Gabelli Financial Services
Opportunities ETF
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS April 29, 2024
(GABF)
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), which contain more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s Prospectus and SAI and other information about the Fund online at www.gabelli.com. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800-422-3554 or by sending an email request to info@gabelli.com. The Fund’s Prospectus and SAI, both dated April 29, 2024, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks to provide capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund:
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. The investment advisory agreement between Gabelli ETFs Trust (the “Trust”) and Gabelli Funds, LLC (the “Adviser”) provides that the Adviser will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except the management fees, interest expenses, taxes, expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, distribution fees or expenses, litigation expenses, and any extraordinary expenses. You may also incur usual and customary brokerage commissions and other charges when buying and selling shares that are not reflected in the fee table and expense example below.
| Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment): |
None |
| Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment): |
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| Management Fees | 0.90 | % | ||||
| Other Expenses(1) | 0.00 | % | ||||
| Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses | 0.10 | % | ||||
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses | 1.00 | % | ||||
| Less Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement(2) | (0.90 | )% | ||||
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver | 0.10 | % |
| (1) | “Other Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year. | |
| (2) | The Adviser has contractually agreed to waive the Fund’s management fee of 0.90% on the first $25 million in net assets. The fee waiver agreement for the Financial Services Fund will continue until at least April 30, 2025. This agreement may be terminated only by, or with the consent of, the Fund’s Board of Trustees. |
Expense Example
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds.
The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods shown 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:
| 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | |||||
| $10 | $229 | $465 | $1,143 |
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 the Fund’s shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual Fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Financial Services Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 31% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of the value of its net assets, in the securities of companies principally engaged in the group of industries comprising the financial services sector. As a fundamental policy, the Fund will concentrate (invest at least 25% of the value of its net assets) in the securities of companies principally engaged in the group of industries comprising the financial services sector. The Fund may invest in the equity securities of such companies, such as common stock, or preferred stock of such companies in accordance with the foregoing 80% policy. The Fund may also invest in foreign securities by investing in American Depositary Receipts. The Fund may invest in companies without regard to market capitalization.
The Fund considers a company to be principally engaged in the group of industries comprising the financial services sector if it devotes a significant portion of its assets to, or derives a significant portion of its revenues from, providing financial services. The Fund considers a company to be principally engaged in the group of industries comprising the financial services sector if it devotes 50% of its assets to, or derives 50% of its revenues from, providing financial services. Such services include but are not limited to the following: commercial, consumer, and specialized banking and financing; asset management; publicly-traded, government sponsored financial enterprises; insurance; accountancy; mortgage REITs; brokerage; securities exchanges and electronic trading platforms; financial data, technology, and analysis; and financial transaction and other financial processing services.
The Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) restricts the Fund from acquiring the securities of any company that derives more than 15% of its gross revenues from securities related activities, such as a broker, dealer, underwriter or a federally registered investment adviser (a “Securities Related Issuer”), subject to exception. Under Rule 12d3-1 under the 1940 Act, however, the Fund may generally purchase up to 5% of any class of equity securities of a Securities Related Issuer, or up to 10% of the outstanding principal amount of debt securities of a Securities Related Issuer, so long as, in each case, no more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets are invested in the Securities Related Issuer. These limitations are measured at the time of investment. Rule 12d3-1 may operate to limit the size of the Fund’s investment position with respect to one or more Securities Related Issuers. The 1940 Act also restricts the Fund from acquiring any security issued by an insurance company if the Fund owns, or will own as a result of the acquisition, more than 10% of the total outstanding voting stock of the insurance company. The 1940 Act may operate to limit the size of the Fund’s investment position with respect to one or more insurance companies.
The Adviser’s investment philosophy with respect to buying and selling equity securities is to identify assets that are selling in the public market at a discount to their private market value (“PMV”). The Adviser defines PMV as the value informed purchasers are willing to pay to acquire assets with similar characteristics. The Adviser considers factors such as price, earnings expectations, earnings and price histories, balance sheet characteristics, and perceived management skills. The Adviser also considers changes in economic and political outlooks as well as individual corporate developments. Further, the Adviser looks for a catalyst, something indigenous to the company, its industry or geographic positioning
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that may surface additional value, including, but not limited to, industry developments, regulatory changes, changes in management, sale or spin-off of a division, or the development of a profitable new business. The Adviser expects to seek to sell any Fund investments that lose their perceived value relative to other investments, which could occur because of, among other things, a security reaching a predetermined price target, a change to a company’s fundamentals that make the risk/reward profile unattractive, or a need to improve the overall risk/reward profile of the Fund.
