EATON VANCE MUNICIPAL INCOME TRUST
Supplement to the Statement of Additional Information dated May 10, 2023
| 1. | Effective immediately, the following replaces “Credit Quality.” under “Additional Investment Information and Restrictions” under “Other Investments”: |
Credit Quality. While municipal obligations rated investment grade or below and comparable unrated municipal obligations may have some quality and protective characteristics, these characteristics can be expected to be offset or outweighed by uncertainties or major risk exposures to adverse conditions. Lower rated and comparable unrated municipal obligations are subject to the risk of an issuer’s inability to meet principal and interest payments on the obligations (credit risk) and may also be subject to greater price volatility due to such factors as interest rate sensitivity, market perception of the creditworthiness of the issuer and general market liquidity (market risk). Lower rated or unrated municipal obligations are also more likely to react to real or perceived developments affecting market and credit risk than are more highly rated obligations, which react primarily to movements in the general level of interest rates.
Municipal obligations held by the Trust which are rated below investment grade but which, subsequent to the assignment of such rating, are backed by escrow accounts containing U.S. Government obligations may be determined by the investment adviser to be of investment grade quality for purposes of the Trust’s investment policies. The Trust may retain in its portfolio an obligation whose rating drops after its acquisition, including defaulted obligations, if such retention is considered desirable by the investment adviser. In the event the rating of an obligation held by the Trust is downgraded, causing the Trust to exceed a limitation, the investment adviser will (in an orderly fashion within a reasonable period of time) dispose of such obligations as it deems necessary in order to comply with the Trust’s credit quality limitations. In the case of a defaulted obligation, the Trust may incur additional expense seeking recovery of its investment. See “Portfolio of Investments” in the “Financial Statements” incorporated by reference into this SAI with respect to any defaulted obligations held by the Trust.
When the Trust invests in lower rated or unrated municipal obligations, the achievement of the Trust’s goals is more dependent on the investment adviser’s ability than would be the case if the Trust were investing in municipal obligations in the higher rating categories. In evaluating the credit quality of a particular issue, whether rated or unrated, the investment adviser may take into consideration, among other things, the financial resources of the issuer (or, as appropriate, of the underlying source of funds for debt service), its sensitivity to economic conditions and trends, any operating history of and the community support for the facility financed by the issue, the ability of the issuer’s management and regulatory matters. The investment adviser may also purchase structured derivative products with greater or lesser credit risk than the underlying bonds. Such bonds may be rated investment grade, as well as below investment grade. For a description of municipal bond ratings, see Appendix A.
June 12, 2024