What is a "Wrap Provider?"

The link below provides a basic explanation of a wrap as applied to bonds. The "Wrap Providers" are those entities that are providing the credit enhancement to some of the bonds in the fund's portfolio.

Wrap (as explained by Wikipedia)

Here is an informative link and includes a white paper to read, SV funds are opaque and could depend on the insurance wrapper to keep shareholders whole. It's not an easy subject matter to delve into as the holdings of said funds can very hard to locate/evaluate. You are in a fiduciary capacity in the situation you are in, obtain as much info from the provider as possible. I have invested in SV funds in various plans for years for some amount of fixed income exposure and never lost a penny (other than recognizing the skim lost to the ins co's and fund) but there is always a first time.

LINK

LINK

PS - Putnam went through an extended period of time when their returns stunk, was very poorly run. They seem to have gotten back on track but questions are always better made upfront than after the fact if you know what I mean.

ETA - Don't take my comments to be negative on SV funds, they can be very useful especially in the rate environment we are in. It's just when I invest in something "safe" I don't expect negative surprises as I am taking risks in a lot of other areas.