GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUSTInstitutional and Service Shares of the

Goldman Sachs Global Trends Allocation Fund(the “Fund”)

Supplement dated February 19, 2019, to theProspectuses and Summary Prospectuses, each dated April 30, 2018

Effective immediately, the Fund’s Prospectuses and Summary Prospectuses are herebyrevised as follows:

The Average Annual Total Return tables in the “Goldman Sachs Global Trends Alloca-tion Fund—Summary—Performance” section of the Institutional Shares Prospectusand the “Performance” section of the Goldman Sachs Global Trends Allocation Fund’sInstitutional Shares Summary Prospectus are replaced with the following:

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURN

For the period ended December 31, 2017 1 YearSince

Inception

Institutional Shares (Inception 10/16/13) 13.36% 4.49%60% MSCI World / 40% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Composite Index 14.52% 6.82%MSCI World Index (Net, USD, Unhedged; reflects no deduction for fees or

expenses) 22.40% 9.26%Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for

fees or expenses) 3.54% 2.94%

The Average Annual Total Return tables in the “Goldman Sachs Global TrendsAllocation Fund—Summary—Performance” section of the Service Shares Prospectusand the “Performance” section of the Goldman Sachs Global Trends AllocationFund’s Service Shares Summary Prospectus are replaced with the following:

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURN

For the period ended December 31, 2017 1 Year 5 YearSince

Inception

Service Shares (Inception 4/16/12) 13.11% 5.58% 5.54%60% MSCI World / 40% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate

Composite Index 14.52% 7.85% 7.90%MSCI World Index (Net, USD, Unhedged; reflects no deduction for

fees or expenses) 22.40% 11.63% 11.50%Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no

deduction for fees or expenses) 3.54% 2.10% 2.36%

This Supplement should be retained with your Prospectuses andSummary Prospectuses for future reference.

VITNAVPERFSTK 02-19

Prospectus ServiceShares

April 30, 2018

G O L D M A N S A C H S V A R I A B L E I N S U R A N C E T R U S T

� Goldman SachsGlobal Trends Allocation Fund

Shares of the Trust are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose offunding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Trust are not offered directly tothe general public.

THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION AND THE COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION HAVE NOTAPPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THESE SECURITIES OR PASSED UPON THE ADEQUACY OF THIS PROSPECTUS. ANYREPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

AN INVESTMENT IN THE FUND IS NOT A BANK DEPOSIT AND IS NOT INSURED BY THE FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCECORPORATION OR ANY OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCY. AN INVESTMENT IN THE FUND INVOLVES INVESTMENTRISKS, AND YOU MAY LOSE MONEY IN THE FUND.

Table of Contents

Page

GOLDMAN SACHS GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATIONFUND—SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT APPROACH . . . . . . . . . 6

RISKS OF THE FUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

SERVICE PROVIDERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

DISTRIBUTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

SHAREHOLDER GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

TAXATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

APPENDIX A—ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONPORTFOLIO RISKS, SECURITIES AND TECHNIQUES . . 24

APPENDIX B—FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Goldman Sachs Global Trends Allocation Fund—Summary

Investment Objective

The Goldman Sachs Global Trends Allocation Fund (the “Fund”) seeks total return while seeking to provide volatility management.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold Service Shares of the Fund. This table does not reflectthe fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an invest-ment option. Had those fees and expenses been included, overall fees and expenses would be higher.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):

Management Fees 0.79%Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees 0.25%Other Expenses 0.07%Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.14%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses1 1.25%

Fee Waiver and Expense Limitation2 (0.25)%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and Expense Limitation1 1.00%

1 The “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses” do not correlate to the ratios of net and total expenses to average net assets provided in the FinancialHighlights, which reflect the operating expenses of the Fund and do not include Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.

2 The Investment Adviser has agreed to (i) waive a portion of the management fee in order to achieve an effective net management fee rate of 0.67% of theFund’s average daily net assets and (ii) reduce or limit “Other Expenses” (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses,taxes, interest, brokerage fees, expenses of shareholder meetings, litigation and indemnification, and extraordinary expenses) to 0.004% of the Fund’saverage daily net assets. Each arrangement will remain in effect through at least April 30, 2019, and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may notterminate the arrangement without the approval of the Board of Trustees. The Fund’s “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver andExpense Limitation” have been restated to reflect the fee waiver and expense limitation currently in effect.

Expense Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. ThisExample does not reflect the fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that usesthe Fund as an investment option. Had those fees and expenses been included, the costs shown below would be higher.

The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in Service Shares of the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of yourService Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that theFund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that the Example incorporates the fee waiver and expense limitation arrangementsfor only the first year). Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years

Service Shares $102 $373 $664 $1,492

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs when it buys and sells securities or instruments (i.e., “turns over” its portfolio). A high rate ofportfolio turnover may result in increased transaction costs, including brokerage commissions, which must be borne by the Fund andits shareholders. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example above, but are reflected inthe Fund’s performance. The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 was 64% of the averagevalue of its portfolio.

Principal Strategy

The Fund primarily seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in a global portfolio of equity and fixed income assetclasses. The Fund may invest in one or a combination of the following securities and instruments: pooled investment vehicles,including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and other investment companies; equity securities and fixed income securities of U.S. and

1

non-U.S. issuers; and derivatives that provide exposure to a broad spectrum of asset classes and geographic regions. Under normalmarket conditions, the Fund expects to invest at least 40% of its assets in equity investments and at least 20% of its assets in fixedincome investments. The Investment Adviser makes investment decisions based upon its analysis of market factors around the world,and may allocate more of the Fund’s assets to investments with strong recent performance and allocate assets away from investmentswith poor recent performance. The percentage of the Fund’s portfolio exposed to any asset class or geographic region will vary fromtime to time as the weightings of the Fund change, and the Fund may not be invested in each asset class at all times. The Fund investsin at least three countries, including the United States, under normal market conditions. At times the Fund may be heavily invested incertain asset classes or geographic regions, depending on the asset allocation of the strategy. The Fund may invest without restrictionas to issuer capitalization, currency, maturity or credit rating.

As part of the Fund’s investment strategy, the Investment Adviser seeks to manage volatility and limit losses by allocating the Fund’sassets away from risky investments in distressed or volatile market environments. Volatility is a statistical measurement of themagnitude of up and down fluctuations in the value of a financial instrument or index. In distressed or volatile market environments,the Fund may also hold significant amounts of U.S. Treasury, short-term, or other fixed income investments, including money marketfunds and repurchase agreements or cash, and at times may invest up to 100% of its assets in such investments. While the InvestmentAdviser attempts to manage the Fund’s volatility, there can be no guarantee that the Fund will be successful.

The Fund’s investments in derivatives may include: (i) futures contracts, including futures based on securities and/or indices;(ii) swaps, including interest rate, total return, variance, and/or index swaps, and swaps on futures contracts; (iii) options, includinglong and short positions in call options and put options on indices, or currencies, swaptions and options on futures contracts; and(iv) structured notes. The Fund may engage in forward foreign currency transactions for both investment and hedging purposes.

The Fund’s blended benchmark is a composite of 60% Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) World Index / 40% BloombergBarclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (the “60% MSCI World / 40% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index” or “CompositeIndex”), as discussed further under “Performance.”

Principal Risks of the Fund

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed bythe Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any government agency. The Fund should not be relied upon as a completeinvestment program. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Investments in the Fund involvesubstantial risks which prospective investors should consider carefully before investing.

Absence of Regulation. The Fund engages in over-the-counter (“OTC”) transactions, which trade in a dealer network, rather than onan exchange. In general, there is less governmental regulation and supervision of transactions in the OTC markets than of transactionsentered into on organized exchanges.

Credit/Default Risk. An issuer or guarantor of fixed income securities or instruments held by the Fund (which may have low creditratings) may default on its obligation to pay interest and repay principal or default on any other obligation. Additionally, the creditquality of securities may deteriorate rapidly, which may impair the Fund’s liquidity and cause significant deterioration in net assetvalue (“NAV”). To the extent that the Fund invests in non-investment grade fixed income securities, these risks may be morepronounced.

Derivatives Risk. The Fund’s use of options, forwards, interest rate futures, interest rate swaps, credit default swaps and otherderivative instruments may result in losses. These instruments, which may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associatedwith investing directly in securities, currencies or other instruments, may be illiquid or less liquid, volatile, difficult to price andleveraged so that small changes in the value of underlying instruments may produce disproportionate losses to the Fund. Certainderivatives are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractualobligation. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from thoseassociated with investments in more traditional securities and instruments.

Expenses Risk. By investing in pooled investment vehicles (including investment companies and ETFs), partnerships and real estateinvestment trusts (“REITs”) indirectly through the Fund, the investor will incur not only a proportionate share of the expenses of thepooled investment vehicles, partnerships and REITs held by the Fund (including operating costs and investment management fees),but also expenses of the Fund.

2

Foreign and Emerging Countries Risk. Foreign securities may be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign governmentregulation, less public information and less economic, political and social stability in the countries in which the Fund invests. Theimposition of exchange controls (including repatriation restrictions), sanctions, confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs) andother government restrictions by the United States and other governments, or from problems in share registration, settlement orcustody, may also result in losses. Foreign risk also involves the risk of negative foreign currency rate fluctuations, which may causethe value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Fund has exposure to foreigncurrencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. These risks may bemore pronounced in connection with the Fund’s investments in securities of issuers located in emerging countries.

Geographic Risk. If the Fund focuses its investments in issuers located in a particular country or geographic region, it will subject theFund, to a greater extent than if its investments were less focused, to the risks of volatile economic cycles and/or conditions anddevelopments that may be particular to that country or region, such as: adverse securities markets; adverse exchange rates; adversesocial, political, regulatory, economic, business, environmental or other developments; or natural disasters.

Interest Rate Risk. When interest rates increase fixed income securities or instruments held by the Fund will generally decline invalue. Long-term fixed income securities will normally have more price volatility because of this risk than short-term fixed incomesecurities or instruments. The risks associated with increasing interest rates are heightened given that interest rates are near historiclows, but may be expected to increase in the future with unpredictable effects on the markets and the Fund’s investments. Fluctuationsin interest rates may also affect the liquidity of the fixed income securities and instruments held by the Fund.

Large Shareholder Transactions Risk. The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders purchase or redeemlarge amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times whenit would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. Similarly, large Fund share purchases mayadversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain alarger cash position than it ordinarily would. These transactions may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemptioncould result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expenseratio.

Leverage Risk. Borrowing and the use of derivatives may result in leverage, which can magnify the effects of changes in the value ofthe Fund’s investments and make it more volatile. Borrowing and the use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio posi-tions to satisfy its obligations or to meet asset segregation requirements when it may not be advantageous to do so. The use of leverageby the Fund can substantially increase the adverse impact to which the Fund’s investment portfolio may be subject.

Liquidity Risk. The Fund may make investments that may be illiquid or that may become less liquid in response to market develop-ments or adverse investor perceptions. Illiquid investments may be more difficult to value. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk thatthe Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions, anunusually high volume of redemption requests or other reasons. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell secu-rities, at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions. Liquidity risk may be the result of, among other things, the reducednumber and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in fixed income securities or the lack of an active market. Thepotential for liquidity risk may be magnified by a rising interest rate environment or other circumstances where investor redemptionsfrom fixed income mutual funds may be higher than normal, potentially causing increased supply in the market due to selling activity.

Management Risk. A strategy used by the Investment Adviser may fail to produce the intended results.

Market Risk. The value of the securities in which the Fund invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individualcompanies, particular sectors or governments and/or general economic conditions throughout the world due to increasingly inter-connected global economies and financial markets.

Mid-Cap and Small-Cap Risk. Investments in mid-capitalization and small-capitalization companies involve greater risks than thoseassociated with larger, more established companies. These securities may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements andmay lack sufficient market liquidity, and these issuers often face greater business risks.

NAV Risk. The net asset value (“NAV”) of the Fund and the value of your investment may fluctuate.

Pooled Investments Risk. By investing in pooled investment vehicles (including investment companies and ETFs), partnerships andREITs indirectly through the Fund, investors will incur a proportionate share of the expenses of the other pooled investment vehicles,

3

partnerships and REITs held by the Fund (including operating costs and investment management fees), in addition to the fees andexpenses regularly borne by the Fund. In addition, the Fund will be affected by the investment policies, practices and performance ofsuch investments in direct proportion to the amount of assets the Fund invests therein.

Portfolio Turnover Rate Risk. A high rate of portfolio turnover (100% or more) involves correspondingly greater expenses whichmust be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.

Sovereign Default Risk. An issuer of non-U.S. sovereign debt, such as Germany or Japan, or the governmental authorities thatcontrol the repayment of the debt, may be unable or unwilling to repay the principal or interest when due. This may result frompolitical or social factors, the general economic environment of a country, levels of foreign debt or foreign currency exchange rates.

Stock Risk. Stock prices have historically risen and fallen in periodic cycles. U.S. and foreign stock markets have experienced periodsof substantial price volatility in the past and may do so again in the future.

Swaps Risk. In a standard “swap” transaction, two parties agree to exchange the returns, differentials in rates of return or some otheramount earned or realized on the “notional amount” of predetermined investments or instruments, which may be adjusted for aninterest factor. Swaps can involve greater risks than direct investment in securities, because swaps may be leveraged and subject tocounterparty risk (e.g., the risk of a counterparty’s defaulting on the obligation or bankruptcy), credit risk and pricing risk (i.e., swapsmay be difficult to value). Swaps may also be considered illiquid. It may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate a swap position at anadvantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses.

U.S. Government Securities Risk. The U.S. government may not provide financial support to U.S. government agencies,instrumentalities or sponsored enterprises if it is not obligated to do so by law. U.S. Government securities issued by the FederalNational Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”) and the Federal HomeLoan Banks are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury and, therefore, are not backed by the full faith and credit of theUnited States. The maximum potential liability of the issuers of some U.S. Government securities held by the Fund may greatlyexceed their current resources, including any legal right to support from the U.S. Treasury. It is possible that issuers of U.S. Govern-ment securities will not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future.

Performance

The bar chart and table below provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing: (a) changes in the performanceof the Fund’s Service Shares from year to year; and (b) how the average annual total returns of the Fund’s Service Shares compare tothose of certain broad-based securities market indices and to the 60% MSCI World / 40% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. AggregateComposite Index (the “Composite Index”), a composite representation prepared by the Investment Adviser of the performance of theFund’s asset classes weighted according to their respective weightings in the Fund’s target range. The Composite Index is comprisedof the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) World Index (60%) and the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index(40%). Through April 30, 2015, the Fund had been known as the Goldman Sachs Global Markets Navigator Fund, and its investmentobjective and certain of its strategies differed. Performance information prior to this date reflects the Fund’s former investmentobjective and strategies. The Fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In addition, performancereflects Fund level expenses but does not reflect the fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable lifeinsurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and

4

expenses, performance would have been reduced. Updated performance information is available at no cost at www.gsamfunds.com/vitor by calling the phone number on the back cover of the Prospectus.

T OT A L RE T U R N C A L E N D A R Y E A R

Best QuarterQ1 ‘13 +4.92%

Worst QuarterQ3 ‘15 –6.11%

-5.82%

4.33%

13.11%

3.95%

20152014 2016 2017

13.57%

2013

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURN

For the period ended December 31, 2017 1 Year 5 YearSince

Inception

Service Shares (Inception 4/16/12) 13.11% 5.58% 5.54%60% MSCI World / 40% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate

Composite Index 14.90% 8.22% 8.27%MSCI World Index (reflects no deduction for fees or

expenses) 23.07% 12.25% 12.13%Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no

deduction for fees or expenses) 3.54% 2.10% 2.36%

Portfolio Management

Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. is the investment adviser for the Fund (the “Investment Adviser” or “GSAM”).

Portfolio Managers: Gary Chropuvka, CFA, Managing Director, Co-Head of Quantitative Investment Strategies—Customized BetaStrategies, has managed the Fund since 2013; and Amna Qaiser, CFA, Vice President, has managed the Fund since 2012.

Buying and Selling Fund Shares

Fund shares are not sold directly to the public. Fund shares may be purchased and redeemed by separate accounts that fund variableannuity and variable life insurance contracts issued by participating insurance companies. Orders received from separate accounts topurchase or redeem Fund shares are effected on business days. Individual investors may purchase or redeem Fund shares indirectlythrough variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies offered through the separate accounts.

Tax Information

Provided that the Fund and separate accounts investing in the Fund satisfy applicable tax requirements, the Fund will not be subject tofederal tax. Special tax rules apply to life insurance companies, variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance contracts. Forinformation on federal income taxation of owners of variable annuity or variable life insurance contracts, see the prospectus for theapplicable contract.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

The Fund and/or its related companies may pay participating insurance companies and securities dealers for the sale of Fund sharesand related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the insurance company and your salesperson torecommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your insurance company’s website for more information.

5

Investment Management Approach

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Fund seeks total return while seeking to provide vola-tility management. The Fund’s investment objective may bechanged without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ notice.

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

The Fund primarily seeks to achieve its investment objectiveby investing in a global portfolio of equity and fixed incomeasset classes. The Fund may invest in one or a combinationof the following securities and instruments: pooled invest-ment vehicles, including ETFs and other investment compa-nies; equity securities and fixed income securities of U.S.and non-U.S. issuers; and derivatives that provide exposureto a broad spectrum of asset classes and geographic regions.Under normal market conditions, the Fund expects to investat least 40% of its assets in equity investments and at least20% of its assets in fixed income investments. The Invest-ment Adviser makes investment decisions based upon itsanalysis of market factors around the world, and may allocatemore of the Fund’s assets to investments with strong recentperformance and allocate assets away from investments withpoor recent performance. The percentage of the Fund’sportfolio exposed to any asset class or geographic region willvary from time to time as the weightings of the Fund change,and the Fund may not be invested in each asset class at alltimes. The Fund invests in at least three countries, includingthe United States, under normal market conditions. At timesthe Fund may be heavily invested in certain asset classes orgeographic regions, depending on the asset allocation of thestrategy. The Fund may invest without restriction as to issuercapitalization, currency, maturity or credit rating.

