to interest rates. Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended (the "Code"), POs may generate taxable income from the
current accrual of original issue discount, without a
corresponding distribution of cash to the Fund.
The cash flows and yields on IO and PO classes are extremely
sensitive to the rate of principal payments (including
prepayments) on the related underlying mortgage assets. For
example, a rapid or slow rate of principal payments may have a
material adverse effect on the prices of IOs or POs,
respectively. If the underlying mortgage assets experience
greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, an investor
PAGE 19
may fail to recoup fully its initial investment in an IO class of
a stripped mortgage-backed security, even if the IO class is
rated AAA or Aaa or is derived from a full faith and credit
obligation. Conversely, if the underlying mortgage assets
experience slower than anticipated prepayments of principal, the
price on a PO class will be affected more severely than would be
the case with a traditional mortgage-backed security.
The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission has
advised the Fund that it believes the Fund should treat IOs and
POs, other than government-issued IOs or POs backed by fixed rate
mortgages, as illiquid securities and, accordingly, limit its
investments in such securities, together with all other illiquid
securities, to 15% of the Fund's net assets. Under the Staff's
position, the determination of whether a particular
government-issued IO and PO backed by fixed rate mortgages may be
made on a case by case basis under guidelines and standards
established by the Fund's Board of Directors. The Fund's Board
of Directors has delegated to T. Rowe Price the authority to
determine the liquidity of these investments based on the
following guidelines: the type of issuer; type of collateral,
including age and prepayment characteristics; rate of interest on
coupon relative to current market rates and the effect of the
rate on the potential for prepayments; complexity of the issue's
structure, including the number of tranches; size of the issue
and the number of dealers who make a market in the IO or PO. The
Fund will treat non-government-issued IOs and POs not backed by
fixed or adjustable rate mortgages as illiquid unless and until
the Securities and Exchange Commission modifies its position.
Adjustable Rate Mortgages. Adjustable rate mortgage (ARM)
securities are collateralized by adjustable rate, rather than
fixed rate, mortgages.
ARMs, like fixed rate mortgages, have a specified maturity
date, and the principal amount of the mortgage is repaid over the
life of the mortgage. Unlike fixed rate mortgages, the interest
rate on ARMs is adjusted at regular intervals based on a
specified, published interest rate "index" such as a Treasury
rate index. The new rate is determined by adding a specific
interest amount, the "margin," to the interest rate of the index.
Investment in ARM securities allows the Fund to participate in
changing interest rate levels through regular adjustments in the
coupons of the underlying mortgages, resulting in more variable
current income and lower price volatility than longer term fixed
rate mortgage securities. The ARM securities in which the Fund
expects to invest will generally adjust their interest rates at
regular intervals of one year or less. ARM securities are a less
effective means of locking in long-term rates than fixed rate
mortgages since the income from adjustable rate mortgages will
PAGE 20
increase during periods of rising interest rates and decline
during periods of falling rates.
Characteristics of Adjustable Rate Mortgage Securities -
Interest Rate Indices. The interest rates paid on adjustable
rate securities are readjusted periodically to an increment over
some predetermined interest rate index. Such readjustments occur
at intervals ranging from one to 60 months. There are three main
categories of indexes: (1) those based on U.S. Treasury
securities (2) those derived from a calculated measure such as a
cost of funds index ("COFI") or a moving average of mortgage
rates and (3) those based on actively traded or prominently
posted short-term, interest rates. Commonly utilized indexes
include the one-year, three-year and five-year constant maturity
Treasury rates, the three-month Treasury bill rate, the 180-day
Treasury bill rate, rates on longer-term Treasury securities, the
11th District Federal Home Loan Bank Cost of Fund, the National
Median Cost of Fund, the one-month, three-month, six-month or
one-year London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), the prime rate of
a specific bank, or commercial paper rates. Some indexes, such
as the one-year constant maturity Treasury rate, closely mirror
changes in market interest rate levels. Others, such as the 11th
District Home Loan Bank Cost of Fund index, tend to lag behind
changes in market rate levels. The market value of the Fund's
assets and of the net asset value of the Fund's shares will be
affected by the length of the adjustment period, the degree of
volatility in the applicable indexes and the maximum increase or
decrease of the interest rate adjustment on any one adjustment
date, in any one year and over the life of the securities. These
maximum increases and decreases are typically referred to as
"caps" and "floors", respectively.
A number of factors affect the performance of the Cost of
Funds Index and may cause the Cost of Funds Index to move in a
manner different from indices based upon specific interest rates,
such as the One Year Treasury Index. Additionally, there can be
no assurance that the Cost of Funds Index will necessarily move
in the same direction or at the same rate as prevailing interest
rates. Furthermore, any movement in the Cost of Funds Index as
compared to other indices based upon specific interest rates may
be affected by changes instituted by the FHLB of San Francisco in
the method used to calculate the Cost of Funds Index. To the
extent that the Cost of Funds Index may reflect interest changes
on a more delayed basis than other indices, in a period of rising
interest rates, any increase may produce a higher yield later
than would be produced by such other indices, and in a period of
declining interest rates, the Cost of Funds Index may remain
higher than other market interest rates which may result in a
higher level of principal prepayments on mortgage loans which
PAGE 21
adjust in accordance with the Cost of Funds Index than mortgage
loans which adjust in accordance with other indices.
LIBOR, the London interbank offered rate, is the interest
rate that the most creditworthy international banks dealing in
U.S. dollar-denominated deposits and loans charge each other for
large dollar-denominated loans. LIBOR is also usually the base
rate for large dollar-denominated loans in the international
market. LIBOR is generally quoted for loans having rate
adjustments at one, three, six or 12 month intervals.
Caps and Floors. ARMs will frequently have caps and floors
which limit the maximum amount by which the interest rate to the
residential borrower may move up or down, respectively, each
adjustment period and over the life of the loan. Interest rate
caps on ARM securities may cause them to decrease in value in an
increasing interest rate environment. Such caps may also prevent
their income from increasing to levels commensurate with
prevailing interest rates. Conversely, interest rate floors on
ARM securities may cause their income to remain higher than
prevailing interest rate levels and result in an increase in the
value of such securities. However, this increase may be tempered
by the acceleration of prepayments.
Mortgage securities generally have a maximum maturity of up
to 30 years. However, due to the adjustable rate feature of ARM
securities, their prices are considered to have volatility
characteristics which approximate the average period of time
until the next adjustment of the interest rate. As a result, the
principal volatility of ARM securities may be more comparable to
short- and intermediate-term securities than to longer term fixed
rate mortgage securities. Prepayments however, will increase
their principal volatility. See also the discussion of Mortgage-
Backed Securities on page 9.
Other Mortgage Related Securities. The Fund expects that
governmental, government-related or private entities may create
mortgage loan pools offering pass-through investments in addition
to those described above. The mortgages underlying these
securities may be alternative mortgage instruments, that is,
mortgage instruments whose principal or interest payments may
vary or whose terms to maturity may differ from customary long-
term fixed rate mortgages. As new types of mortgage-related
securities are developed and offered to investors, the investment
manager will, consistent with the Fund's objective, policies and
quality standards, consider making investments in such new types
of securities.
PAGE 22
Asset-Backed Securities
The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in debt
obligations known as asset-backed securities.
The credit quality of most asset-backed securities depends
primarily on the credit quality of the assets underlying such
securities, how well the entity issuing the security is insulated
from the credit risk of the originator or any other affiliated
entities and the amount and quality of any credit support
provided to the securities. The rate of principal payment on
asset-backed securities generally depends on the rate of
principal payments received on the underlying assets which in
turn may be affected by a variety of economic and other factors.
As a result, the yield on any asset-backed security is difficult
to predict with precision and actual yield to maturity may be
more or less than the anticipated yield to maturity. Asset-
backed securities may be classified either as pass-through
certificates or collateralized obligations.
Pass-through certificates are asset-backed securities which
represent an undivided fractional ownership interest in an
underlying pool of assets. Pass-through certificates usually
provide for payments of principal and interest received to be
passed through to its holders, usually after deduction for
certain costs and expenses incurred in administering the pool.
Because pass-through certificates represent an ownership interest
in the underlying assets, the holders thereof bear directly the
risk of any defaults by the obligors on the underlying assets not
covered by any credit support. See "Types of Credit Support".
Asset-backed securities issued in the form of debt
instruments, also known as collateralized obligations, are
generally issued as the debt of a special purpose entity
organized solely for the purpose of owning such assets and
issuing such debt. Such assets are most often trade, credit card
or automobile receivables. The assets collateralizing such
asset-backed securities are pledged to a trustee or custodian for
the benefit of the holders thereof. Such issuers generally hold
no assets other than those underlying the asset-backed securities
and any credit support provided. As a result, although payments
on such asset-backed securities are obligations of the issuers,
in the event of defaults on the underlying assets not covered by
any credit support (see "Types of Credit Support"), the issuing
entities are unlikely to have sufficient assets to satisfy its
obligations on the related asset-backed securities.
Methods of Allocating Cash Flows. While many asset-backed
securities are issued with only one class of security, many
asset-backed securities are issued in more than one class, each
PAGE 23
with different payment terms. Multiple class asset-backed
securities are issued for two main reasons. First, multiple
classes may be used as a method of providing credit support.
This is accomplished typically through creation of one or more
classes whose right to payments on the asset-backed security is
made subordinate to the right to such payments of the remaining
class or classes. See "Types of Credit Support". Second,
multiple classes may permit the issuance of securities with
payment terms, interest rates or other characteristics differing
both from those of each other and from those of the underlying
assets. Examples include so-called "strips" (asset-backed
securities entitling the holder to disproportionate interests
with respect to the allocation of interest and principal of the
assets backing the security), and securities with class or
classes having characteristics which mimic the characteristics of
non-asset-backed securities, such as floating interest rates
(i.e., interest rates which adjust as a specified benchmark
changes) or scheduled amortization of principal.
Asset-backed securities in which the payment streams on the
underlying assets are allocated in a manner different than those
described above may be issued in the future. The Fund may invest
in such asset-backed securities if such investment is otherwise
consistent with its investment objectives and policies and with
the investment restrictions of the Fund.
Types of Credit Support. Asset-backed securities are often
backed by a pool of assets representing the obligations of a
number of different parties. To lessen the effect of failures by
obligors on underlying assets to make payments, such securities
may contain elements of credit support. Such credit support
falls into two classes: liquidity protection and protection
against ultimate default by an obligor on the underlying assets.
Liquidity protection refers to the provision of advances,
generally by the entity administering the pool of assets, to
ensure that scheduled payments on the underlying pool are made in
a timely fashion. Protection against ultimate default ensures
ultimate payment of the obligations on at least a portion of the
assets in the pool. Such protection may be provided through
guarantees, insurance policies or letters of credit obtained from
third parties, through various means of structuring the
transaction or through a combination of such approaches.
Examples of asset-backed securities with credit support arising
out of the structure of the transaction include "senior-
subordinated securities" (multiple class asset-backed securities
with certain classes subordinate to other classes as to the
payment of principal thereon, with the result that defaults on
the underlying assets are borne first by the holders of the
subordinated class) and asset-backed securities that have
PAGE 24
"reserve funds" (where cash or investments, sometimes funded from
a portion of the initial payments on the underlying assets, are
held in reserve against future losses) or that have been
"overcollateralized" (where the scheduled payments on, or the
principal amount of, the underlying assets substantially exceeds
that required to make payment of the asset-backed securities and
pay any servicing or other fees). The degree of credit support
provided on each issue is based generally on historical
information respecting the level of credit risk associated with
such payments. Delinquency or loss in excess of that anticipated
could adversely affect the return on an investment in an asset-
backed security.
Automobile Receivable Securities. The Fund may invest in
Asset-Backed Securities which are backed by receivables from
motor vehicle installment sales contracts or installment loans
secured by motor vehicles ("Automobile Receivable Securities").
Since installment sales contracts for motor vehicles or
installment loans related thereto ("Automobile Contracts")
typically have shorter durations and lower incidences of
prepayment, Automobile Receivable Securities generally will
exhibit a shorter average life and are less susceptible to
prepayment risk.
Most entities that issue Automobile Receivable Securities
create an enforceable interest in its respective Automobile
Contracts only by filing a financing statement and by having the
servicer of the Automobile Contracts, which is usually the
originator of the Automobile Contracts, take custody thereof. In
such circumstances, if the servicer of the Automobile Contracts
were to sell the same Automobile Contracts to another party, in
violation of its obligation not to do so, there is a risk that
such party could acquire an interest in the Automobile Contracts
superior to that of the holders of Automobile Receivable
Securities. Also although most Automobile Contracts grant a
security interest in the motor vehicle being financed, in most
states the security interest in a motor vehicle must be noted on
the certificate of title to create an enforceable security
interest against competing claims of other parties. Due to the
large number of vehicles involved, however, the certificate of
title to each vehicle financed, pursuant to the Automobile
Contracts underlying the Automobile Receivable Security, usually
is not amended to reflect the assignment of the seller's security
interest for the benefit of the holders of the Automobile
Receivable Securities. Therefore, there is the possibility that
recoveries on repossessed collateral may not, in some cases, be
available to support payments on the securities. In addition,
various state and federal securities laws give the motor vehicle
owner the right to assert against the holder of the owner's
Automobile Contract certain defenses such owner would have
PAGE 25
against the seller of the motor vehicle. The assertion of such
defenses could reduce payments on the Automobile Receivable
Securities.
Credit Card Receivable Securities. The Fund may invest in
Asset Backed Securities backed by receivables from revolving
credit card agreements ("Credit Card Receivable Securities").
Credit balances on revolving credit card agreements ("Accounts")
are generally paid down more rapidly than are Automobile
Contracts. Most of the Credit Card Receivable Securities issued
publicly to date have been Pass-Through Certificates. In order
to lengthen the maturity of Credit Card Receivable Securities,
most such securities provide for a fixed period during which only
interest payments on the underlying Accounts are passed through
to the security holder and principal payments received on such
Accounts are used to fund the transfer to the pool of assets
supporting the related Credit Card Receivable Securities of
additional credit card charges made on an Account. The initial
fixed period usually may be shortened upon the occurrence of
specified events which signal a potential deterioration in the
quality of the assets backing the security, such as the
imposition of a cap on interest rates. The ability of the issuer
to extend the life of an issue of Credit Card Receivable
Securities thus depends upon the continued generation of
additional principal amounts in the underlying accounts during
the initial period and the non-occurrence of specified events.
An acceleration in cardholders' payment rates or any other event
which shortens the period during which additional credit card
charges on an Account may be transferred to the pool of assets
supporting the related Credit Card Receivable Security could
shorten the weighted average life and yield of the Credit Card
Receivable Security.
Credit cardholders are entitled to the protection of a
number of state and federal consumer credit laws, many of which
give such holder the right to set off certain amounts against
balances owed on the credit card, thereby reducing amounts paid
on Accounts. In addition, unlike most other Asset Backed
Securities, Accounts are unsecured obligations of the cardholder.
Other Assets. T. Rowe Price anticipates that Asset Backed
Securities backed by assets other than those described above will
be issued in the future. The Fund may invest in such securities
in the future if such investment is otherwise consistent with its
investment objective and policies.
