By hiring an External Advisor to manage the Marketable Debt Securities Portfolio, the Fund is subject to the risks associated with having third parties exercise discretion over the investment of the Marketable Debt Securities Portfolio.
The Fund is subject to external management risk because its Marketable Debt Securities Portfolio is actively managed by an External Advisor. The External Advisor applies investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Marketable Debt Securities Portfolio, but there can be no guarantee that these will produce the desired results.
A risk of loss also exists due to fraud on the part of the External Advisor, intentional or inadvertent deviations from the Marketable Debt Securities Portfolio’s investment guidelines or simply poor judgment. Although the Fund believes the External Advisor is operating with integrity and sound operational and organizational standards, the Fund may have no, or only limited, access to information regarding the activities of the External Advisor, and the Fund cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. As a consequence, although the Fund monitors the activities of the External Advisor, it may be difficult, if not impossible, for the Fund to protect itself from the risk of fraud, misrepresentation or material strategy alteration. The Fund has no control over the day-to-day operations of the External Advisor. The failure of operations, information technology systems or contingency/disaster recovery plans may result in significant losses for the Marketable Debt Securities Portfolio.
The Fund and its service providers, including the External Advisor, may be the subject of cyber-attacks that could have severe negative impacts on the Fund.
With the increased use of technologies such as the Internet to conduct business, the Fund is susceptible to operational, information security and related risks. In general, cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events. Cyber-attacks include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems (e.g., through “hacking” or malicious software coding) for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. Cyber-attacks may also be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access, such as causing denial-of-service attacks on websites (i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users). Cyber security failures or breaches by the External Advisor, or other service providers (including, but not limited to, fund accountants, custodians, transfer agents and administrators), and the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its net asset value, impediments to trading, the inability of stockholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. In addition, substantial costs may be incurred in order to prevent any cyber incidents in the future. While the Fund has implemented business continuity plans in the event of, and risk management systems to prevent, cyber-attacks against its systems, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems, including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cyber security plans and systems put in place by service providers to the Fund and issuers in which the Fund invests. The Fund and its stockholders could be negatively impacted as a result.
Misconduct or misrepresentations by the limited number of remaining employees of the Fund, the External Advisor or any of the Fund’s other service providers could cause significant losses to the Fund.
Employee misconduct may include binding the Fund to transactions that exceed authorized limits or present unacceptable risks and unauthorized trading activities, concealing unsuccessful trading activities (which, in any case, may result in unknown and unmanaged risks or losses) or making misrepresentations regarding any of the foregoing. Losses could also result from actions by the Fund’s service providers, including, without limitation, failing to recognize trades and misappropriating assets. In addition, employees and service providers may improperly use or disclose confidential information, which could result in litigation or serious financial harm, including limiting the Fund’s ability to return capital to stockholders. Despite the Fund’s due diligence efforts, misconduct and intentional misrepresentations may be undetected or not fully comprehended, thereby potentially undermining the Fund’s due diligence efforts. As a result, no assurances can be given that the due diligence performed by the Fund will identify or prevent any such misconduct.
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