As part of the Fund’s investment strategy, the InvestmentAdviser seeks to manage volatility and limit losses byallocating the Fund’s assets away from risky investments indistressed or volatile market environments. Volatility is astatistical measurement of the magnitude of up and downfluctuations in the value of a financial instrument or index. Indistressed or volatile market environments, the Fund mayalso hold significant amounts of U.S. Treasury, short-term, orother fixed income investments, including money marketfunds and repurchase agreements or cash, and at times mayinvest up to 100% of its assets in such investments. While theInvestment Adviser attempts to manage the Fund’s volatility,there can be no guarantee that the Fund will be successful.

The Fund’s investments in derivatives may include:(i) futures contracts, including futures based on securitiesand/or indices; (ii) swaps, including interest rate, total return,variance, and/or index swaps, and swaps on futures contracts;(iii) options, including long and short positions in calloptions and put options on indices, or currencies, swaptions

and options on futures contracts; and (iv) structured notes.The Fund may engage in forward foreign currency trans-actions for both investment and hedging purposes.

The Fund may, from time to time, take temporary defensivepositions that are inconsistent with the Fund’s principalinvestment strategy in attempting to respond to adversemarket, political or other conditions. For temporarydefensive purposes, the Fund may invest up to 100% of itstotal assets in securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S.government, its agencies, instrumentalities or sponsoredenterprises (“U.S. Government Securities”); commercialpaper rated at least A-2 by Standard & Poor’s RatingsServices (“Standard & Poor’s”), P-2 by Moody’s InvestorsService, Inc. (“Moody’s”), or having a comparable creditrating from another nationally recognized statistical ratingorganization (“NRSRO”) (or if unrated, determined by theInvestment Adviser to be of comparable quality); certificatesof deposit, bankers’ acceptances, repurchase agreements,non-convertible preferred stocks and non-convertible corpo-rate bonds with a remaining maturity of less than one year;ETFs and other investment companies and cash items. Whenthe Fund’s assets are invested in such instruments, theFund may not be achieving its investment objective.

The Fund’s benchmark index is the 60% MSCI World / 40%Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Composite Index. TheMSCI World Index (Net, USD, Unhedged) is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that isdesigned to measure the equity market performance of23 developed markets. The Bloomberg Barclays U.S.Aggregate Bond Index represents an unmanaged diversifiedportfolio of fixed income securities, including U.S. Treas-uries, investment-grade corporate bonds, and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. The Composite Index isa composite representation prepared by the InvestmentAdviser of the performance of the Fund’s asset classesweighted according to their respective weightings in theFund’s target range.

SHARE OFFERING

Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust”) offersshares of the Fund to separate accounts of participatinginsurance companies for the purpose of funding variableannuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. ServiceShares of the Fund are not offered directly to the public. Theparticipating insurance companies, not the owners of thevariable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policiesor participants therein, are shareholders of the Fund. TheFund pools the monies of these separate accounts and investsthese monies in a portfolio of securities pursuant to theFund’s stated investment objective.

6

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT APPROACH

The investment objective and policies of the Fund may besimilar to the investment objectives and policies of othermutual funds that the Investment Adviser manages. Althoughthe objectives and policies may be similar, the investmentresults of the Fund may be higher or lower than the results ofsuch other mutual funds. The Investment Adviser cannotguarantee, and makes no representation, that the investmentresults of similar funds will be comparable even though thefunds have the same Investment Adviser.

ADDITIONAL FEES AND EXPENSES INFORMATION

“Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” reflect the expenses(including the management fees) borne by the Fund throughits ownership of shares in other investment companies.

ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Note that the “Best Quarter” and “Worst Quarter” figuresshown in the “Performance” section of the Fund’s Summarysection are applicable only to the time period covered by thebar chart.

OTHER INVESTMENT PRACTICES AND SECURITIES

Although the Fund’s principal investment strategies aredescribed in the Fund’s Summary—Principal Strategysection of the Prospectus, the following tables identify someof the investment techniques that may (but are not requiredto) be used by the Fund in seeking to achieve its investmentobjective. Numbers in these tables show allowable usageonly; for actual usage, consult the Fund’s annual/semi-annualreports (when available). For more information about theseand other investment practices and securities, seeAppendix A.

The Fund publishes on its website(http://www.gsamfunds.com/vit) complete portfolio holdingsfor the Fund as of the end of each month subject to a tencalendar-day lag between the date of the information and thedate on which the information is disclosed. In addition, theFund publishes on its website month-end top ten holdingssubject to a ten calendar-day lag between the date of theinformation and the date on which the information isdisclosed. The Fund may disclose portfolio holdingsinformation more frequently. This information will beavailable on the website until the date on which the Fundfiles its next quarterly portfolio holdings report onForm N-CSR or Form N-Q with the SEC. In addition, adescription of the Fund’s policies and procedures withrespect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio holdings isavailable in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information(“SAI”).

10 Percent of total assets (including securities lending collateral)(italic type)

10 Percent of net assets (excluding borrowings for investmentpurposes) (roman type)

• No specific percentage limitation on usage; limited only bythe objective and strategies of the Fund

GlobalTrends

AllocationFund

Investment Practices

Borrowings 33 1⁄3Credit, Currency, Equity, Index, Interest Rate and Total Return

Swaps and Options on Swaps •

Cross Hedging of Currencies •

Custodial Receipts and Trust Certificates •

Foreign Currency Transactions (including forward contracts) •

Futures Contracts and Options and Swaps on Futures Contracts •

Illiquid Investments* 15

Inflation Protected Securities •

Interest Rate Caps, Floors and Collars •

Investment Company Securities (including ETFs)** 10Options on Foreign Currencies1 •

Options2 •

Preferred Stock, Warrants and Stock Purchase Rights •

Repurchase Agreements •

Reverse Repurchase Agreements (for investment purposes) •

Securities Lending 33 1⁄3

Investment Securities

American, European and Global Depositary Receipts •

Equity Investments •

Emerging Country Securities •

Fixed Income Securities •

Foreign Government Securities •

Foreign Securities •

Non-Investment Grade Fixed Income Securities3 •

REITs •

Structured Securities (which may include equity linked notes) •

Temporary Investments •

U.S. Government Securities •

* Illiquid investments are any investments which cannot be disposed of inseven days in the ordinary course of business at approximately the priceat which the Fund values the instrument.

** This percentage limitation does not apply to the Fund’s investments ininvestment companies (including ETFs) where a higher percentagelimitation is permitted under the terms of an SEC exemptive order orSEC exemptive rule.

1. The Fund may purchase and sell call and put options on foreigncurrencies.

2. The Fund may purchase and sell call and put options on securities andother instruments in which the Fund may invest or any index consistingof securities or other instruments in which the Fund invests.

3. May be rated BB+ or lower by Standard & Poor’s, Ba1 or lower byMoody’s or have a comparable rating by another NRSRO at the time ofinvestment.

7

Risks of the Fund

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed bythe FDIC or any other governmental agency. The principal risks of the Fund are discussed in the Summary section of the Prospectus.The following section provides additional information on the risks that apply to the Fund, which may result in a loss of your invest-ment. The Fund should not be relied upon as a complete investment program. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve itsinvestment objective. The Fund will only invest in securities represented in the Benchmark.

✓ PRINCIPAL RISK Š ADDITIONAL RISK

Fund

Absenceof

Regul-ation

Credit/Default

Deriv-atives

EmergingCountries Expenses Foreign Geographic

InterestRate

LargeShareholderTransactions Leverage Liquidity Management Market

Global Trends Allocation ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Mid-Capand

Small-Cap

NetAssetValue

(“NAV”)

Non-HedgingForeignCurrencyTrading

Non-Investment

GradeFixed

IncomeSecurities

PooledInvestments

PortfolioTurnover

Rate REIT

Sovereign Default

Stock Swaps

TreasuryInflationProtectedSecurities

U.S.Government

SecuritiesFund Economic PoliticalRe-

payment

Global Trends Allocation ✓ ✓ Š Š ✓ ✓ Š ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Š ✓

� Absence of Regulation Risk—The Fund engages in over-the-counter (“OTC”) transactions, which trade in a dealernetwork, rather than on an exchange. In general, there is lessgovernmental regulation and supervision of transactions inthe OTC markets (in which option contracts and certainoptions on swaps are generally traded) than of transactionsentered into on organized exchanges.

� Credit/Default Risk—An issuer or guarantor of fixedincome securities or instruments held by the Fund (whichmay have low credit ratings) may default on its obligation topay interest and repay principal or default on any otherobligation. The credit quality of the Fund’s portfolio secu-rities may meet the Fund’s credit quality requirements at thetime of purchase but then deteriorate thereafter, and such adeterioration can occur rapidly. In certain instances, thedowngrading or default of a single holding or guarantor ofthe Fund’s holding may impair the Fund’s liquidity and havethe potential to cause significant deterioration in NAV. Theserisks are more pronounced in connection with the Fund’sinvestments in non-investment grade fixed income securities.

� Derivatives Risk—The Fund’s use of options, forwards,interest rate futures, interest rate swaps, credit default swapsand other derivative instruments may result in losses. Theseinstruments, which may pose risks in addition to and greaterthan those associated with investing directly in securities,currencies or other instruments, may be illiquid or less liquid,volatile, difficult to price and leveraged so that small changesin the value of the underlying instruments may producedisproportionate losses to the Fund. Certain derivatives arealso subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that theother party in the transaction will not fulfill its contractualobligations, liquidity risk and risks arising from margin

requirements, which include the risk that the Fund will berequired to pay additional margin or set aside additionalcollateral to maintain open derivative positions. Derivativesmay be used for both hedging and non-hedging purposes.

The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity thatinvolves investment techniques and risks different from thoseassociated with investments in more traditional securities andinstruments, and there is no guarantee that the use ofderivatives will achieve their intended result. If the Invest-ment Adviser is incorrect in its expectation of the timing orlevel of fluctuation in securities prices, interest rates,currency prices or other variables, the use of derivativescould result in losses, which in some cases may besignificant. A lack of correlation between changes in thevalue of derivatives and the value of the portfolio assets (ifany) being hedged could also result in losses. In addition,there is a risk that the performance of the derivatives or otherinstruments used by the Investment Adviser to replicate theperformance of a particular asset class may not accuratelytrack the performance of that asset class.

As an investment company registered with the SEC, the Fundmust identify on its books (often referred to as “assetsegregation”) liquid assets, or engage in other SEC or SEC-staff approved or other appropriate measures, to “cover”open positions with respect to certain kinds of derivativeinstruments. For more information about these practices, seeAppendix A.

� Emerging Countries Risk—Investments in securities ofissuers located in emerging countries are subject to the risksassociated with investments in foreign securities. In addition,the securities markets of most emerging countries are less

8

RISKS OF THE FUND

liquid, developed and efficient, are subject to greater pricevolatility, have smaller market capitalizations, have more orless government regulation and are not subject to extensiveand frequent accounting, financial and other reportingrequirements as the securities markets of more developedcountries. Further, investment in securities of issuers locatedin certain emerging countries involves risk of loss resultingfrom problems in share registration, settlement or custody,substantial economic, political and social disruptions and theimposition of exchange controls (including repatriationrestrictions). These risks are not normally associated withinvestments in more developed countries. For moreinformation about these risks, see Appendix A.

� Expenses Risk—By investing in pooled investment vehicles(including investment companies and ETFs), partnershipsand REITs indirectly through the Fund, the investor willincur not only a proportionate share of the expenses of thepooled investment vehicles, partnerships and REITs held bythe Fund (including operating costs and investmentmanagement fees), but also expenses of the Fund.

� Foreign Risk—When the Fund invests in foreign securities,it may be subject to risk of loss not typically associated withU.S. issuers. Loss may result because of more or less foreigngovernment regulation, less public information, less liquid,developed or efficient trading markets, greater volatility andless economic, political and social stability in the countries inwhich the Fund invests. Loss may also result from, amongother things, deteriorating economic and business conditionsin other countries, including the United States, regional andglobal conflicts, the imposition of exchange controls(including repatriation restrictions), sanctions, foreign taxes,confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs) expropria-tion and other government restrictions by the United Statesand other governments, higher transaction costs, difficultyenforcing contractual obligations or from problems in shareregistration, settlement or custody. The Fund will also besubject to the risk of negative foreign currency rate fluctua-tions, which may cause the value of securities denominatedin such foreign currency (or other instruments through whichthe Fund has exposure to foreign currencies) to decline invalue. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantlyover short periods of time. Foreign risks will normally begreatest when the Fund invests in securities of issuers locatedin emerging countries. For more information about theserisks, see Appendix A.

� Geographic Risk—If the Fund focuses its investments insecurities of issuers located in a particular country orgeographic region, it will subject the Fund, to a greater extentthan if its investments were less focused, to the risks ofvolatile economic cycles and/or conditions and developmentsthat may be particular to that country or region, such as:adverse securities markets; adverse exchange rates; adverse

social, political, regulatory, economic, business, environ-mental or other developments; or natural disasters.

� Interest Rate Risk—When interest rates increase, fixedincome securities or instruments held by the Fund (whichmay include inflation protected securities) will generallydecline in value. Long-term fixed income securities orinstruments will normally have more price volatility becauseof this risk than short-term fixed income securities or instru-ments. A wide variety of market factors can cause interestrates to rise, including central bank monetary policy, risinginflation and changes in general economic conditions. Therisks associated with increasing interest rates are heightenedgiven that interest rates are near historic lows, but may beexpected to increase in the future with unpredictable effectson the markets and the Fund’s investments. Fluctuations ininterest rates may also affect the liquidity of fixed incomesecurities and instruments held by the Fund.

� Large Shareholder Transactions Risk—The Fund mayexperience adverse effects when certain large shareholders,such as other funds, participating insurance companies,accounts and Goldman Sachs affiliates, purchase or redeemlarge amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholderredemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities attimes when it would not otherwise do so, which maynegatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. Similarly,large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’sperformance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in inves-ting new cash and is required to maintain a larger cashposition than it ordinarily would. These transactions mayalso increase transaction costs. In addition, a largeredemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses beingallocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase inthe Fund’s expense ratio.

� Leverage Risk—Leverage creates exposure to potentialgains and losses in excess of the initial amount invested.Borrowing and the use of derivatives may result in leverageand may make the Fund more volatile. When the Fund usesleverage, the sum of the Fund’s investment exposure maysignificantly exceed the amount of assets invested in theFund, although these exposures may vary over time. Rela-tively small market movements may result in large changesin the value of a leveraged investment. The Fund willidentify liquid assets on its books or otherwise cover trans-actions that may give rise to such risk, to the extent requiredby applicable law. The use of leverage may cause the Fund toliquidate portfolio positions to satisfy its obligations or tomeet segregation requirements when it may not be advanta-geous to do so. The use of leverage by the Fund cansubstantially increase the adverse impact to which the Fund’sinvestment portfolio may be subject.

� Liquidity Risk—The Fund may invest to a greater degree insecurities or instruments that trade in lower volumes and may

9

make investments that are less liquid than other investments.Also, the Fund may make investments that may become lessliquid in response to market developments or adverseinvestor perceptions. Investments that are illiquid or thattrade in lower volumes may be more difficult to value. Whenthere is no willing buyer and investments cannot be readilysold at the desired time or price, the Fund may have to accepta lower price or may not be able to sell the security orinstrument at all. An inability to sell one or more portfoliopositions can adversely affect the Fund’s value or prevent theFund from being able to take advantage of other investmentopportunities.

To the extent that the traditional dealer counterparties thatengage in fixed income trading do not maintain inventoriesof bonds (which provide an important indication of theirability to “make markets”) that keep pace with the growth ofthe bond markets over time, relatively low levels of dealerinventories could lead to decreased liquidity and increasedvolatility in the fixed income markets. Additionally, marketparticipants other than the Fund may attempt to sell fixedincome holdings at the same time as the Fund, which couldcause downward pricing pressure and contribute toilliquidity.

Because the Fund may invest in non-investment grade fixedincome securities, small- and mid-capitalization stocks,REITs and/or emerging country issuers, it may be especiallysubject to the risk that during certain periods, the liquidity ofparticular issuers or industries, or all securities within aparticular investment category, may shrink or disappearsuddenly and without warning as a result of adverseeconomic, market or political events, or adverse investorperceptions, whether or not accurate.

Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that the Fund will notbe able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable timeperiod because of unusual market conditions, an unusuallyhigh volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. Whilethe Fund reserves the right to meet redemption requeststhrough in-kind distributions, the Fund may instead choose toraise cash to meet redemption requests through sales ofportfolio securities or permissible borrowings. If the Fund isforced to sell securities at an unfavorable time and/or underunfavorable conditions, such sales may adversely affect theFund’s NAV.

Certain shareholders, including clients or affiliates of theInvestment Adviser, may from time to time own or control asignificant percentage of the Fund’s shares. Redemptions bythese shareholders of their shares of the Fund may furtherincrease the Fund’s liquidity risk and may impact the Fund’sNAV. These shareholders may include, for example, certainparticipating insurance companies, accounts or Goldman

Sachs affiliates, whose buy-sell decisions are controlled by asingle decision-maker.

