adapts this forecast as a company’s fundamental characteristics evolve over time.
The Subadvisor then uses a proprietary optimization technique along with
risk management tools to analyze stock weight decisions and select the portfolio that it believes maximizes alpha for a given level of risk. This optimization tool also analyzes several risk metrics,
including, among others, tracking error relative to the Fund’s
benchmark, market risk, and concentration risk.
The Fund primarily invests its assets in issuers located in the U.S. From
time to time, the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related industries or sectors.
The Fund is classified as non-diversified, which means the Fund may invest
in the securities of a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.
There is no guarantee that the investment objective of the Fund will be achieved. Stocks fluctuate in price and the value of your investment
in the Fund may go down. This means that you could lose money on your
investment in the Fund or the Fund may not perform as well as other investment options. Principal risks impacting the Fund (in alphabetical order after the first six risks)
include:
Equity Risk: The values of equity securities may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular
company, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates or adverse investor sentiment
generally. They may also decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production
costs and competitive conditions within an industry. Equity securities generally have greater price volatility than fixed income securities.
Large Cap Risk: Large cap stocks may fall out of favor relative to small or mid cap stocks, which may cause the Fund to underperform other
equity funds that focus on small or mid cap stocks. Large cap companies may be less able than smaller cap companies to adapt to changing market conditions and may be more mature and
subject to more limited growth potential than smaller cap companies.
Large Shareholder Risk: Certain large
shareholders including authorized participants (“AP”), third-party investors, the Advisor, the Subadvisor, affiliates of the Advisor or the Subadvisor, market makers,
or other entities, including funds or accounts over which the Advisor or the Subadvisor, an affiliate of the Advisor or the Subadvisor or a third-party intermediary has investment discretion, such as
those investing through one or more model portfolios, may from time to time own or control a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. There is no requirement that these shareholders
maintain their investment in the Fund. There is a risk that such
large shareholders or that the Fund’s shareholders generally may redeem all or a substantial portion of their investments in the Fund in a
short period of time, including as a result of an asset allocation decision made by the Advisor, the Subadvisor, an affiliate of the Advisor or Subadvisor or a third-party intermediary, which could have
a significant negative impact on the Fund’s NAV, liquidity, and brokerage costs. Large redemptions could also result in tax consequences to shareholders and impact the Fund’s ability to
implement its investment strategy. In addition, transactions by
large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading
volume on the listing exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares.
Market Risk: Securities markets are volatile and can decline significantly in response to adverse market, economic, political, regulatory
or other developments, which may lower the value of securities held by the Fund, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Events such as war, military conflict, geopolitical disputes, acts of
terrorism, social or political unrest, natural disasters, recessions, inflation, rapid interest rate changes, supply chain disruptions, tariffs and other restrictions on trade, sanctions, the spread of infectious
illness or other public health threats, or the threat or potential of one or more such events and developments, could also significantly impact the Fund and its investments.
Model Risk: There are limitations inherent in every quantitative model. The value of securities
selected using quantitative analysis can react differently to issuer, political, market, and economic developments than the market as a whole or securities selected using only
fundamental analysis. The factors used in quantitative analysis and the weight placed on those factors may not be predictive of a security’s value. In addition, historical trends in data may not
be predictive going forward. The strategies and techniques employed in a quantitative model cannot fully match the complexity of the financial markets and therefore sudden unanticipated changes in
underlying market conditions can significantly impact their performance. The effectiveness of the given strategy or technique may deteriorate in an unpredictable fashion for any number of reasons
including, but not limited to, an increase in the amount of assets managed or the use of similar strategies or techniques by other market participants and/or market dynamic shifts over time. In
addition, factors that affect a security’s value can change over time, and these changes may not be reflected in the quantitative model. Any model may contain flaws the existence and effect of which may be
discovered only after the fact or not at all. There can be no assurances that the strategies pursued or the techniques implemented in the quantitative model will be profitable, and various market
conditions may be materially less favorable to certain strategies than others. Even in the absence of flaws, a model may not perform as anticipated.
Risks Associated with Exchange-Traded Funds: As an ETF, the Fund is subject to the following risks:
Authorized Participant Concentration/Trading Risk: Only authorized participants (“APs”) may engage in creation or
redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a
limited number of institutions that may act as APs and such APs
have no obligation to submit creation or redemption orders.
Consequently, there is no assurance that APs will establish or
maintain an active trading market for the shares. This risk may
be heightened to the extent that securities held by the Fund are
traded outside a collateralized settlement system. In that case,
APs may be required to post collateral on certain trades on an
agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants), which only a limited number of APs may be able to do. In addition, to the extent
that APs exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other AP is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units
(as defined below), this may result in a significantly diminished trading market for shares, and shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to the Fund’s net asset value and to face
trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be heightened during periods of volatility or market disruptions.
Cash Transactions Risk: The Fund may effect some or all of its creations and redemptions for cash rather than
in-kind. As a result, an investment in the Fund may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that effects all of its creations and redemptions