April 1, 2024
Global X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF
NYSE Arca: MLPX
2024 Summary Prospectus
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund's prospectus and other information about the Fund (including the Fund’s statement of additional information and annual report) online at http://www.globalxetfs.com/funds/mlpx. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-888-493-8631 or by sending an e-mail request to info@globalxetfs.com. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated April 1, 2024, as amended and supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into (legally made a part of) this Summary Prospectus.
Global X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF
Ticker: MLPX Exchange: NYSE Arca
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Global X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF ("Fund") seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Solactive MLP & Energy Infrastructure Index ("Underlying Index").
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares (“Shares”) of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and examples below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):
| | | | | |
| Management Fees: | 0.45% |
| Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees: | None |
Other Expenses: | 0.00% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses: | 0.45% |
Example: The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund in the secondary market. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
| | | | | | | | | | | |
One Year | Three Years | Five Years | Ten Years |
| $46 | $144 | $252 | $567 |
Portfolio Turnover: The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund's performance. For the most recent fiscal period, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 24.32% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in the securities of the Solactive MLP & Energy Infrastructure Index ("Underlying Index"). The Fund also invests at least 80% of its total assets in securities of master limited partnerships ("MLPs") and energy infrastructure corporations. The Fund's 80% investment policies are non-fundamental and require 60 days prior written notice to shareholders before they can be changed. The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund’s total assets (including the value of the collateral received).
The Underlying Index tracks the performance of midstream energy infrastructure MLPs and corporations. Midstream energy infrastructure MLPs and corporations principally own and operate assets used in energy logistics, including, but not limited to, pipelines, storage facilities and other assets used in transporting, storing, gathering, and processing natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil or refined products. The Underlying Index limits its exposure to partnerships in order to comply with applicable tax diversification rules. Securities must be publicly traded in the United States. As of January 31, 2024, the Underlying Index was comprised of 25 securities. The Fund's investment objective and Underlying Index may be changed without shareholder approval.
The Underlying Index is sponsored by Solactive AG, the provider of the Underlying Index ("Index Provider"), which is an organization that is independent of, and unaffiliated with, the Fund and Global X Management Company LLC, the investment adviser for the Fund ("Adviser"). The Index Provider determines the relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index.
The Adviser will use a "passive" or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund's investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to outperform the Underlying Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued.
The Fund generally will use a replication strategy. A replication strategy is an indexing strategy that involves investing in the securities of the Underlying Index in approximately the same proportions as in the Underlying Index. However, the Fund may utilize a representative sampling strategy with respect to the Underlying Index when a replication strategy might be detrimental or disadvantageous to shareholders, such as when there are practical difficulties or substantial costs involved in compiling a portfolio of equity securities to replicate the Underlying Index, in instances in which a security in the Underlying Index becomes temporarily illiquid, unavailable or less liquid, or as a result of legal restrictions or limitations (such as tax diversification requirements) that apply to the Fund but not the Underlying Index.
MLPs, including midstream energy infrastructure MLPs, are publicly traded partnerships engaged in the transportation, storage, processing, refining, marketing, exploration, production, and mining of natural resources. By confining their operations to these specific activities, their interests, or units, are able to trade on public securities exchanges exactly like the shares of a corporation, without entity level taxation.
To qualify as a MLP and not to be taxed as a corporation, a partnership must receive at least 90% of its income from qualifying sources as set forth in Section 7704(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). These qualifying sources include interest, dividends, real estate rents, gain from the sale or disposition of real property, income and gain from mineral or natural resources activities, income and gain from the transportation or storage of certain fuels, gain from the sale or disposition of a capital asset held for the production of income described in the foregoing, and, in certain circumstances, income and gain from commodities or futures, forwards and options with respect to commodities.