� Management Risk—A strategy used by the InvestmentAdviser may fail to produce the intended results.

� Market Risk—The value of the securities in which the Fundinvests may go up or down in response to the prospects ofindividual companies, particular sectors or governments and/or general economic conditions throughout the world. Pricechanges may be temporary or last for extended periods. TheFund’s investments may be overweighted from time to timein one or more sectors or countries, which will increase theFund’s exposure to risk of loss from adverse developmentsaffecting those sectors or countries.

Global economies and financial markets are becomingincreasingly interconnected, and conditions and events in onecountry, region or financial market may adversely impactissuers in a different country, region or financial market. Inaddition, governmental and quasi-governmental orga-nizations have taken a number of unprecedented actionsdesigned to support the markets. Such conditions, events andactions may result in greater market risk.

� Mid-Cap and Small-Cap Risk—The securities of mid-capitalization and small-capitalization companies involvegreater risks than those associated with larger, more estab-lished companies and may be subject to more abrupt orerratic price movements. Securities of such issuers may lacksufficient market liquidity to enable a Fund to effect sales atan advantageous time or without a substantial drop in price.Both mid-capitalization and small-capitalization companiesoften have narrower markets and more limited managerialand financial resources than larger, more establishedcompanies. As a result, their performance can be more vola-tile and they face greater risk of business failure, which couldincrease the volatility of a Fund’s portfolio. Generally, thesmaller the company size, the greater these risks.

� NAV Risk—The net asset value of the Fund and the value ofyour investment will fluctuate.

� Non-Hedging Foreign Currency Trading Risk—TheFund may engage in forward foreign currency transactionsfor both hedging and non-hedging purposes. The InvestmentAdviser may purchase or sell foreign currencies through theuse of forward contracts based on the Investment Adviser’sjudgment regarding the direction of the market for a partic-ular foreign currency or currencies. In pursuing this strategy,the Investment Adviser seeks to profit from anticipatedmovements in currency rates by establishing “long” and/or“short” positions in forward contracts on various foreigncurrencies. Foreign exchange rates can be extremely volatileand a variance in the degree of volatility of the market or inthe direction of the market from the Investment Adviser’sexpectations may produce significant losses to the Fund.

10

RISKS OF THE FUND

Some of these transactions may also be subject to interestrate risk.

� Non-Investment Grade Fixed Income SecuritiesRisk—Non-investment grade fixed income securities andunrated securities of comparable credit quality (commonlyknown as “junk bonds”) are considered speculative and aresubject to the increased risk of an issuer’s inability to meetprincipal and interest payment obligations. These securitiesmay be subject to greater price volatility due to such factorsas specific issuer developments, interest rate sensitivity,negative perceptions of the junk bond markets generally andless liquidity.

� Pooled Investments Risk—By investing in pooledinvestment vehicles (including investment companies andETFs), partnerships and REITs indirectly through the Fund,investors will incur a proportionate share of the expenses ofthe other pooled investment vehicles, partnerships and REITsheld by the Fund (including operating costs and investmentmanagement fees), in addition to the fees and expensesregularly borne by the Fund. In addition, the Fund will beaffected by the investment policies, practices and perform-ance of such investments in direct proportion to the amountof assets the Fund invests therein.

� Portfolio Turnover Rate Risk—A high rate of portfolioturnover (100% or more) involves correspondingly greaterexpenses which must be borne by the Fund and its share-holders.

� REIT Risk—Investing in REITs involves certain unique risksin addition to those risks associated with investing in the realestate industry in general. REITs whose underlying proper-ties are concentrated in a particular industry or geographicregion are also subject to risks affecting such industries andregions. The securities of REITs involve greater risks thanthose associated with larger, more established companies andmay be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movementsbecause of interest rate changes, economic conditions andother factors. REITs may also fail to qualify for tax free pass-through of income or may fail to maintain their exemptionsfrom investment company registration. Securities of suchissuers may lack sufficient market liquidity to enable theFund to effect sales at an advantageous time or without asubstantial drop in price.

� Sovereign Default Risk—The issuer of the non-U.S. sovereign debt held by the Fund or the governmentalauthorities that control the repayment of the debt may beunable or unwilling to repay the principal or interest whendue. This may result from political or social factors, thegeneral economic environment of a country or levels offoreign debt or foreign currency exchange rates. Sovereignrisk includes the following risks:� Political Risk—The risks associated with the general

political and social environment of a country. These

factors may include among other things governmentinstability, poor socioeconomic conditions, corruption,lack of law and order, lack of democratic accountability,poor quality of the bureaucracy, internal and externalconflict, and religious and ethnic tensions. High politicalrisk can impede the economic welfare of a country.

� Economic Risk—The risks associated with the generaleconomic environment of a country. These can encom-pass, among other things, low quality and growth rate ofGross Domestic Product (“GDP”), high inflation ordeflation, high government deficits as a percentage ofGDP, weak financial sector, overvalued exchange rate,and high current account deficits as a percentage of GDP.

� Repayment Risk—A country may be unable to pay itsexternal debt obligations in the immediate future.Repayment risk factors may include but are not limited tohigh foreign debt as a percentage of GDP, high foreigndebt service as a percentage of exports, low foreignexchange reserves as a percentage of short-term debt orexports, and an unsustainable exchange rate structure.

� Stock Risk—Stock prices have historically risen and fallenin periodic cycles. U.S. and foreign stock markets haveexperienced periods of substantial price volatility in the pastand may do so again in the future. Stock price may fluctuatefrom time to time in response to the activities of individualcompanies and in response to general market and economicconditions. Individual companies may report poor results orbe negatively affected by industry and/or economic trendsand developments, and the stock prices of such companiesmay suffer a decline in response.

� Swaps Risk—The use of swaps is a highly specializedactivity which involves investment techniques, risk analysesand tax planning different from those associated with ordi-nary portfolio securities transactions. The Fund’s trans-actions in swaps may be significant. These transactions canresult in sizable realized and unrealized capital gains andlosses relative to the gains and losses from the Fund’s directinvestments in securities.

Transactions in swaps can involve greater risks than if theFund had invested in securities directly since, in addition togeneral market risks, swaps may be leveraged and subject toilliquidity risk, counterparty risk, credit risk and pricing risk.Regulators also may impose limits on an entity’s or group ofentities’ positions in certain swaps. However, certain risksare reduced (but not eliminated) if the Fund invests in clearedswaps, which are transacted through a FCM and clearedthrough a clearinghouse that serves as a central counterparty.

Because uncleared, bilateral swap agreements are two-partycontracts and because they may have terms of greater thanseven days, these swaps may be considered to be illiquid.Moreover, the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount

11

expected to be received under a swap in the event of thedefault or bankruptcy of a swap counterparty. Many swapsare complex and valued subjectively. Swaps and otherderivatives may also be subject to pricing or “basis” risk,which exists when a particular derivative diverges from theprice of corresponding cash market instruments. Undercertain market conditions it may not be economically feasibleto initiate a transaction or liquidate a position in time toavoid a loss or take advantage of an opportunity. If a swaptransaction is particularly large or if the relevant market isilliquid, it may not be possible to initiate a transaction orliquidate a position at an advantageous time or price, whichmay result in significant losses.

The value of swaps can be very volatile, and a variance in thedegree of volatility or in the direction of securities pricesfrom the Investment Adviser’s expectations may producesignificant losses in the Fund’s investments in swaps. Inaddition, a perfect correlation between a swap and a securityposition may be impossible to achieve. As a result, theInvestment Adviser’s use of swaps may not be effective infulfilling the Investment Adviser’s investment strategies andmay contribute to losses that would not have been incurredotherwise.

� Treasury Inflation Protected Securities Risk—Thevalue of TIPS generally fluctuates in response to inflationaryconcerns. As inflationary expectations increase, TIPS willbecome more attractive, because they protect future interestpayments against inflation. Conversely, as inflationaryconcerns decrease, TIPS will become less attractive and lessvaluable. Although the principal value of TIPS declines inperiods of deflation, holders at maturity receive no less thanthe par value of the bond. However, if the Fund purchasesTIPS in the secondary market, where principal values havebeen adjusted upward due to inflation since issuance, theFund may experience a loss if there is a subsequent period ofdeflation. If inflation is lower than expected during the

period the Fund holds a TIPS, the Fund may earn less on thesecurity than on a conventional bond. Although TIPS withdifferent maturities may be issued in the future, the U.S.Treasury currently issues TIPS in five-year, ten-year andtwenty-year maturities.

� U.S. Government Securities Risk—The U.S. governmentmay not provide financial support to U.S. governmentagencies, instrumentalities or sponsored enterprises if it isnot obligated to do so by law. U.S. Government Securitiesissued by those agencies, instrumentalities and sponsoredenterprises, including those issued by Fannie Mae, FreddieMac and the Federal Home Loan Banks, are neither issuednor guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury and, therefore, are notbacked by the full faith and credit of the United States. Themaximum potential liability of the issuers of some U.S.Government Securities held by the Fund may greatly exceedtheir current resources, including any legal right to supportfrom the U.S. Treasury. It is possible that these issuers ofU.S. Government Securities will not have the funds to meettheir payment obligations in the future. Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac have been operating under conservatorship,with the Federal Housing Finance Administration (“FHFA”)acting as their conservator, since September 2008. The enti-ties are dependent upon the continued support of the U.S.Department of the Treasury and FHFA in order to continuetheir business operations. These factors, among others, couldaffect the future status and role of Fannie Mae and FreddieMac and the value of their securities and the securities whichthey guarantee. Additionally, the U.S. government and itsagencies and instrumentalities do not guarantee the marketvalues of their securities, which may fluctuate.

More information about the Fund’s portfolio securities andinvestment techniques, and their associated risks, is provided inAppendix A. You should consider the investment risksdiscussed in this section and in Appendix A. Both are importantto your investment choice.

12

Service Providers

INVESTMENT ADVISER

Investment Adviser

Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P.200 West StreetNew York, NY 10282

GSAM has been registered as an investment adviser with theSEC since 1990 and is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiaryof The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and an affiliate ofGoldman Sachs & Co. LLC (“Goldman Sachs”). Founded in1869, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a publicly-heldfinancial holding company and a leading global investmentbanking, securities and investment management firm. As ofDecember 31, 2017, GSAM, including its investment advi-sory affiliates, had assets under supervision of approximately$1.29 trillion.

The Investment Adviser provides day to day adviceregarding the Fund’s portfolio transactions. The InvestmentAdviser makes the investment decisions for the Fund andplaces purchase and sale orders for the Fund’s portfoliotransactions in U.S. and foreign markets. As permitted byapplicable law, these orders may be directed to any executingbrokers, dealers, futures commission merchants or othercounterparties, including Goldman Sachs and its affiliates.While the Investment Adviser is ultimately responsible forthe management of the Fund, it is able to draw upon theresearch and expertise of its asset management affiliates forportfolio decisions and management with respect to certainportfolio securities. In addition, the Investment Adviser hasaccess to the research and certain proprietary technicalmodels developed by Goldman Sachs, (subject to legal,internal, regulatory and Chinese Wall restrictions), and willapply quantitative and qualitative analysis in determining theappropriate allocations among categories of issuers and typesof securities.

The Investment Adviser also performs the following addi-tional services for the Fund (to the extent not performed byothers pursuant to agreements with the Fund):� Supervises all non-advisory operations of the Fund� Provides personnel to perform necessary executive,

administrative and clerical services to the Fund� Arranges for the preparation of all required tax returns,

reports to shareholders, prospectuses and SAIs and otherreports filed with the SEC and other regulatory authorities

� Maintains the records of the Fund� Provides office space and all necessary office equipment

and services

From time to time, Goldman Sachs or its affiliates mayinvest “seed” capital in the Fund. These investments aregenerally intended to enable the Fund to commence invest-ment operations and achieve sufficient scale. Goldman Sachs

and its affiliates may hedge the exposure of the seed capitalinvested in the Fund by, among other things, taking anoffsetting position in the benchmark of the Fund.

An investment in the Fund may be negatively impactedbecause of the operational risks arising from factors such asprocessing errors and human errors, inadequate or failedinternal or external processes, failures in systems andtechnology, changes in personnel, and errors caused by third-party service providers or trading counterparties. The use ofcertain investment strategies that involve manual or addi-tional processing, such as over-the-counter derivatives,increases these risks. Although the Fund attempts to mini-mize such failures through controls and oversight, it is notpossible to identify all of the operational risks that may affectthe Fund or to develop processes and controls thatcompletely eliminate or mitigate the occurrence of suchfailures. The Fund and its shareholders could be negativelyimpacted as a result.

MANAGEMENT FEE AND OTHER EXPENSES

As compensation for its services and its assumption ofcertain expenses, the Investment Adviser is entitled to a fee,computed daily and payable monthly, at an annual rate listedbelow (as a percentage of the Fund’s average daily netassets):

Fund

ContractualManagement Fee

Annual RateAverage Daily

Net Assets

Actual Rate For theFiscal Year Ended

December 31, 2017*

GlobalTrendsAllocation

0.79% First $1 Billion 0.66%0.71% Next $1 Billion0.68% Next $3 Billion0.66% Next $3 Billion0.65% Over $8 Billion

* The Actual Rate may not correlate to the Contractual Management FeeAnnual Rate as a result of management fee waivers that may be in effectfrom time to time.

The Investment Adviser has agreed to waive a portion of themanagement fee in order to achieve an effective netmanagement fee rate of 0.67% of the Fund’s average dailynet assets. The management fee waiver will remain in effectthrough at least April 30, 2019, and prior to such date, theInvestment Adviser may not terminate the arrangementwithout the approval of the Board of Trustees. The manage-ment fee waiver may be modified or terminated by theInvestment Adviser at its discretion and without shareholderapproval after such date, although the Investment Adviserdoes not presently intend to do so.

In addition to the management fee waiver described above,the Investment Adviser may waive an additional portion ofits management fee, including fees earned as the InvestmentAdviser to any of the affiliated funds in which the Fundinvests, from time to time, and may discontinue

13

or modify any such waiver in the future, consistent with theterms of any fee waiver arrangements in place.

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees’approval of the Management Agreement for the Fund in2017 is available in the Fund’s Semi-Annual report datedJune 30, 2017.

The Investment Adviser has agreed to reduce or limit “OtherExpenses” (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses,transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokeragefees, expenses of shareholder meetings, litigation andindemnification, and extraordinary expenses) to 0.004% ofthe Fund’s average daily net assets through at least April 30,2019, and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may notterminate the arrangement without the approval of the Boardof Trustees. The expense limitation may be modified orterminated by the Investment Adviser at its discretion andwithout shareholder approval after such date, although theInvestment Adviser does not presently intend to do so. TheFund’s “Other Expenses” may be further reduced by anycustody and transfer agency fee credits received by the Fund.

The Investment Adviser, distributor, and/or their affiliatesmay, from time to time, pay compensation from their ownassets (and not as an additional charge to the Fund) to partic-ipating insurance companies for administrative services thatsuch companies provide to their variable annuity and variablelife insurance contract owners who are invested in the Fundand for other purposes. In addition, the Investment Adviser,distributor, and/or their affiliates may pay compensationfrom their own assets (and not as an additional charge to theFund) to various securities dealers (including affiliates ofparticipating insurance companies) (“Intermediaries”) thatdistribute variable annuity contracts and/or variable lifeinsurance contracts of such companies in connection with thesale, distribution and/or servicing of such contracts. Suchpayments are intended to compensate Intermediaries for,among other things: marketing shares of the Fund and otherGoldman Sachs Funds, which may consist of paymentsrelating to funds included on preferred or recommended fund

lists or in certain sales programs from time to time sponsoredby the Intermediaries; access to the Intermediaries’ registeredrepresentatives or salespersons, including at conferences andother meetings; assistance in training and education ofpersonnel; marketing support; the provision of analytical orother data to the Investment Adviser or its affiliates relatingto sales of shares of the Fund and other Goldman SachsFunds and/or other specified services intended to assist in thedistribution and marketing of the Fund and other GoldmanSachs Funds, including provision of consultative services tothe Investment Adviser or its affiliates relating to marketingand/or sale of shares of the Fund and other Goldman SachsFunds. The payments may also, to the extent permitted byapplicable regulations, contribute to various non-cash andcash incentive arrangements to promote the sale of shares, aswell as sponsor various educational programs, sales contestsand/or promotions. The additional payments by the Invest-ment Adviser, distributor and/or their affiliates may alsocompensate Intermediaries for subaccounting, administrativeand/or shareholder processing services that are in addition tothe fees paid for these services by the Fund. The amount ofthese additional payments is normally not expected to exceed0.50% (annualized) of the amount sold or invested throughthe Intermediaries. Please refer to the “Payments to Inter-mediaries” section of the SAI for more information aboutthese payments.

The payments made by the Investment Adviser, distributorand/or their affiliates may differ for different participatinginsurance companies and Intermediaries. The presence ofthese payments and the basis on which an Intermediarycompensates its registered representatives or salespersonsmay create an incentive for a particular Intermediary, regis-tered representative, salesperson or participating insurancecompany to highlight, feature, offer or recommend the Fundbased, at least in part, on the level of compensation paid. Youshould contact your participating insurance company orIntermediary for more information about the payments theyreceive and any potential conflicts of interest.

14

SERVICE PROVIDERS

FUND MANAGERS

Quantitative Investment Strategies (“QIS”) Team

The individuals jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are listed below. The Fund’sportfolio managers’ individual responsibilities may differ and may include, among other things, development and maintenance ofquantitative models and processes in combination with a qualitative overlay, asset allocation, risk budgeting and general oversightof research, implementation processes and the management of the Fund’s portfolio.

