contracts to gain or reduce exposure to its
index, maintain liquidity and minimize transaction costs. In managing cash flows, the Fund buys
futures contracts to invest incoming cash in the market or sells futures contracts in response to cash outflows, thereby gaining market exposure to the index while maintaining a cash balance for
liquidity.
Investment Process: In managing the Fund, the adviser employs
a data science enabled investment approach that combines research, data insights, and risk
management. The adviser defines data science as the discipline of extracting useful insights from
collections of information, and the adviser utilizes the insights as part of its investment process. The adviser also utilizes proprietary techniques to process, analyze, and combine a wide variety of data sources, including the
adviser’s multi-decade history of proprietary fundamental research, company financial
statements, and a variety of other data sources that the adviser finds relevant to conducting fundamental analysis. The adviser combines insights derived from these sources to forecast the financial prospects of each security,
also known as fundamental analysis. Alongside its own insights, the Fund’s portfolio
management team uses the forecasts developed through data science techniques to help to identify securities with attractive valuations that are priced favorably relative to their associated levels of risk. The
Fund’s portfolio management team then constructs a portfolio that seeks to maximize
expected future financial performance while controlling for key risks to the underlying
companies’ businesses identified by the adviser’s analysis. The adviser assesses key risks by analyzing potential events or conditions that may have a negative impact on the adviser’s valuation of a
particular security. Such key risks may include, but are not limited to, sensitivity to changes in
macroeconomic conditions, competitive risks from existing companies or new entrants, and
operational risks related to the companies’ business models. The adviser regularly evaluates
the efficacy of the sources of information included within the investment process, and seeks to
identify new data sources that will be additive to the adviser’s forecasts and portfolio construction, assessing the validity of its models and assumptions as new information becomes available and market
conditions change.
As part of its investment process, the adviser seeks to assess the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors on many issuers in the universe in which the
Fund may invest. The adviser’s assessment is based on an analysis of key opportunities and
risks across industries to seek to identify financially material issues with respect to the Fund’s investments in securities and ascertain key issues that merit engagement with issuers. These assessments may not be
conclusive and securities of issuers that may be negatively impacted by such factors may be
purchased and retained by the Fund while the Fund may divest or not invest in securities of issuers that may be positively impacted by such factors.
The Fund is non-diversified and may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a particular issuer or group
of issuers than a diversified fund would.
The Fund will sell a stock if the adviser determines that the issuer no longer meets the Fund’s
investment criteria or if the adviser believes that more attractive opportunities are available.
The
Fund’s Main Investment Risks
The Fund is subject to management risk
and may not achieve its objective if the adviser’s expectations regarding particular
instruments or markets are not met.
An investment in this Fund or any other fund may not provide a complete
investment program. The suitability of an investment in the Fund should be considered based on the investment objective, strategies and risks described in this prospectus, considered in
light of all of the other investments in your portfolio, as well as your risk tolerance, financial goals and time horizons. You may want to consult with a financial advisor to
determine if this Fund is suitable for you. The Fund is subject
to the main risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), market price, performance and ability to meet its investment objective.
Equity Market Risk. The price of equity securities may rise or fall because of changes in the broad market or changes in a company’s financial condition, sometimes rapidly
or unpredictably. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies,
sectors or industries selected for the Fund’s portfolio or the securities market as a whole, such as changes in economic or political conditions. When the value of the Fund’s securities goes down, your
investment in the Fund decreases in value.
General Market Risk. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming 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, financial system instability, debt crises and downgrades, embargoes, tariffs, trade wars, retaliatory trade measures, sanctions and other trade barriers,
supply chain disruptions, 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 or the threat or
potential of one or more such factors and occurrences.
Data Science Investment Approach Risk. The Fund relies on a proprietary data science enabled selection approach that utilizes proprietary techniques to process, analyze,
and combine a wide variety of information, including the adviser’s multi-decade history of
proprietary fundamental research, company financial statements, and other relevant data sources, to
forecast the financial prospects of each security and to assess key risks. There is no guarantee
that the use of the Fund’s proprietary data science approach will result in effective investment decisions for the Fund, specifically to the extent the approach does not perform as designed or as intended,
the Fund’s strategy may not be successfully implemented and the Fund may lose
value.