MLPs generally have two classes of owners, the general partner and limited partners. The general partner of an MLP is typically owned by a major energy company, an investment fund, or the direct management of the MLP, or is an entity owned by one or more of such parties. The general partner may be structured as a private or publicly traded corporation or other entity. The general partner typically controls the operations and management of the MLP through an up to 2% equity interest in the MLP plus, in many cases, ownership of common units and subordinated units. Limited partners typically own the remainder of the partnership, through ownership of common units, and have a limited role in the partnership's operations and management. MLPs are typically structured such that common units and general partner interests have first priority to receive quarterly cash distributions up to an established minimum amount ("minimum quarterly distributions" or "MQD"). Common and general partner interests also accrue arrearages in distributions to the extent the MQD is not paid. Once common and general partner interests have been paid, subordinated units receive distributions of up to the MQD; however, subordinated units do not accrue arrearages. Distributable cash in excess of the MQD is paid to both common and subordinated units and is distributed to both common and subordinated units generally on a pro rata basis. The general partner is also eligible to receive incentive distributions if the general partner operates the business in a manner which results in distributions paid per common unit surpassing specified target levels. As the general partner increases cash distributions to the limited partners, the general partner receives an increasingly higher percentage of the incremental cash distributions.
The Adviser seeks a correlation over time of 95% or better between the Fund's performance, before fund fees, expenses and taxes, and the performance of the Underlying Index. A correlation percentage of 100% would indicate perfect correlation. If the Fund uses a replication strategy, it can be expected to have greater correlation to the Underlying Index than if it uses a representative sampling strategy.
The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. As of January 31, 2024, the Underlying Index was concentrated in the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry and had significant exposure to the energy sector.
SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL RISKS
As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund’s performance could trail that of other investments. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency, the Adviser or any of its affiliates. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective, as well as other risks that are described in greater detail in the Additional Information About the Funds section of this Prospectus and in the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”). The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance of any particular risk factor.
Asset Class Risk: Securities and other assets in the Underlying Index or otherwise held in the Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general securities markets, a particular securities market or other asset classes.
Equity Securities Risk: Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more volatile than other asset classes, as a result of such factors as a company’s business performance, investor perceptions, stock market trends and general economic conditions.
Master Limited Partnerships Investment Risk: Investments in securities of an MLP involve risks that differ from investments in common stock, including risks related to limited control and limited rights to vote on matters affecting the MLP, risks related to potential conflicts of interest between the MLP and the MLP’s general partner, and cash flow risks. MLP common units and other equity securities can be affected by changes in macro-economic and other factors affecting the stock market in general, including changes in growth, unemployment, and inflation rates, as well as expectations of interest rates. MLP common units and other equity securities can also be affected by investor sentiment towards MLPs or the energy sector, changes in a particular issuer’s financial condition, or unfavorable or unanticipated poor performance of a particular issuer (in the case of MLPs, generally measured in terms of distributable cash flow). Prices of common units of individual MLPs and other equity securities also can be affected by fundamentals unique to the partnership or company, including earnings power and coverage ratios.
Midstream and Downstream MLPs Investment Risk: MLPs that operate midstream and downstream assets are subject to supply and demand fluctuations in the markets they serve, which may be impacted by a wide range of factors, including fluctuating commodity prices, weather, increased conservation or use of alternative fuel sources, increased governmental or environmental regulation, depletion, rising interest rates, declines in domestic or foreign production, accidents or catastrophic events, increasing operating expenses and economic conditions, among others. Midstream MLPs may be particularly susceptible to large drops in energy prices, which have the ability to impact more drastically production in the oil and gas fields that they serve. Further, MLPs that operate gathering and processing assets are subject to natural declines in the production of the oil and gas fields they serve. In addition, some gathering and processing contracts subject the owner of such assets to direct commodity price risk. Downstream MLPs may be impacted by supply chain disruptions that limit the access to equipment or replacement parts of such equipment used in providing compression services. Contract terms for services can vary depending on the application and location of holdings, should a significant number of customers or suppliers terminate their contracts, or attempt to renegotiate their rates, it could have a material effect on operations. Downstream firms may employ the use of hedging strategies and derivatives to mitigate exposure to market risks associated with inventory acquisition and sales. Risk management policies cannot eliminate all commodity price risk or the impact of adverse market conditions, which can impact financial performance. Marine, rail, and truck transportation services may be employed, in addition to pipelines, terminals, and storage facilities, to transport or store petroleum and gas products for purchase or sale. Regulations and directives related to these services as well as a disruption in any of these transportation or storage services could adversely impact operations. Refinery activity, as well as changes in market structure or demand, could impact the sales of refined petroleum products such as gasoline, heating oil, or residual oils. Any work stoppages or labor disturbances by an organized labor force, unionized or otherwise, could have an adverse effect on operations. In addition, employees who are not currently represented by labor unions may seek representation in the future, and any renegotiation of collective bargaining agreements may result in unfavorable terms.