Hybrid Instruments
Hybrid Instruments have been developed and combine the
elements of futures contracts or options with those of debt,
PAGE 26
preferred equity or a depository instrument (hereinafter "Hybrid
Instruments"). Generally, a Hybrid Instrument will be a debt
security, preferred stock, depository share, trust certificate,
certificate of deposit or other evidence of indebtedness on which
a portion of or all interest payments, and/or the principal or
stated amount payable at maturity, redemption or retirement, is
determined by reference to prices, changes in prices, or
differences between prices, of securities, currencies,
intangibles, goods, articles or commodities (collectively
"Underlying Assets") or by another objective index, economic
factor or other measure, such as interest rates, currency
exchange rates, commodity indices, and securities indices
(collectively "Benchmarks"). Thus, Hybrid Instruments may take a
variety of forms, including, but not limited to, debt instruments
with interest or principal payments or redemption terms
determined by reference to the value of a currency or commodity
or securities index at a future point in time, preferred stock
with dividend rates determined by reference to the value of a
currency, or convertible securities with the conversion terms
related to a particular commodity.
Hybrid Instruments can be an efficient means of creating
exposure to a particular market, or segment of a market, with the
objective of enhancing total return. For example, a Fund may
wish to take advantage of expected declines in interest rates in
several European countries, but avoid the transactions costs
associated with buying and currency-hedging the foreign bond
positions. One solution would be to purchase a U.S. dollar-
denominated Hybrid Instrument whose redemption price is linked to
the average three year interest rate in a designated group of
countries. The redemption price formula would provide for
payoffs of greater than par if the average interest rate was
lower than a specified level, and payoffs of less than par if
rates were above the specified level. Furthermore, the Fund
could limit the downside risk of the security by establishing a
minimum redemption price so that the principal paid at maturity
could not be below a predetermined minimum level if interest
rates were to rise significantly. The purpose of this
arrangement, known as a structured security with an embedded put
option, would be to give the Fund the desired European bond
exposure while avoiding currency risk, limiting downside market
risk, and lowering transactions costs. Of course, there is no
guarantee that the strategy will be successful and the Fund could
lose money if, for example, interest rates do not move as
anticipated or credit problems develop with the issuer of the
Hybrid.
The risks of investing in Hybrid Instruments reflect a
combination of the risks of investing in securities, options,
futures and currencies. Thus, an investment in a Hybrid
PAGE 27
Instrument may entail significant risks that are not associated
with a similar investment in a traditional debt instrument that
has a fixed principal amount, is denominated in U.S. dollars or
bears interest either at a fixed rate or a floating rate
determined by reference to a common, nationally published
Benchmark. The risks of a particular Hybrid Instrument will, of
course, depend upon the terms of the instrument, but may include,
without limitation, the possibility of significant changes in the
Benchmarks or the prices of Underlying Assets to which the
instrument is linked. Such risks generally depend upon factors
which are unrelated to the operations or credit quality of the
issuer of the Hybrid Instrument and which may not be readily
foreseen by the purchaser, such as economic and political events,
the supply and demand for the Underlying Assets and interest rate
movements. In recent years, various Benchmarks and prices for
Underlying Assets have been highly volatile, and such volatility
may be expected in the future. Reference is also made to the
discussion of futures, options, and forward contracts herein for
a discussion of the risks associated with such investments.
Hybrid Instruments are potentially more volatile and carry
greater market risks than traditional debt instruments.
Depending on the structure of the particular Hybrid Instrument,
changes in a Benchmark may be magnified by the terms of the
Hybrid Instrument and have an even more dramatic and substantial
effect upon the value of the Hybrid Instrument. Also, the prices
of the Hybrid Instrument and the Benchmark or Underlying Asset
may not move in the same direction or at the same time.
Hybrid Instruments may bear interest or pay preferred
dividends at below market (or even relatively nominal) rates.
Alternatively, Hybrid Instruments may bear interest at above
market rates but bear an increased risk of principal loss (or
gain). The latter scenario may result if "leverage" is used to
structure the Hybrid Instrument. Leverage risk occurs when the
Hybrid Instrument is structured so that a given change in a
Benchmark or Underlying Asset is multiplied to produce a greater
value change in the Hybrid Instrument, thereby magnifying the
risk of loss as well as the potential for gain.
Hybrid Instruments may also carry liquidity risk since the
instruments are often "customized" to meet the portfolio needs of
a particular investor, and therefore, the number of investors
that are willing and able to buy such instruments in the
secondary market may be smaller than that for more traditional
debt securities. In addition, because the purchase and sale of
Hybrid Instruments could take place in an over-the-counter market
without the guarantee of a central clearing organization or in a
transaction between the Fund and the issuer of the Hybrid
Instrument, the creditworthiness of the counter party or issuer
PAGE 28
of the Hybrid Instrument would be an additional risk factor which
the Fund would have to consider and monitor. Hybrid Instruments
also may not be subject to regulation of the Commodities Futures
Trading Commission ("CFTC"), which generally regulates the
trading of commodity futures by U.S. persons, the SEC, which
regulates the offer and sale of securities by and to U.S.
persons, or any other governmental regulatory authority.
The various risks discussed above, particularly the market
risk of such instruments, may in turn cause significant
fluctuations in the net asset value of the Fund. Accordingly,
the Fund will limit its investments in Hybrid Instruments to 10%
of net assets. However, because of their volatility, it is
possible that the Fund's investment in Hybrid Instruments will
account for more than 10% of the Fund's return (positive or
negative).
Adjustable Rate Securities
Certain securities may be issued with adjustable interest
rates that are reset periodically by pre-determined formulas or
indexes in order to minimize movements in the principal value of
the investment. Such securities may have long-term maturities,
but may be treated as a short-term investment under certain
conditions. Generally, as interest rates decrease or increase,
the potential for capital appreciation or depreciation on these
securities is less than for fixed-rate obligations. These
securities may take the following forms:
Variable Rate Securities. Variable rate instruments may
take the form of domestic certificates of deposit which
provide for the adjustment of its interest rate on set dates
and which, upon adjustment, can reasonably be expected to
have a market value which approximates its par value. A
variable rate instrument, the principal amount of which is
scheduled to be paid in 397 calendar days or less, is deemed
to have a maturity equal to the period remaining until the
next readjustment of the interest rate. A variable rate
instrument which is subject to a demand feature which
entitles the purchaser to receive the principal amount of
the underlying security or securities, either (i) upon
notice of no more than 30 days, or (ii) at specified
intervals not exceeding 397 calendar days and upon no more
than 30 days' notice, is deemed to have a maturity equal to
the longer of the period remaining until the next
readjustment of the interest rate or the period remaining
until the principal amount can be recovered through demand.
Floating Rate Securities. Floating rate may take the form
of corporate or bank holding company notes or Eurodollar
PAGE 29
certificates of deposit. These instruments provide for the
adjustment of its interest rates whenever a specified
interest rate changes and which, at any time, can reasonably
be expected to have a market value that approximates its par
value. Floating rate instruments with demand features are
deemed to have a maturity equal to the period remaining
until the principal amount can be recovered through demand.
An instrument that is issued or guaranteed by the U.S.
Government or any agency thereof which has a variable rate
of interest readjusted no less frequently than every 762
days may be deemed to have a maturity equal to the period
remaining until the next readjustment of the interest rate.
Put Option Bonds. Long-term obligations with maturities
longer than one year may provide purchasers an optional or
mandatory tender of the security at par value at
predetermined intervals, often ranging from one month to
several years (e.g., a 30-year bond with a five-year tender
period). These instruments are deemed to have a maturity
equal to the period remaining to the put date.
When-Issued Securities and Forward Commitment Contracts
The Fund may purchase securities on a "when-issued" or
delayed delivery basis ("When-Issueds") and the Fund may purchase
securities on a forward commitment basis ("Forwards"). The price
of such securities, which may be expressed in yield terms, is
fixed at the time the commitment to purchase is made, but
delivery and payment for take place at a later date. Normally,
the settlement date occurs within 90 days of the purchase for
When-Issueds, but may be substantially longer for Forwards.
During the period between purchase and settlement, no payment is
made by the Fund to the issuer and no interest accrues to the
Fund. The purchase of these securities will result in a loss if
its value declines prior to the settlement date. This could
occur, for example, if interest rates increase prior to
settlement. The longer the period between purchase and
settlement the greater these risks are. At the time the Fund
makes the commitment to purchase these securities, it will record
the transaction and reflect the value of the security in
determining its net asset value. The Fund will cover these
securities by maintaining cash and/or liquid, high-grade debt
securities with its custodian bank equal in value to commitments
for them during the time between purchase and settlement.
Therefore, the longer this period, the longer the time during
which alternative investment options are not available to the
Fund (to the extent of the securities used for cover). Such
securities either will mature or, if necessary, be sold on or
before the settlement date.
PAGE 30
To the extent the Fund remains fully or almost fully
invested (in securities with a remaining maturity of more than
one year) at the same time it purchases these securities, there
will be greater fluctuations in the Fund's net asset value than
if the Fund did not purchase them.
Illiquid or Restricted Securities
Restricted securities may be sold only in privately
negotiated transactions or in a public offering with respect to
which a registration statement is in effect under the Securities
Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act"). Where registration is required,
the Fund 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 Fund may be permitted to
sell a security under an effective registration statement. If,
during such a period, adverse market conditions were to develop,
the Fund might obtain a less favorable price than prevailed when
it decided to sell. Restricted securities will be priced at fair
value as determined in accordance with procedures prescribed by
the Fund's Board of Directors. If through the appreciation of
illiquid securities or the depreciation of liquid securities, the
Fund should be in a position where more than 15% of the value of
its net assets are invested in illiquid assets, including
restricted securities, the Fund will take appropriate steps to
protect liquidity.
Notwithstanding the above, the Fund may purchase securities
which, while privately placed, are eligible for purchase and sale
under Rule 144A under the 1933 Act. This rule permits certain
qualified institutional buyers, such as the Fund, to trade in
privately placed securities even though such securities are not
registered under the 1933 Act. T. Rowe Price under the
supervision of the Fund's Board of Directors, will consider
whether securities purchased under Rule 144A are illiquid and
thus subject to the Fund's restriction of investing no more than
15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. A determination of
whether a Rule 144A security is liquid or not is a question of
fact. In making this determination, T. Rowe Price will consider
the trading markets for the specific security taking into account
the unregistered nature of a Rule 144A security. In addition,
T. Rowe Price could consider the (1) frequency of trades and
quotes, (2) number of dealers and potential purchases, (3) dealer
undertakings to make a market, and (4) the nature of the security
and of marketplace trades (e.g., the time needed to dispose of
the security, the method of soliciting offers and the mechanics
of transfer). The liquidity of Rule 144A securities would be
monitored, and if as a result of changed conditions it is
determined that a Rule 144A security is no longer liquid, a
Fund's holdings of illiquid securities would be reviewed to
PAGE 31
determine what, if any, steps are required to assure that the
Fund does not invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid
securities. Investing in Rule 144A securities could have the
effect of increasing the amount of a Fund's assets invested in
illiquid securities if qualified institutional buyers are
unwilling to purchase such securities.
There are, of course, other types of securities that are, or
may become available, which are similar to the foregoing and the
Fund may invest in these securities.
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Lending of Portfolio Securities
Securities loans are made to broker-dealers or institutional
investors or other persons, pursuant to agreements requiring that
the loans be continuously secured by collateral at least equal at
all times to the value of the securities lent marked to market on
a daily basis. The collateral received will consist of cash,
U.S. government securities, letters of credit or such other
collateral as may be permitted under its investment program.
While the securities are being lent, the Fund will continue to
receive the equivalent of the interest or dividends paid by the
issuer on the securities, as well as interest on the investment
of the collateral or a fee from the borrower. The Fund has a
right to call each loan and obtain the securities on five
business days' notice or, in connection with securities trading
on foreign markets, within such longer period of time which
coincides with the normal settlement period for purchases and
sales of such securities in such foreign markets. The Fund will
not have the right to vote securities while they are being lent,
but it will call a loan in anticipation of any important vote.
The risks in lending portfolio securities, as with other
extensions of secured credit, consist of possible delay in
receiving additional collateral or in the recovery of the
securities or possible loss of rights in the collateral should
the borrower fail financially. Loans will only be made to firms
deemed by T. Rowe Price to be of good standing and will not be
made unless, in the judgment of T. Rowe Price, the consideration
to be earned from such loans would justify the risk.
Other Lending/Borrowing
Subject to approval by the Securities and Exchange
Commission, the Fund may make loans to, or borrow funds from,
other mutual funds sponsored or advised by T. Rowe Price or
Price-Fleming (collectively, "Price Funds"). The Fund has no
current intention of engaging in these practices at this time.
PAGE 32
Repurchase Agreements
The Fund may enter into a repurchase agreement through which
an investor (such as the Fund) purchases a security (known as the
"underlying security") from a well-established securities dealer
or a bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System. Any
such dealer or bank will be on T. Rowe Price's approved list and
have a credit rating with respect to its short-term debt of at
least A1 by Standard & Poor's Ratings Group, P1 by Moody's
Investors Service, or the equivalent rating by T. Rowe Price. At
that time, the bank or securities dealer agrees to repurchase the
underlying security at the same price, plus specified interest.
Repurchase agreements are generally for a short period of time,
often less than a week. Repurchase agreements which do not
provide for payment within seven days will be treated as illiquid
securities. The Fund will only enter into repurchase agreements
where (i) the underlying securities are of the type (excluding
maturity limitations) which the Fund's investment guidelines
would allow it to purchase directly, (ii) the market value of the
underlying security, including interest accrued, will be at all
times equal to or exceed the value of the repurchase agreement,
and (iii) payment for the underlying security is made only upon
physical delivery or evidence of book-entry transfer to the
account of the custodian or a bank acting as agent. In the event
of a bankruptcy or other default of a seller of a repurchase
agreement, a Fund could experience both delays in liquidating the
underlying security and losses, including: (a) possible decline
in the value of the underlying security during the period while
the Fund seeks to enforce its rights thereto; (b) possible
subnormal levels of income and lack of access to income during
this period; and (c) expenses of enforcing its rights.
Reverse Repurchase Agreements
Although the Fund has no current intention, in the
foreseeable future, of engaging in reverse repurchase agreements,
the Fund reserves the right to do so. Reverse repurchase
agreements are ordinary repurchase agreements in which a Fund is
the seller of, rather than the investor in, securities, and
agrees to repurchase them at an agreed upon time and price. Use
of a reverse repurchase agreement may be preferable to a regular
sale and later repurchase of the securities because it avoids
certain market risks and transaction costs. A reverse repurchase
agreement may be viewed as a type of borrowing by the Fund,
subject to Investment Restriction (1). (See "Investment
Restrictions," page 37.)
Options
Options are a type of potentially high risk derivative.
PAGE 33
Writing Covered Call Options
The Fund may write (sell) American or European style
"covered" call options and purchase options to close out options
previously written by a Fund. In writing covered call options, a
Fund expects to generate additional premium income which should
serve to enhance the Fund's total return and reduce the effect of
any price decline of the security or currency involved in the
option. Covered call options will generally be written on
securities or currencies which, in T. Rowe Price's opinion, are
not expected to have any major price increases or moves in the
near future but which, over the long term, are deemed to be
attractive investments for a Fund.
A call option gives the holder (buyer) the "right to
purchase" a security or currency at a specified price (the
exercise price) at expiration of the option (European style) or
at any time until a certain date (the expiration date) (American
style). So long as the obligation of the writer of a call option
continues, he may be assigned an exercise notice by the broker-
dealer through whom such option was sold, requiring him to
deliver the underlying security or currency against payment of
the exercise price. This obligation terminates upon the
expiration of the call option, or such earlier time at which the
writer effects a closing purchase transaction by repurchasing an
option identical to that previously sold. To secure his
obligation to deliver the underlying security or currency in the
case of a call option, a writer is required to deposit in escrow
the underlying security or currency or other assets in accordance
with the rules of a clearing corporation. The Fund will write
only covered call options. This means that a Fund will own the
security or currency subject to the option or an option to
purchase the same underlying security or currency, having an
exercise price equal to or less than the exercise price of the
"covered" option, or will establish and maintain with its
custodian for the term of the option, an account consisting of
cash, U.S. government securities or other liquid high-grade debt
obligations having a value equal to the fluctuating market value
of the optioned securities or currencies.
