U.S. Liquidity Relative ValueU.S.LiquidityRelativeValue

Investment Philosophy

The U.S. Liquidity Relative Value Strategy’s relative value platform is predicated on the belief that there are both persistent structural inefficiencies as well as near term dislocations in the liquid and securitized sectors of the U.S. fixed income market. In our experience, different markets are characterized by different structural inefficiencies, some for long periods of time. The proprietary quantitative models we use in the Strategy are expressly designed to identify and capitalize on such inefficiencies. The Senior Portfolio Managers expect that the Strategy will, in the aggregate, exhibit little correlation to the broad equity or fixed income indices.

Investment Process

The U.S. Liquidity Relative Value Strategy currently implements six different trading Sub-Strategies, with three of those Sub-Strategies considered “strategic” allocations and the other three used “opportunistically”. The three “strategic” allocations include: Treasury Optimal, Treasury Relative Value, and MBS Relative Value Sub-Strategies. The other three allocations include: Swaps Relative Value, Futures Relative Value, and Spread Trading, which are used more opportunistically, and have a lower portfolio target weight. Please note that the use of “target” weights are not hard-and-fast maximums or minimums. Actual portfolio weights may differ materially from target weights in different market environments.

The Strategy seeks alpha through six primary trading strategies:

• Treasury Optimal - Seeks to maximize fundamental value in U.S. Treasuries using proprietary quantitative models
• Treasury Relative Value - Seeks relative value along the U.S. Treasury curve using proprietary quantitative models, along with portfolio manager input
• MBS Relative Value - Seeks relative value in U.S. mortgages using proprietary quantitative models, along with portfolio manager input
• Swaps Relative Value - Seeks relative value in the swaps and Eurodollar markets using our proprietary quantitative curve model
• Futures Relative Value – Seeks arbitrage opportunities between futures and Treasury markets
• Spread Trading - Seeks relative value spread opportunities between Treasuries, agencies, and mortgage-backed securities

With these as a guide, the Senior Portfolio managers continually seek to construct a diversified mix of these strategies to maximize the ex-ante information ratio of an overall portfolio while managing systemic risks. They continually evaluate the opportunity set within each Sub-Strategy and adjust weights accordingly.

The Senior Portfolio Managers, as well as the sector managers who work with them, seek to identify relative value opportunities using PGIM Fixed Income’s proprietary quantitative analytics, as well as their seasoned qualitative judgment and trading expertise.

Each opportunity is evaluated by the Senior Portfolio Managers based on its expected unit of return per unit of volatility, net of transactions costs. If the expected return from convergence is greater than the expected volatility, the Portfolio Manager will implement the trade. Specifically, the Portfolio Manager will establish a long position in the “cheap” security and short the “rich” security, while simultaneously taking opposite positions in the financing markets. PGIM Fixed Income incorporates a variety of these types of trades within each Sub-Strategy, seeking at all times to maximize the overall expected information ratio of the overall portfolio while remaining within the constraints established by the risk budget used by PGIM Fixed Income in connection with the management of the Strategy.

The risk budget is the starting point for portfolio construction. Each sector manager then assesses prevailing relative value opportunities in his sector, mindful of the amount of risk he is able to “spend” in the sector or strategy. Each sector manager then raises his best relative value ideas to the Senior Portfolio Managers, who collectively assess all of the ideas from all sectors together. In making their assessment, the Senior Portfolio Managers consider existing positions in a portfolio, existing risk exposures, the risk budget and how it is currently filled, and market, trading, and liquidity considerations.