Under normal market conditions, the Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80 percent of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in a portfolio of U.S. and non-U.S. convertible securities (described below). In general, convertible securities combine the investment characteristics of bonds and common stocks and typically consist of debt securities or preferred securities that may be converted or exchanged within a specified period of time (typically for the entire life of the security) into a certain amount of common stock or other equity security (such equity securities referred to as underlying securities) of the same or a different issuer (and/or the cash equivalent thereof). A convertible security is designed to provide current income and also the potential for capital appreciation through the conversion feature, which enables the holder to benefit from increases (if any) in the market price of the underlying equity security. Accordingly, these equity-linked instruments offer the potential for equity market participation along with, in light of their bond-like characteristics, potential mitigated downside risk (which is generally the risk that a security may suffer a decline in value) in periods of equity market declines.