Associated Risks Related to Investing in Energy Infrastructure Companies: The Fund invests primarily in energy infrastructure companies. Energy infrastructure companies are subject to risks specific to the industry they serve, including, but not limited to, the following:
• reduced volumes of natural gas or other energy commodities available for transporting, processing or storing;
• new construction and acquisition risk, which can limit growth potential;
• a sustained reduced demand for crude oil, natural gas and refined petroleum products resulting from a recession or an increase in market price or higher taxes;
• changes in the regulatory environment;
• extreme weather;
• rising interest rates, which could result in a higher cost of capital and drive investors into other investment opportunities; and
• threats of attack by terrorists.
Capitalization Risk: Investing in issuers within the same market capitalization category carries the risk that the category may be out of favor due to current market conditions or investor sentiment.
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk: Mid-capitalization companies may have greater price volatility, lower trading volume and less liquidity than large-capitalization companies. In addition, mid-capitalization companies may have smaller revenues, narrower
product lines, less management depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer financial resources and less competitive strength than large-capitalization companies.
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk: Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better - or worse - than the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years.
Cash Transaction Risk: Unlike most exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"), the Fund intends to effect a significant portion of creations and redemptions for cash, rather than in-kind securities. As a result, an investment in the Fund may be less tax-efficient than an investment in a more conventional ETF. Moreover, cash transactions may have to be carried out over several days if the securities market is relatively illiquid and may involve considerable brokerage fees and taxes. These factors may result in wider spreads between the bid and the offered prices of the Fund’s Shares than for more conventional ETFs.
Commodity Exposure Risk: To the extent that its Underlying Index has exposure to securities and markets that are susceptible to fluctuations in certain commodity markets, any negative changes in commodity markets could have a great impact on the Fund. Commodity prices may be influenced or characterized by unpredictable factors, including, where applicable, high volatility, changes in supply and demand relationships, weather, agriculture, trade, military conflict, changes in interest rates and monetary and other governmental policies, action and inaction. Securities of companies held by the Fund that are dependent on a single commodity, or are concentrated on a single commodity sector, may typically exhibit even higher volatility attributable to commodity prices.
Focus Risk: To the extent that the Underlying Index focuses in investments related to a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund will also focus its investments to approximately the same extent. Similarly, if the Underlying Index has significant exposure to one or more sectors, the Fund’s investments will likely have significant exposure to such sectors. In such event, the Fund’s performance will be particularly susceptible to adverse events impacting such industry or sector, which may include, but are not limited to, the following: general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively affect supply and demand; competition for resources; adverse labor relations; political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased competition or new product introductions that may affect the profitability or viability of companies in a particular industry or sector. As a result, the value of the Fund’s investments may rise and fall more than the value of shares of a fund that invests in securities of companies in a broader range of industries or sectors.
Risks Related to Investing in the Energy Sector: The value of securities issued by companies in the energy sector may decline for many reasons, including, without limitation, changes in energy prices; international politics; energy conservation; the success of exploration projects; natural disasters or other catastrophes; changes in exchange rates, interest rates, or economic conditions; changes in demand for energy products and services; and tax and other government regulatory policies. Actions taken by central governments may dramatically impact supply and demand forces that influence energy prices, resulting in sudden decreases in value for companies in the energy sector.
Risks Related to Investing in the Oil, Gas and Consumable Fuels Industry: The oil, gas and consumable fuels industry is cyclical and highly dependent on the market price of fuel. The market value of companies in the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry are strongly affected by the levels and volatility of global commodity prices, supply and demand, capital expenditures on exploration and production, energy conservation efforts, the prices of alternative fuels, exchange rates and technological advances. Companies in this sector are subject to substantial government regulation and contractual fixed pricing, which may increase the cost of business and limit these companies’ earnings. Actions taken by central governments may dramatically impact supply and demand forces that influence the market price of fuel, resulting in sudden decreases in value for companies in the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry. A significant portion of their revenues depends on a relatively small number of customers, including governmental entities and utilities. As a result, governmental budget restraints may have a material adverse effect on the stock prices of companies in the industry.