Portfolio securities or currencies on which call options may
be written will be purchased solely on the basis of investment
considerations consistent with the Fund's investment objective.
The writing of covered call options is a conservative investment
technique believed to involve relatively little risk (in contrast
to the writing of naked or uncovered options, which the Fund will
not do), but capable of enhancing a Fund's total return. When
writing a covered call option, a Fund, in return for the premium,
gives up the opportunity for profit from a price increase in the
underlying security or currency above the exercise price, but
PAGE 34
conversely retains the risk of loss should the price of the
security or currency decline. Unlike one who owns securities or
currencies not subject to an option, a Fund has no control over
when it may be required to sell the underlying securities or
currencies, since it may be assigned an exercise notice at any
time prior to the expiration of its obligation as a writer. If a
call option which a Fund has written expires, the Fund will
realize a gain in the amount of the premium; however, such gain
may be offset by a decline in the market value of the underlying
security or currency during the option period. If the call
option is exercised, the Fund will realize a gain or loss from
the sale of the underlying security or currency. The Fund does
not consider a security or currency covered by a call to be
"pledged" as that term is used in the Fund's policy which limits
the pledging or mortgaging of its assets.
The premium received is the market value of an option. The
premium a Fund will receive from writing a call option will
reflect, among other things, the current market price of the
underlying security or currency, the relationship of the exercise
price to such market price, the historical price volatility of
the underlying security or currency, and the length of the option
period. Once the decision to write a call option has been made,
T. Rowe Price, in determining whether a particular call option
should be written on a particular security or currency, will
consider the reasonableness of the anticipated premium and the
likelihood that a liquid secondary market will exist for those
options. The premium received by a Fund for writing covered call
options will be recorded as a liability of the Fund. This
liability will be adjusted daily to the option's current market
value, which will be the latest sale price at the time at which
the net asset value per share of a Fund is computed (close of the
New York Stock Exchange), or, in the absence of such sale, the
latest asked price. The option will be terminated upon
expiration of the option, the purchase of an identical option in
a closing transaction, or delivery of the underlying security or
currency upon the exercise of the option.
Closing transactions will be effected in order to realize a
profit on an outstanding call option, to prevent an underlying
security or currency from being called, or, to permit the sale of
the underlying security or currency. Furthermore, effecting a
closing transaction will permit a Fund to write another call
option on the underlying security or currency with either a
different exercise price or expiration date or both. If a Fund
desires to sell a particular security or currency from its
portfolio on which it has written a call option, or purchased a
put option, it will seek to effect a closing transaction prior
to, or concurrently with, the sale of the security or currency.
There is, of course, no assurance that a Fund will be able to
PAGE 35
effect such closing transactions at favorable prices. If a Fund
cannot enter into such a transaction, it may be required to hold
a security or currency that it might otherwise have sold. When a
Fund writes a covered call option, it runs the risk of not being
able to participate in the appreciation of the underlying
securities or currencies above the exercise price, as well as the
risk of being required to hold on to securities or currencies
that are depreciating in value. This could result in higher
transaction costs. The Fund will pay transaction costs in
connection with the writing of options to close out previously
written options. Such transaction costs are normally higher than
those applicable to purchases and sales of portfolio securities.
Call options written by a Fund will normally have expiration
dates of less than nine months from the date written. The
exercise price of the options may be below, equal to, or above
the current market values of the underlying securities or
currencies at the time the options are written. From time to
time, a Fund may purchase an underlying security or currency for
delivery in accordance with an exercise notice of a call option
assigned to it, rather than delivering such security or currency
from its portfolio. In such cases, additional costs may be
incurred.
A Fund will realize a profit or loss from a closing purchase
transaction if the cost of the transaction is less or more than
the premium received from the writing of the option. Because
increases in the market price of a call option will generally
reflect increases in the market price of the underlying security
or currency, any loss resulting from the repurchase of a call
option is likely to be offset in whole or in part by appreciation
of the underlying security or currency owned by the Fund.
The Fund will not write a covered call option if, as a
result, the aggregate market value of all portfolio securities or
currencies covering written call or put options exceeds 25% of
the market value of the Fund's net assets. In calculating the
25% limit, the Fund will offset, against the value of assets
covering written calls and puts, the aggregate market value of
all assets underlying purchased calls and puts on identical
securities or currencies with identical maturity dates.
Writing Covered Put Options
The Fund may write American or European style covered put
options and purchase options to close out options previously
written by the Fund. A put option gives the purchaser of the
option the right to sell, and the writer (seller) has the
obligation to buy, the underlying security or currency at the
exercise price during the option period (American style) or at
PAGE 36
the expiration of the option (European style). So long as the
obligation of the writer continues, he may be assigned an
exercise notice by the broker-dealer through whom such option was
sold, requiring him to make payment of the exercise price against
delivery of the underlying security or currency. The operation
of put options in other respects, including its related risks and
rewards, is substantially identical to that of call options.
The Fund would write put options only on a covered basis,
which means that the Fund would maintain in a segregated account
cash, U.S. government securities or other liquid high-grade debt
obligations in an amount not less than the exercise price or the
Fund will own an option to sell the underlying security or
currency subject to the option having an exercise price equal to
or greater than the exercise price of the "covered" option at all
times while the put option is outstanding. (The rules of a
clearing corporation currently require that such assets be
deposited in escrow to secure payment of the exercise price.) A
Fund would generally write covered put options in circumstances
where T. Rowe Price wishes to purchase the underlying security or
currency for the Fund's portfolio at a price lower than the
current market price of the security or currency. In such event
a Fund would write a put option at an exercise price which,
reduced by the premium received on the option, reflects the lower
price it is willing to pay. Since a Fund would also receive
interest on debt securities or currencies maintained to cover the
exercise price of the option, this technique could be used to
enhance current return during periods of market uncertainty. The
risk in such a transaction would be that the market price of the
underlying security or currency would decline below the exercise
price less the premiums received. Such a decline could be
substantial and result in a significant loss to the Fund. In
addition, a Fund, because it does not own the specific securities
or currencies which it may be required to purchase in exercise of
the put, cannot benefit from appreciation, if any, with respect
to such specific securities or currencies.
The Fund will not write a covered put option if, as a
result, the aggregate market value of all portfolio securities or
currencies covering written put or call options exceeds 25% of
the market value of the Fund's net assets. In calculating the
25% limit, the Fund will offset, against the value of assets
covering written puts and calls, the aggregate market value of
all assets underlying purchased puts and calls on identical
securities or currencies with identical maturity dates.
Purchasing Put Options
The Fund may purchase American or European style put
options. As the holder of a put option, the Fund has the right
PAGE 37
to sell the underlying security or currency at the exercise price
at any time during the option period (American style) or at the
expiration of the option (European style). The Fund may enter
into closing sale transactions with respect to such options,
exercise them or permit them to expire. The Fund may purchase
put options for defensive purposes in order to protect against an
anticipated decline in the value of its securities or currencies.
An example of such use of put options is provided below.
A Fund may purchase a put option on an underlying security
or currency (a "protective put") owned by the Fund as a defensive
technique in order to protect against an anticipated decline in
the value of the security or currency. Such hedge protection is
provided only during the life of the put option when a Fund, as
the holder of the put option, is able to sell the underlying
security or currency at the put exercise price regardless of any
decline in the underlying security's market price or currency's
exchange value. For example, a put option may be purchased in
order to protect unrealized appreciation of a security or
currency where T. Rowe Price deems it desirable to continue to
hold the security or currency because of tax considerations. The
premium paid for the put option and any transaction costs would
reduce any capital gain otherwise available for distribution when
the security or currency is eventually sold.
The Fund may also purchase put options at a time when the
Fund does not own the underlying security or currency. By
purchasing put options on a security or currency it does not own,
a Fund seeks to benefit from a decline in the market price of the
underlying security or currency. If the put option is not sold
when it has remaining value, and if the market price of the
underlying security or currency remains equal to or greater than
the exercise price during the life of the put option, a Fund will
lose its entire investment in the put option. In order for the
purchase of a put option to be profitable, the market price of
the underlying security or currency must decline sufficiently
below the exercise price to cover the premium and transaction
costs, unless the put option is sold in a closing sale
transaction.
The Fund will not commit more than 5% of its assets to
premiums when purchasing put and call options. The premium paid
by a Fund when purchasing a put option will be recorded as an
asset of the Fund. This asset will be adjusted daily to the
option's current market value, which will be the latest sale
price at the time at which the net asset value per share of the
Fund is computed (close of New York Stock Exchange), or, in the
absence of such sale, the latest bid price. This asset will be
terminated upon expiration of the option, the selling (writing)
of an identical option in a closing transaction, or the delivery
PAGE 38
of the underlying security or currency upon the exercise of the
option.
Purchasing Call Options
The Fund may purchase American or European style call
options. As the holder of a call option, the Fund has the right
to purchase the underlying security or currency at the exercise
price at any time during the option period (American style) or at
the expiration of the option (European style). The Fund may
enter into closing sale transactions with respect to such
options, exercise them or permit them to expire. The Fund may
purchase call options for the purpose of increasing its current
return or avoiding tax consequences which could reduce its
current return. The Fund may also purchase call options in order
to acquire the underlying securities or currencies. Examples of
such uses of call options are provided below.
Call options may be purchased by a Fund for the purpose of
acquiring the underlying securities or currencies for its
portfolio. Utilized in this fashion, the purchase of call
options enables a Fund to acquire the securities or currencies at
the exercise price of the call option plus the premium paid. At
times the net cost of acquiring securities or currencies in this
manner may be less than the cost of acquiring the securities or
currencies directly. This technique may also be useful to a Fund
in purchasing a large block of securities or currencies that
would be more difficult to acquire by direct market purchases.
So long as it holds such a call option rather than the underlying
security or currency itself, a Fund is partially protected from
any unexpected decline in the market price of the underlying
security or currency and in such event could allow the call
option to expire, incurring a loss only to the extent of the
premium paid for the option.
The Fund will not commit more than 5% of its assets to
premiums when purchasing call and put options. The Fund may also
purchase call options on underlying securities or currencies it
owns in order to protect unrealized gains on call options
previously written by it. A call option would be purchased for
this purpose where tax considerations make it inadvisable to
realize such gains through a closing purchase transaction. Call
options may also be purchased at times to avoid realizing losses.
Dealer (Over-the-Counter) Options
The Fund may engage in transactions involving dealer
options. Certain risks are specific to dealer options. While a
Fund would look to a clearing corporation to exercise exchange-
PAGE 39
traded options, if the Fund were to purchase a dealer option, it
would rely on the dealer from whom it purchased the option to
perform if the option were exercised. Failure by the dealer to
do so would result in the loss of the premium paid by a Fund as
well as loss of the expected benefit of the transaction.
Exchange-traded options generally have a continuous liquid
market while dealer options have none. Consequently, a Fund will
generally be able to realize the value of a dealer option it has
purchased only by exercising it or reselling it to the dealer who
issued it. Similarly, when a Fund writes a dealer option, it
generally will be able to close out the option prior to its
expiration only by entering into a closing purchase transaction
with the dealer to which the Fund originally wrote the option.
While the Fund will seek to enter into dealer options only with
dealers who will agree to and which are expected to be capable of
entering into closing transactions with the Fund, there can be no
assurance that the Fund will be able to liquidate a dealer option
at a favorable price at any time prior to expiration. Until a
Fund, as a covered dealer call option writer, is able to effect a
closing purchase transaction, it will not be able to liquidate
securities (or other assets) or currencies used as cover until
the option expires or is exercised. In the event of insolvency
of the contra party, a Fund may be unable to liquidate a dealer
option. With respect to options written by a Fund, the inability
to enter into a closing transaction may result in material losses
to the Fund. For example, since a Fund must maintain a secured
position with respect to any call option on a security it writes,
the Fund may not sell the assets which it has segregated to
secure the position while it is obligated under the option. This
requirement may impair a Fund's ability to sell portfolio
securities or currencies at a time when such sale might be
advantageous.
Interest Rate Transactions
The Fund may enter into various interest rate transactions
such as interest rate swaps and the purchase or sale of interest
rate caps and floors, to preserve a return or spread on a
particular investment or portion of its portfolio, to create
synthetic securities, or to structure transactions designed for
other non-speculative purposes.
Interest rate swaps involve the exchange by the Fund with
third parties of its respective commitments to pay or receive
interest, e.g., an exchange of floating rate payments for fixed
rate payments. The purchase of an interest rate cap entitles the
purchaser, to the extent that a specified index exceeds a
predetermined interest rate, to receive payments of interest on a
contractually-based principal amount from the party selling the
PAGE 40
interest rate cap. The purchase of an interest rate floor
entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index
falls below a predetermined interest rate, to receive payments of
interest on a contractually-based principal amount from the party
selling the interest rate floor. In circumstances in which
T. Rowe Price anticipates that interest rates will decline, the
Fund might, for example, enter into an interest rate swap as the
floating rate payor. In the case where the Fund purchase such an
interest rate swap, if the floating rate payments fell below the
level of the fixed rate payment set in the swap agreement, the
Fund's counterparties would pay the Fund's amounts equal to
interest computed at the difference between the fixed and
floating rates over the national principal amount. Such payments
would offset or partially offset the decrease in the payments the
Fund would receive in respect of floating rate assets being
hedged. In the case of purchasing an interest rate floor, if
interest rates declined below the floor rate, the Fund would
receive payments from the counterparties which would wholly or
partially offset the decrease in the payments they would receive
in respect of the financial instruments being hedged.
The Fund will usually enter into interest rate swaps on a
net basis, i.e., the two payment streams are netted out, with the
Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount
of the two payments. The net amount of the excess, if any, of
the Fund's obligations over its entitlements with respect to each
interest rate swap will be accrued on a daily basis and an amount
of cash or high-quality liquid securities having an aggregate net
asset value at least equal to the accrued excess will be
maintained in an account by the Fund's custodian. If the Fund
enters into an interest rate swap on other than a net basis, the
Fund would maintain an account in the full amount accrued on a
daily basis of the Fund's obligations with respect to the swap.
To the extent the Fund sells (i.e., writes) caps and floors, it
will maintain in an account cash or high-quality liquid debt
securities having an aggregate net asset value at least equal to
the full amount, accrued on a daily basis, of the Fund's
obligations with respect to any caps or floors. The Fund will
not enter into any interest rate swap, cap or floor transaction
unless the unsecured senior debt or the claims paying ability of
the counterparty thereto is rated at least A by S&P. T. Rowe
Price will monitor the creditworthiness of counterparties on an
ongoing basis. If there is a default by the other parties to
such a transaction, the Fund will have contractual remedies
pursuant to the agreements related to the transaction.
The swap market has grown substantially in recent years with
a large number of banks and investment banking firms acting both
as principals and as agents utilizing standardized swap
documentation. T. Rowe Price has determined that, as a result,
PAGE 41
the swap market has become relative liquid. The Fund may enter
into interest rate swaps only with respect to positions held in
its portfolio. Interest rate swaps do not involve the delivery
of securities or other underlying assets or principal.