Name and Title Fund Responsibility

YearsPrimarily

Responsible Five Year Employment History

Gary Chropuvka, CFAManaging Director andCo-Head of QuantitativeInvestment Strategies—Customized Beta Strategies

PortfolioManager—Global TrendsAllocation Fund

Since2013

Mr. Chropuvka is co-head of the QIS team within GSAM. Previously, Mr. Chropuvka was aportfolio manager for GSAM’s QIS Equity Alpha business, managing the portfolioimplementation efforts for both tax-exempt and taxable clients, a position he held forseven years. Mr. Chropuvka has been a member of the QIS team since 1999, having joinedto manage the team’s tax-efficient investment strategies. He joined Goldman Sachs in1998 in GSAM’s Private Equity Group and was named managing director in 2006 andpartner in 2014.

Amna Qaiser, CFA,Vice President

PortfolioManager—Global TrendsAllocation Fund

Since2012

Ms. Qaiser is a portfolio manager on the QIS team within GSAM. She serves as a leadportfolio manager and strategist for the team’s Alternative Investment Strategies. Inaddition, her research and portfolio management responsibilities extend to the team’scustomized solutions for insurance clients. Previously, Ms. Qaiser was a co-leadportfolio manager for European equity alpha portfolios, and also served as a memberof the portfolio implementation team for QIS’s alpha and beta equity products.Ms. Qaiser joined Goldman Sachs in 2003.

For information about portfolio manager compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers and portfolio managerownership of securities in the Fund, see the SAI.

DISTRIBUTOR AND TRANSFER AGENT

Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282,serves as the exclusive distributor (the “Distributor”) of theFund’s shares. Goldman Sachs, 71 South Wacker Drive,Chicago, IL 60606, also serves as the Fund’s transfer agent(the “Transfer Agent”) and, as such, performs variousshareholder servicing functions.

For its transfer agency services, Goldman Sachs is entitled toreceive a transfer agency fee equal, on an annualized basis, to0.02% of average daily net assets with respect to the ServiceShares.

ACTIVITIES OF GOLDMAN SACHS AND ITS AFFILIATES ANDOTHER ACCOUNTS MANAGED BY GOLDMAN SACHS

The involvement of the Investment Adviser, Goldman Sachsand their affiliates in the management of, or their interest in,other accounts and other activities of Goldman Sachs maypresent conflicts of interest with respect to the Fund or limitthe Fund’s investment activities. Goldman Sachs is aworldwide full service investment banking, broker dealer,asset management and financial services organization and amajor participant in global financial markets that provides awide range of financial services to a substantial and diversi-fied client base that includes corporations, financialinstitutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals. As

such, it acts as an investor, investment banker, researchprovider, investment manager, financier, adviser, marketmaker, trader, prime broker, lender, agent and principal. Inthose and other capacities, Goldman Sachs advises clients inall markets and transactions and purchases, sells, holds andrecommends a broad array of investments, including secu-rities, derivatives, loans, commodities, currencies, creditdefault swaps, indices, baskets and other financial instru-ments and products for its own account or for the accounts ofits customers, and has other direct and indirect interests inthe global fixed income, currency, commodity, equities, bankloans and other markets in which the Fund directly andindirectly invests. Thus, it is likely that the Fund will havemultiple business relationships with and will invest in,engage in transactions with, make voting decisions withrespect to, or obtain services from entities for whichGoldman Sachs performs or seeks to perform investmentbanking or other services. The Investment Adviser and/orcertain of its affiliates are the managers of the GoldmanSachs Funds. The Investment Adviser and its affiliates earnfees from this and other relationships with the Funds.Although these fees are generally based on asset levels, thefees are not directly contingent on Fund performance, andGoldman Sachs would still receive significant compensationfrom the Funds even if shareholders lose money. GoldmanSachs and its affiliates engage in proprietary trading and

15

advise accounts and funds which have investment objectivessimilar to those of the Fund and/or which engage in andcompete for transactions in the same types of securities,currencies and instruments as the Fund. Goldman Sachs andits affiliates will not have any obligation to make availableany information regarding their proprietary activities orstrategies, or the activities or strategies used for otheraccounts managed by them, for the benefit of the manage-ment of the Fund. The results of the Fund’s investmentactivities, therefore, may differ from those of GoldmanSachs, its affiliates and other accounts managed by GoldmanSachs, and it is possible that the Fund could sustain lossesduring periods in which Goldman Sachs and its affiliates andother accounts achieve significant profits on their trading forproprietary or other accounts. In addition, the Fund mayenter into transactions in which Goldman Sachs or its otherclients have an adverse interest. For example, the Fund maytake a long position in a security at the same time thatGoldman Sachs or other accounts managed by the Invest-ment Adviser take a short position in the same security (orvice versa). These and other transactions undertaken byGoldman Sachs, its affiliates or Goldman Sachs advisedclients may, individually or in the aggregate, adverselyimpact the Fund. Transactions by one or more GoldmanSachs advised clients or the Investment Adviser may havethe effect of diluting or otherwise disadvantaging the values,prices or investment strategies of the Fund. The Fund’sactivities may be limited because of regulatory restrictionsapplicable to Goldman Sachs and its affiliates, and/or their

internal policies designed to comply with such restrictions.As a global financial services firm, Goldman Sachs alsoprovides a wide range of investment banking and financialservices to issuers of securities and investors in securities.Goldman Sachs, its affiliates and others associated with itmay create markets or specialize in, have positions in andaffect transactions in, securities of issuers held by the Fund,and may also perform or seek to perform investment bankingand financial services for those issuers. Goldman Sachs andits affiliates may have business relationships with andpurchase or distribute or sell services or products from or todistributors, consultants or others who recommend the Fundor who engage in transactions with or for the Fund. For moreinformation about conflicts of interest, see the SAI.

Under a securities lending program approved by the Fund’sBoard of Trustees, the Fund may retain affiliate of theInvestment Adviser to serve as a securities lending agent forthe Fund to the extent that the Fund engages in the securitieslending program. For these services, the lending agent mayreceive a fee from the Fund, including a fee based on thereturns earned on the Fund’s investment of the cash receivedas collateral for the loaned securities. The Board of Trusteesperiodically reviews reports on portfolio securities loantransactions for which the affiliated lending agent has actedas lending agent. In addition, the Fund may make brokerageand other payments to Goldman Sachs and its affiliates inconnection with the Fund’s portfolio investment transactions,in accordance with applicable law.

16

Distributions

Distributions from investment company taxable income anddistributions from net realized capital gains (if any) aredeclared and paid by the Fund at least annually. Over thecourse of the year, accrued and paid distributions will equalall or substantially all of the Fund’s investment companytaxable income and net realized capital gains. Alldistributions paid on Service Shares will be automaticallyreinvested in additional Service Shares of the Fund at the

NAV of such shares on the payment date, unless aninsurance company’s separate account is permitted to holdcash and elects to receive payment in cash. From time totime, a portion of the Fund’s distributions may constitute areturn of capital for tax purposes, and/or may includeamounts in excess of the Fund’s net investment income forthe period in accordance with generally accepted accountingprinciples (GAAP).

17

Shareholder Guide

The following section will provide you with answers to someof the most frequently asked questions regarding buying andselling the Fund’s Service Shares.

How Can I Purchase Or Sell Service Shares OfThe Fund?Service Shares of the Fund are not sold directly to the public.Instead, Fund shares are sold to separate accounts that fundvariable annuity and variable life insurance contracts issuedby participating insurance companies. You may purchase orsell (redeem) shares of the Fund through variable annuitycontracts and variable life insurance policies offered throughthe separate accounts. The variable annuity contracts andvariable life insurance policies are described in the separateprospectuses issued by the participating insurance compa-nies. You should refer to those prospectuses for informationon how to purchase a variable annuity contract or variablelife insurance policy, how to select a specific Fund as aninvestment option for your contract or policy and how toredeem monies from the Fund.

The separate accounts of the participating insurance compa-nies place orders to purchase and redeem shares of the Fundbased on, among other things, the amount of premiumpayments to be invested and the amount of surrender andtransfer requests (as defined in the prospectus describing thevariable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policiesissued by the participating insurance companies) to beeffected on that day pursuant to variable annuity contractsand variable life insurance policies.

Shares of the Fund may be purchased by separate accounts ofboth affiliated and unaffiliated participating insurancecompanies in order to fund both variable annuity andvariable life insurance contracts, and also may be purchasedby qualified plans. This may present certain conflicts ofinterests among variable annuity owners, variable lifeinsurance policy owners and plan investors. The Trust’sBoard of Trustees will monitor the Trust for the existence ofany material irreconcilable conflict of interest. The Trustcurrently does not foresee any disadvantages to the holdersof variable annuity contracts and variable life insurancepolicies arising from the fact that interests of the holders ofvariable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policiesmay differ due to differences of tax treatment or otherconsiderations or due to conflicts among the participatinginsurance companies. If, however, a material irreconcilableconflict arises between the holders of variable annuitycontracts and variable life insurance policies of participatinginsurance companies, a participating insurance company maybe required to withdraw the assets allocable to some or all ofthe separate accounts from the Fund. Any such withdrawalcould disrupt orderly portfolio management to the potentialdetriment of such holders.

Shares of the Fund (and other existing and new funds thatmight be added to the Trust) may also be offered to:� Unregistered separate accounts of various participating

insurance companies through which variable annuitycontracts and variable life insurance policies are sold innon-public offerings.

� Unregistered separate accounts of various participatinginsurance companies through which variable annuitycontracts and variable life insurance policies are offeredexclusively to qualified pension and profit-sharing plansand/or certain governmental plans.

� Qualified pension and profit-sharing plans. The Trustdoes not currently anticipate offering shares directly tosuch plans.

In addition to Institutional Shares, the Fund offers anotherclass of shares. This other share class is subject to differentfees and expenses (which affect performance) and is entitledto different services than Institutional Shares. Informationregarding this other share class can be obtained fromGoldman Sachs by calling the number on the back cover ofthe Prospectus.

How Are Shares Priced?Service Shares of the Fund are purchased and sold at theFund’s next-determined NAV per share after the TransferAgent or participating insurance company has received andaccepted the order in proper form. The class generallycalculates its NAV as follows:

NAV =(Value of Assets of the Class)

– (Liabilities of the Class)

Number of Outstanding Shares of the Class

The Fund’s investments for which market quotations arereadily available are valued at market value on the basis ofquotations provided by pricing services or securities dealers.If accurate quotations are not readily available, if the Fund’sfund accounting agent is unable for other reasons to facilitatepricing of individual securities or calculate the Fund’s NAV,or if the Investment Adviser believes that such quotations donot accurately reflect fair value, the fair value of the Fund’sinvestments may be determined in good faith under valuationprocedures established by the Board of Trustees. Thus, suchpricing may be based on subjective judgments and it ispossible that the prices resulting from such valuation proce-dures may differ materially from the value realized on a sale.Cases where there is no clear indication of the value of theFund’s investments include, among others, situations where asecurity or other asset or liability does not have a pricesource or a price is unavailable.

Equity securities listed on an exchange are generally valuedat the last available sale price on the exchange on which theyare principally traded.

18

SHAREHOLDER GUIDE

To the extent that the Fund invests in foreign equity secu-rities, “fair value” prices, if available, are provided by anindependent third-party pricing (fair value) service inaccordance with the fair value procedures approved by theBoard of Trustees. Fair value prices are used because manyforeign markets operate at times that do not coincide withthose of the major U.S. markets. Events that could affect thevalues of foreign portfolio holdings may occur between theclose of the foreign market and the time of determining theNAV, and would not otherwise be reflected in the NAV.

Fixed income securities are generally valued on the basis ofprices (including evaluated prices) and quotations providedby pricing services or securities dealers. Pricing services mayuse matrix pricing or valuation models, which utilize certaininputs and assumptions, including, but not limited to, yield orprice with respect to comparable fixed income securities, todetermine current value.

Investments in other open-end registered investment compa-nies (if any), excluding investments in ETFs, are valuedbased on the NAV of those open-end registered investmentcompanies (which may use fair value pricing as discussed intheir prospectuses). Investments in ETFs will be valued at thelast sale price or official closing price on the exchange onwhich they are principally traded.

In addition, the Investment Adviser, consistent with itsprocedures and applicable regulatory guidance, may (butneed not) determine to make an adjustment to the previousclosing prices of either domestic or foreign securities in lightof significant events, to reflect what it believes to be the fairvalue of the securities at the time of determining the Fund’sNAV. Significant events that could affect a large number ofsecurities in a particular market may include, but are notlimited to: situations relating to one or more single issuers ina market sector; significant fluctuations in U.S. or foreignmarkets; market dislocations; market disruptions orunscheduled market closings; equipment failures; natural orman made disasters or acts of God; armed conflicts;governmental actions or other developments; as well as thesame or similar events which may affect specific issuers orthe securities markets even though not tied directly to thesecurities markets. Other significant events that could relateto a single issuer may include, but are not limited to: corpo-rate actions such as reorganizations, mergers and buy-outs;corporate announcements, including those relating to earn-ings, products and regulatory news; significant litigation;ratings downgrades; bankruptcies; and trading limits orsuspensions.

One effect of using an independent third-party pricing (fairvalue) service and fair valuation may be to reduce stalepricing arbitrage opportunities presented by the pricing of

Fund shares. However, it involves the risk that the valuesused by the Fund to price its investments may be differentfrom those used by other investment companies and investorsto price the same investments.

Please note the following with respect to the price at whichyour transactions are processed:� NAV per share of each share class is generally calculated

by the Fund’s fund accounting agent on each business dayas of the close of regular trading on the New York StockExchange (normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time) or such othertimes as the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQmarket may officially close. Fund shares will generallynot be priced on any day the New York Stock Exchangeis closed, although Fund shares may be priced on suchdays if the Securities Industry and Financial MarketsAssociation (“SIFMA”) recommends that the bondmarkets remain open for all or part of the day.

� The Trust reserves the right to reprocess purchase(including dividend reinvestments), redemption andexchange transactions that were processed at a NAV thatis subsequently adjusted, and to recover amounts from (ordistribute amounts to) shareholders accordingly based onthe official closing NAV, as adjusted.

� The Trust reserves the right to advance the time by whichpurchase and redemption orders must be received forsame business day credit as otherwise permitted by theSEC.

Consistent with industry practice, investment transactions notsettling on the same day are recorded and factored into theFund’s NAV on the business day following trade date (T+1).The use of T+1 accounting generally does not, but may,result in a NAV that differs materially from the NAV thatwould result if all transactions were reflected on their tradedates.

Note: The time at which transactions and shares are pricedand the time by which orders must be received may bechanged in case of an emergency or if regular trading onthe New York Stock Exchange is stopped at a time otherthan its regularly scheduled closing time. In the event theNew York Stock Exchange does not open for business, theTrust may, but is not required to, open the Fund forpurchase, redemption and exchange transactions if theFederal Reserve wire payment system is open. To learnwhether the Fund is open for business during this situation,please call the appropriate phone number located on theback cover of the Prospectus.

Foreign securities may trade in their local markets on daysthe Fund is closed. As a result, if the Fund holds foreignsecurities, its NAV may be impacted on days when investorsmay not purchase or redeem Fund shares.

19

The Fund relies on various sources to calculate its NAV. Theability of the Fund’s fund accounting agent to calculate theNAV per share is subject to operational risks associated withprocessing or human errors, systems or technology failures,cyber attacks and errors caused by third party serviceproviders, data sources, or trading counterparties. Suchfailures may result in delays in the calculation of the Fund’sNAV and/or the inability to calculate NAV over extendedtime periods. The Fund may be unable to recover any lossesassociated with such failures. In addition, if the third partyservice providers and/or data sources upon which a Funddirectly or indirectly relies to calculate its NAV or priceindividual securities are unavailable or otherwise unable tocalculate the NAV correctly, it may be necessary for alter-native procedures to be utilized to price the securities at thetime of determining the Fund’s NAV.

Do I Have To Pay Any Fees When Purchasing OrSelling Service Shares Of The Fund?The Fund does not charge any fees when it sells or redeemsits shares. Surrender charges, mortality and expense risk feesand other charges may be assessed by participating insurancecompanies under the variable annuity contracts or variablelife insurance policies. These fees should be described in theparticipating insurance companies’ prospectuses.

What Else Should I Know About Service SharePurchases And Redemptions?The Trust reserves the right to:� Suspend the right of redemption under certain extra-

ordinary circumstances in accordance with the rules of theSEC.

� Suspend the offering of shares for a period of time.� Reject any purchase order.� Close the Fund to new investors from time to time and

reopen the Fund whenever it is deemed appropriate by theFund’s Investment Adviser.

� Pay redemptions by a distribution in-kind of securities(instead of cash). If you receive redemption proceeds in-kind, you should expect to incur transaction costs uponthe disposition of those securities. In addition, if youreceive redemption proceeds in-kind, you will be subjectto market gains or losses upon the disposition of thosesecurities.

The Fund will be deemed to have received an order forpurchase, redemption or exchange of Fund Shares when theorder is accepted in proper form by the Transfer Agent or aparticipating insurance company on a business day, and theorder will be priced at the Fund’s current NAV per sharenext determined after such acceptance. Participatinginsurance companies may have different requirementsregarding what constitutes proper form for trade instructions.

Please contact the participating insurance company for moreinformation.