Foreign Securities Risk: The Fund may invest, within U.S. regulations, in foreign securities. The Fund's investments in foreign securities can be riskier than U.S. securities investments. Investments in the securities of foreign issuers (including investments in American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”)) are subject to the risks associated with investing in those foreign markets, such as heightened risks of inflation or nationalization. The prices of foreign securities and the prices of U.S. securities have, at times, moved in opposite directions. In addition, securities of foreign issuers may lose value due to political, economic and geographic events affecting a foreign issuer or market. During periods of social, political or economic instability in a country or region, the value of a foreign security traded on U.S. exchanges could be affected by, among other factors, increasing price volatility, illiquidity, or the closure of the primary market on which the security (or the security underlying the ADR or GDR) is traded. The Fund may lose money due to political, economic and geographic events affecting a foreign issuer or market. Where all or a portion of the Fund's underlying securities trade in a market that is
closed when the market in which the Fund's Shares are listed and trading is open, there may be differences between the last quote from the security’s closed foreign market and the value of the security during the Fund’s domestic trading day. This, in turn, could lead to differences between the market price of the Fund’s Shares and the underlying value of those shares.
Geographic Risk: A natural, biological or other disaster could occur in a geographic region in which the Fund invests, which could affect the economy or particular business operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse impact on the Fund’s investments in the affected region or in a region economically tied to the affected region. The securities in which the Fund invests and, consequently, the Fund are also subject to specific risks as a result of their business operations, including, but not limited to:
Risk of Investing in Canada: The Canadian economy is highly dependent on the demand for and price of natural resources. As a result, the Canadian market is relatively concentrated in issuers involved in the production and distribution of natural resources and any changes in these sectors could have an adverse impact on the Canadian economy. The Canadian economy is heavily dependent on relationships with certain key trading partners, including the United States and China. Developments in the United States, including renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”) and ratification of the successor United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”), which went into effect on July 1, 2020, as well as the imposition of additional tariffs by the United States, may have implications for the trade arrangements between the United States and Canada, which could negatively affect the value of securities held by the Fund.
Risk of Investing in Developed Markets: The Fund’s investment in a developed country issuer may subject the Fund to regulatory, political, currency, security, economic and other risks associated with developed countries. Developed countries tend to represent a significant portion of the global economy and have generally experienced slower economic growth than some less developed countries. Certain developed countries have experienced security concerns, such as terrorism and strained international relations. Incidents involving a country’s or region’s security may cause uncertainty in its markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund’s investments. In addition, developed countries may be impacted by changes to the economic conditions of certain key trading partners, regulatory burdens, debt burdens and the price or availability of certain commodities.
Risk of Investing in the United States: A decrease in imports or exports, changes in trade regulations and/or an economic recession in the U.S. may have a material adverse effect on the U.S. economy.
Investable Universe of Companies Risk: The investable universe of companies in which the Fund may invest may be limited. If a company no longer meets the Index Provider’s criteria for inclusion in the Underlying Index, the Fund may need to reduce or eliminate its holdings in that company. The reduction or elimination of the Fund’s holdings in the company may have an adverse impact on the liquidity of the Fund’s overall portfolio holdings and on Fund performance.
Issuer Risk: Fund performance depends on the performance of individual companies in which the Fund invests. Changes to the financial condition of any of those companies may cause the value of such company's securities to decline.
Market Risk: Turbulence in the financial markets and reduced liquidity may negatively affect issuers, which could have an adverse effect on the Fund. If the securities held by the Fund experience poor liquidity, the Fund may be unable to transact at advantageous times or prices, which may decrease the Fund’s returns. In addition, there is a risk that policy changes by central governments and governmental agencies, including the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European Central Bank, which could include increasing interest rates, could cause increased volatility in financial markets and lead to higher levels of Fund redemptions from Authorized Participants, which could have a negative impact on the Fund. Furthermore, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, recessions, raising of interest rates, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and trading of its Shares. This increases the risk that monetary policy may provide less support should economic growth slow. Additionally, China’s shift away from a zero-COVID policy creates both opportunities and risks, causing uncertainty for global economic growth. Market risk factors may result in increased volatility and/or decreased liquidity in the securities markets. The Fund’s NAV could decline over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns.