Principal Risks
You may want to invest in the Fund if:
| ● | you are a long term investor |
| ● | you seek capital appreciation |
| ● | you believe that the market will favor financial services companies over the long term |
The Fund’s share price will fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. Your investment in the Fund is not a deposit of the bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency; you may lose money by investing in the Fund. When you sell Fund shares, they may be worth more or less than what you paid for them.
Investing in the Fund involves the following risks:
| ● | Non-Transparent Exchange-Traded Fund (“ETF”) Structure Risk. Unlike most actively managed ETFs the Fund does not provide daily disclosure of its portfolio holding. Instead, the Fund provides a verified intraday indicative value (“VIIV”), calculated and disseminated every second throughout the trading day. The VIIV is intended to provide investors and other market participants with a highly correlated per share value of the underlying portfolio that can be compared to the current market price. There is, however, a risk that shares of the Fund may trade at a wider bid/ask spread than ETFs that publish their portfolios on a daily basis, especially during periods of market disruption or volatility, and therefore, may cost investors more to trade. Because the Fund trades on the basis of the VIIV, it may trade at a wider bid/ask spread than traditional ETFs that publish their portfolios on a daily basis. Accordingly, the Adviser or its designee will monitor on an ongoing basis how shares of the Fund trade, including the level of any market price premium or discount to net asset value (“NAV”) and the bid/ask spreads on market transactions. Should there be extended periods of unusually high bid/ask spreads, the Board will consider the continuing viability of the Fund, whether shareholders are being harmed, and what, if any, action would be appropriate to among other things, narrow the premium/discount or spread, as applicable. Potential actions may include, but are not limited to, changing lead market makers, listing the Fund on a different exchange, changing the size of Creation Units (as defined below), changing the Fund’s investment objective or strategy, and liquidating the Fund. There is also a risk that the market price may vary significantly from the NAV and, thus, the underlying value of the Fund significantly from the underlying NAV of the Fund. There is also a risk that, despite not disclosing the portfolio holdings each day, some market participants may seek to use publically available information, including the VIIV, to identify the Fund’s investment strategy and engage in certain predatory trading practices that may have the potential to harm the Fund. |
| ● | Early Close/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. In addition, due to the non-transparency of the portfolio a trading halt in a portfolio security could cause discrepancies between the VIIV and NAV of the Fund resulting in uncertainty on the part of the AP that results in wider, less liquid markets. Any security for which trading has been halted for an extended period of time will be disclosed on the Fund’s website, www.gabelli.com. |
| ● | Authorized Participant and AP Representative Concentration Risk. The creation and redemption process for the Fund occurs through a confidential brokerage account with an agent, called an “AP Representative,” on behalf of an authorized participant permitted to engage in creation or redemption transactions (each, an “Authorized Participant”). Each day, the AP Representative will be given the names and quantities of the |
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| securities to be deposited, in the case of a creation, or redeemed, in the case of a redemption, allowing the AP Representative to buy and sell positions in the portfolio securities to permit creations or redemptions on the Authorized Participant’s behalf, without disclosing the information to the Authorized Participant. The Fund may have a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants and AP Representatives, none of which are obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to process creation and/or redemption orders, Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs, generally. The fact that the Fund is offering a novel and unique structure may affect the number of entities willing to act as Authorized Participants and AP Representatives. During times of market stress, Authorized Participants may be more likely to step away from this type of ETF than a traditional ETF. |
| ● | Large Shareholder Risk. Certain shareholders, including the Adviser and its affiliates, may own a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. The disposition of shares by large shareholders, resulting in redemptions through or by Authorized Participants, could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on NYSE Arca (as defined below) and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the Fund’s shares. The form of a large shareholder’s contribution and any redemption activity in the Fund can adversely affect the tax efficiency of the Fund. |
| ● | Absence of an Active Market. Although shares of the Fund are listed for trading on one or more stock exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such shares will develop or be maintained by market makers or Authorized Participants. Authorized Participants are not obligated to execute purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. Because this is a novel and unique structure, this could influence the number of entities willing to act as Authorized Participants. In periods of market volatility, market makers and/or Authorized Participants may be less willing to transact in Fund shares. The absence of an active market for the Fund’s shares may contribute to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. If a shareholder purchases Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV or sells Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses. |
| ● | New Fund Risk. The Fund is new with a limited operating history and may have higher expenses. There can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size. The Fund could cease operations, and investors may be required to liquidate or transfer their assets at a loss. However, the fee waiver in place limits this risk for the periods that such fee waiver is effective. |
