The investment seeks to obtain as high a level of current income exempt from federal individual income tax as is consistent, in the view of the fund's investment advisor, with preservation of capital; to reduce expected changes in its share price compared to longer intermediate and long-term bond portfolios is the secondary objective. The fund pursues its primary goal by investing principally in a laddered maturity portfolio of municipal obligations issued by states and state agencies, local governments and their agencies and by United States territories and possessions.