MLP Tax Risk: Subject to the application of the partnership audit rules, MLPs that elect to be taxed as partnerships do not pay U.S. federal income tax at the partnership level. Rather, each partner is allocated a share of the partnership’s income, gains, losses, deductions and expenses. A change in current tax law, or a change in the underlying business mix of a given MLP, could result in an MLP that previously elected to be taxed as a partnership being treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which would result in such MLP being required to pay U.S. federal income tax on its taxable income. The classification of an MLP as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes would have the effect of reducing the amount of cash available for distribution by the MLP. Thus, to the extent that any of the MLPs to which the Fund has exposure are treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it could result in a reduction in the value of
the Fund’s investment and lower the Fund’s income. The Fund may also invest in MLPs that elect to be taxed as corporations, which taxes would have the effect of reducing the amount of cash available for distribution by the MLP. Additionally, as a result of the Fund's exposure to MLPs taxed as partnerships, a portion of the Fund’s distributions are expected to be treated as a return of capital for tax purposes. Return of capital distributions are not taxable income to you, but reduce your tax basis in your Fund Shares. Such a reduction in tax basis will result in larger taxable gains and/or lower tax losses on a subsequent sale of Fund Shares. Shareholders who sell their Shares for less than they bought them may still recognize a gain due to the reduction in tax basis. Shareholders who periodically receive the payment of dividends or other distributions consisting of a return of capital may be under the impression that they are receiving net profits from the Fund when, in fact, they are not. Shareholders should not assume that the source of the distributions is from the net profits of the Fund. To the extent that the distributions paid to you constitute a return of capital, the Fund's assets will decline. A decline in the Fund's assets may also result in an increase in the portion of a Fund's expense ratio that is not subject to a unitary fee or any other form of contractual cap, and over time the distributions paid in excess of net distributions received could work to erode the Fund's net asset value.
Non-Diversification Risk: The Fund is classified as a “non-diversified” investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 ("1940 Act"). As a result, the Fund is subject to the risk that it may be more volatile than a diversified fund because the Fund may invest its assets in a smaller number of issuers or may invest a larger proportion of its assets in a single issuer. As a result, the gains and losses on a single investment may have a greater impact on the Fund’s NAV and may make the Fund more volatile than more diversified funds.
Operational Risk: The Fund is exposed to operational risk arising from a number of factors, including but not limited to human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund's service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. Additionally, cyber security failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the Adviser, and the Fund's other service providers, market makers, Authorized Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the ability to cause disruptions and negatively impact the Fund's business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders. The Fund and the Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate for those risks that they are intended to address.
Passive Investment Risk: The Fund is not actively managed, and the Adviser does not attempt to take defensive positions in declining markets. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not seek to outperform its Underlying Index. Therefore, it would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the Underlying Index, even if that security generally is underperforming. Additionally, if a constituent of the Underlying Index were removed, even outside of a regular rebalance of the Underlying Index, the Adviser anticipates that the Fund would sell such security. Maintaining investments in securities regardless of market conditions or the performance of individual securities could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.
Index-Related Risk: There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the Underlying Index and therefore achieve its investment objective. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the Underlying Index. Errors in index data, index computations and/or the construction of the Underlying Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders.
Management Risk: The Fund may not fully replicate its Underlying Index and may hold securities not included in its Underlying Index. The Adviser’s investment strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may cause the Fund to underperform the market or its relevant benchmark or adversely affect the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
Tracking Error Risk: Tracking error may occur because of differences between the instruments held in the Fund's portfolio and those included in the Underlying Index, pricing differences, transaction costs incurred by the Fund, the Fund's holding of uninvested cash, size of the Fund, differences in timing of the accrual of or the valuation of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the Underlying Index or the costs to the Fund of complying with various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the Underlying Index does not.
Risks Associated with Exchange-Traded Funds: As an ETF, the Fund is subject to the following risks:
Authorized Participants Concentration Risk: The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as Authorized Participants and engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent that those Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to process creation and/or redemption orders, such as in times of market stress, Shares may be more likely to trade
at a premium or discount to NAV and/or at wider intraday bid-ask spreads, and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting from an exchange.
