An initial public offering (“IPO”) may be added to the Index outside of the semiannual Reconstitution and Rebalancing Schedule. To be considered, an IPO must meet the Security Eligibility Criteria as of the last trading day of February or August, as applicable, subject to the following modifications:
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for the Security Universe criterion, the IPO must be included in the Nasdaq Global Disruptive Technology Benchmark2TM Index effective at market open on the first trading day following the third Friday of April or October, as applicable; and
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for the Market Capitalization criterion, the IPO must have a float-adjusted company market capitalization of at least $25 billion (USD)
If selected, the IPO is added to the Index effective at market open on the first trading day following the third Friday of April or October, as applicable. Upon addition, the IPO's weight is determined based on its float-adjusted company market capitalization as of the last trading day of March or September, as applicable, subject to a maximum weight of 4.5%. Existing constituent weights are adjusted pro-rata to accommodate the newly added security.
From time to time, and depending on factors such as the market demand for technologies related to a particular sub-theme and corresponding changes in the number of patents relating to that sub-theme, the representation of the respective sub-themes in the Underlying Index will vary, and there is no assurance that all listed sub-themes will be represented at any given time. In addition, because inclusion in the Underlying Index is dependent primarily on a company’s Intensity Score (i.e., a measure of how many sub-themes a company has qualified for), it is possible that companies with larger market capitalizations (and therefore more capital to invest in research and development, including patent filings, across a broader product line) may be over-represented in the Underlying Index relative to those companies with smaller market capitalizations (and less capital to invest in research and development, and narrower product lines).
The Underlying Index is a modified float-adjusted company market capitalization-weighted index. This means that an index security’s weight is determined first by dividing its float-adjusted market capitalization (i.e., the security’s share price multiplied by the number of shares available for trading by the general public) by the total float-adjusted market capitalization of all index securities to arrive at an initial weight. Initial weights are then adjusted (modified), as necessary, so that no index security weight exceeds 4.5% at each semi-annual rebalancing.
The “Additional Underlying Index Information” sub-section in the “PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES” section of the “FUND DETAILS” section of the fund’s prospectus is replaced in its entirety with the following:
As described above, the Underlying Index is a modified float-adjusted company market capitalization-weighted index designed to track the performance of a selection of companies engaged in the themes of artificial intelligence and data computing and processing, and the sub-themes of deep learning, image recognition, natural language processing, speech recognition and chatbots, big data, cloud computing, quantum computing and cybersecurity. These sets of themes and sub-themes are part of a broader set of themes and sub-themes that make up the Nasdaq Global Disruptive Technology Benchmark2TM Index (“Parent Index”). The Parent Index is designed to track the performance of a selection of companies engaged in so-called “disruptive technologies,” those being artificial intelligence, robotics, automotive innovation, healthcare innovation, new energy and environment, internet of things and data computing and processing. Nasdaq identifies a proprietary theme and sub-theme classification used for determining exposure to innovative technologies by analyzing millions of approved patents filed across global patent offices on a rolling 2-year basis. This patent data is used to determine the extent to which a company has intellectual property and invests in research and development in each of the themes and related sub-themes.
To be included in the Parent Index, a security’s issuer (i) must be identified by Nasdaq as involved in at least one of the sub-themes covered by the index; and (ii) either must be included in the Nasdaq Global Index or must be listed on an exchange operated under Nasdaq – All Markets, New York Stock Exchange, Inc. or Cboe Global Markets Inc. or listed on the Texas Stock Exchange or be a China A-share tradable through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect or Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect programs, as of each index reconstitution reference date. One security per issuer is permitted. If an issuer has multiple otherwise-eligible securities, the security with the highest three-month average daily traded value generally is considered for possible inclusion in the Index. If an issuer has multiple otherwise-eligible securities, one of which is an existing index security, the existing index security generally is considered for inclusion even if it does not have the highest three-month average daily traded value.