Shares of the Fund are only registered for sale in the UnitedStates and certain of its territories. Generally, shares of theFund will only be offered or sold to “U.S. persons” and allofferings or other solicitation activities will be conductedwithin the United States in accordance with the rules andregulations of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Orders received by the Trust are only processed on businessdays. The separate accounts purchase and redeem shares ofthe Fund at the Fund’s NAV per share calculated as of theday an order is received by the insurance company althoughsuch purchases and redemptions may be executed the nextmorning. Redemption proceeds paid by wire transfer willnormally be wired in federal funds on the business day onwhich the Trust receives actual notice of the redemptionorder, but may be paid up to two business days after receiptof actual notice of the order.

The Fund typically expects to meet redemption requests byusing holdings of cash or cash equivalents and/or proceedsfrom the sale of portfolio holdings. In addition, understressed market conditions, as well as for other temporary oremergency purposes, the Fund may distribute redemptionproceeds in-kind (instead of cash), access a line of credit oroverdraft facility, or borrow through other sources to meetredemption requests.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Trust and Goldman Sachsreserve the right to reject or restrict purchase or exchangerequests from any investor. The Trust and Goldman Sachswill not be liable for any loss resulting from rejectedpurchase or exchange orders.

What Types Of Reports Will I Be Sent RegardingInvestments In The Fund?As a holder of a variable annuity contract or variable lifeinsurance policy, you will receive annual shareholder reportscontaining audited financial statements and semi-annualshareholder reports from your participating insurancecompany.

What Are The Fund’s Voting Procedures?Participating insurance companies, not the owners of thevariable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policiesor participants therein, are shareholders of the Fund. To theextent required by law:� The participating insurance companies will vote Fund

shares held in the separate accounts in a mannerconsistent with timely voting instructions received fromthe holders of variable annuity contracts and variable lifeinsurance policies.

20

SHAREHOLDER GUIDE

� The participating insurance companies will vote Fundshares held in the separate accounts for which no timelyinstructions are received from the holders of variableannuity contracts and variable life insurance policies, aswell as shares they own, in the same proportion as thoseshares for which voting instructions are received.

It is anticipated that Fund shares held by unregistered sepa-rate accounts or qualified plans generally will be voted for oragainst any proposition in the same proportion as all otherFund shares are voted unless the unregistered separateaccount’s participating insurance company or the plan makesother arrangements.

Additional information concerning voting rights of the partic-ipants in the separate accounts is more fully set forth in theprospectus relating to those accounts issued by theparticipating insurance companies.

DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICE FEES

What Are The Distribution And/Or Service Fees PaidBy Service Shares?The Trust has adopted a distribution and service plan (the“Plan”) under which Service Shares bear distribution andservice fees paid to Goldman Sachs. If the fees received byGoldman Sachs pursuant to the Plan exceed its expenses,Goldman Sachs may realize a profit from these arrange-ments. Goldman Sachs generally receives and pays thedistribution and service fees on a quarterly basis.

Under the Plan, Goldman Sachs is entitled to a monthly feefrom the Fund for distribution services equal, on an annualbasis, to 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attrib-uted to Service Shares. Because these fees are paid out of theFund’s assets on an ongoing basis, over time, these fees willincrease the cost of your investment and may cost you morethan paying other types of such charges.

The distribution fees are subject to the requirements ofRule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, asamended (the “Investment Company Act”), and may be used(among other things) for:� Compensation paid to and expenses incurred by insurance

companies and other financial intermediaries, andGoldman Sachs, and their respective officers, employeesand sales representatives;

� Sales commissions;� Allocable overhead;� Telephone and travel expenses;� Interest and other costs associated with the financing of

such compensation and expenses;� Printing of prospectuses for prospective shareholders;� Preparation and distribution of sales literature or

advertising of any type; and

� All other expenses incurred in connection with activitiesprimarily intended to result in the sale of Service Shares.

In addition, the fees may be used for personal and accountmaintenance services performed and related expensesincurred in connection with Service Shares. Personal andaccount maintenance services include services relating toassistance to contract owners regarding their investments inService Shares and responding to contract owner inquiries.

RESTRICTIONS ON EXCESSIVE TRADING PRACTICES

Policies and Procedures on Excessive TradingPractices. In accordance with the policy adopted by theBoard of Trustees, the Trust discourages frequent purchasesand redemptions of Fund shares and does not permit markettiming or other excessive trading practices. Purchases andexchanges should be made with a view to longer-terminvestment purposes only that are consistent with theinvestment policies and practices of the Fund. Excessive,short-term (market timing) trading practices may disruptportfolio management strategies, increase brokerage andadministrative costs, harm Fund performance and result indilution in the value of Fund shares held by longer-termshareholders. The Trust and Goldman Sachs reserve the rightto reject or restrict purchase or exchange requests from anyparticipating insurance company or other investor. The Trustand Goldman Sachs will not be liable for any loss resultingfrom rejected purchase or exchange orders. To minimizeharm to the Trust and its shareholders (or Goldman Sachs),the Trust (or Goldman Sachs) will exercise this right if, in theTrust’s (or Goldman Sachs’) judgment, an investor has ahistory of excessive trading or if an investor’s trading, in thejudgment of the Trust (or Goldman Sachs), has been or maybe disruptive to the Fund. In making this judgment, tradesexecuted in multiple accounts under common ownership orcontrol may be considered together to the extent they can beidentified. No waivers of the provisions of the policy estab-lished to detect and deter market timing and other excessivetrading activity are permitted that would harm the Trust or itsshareholders or would subordinate the interests of the Trustor its shareholders to those of Goldman Sachs or any affili-ated person or associated person of Goldman Sachs.

To deter excessive shareholder trading, certain GoldmanSachs Funds offered in other prospectuses impose aredemption fee on redemptions made within 30 or 60 days ofpurchase subject to certain exceptions as described in thoseGoldman Sachs Funds’ prospectuses. As a further deterrentto excessive trading, many foreign equity securities held byGoldman Sachs Funds are priced by an independent pricingservice using fair valuation. For more information on fairvaluation, please see “How Are Shares Priced?”

21

Pursuant to the policy adopted by the Board of Trustees ofthe Trust, Goldman Sachs has developed criteria that it usesto identify trading activity that may be excessive. Excessivetrading activity in the Fund is measured by the number of“round trip” transactions in a shareholder’s account. A“round trip” includes a purchase or exchange into a Fundfollowed or preceded by a redemption or exchange out of thesame Fund. If a Fund detects that a shareholder hascompleted two or more round trip transactions in a singleFund within a rolling 90-day period, the Fund may reject orrestrict subsequent purchase or exchange orders by thatshareholder permanently. In addition, a Fund may, in its solediscretion, permanently reject or restrict purchase orexchange orders by a shareholder if the Fund detects othertrading activity that is deemed to be disruptive to themanagement of the Fund or otherwise harmful to the Fund.For purposes of these transaction surveillance procedures, theFund may consider trading activity in multiple accountsunder common ownership, control, or influence. A share-holder that has been restricted from participation in a Fundpursuant to this policy will be allowed to apply for reentryafter one year. A shareholder applying for re-entry mustprovide assurances acceptable to the Fund that the share-holder will not engage in excessive trading activities in thefuture.

Goldman Sachs may modify its surveillance procedures andcriteria from time to time without prior notice regarding thedetection of excessive trading or to address specific circum-stances. Goldman Sachs will apply the criteria in a mannerthat, in Goldman Sachs’ judgment, will be uniform.

Fund shares are generally held through omnibus arrange-ments maintained by participating insurance companies orother intermediaries. Omnibus accounts include multipleinvestors and such accounts typically provide the Fund with

a net purchase or redemption request on any given day wherethe purchases and redemptions of Fund shares by theinvestors shares are netted against one another. The identityof individual investors whose purchase and redemptionorders are aggregated are ordinarily not tracked by the Fundon a regular basis. A number of these insurance companies orfinancial intermediaries may not have the capability or maynot be willing or legally able to apply the Fund’s markettiming policies. While Goldman Sachs may monitor shareturnover at the omnibus account level, the Fund’s ability tomonitor and detect market timing by investors in theseomnibus accounts may be limited in certain circumstances,and certain of these insurance companies or financial inter-mediaries may charge the Fund a fee for providing certainshareholder financial information requested as part of theFund’s surveillance process. The netting effect makes it moredifficult to identify, locate and eliminate market timingactivities. In addition, those investors who engage in markettiming and other excessive trading activities may employ avariety of techniques to avoid detection. There can be noassurance that the Fund and Goldman Sachs will be able toidentify all those who trade excessively or employ a markettiming strategy, and curtail their trading in every instance. Ifnecessary, the Trust may prohibit additional purchases ofFund shares by a participating insurance company orintermediary or by certain of their customers. Insurancecompanies and intermediaries may also monitor theircustomers’ trading activities in the Fund. The criteria used byinsurance companies or intermediaries to monitor forexcessive trading may differ from the criteria used by theFund. If an insurance company or intermediary fails tocooperate in the implementation or enforcement of theTrust’s excessive trading policies, the Trust may take certainactions including terminating the relationship.

22

Taxation

The Fund is treated as a separate corporate entity for federaltax purposes. The Fund has elected to be treated as a regu-lated investment company and intends to qualify for suchtreatment for each taxable year under Subchapter M ofSubtitle A, Chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,as amended (the “Code”). In addition, the Fund intends toqualify under the Code with respect to the diversificationrequirements related to variable contracts. Provided that theFund and a separate account investing in the Fund satisfyapplicable tax requirements, the Fund will not be subject to

federal tax and any distributions from the Fund to the sepa-rate account will be exempt from current federal incometaxation to the extent that such distributions accumulate in avariable annuity contract or a variable life insurance contract.

Persons investing in variable annuity or variable lifeinsurance contracts should refer to the prospectuses withrespect to such contracts for further information regardingthe tax treatment of the contracts and the separate accounts inwhich the contracts are invested.

23

Appendix AAdditional Information on Portfolio Risks,Securities and Techniques

A. GENERAL PORTFOLIO RISKS

Because the Fund invests in derivatives that provideexposure to equity investments, the Fund will be subject tothe risks associated with such investments. “Equity invest-ments” may include common stocks, preferred stocks,warrants, stock purchase rights, interests in REITS, equityinterests in trusts, partnerships, joint ventures, limitedliability companies and similar enterprises, MLPs, otherinvestment companies (including ETFs) and synthetic andderivative instruments (such as swaps and futures contracts)that have economic characteristics similar to equity secu-rities. In general, the values of equity investments fluctuatein response to the activities of individual companies and inresponse to general market and economic conditions.Accordingly, the values of such investments may declineover short or extended periods. The stock markets tend to becyclical, with periods when stock prices generally rise andperiods when prices generally decline. This volatility meansthat the value of your investment in the Fund may increase ordecrease. In recent years, certain stock markets have experi-enced substantial price volatility. To the extent the Fund’snet assets decrease or increase in the future due to pricevolatility or share redemption or purchase activity, theFund’s expense ratio may correspondingly increase ordecrease from the expense ratio disclosed in this Prospectus.

To the extent the Fund invests in pooled investment vehicles(including investment companies and ETFs), partnershipsand REITs, the Fund will be affected by the investmentpolicies, practices and performance of such entities in directproportion to the amount of assets the Fund invests therein.

To the extent it invests in fixed income securities, the Fundwill also be subject to the risks associated with fixed incomesecurities. These risks include interest rate risk and credit/default risk. In general, interest rate risk involves the risk thatwhen interest rates decline, the market value of fixed incomesecurities tends to increase. Conversely, when interest ratesincrease, the market value of fixed income securities tends todecline. Credit/default risk involves the risk that an issuer orguarantor could default on its obligations, and the Fund willnot recover its investment.

A rising interest rate environment could cause the value ofthe Fund’s fixed income securities to decrease, and fixedincome markets to experience increased volatility in additionto heightened levels of liquidity risk. Additionally, decreasesin the value of fixed income securities could lead toincreased shareholder redemptions, which could impair theFund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. The risksassociated with increasing interest rates are heightened given

that interest rates are near historic lows, but may be expectedto increase in the future with unpredictable effects on themarkets and the Fund’s investments.

The Fund may invest in non-investment grade fixed incomesecurities (commonly known as “junk bonds”), which arerated below investment grade (or determined to be ofcomparable credit quality, if not rated) at the time ofpurchase and are therefore considered speculative. Becausenon-investment grade fixed income securities are issued byissuers with low credit ratings, they pose a greater risk ofdefault than investment grade securities.

The Investment Adviser may use derivative instruments,including financial futures contracts and swap transactions,as well as other types of derivatives. The Fund’s investmentsin derivative instruments, including financial futurescontracts and swaps, can be significant.

Interest rates, fixed income securities prices, the prices offutures and other derivatives, and currency exchange ratescan be volatile, and a variance in the degree of volatility or inthe direction of the market from the Investment Adviser’sexpectations may produce significant losses in the Fund’sinvestments in derivatives.

Financial futures contracts used by the Fund include interestrate futures contracts including, among others, Eurodollarfutures contracts. Eurodollar futures contracts are U.S.dollar-denominated futures contracts that are based on theimplied forward London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) ofa three-month deposit. Further information is included in thisProspectus regarding futures contracts, swaps and otherderivative instruments used by the Fund, includinginformation on the risks presented by these instruments andpurposes for which they may be used by the Fund.

The Investment Adviser will not consider the portfolioturnover rate a limiting factor in making investmentdecisions for the Fund. A high rate of portfolio turnover(100% or more) involves correspondingly greater expenseswhich must be borne by the Fund and its shareholders. Theportfolio turnover rate is calculated by dividing the lesser ofthe dollar amount of sales or purchases of portfolio securitiesby the average monthly value of the Fund’s portfolio secu-rities, excluding securities having a maturity at the date ofpurchase of one year or less. See “Financial Highlights” inAppendix B for a statement of the Fund’s historical portfolioturnover rates.

The Fund may, from time to time, enter into arrangementswith certain brokers or other counterparties that require thesegregation of collateral. For operational, cost or other

24

APPENDIX A

reasons, when setting up arrangements relating to theexecution/clearing of trades, the Fund may choose to select asegregation model which may not be the most protectiveoption available in the case of a default by a broker orcounterparty.

The following sections provide further information on certaintypes of securities and investment techniques that may beused by the Fund, including their associated risks. Additionalinformation is provided in the SAI, which is available uponrequest. Among other things, the SAI describes certainfundamental investment restrictions that cannot be changedwithout shareholder approval. You should note, however,that all investment objectives, and all investment policies notspecifically designated as fundamental are non-fundamentaland may be changed without shareholder approval. If there isa change in the Fund’s investment objective, you shouldconsider whether the Fund remains an appropriate invest-ment in light of your then current financial position andneeds.

B. OTHER PORTFOLIO RISKS

Principal Risks of the Fund

Risks of Derivative Investments. The Fund may, to theextent consistent with its investment policies, invest inderivative instruments, including without limitation, options,futures, options on futures, forward contracts, swaps, struc-tured securities and other derivative instruments. Derivativesmay be used for both hedging and nonhedging purposes (thatis, to seek to increase total return), although suitablederivative instruments may not always be available to theInvestment Adviser for these purposes. Losses fromderivative instruments can result from a lack of correlationbetween changes in the value of derivative instruments andthe portfolio assets (if any) being hedged, the potential illi-quidity of the markets for derivative instruments, the failureof the counterparty to perform its contractual obligations, orthe risks related to leverage factors associated with suchtransactions. Derivatives are also subject to risks arising frommargin requirements, which include the risk that the Fundwill be required to pay additional margin or set aside addi-tional collateral to maintain open derivatives positions andthe risk of loss by the Fund of margin deposits in the event ofthe bankruptcy or other similar insolvency with respect to abroker or counterparty with whom the Fund has an openderivative position. Losses may also arise if the Fundreceives cash collateral under the transactions and some orall of that collateral is invested in the market. To the extentthat cash collateral is so invested, such collateral will be

subject to market depreciation or appreciation, and the Fundmay be responsible for any loss that might result from itsinvestment of the counterparty’s cash collateral. If cashcollateral is not invested, the Fund may be exposed to addi-tional risk of loss in the event of the insolvency of itscustodian holding such collateral. The use of these manage-ment techniques also involves the risk of loss if the Invest-ment Adviser is incorrect in its expectation of the timing orlevel of fluctuations in securities prices, interest rates,currency prices or other variables. Investments in derivativeinstruments may be harder to value, subject to greater vola-tility and more likely subject to changes in tax treatment thanother investments. For these reasons, the InvestmentAdviser’s attempts to hedge portfolio risks through the use ofderivative instruments may not be successful, and theInvestment Adviser may choose not to hedge portfolio risks.Using derivatives for nonhedging purposes presents greaterrisk of loss than derivatives used for nonhedging purposes.

Risks of Illiquid Securities. The Fund may invest up to15% of its net assets in illiquid securities which cannot bedisposed of in seven days in the ordinary course of businessat approximately the price at which the Fund values theinvestment. Illiquid securities include:� Both domestic and foreign securities that are not readily

marketable� Repurchase agreements and time deposits with a notice or

demand period of more than seven days� Certain over-the-counter options� Certain structured securities and swap transactions� Certain restricted securities, unless it is determined, based

upon a review of the trading markets for a specificrestricted security, that such restricted security is liquidbecause it is so called “4(2) commercial paper” or isotherwise eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144A underthe Securities Act of 1933 (“144A Securities”).

Investing in 144A Securities may decrease the liquidity ofthe Fund’s portfolio to the extent that qualified institutionalbuyers become for a time uninterested in purchasing theserestricted securities. The purchase price and subsequentvaluation of restricted and illiquid securities normally reflecta discount, which may be significant, from the market priceof comparable securities for which a liquid market exists.

