NEWPORT BEACH, CA--(Marketwired - Jan 15, 2014) - On the heels of its three-year anniversary, the PL Income Fund has received its first Morningstar ratings in the Corporate Bond category. The load-waived version of the mutual fund's Class A shares was awarded four stars, while the load version was awarded three stars.

"This is particularly exciting because the PL Income Fund is already one of Pacific Life Funds' best sellers. And, with three years of performance, it can be offered by a broader range of broker/dealers -- and the four star rating validates the Fund's performance to date," says Chris van Mierlo, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of sales for Pacific Life's Retirement Solutions Division.

For investors, there have been two important reasons for the PL Income Fund's appeal. The first is the Fund's focus on corporate debt. Funds anchored in corporate debt are well-positioned to compete with those focused on government or mortgage debt. Corporate debt is less sensitive to interest rates, and many corporations continue to strengthen their balance sheets, providing them additional resources to repay obligations.

The second source of the Fund's appeal is its flexible structure. The PL Income Fund's portfolio managers at Pacific Asset Management can adapt to changing interest-rate environments by utilizing a broad range of fixed-income investments. "As income has decreased from traditional sources, we feel it's essential to seek higher yield through a broader fixed-income strategy," says van Mierlo. "All of the Fund's managers are specialists in corporate debt with experience in a wide array of fixed-income opportunities."

In fact, opening up those opportunities to investors and enabling them to diversify using corporate debt is the driving philosophy behind Pacific Life Funds' entire fixed-income fund lineup. Launched in 2010, the lineup now includes six funds, all managed by the fixed-income specialists at Pacific Asset Management. In addition to the PL Income Fund, offerings include the PL Short Duration Income Fund, PL Strategic Income Fund, PL Floating Rate Income Fund, PL Limited Duration High Income Fund, and PL High Income Fund. Each Fund is constructed using a combination of investment-grade corporate bonds, high-yield corporate bonds, floating-rate loans, and short-term debt securities. Together, they provide investors with a broad spectrum of income opportunities, enabling each client to select solutions best suited to their own needs and risk-reward preferences.

The Funds also offer management from a firm with two advantages that are rarely found in the same entity: speed and size. Because Pacific Asset Management is organized like a boutique firm, it enables portfolio managers to act quickly on investment ideas. At the same time, the firm provides managers with the support and infrastructure of a large and well-known financial services leader, Pacific Life.

Financial advisors are invited to learn more about the PL Income Fund, as well as the entire family of Pacific Life Funds, by visiting www.PLFunds.com or by calling (800) 722-2333, option 2.

About Pacific Life

Offering insurance since 1868, Pacific Life provides a wide range of life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds, and offers a variety of investment products and services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans. Pacific Life counts more than half of the 100 largest U.S. companies as its clients. For additional company information, including current financial strength ratings, visit Pacific Life online at www.PacificLife.com.

Pacific Life refers to Pacific Life Insurance Company and its affiliates, including Pacific Life & Annuity Company. Client count as of May 2013 is compiled by Pacific Life using the 2013 FORTUNE 500® list.

There is no guarantee that the Fund's investment strategies will achieve the Fund's investment goal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. For the most recent calendar quarter performance, please call (800) 722-2333 (select option 2).

Class A shares have a maximum 4.25% sales charge. The load-waived rating should only be considered by investors who are not subject to a sales load.

High-yield bonds have greater credit risk and often greater volatility than higher-quality bonds. Floating-rate loans involve greater risk of default on interest and principal payments or price changes due to changes in credit quality of the issuer. The value of floating-rate loans can be more volatile than other types of holdings due to increased sensitivity to issuer, political, regulatory, market, or economic developments. Debt securities are affected by many factors, including prevailing interest rates, market conditions, and market liquidity. An issuer or guarantor of a debt instrument might be unable or unwilling to meet its financial obligations, including payments due. Debt securities are affected by changes in interest rates, with longer durations or fixed interest rates being more sensitive to changes in interest rates, making them generally more volatile than debt securities with shorter durations or floating or adjustable interest rates.

You should carefully consider an investment's goals, risks, charges, strategies, and expenses. This and other information about Pacific Life Funds are in the prospectus available from your financial advisor or by calling (800) 722-2333, option 2. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Pacific Life Fund Advisors LLC (PLFA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Life Insurance Company, is the investment advisor to the Pacific Life Funds (PLF) and the manager of certain PLF funds. PLFA also does business under the name Pacific Asset Management and manages certain PLF funds under that name.

Mutual funds are offered by Pacific Life Funds. Pacific Life Funds are distributed by Pacific Select Distributors, Inc. (member FINRA & SIPC), a subsidiary of Pacific Life Insurance Company (Newport Beach, CA), and are available through licensed third-party broker/dealers.

Overall Morningstar Rating

Overall Morningstar Rating is for the three-year period ending 12/31/13 out of 127 Corporate Bonds funds. An investment's overall Morningstar Rating, based on its risk-adjusted return, is a weighted average of its applicable 3-, 5-, and 10-year Ratings.

Morningstar rates investments from one to five stars based on how well they've performed (after adjusting for risk and accounting for applicable sales charges) in comparison to similar investments. Within each Morningstar Category, the top 10% of investments receive five stars, the next 22.5% four stars, the middle 35% three stars, the next 22.5% two stars, and the bottom 10% receive one star. Investments are rated for up to three time periods (three, five, and 10 years), and these ratings are combined to produce the overall rating. The star ratings are recalculated monthly. Investments with less than three years of history are not rated. Ratings are objective, based entirely on a mathematical evaluation of past performance. They're a useful tool for identifying investments worthyof further research, but shouldn't be considered buy or sell recommendations.

Documents and/or Photos available for this release:

"This is particularly exciting because the PL Income Fund is already one of Pacific Life Funds' best sellers," says Chris van Mierlo, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of sales for Pacific Life's Retirement Solutions Division.

To view supporting documents and/or photos, go to www.enr-corp.com/pressroom and enter Release ID: 366396