The Adviser allocates a portion of the Portfolio to a capital appreciation and income component (the "Capital Appreciation and Income Component") managed by BlackRock Investment Management, LLC ("BlackRock" or a "Sub-Adviser") and a portion to a managed risk component (the "Managed Risk Component") managed by Milliman Financial Risk Management, LLC ("Milliman" or a "Sub-Adviser"). BlackRock manages the Capital Appreciation and Income Component pursuant to a "fund of funds" strategy that seeks to achieve its objective by investing in a combination of one or more mutual funds and exchange-traded funds ("ETFs") that are affiliated with BlackRock and are offered through different prospectuses (collectively, "Underlying Funds"). Milliman manages the Managed Risk Component pursuant to a strategy that seeks to manage portfolio volatility and provide downside risk management.

The Adviser seeks to achieve the Portfolio's investment objective by allocating, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Portfolio's net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, to the Capital Appreciation and Income Component and up to 20% of the Portfolio's net assets to the Managed Risk Component.

In managing the Capital Appreciation and Income Component, BlackRock will invest in a mix of Underlying Funds in different combinations and weightings pursuant to an asset allocation strategy determined by BlackRock. BlackRock may also invest a portion of the Capital Appreciation and Income Component in cash or cash equivalents. Under normal market conditions, BlackRock expects to allocate approximately 40-70% of the Capital Appreciation and Income Component assets to equity-based Underlying Funds, and approximately 30-60% to fixed-income-based Underlying Funds, although BlackRock may modify the target allocation from time to time.

The Underlying Funds may include funds that invest primarily in equity securities or certain other instruments described below (referred to as "equity funds"), funds that invest primarily in fixed-income securities (referred to as "fixed-income funds"), and funds that invest in a mix of securities and other instruments in which equity funds and fixed-income funds invest (referred to as "multi-asset funds"). Equity funds may include funds that invest in, among other things: domestic and international equities of any market capitalization; real estate-related securities or instruments, including real estate investment trusts ("REITs"); and commodity-related securities or instruments. Fixed-income funds may include funds that invest in a wide range of debt securities, including, among other things: debt securities of varying maturities; debt securities paying fixed or fluctuating rates of interest; debt securities convertible into equity securities; domestic and non-U.S. bonds; securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities, by foreign governments, international agencies or supranational entities, or by domestic or foreign private issuers; mortgage-backed securities; high yield (or junk) bonds; corporate loans; distressed securities; inflation-indexed bonds; structured notes; credit-linked notes; loan assignments and loan participations; and cash or money market instruments. Multi-asset funds may include funds that invest in any of the securities or instruments in which equity funds or fixed-income funds may invest. Investments in multi-asset funds will count toward the target allocation ranges for both equity and fixed-income funds. The portion of such investments attributable to each target allocation range will be determined based on a multi-asset fund's underlying investments in equity and fixed-income instruments. Certain Underlying Funds may also invest in commodity-related instruments or in derivative instruments, such as futures, options, forward contracts, and/or swaps.

BlackRock may allocate a significant portion of the Capital Appreciation and Income Component to a single Underlying Fund, the BlackRock Global Allocation V.I. Fund, which invests in a portfolio of equity, debt and money market securities.

The allocation to equity funds may be further diversified by style factors (including, without limitation, value and growth), market capitalization (including both large cap and small cap funds), region (including domestic and international or

emerging markets funds), or other factors. The allocation to fixed-income funds may be further diversified by sector (including government, corporate, agency, mortgage-backed securities and other sectors), duration (a calculation of the average life of a bond which measures its price risk), credit quality (including non-investment grade debt or "junk bonds"), geographic location (including U.S. and foreign-issued securities), or other factors.

In the Managed Risk Component, the Adviser seeks to manage return volatility by employing Milliman to execute a managed risk strategy, which consists of using hedge instruments to reduce the downside risk of the Portfolio's securities. Milliman may use hedge instruments to accomplish this goal, which may include: equity futures contracts, treasury futures contracts, currency futures contracts, and other hedge instruments judged by Milliman to be necessary to achieve the goals of the managed risk strategy. Milliman may also buy or sell hedge instruments based on one or more market indices in an attempt to maintain the Portfolio's volatility at the targeted level in an environment in which Milliman expects market volatility to decrease or increase, respectively. Milliman selects individual hedge instruments that it believes will have prices that are highly correlated to the Portfolio's positions. Milliman adjusts hedge instruments to manage overall net Portfolio risk exposure, in an attempt to stabilize the volatility of the Portfolio around a predetermined target level and reduce the potential for portfolio losses during periods of significant and sustained market decline. Milliman seeks to monitor and forecast volatility in the markets using a proprietary model, and adjust the Portfolio's hedge instruments accordingly. In addition, Milliman will monitor liquidity levels of relevant hedge instruments and transparency provided by exchanges or counterparties in hedging transactions. Milliman adjusts futures positions to manage overall net Portfolio risk exposure. Milliman may, during periods of rising security prices, implement strategies to preserve gains on the Portfolio's positions. Milliman may, during periods of falling security prices, implement additional strategies to reduce losses in adverse market conditions. In these situations, Milliman's activity could significantly reduce the Portfolio's net economic exposure to equity securities. Following market declines, a downside rebalancing strategy will be used to decrease the amount of hedge instruments used to hedge the Portfolio. Milliman also adjusts hedge instruments to realign individual hedges when the Adviser rebalances the Portfolio's asset allocation profile.