Investments purchased by the Fund, particularly debt secu-rities and over-the-counter traded instruments, that are liquidat the time of purchase may subsequently become illiquiddue to events relating to the issuer of the securities, marketevents, economic conditions or investor perceptions.Domestic and foreign markets are becoming more and morecomplex and interrelated, so that events in one sector of the

25

market or the economy, or in one geographical region, canreverberate and have negative consequences for othermarket, economic or regional sectors in a manner that maynot be reasonably foreseen. With respect to over-the-countertraded securities, the continued viability of any over-the-counter secondary market depends on the continued willing-ness of dealers and other participants to purchase theinvestments.

If one or more instruments in the Fund’s portfolio becomeilliquid, the Fund may exceed its 15% limitation in illiquidinstruments. In the event that changes in the portfolio orother external events cause the investments in illiquidinstruments to exceed 15% of the Fund’s net assets, the Fundmust take steps to bring the aggregate amount of illiquidinstruments back within the prescribed limitations as soon asreasonably practicable. This requirement would not force theFund to liquidate any portfolio instrument where the Fundwould suffer a loss on the sale of that instrument.

In cases where no clear indication of the value of the Fund’sportfolio instruments is available, the portfolio instrumentswill be valued at their fair value according to the valuationprocedures approved by the Board of Trustees. These casesinclude, among others, situations where a security or otherasset or liability does not have a price source, or the secon-dary markets on which an investment has previously beentraded are no longer viable, due to its lack of liquidity. Formore information on fair valuation, please see “ShareholderGuide—How Are Shares Priced?”

Credit/Default Risks. Debt securities purchased by theFund may include U.S. Government Securities (includingzero coupon bonds) and securities issued by foreign govern-ments, domestic and foreign corporations, banks and otherissuers. Some of these fixed income securities are describedin the next section below. Further information is provided inthe SAI.

The Fund also has credit rating requirements for the secu-rities it buys, which are applied at the time of purchase. Forthis purpose, the Fund relies only on the ratings of thefollowing NRSROs: Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s andFitch, Inc.

Unrated securities may be purchased by the Fund if they aredetermined by the Investment Adviser to be of a creditquality consistent with the Fund’s credit rating requirements.

Debt securities rated BBB- or higher by Standard & Poor’sor Baa3 or higher by Moody’s or having a comparable creditrating by another NRSRO are considered “investmentgrade.” Securities rated BBB- or Baa3 are considered

medium-grade obligations with speculative characteristics,and adverse economic conditions or changing circumstancesmay weaken the issuers’ capacity to pay interest and repayprincipal. For the purpose of determining compliance withany credit rating requirement, the Fund assigns a security, atthe time of purchase, the highest rating by an NRSRO if thesecurity is rated by more than one NRSRO. Therefore, asecurity will be deemed to have met a rating requirement if itreceives the minimum required rating from at least one suchrating organization even though it has been rated below theminimum rating by one or more other rating organizations, orif unrated by such rating organizations, the security isdetermined by the Investment Adviser to be of comparablecredit quality. A security satisfies the Fund’s minimum ratingrequirement regardless of its relative ranking (for example,plus or minus) within a designated major rating category (forexample, BBB or Baa). If a security satisfies the Fund’sminimum rating requirement at the time of purchase and issubsequently downgraded below that rating, the Fund willnot be required to dispose of the security. If a downgradeoccurs, the Investment Adviser will consider what action,including the sale of the security, is in the best interest of theFund and its shareholders.

The Fund may invest in fixed income securities rated BB+ orBa1 or below (or comparable unrated securities) which arecommonly referred to as “junk bonds.” Junk bonds areconsidered speculative and may be questionable as toprincipal and interest payments.

In some cases, junk bonds may be highly speculative, havepoor prospects for reaching investment grade standing and bein default. As a result, investment in such bonds will presentgreater speculative risks than those associated with invest-ment in investment grade bonds. Also, to the extent that therating assigned to a security in the Fund’s portfolio isdowngraded by a rating organization, the market price andliquidity of such security may be adversely affected.

Risks of Foreign Investments. The Fund will makeforeign investments. Foreign investments involve specialrisks that are not typically associated with U.S. dollardenominated or quoted securities of U.S. issuers. Foreigninvestments may be affected by changes in currency rates,changes in foreign or U.S. laws or restrictions applicable tosuch investments and changes in exchange control regu-lations (e.g., currency blockage). A decline in the exchangerate of the currency (i.e., weakening of the currency againstthe U.S. dollar) in which a portfolio security is quoted ordenominated relative to the U.S. dollar would reduce thevalue of the portfolio security. In addition, if the currency inwhich the Fund receives dividends, interest or other

26

APPENDIX A

payments declines in value against the U.S. dollar beforesuch income is distributed as dividends to shareholders orconverted to U.S. dollars, the Fund may have to sell portfoliosecurities to obtain sufficient cash to pay such dividends.

Certain foreign markets may rely heavily on particularindustries or foreign capital and are more vulnerable todiplomatic developments, the imposition of economic sanc-tions against a particular country or countries, organizations,entities and/or individuals, changes in international tradingpatterns, trade barriers, and other protectionist or retaliatorymeasures. International trade barriers or economic sanctionsagainst foreign countries, organizations, entities and/orindividuals may adversely affect the Fund’s foreign holdingsor exposures.

Brokerage commissions, custodial services and other costsrelating to investment in international securities marketsgenerally are more expensive than in the United States. Inaddition, clearance and settlement procedures may bedifferent in foreign countries and, in certain markets, suchprocedures have been unable to keep pace with the volume ofsecurities transactions, thus making it difficult to conductsuch transactions.

Foreign issuers are not generally subject to uniformaccounting, auditing and financial reporting standardscomparable to those applicable to U.S. issuers. There may beless publicly available information about a foreign issuerthan about a U.S. issuer. In addition, there is generally lessgovernment regulation of foreign markets, companies andsecurities dealers than in the United States, and the legalremedies for investors may be more limited than theremedies available in the United States. Foreign securitiesmarkets may have substantially less volume than U.S.securities markets and securities of many foreign issuers areless liquid and more volatile than securities of comparabledomestic issuers. Furthermore, with respect to certain foreigncountries, there is a possibility of nationalization, expropria-tion or confiscatory taxation, imposition of withholding orother taxes on dividend or interest payments (or, in somecases, capital gains distributions), limitations on the removalof funds or other assets from such countries, and risks ofpolitical or social instability or diplomatic developmentswhich could adversely affect investments in those countries.

Certain foreign investments may become less liquid inresponse to social, political or market developments oradverse investor perceptions, or become illiquid afterpurchase by the Fund, particularly during periods of marketturmoil. Certain foreign investments may become illiquidwhen, for instance, there are few, if any, interested buyers

and sellers or when dealers are unwilling to make a marketfor certain securities. When the Fund holds illiquid invest-ments, its portfolio may be harder to value, especially inchanging markets.

The Fund may hold foreign securities and cash with foreignbanks, agents, and securities depositories appointed by theFund’s custodian (each a “Foreign Custodian”). SomeForeign Custodians may be recently organized or new to theforeign custody business. In some countries, ForeignCustodians may be subject to little or no regulatory oversightover or independent evaluation of their operations. Further,the laws of certain countries may place limitations on theFund’s ability to recover assets if a Foreign Custodian entersbankruptcy. Investments in emerging market countries maybe subject to even greater custody risks than investments inmore developed markets. Custody services in emergingmarket countries are very often undeveloped and may beconsiderably less well regulated than in more developedcountries, and thus may not afford the same level of investorprotection as would apply in developed countries.

If the Fund focuses its investments in one or a few countriesand currencies it will subject the Fund to greater risks than ifthe Fund’s assets were not geographically focused.

Investments in foreign securities may take the form ofsponsored and unsponsored American Depositary Receipts(“ADRs”), European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”) andGlobal Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”) or other similarinstruments representing securities of foreign issuers. ADRs,EDRs and GDRs represent the right to receive securities offoreign issuers deposited in a bank or other depository.ADRs and certain GDRs are traded in the United States.GDRs may be traded in either the United States or in foreignmarkets. EDRs are traded primarily outside of the UnitedStates. Prices of ADRs are quoted in U.S. dollars. EDRs andGDRs are not necessarily quoted in the same currency as theunderlying security.

Risks of Emerging Countries. The Fund may invest insecurities of issuers located in emerging countries. The risksof foreign investment are heightened when the issuer islocated in an emerging country. Emerging countries aregenerally located in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Easternand Central Europe, and Central and South America. TheFund’s purchase and sale of portfolio securities in certainemerging countries may be constrained by limitationsrelating to daily changes in the prices of listed securities,periodic trading or settlement volume and/or limitations onaggregate holdings of foreign investors. Such limitations maybe computed based on the aggregate trading volume by or

27

holdings of the Fund, the Investment Adviser, its affiliatesand their respective clients and other service providers. TheFund may not be able to sell securities in circumstanceswhere price, trading or settlement volume limitations havebeen reached.

Foreign investment in the securities markets of certainemerging countries is restricted or controlled to varyingdegrees which may limit investment in such countries orincrease the administrative costs of such investments. Forexample, certain Asian countries require governmentalapproval prior to investments by foreign persons or limitinvestment by foreign persons to only a specified percentageof an issuer’s outstanding securities or a specific class ofsecurities which may have less advantageous terms (includingprice) than securities of the issuer available for purchase bynationals. In addition, certain countries may restrict orprohibit investment opportunities in issuers or industriesdeemed important to national interests. Such restrictions mayaffect the market price, liquidity and rights of securities thatmay be purchased by the Fund. The repatriation of investmentincome, and capital or the proceeds of securities sales fromcertain emerging countries is subject to restrictions such as theneed for governmental consents, which may make it difficultfor the Fund to invest in such emerging countries. The Fundcould be adversely affected by delays in, or a refusal to grant,any required governmental approval for such repatriation. Insituations where a country restricts direct investment insecurities (which may occur in certain Asian and othercountries), the Fund may invest in such countries throughother investment funds in such countries.

Many emerging countries have experienced currency devalua-tions and substantial (and, in some cases, extremely high)rates of inflation. Other emerging countries have experiencedeconomic recessions. These circumstances have had anegative effect on the economies and securities markets ofsuch emerging countries. Economies in emerging countriesgenerally are dependent heavily upon commodity prices andinternational trade and, accordingly, have been and maycontinue to be affected adversely by the economies of theirtrading partners, trade barriers, exchange controls, managedadjustments in relative currency values and otherprotectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the coun-tries with which they trade.

Many emerging countries are subject to a substantial degreeof economic, political and social instability. Governments ofsome emerging countries are authoritarian in nature or havebeen installed or removed as a result of military coups, whilegovernments in other emerging countries have periodicallyused force to suppress civil dissent. Disparities of wealth, the

pace and success of democratization, and ethnic, religiousand racial disaffection, among other factors, have also led tosocial unrest, violence and/or labor unrest in some emergingcountries. Unanticipated political or social developmentsmay result in sudden and significant investment losses.Investing in emerging countries involves greater risk of lossdue to expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assetsand property or the imposition of restrictions on foreigninvestments and on repatriation of capital invested. As anexample, in the past some Eastern European governmentshave expropriated substantial amounts of private property,and many claims of the property owners have never beenfully settled. There is no assurance that similar expropria-tions will not occur in other countries.

The Fund’s investment in emerging countries may also besubject to withholding or other taxes, which may besignificant and may reduce the return to the Fund from aninvestment in issuers in such countries.

Settlement procedures in emerging countries are frequentlyless developed and reliable than those in the United Statesand may involve the Fund’s delivery of securities beforereceipt of payment for their sale. In addition, significantdelays may occur in certain markets in registering thetransfer of securities. Settlement or registration problemsmay make it more difficult for the Fund to value its portfoliosecurities and could cause the Fund to miss attractiveinvestment opportunities, to have a portion of its assetsuninvested or to incur losses due to the failure of a counter-party to pay for securities the Fund has delivered or theFund’s inability to complete its contractual obligationsbecause of theft or other reasons.

The creditworthiness of the local securities firms used by theFund in emerging countries may not be as sound as thecreditworthiness of firms used in more developed countries.As a result, the Fund may be subject to a greater risk of lossif a securities firm defaults in the performance of itsresponsibilities.

The small size and inexperience of the securities markets incertain emerging countries and the limited volume of tradingin securities in those countries may make the Fund’s invest-ments in such countries less liquid and more volatile thaninvestments in countries with more developed securitiesmarkets (such as the United States, Japan and most WesternEuropean countries). The Fund’s investments in emergingcountries are subject to the risk that the liquidity of a partic-ular investment, or investments generally, in such countrieswill shrink or disappear suddenly and without warning as aresult of adverse economic, market or political conditions or

28

APPENDIX A

adverse investor perceptions, whether or not accurate.Because of the lack of sufficient market liquidity, the Fundmay incur losses because it will be required to effect sales ata disadvantageous time and only then at a substantial drop inprice. Investments in emerging countries may be moredifficult to value precisely because of the characteristicsdiscussed above and lower trading volumes.

The Fund’s use of foreign currency management techniquesin emerging countries may be limited. The InvestmentAdviser anticipates that all or a significant portion of theFund’s currency exposure in emerging countries may not becovered by those techniques.

Risks of Sovereign Debt. Investment in sovereign debtobligations by the Fund involves risks not present in debtobligations of corporate issuers. The issuer of the debt or thegovernmental authorities that control the repayment of thedebt may be unable or unwilling to repay principal or payinterest when due in accordance with the terms of such debt,and the Fund may have limited recourse to compel paymentin the event of a default. Periods of economic uncertaintymay result in the volatility of market prices of sovereigndebt, and in turn the Fund’s NAV, to a greater extent than thevolatility inherent in debt obligations of U.S. issuers.

A sovereign debtor’s willingness or ability to repay principaland pay interest in a timely manner may be affected by,among other factors, its cash flow situation, the extent of itsforeign currency reserves, the availability of sufficient foreignexchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of thedebt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereigndebtor’s policy toward international lenders, and the politicalconstraints to which a sovereign debtor may be subject.

Risks of Investing in Mid-Capitalization and Small-Capitalization Companies and REITs. The Fund mayinvest in mid- and small-capitalization companies andREITs. Investments in mid- and small-capitalization compa-nies and REITs involve greater risk and portfolio pricevolatility than investments in larger capitalization stocks.Among the reasons for the greater price volatility of theseinvestments are the less certain growth prospects of smallerfirms and the lower degree of liquidity in the markets forsuch securities. Mid- and small-capitalization companies andREITs may be thinly traded and may have to be sold at adiscount from current market prices or in small lots over anextended period of time. In addition, these securities aresubject to the risk that during certain periods the liquidity ofparticular issuers or industries, or all securities in particularinvestment categories, will shrink or disappear suddenly andwithout warning as a result of adverse economic or market

conditions, or adverse investor perceptions whether or notaccurate. Because of the lack of sufficient market liquidity,the Fund may incur losses because it will be required toeffect sales at a disadvantageous time and only then at asubstantial drop in price. Mid- and small-capitalizationcompanies and REITs include “unseasoned” issuers that donot have an established financial history; often have limitedproduct lines, markets or financial resources; may depend onor use a few key personnel for management; and may besusceptible to losses and risks of bankruptcy. Mid- andsmall-capitalization companies may be operating at a loss orhave significant variations in operating results; may beengaged in a rapidly changing business with products subjectto a substantial risk of obsolescence; may require substantialadditional capital to support their operations, to financeexpansion or to maintain their competitive position; and mayhave substantial borrowings or may otherwise have a weakfinancial condition. In addition, these companies may faceintense competition, including competition from companieswith greater financial resources, more extensive develop-ment, manufacturing, marketing, and other capabilities, and alarger number of qualified managerial and technicalpersonnel. Transaction costs for these investments are oftenhigher than those of larger capitalization companies. Invest-ments in mid- and small-capitalization companies and REITsmay be more difficult to price precisely than other types ofsecurities because of their characteristics and lower tradingvolumes.

C. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES AND TECHNIQUES

This section provides further information on certain types ofsecurities and investment techniques that may be used by theFund, including their associated risks.

The Fund may purchase other types of securities or instru-ments similar to those described in this section if otherwiseconsistent with the Fund’s investment objective and policies.Further information is provided in the SAI, which is avail-able upon request.

The Investment Adviser is subject to registration and regu-lation as a “commodity pool operator” (“CPO”) under theCommodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) with respect to itsservice as an investment adviser to the Fund.

U.S. Government Securities. The Fund may invest inU.S. Government Securities. U.S. Government Securitiesinclude U.S. Treasury obligations and obligations issued orguaranteed by U.S. government agencies, instrumentalities orsponsored enterprises. U.S. Government Securities may besupported by (i) the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury;

29

(ii) the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury;(iii) the discretionary authority of the U.S. government topurchase certain obligations of the issuer; or (iv) only thecredit of the issuer. U.S. Government Securities also includeTreasury receipts, zero coupon bonds and other strippedU.S. Government Securities, where the interest and principalcomponents are traded independently. U.S. GovernmentSecurities may also include Treasury inflation-protectedsecurities whose principal value is periodically adjustedaccording to the rate of inflation.

U.S. Government Securities are deemed to include(i) securities for which the payment of principal and interestis backed by an irrevocable letter of credit issued by theU.S. government, its agencies, authorities orinstrumentalities; and (ii) participations in loans made toforeign governments or their agencies that are so guaranteed.Certain of these participations may be regarded as illiquid.

U.S. Government Securities have historically involved littlerisk of loss of principal if held to maturity. However, noassurance can be given that loss of principal will not occur orthat the U.S. government will be able or willing to repay theprincipal or interest when due or will provide financialsupport to U.S. government agencies, authorities,instrumentalities or sponsored enterprises if it is not obli-gated to do so by law.