Accordingly, the risk of loss with respect to interest rate swaps
is limited to the net amount of interest payments that the Fund
is contractually obligated to make. If the other parties to
interest rate swaps default, the Fund's risk of loss consists of
the net amount of interest payments that the Fund is
contractually entitled to receive. Since interest rate swaps are
individually negotiated, the Fund expects to achieve an
acceptable degree of correlation between its right to receive
interest on loan interests and its right and obligation to
receive and pay interest pursuant to interest rate swaps.
The aggregate purchase price of caps and floors held by the
Fund may not exceed 10% of the Fund's total assets. The Fund may
sell (i.e., write) caps and floors without limitation, subject to
the account coverage requirement described above.
Futures Contracts
Futures are a type of potentially high-risk derivative.
Transactions in Futures
The Fund may enter into futures contracts, including
interest rate and currency futures ("futures or futures
contracts").
Interest rate or currency futures contracts may be used as a
hedge against changes in prevailing levels of interest rates or
currency exchange rates in order to establish more definitely the
effective return on securities or currencies held or intended to
be acquired by the Fund. In this regard, the Fund could sell
interest rate or currency futures as an offset against the effect
of expected increases in interest rates or currency exchange
rates and purchase such futures as an offset against the effect
of expected declines in interest rates or currency exchange
rates.
The Fund will enter into futures contracts which are traded
on national or foreign futures exchanges, and are standardized as
to maturity date and underlying financial instrument. Futures
exchanges and trading in the United States are regulated under
the Commodity Exchange Act by the CFTC. Futures are traded in
London, at the London International Financial Futures Exchange,
in Paris, at the MATIF, and in Tokyo, at the Tokyo Stock
Exchange. Although techniques other than the sale and purchase
of futures contracts could be used for the above-referenced
PAGE 42
purposes, futures contracts offer an effective and relatively low
cost means of implementing the Fund's objectives in these areas.
Regulatory Limitations
The Fund will engage in futures contracts and options
thereon only for bona fide hedging, yield enhancement, and risk
management purposes, in each case in accordance with rules and
regulations of the CFTC.
The Fund may not purchase or sell futures contracts or
related options if, with respect to positions which do not
qualify as bona fide hedging under applicable CFTC rules, the sum
of the amounts of initial margin deposits and premiums paid on
those positions would exceed 5% of the net asset value of the
Fund after taking into account unrealized profits and unrealized
losses on any such contracts it has entered into; provided,
however, that in the case of an option that is in-the-money at
the time of purchase, the in-the-money amount may be excluded in
calculating the 5% limitation. For purposes of this policy
options on futures contracts and foreign currency options traded
on a commodities exchange will be considered "related options".
This policy may be modified by the Board of Directors/Trustees
without a shareholder vote and does not limit the percentage of
the Fund's assets at risk to 5%.
The Fund's use of futures contracts will not result in
leverage. Therefore, to the extent necessary, in instances
involving the purchase of futures contracts or the writing of
call or put options thereon by the Fund, an amount of cash, U.S.
government securities or other liquid, high-grade debt
obligations, equal to the market value of the futures contracts
and options thereon (less any related margin deposits), will be
identified in an account with the Fund's custodian to cover the
position, or alternative cover (such as owning an offsetting
position) will be employed. Assets used as cover or held in an
identified account cannot be sold while the position in the
corresponding option or future is open, unless they are replaced
with similar assets. As a result, the commitment of a large
portion of a Fund's assets to cover or identified accounts could
impede portfolio management or the fund's ability to meet
redemption requests or other current obligations.
If the CFTC or other regulatory authorities adopt different
(including less stringent) or additional restrictions, the Fund
would comply with such new restrictions.
PAGE 43
Trading in Futures Contracts
A futures contract provides for the future sale by one party
and purchase by another party of a specified amount of a specific
financial instrument (e.g., units of a debt security) for a
specified price, date, time and place designated at the time the
contract is made. Brokerage fees are incurred when a futures
contract is bought or sold and margin deposits must be
maintained. Entering into a contract to buy is commonly referred
to as buying or purchasing a contract or holding a long position.
Entering into a contract to sell is commonly referred to as
selling a contract or holding a short position.
Unlike when the Fund purchases or sells a security, no price
would be paid or received by the Fund upon the purchase or sale
of a futures contract. Upon entering into a futures contract,
and to maintain the Fund's open positions in futures contracts,
the Fund would be required to deposit with its custodian in a
segregated account in the name of the futures broker an amount of
cash, U.S. government securities, suitable money market
instruments, or liquid, high-grade debt securities, known as
"initial margin." The margin required for a particular futures
contract is set by the exchange on which the contract is traded,
and may be significantly modified from time to time by the
exchange during the term of the contract. Futures contracts are
customarily purchased and sold on margins that may range upward
from less than 5% of the value of the contract being traded.
If the price of an open futures contract changes (by
increase in the case of a sale or by decrease in the case of a
purchase) so that the loss on the futures contract reaches a
point at which the margin on deposit does not satisfy margin
requirements, the broker will require an increase in the margin.
However, if the value of a position increases because of
favorable price changes in the futures contract so that the
margin deposit exceeds the required margin, the broker will pay
the excess to the Fund.
These subsequent payments, called "variation margin," to and
from the futures broker, are made on a daily basis as the price
of the underlying assets fluctuate making the long and short
positions in the futures contract more or less valuable, a
process known as "marking to the market." The Fund expects to
earn interest income on its margin deposits.
Although certain futures contracts, by their terms, require
actual future delivery of and payment for the underlying
instruments, in practice most futures contracts are usually
closed out before the delivery date. Closing out an open futures
contract purchase or sale is effected by entering into an
PAGE 44
offsetting futures contract sale or purchase, respectively, for
the same aggregate amount of the identical securities and the
same delivery date. If the offsetting purchase price is less
than the original sale price, the Fund realizes a gain; if it is
more, the Fund realizes a loss. Conversely, if the offsetting
sale price is more than the original purchase price, the Fund
realizes a gain; if it is less, the Fund realizes a loss. The
transaction costs must also be included in these calculations.
There can be no assurance, however, that the Fund will be able to
enter into an offsetting transaction with respect to a particular
futures contract at a particular time. If the Fund is not able
to enter into an offsetting transaction, the Fund will continue
to be required to maintain the margin deposits on the futures
contract.
As an example of an offsetting transaction in which the
underlying instrument is not delivered, the contractual
obligations arising from the sale of one contract of September
Treasury Bills on an exchange may be fulfilled at any time before
delivery of the contract is required (i.e., on a specified date
in September, the "delivery month") by the purchase of one
contract of September Treasury Bills on the same exchange. In
such instance, the difference between the price at which the
futures contract was sold and the price paid for the offsetting
purchase, after allowance for transaction costs, represents the
profit or loss to the Fund.
Special Risks of Transactions in Futures Contracts
Volatility and Leverage. The prices of futures contracts
are volatile and are influenced, among other things, by actual
and anticipated changes in the market and interest rates, which
in turn are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and national
and international political and economic events.
Most United States futures exchanges limit the amount of
fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single
trading day. The daily limit establishes the maximum amount that
the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from
the previous day's settlement price at the end of a trading
session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular
type of futures contract, no trades may be made on that day at a
price beyond that limit. The daily limit governs only price
movement during a particular trading day and therefore does not
limit potential losses, because the limit may prevent the
liquidation of unfavorable positions. Futures contract prices
have occasionally moved to the daily limit for several
consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby
preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting
some futures traders to substantial losses.
PAGE 45
Because of the low margin deposits required, futures trading
involves an extremely high degree of leverage. As a result, a
relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result
in immediate and substantial loss, as well as gain, to the
investor. For example, if at the time of purchase, 10% of the
value of the futures contract is deposited as margin, a
subsequent 10% decrease in the value of the futures contract
would result in a total loss of the margin deposit, before any
deduction for the transaction costs, if the account were then
closed out. A 15% decrease would result in a loss equal to 150%
of the original margin deposit, if the contract were closed out.
Thus, a purchase or sale of a futures contract may result in
losses in excess of the amount invested in the futures contract.
However, the Fund would presumably have sustained comparable
losses if, instead of the futures contract, it had invested in
the underlying financial instrument and sold it after the
decline. Furthermore, in the case of a futures contract
purchase, in order to be certain that the Fund has sufficient
assets to satisfy its obligations under a futures contract, the
Fund earmarks to the futures contract cash, liquid high-grade
debt or other appropriate cover, equal in value to the current
value of the underlying instrument less the margin deposit.
Liquidity. The Fund may elect to close some or all of its
futures positions at any time prior to their expiration. The
Fund would do so to reduce exposure represented by long futures
positions or short futures positions. The Fund may close its
positions by taking opposite positions which would operate to
terminate the Fund's position in the futures contracts. Final
determinations of variation margin would then be made, additional
cash would be required to be paid by or released to the Fund, and
the Fund would realize a loss or a gain.
Futures contracts may be closed out only on the exchange or
board of trade where the contracts were initially traded.
Although the Fund intends to purchase or sell futures contracts
only on exchanges or boards of trade where there appears to be an
active market, there is no assurance that a liquid market on an
exchange or board of trade will exist for any particular contract
at any particular time. In such event, it might not be possible
to close a futures contract, and in the event of adverse price
movements, the Fund would continue to be required to make daily
cash payments of variation margin. However, in the event futures
contracts have been used to hedge the underlying instruments, the
Fund would continue to hold the underlying instruments subject to
the hedge until the futures contracts could be terminated. In
such circumstances, an increase in the price of underlying
instruments, if any, might partially or completely offset losses
on the futures contract. However, as described below, there is
no guarantee that the price of the underlying instruments will,
PAGE 46
in fact, correlate with the price movements in the futures
contract and thus provide an offset to losses on a futures
contract.
Hedging Risk. A decision of whether, when, and how to hedge
involves skill and judgment, and even a well-conceived hedge may
be unsuccessful to some degree because of unexpected market
behavior, market or interest rate trends. There are several
risks in connection with the use by the Fund of futures contracts
as a hedging device. One risk arises because of the imperfect
correlation between movements in the prices of the futures
contracts and movements in the prices of the underlying
instruments which are the subject of the hedge. T. Rowe Price
will, however, attempt to reduce this risk by entering into
futures contracts whose movements, in its judgment, will have a
significant correlation with movements in the prices of the
Fund's underlying instruments sought to be hedged.
Successful use of futures contracts by the Fund for hedging
purposes is also subject to T. Rowe Price's ability to correctly
predict movements in the direction of the market. It is possible
that, when the Fund has sold futures to hedge its portfolio
against a decline in the market, the index, indices, or
instruments underlying futures might advance and the value of the
underlying instruments held in the Fund's portfolio might
decline. If this were to occur, the Fund would lose money on the
futures and also would experience a decline in value in its
underlying instruments. However, while this might occur to a
certain degree, T. Rowe Price believes that over time the value
of the Fund's portfolio will tend to move in the same direction
as the market indices used to hedge the portfolio. It is also
possible that if the Fund were to hedge against the possibility
of a decline in the market (adversely affecting the underlying
instruments held in its portfolio) and prices instead increased,
the Fund would lose part or all of the benefit of increased value
of those underlying instruments that it has hedged, because it
would have offsetting losses in its futures positions. In
addition, in such situations, if the Fund had insufficient cash,
it might have to sell underlying instruments to meet daily
variation margin requirements. Such sales of underlying
instruments might be, but would not necessarily be, at increased
prices (which would reflect the rising market). The Fund might
have to sell underlying instruments at a time when it would be
disadvantageous to do so.
In addition to the possibility that there might be an
imperfect correlation, or no correlation at all, between price
movements in the futures contracts and the portion of the
portfolio being hedged, the price movements of futures contracts
might not correlate perfectly with price movements in the
PAGE 47
underlying instruments due to certain market distortions. First,
all participants in the futures market are subject to margin
deposit and maintenance requirements. Rather than meeting
additional margin deposit requirements, investors might close
futures contracts through offsetting transactions, which could
distort the normal relationship between the underlying
instruments and futures markets. Second, the margin requirements
in the futures market are less onerous than margin requirements
in the securities markets, and as a result the futures market
might attract more speculators than the securities markets do.
Increased participation by speculators in the futures market
might also cause temporary price distortions. Due to the
possibility of price distortion in the futures market and also
because of the imperfect correlation between price movements in
the underlying instruments and movements in the prices of futures
contracts, even a correct forecast of general market trends by
T. Rowe Price might not result in a successful hedging
transaction over a very short time period.
Options on Futures Contracts
The Fund may purchase and sell options on the same types of
futures in which it may invest.
Options on futures are similar to options on underlying
instruments except that options on futures give the purchaser the
right, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in a
futures contract (a long position if the option is a call and a
short position if the option is a put), rather than to purchase
or sell the futures contract, at a specified exercise price at
any time during the period of the option. Upon exercise of the
option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the
option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by the
delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer's futures
margin account which represents the amount by which the market
price of the futures contract, at exercise, exceeds (in the case
of a call) or is less than (in the case of a put) the exercise
price of the option on the futures contract. Purchasers of
options who fail to exercise their options prior to the exercise
date suffer a loss of the premium paid.
As an alternative to writing or purchasing call and put
options on interest rate futures, the Fund may write or purchase
call and put options on financial indices. Such options would be
used in a manner similar to the use of options on futures
contracts. From time to time, a single order to purchase or sell
futures contracts (or options thereon) may be made on behalf of
the Fund and other T. Rowe Price Funds. Such aggregated orders
would be allocated among the Funds and the other T. Rowe Price
Funds in a fair and non-discriminatory manner.
PAGE 48
Special Risks of Transactions in Options on Futures Contracts
The risks described under "Special Risks of Transactions on
Futures Contracts" are substantially the same as the risks of
using options on futures. In addition, where the Fund seeks to
close out an option position by writing or buying an offsetting
option covering the same index, underlying instrument or contract
and having the same exercise price and expiration date, its
ability to establish and close out positions on such options will
be subject to the maintenance of a liquid secondary market.
Reasons for the absence of a liquid secondary market on an
exchange include the following: (i) there may be insufficient
trading interest in certain options; (ii) restrictions may be
imposed by an exchange on opening transactions or closing
transactions or both; (iii) trading halts, suspensions or other
restrictions may be imposed with respect to particular classes or
series of options, or underlying instruments; (iv) unusual or
unforeseen circumstances may interrupt normal operations on an
exchange; (v) the facilities of an exchange or a clearing
corporation may not at all times be adequate to handle current
trading volume; or (vi) one or more exchanges could, for economic
or other reasons, decide or be compelled at some future date to
discontinue the trading of options (or a particular class or
series of options), in which event the secondary market on that
exchange (or in the class or series of options) would cease to
exist, although outstanding options on the exchange that had been
issued by a clearing corporation as a result of trades on that
exchange would continue to be exercisable in accordance with
their terms. There is no assurance that higher than anticipated
trading activity or other unforeseen events might not, at times,
render certain of the facilities of any of the clearing
corporations inadequate, and thereby result in the institution by
an exchange of special procedures which may interfere with the
timely execution of customers' orders.
Additional Futures and Options Contracts
Although the Fund has no current intention of engaging in
futures or options transactions other than those described above,
it reserves the right to do so. Such futures and options trading
might involve risks which differ from those involved in the
futures and options described above.