| ● | Equity Risk. Equity risk is the risk that the prices of the equity securities held by the Fund will change due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the companies issuing the securities participate, and the issuer company’s particular circumstances. Holders of equity securities only have rights to value in the company after all issuer debts have been paid, and they could lose their entire investment in a company that encounters financial difficulty. |
| ● | Growth Stock Risk. Securities of growth companies may be more volatile since such companies usually invest a high portion of earnings in their business, and they may lack the dividends of value stocks that can cushion stock prices in a falling market. |
| ● | American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) Risk. Investment in ADRs does not eliminate all the risks inherent in investing in securities of non-U.S. issuers. The market value of ADRs is dependent upon the market value of the underlying securities and fluctuations in the relative value of the currencies in which the ADRs and the underlying securities are quoted. |
| ● | Concentration Risk. The Fund concentrates its assets (i.e., invests 25% or more of its net assets) in securities of companies in the financial services sector, and, as a result, the Fund may be subject to greater volatility with respect to its portfolio securities than the Fund that is more broadly diversified. Accordingly, the Fund is subject to the risk that its performance may be hurt disproportionately by the poor performance of relatively few securities. |
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| ● | Infectious Illness Risk. A widespread outbreak of an infectious illness, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may result in travel restrictions, disruption of healthcare services, prolonged quarantines, cancellations, supply chain disruptions, business closures, lower consumer demand, layoffs, ratings downgrades, defaults and other significant economic, social and political impacts. Such events may adversely affect the Fund, its investments, and the value of your investment in the Fund. The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent variants, and the long-term impact on economies, markets, industries and individual issuers, are not known. |
| ● | Financial Services Risk. The Fund will concentrate its investments in securities issued by financial services companies. Financial services companies can be significantly affected by changing economic conditions, demand for consumer loans, refinancing activity and intense competition, including price competition. Profitability can be largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital and the rate of consumer debt defaults, and can fluctuate significantly when interest rates change; unstable and/or rising interest rates may have a disproportionate effect on companies in the financial services sector. Financial services companies are subject to extensive government regulation, which can change frequently and may adversely affect the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain, or may affect them in other ways that are unforeseeable. In the past, financial services companies in general experienced considerable financial distress, which led to the implementation of government programs designed to ease that distress. |
| ● | Issuer Risk. The value of a security may decline for a number of reasons that directly relate to an issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage, and reduced demand for the issuer’s goods or services, as well as the historical and prospective earnings of the issuer and the value of its assets or factors unrelated to the issuer’s value, such as investor perception. |
| ● | Large Capitalization Companies Risk. Companies with $10 billion or more in market capitalization are considered by the Adviser to be large capitalization companies. Large capitalization companies generally experience slower rates of growth in earnings per share than do mid and small capitalization companies. |
| ● | Inflation Risk. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be worth less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the real value of the Fund’s shares and distributions thereon can decline. Inflation risk is linked to increases in the prices of goods and services and a decrease in the purchasing power of money. Inflation often is accompanied or followed by a recession, or period of decline in economic activity, which may include job loss and other hardships and may cause the value of securities to go down generally. Inflation risk is greater for fixed-income instruments with longer maturities. In addition, this risk may be significantly elevated compared to normal conditions because of recent monetary policy measures and the current interest rate environment. Inflation has recently increased and it cannot be predicted whether and to what extent it may decline. |
| ● | Market Risk. Global economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, which increases the likelihood that events or conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries or regions. Securities in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to securities in general financial markets, a particular financial market, or other asset classes due to a number of factors, including inflation (or expectations for inflation), deflation (or expectations for deflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, market instability, debt crises and downgrades, embargoes, tariffs, sanctions and other trade barriers, regulatory events, other governmental trade or market control programs and related geopolitical events. In addition, the value of the Fund’s investments may be negatively affected by the occurrence of global events such as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters or events, country instability, and infectious disease epidemics or pandemics. |
| ● | Management Risk. If the portfolio managers are incorrect in their assessment of the growth prospects of the securities the Fund holds, then the value of the Fund’s shares may decline. |