Custodial Receipts and Trust Certificates. The Fundmay invest in custodial receipts and trust certificatesrepresenting interests in securities held by a custodian ortrustee. The securities so held may include U.S. GovernmentSecurities or other types of securities in which the Fund mayinvest. The custodial receipts or trust certificates mayevidence ownership of future interest payments, principalpayments or both on the underlying securities, or, in somecases, the payment obligation of a third party that has enteredinto an interest rate swap or other arrangement with thecustodian or trustee. For certain securities laws purposes,custodial receipts and trust certificates may not be consideredobligations of the U.S. government or other issuer of thesecurities held by the custodian or trustee. If for tax purposes,the Fund is not considered to be the owner of the underlyingsecurities held in the custodial or trust account, the Fund maysuffer adverse tax consequences. As a holder of custodialreceipts and trust certificates, the Fund will bear its propor-tionate share of the fees and expenses charged to the custo-dial account or trust. The Fund may also invest in separatelyissued interests in custodial receipts and trust certificates.

REITs. The Fund may invest in REITs. REITs are pooledinvestment vehicles that invest primarily in either real estate

or real estate related loans. The value of a REIT is affectedby changes in the value of the properties owned by the REITor securing mortgage loans held by the REIT. REITs aredependent upon the ability of the REITs’ managers, and aresubject to heavy cash flow dependency, default by borrowersand the qualification of the REITs under applicable regu-latory requirements for favorable income tax treatment.REITs are also subject to risks generally associated withinvestments in real estate including possible declines in thevalue of real estate, general and local economic conditions,environmental problems and changes in interest rates. To theextent that assets underlying a REIT are concentratedgeographically, by property type or in certain other respects,these risks may be heightened. The Fund will indirectly bearits proportionate share of any expenses, including manage-ment fees, paid by a REIT in which it invests.

Preferred Stock, Warrants and Stock PurchaseRights. Preferred stocks are securities that represent anownership interest providing the holder with claims on theissuer’s earnings and assets before common stock owners butafter bond owners. Unlike debt securities, the obligations ofan issuer of preferred stock, including dividend and otherpayment obligations, may not typically be accelerated by theholders of such preferred stock on the occurrence of an eventof default or other non-compliance by the issuer of thepreferred stock.

Warrants and other rights are options to buy a stated numberof shares of common stock at a specified price at any timeduring the life of the warrant or right. The holders ofwarrants and rights have no voting rights, receive no divi-dends and have no rights with respect to the assets of theissuer.

Zero Coupon, Deferred Interest, Pay-In-Kind andCapital Appreciation Bonds. The Fund may invest inzero coupon bonds, deferred interest, pay-in-kind and capitalappreciation bonds. These bonds are issued at a discountfrom their face value because interest payments are typicallypostponed until maturity. Pay-in-kind securities are securitiesthat have interest payable by the delivery of additionalsecurities. The market prices of these securities generally aremore volatile than the market prices of interest-bearingsecurities and are likely to respond to a greater degree tochanges in interest rates than interest-bearing securitieshaving similar maturities and credit quality.

Structured Securities. The Fund may invest in structuredsecurities. Structured securities are securities whose value isdetermined by reference to changes in the value of specificcurrencies, securities, interest rates, commodities, indices or

30

APPENDIX A

other financial indicators (the “Reference”) or the relativechange in two or more References. Investments in structuredsecurities may provide exposure to certain securities ormarkets in situations where regulatory or other restrictionsprevent direct investments in such issuers or markets.

The interest rate or the principal amount payable uponmaturity or redemption may be increased or decreaseddepending upon changes in the applicable Reference. Struc-tured securities may be positively or negatively indexed, sothat appreciation of the Reference may produce an increase ordecrease in the interest rate or value of the security atmaturity. In addition, changes in the interest rates or the valueof the security at maturity may be a multiple of changes in thevalue of the Reference, effectively leveraging the Fund’sinvestments so that small changes in the value of the Refer-ence may result in disproportionate gains or losses to theFund. Consequently, structured securities may present agreater degree of market risk than many types of securitiesand may be more volatile, less liquid and more difficult toprice accurately than less complex securities. Structuredsecurities are also subject to the risk that the issuer of thestructured securities may fail to perform its contractualobligations. Certain issuers of structured products may bedeemed to be investment companies as defined in the Invest-ment Company Act. As a result, the Fund’s investments instructured securities may be subject to the limits applicable toinvestments in other investment companies.

Structured securities are considered hybrid instrumentsbecause they are derivative instruments the value of whichdepends on, or is derived from or linked to, the value of anunderlying asset, interest rate index or commodity.Commodity-linked notes are hybrid instruments because theprincipal and/or interest payments on those notes is linked tothe value of the individual commodities, futures contracts orthe performance of one or more commodity indices.

Structured securities include, but are not limited to, equitylinked notes. An equity linked note is a note whose perform-ance is tied to a single stock, a stock index or a basket ofstocks. Equity linked notes combine the principal protectionnormally associated with fixed income investments with thepotential for capital appreciation normally associated withequity investments. Upon the maturity of the note, the holdergenerally receives a return of principal based on the capitalappreciation of the linked securities. Depending on the termsof the note, equity linked notes may also have a “cap” or“floor” on the maximum principal amount to be repaid toholders, irrespective of the performance of the underlyinglinked securities. For example, a note may guarantee therepayment of the original principal amount invested (even if

the underlying linked securities have negative performanceduring the note’s term), but may cap the maximum paymentat maturity at a certain percentage of the issuance price or thereturn of the underlying linked securities. Alternatively, thenote may not guarantee a full return on the original principal,but may offer a greater participation in any capital apprecia-tion of the underlying linked securities. The terms of anequity linked note may also provide for periodic interestpayments to holders at either a fixed or floating rate. Thesecondary market for equity linked notes may be limited, andthe lack of liquidity in the secondary market may make thesesecurities difficult to dispose of and to value. Equity linkednotes will be considered equity securities for purposes of theFund’s investment objective and policies.

Foreign Currency Transactions. The Fund may, to theextent consistent with its investment policies, purchase orsell foreign currencies on a cash basis or through forwardcontracts. A forward contract involves an obligation topurchase or sell a specific currency at a future date at a priceset at the time of the contract.

The Fund may engage in foreign currency transactions forhedging purposes and to seek to protect against anticipatedchanges in future foreign currency exchange rates. Inaddition, the Fund may enter into foreign currency trans-actions to seek a closer correlation between the Fund’soverall currency exposures and the currency exposures of theFund’s performance benchmark. The Fund may also enterinto such transactions to seek to increase total return, whichis considered a speculative practice.

The Fund may also engage in cross-hedging by usingforward contracts in a currency different from that in whichthe hedged security is denominated or quoted. The Fund mayhold foreign currency received in connection with invest-ments in foreign securities when, in the judgment of theInvestment Adviser, it would be beneficial to convert suchcurrency into U.S. dollars at a later date (e.g., the InvestmentAdviser may anticipate that the foreign currency will appre-ciate against the U.S. dollar).

The Fund may, from time to time, engage in non-deliverableforward transactions to manage currency risk or to gainexposure to a currency without purchasing securitiesdenominated in that currency. A non-deliverable forward is atransaction that represents an agreement between the Fundand a counterparty (usually a commercial bank) to pay theother party the amount that it would cost based on currentmarket rates as of the termination date to buy or sell a speci-fied (notional) amount of a particular currency at an agreedupon foreign exchange rate on an agreed upon future date. If

31

the counterparty defaults, the Fund will have contractualremedies pursuant to the agreement related to the transaction,but the Fund may be delayed or prevented from obtainingpayments owed to it pursuant to non-deliverable forwardtransactions. Such non-deliverable forward transactions willbe settled in cash.

Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly overshort periods of time causing, along with other factors, theFund’s NAV to fluctuate (when the Fund’s NAV fluctuates,the value of your shares may go up or down). Currencyexchange rates also can be affected unpredictably by theintervention of U.S. or foreign governments or central banks,or the failure to intervene, or by currency controls or politicaldevelopments in the United States or abroad.

Certain forward foreign currency exchange contracts andother currency transactions are not exchange traded orcleared. The market in such forward foreign currencyexchange contracts, currency swaps and other privatelynegotiated currency instruments offers less protection againstdefaults by the other party to such instruments than is avail-able for currency instruments traded on an exchange. Suchcontracts are subject to the risk that the counterparty to thecontract will default on its obligations. Because thesecontracts are not guaranteed by an exchange or clearing-house, a default on a contract would deprive the Fund ofunrealized profits, transaction costs or the benefits of acurrency hedge or could force the Fund to cover its purchaseor sale commitments, if any, at the current market price.

The Fund is not required to post cash collateral with itscounterparties in certain foreign currency transactions.Accordingly, the Fund may remain more fully invested (andmore of the Fund’s assets may be subject to investment andmarket risk) than if it were required to post collateral with itscounterparties (which is the case with certain transactions).Where the Fund’s counterparties are not required to post cashcollateral with the Fund, the Fund will be subject to addi-tional counterparty risk.

Options on Securities, Securities Indices and ForeignCurrencies. A put option gives the purchaser of the optionthe right to sell, and the writer (seller) of the option theobligation to buy, the underlying instrument during theoption period. A call option gives the purchaser of the optionthe right to buy, and the writer (seller) of the option theobligation to sell, the underlying instrument during theoption period. The Fund may write (sell) call and put optionsand purchase put and call options on any securities and otherinstruments in which the Fund may invest or any indexconsisting of securities or other instruments in which it may

invest. The Fund may also, to the extent consistent with itsinvestment policies, purchase and write (sell) put and calloptions on foreign currencies.

The writing and purchase of options is a highly specializedactivity which involves special investment risks. Optionsmay be used for either hedging or cross-hedging purposes, orto seek to increase total return (which presents additionalrisk). The successful use of options depends in part on theability of the Investment Adviser to anticipate future pricefluctuations and the degree of correlation between theoptions and securities (or currency) markets. If the Invest-ment Adviser is incorrect in its expectation of changes inmarket prices or determination of the correlation between theinstruments or indices on which options are written andpurchased and the instruments in the Fund’s investmentportfolio, the Fund may incur losses that it would not other-wise incur. The use of options can also increase the Fund’stransaction costs. Options written or purchased by the Fundmay be traded on either U.S. or foreign exchanges or over-the-counter. Foreign and over-the-counter options willpresent greater possibility of loss because of their greaterilliquidity and credit risks.

Futures Contracts and Options and Swaps on FuturesContracts. Futures contracts are standardized, exchange-traded contracts that provide for the sale or purchase of aspecified financial instrument or currency at a future time at aspecified price. An option on a futures contract gives thepurchaser the right (and the writer of the option the obliga-tion) to assume a position in a futures contract at a specifiedexercise price within a specified period of time. A swap on afutures contract provides an investor with the ability to gaineconomic exposure to a particular futures market; however,unlike a futures contract that is exchange traded, a swap on afutures contract is an over-the-counter transaction. A futurescontract may be based on particular securities, foreigncurrencies, securities indices and other financial instrumentsand indices. The Fund may engage in futures transactions onboth U.S. and foreign exchanges.

The Fund may purchase and sell futures contracts, purchaseand write call and put options on futures contracts, and enterinto swaps on futures contracts, in order to seek to increasetotal return or to hedge against changes in interest rates,securities prices or currency exchange rates, or to otherwisemanage its term structure, sector selection and duration inaccordance with its investment objective and policies. TheFund may also enter into closing purchase and sale trans-actions with respect to such contracts and options.

32

APPENDIX A

Futures contracts and related options and swaps present thefollowing risks:� While the Fund may benefit from the use of futures and

options and swaps on futures, unanticipated changes ininterest rates, securities prices or currency exchange ratesmay result in a poorer overall performance than if theFund had not entered into any futures contracts, optionstransactions or swaps.

� Because perfect correlation between a futures position and aportfolio position that is intended to be protected is impos-sible to achieve, the desired protection may not be obtainedand the Fund may be exposed to additional risk of loss.

� The loss incurred by the Fund in entering into futurescontracts and in writing call options and entering intoswaps on futures is potentially unlimited and may exceedthe amount of the premium received.

� Futures markets are highly volatile and the use of futuresmay increase the volatility of the Fund’s NAV.

� As a result of the low margin deposits normally required infutures trading, a relatively small price movement in afutures contract may result in substantial losses to the Fund.

� Futures contracts and options and swaps on futures maybe illiquid, and exchanges may limit fluctuations infutures contract prices during a single day.

� Foreign exchanges may not provide the same protectionas U.S. exchanges.

Other Investment Companies. The Fund may invest insecurities of other investment companies, including ETFs,subject to statutory limitations prescribed by the InvestmentCompany Act, or exemptive relief thereunder. These stat-utory limitations include in certain circumstances a prohib-ition on the Fund acquiring more than 3% of the votingshares of any other investment company, and a prohibitionon investing more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets insecurities of any one investment company or more than 10%of its total assets in securities of all investment companies.Many ETFs, however, have obtained exemptive relief fromthe SEC to permit unaffiliated funds to invest in the ETFs’shares beyond these statutory limitations, subject to certainconditions and pursuant to a contractual arrangementbetween the ETFs and the investing funds. The Fund mayrely on these exemptive orders to invest in unaffiliated ETFs.

The use of ETFs is intended to help the Fund match the totalreturn of the particular market segments or indices repre-sented by those ETFs, although that may not be the result.Most ETFs are passively managed investment companieswhose shares are purchased and sold on a securities exchange.An ETF represents a portfolio of securities designed to track aparticular market segment or index. An investment in an ETF

generally presents the same primary risks as an investment ina conventional fund (i.e., one that is not exchange-traded) thathas the same investment objectives, strategies and policies. Inaddition, an ETF may fail to accurately track the marketsegment or index that underlies its investment objective. Theprice of an ETF can fluctuate, and the Fund could lose moneyinvesting in an ETF. Moreover, ETFs are subject to thefollowing risks that do not apply to conventional funds: (i) themarket price of the ETF’s shares may trade at a premium or adiscount to their NAV; (ii) an active trading market for anETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained; and(iii) there is no assurance that the requirements of theexchange necessary to maintain the listing of an ETF willcontinue to be met or remain unchanged.

Subject to applicable law and/or pursuant to an exemptiveorder obtained from the SEC or under an exemptive ruleadopted by the SEC, the Fund may invest in certain otherinvestment companies, including ETFs and money marketfunds, beyond the statutory limits described above or other-wise. Some of those investment companies may be funds forwhich the Investment Adviser or any of its affiliates serves asinvestment adviser, administrator or distributor.

The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of anymanagement fees and other expenses paid by such otherinvestment companies, in addition to the fees and expensesregularly borne by the Fund. Although the Fund does notexpect to do so in the foreseeable future, the Fund isauthorized to invest substantially all of its assets in a singleopen-end investment company or series thereof that hassubstantially the same investment objective, policies andfundamental restrictions as the Fund.

Interest Rate Swaps, Credit Swaps, Currency Swaps,Equity Swaps, Total Return Swaps, Options onSwaps and Interest Rate Caps, Floors andCollars. Interest rate swaps involve the exchange by theFund with another party of their respective commitments topay or receive interest, such as an exchange of fixed-ratepayments for floating rate payments. Credit swaps involvethe receipt of floating or fixed rate payments in exchange forassuming potential credit losses on an underlying security orpool of securities. Credit swaps give one party to a trans-action (the buyer of the credit swap) the right to dispose of oracquire an asset (or group of assets or exposure to theperformance of an index), or the right to receive a paymentfrom the other party, upon the occurrence of specified creditevents. Currency swaps involve the exchange of the parties’respective rights to make or receive payments in specifiedcurrencies. Total return swaps give a party the right toreceive the appreciation in the value of a specified security,

33

index or other instrument in return for a fee paid to thecounterparty, which will typically be based on an agreedupon interest rate. If the underlying asset in a total returnswap declines in value over the term of the swap, a partymay also be required to pay the dollar value of that decline tothe counterparty. The Fund may also purchase and write(sell) options contracts on swaps, commonly referred to asswaptions. A swaption is an option to enter into a swapagreement. Like other types of options, the buyer of aswaption pays a nonrefundable premium for the option andobtains the right, but not the obligation, to enter into anunderlying swap or to modify the terms of an existing swapon agreed-upon terms. The seller of a swaption, in exchangefor the premium, becomes obligated (if the option isexercised) to enter into or modify an underlying swap onagreed-upon terms, which generally entails a greater risk ofloss than the Fund incurs in buying a swaption. Equity swapsallow the parties to a swap agreement to exchange thedividend income or other components of return on an equityinvestment (for example, a group of equity securities or anindex) for another payment stream. An equity swap may beused by the Fund to invest in a market without owning ortaking physical custody of securities in circumstances inwhich direct investment may be restricted for legal reasonsor is otherwise deemed impractical or disadvantageous.

The purchase of an interest rate cap entitles the purchaser, tothe extent that a specified index exceeds a predeterminedinterest rate, to receive payment of interest on a notionalprincipal amount from the party selling such interest rate cap.The purchase of an interest rate floor entitles the purchaser,to the extent that a specified index falls below apredetermined interest rate, to receive payments of intereston a notional principal amount from the party selling theinterest rate floor. An interest rate collar is the combinationof a cap and a floor that preserves a certain return within apredetermined range of interest rates.