Foreign Futures and Options
Participation in foreign futures and foreign options
transactions involves the execution and clearing of trades on or
subject to the rules of a foreign board of trade. Neither the
National Futures Association nor any domestic exchange regulates
activities of any foreign boards of trade, including the
PAGE 49
execution, delivery and clearing of transactions, or has the
power to compel enforcement of the rules of a foreign board of
trade or any applicable foreign law. This is true even if the
exchange is formally linked to a domestic market so that a
position taken on the market may be liquidated by a transaction
on another market. Moreover, such laws or regulations will vary
depending on the foreign country in which the foreign futures or
foreign options transaction occurs. For these reasons, when the
Fund trades foreign futures or foreign options contracts, it may
not be afforded certain of the protective measures provided by
the Commodity Exchange Act, the CFTC's regulations and the rules
of the National Futures Association and any domestic exchange,
including the right to use reparations proceedings before the
Commission and arbitration proceedings provided by the National
Futures Association or any domestic futures exchange. In
particular, funds received from the Fund for foreign futures or
foreign options transactions may not be provided the same
protections as funds received in respect of transactions on
United States futures exchanges. In addition, the price of any
foreign futures or foreign options contract and, therefore, the
potential profit and loss thereon may be affected by any variance
in the foreign exchange rate between the time the Fund's order is
placed and the time it is liquidated, offset or exercised.
Foreign Currency Transactions
A forward foreign currency exchange contract involves an
obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future
date, which may be any fixed number of days from the date of the
contract agreed upon by the parties, at a price set at the time
of the contract. These contracts are principally traded in the
interbank market conducted directly between currency traders
(usually large, commercial banks) and their customers. A forward
contract generally has no deposit requirement, and no commissions
are charged at any stage for trades.
The Fund may enter into forward contracts for a variety of
purposes in connection with the management of the foreign
securities portion of its portfolio. The Fund's use of such
contracts would include, but not be limited to, the following:
First, when the Fund enters into a contract for the purchase
or sale of a security denominated in a foreign currency, it may
desire to "lock in" the U.S. dollar price of the security. By
entering into a forward contract for the purchase or sale, for a
fixed amount of dollars, of the amount of foreign currency
involved in the underlying security transactions, the Fund will
be able to protect itself against a possible loss resulting from
an adverse change in the relationship between the U.S. dollar and
the subject foreign currency during the period between the date
PAGE 50
the security is purchased or sold and the date on which payment
is made or received.
Second, when T. Rowe Price believes that one currency may
experience a substantial movement against another currency,
including the U.S. dollar, it may enter into a forward contract
to sell or buy the amount of the former foreign currency,
approximating the value of some or all of the Fund's portfolio
securities denominated in such foreign currency. Alternatively,
where appropriate, the Fund may hedge all or part of its foreign
currency exposure through the use of a basket of currencies or a
proxy currency where such currency or currencies act as an
effective proxy for other currencies. In such a case, the Fund
may enter into a forward contract where the amount of the foreign
currency to be sold exceeds the value of the securities
denominated in such currency. The use of this basket hedging
technique may be more efficient and economical than entering into
separate forward contracts for each currency held in the Fund.
The precise matching of the forward contract amounts and the
value of the securities involved will not generally be possible
since the future value of such securities in foreign currencies
will change as a consequence of market movements in the value of
those securities between the date the forward contract is entered
into and the date it matures. The projection of short-term
currency market movement is extremely difficult, and the
successful execution of a short-term hedging strategy is highly
uncertain. Under normal circumstances, consideration of the
prospect for currency parities will be incorporated into the
longer term investment decisions made with regard to overall
diversification strategies. However, T. Rowe Price believes that
it is important to have the flexibility to enter into such
forward contracts when it determines that the best interests of
the Fund will be served.
Third, the Fund may use forward contracts when the Fund
wishes to hedge out of the dollar into a foreign currency in
order to create a synthetic bond or money market instrument--the
security would be issued in U.S. dollars but the dollar component
would be transformed into a foreign currency through a forward
contract.
The Fund may enter into forward contacts for any other
purpose consistent with the Fund's investment objective and
program. However, the Fund will not enter into a forward
contract, or maintain exposure to any such contract(s), if the
amount of foreign currency required to be delivered thereunder
would exceed the Fund's holdings of liquid, high-grade debt
securities, currency available for cover of the forward
contract(s) or other suitable cover. In determining the amount
PAGE 51
to be delivered under a contract, the Fund may net offsetting
positions.
At the maturity of a forward contract, the Fund may sell the
portfolio security and make delivery of the foreign currency, or
it may retain the security and either extend the maturity of the
forward contract (by "rolling" that contract forward) or may
initiate a new forward contract.
If the Fund retains the portfolio security and engages in an
offsetting transaction, the Fund will incur a gain or a loss (as
described below) to the extent that there has been movement in
forward contract prices. If the Fund engages in an offsetting
transaction, it may subsequently enter into a new forward
contract to sell the foreign currency. Should forward prices
decline during the period between the Fund's entering into a
forward contract for the sale of a foreign currency and the date
it enters into an offsetting contract for the purchase of the
foreign currency, the Fund will realize a gain to the extent the
price of the currency it has agreed to sell exceeds the price of
the currency it has agreed to purchase. Should forward prices
increase, the Fund will suffer a loss to the extent of the price
of the currency it has agreed to purchase exceeds the price of
the currency it has agreed to sell.
The Fund's dealing in forward foreign currency exchange
contracts will generally be limited to the transactions described
above. However, the Fund reserves the right to enter into
forward foreign currency contracts for different purposes and
under different circumstances. Of course, the Fund is not
required to enter into forward contracts with regard to its
foreign currency-denominated securities and will not do so unless
deemed appropriate by T. Rowe Price. It also should be realized
that this method of hedging against a decline in the value of a
currency does not eliminate fluctuations in the underlying prices
of the securities. It simply establishes a rate of exchange at a
future date. Additionally, although such contracts tend to
minimize the risk of loss due to a decline in the value of the
hedged currency, at the same time, they tend to limit any
potential gain which might result from an increase in the value
of that currency.
Although the Fund values its assets daily in terms of U.S.
dollars, it does not intend to convert its holdings of foreign
currencies into U.S. dollars on a daily basis. It will do so
from time to time, and investors should be aware of the costs of
currency conversion. Although foreign exchange dealers do not
charge a fee for conversion, they do realize a profit based on
the difference (the "spread") between the prices at which they
are buying and selling various currencies. Thus, a dealer may
PAGE 52
offer to sell a foreign currency to the Fund at one rate, while
offering a lesser rate of exchange should the Fund desire to
resell that currency to the dealer.
Federal Tax Treatment of Options, Futures Contracts and Forward
Foreign Exchange Contracts
The Fund may enter into certain option, futures, and forward
foreign exchange contracts, including options and futures on
currencies, which will be treated as Section 1256 contracts or
straddles.
Transactions which are considered Section 1256 contracts
will be considered to have been closed at the end of the Fund's
fiscal year and any gains or losses will be recognized for tax
purposes at that time. Such gains or losses from the normal
closing or settlement of such transactions will be characterized
as 60% long-term capital gain or loss and 40% short-term capital
gain or loss regardless of the holding period of the instrument.
The Fund will be required to distribute net gains on such
transactions to shareholders even though it may not have closed
the transaction and received cash to pay such distributions.
Options, futures and forward foreign exchange contracts,
including options and futures on currencies, which offset a
foreign dollar denominated bond or currency position may be
considered straddles for tax purposes, in which case a loss on
any position in a straddle will be subject to deferral to the
extent of unrealized gain in an offsetting position. The holding
period of the securities or currencies comprising the straddle
will be deemed not to begin until the straddle is terminated.
For securities offsetting a purchased put, this adjustment of the
holding period may increase the gain from sales of securities
held less than three months. The holding period of the security
offsetting an "in-the-money qualified covered call" option on an
equity security will not include the period of time the option is
outstanding.
Losses on written covered calls and purchased puts on
securities, excluding certain "qualified covered call" options on
equity securities, may be long-term capital loss, if the security
covering the option was held for more than twelve months prior to
the writing of the option.
In order for the Fund to continue to qualify for federal
income tax treatment as a regulated investment company, at least
90% of its gross income for a taxable year must be derived from
qualifying income; i.e., dividends, interest, income derived from
loans of securities, and gains from the sale of securities or
currencies. Pending tax regulations could limit the extent that
PAGE 53
net gain realized from option, futures or foreign forward
exchange contracts on currencies is qualifying income for
purposes of the 90% requirement. In addition, gains realized on
the sale or other disposition of securities, including option,
futures or foreign forward exchange contracts on securities or
securities indexes and, in some cases, currencies, held for less
than three months, must be limited to less than 30% of the Fund's
annual gross income. In order to avoid realizing excessive gains
on securities or currencies held less than three months, the Fund
may be required to defer the closing out of option, futures or
foreign forward exchange contracts) beyond the time when it would
otherwise be advantageous to do so. It is anticipated that
unrealized gains on Section 1256 option, futures and foreign
forward exchange contracts, which have been open for less than
three months as of the end of the Fund's fiscal year and which
are recognized for tax purposes, will not be considered gains on
securities or currencies held less than three months for purposes
of the 30% test.
INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS
Fundamental policies may not be changed without the approval
of the lesser of (1) 67% of a Fund's shares present at a meeting
of shareholders if the holders of more than 50% of the
outstanding shares are present in person or by proxy or (2) more
than 50% of a Fund's outstanding shares. Other restrictions in
the form of operating policies are subject to change by the
Fund's Board of Directors without shareholder approval. Any
investment restriction which involves a maximum percentage of
securities or assets shall not be considered to be violated
unless an excess over the percentage occurs immediately after,
and is caused by, an acquisition of securities or assets of, or
borrowings by, a Fund.
Fundamental Policies
As a matter of fundamental policy, the Fund may not:
(1) Borrowing. Borrow money except that the Fund may
(i) borrow for non-leveraging, temporary or
emergency purposes and (ii) engage in reverse
repurchase agreements and make other investments
or engage in other transactions, which may involve
a borrowing, in a manner consistent with the
Fund's investment objective and program, provided
that the combination of (i) and (ii) shall not
exceed 33 1/3% of the value of the Fund's total
assets (including the amount borrowed) less
PAGE 54
liabilities (other than borrowings) or such other
percentage permitted by law. Any borrowings which come
to exceed this amount will be reduced in accordance with
applicable law. The Fund may borrow from banks, other
Price Funds or other persons to the extent permitted by
applicable law;
(2) Commodities. Purchase or sell physical
commodities; except that it may enter into futures
contracts and options thereon;
(3) Industry Concentration. Purchase the securities
of any issuer if, as a result, more than 25% of
the value of the Fund's total assets would be
invested in the securities of issuers having their
principal business activities in the same
industry;
(4) Loans. Make loans, although the Fund may (i) lend
portfolio securities and participate in an
interfund lending program with other Price Funds
provided that no such loan may be made if, as a
result, the aggregate of such loans would exceed
33 1/3% of the value of the Fund's total assets;
(ii) purchase money market securities and enter
into repurchase agreements; and (iii) acquire
publicly-distributed or privately-placed debt
securities and purchase debt;
(5) Percent Limit on Assets Invested in Any One
Issuer. Purchase a security if, as a result, with
respect to 75% of the value of its total assets,
more than 5% of the value of the Fund's total
assets would be invested in the securities of a
single issuer, except securities issued or
guaranteed by the U.S. Government or any of its
agencies or instrumentalities;
(6) Percent Limit on Share Ownership of Any One
Issuer. Purchase a security if, as a result, with
respect to 75% of the value of the Fund's total
assets, more than 10% of the outstanding voting
securities of any issuer would be held by the Fund
(other than obligations issued or guaranteed by
the U.S. Government, its agencies or
instrumentalities);
(7) Real Estate. Purchase or sell real estate,
including limited partnership interests thereon,
unless acquired as a result of ownership of
PAGE 55
securities or other instruments (but this shall
not prevent the Fund from investing in securities
or other instruments backed by real estate or in
securities of companies engaged in the real estate
business);
(8) Senior Securities. Issue senior securities except
in compliance with the Investment Company Act of
1940; or
(9) Underwriting. Underwrite securities issued by
other persons, except to the extent that the Fund
may be deemed to be an underwriter within the
meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 in
connection with the purchase and sale of its
portfolio securities in the ordinary course of
pursuing its investment program.
NOTES
The following notes should be read in connection
with the above-described fundamental policies.
The notes are not fundamental policies.
With respect to investment restrictions (1) and
(4), the Fund will not borrow from or lend to any
other Price Fund unless each Fund applies for and
receives an exemptive order from the SEC or the
SEC issues rules permitting such transactions.
The Fund has no current intention of engaging in
any such activity and there is no assurance the
SEC would grant any order requested by the Fund or
promulgate any rules allowing the transactions.
With respect to investment restriction (2), the
Fund does not consider currency contracts or
hybrid investments to be commodities.
For purposes of investment restriction (3), U.S.,
state or local governments, or related agencies or
instrumentalities, are not considered an industry.
Industries are determined by reference to the
classifications of industries set forth in the
Fund's Annual Reports.
For purposes of investment restriction (4), the
Fund will consider the acquisition of a debt
security to include the execution of a note or
other evidence of an extension of credit with a
term of more than nine months.
PAGE 56
For purposes of investment restriction (5), the
Fund will consider repurchase agreements fully
collateralized with U.S. government securities to
be U.S. government securities.
Operating Policies
As a matter of operating policy, the Fund may not:
(1) Borrowing. (a) The Fund will not purchase
additional securities when money borrowed exceeds
5% of its total assets;
(b) The Fund will limit borrowing for any
variable annuity separate account to (1) 10% of
net asset value when borrowing for any general
purpose, and (2) 25% of net asset value when
borrowing as a temporary measure to facilitate
redemptions.
Net asset value of a portfolio is the market value
of all investments or assets owned less
outstanding liabilities of the portfolio at the
time that any new or additional borrowing is
undertaken.
(2) Control of Portfolio Companies. Invest in
companies for the purpose of exercising management
or control;
(3) Equity Securities. Purchase any common stocks or
other equity securities;
(4) Futures Contracts. Purchase a futures contract or
an option thereon if, with respect to positions in
futures or options on futures which do not
represent bona fide hedging, the aggregate initial
margin and premiums on such options would exceed
5% of the Fund's net asset value;
(5) Illiquid Securities. Purchase illiquid securities
and securities of unseasoned issuers if, as a
result, more than 15% of its net assets would be
invested in such securities;
(6) Investment Companies. Purchase securities of
open-end or closed-end investment companies except
in compliance with the Investment Company Act of
1940;
PAGE 57
(7) Margin. Purchase securities on margin, except (i)
for use of short-term credit necessary for
clearance of purchases of portfolio securities and
(ii) it may make margin deposits in connection
with futures contracts or other permissible
investments;
(8) Mortgaging. Mortgage, pledge, hypothecate or, in
any manner, transfer any security owned by the
Fund as security for indebtedness except as may be
necessary in connection with permissible
borrowings or investments and then such
mortgaging, pledging or hypothecating may not
exceed 33 1/3% of the Fund's total assets at the
time of borrowing or investment;
(9) Oil and Gas Programs. Purchase participations or
other direct interests in or enter into leases
with respect to, oil, gas, or other mineral
exploration or development programs if, as a
result thereof, more than 5% of the value of the
total assets of the Fund would be invested in such
programs;
(10) Options, Etc. Invest in puts, calls, straddles,
spreads, or any combination thereof, except to the
extent permitted by the prospectus and Statement
of Additional Information;
(11) Short Sales. Effect short sales of securities; or
(12) Warrants. Invest in warrants if, as a result
thereof, more than 10% of the value of the net
assets of the Fund would be invested in warrants.