| ● | Market Trading Risk. Individual Fund shares may be purchased and sold only on a national securities exchange or alternative trading system through a broker-dealer, and may not be directly purchased or redeemed from the Fund. There can be no guarantee that an active trading market for shares will develop or be maintained, or that their listing will continue unchanged. Buying and selling shares may require you to pay brokerage commissions and expose you to other trading costs. Due to brokerage commissions and other |
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| transaction costs that may apply, frequent trading may detract from realized investment returns. Trading prices of shares may be above, at, or below the Fund’s NAV, will fluctuate in relation to NAV based on supply and demand in the market for shares and other factors, and may vary significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility. The return on your investment will be reduced if you sell shares at a greater discount or narrower premium to NAV than when you acquired shares. |
| ● | Non-Diversification Risk. As a non-diversified Fund, more of the Fund’s assets may be focused in the common stocks of a small number of issuers, which may make the value of the Fund’s shares more sensitive to changes in the market value of a single issuer or industry than shares of a diversified Fund. |
| ● | Preferred Stock Risk. Preferred stocks are susceptible to general market fluctuations and to volatile increases and decreases in value as market confidence in and perceptions of their issuers change. The dividend on a preferred stock may be changed or omitted by the issuer, and participation in the growth of an issuer may be limited. |
| ● | Small- and Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. Investing in securities of small and mid-capitalization companies may involve greater risks than investing in larger, more established issuers. Small and mid-capitalization companies may be less well established and may have a more highly leveraged capital structure, less liquidity, a smaller investor base, limited product lines, greater dependence on a few customers, or a few key personnel and similar factors that can make their business and stock market performance susceptible to greater fluctuation and volatility. |
| ● | Trading Issues Risk. Trading in Fund shares on NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca”) may be halted in certain circumstances. There can be no assurance that the requirements of NYSE Arca necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met. |
| ● | Value Investing Risk. The Fund invests in “value” stocks. The portfolio manager may be wrong in the assessment of a company’s value and the stocks the Fund holds may not reach what the portfolio manager believes are their full values. From time to time “value” investing falls out of favor with investors. During those periods, the Fund’s relative performance may suffer. |
| ● | Geopolitical Risk. Occurrence of global events such as war, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, country instability, infectious disease epidemics, pandemics and other public health issues, market instability, debt crises and downgrades, embargoes, tariffs, sanctions and other trade barriers and other governmental trade or market control programs, the potential exit of a country from its respective union and related geopolitical events, may result in market volatility and may have long-lasting impacts on both the U.S. and global financial markets. |
Performance
The bar chart and table that follow provide an indication of the risk of investing in the Financial Services Fund by showing changes in the Financial Services Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Financial Services Fund’s average annual returns for one year, five years, and ten years, if applicable, compared with those of a broad-based securities market index. As with all mutual funds, the Financial Services Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not predict how the Financial Services Fund will perform in the future. Updated information on the Financial Services Fund’s results can be obtained by visiting www.gabelli.com.
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FINANCIAL SERVICES FUND
(Total returns for the Year Ended December 31)
During the calendar year shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a quarter was 18.38% (quarter ended December 31, 2023) and the lowest return for a quarter was 2.51% (quarter ended September 30, 2023).
| Average Annual Returns (for the period ended December 31, 2023, with the maximum sales charges, if applicable) |
Past One Year |
Since Inception (May 29, 2022) |
||||||||||
| Return Before Taxes | 38.83 | % | 22.39 | % | ||||||||
| Return After Taxes On Distributions | 36.17 | % | 20.56 | % | ||||||||
| Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | 22.99 | % | 16.50 | % | ||||||||
| S&P 500 Financials Index | 12.15 | % | 8.96 | % | ||||||||
| S&P 500 Index | 26.29 | % | 13.38 | % | ||||||||
Management
The Adviser. Gabelli Funds, LLC
The Portfolio Manager. Mr. Macrae Sykes, a portfolio manager for the Adviser, has served as portfolio manager of the Fund since inception.
Other Information
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded Fund (commonly referred to as an “ETF”). Individual shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange, and individual Fund shares may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker or dealer at market price. These transactions, which do not involve the Fund, are made at market prices that may vary throughout the day, rather than at NAV. Shares of the Fund may trade at a price greater than the Fund’s NAV (premium) or less than the Fund’s NAV (discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares (ask) when buying or selling Fund shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). The Fund will only issue or redeem shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 5,000 shares or multiples thereof (“Creation Units”) to Authorized Participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor. The Fund generally will issue or redeem Creation Units in return for a designated portfolio of securities (and an amount of cash) that the Fund specifies each day.
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Tax Information
The Fund expects that distributions will generally be taxable as ordinary income or long term capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
GABF multi 2024
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