The Fund may enter into swap transactions for hedgingpurposes or to seek to increase total return. As an example,when the Fund is the buyer of a credit default swap(commonly known as buying protection), it may makeperiodic payments to the seller of the credit default swap toobtain protection against a credit default on a specifiedunderlying asset (or group of assets). If a default occurs, theseller of a credit default swap may be required to pay theFund the notional amount of the credit default swap on aspecified security (or group of securities). On the otherhand, when the Fund is a seller of a credit default swap(commonly known as selling protection), in addition to thecredit exposure the Fund has on the other assets held in its

portfolio, the Fund is also subject to the credit exposure onthe notional amount of the swap since, in the event of a creditdefault, the Fund may be required to pay the notional amountof the credit default swap on a specified security (or group ofsecurities) to the buyer of the credit default swap. The Fundwill be the seller of a credit default swap only when thecredit of the underlying asset is deemed by the InvestmentAdviser to meet the Fund’s minimum credit criteria at thetime the swap is first entered into.

When the Fund writes (sells) credit swaps on individualsecurities or instruments, the Fund must identify on its booksliquid assets equal to the full notional amount of the swapswhile the positions are open.

The use of interest rate, credit, currency, index, total returnand equity swaps, options on swaps, and interest rate caps,floors and collars, is a highly specialized activity whichinvolves investment techniques and risks different from thoseassociated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Ifthe Investment Adviser is incorrect in its forecasts of marketvalues, interest rates and currency exchange rates, or in itsevaluation of the creditworthiness of swap counterparties andthe issuers of the underlying assets, the investment perform-ance of the Fund would be less favorable than it would havebeen if these investment techniques were not used.

Currently, certain standardized swap transactions are subjectto mandatory central clearing and exchange trading.Although central clearing and exchange trading is expectedto decrease counterparty risk and increase liquidity comparedto bilaterally negotiated swaps, central clearing and exchangetrading does not eliminate counterparty risk or illiquidity riskentirely. Depending on the size of the Fund and other factors,the margin required under the rules of a clearinghouse and bya clearing member may be in excess of the collateral requiredto be posted by the Fund to support its obligations under asimilar bilateral, uncleared swap. However, certain appli-cable regulators have adopted rules imposing certain marginrequirements, including minimums, on uncleared swapswhich may result in the Fund and its counterparties postinghigher amounts for uncleared swaps.

Non-Investment Grade Fixed Income Securities. Non-investment grade fixed-income securities and unrated secu-rities of comparable credit quality (commonly known as “junkbonds”) are considered speculative. In some cases, theseobligations may be highly speculative and have poor pros-pects for reaching investment grade standing. Non-investmentgrade fixed income securities are subject to the increased riskof an issuer’s inability to meet principal and interest obliga-tions. These securities, also referred to as high yield

34

APPENDIX A

securities, may be subject to greater price volatility due tosuch factors as specific issuer developments, interest ratesensitivity, negative perceptions of the junk bond marketsgenerally and less secondary market liquidity.

Non-investment grade fixed income securities are often issuedin connection with a corporate reorganization or restructuringor as part of a merger, acquisition, takeover or similar event.They are also issued by less established companies seeking toexpand. Such issuers are often highly leveraged and generallyless able than more established or less leveraged entities tomake scheduled payments of principal and interest in theevent of adverse developments or business conditions. Non-investment grade securities are also issued by governmentalbodies that may have difficulty in making all scheduledinterest and principal payments. The market value of non-investment grade fixed income securities tends to reflectindividual government or municipal developments to a greaterextent than that of higher rated securities which reactprimarily to fluctuations in the general level of interest rates.As a result, the Fund’s ability to achieve its investmentobjectives may depend to a greater extent on the InvestmentAdviser’s judgment concerning the creditworthiness of issuersthan funds which invest in higher-rated securities. Issuers ofnon-investment grade fixed income securities may not be ableto make use of more traditional methods of financing andtheir ability to service debt obligations may be affected moreadversely than issuers of higher-rated securities by economicdownturns, specific corporate or financial developments orthe issuer’s inability to meet specific projected businessforecasts. Negative publicity about the junk bond market andinvestor perceptions regarding lower rated securities, whetheror not based on fundamental analysis, may depress the pricesfor such securities.

A holder’s risk of loss from default is significantly greaterfor non-investment grade fixed income securities than is thecase for holders of other debt securities because such non-investment grade securities are generally unsecured and areoften subordinated to the rights of other creditors of theissuers of such securities. Investment by the Fund indefaulted securities poses additional risk of loss shouldnonpayment of principal and interest continue in respect ofsuch securities. Even if such securities are held to maturity,recovery by the Fund of its initial investment and any antici-pated income or appreciation is uncertain.

The secondary market for non-investment grade fixedincome securities is concentrated in relatively few marketmakers and is dominated by institutional investors, includingmutual funds, insurance companies and other financialinstitutions. Accordingly, the secondary market for such

securities is not as liquid as, and is more volatile than, thesecondary market for higher-rated securities. In addition,market trading volume for high yield fixed income securitiesis generally lower and the secondary market for such secu-rities could shrink or disappear suddenly and withoutwarning as a result of adverse market or economicconditions, independent of any specific adverse changes inthe condition of a particular issuer. The lack of sufficientmarket liquidity may cause the Fund to incur losses becauseit will be required to effect sales at a disadvantageous timeand then only at a substantial drop in price. These factorsmay have an adverse effect on the market price and theFund’s ability to dispose of particular portfolio investments.A less liquid secondary market also may make it more diffi-cult for the Fund to obtain precise valuations of the highyield securities in its portfolio.

Credit ratings issued by credit rating agencies are designed toevaluate the safety of principal and interest payments of ratedsecurities. They do not, however, evaluate the market valuerisk of non-investment grade securities and, therefore, maynot fully reflect the true risks of an investment. In addition,credit rating agencies may or may not make timely changesin a rating to reflect changes in the economy or in theconditions of the issuer that affect the market value of thesecurity. Consequently, credit ratings are used only as apreliminary indicator of investment quality.

Lending of Portfolio Securities. The Fund may engagein securities lending. Securities lending involves the lendingof securities owned by the Fund to financial institutions suchas certain broker-dealers, including, as permitted by the SEC,Goldman Sachs. The borrowers are required to secure theirloans continuously with cash, cash equivalents, U.S.Government Securities or letters of credit in an amount atleast equal to the market value of the securities loaned. Cashcollateral may be invested by the Fund in short-term invest-ments, including registered and unregistered investmentpools managed by the Investment Adviser or its affiliates andfrom which the Investment Adviser or its affiliates mayreceive fees. To the extent that cash collateral is so invested,such collateral will be subject to market depreciation orappreciation, and the Fund will be responsible for any lossthat might result from its investment of the borrowers’collateral. If the Investment Adviser determines to makesecurities loans, the value of the securities loaned may notexceed 33 1⁄3% of the value of the total assets of the Fund(including the loan collateral). Loan collateral (including anyinvestment of that collateral) is not subject to the percentagelimitations regarding the Fund’s investments describedelsewhere in the Prospectus.

35

The Fund may lend its securities to increase its income. TheFund may, however, experience delay in the recovery of itssecurities or incur a loss if the institution with which it hasengaged in a portfolio loan transaction breaches its agree-ment with the Fund or its agent or becomes insolvent.

Repurchase Agreements. Repurchase agreementsinvolve the purchase of securities subject to the seller’sagreement to repurchase them at a mutually agreed upon dateand price. The Fund may enter into repurchase agreementswith counterparties approved by the Investment Adviserpursuant to procedures approved by the Board of Trusteesthat furnish collateral at least equal in value or market priceto the amount of their repurchase obligation. The collateralmay consist of any type of security in which the Fund iseligible to invest directly. Repurchase agreements involvingobligations other than U.S. Government Securities may besubject to additional risks.

If the other party or “seller” defaults, the Fund might suffer aloss to the extent that the proceeds from the sale of theunderlying securities and other collateral held by the Fund areless than the repurchase price and the Fund’s costs associatedwith delay and enforcement of the repurchase agreement. Inaddition, in the event of bankruptcy of the seller, the Fundcould suffer additional losses if a court determines that theFund’s interest in the collateral is not enforceable.

The Fund, together with other registered investmentcompanies having advisory agreements with the InvestmentAdviser or any of its affiliates, may transfer uninvested cashbalances into a single joint account, the daily aggregatebalance of which will be invested in one or more repurchaseagreements.

Borrowings and Reverse RepurchaseAgreements. The Fund can borrow money from banks andother financial institutions, and may enter into reverserepurchase agreements in amounts not exceeding one-third ofthe Fund’s total assets (including the amount borrowed orreceived).

Reverse repurchase agreements involve the sale of securitiesheld by the Fund subject to the Fund’s agreement torepurchase them at a mutually agreed upon date and price(including interest). Reverse repurchase agreements aregenerally considered collateralized borrowings. Thesetransactions may be entered into as a temporary measure foremergency purposes or to meet redemption requests. Reverserepurchase agreements may also be entered into when theInvestment Adviser expects that the interest income to be

earned from the investment of the transaction proceeds willbe greater than the related interest expense.

Reverse repurchase agreements involve the risk that theinvestment return earned by the Fund (from the investmentof the proceeds) will be less than the interest expense of thetransaction, that the market value of the securities sold by theFund will decline below the price the Fund is obligated topay to repurchase the securities, and that the securities maynot be returned to the Fund. The Fund must identify on itsbooks liquid assets, or engage in other appropriate measures,to “cover” open positions with respect to its transactions inreverse repurchase agreements.

Asset Segregation. As an investment company registeredwith the SEC, the Fund must identify on its books (oftenreferred to as “asset segregation”) liquid assets, or engage inother SEC or SEC-staff approved or other appropriatemeasures, to “cover” open positions with respect to certainkinds of derivative instruments. In the case of swaps, futurescontracts, options, forward contracts and other derivativeinstruments that do not cash settle, for example, the Fundmust identify on its books liquid assets equal to the fullnotional amount of the instrument while the positions areopen, to the extent there is not a permissible offsettingposition or a contractual “netting” agreement with respect toswaps (other than credit default swaps where the Fund is theprotection seller). However, with respect to certain swaps,futures contracts, options, forward contracts and otherderivative instruments that are required to cash settle, theFund may identify liquid assets in an amount equal to theFund’s daily marked-to-market net obligations (i.e., theFund’s daily net liability) under the instrument, if any, ratherthan its full notional amount. Forwards and futures contractsthat do not cash settle may be treated as cash settled for assetsegregation purposes when the Fund has entered into acontractual arrangement with a third party futures commis-sion merchant or other counterparty to off-set the Fund’sexposure under the contract and, failing that, to assign itsdelivery obligation under the contract to the counterparty.The Fund reserves the right to modify its asset segregationpolicies in the future in its discretion, consistent with theInvestment Company Act and SEC or SEC-staff guidance.By identifying assets equal to only its net obligations undercertain instruments, the Fund will have the ability to employleverage to a greater extent than if the Fund were required toidentify assets equal to the full notional amount of theinstrument.

36

App

endi

xB

Fin

anci

alH

ighl

ight

sG

loba

lTre

nds

Allo

cati

onF

und

—Se

rvic

eSh

ares

The

fina

ncia

lhig

hlig

hts

tabl

eis

inte

nded

tohe

lpyo

uun

ders

tand

the

Fun

d’s

fina

ncia

lper

form

ance

for

the

past

five

year

s(o

rle

ssif

the

Fun

dha

sbe

enin

oper

atio

nfo

rle

ssth

anfi

veye

ars)

.Cer

tain

info

rmat

ion

refl

ects

fina

ncia

lres

ults

for

asi

ngle

Fun

dsh

are.

The

tota

lret

urns

inth

eta

ble

repr

esen

tthe

rate

that

anin

vest

orw

ould

have

earn

edor

lost

onan

inve

stm

enti

nth

eF

und

(ass

umin

gre

inve

st-

men

tof

alld

ivid

ends

and

dist

ribu

tion

s).T

otal

retu

rnre

flec

tsF

und

leve

lexp

ense

sbu

tdoe

sno

tref

lect

fees

and

expe

nses

asso

ciat

edw

ith

any

vari

able

annu

ity

cont

ract

orva

riab

leli

fein

sura

nce

poli

cyth

atus

esth

eF

und

asan

inve

stm

ento

ptio

nfo

ran

yco

ntra

ctor

poli

cy.I

fto

talr

etur

nre

flec

ted

allo

fth

ose

fees

and

expe

nses

,tot

alre

turn

wou

ldbe

redu

ced.

Thi

sin

form

atio

nha

sbe

enau

dite

dby

Pri

cew

ater

hous

eCoo

pers

LL

P,w

hose

repo

rt,a

long

wit

hth

eF

und’

sfi

nanc

ials

tate

men

ts,i

sin

clud

edin

the

Fun

d’s

mos

trec

enta

nnua

lrep

ort(

avai

labl

eup

onre

ques

t).

Inco

me

(loss

)fro

min

vest

men

top

erat

ions

Dis

trib

utio

nsto

shar

ehol

ders

Net

asse

tva

lue,

begi

nnin

gof

peri

od

Net

inve

stm

ent

inco

me

(loss

)(a)

Net

real

ized

and

unre

aliz

edga

in(lo

ss)

Tota

lfro

min

vest

men

top

erat

ions

From

net

inve

stm

ent

inco

me

From ne

tre

aliz

edga

ins

Tota

ldi

stri

buti

ons

Net

asse

tva

lue,

end

ofpe

riod

Tota

lre

turn

(b)

Net

asse

ts,

end

ofpe

riod

(in00

0s)

Rati

oof

net

expe

nses

toav

erag

ene

tas

sets

Rati

oof

tota

lex

pens

esto

aver

age

net

asse

ts

Rati

oof

net

inve

stm

ent

inco

me

(loss

)to

aver

age

net

asse

ts

Port

folio

turn

over

rate

(c)

For

the

fisca

lyea

rsen

ded

Dec

embe

r31

,

2017

$11.

32$

0.03

$1.

46$

1.49

$(0.

04)

$(0.

32)

$(0.

36)

$12.

4513

.11%

$406

,867

0.93

%1.

11%

0.21

%64

%20

1610

.88

0.02

0.45

0.47

(0.0

3)—

(0.0

3)11

.32

4.33

353,

615

1.00

1.13

0.20

260

2015

11.8

2(0

.02)

(0.6

7)(0

.69)

(0.0

1)(0

.24)

(0.2

5)10

.88

(5.8

2)35

4,70

61.

001.

17(0

.16)

504

2014

11.4

7—

(d)

0.45

0.45

—(d

)(0

.10)

(0.1

0)11

.82

3.95

267,

720

1.03

1.24

0.04

304

2013

10.3

6(0

.02)

1.42

1.40

(0.0

1)(0

.28)

(0.2

9)11

.47

13.5

713

6,11

61.

041.

51(0

.21)

195

(a)

Cal

cula

ted

base

don

the

aver

age

shar

esou

tsta

ndin

gm

etho

dolo

gy.

(b)

Ass

umes

inve

stm

enta

tthe

neta

sset

valu

eat

the

begi

nnin

gof

the

year

,rei

nves

tmen

tofa

lldi

stri

buti

ons,

and

aco

mpl

ete

rede

mpt

ion

ofth

ein

vest

men

tatt

hene

tass

etva

lue

atth

een

dof

the

year

.Tot

alre

turn

sfo

rpe

riod

sle

ssth

anon

efu

llye

arar

eno

tann

uali

zed.

(c)

The

Fun

d’s

port

foli

otu

rnov

erra

teis

calc

ulat

edin

acco

rdan

cew

ith

regu

lato

ryre

quir

emen

ts,w

itho

utre

gard

totr

ansa

ctio

nsin

volv

ing

shor

tter

min

vest

men

tsan

dce

rtai

nde

riva

tive

s.If

such

tran

sact

ions

wer

ein

clud

ed,t

heF

und’

spo

rtfo

lio

turn

over

rate

may

behi

gher

.(d

)A

mou

ntis

less

than

$0.0

05pe

rsh

are.

37

Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust –Global Trends Allocation Fund Prospectus(Service Shares)

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Annual/Semi-Annual ReportAdditional information about the Fund’s investments isavailable in the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports toshareholders. In the Fund’s annual reports, you will find adiscussion of the market conditions and investment strategiesthat significantly affected the Fund’s performance during itslast fiscal year.

Your insurance company will provide you with annual andsemi-annual reports if the Fund serves as an investmentoption through your variable annuity contract or variable lifeinsurance policy.

Statement of Additional InformationAdditional information about the Fund and its policies is alsoavailable in the Fund’s SAI. The SAI is incorporated byreference into the Prospectus (i.e., is legally considered partof the Prospectus).

The Fund’s annual and semi-annual report, and the SAI areavailable free upon request by calling Goldman Sachs at1-800-621-2550. You can also access and download theannual and semi-annual reports and the SAI at the Fund’swebsite: http://www.gsamfunds.com/vitfunds.

From time to time, certain announcements and otherinformation regarding the GSAM Funds may be found athttp://www.gsamfunds.com/announcements-ind for individualinvestors or http://www.gsamfunds.com/announcements foradvisers.

To obtain other information and for shareholder inquiries:� By telephone – 1-800-621-2550� By mail – Goldman Sachs Funds

P.O. Box 06050Chicago, IL 60606-6306

� On the Internet – SEC EDGAR database – http://www.sec.gov

You may review and obtain copies of Trust documents(including the SAI) by visiting the SEC’s public referenceroom in Washington, D.C. You may also obtain copies ofTrust documents, after paying a duplicating fee, by writing tothe SEC’s Public Reference Section, Washington, D.C.20549-1520 or by electronic request to: publicinfo@sec.gov.Information on the operation of the public reference roommay be obtained by calling the SEC at (202) 551-8090.

The Trust’s investment company registration number is 811-08361.GSAM® is a registered service mark of Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

VITNAVPROS-18