Notwithstanding anything in the above fundamental and
operating restrictions to the contrary, each Fund may invest all
of its assets in a single investment company or a series thereof
in connection with a "master-feeder" arrangement. Such an
investment would be made where the Fund (a "Feeder"), and one or
more other Funds with the same investment objective and program
as the Fund, sought to accomplish its investment objective and
program by investing all of its assets in the shares of another
investment company (the "Master"). The Master would, in turn,
have the same investment objective and program as the Fund. The
Fund would invest in this manner in an effort to achieve the
economies of scale associated with having a Master fund make
investments in portfolio companies on behalf of a number of
Feeder funds.
PAGE 58
MANAGEMENT OF FUND
The officers and directors of the Fund are listed below.
Unless otherwise noted, the address of each is 100 East Pratt
Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Except as indicated, each has
been an employee of T. Rowe Price for more than five years. In
the list below, the Fund's directors who are considered
"interested persons" of T. Rowe Price as defined under
Section 2(a)(19) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 are noted
with an asterisk (*). These directors are referred to as inside
directors by virtue of its officership, directorship, and/or
employment with T. Rowe Price.
ROBERT P. BLACK, Director--Retired; formerly President, Federal
Reserve Bank of Richmond; Address: 10 Dahlgren Road, Richmond,
Virginia 23233
CALVIN W. BURNETT, PH.D., Director--President, Coppin State
College; Director, Maryland Chamber of Commerce and Provident
Bank of Maryland; Former President, Baltimore Area Council Boy
Scouts of America; Vice President, Board of Directors, The
Walters Art Gallery; Address: 2500 West North Avenue, Baltimore,
Maryland 21216
ANTHONY W. DEERING, Director--Director, President and Chief
Operating Officer, The Rouse Company, real estate developers,
Columbia, Maryland; Advisory Director, Kleinwort, Benson (North
America) Corporation, a registered broker-dealer; Address: 10275
Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, Maryland 21044
F. PIERCE LINAWEAVER, Director--President, F. Pierce Linaweaver &
Associates, Inc., Consulting Environmental & Civil Engineer(s);
formerly Executive Vice President, EA Engineering, Science, and
Technology, Inc., and President, EA Engineering, Inc., Baltimore,
Maryland; Address: 224 Wendover Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
JOHN G. SCHREIBER, Director--President, Schreiber Investments,
Inc., a real estate investment company; Director, AMLI
Residential Properties Trust and Urban Shopping Centers, Inc.;
Partner, Blackstone Real Estate Partners, L.P.; Director and
formerly Executive Vice President, JMB Realty Corporation, a
national real estate investment manager and developer; Address:
1115 East Illinois Road, Lake Forest, Illinois 60045
*JAMES S. RIEPE, Vice President and Director--Managing Director,
T. Rowe Price; Chairman of the Board, T. Rowe Price Services,
Inc., T. Rowe Price Trust Company and T. Rowe Price Investment
Services, Inc.; Director, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Inc.
PETER VAN DYKE, President--Managing Director, T. Rowe Price; Vice
President, Price-Fleming and T. Rowe Price Trust Company
EDWARD A. WIESE, Executive Vice President--Vice President,
T. Rowe Price, Price-Fleming and T. Rowe Price Trust Company
PATRICE L. BERCHTENBREITER, Vice President--Vice President,
T. Rowe Price
PAGE 59
PAUL W. BOLTZ, Vice President--Vice President and Financial
Economist of T. Rowe Price
STEVEN G. BROOKS, Vice President--Vice President, T. Rowe Price;
Chartered Financial Analyst
ROBERT P. CAMPBELL, Vice President--Vice President, T. Rowe Price
and Price-Fleming; formerly Vice President and Director, Private
Finance, New York Life Insurance Company, New York, New York
PATRICK S. CASSIDY, Vice President--Vice President, T. Rowe
Price; Chartered Financial Analyst
CHRISTY M. DIPIETRO, Vice President--Vice President, T. Rowe
Price and T. Rowe Price Trust Company
CHARLES B. HILL, Vice President--Vice President, T. Rowe Price
HENRY H. HOPKINS, Vice President--Vice President, Price-Fleming
and T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc.; Managing
Director, T. Rowe Price; Vice President and Director, T. Rowe
Price Investment Services, Inc., T. Rowe Price Services, Inc. and
T. Rowe Price Trust Company
JAMES M. MCDONALD, Vice President--Vice President, T. Rowe Price
CHERYL A. REDWOOD, Vice President--Assistant Vice President,
T. Rowe Price
ROBERT M. RUBINO, Vice President--Vice President, T. Rowe Price
THOMAS E. TEWKSBURY, Vice President--Vice President, T. Rowe
Price; formerly senior bond trader, Scudder, Stevens & Clark, New
York, New York
MARK J. VASELKIV, Vice President--Vice President, T. Rowe Price
GWENDOLYN G. WAGNER, Vice President--Vice President and
Economist, T. Rowe Price; Chartered Financial Analyst
LENORA V. HORNUNG, Secretary--Vice President, T. Rowe Price
PATRICIA S. BUTCHER, Assistant Secretary--Assistant Vice
President, T. Rowe Price; Assistant Vice President, T. Rowe Price
Investment Services, Inc.
CARMEN F. DEYESU, Treasurer--Vice President, T. Rowe Price,
T. Rowe Price Services, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Trust Company
DAVID S. MIDDLETON, Controller--Vice President, T. Rowe Price,
T. Rowe Price Services, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Trust Company
BRIAN E. BURNS, Assistant Vice President--Assistant Vice
President, T. Rowe Price
DONNA M. DAVIS-ENNIS, Assistant Vice President--Assistant Vice
President, T. Rowe Price
JOAN R. POTEE, Assistant Vice President--Vice President, T. Rowe
Price
EDWARD T. SCHNEIDER, Assistant Vice President--Vice President,
T. Rowe Price
INGRID I. VORDEMBERGE, Assistant Vice President--Employee,
T. Rowe Price
The Fund's Executive Committee, comprised of Mr. Riepe, has
been authorized by its Board of Directors to exercise all powers
of the Board to manage the Fund in the intervals between meetings
PAGE 60
of the Board, except the powers prohibited by statute from being
delegated.
COMPENSATION TABLE
The Fund does not pay pension or retirement benefits to
officers or directors of the Fund. Also, any director of the
Fund who is an officer or employee of T. Rowe Price or Price-
Fleming does not receive any remuneration from the Fund.
_________________________________________________________________
Total Compensation
from Fund and
Name of Aggregate Fund Complex
Person, Compensation Paid to
Position from Fund(a) Directors(b)
_________________________________________________________________
Robert P. Black, $1,010 $56,917
Director
Calvin W. Burnett, 1,010 56,917
PH.D, Director
Anthony W. Deering, 1,000 70,667
Director
F. Pierce Linaweaver, 1,009 56,917
Director
John G. Schreiber, 1,010 56,917
Director
(a) Amounts in this column are based on compensation accrued for
the period January 1, 1996 through December 31, 1996.
(b) Amounts in this column are for calendar year 1996.
PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES
As of the date of the prospectus, the officers and directors
of the Fund, as a group, owned less than 1% of the outstanding
shares of the Fund.
As of March 31, 1997, the following shareholders owned of
record more than 5% of the funds outstanding shares:
Security Benefit Life Insurance Company, FBO T. Rowe Price
No-Load Variable Annuity, Attn. Mark Young, 700 SW Harrison St.
Topeka, KS 66636-0002; United Of Omaha - Series V, Attn: John
PAGE 61
Martin, Corporate General Ledger, Mutual Of Omaha Plaza, Omaha,
NE 68175.
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Services Provided by T. Rowe Price
Under the Management Agreement with the Corporation relating
to the Fund, T. Rowe Price provides the Fund with discretionary
investment services. Specifically, T. Rowe Price is responsible
for supervising and directing the investments of the Fund in
accordance with its investment objectives, programs, and
restrictions as provided in the prospectus and this Statement of
Additional Information. T. Rowe Price is also responsible for
effecting all security transactions on behalf of the Fund,
including the allocation of principal business and portfolio
brokerage and the negotiation of commissions. In addition to
these services, T. Rowe Price provides the Fund with certain
corporate administrative services, including: maintaining the
Fund's corporate existence, corporate records, and registering
and qualifying the Fund's shares under federal laws; monitoring
the financial, accounting, and administrative functions of the
Fund; maintaining liaison with the agents employed by the Fund
such as the Fund's custodian and transfer agent; assisting the
Fund in the coordination of such agents' activities; and
permitting T. Rowe Price's employees to serve as officers,
directors, and committee members of the Fund without cost to the
Fund.
The Fund's Management Agreement also provides that T. Rowe
Price, its directors, officers, employees, and certain other
persons performing specific functions for the Fund will only be
liable to the Fund for losses resulting from willful misfeasance,
bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of duty.
Management Fee
The Fund pays T. Rowe Price an annual all-inclusive fee (the
"Fee") of 0.70%. The Fee is paid monthly to T. Rowe Price on the
first business day of the next succeeding calendar month and is
the sum of the daily Fee accruals for each month. The daily Fee
accrual for any particular day is calculated by multiplying the
fraction of one (1) over the number of calendar days in the year
by the appropriate Fee rate and multiplying this product by the
net assets of the Fund for that day as determined in accordance
with the Fund's prospectus as of the close of business from the
previous business day on which the Fund was open for business.
PAGE 62
The Management Agreement between the Fund and T. Rowe Price
provides that T. Rowe Price will pay all expenses of the Fund's
operations, except interest, taxes, brokerage commissions and
other charges incident to the purchase, sale or lending of the
Fund's portfolio securities, directors' fees and expenses
(including counsel fees and expenses) and such nonrecurring or
extraordinary expenses that may arise, including the costs of
actions, suits, or proceedings to which the Fund is a party and
the expenses the Fund may incur as a result of its obligation to
provide indemnification to its officers, directors and agents.
However, the Board of Directors of the Fund reserves the right to
impose additional fees against shareholder accounts to defray
expenses which would otherwise be paid by T. Rowe Price under the
Management Agreement. The Board does not anticipate levying such
charges; such a fee, if charged, may be retained by the Fund or
paid to T. Rowe Price.
DISTRIBUTOR FOR FUND
T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc. ("Investment
Services"), a Maryland corporation formed in 1980 as a wholly-
owned subsidiary of T. Rowe Price, serves as the distributor of
the Fund. Investment Services is registered as a broker-dealer
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is a member of the
National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. The offering of
the Fund's shares is continuous.
Investment Services is located at the same address as the
Fund and T. Rowe Price -- 100 East Pratt Street, Baltimore,
Maryland 21202.
Investment Services serves as distributor to the Fund
pursuant to individual Underwriting Agreements ("Underwriting
Agreements"), which provide that Investment Services will pay all
fees and expenses in connection with: necessary state filings;
preparing, setting in type, printing, and mailing the Fund
prospectuses and reports to shareholders; issuing its shares,
including expenses of confirming purchase orders; printing and
distributing prospectuses and reports for use in offering and
selling shares for the Fund; preparing, setting in type,
printing, and mailing all sales literature and advertising;
Investment Services' federal registrations as a broker-dealer;
and offering and selling shares for the Fund. The Underwriting
Agreements provide that the Fund is responsible for interest,
taxes and such nonrecurring or extraordinary expenses that may
arise, including the costs of actions, suits or proceedings to
which the Fund is a party and the expenses the Fund may incur as
a result of its obligation to provide indemnification to
PAGE 63
Investment Services. Investment Services' expenses are paid by
T. Rowe Price.
Investment Services acts as the agent of the Fund in
connection with the sale of its shares in the various states in
which Investment Services is qualified as a broker-dealer. Under
the Underwriting Agreement, Investment Services accepts orders
for Fund shares at net asset value. No sales charges are paid by
investors or the Fund.
SHAREHOLDER SERVICES
The Fund from time to time may enter into agreements with
outside parties through which shareholders hold Fund shares. The
shares would be held by such parties in omnibus accounts. The
agreements would provide for payments by the Fund to the outside
party for such shareholder services provided to shareholders in
the omnibus accounts.
CUSTODIAN
State Street Bank and Trust Company is the custodian for the
Fund's domestic securities and cash, but it does not participate
in the Fund's investment decisions. Portfolio securities
purchased in the U.S. are maintained in the custody of the Bank
and may be entered into the Federal Reserve Book Entry System, or
the security depository system of the Depository Trust
Corporation. The Fund has entered into a Custodian Agreement
with The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A., London, pursuant to which
portfolio securities which are purchased outside the United
States are maintained in the custody of various foreign branches
of The Chase Manhattan Bank and such other custodians, including
foreign banks and foreign securities depositories as are approved
by the Fund's Board of Directors in accordance with regulations
under the Investment Company Act of 1940. State Street Bank's
main office is at 225 Franklin Street, Boston, Massachusetts
02110. The address for The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A., London is
Woolgate House, Coleman Street, London, EC2P 2HD, England.
CODE OF ETHICS
The Fund's investment adviser (T. Rowe Price) has a written
Code of Ethics which requires all employees to obtain prior
clearance before engaging in personal securities transactions.
Transactions must be executed within three business days of their
clearance. In addition, all employees must report their personal
securities transactions within ten days of their execution.
PAGE 64
Employees will not be permitted to effect transactions in a
security: If there are pending client orders in the security; the
security has been purchased or sold by a client within seven
calendar days; the security is being considered for purchase for
a client; a change has occurred in T. Rowe Price's rating of the
security within seven calendar days prior to the date of the
proposed transaction; or the security is subject to internal
trading restrictions. In addition, employees are prohibited from
profiting from short-term trading (e.g., purchases and sales
involving the same security within 60 days). Any material
violation of the Code of Ethics is reported to the Board of the
Fund. The Board also reviews the administration of the Code of
Ethics on an annual basis.
PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS
Investment or Brokerage Discretion
Decisions with respect to the purchase and sale of portfolio
securities on behalf of the Fund is made by T. Rowe Price.
T. Rowe Price is also responsible for implementing these
decisions, including the negotiation of commissions and the
allocation of portfolio brokerage and principal business. The
Fund's purchases and sales of portfolio securities are normally
done on a principal basis and do not involve the payment of a
commission although they may involve the designation of selling
concessions. That part of the discussion below relating solely
to brokerage commissions would not normally apply to a Fund.
However, it is included because T. Rowe Price does manage a
significant number of common stock portfolios which do engage in
agency transactions and pay commissions and because some research
and services resulting from the payment of such commissions may
benefit the Fund.
How Brokers and Dealers are Selected
Fixed Income Securities
Fixed income securities are generally purchased from the
issuer or a primary market-maker acting as principal for the
securities on a net basis, with no brokerage commission being
paid by the client, although the price usually includes an
undisclosed compensation. Transactions placed through dealers
serving as primary market-makers reflect the spread between the
bid and asked prices. Securities may also be purchased from
underwriters at prices which include underwriting fees.
T. Rowe Price may effect principal transactions on behalf of
a Fund with a broker or dealer who furnishes brokerage and/or
PAGE 65
research services, designate any such broker or dealer to receive
selling concessions, discounts or other allowances, or otherwise
deal with any such broker or dealer in connection with the
acquisition of securities in underwritings. The Fund may receive
brokerage and research services in connection with such
designations in fixed priced underwritings. T. Rowe Price may
receive research services in connection with brokerage
transactions, including designations in fixed price offerings.