Large Shareholder Risk: Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. If a large shareholder were to redeem all, or a large portion, of its Shares, there is no guarantee that the Fund will be able to maintain sufficient assets to continue operations in which case the Board of Trustees may determine to liquidate the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on a national securities exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the Shares.
Listing Standards Risk: The Fund is required to comply with listing requirements adopted by the listing exchange. Non-compliance with such requirements may result in the Fund's shares being delisted by the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund could cause the Fund to incur elevated transaction costs and could result in negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Market Trading Risks and Premium/Discount Risks: Shares of the Fund are publicly traded on a national securities exchange, which may subject shareholders to numerous market trading risks. In stressed market conditions, the market for the Shares may become less liquid in response to the deteriorating liquidity of the Fund’s portfolio. This adverse effect on the liquidity of the Shares, as well as disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of extreme market volatility or potential lack of assets in the Fund or an active trading market for Shares may result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to NAV. If a shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses. The NAV of the Fund is calculated at the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of the Fund’s holdings. The trading price of the Fund’s Shares fluctuates, in some cases materially, throughout trading hours in response to changes in the Fund’s NAV.
Securities Lending Risk: Securities lending involves a risk of loss because the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. If the Fund is not able to recover the securities loaned, it may sell the collateral and purchase a replacement security in the market. Lending securities entails a risk of loss to the Fund if and to the extent that the market value of the loaned securities increases and the collateral is not increased accordingly. Additionally, the Fund will bear any loss on the investment of cash collateral it receives. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund. As securities on loan may not be voted by the Fund, there is a risk that the Fund may not be able to recall the securities in sufficient time to vote on material proxy matters.
Trading Halt Risk: An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.
Valuation Risk: The sales price the Fund could receive for a security may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security and may differ from the value used by the Underlying Index, particularly for securities that trade in low value or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology (such as during trading halts). The value of the securities in the Fund's portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Fund's Shares.
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
The bar chart and table that follow show how the Fund performed on a calendar year basis and provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year and by showing the Fund's average annual total returns for the indicated periods compared with the Fund's benchmark index and a broad measure of market performance. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.globalxetfs.com.
Annual Total Returns (Years Ended December 31)
| | | | | | | | |
| Best Quarter: | 6/30/2020 | 37.87% |
| Worst Quarter: | 3/31/2020 | -48.88% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for the Periods Ended December 31, 2023)
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | One Year Ended December 31, 2023 | Five Years Ended December 31, 2023 | Ten Years Ended December 31, 2023 |
| Global X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF: | | | |
| ·Return before taxes | 15.48% | 13.21% | 4.42% |
·Return after taxes on distributions1 | 13.65% | 11.53% | 3.09% |
·Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund Shares1 | 9.44% | 9.84% | 2.93% |
Solactive MLP & Energy Infrastructure Index (Index returns do not reflect deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) | 16.33% | 13.95% | 5.12% |
S&P 500® Index (Index returns do not reflect deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) | 26.29% | 15.69% | 12.03% |
1 After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown above. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the Fund through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (IRAs).
FUND MANAGEMENT
Investment Adviser: Global X Management Company LLC.
Portfolio Managers: The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Nam To, CFA; Wayne Xie; Vanessa Yang; and Sandy Lu, CFA (“Portfolio Managers”). Mr. To has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since March 1, 2018. Mr. Xie has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since March 1, 2019. Ms. Yang has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since December 2020. Mr. Lu has been a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since April 2022.
PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
Shares of the Fund are or will be listed and traded at market prices on a national securities exchange. Shares may only be purchased and sold on the exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). Only “Authorized Participants” (as defined in the SAI) who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor, SEI Investments Distribution Co. (“Distributor”), may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund will only issue or redeem Shares that have been aggregated into blocks called Creation Units. The Fund will issue or redeem Creation Units in return for a basket of cash and/or securities that the Fund specifies any day that the national securities exchanges are open for business (“Business Day”). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). To access information regarding the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, please go to https://www.globalxetfs.com.
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account ("IRA"), in which case distributions from such tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
The Adviser and its related companies may pay broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries (such as a bank) for the sale of Fund Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing your broker-dealer, sales persons or other intermediary or its employees or associated persons to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