Depending on market conditions, scenarios may occur where the Portfolio has no positions in any hedge instruments.

Asset Allocation Risk: The Portfolio's percentage allocations among its investments could cause the Portfolio to underperform relative to relevant benchmarks and other mutual funds with similar investment objectives.

Conflicts of Interest Risk: The Portfolio's strategy is designed to reduce the Portfolio's return volatility and manage downside exposure during periods of significant market declines but may not work as intended. The Portfolio's strategy may also reduce the risks assumed by the insurance company that sponsors your variable annuity contract. This facilitates the insurance company's ability to provide certain guaranteed benefits but may result in periods of underperformance, reduce a contract holder's ability to fully participate in rising markets and may increase transaction costs at the Portfolio and/or Underlying Fund level. Although the interests of contract holders and the insurance company are generally aligned, the insurance company (and the Adviser due to its affiliation with the insurance company) may face potential conflicts of interest. Specifically, the Portfolio's strategy may have the effect of mitigating the financial risks to the insurance company when providing certain guaranteed benefits.

Corporate Loans Risk: The value of corporate loan investments is generally less exposed to the adverse effects of shifts in market interest rates than investments that pay a fixed rate of interest. The market for corporate loans may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods (which may exceed seven days). As a result, the proceeds from the sale of corporate loans may not be readily available to make additional investments or to meet an Underlying Fund's redemption obligations, meaning that the Underlying Fund may have to sell other investments or take other actions if necessary to raise cash to meet its obligations.

Distressed Securities Risk: Distressed securities are speculative and involve substantial risks in addition to the risks of investing in junk bonds. An Underlying Fund will generally not receive interest payments on the distressed securities and may incur costs to protect its investment. In addition, distressed securities involve the substantial risk that principal will not be repaid. In any reorganization or liquidation proceeding relating to a portfolio company, an Underlying Fund may lose its entire investment or may be required to accept cash or securities with a value less than its original investment. Distressed securities and any securities received in an exchange for such securities may be subject to restrictions on resale.

Equity Risk: Common and preferred stock prices can fall rapidly in response to developments affecting a specific company or industry, or to changing economic, political or market conditions.

Fixed Income Risk: The value of bonds and other fixed-income securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in periods of volatility and rising interest rates may lead to increased redemptions and volatility and decreased liquidity in the fixed-income markets, making it more difficult to sell fixed-income holdings. In general, the market price of debt securities with longer maturities will increase or decrease more in response to changes in interest rates than shorter-term securities. Securities issued by U.S. government agencies or government-sponsored enterprises may not be guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury. Other risk factors include credit risk (the debtor may default), prepayment risk (the debtor may pay its obligations early, reducing the amount of interest payments), extension risk (repayments may occur more slowly if interest rates rise) and income risk (distributions to shareholders may decline where interest rates fall or defaults occur). These risks could affect the value of a particular investment, possibly causing the Portfolio's share price and total return to be reduced and fluctuate more than other types of investments.

Foreign Currency Risk: Exposure to foreign securities denominated in non-US dollar currencies will subject the Portfolio to currency trading risks that include market risk and country risk. Market risk results from adverse changes in exchange rates. Country risk arises because a government may interfere with transactions in its currency.

High-Yield Debt Securities Risk: Lower-quality bonds (including loans), known as "high-yield" or "junk" bonds, and unrated securities of similar credit quality are considered speculative and involve greater risk of a complete loss of an investment, or delays of interest and principal payments, than higher-quality debt securities. Issuers of high-yield debt securities are typically not as strong financially as those issuing securities of higher credit quality. These issuers are more likely to encounter financial difficulties and are more vulnerable to changes in the relevant economy that could affect their ability to make interest and principal payments when due. The prices of high-yield debt securities generally fluctuate more than higher quality securities. High-yield debt securities are generally less liquid than higher quality securities, making them harder to sell and harder to value.

Management Risk: The Portfolio's strategies may not produce the desired results, and may result in losses to the Portfolio.

Mid Cap Risk: The securities of mid cap companies generally trade in lower volumes and are generally subject to greater and less predictable price changes than the securities of larger capitalization companies. Medium capitalization companies may be more vulnerable than larger, more established organizations to adverse business or economic developments.

Over-the-Counter Transactions Risk: The Portfolio engages in over-the-counter ("OTC") transactions, some of which trade in a dealer network, rather than on an exchange. In general, there is less governmental regulation and supervision of transactions in the OTC markets than transactions entered into on organized exchanges, with OTC transactions subject to the risk that a counterparty to the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations.

REIT Investment Risk: Investments in REITs involve unique risks. REITs may have limited financial resources, may trade less frequently and in limited volume and may be more volatile than other securities.

Small Cap Risk: Small capitalization companies may be more vulnerable than larger, more established organizations to adverse business or economic developments. In particular, small capitalization companies may have more limited product lines, markets and financial resources and may depend on a relatively small management group.

Structured Notes Risk: Structured notes and other related instruments purchased by the Portfolio are generally privately negotiated debt obligations where the principal and/or interest is determined by reference to the performance of a specific asset, benchmark asset, market or interest rate ("reference measure"). The purchase of structured notes exposes the Portfolio to the credit risk of the issuer of the structured product. Structured notes may be leveraged, increasing the volatility of each structured note's value relative to the change in the reference measure. Structured notes may also be less liquid and more difficult to price accurately than less complex securities and instruments or more traditional debt securities.