In purchasing and selling a Fund's portfolio securities, it
is T. Rowe Price's policy to obtain quality execution at the most
favorable prices through responsible brokers and dealers and, in
the case of agency transactions (in which a Fund does not
generally engage), at competitive commission rates. However,
under certain conditions, a Fund may pay higher brokerage
commissions in return for brokerage and research services. In
selecting broker-dealers to execute a Fund's portfolio
transactions, consideration is given to such factors as the price
of the security, the rate of the commission, the size and
difficulty of the order, the reliability, integrity, financial
condition, general execution and operational capabilities of
competing brokers and dealers, and brokerage and research
services provided by them. It is not the policy of T. Rowe Price
to seek the lowest available commission rate where it is believed
that a broker or dealer charging a higher commission rate would
offer greater reliability or provide better price or execution.
How Evaluations are Made of the Overall Reasonableness of
Brokerage Commissions Paid
On a continuing basis, T. Rowe Price seeks to determine what
levels of commission rates are reasonable in the marketplace for
transactions executed on behalf of the Fund. In evaluating the
reasonableness of commission rates, T. Rowe Price considers: (a)
historical commission rates, both before and since rates have
been fully negotiable; (b) rates which other institutional
investors are paying, based on available public information; (c)
rates quoted by brokers and dealers; (d) the size of a particular
transaction, in terms of the number of shares, dollar amount, and
number of clients involved; (e) the complexity of a particular
transaction in terms of both execution and settlement; (f) the
level and type of business done with a particular firm over a
period of time; and (g) the extent to which the broker or dealer
has capital at risk in the transaction.
Description of Research Services Received from Brokers and
Dealers
T. Rowe Price receives a wide range of research services
from brokers and dealers. These services include information on
PAGE 66
the economy, industries, groups of securities, individual
companies, statistical information, accounting and tax law
interpretations, political developments, legal developments
affecting portfolio securities, technical market action, pricing
and appraisal services, credit analysis, risk measurement
analysis, performance analysis and analysis of corporate
responsibility issues. These services provide both domestic and
international perspective. Research services are received
primarily in the form of written reports, computer generated
services, telephone contacts and personal meetings with security
analysts. In addition, such services may be provided in the form
of meetings arranged with corporate and industry spokespersons,
economists, academicians and government representatives. In some
cases, research services are generated by third parties but are
provided to T. Rowe Price by or through broker-dealers.
Research services received from brokers and dealers are
supplemental to T. Rowe Price's own research effort and, when
utilized, are subject to internal analysis before being
incorporated by T. Rowe Price into its investment process. As a
practical matter, it would not be possible for T. Rowe Price to
generate all of the information presently provided by brokers and
dealers. T. Rowe Price pays cash for certain research services
received from external sources. T. Rowe Price also allocates
brokerage for research services which are available for cash.
While receipt of research services from brokerage firms has not
reduced T. Rowe Price's normal research activities, the expenses
of T. Rowe Price could be materially increased if it attempted to
generate such additional information through its own staff. To
the extent that research services of value are provided by
brokers or dealers, T. Rowe Price may be relieved of expenses
which it might otherwise bear.
T. Rowe Price has a policy of not allocating brokerage
business in return for products or services other than brokerage
or research services. In accordance with the provisions of
Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, T. Rowe
Price may from time to time receive services and products which
serve both research and non-research functions. In such event,
T. Rowe Price makes a good faith determination of the anticipated
research and non-research use of the product or service and
allocates brokerage only with respect to the research component.
Commissions to Brokers who Furnish Research Services
Certain brokers and dealers who provide quality brokerage
and execution services also furnish research services to T. Rowe
Price. With regard to the payment of brokerage commissions,
PAGE 67
T. Rowe Price has adopted a brokerage allocation policy embodying
the concepts of Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, which permits an investment adviser to cause an account to
pay commission rates in excess of those another broker or dealer
would have charged for effecting the same transaction, if the
adviser determines in good faith that the commission paid is
reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and research
services provided. The determination may be viewed in terms of
either the particular transaction involved or the overall
responsibilities of the adviser with respect to the accounts over
which it exercises investment discretion. Accordingly, while
T. Rowe Price cannot readily determine the extent to which
commission rates charged by broker-dealers reflect the value of
its research services, T. Rowe Price would expect to assess the
reasonableness of commissions in light of the total brokerage and
research services provided by each particular broker. T. Rowe
Price may receive research, as defined in Section 28(e), in
connection with selling concessions and designations in fixed
price offerings in which the Fund participates.
Internal Allocation Procedures
T. Rowe Price has a policy of not precommitting a specific
amount of business to any broker or dealer over any specific time
period. Historically, the majority of brokerage placement has
been determined by the needs of a specific transaction such as
market-making, availability of a buyer or seller of a particular
security, or specialized execution skills. However, T. Rowe
Price does have an internal brokerage allocation procedure for
that portion of its discretionary client brokerage or selling
concessions business where special needs do not exist, or where
the business may be allocated among several brokers or dealers
which are able to meet the needs of the transaction.
Each year, T. Rowe Price assesses the contribution of the
brokerage and research services provided by brokers and dealers,
and attempts to allocate a portion of its brokerage and selling
concession business in response to these assessments. Research
analysts, counselors, various investment committees, and the
Trading Department each seek to evaluate the brokerage and
research services they receive from brokers and dealers and make
judgments as to the level of business which would recognize such
services. In addition, brokers and dealers sometimes suggest a
level of business they would like to receive in return for the
various brokerage and research services they provide. Actual
business received by any firm may be less than the suggested
allocations but can, and often does, exceed the suggestions,
because the total business is allocated on the basis of all the
considerations described above. In no case is a broker or dealer
PAGE 68
excluded from receiving business from T. Rowe Price because it
has not been identified as providing research services.
Miscellaneous
T. Rowe Price's brokerage allocation policy is consistently
applied to all its fully discretionary accounts, which represent
a substantial majority of all assets under management. Research
services furnished by brokers or dealers through which T. Rowe
Price effects securities transactions may be used in servicing
all accounts (including non-Fund accounts) managed by T. Rowe
Price. Conversely, research services received from brokers or
dealers which execute transactions for the Fund is not
necessarily used by T. Rowe Price exclusively in connection with
the management of the Fund.
From time to time, orders for clients may be placed through
a computerized transaction network.
The Fund does not allocate business to any broker-dealer on
the basis of its sales of the Fund's shares. However, this does
not mean that broker-dealers who purchase Fund shares for its
clients will not receive business from the Fund.
Some of T. Rowe Price's other clients have investment
objectives and programs similar to those of the Fund. T. Rowe
Price may occasionally make recommendations to other clients
which result in its purchasing or selling securities
simultaneously with the Fund. As a result, the demand for
securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold
may increase, and this could have an adverse effect on the price
of those securities. It is T. Rowe Price's policy not to favor
one client over another in making recommendations or in placing
orders. T. Rowe Price frequently follows the practice of
grouping orders of various clients for execution which generally
results in lower commission rates being attained. In certain
cases, where the aggregate order is executed in a series of
transactions at various prices on a given day, each participating
client's proportionate share of such order reflects the average
price paid or received with respect to the total order. T. Rowe
Price has established a general investment policy that it will
ordinarily not make additional purchases of a common stock of a
company for its clients (including the T. Rowe Price Funds) if,
as a result of such purchases, 10% or more of the outstanding
common stock of such company would be held by its clients in the
aggregate.
PAGE 69
Trade Allocation Policies
T. Rowe Price has developed written trade allocation
guidelines for its Equity, Municipal, and Taxable Fixed Income
Trading Desks. Generally, when the amount of securities
available in a public offering or the secondary market is
insufficient to satisfy the volume or price requirements for the
participating client portfolios, the guidelines require a pro
rata allocation based upon the amounts initially requested by
each portfolio manager. In allocating trades made on combined
basis, the Trading Desks seek to achieve the same net unit price
of the securities for each participating client. Because a pro
rata allocation may not always adequately accommodate all facts
and circumstances, the guidelines provide for exceptions to
allocate trades on an adjusted, pro rata basis. Examples of
where adjustments may be made include: (i) reallocations to
recognize the efforts of a portfolio manager in negotiating a
transaction or a private placement; (ii) reallocations to
eliminate deminimis positions; (iii) priority for accounts with
specialized investment policies and objectives; and (iv)
reallocations in light of a participating portfolio's
characteristics (e.g., industry or issuer concentration,
duration, and credit exposure).
To the extent possible, T. Rowe Price intends to recapture
solicitation fees paid in connection with tender offers through
T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc., the Fund's distributor.
At the present time, T. Rowe Price does not recapture commissions
or underwriting discounts or selling group concessions in
connection with taxable securities acquired in underwritten
offerings. T. Rowe Price does, however, attempt to negotiate
elimination of all or a portion of the selling-group concession
or underwriting discount when purchasing tax-exempt municipal
securities on behalf of its clients in underwritten offerings.
Transactions with Related Brokers and Dealers
As provided in the Investment Management Agreement between
the Fund and T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price is responsible not only
for making decisions with respect to the purchase and sale of the
Fund's portfolio securities, but also for implementing these
decisions, including the negotiation of commissions and the
allocation of portfolio brokerage and principal business. It is
expected that T. Rowe Price may place orders for the Fund's
portfolio transactions with broker-dealers through the same
trading desk T. Rowe Price uses for portfolio transactions in
domestic securities. The trading desk accesses brokers and
dealers in various markets in which the Fund's foreign securities
are located. These brokers and dealers may include of certain
affiliates of Robert Fleming Holdings Limited ("Robert Fleming
PAGE 70
Holdings") and Jardine Fleming Group Limited ("JFG"), persons
indirectly related to T. Rowe Price. Robert Fleming Holdings,
through Copthall Overseas Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary,
owns 25% of the common stock of Rowe Price-Fleming International,
Inc. ("RPFI"), an investment adviser registered under the
Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Fifty percent of the common
stock of RPFI is owned by TRP Finance, Inc., a wholly-owned
subsidiary of T. Rowe Price, and the remaining 25% is owned by
Jardine Fleming International Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of
JFG. JFG is 50% owned by Robert Fleming Holdings and 50% owned
by Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited. Orders for the Fund's
portfolio transactions placed with affiliates of Robert Fleming
Holdings and JFG will result in commissions being received by
such affiliates.
The Board of Directors of the Fund has authorized T. Rowe
Price to utilize certain affiliates of Robert Fleming and JFG in
the capacity of broker in connection with the execution of the
Fund's portfolio transactions. These affiliates include, but are
not limited to, Jardine Fleming (Securities) Limited ("JFS"), a
wholly-owned subsidiary of JFG, Robert Fleming & Co. Limited
("RF&Co."), Jardine Fleming Australia Securities Limited, and
Robert Fleming, Inc. (a New York brokerage firm). Other
affiliates of Robert Fleming Holdings and JFG also may be used.
Although it does not believe that the Fund's use of these brokers
would be subject to Section 17(e) of the Investment Company Act
of 1940, the Board of Directors of the Fund has agreed that the
procedures set forth in Rule 17(e)(1) under that Act will be
followed when using such brokers.
Other
For the fiscal periods ended December 31, 1996, 1995, and
1994, the Fund engaged in portfolio transactions involving
broker-dealers totaling $161,827,000, $52,308,000, and
$17,730,000, respectively. The entire amounts represented
principal transactions as to which the Fund had no knowledge of
the profits or losses realized by the respective broker-dealers
for the fiscal periods ended December 31, 1996, 1995, and 1994.
The percentage of total portfolio transactions, placed with firms
which provided research, statistical or other services to T. Rowe
Price in connection with the management of the Fund, or in some
cases, to the Fund for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1996,
1995, and 1994, were approximately 76%, 77%, and 79%,
respectively. The portfolio turnover rate for the Fund for the
fiscal periods ended December 31, 1996, 1995, and 1994, were
97.7%, 73.7%, and 146.0% (annualized), respectively.
PAGE 71
PRICING OF SECURITIES
Debt securities are generally traded in the over-the-counter
market. Investments in securities originally issued with
maturities of one year or more are stated at fair value as
furnished by dealers who make markets in such securities or by an
independent pricing service, which considers yield or price of
bonds of comparable quality, coupon, maturity, and type, as well
as prices quoted by dealers who make markets in such securities.
Securities with original maturities less than one year are stated
at fair value which is determined by using a matrix system that
establishes a value for each security based on money market
yields. Warrants are valued at the last bid price.
There are a number of pricing services available, and the
Board of Directors, on the basis of an ongoing evaluation of
these services, may use or may discontinue the use of any pricing
service in whole or in part.
For the purposes of determining a Fund's net asset value per
share, all assets and liabilities initially expressed in foreign
currencies are converted into U.S. dollars at the mean of the bid
and offer prices of such currencies against U.S. dollars quoted
by any major bank.
Assets and liabilities for which the above valuation
procedures are inappropriate or are deemed not to reflect fair
value are stated at fair value, as determined in good faith by or
under the supervision of officers of the Fund as authorized by
its Board of Directors.
NET ASSET VALUE PER SHARE
The purchase and redemption price of the Fund's shares is
equal to the Fund's net asset value per share or share price.
The Fund determines its net asset value per share by subtracting
the Fund's liabilities (including accrued expenses and dividends
payable) from its total assets (the market value of the
securities the Fund holds plus cash and other assets, including
income accrued but not yet received) and dividing the result by
the total number of shares outstanding. The net asset value per
share of the Fund is calculated as of the close of trading on the
New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") every day the NYSE is open for
trading. The NYSE is closed on the following days: New Year's
Day, Washington's Birthday, Good Friday, Memorial Day,
Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
Determination of net asset value (and the offering, sale,
redemption and repurchase of shares) for a Fund may be suspended
PAGE 72
at times (a) during which the NYSE is closed, other than
customary weekend and holiday closings, (b) during which trading
on the NYSE is restricted, (c) during which an emergency exists
as a result of which disposal by a Fund of securities owned by it
is not reasonably practicable or it is not reasonably practicable
for the Fund fairly to determine the value of its net assets, or
(d) during which a governmental body having jurisdiction over the
Fund may by order permit such a suspension for the protection of
the Fund's shareholders; provided that applicable rules and
regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (or any
succeeding governmental authority) shall govern as to whether the
conditions prescribed in (b), (c), or (d) exist.
DIVIDENDS
Unless the separate account elects otherwise, the Fund's
annual capital gain distributions, if any, will be reinvested on
the reinvestment date using the NAV per share of that date. The
reinvestment date normally precedes the payment date by about 10
days although the exact timing is subject to change.
TAX STATUS
The Fund intends to qualify as a "regulated investment
company" under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
as amended ("Code") and also intends to diversify its assets in
accordance with regulations under Code Section 817(h).
In 1987, the Treasury Department indicated that it may issue
regulations addressing the circumstances in which a
policyholder's control of the investments of the insurance
company separate account would result in the policyholder being
treated as the owner of such assets. Although there is no
present indication that such regulations will be issued, their
adoption could alter the tax treatment of the policyholder,
separate account or insurance company.
For tax purposes, the Fund must declare dividends equal to
at least 98% of ordinary income (as of December 31) and capital
gains (as of October 31) in order to avoid a federal excise tax
and distribute 100% of ordinary income and capital gains as of
December 31 to avoid a federal income tax. In certain
circumstances, the Fund may not be required to comply with the
excise tax distribution requirements. It does not make any
difference whether dividends and capital gain distributions are
paid in cash or in additional shares.
PAGE 73
At the time a shareholder acquires Fund shares, the Fund's
net asset value may reflect undistributed income, capital gains
or net unrealized appreciation of securities held by the Fund
which may be subsequently distributed as either dividends or
capital gain distributions.
If, in any taxable year, the Fund should not qualify as a
regulated investment company under the Code: (i) the Fund would
be taxed at normal corporate rates on the entire amount of its
taxable income, if any, without deduction for dividends or other
distributions to shareholders; and (ii) the Fund's distributions
to the extent made out of the Fund's current or accumulated
earnings and profits would be treated as ordinary dividends by
shareholders (regardless of whether they would otherwise have
been considered capital gain dividends), and (iii) the separate
accounts investing in the Fund may fail to satisfy the
requirements of Code Section 817(h) which in turn could adversely
affect the tax status of life insurance and annuity contracts
with premiums invested in the affected separate accounts.
To the extent the Fund invests in foreign securities, the
following would apply:
Passive Foreign Investment Companies
The Fund may purchase the securities of certain foreign
investment funds or trusts called passive foreign investment
companies. In addition to bearing their proportionate share of
the fund's expenses (management fees and operating expenses)
shareholders will also indirectly bear similar expenses of such
funds. Capital gains on the sale of such holdings will be deemed
to be ordinary income regardless of how long the Fund holds its
investment. In addition, the Fund may be subject to corporate
income tax and an interest charge on certain dividends and
capital gains earned from these investments, regardless of
whether such income and gains are distributed to shareholders.
In accordance with tax regulations, the Fund intends to
treat these securities as sold on the last day of the Fund's
fiscal year and recognize any gains for tax purposes at that
time; losses will not be recognized. Such gains will be
considered ordinary income which the Fund will be required to
distribute even though it has not sold the security and received
cash to pay such distributions.
Foreign Currency Gains and Losses
Foreign currency gains and losses, including the portion of
gain or loss on the sale of debt securities attributable to
foreign exchange rate fluctuations, are ordinary income for tax
PAGE 74
purposes. If the net effect of these transactions is a gain, the
dividend paid by the Fund will be increased; if the result is a
loss, the income dividend paid by the Fund will be decreased.
Adjustments, to reflect these gains and losses will be made at
the end of the Fund's taxable year.
YIELD INFORMATION
From time to time, the Fund may advertise a yield figure
calculated in the following manner:
An income factor is calculated for each security in the
portfolio based upon the security's market value at the beginning
of the period and yield as determined in conformity with
regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The income
factors are then totalled for all securities in the portfolio.
Next, expenses of the Fund for the period net of expected
reimbursement are deducted from the income to arrive at net
income, which is then converted to a per-share amount by dividing
net income by the average number of shares outstanding during the
period. The net income per share is divided by the net asset
value on the last day of the period to produce a monthly yield
which is then annualized. Quoted yield factors are for
comparison purposes only, and are not intended to indicate future
performance or forecast the dividend per share of the Fund.
The yield of the Fund calculated under the above-described
method for the month ended December 31, 1996 was 5.84%.
INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE
Total Return Performance
The Fund's calculation of total return performance includes
the reinvestment of all capital gain distributions and income
dividends for the period or periods indicated, without regard to
tax consequences to a shareholder in the Fund. Total return is
calculated as the percentage change between the beginning value
of a static account in the Fund and the ending value of that
account measured by the then current net asset value, including
all shares acquired through reinvestment of income and capital
gains dividends. The results shown are historical and should not
be considered indicative of the future performance of a Fund.
Each average annual compound rate of return is derived from the
cumulative performance of the Fund over the time period
specified. The annual compound rate of return for the Fund over
any other period of time will vary from the average.
PAGE 75
Cumulative Performance Percentage Change
1 Yr. Since
Ended Inception to
12/31/96 12/31/96
___________ ___________
Limited-Term Bond Portfolio 3.26% 16.43%
Average Annual Compound Rates of Return
1 Yr. Since
Ended Inception to
12/31/96 12/31/96
___________ ___________
Limited-Term Bond Portfolio 3.26% 5.94%
Outside Sources of Information
From time to time, in reports and promotional literature:
(1) the Fund's total return performance, ranking, or any other
measure of the Fund's performance may be compared to any one or
combination of the following: (i) a broad based index; (ii)
other groups of mutual funds, including T. Rowe Price Funds,
tracked by independent research firms ranking entities, or
financial publications; (iii) indices of stocks comparable to
those in which the Fund invests; (2) the Consumer Price Index (or
any other measure for inflation, government statistics, such as
GNP may be used to illustrate investment attributes of the Fund
or the general economic, business, investment, or financial
environment in which the Fund operates; (3) various financial,
economic and market statistics developed by brokers, dealers and
other persons may be used to illustrate aspects of the Fund's
performance; (4) the effect of tax-deferred compounding on the
Fund's investment returns, or on returns in general in both
qualified and non-qualified retirement plans or any other tax
advantage product, may be illustrated by graphs, charts, etc.;
and (5) the sectors or industries in which the Fund invests may
be compared to relevant indices or surveys in order to evaluate
the Fund's historical performance or current or potential value
with respect to the particular industry or sector.
Other Publications
From time to time, in newsletters and other publications
issued by T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc., reference may
be made to economic, financial and political developments in the
U.S. and abroad and how these conditions have affected or may
PAGE 76
affect securities prices or the Fund; individual securities
within the portfolio; and their philosophy regarding the
selection of individual stocks, including why specific stocks
have been added, removed, or excluded from the Fund's portfolio
their effect on securities prices.
Other Features and Benefits
The Fund is a member of the T. Rowe Price Family of Funds
and may help investors achieve various long-term investment
goals, such as investing money for retirement, saving for a down
payment on a home, or paying college costs. To explain how the
Fund could be used to assist investors in planning for these
goals and to illustrate basic principles of investing, various
worksheets and guides prepared by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.
and/or T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc. may be made
available.
Redemptions in Kind
In the unlikely event a shareholder of the Fund were to
receive an in kind redemption of portfolio securities of the
Fund, brokerage fees could be incurred by the shareholder in
subsequent sale of such securities.
Issuance of Fund Shares for Securities
Transactions involving issuance of Fund shares for
securities or assets other than cash will be limited to (1) bona
fide reorganizations; (2) statutory mergers; or (3) other
acquisitions of portfolio securities that: (a) meet the
investment objective and policies of the Fund; (b) are acquired
for investment and not for resale except in accordance with
applicable law; (c) have a value that is readily ascertainable
via listing on or trading in a recognized United States or
international exchange or market; and (d) are not illiquid.
CAPITAL STOCK
The Charter of the T. Rowe Price Fixed Income Series, Inc.
(the "Corporation") authorizes its Board of Directors to classify
and reclassify any and all shares which are then unissued,
including unissued shares of capital stock into any number of
classes or series, each class or series consisting of such number
of shares and having such designations, such powers, preferences,
rights, qualifications, limitations, and restrictions, as shall
be determined by the Board subject to the Investment Company Act
and other applicable law. Currently, the Corporation consists of
PAGE 77
two series: the Fund established in 1994, and T. Rowe Price Prime
Reserve Portfolio established in 1996. The shares of any such
additional classes or series might therefore differ from the
shares of the present class and series of capital stock and from
each other as to preferences, conversions or other rights, voting
powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends, qualifications
or terms or conditions of redemption, subject to applicable law,
and might thus be superior or inferior to the capital stock or to
other classes or series in various characteristics. The
Corporation's Board of Directors may increase or decrease the
aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of
stock of any class or series that the Fund has authorized to
issue without shareholder approval.
Except to the extent that the Corporation's Board of
Directors might provide by resolution that holders of shares of a
particular class are entitled to vote as a class on specified
matters presented for a vote of the holders of all shares
entitled to vote on such matters, there would be no right of
class vote unless and to the extent that such a right might be
construed to exist under Maryland law. The Charter contains no
provision entitling the holders of the present class of capital
stock to a vote as a class on any matter. Accordingly, the
preferences, rights, and other characteristics attaching to any
class of shares, including the present class of capital stock,
might be altered or eliminated, or the class might be combined
with another class or classes, by action approved by the vote of
the holders of a majority of all the shares of all classes
entitled to be voted on the proposal, without any additional
right to vote as a class by the holders of the capital stock or
of another affected class or classes.
The various insurance companies own the outstanding shares
of the Fund in their separate accounts. These separate accounts
are registered as investment companies under the 1940 Act or are
excluded from registration. Each insurance company, as the
Shareholder, is entitled to one vote for each full share held
(and fractional votes for fractional shares held). Under the
current laws the insurance companies must vote the shares held in
registered separate accounts in accordance with voting
instructions received from variable Contract Holders or
Participants. Fund shares for which Contract Holders or
Participants are entitled to give voting instructions, but as to
which no voting instructions are received, and shares owned by
the insurance companies or affiliated companies in the separate
accounts, will be voted in proportion to the shares for which
voting instructions have been received.
There will normally be no meetings of shareholders for the
purpose of electing directors unless and until such time as less
PAGE 78
than a majority of the directors holding office have been elected
by shareholders, at which time the directors then in office will
call a shareholders' meeting for the election of directors.
Except as set forth above, the directors shall continue to hold
office and may appoint successor directors. Voting rights are
not cumulative, so that the holders of more than 50% of the
shares voting in the election of directors can, if they choose to
do so, elect all the directors of the Fund, in which event the
holders of the remaining shares will be unable to elect any
person as a director. As set forth in the By-Laws of the
Corporation, a special meeting of shareholders of the Corporation
shall be called by the Secretary of the Corporation on the
written request of shareholders entitled to cast at least 10% of
all the votes of the Corporation entitled to be cast at such
meeting. Shareholders requesting such a meeting must pay to the
Corporation the reasonably estimated costs of preparing and
mailing the notice of the meeting. The Corporation, however,
will otherwise assist the shareholders seeking to hold the
special meeting in communicating to the other shareholders of the
Corporation to the extent required by Section 16(c) of the
Investment Company Act of 1940.
FEDERAL REGISTRATION OF SHARES
Each Fund's shares are registered for sale under the
Securities Act of 1933. Registration of the Fund's shares is not
required under any state law, but the Fund is required to make
certain filings with and pay fees to the states in order to sell
its shares in the states.
LEGAL COUNSEL
Shereff, Friedman, Hoffman, & Goodman, LLP, whose address is
919 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022, is legal counsel to
the Fund.
INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
Price Waterhouse LLP, Gateway International II, 1306
Concourse Drive, Suite 100, Linthicum, Maryland 21090-1020,
Baltimore, Maryland 21202, are independent accountants to the
Fund. The financial statements of the Fund for the year ended
December 31, 1996, and the report of independent accountants are
included in the Fund's Annual Report for the year ended December
31, 1996. A copy of the Annual Report accompanies this Statement
PAGE 79
of Additional Information. The following financial statements
and the report of independent accountants appearing in the Annual
Report for the year ended December 31, 1996, are incorporated
into this Statement of Additional Information by reference:
LIMITED-TERM
BOND PORTFOLIO
_________________
Report of Independent Accountants 13
Statement of Net Assets, December 31, 1996 5-8
Statement of Operations, year ended December 31, 1996 9
Statement of Changes in Net Assets, years ended
December 31, 1996 and December 31, 1995 10
Notes to Financial Statements, December 31, 1996 11-12
Financial Highlights 4
RATINGS OF COMMERCIAL PAPER
Moody's Investors Service, Inc. The rating of Prime-1 is the
highest commercial paper rating assigned by Moody's. Among the
factors considered by Moody's in assigning ratings are the
following: valuation of the management of the issuer; economic
evaluation of the issuer's industry or industries and an
appraisal of speculative-type risks which may be inherent in
certain areas; evaluation of the issuer's products in relation to
competition and customer acceptance; liquidity; amount and
quality of long-term debt; trend of earnings over a period of 10
years; financial strength of the parent company and the
relationships which exist with the issuer; and recognition by the
management of obligations which may be present or may arise as a
result of public interest questions and preparations to meet such
obligations. These factors are all considered in determining
whether the commercial paper is rated P1, P2, or P3.
Standard & Poor's Corporation. Commercial paper rated A (highest
quality) by S&P has the following characteristics: liquidity
ratios are adequate to meet cash requirements; long-term senior
debt is rated "A" or better, although in some cases "BBB" credits
may be allowed. The issuer has access to at least two additional
channels of borrowing. Basic earnings and cash flow have an
upward trend with allowance made for unusual circumstances.
Typically, the issuer's industry is well established and the
issuer has a strong position within the industry. The
reliability and quality of management are unquestioned. The
relative strength or weakness of the above factors determines
whether the issuer's commercial paper is rated A1, A2, or A3.
PAGE 80
Fitch Investors Service, Inc.: Fitch 1 - Highest grade.
Commercial paper assigned this rating is regarded as having the
strongest degree of assurance for timely payment. Fitch 2 - Very
good grade. Issues assigned this rating reflect an assurance of
timely payment only slightly less in degree than the strongest
issues.
RATINGS OF CORPORATE DEBT SECURITIES
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
Aaa - Bonds rated Aaa are judged to be of the best quality. They
carry the smallest degree of investment risk.
Aa - Bonds 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.
A - Bonds rated A possess many favorable investment attributes
and are to be considered as upper medium grade obligations.
Baa - Bonds 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 rated Ba are judged to have speculative elements: its
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 characterize
bonds in this class.
B - Bonds rated B generally lack characteristics of the desirable
investment. Assurance of interest and principal payments of or
maintenance of other terms of the contract over any long period
of time may be small.
Caa - Bonds 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 rated Ca represent obligations which are speculative
in a high degree. Such issues are often in default or have other
marked short-comings.
PAGE 81
Standard & Poor's Corporation
AAA - This is the highest rating assigned by Standard & Poor's to
a debt obligation and indicates an extremely strong capacity to
pay principal and interest.
AA - Bonds rated AA also qualify as high-quality debt
obligations. Capacity to pay principal and interest is very
strong.
A - Bonds rated A have a strong capacity to pay principal and
interest, although they are somewhat more susceptible to the
adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic
conditions.
BBB - Bonds rated BBB are regarded as having an adequate capacity
to pay principal and interest. Whereas they normally exhibit
adequate protection parameters, adverse economic conditions or
changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened
capacity to pay principal and interest for bonds in this category
than for bonds in the A category.
BB, B, CCC, CC - Bonds rated BB, B, CCC, and CC are regarded on
balance, as predominantly speculative with respect to the
issuer's capacity to pay interest and repay principal in
accordance with the terms of the obligation. BB indicates the
lowest degree of speculation and CC the highest degree of
speculation. While such bonds will likely have some quality and
protective characteristics, these are outweighed by large
uncertainties or major risk exposures to adverse conditions.
D - Bonds rated D are regarded as in default.
Fitch Investors Service, Inc.:
AAA - High grade, broadly marketable, suitable for investment by
trustees and fiduciary institutions, and liable to but slight
market fluctuation other than through changes in the money rate.
The prime feature of a "AAA" bond is the showing of earnings
several times or many times interest requirements for such
stability of applicable interest that safety is beyond reasonable
question whenever changes occur in conditions. Other features
may enter, such as a wide margin of protection through
collateral, security or direct lien on specific property.
Sinking funds or voluntary reduction of debt by call or purchase
are often factors, while guarantee or assumption by parties other
than the original debtor may influence its rating.
PAGE 82
AA - Of safety virtually beyond question and readily salable.
Their merits are not greatly unlike those of "AAA" class but a
bond so rated may be junior though of strong lien, or the margin
of safety is less strikingly broad. The issue may be the
obligation of a small company, strongly secured, but influenced
as to rating by the lesser financial power of the enterprise and
more local type of market.
