Overview

The Fund uses a “passive management” (or indexing) approach to seek to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index is constructed using a rules-based methodology that identifies publicly listed European companies that operate across the artificial intelligence (“AI”) value chain, as classified by BITA GmbH (the “Index Provider”).

Index Overview

The Index is rules-based.

The Index is designed to track the performance of publicly listed European companies operating across the following areas of the AI value chain: AI Hardware Infrastructure, AI Software and Services, AI Applications, and AI Capital Infrastructure. For purposes of determining eligibility, the Index defines a publicly listed European company as one whose equity securities are listed on one of the exchanges listed under the prospectus section titled “Additional Information About the Funds.”

To be eligible for inclusion, a company must derive significant business exposure  from the AI value chain as discussed under the Thematic Exposure Requirement below. AI value chain areas include:

The Index provider then applies the following screens and filters:   

The Index targets a maximum of twenty constituents. Eligible companies are ranked based on their thematic exposure, defined as the percentage of total revenue derived from the AI value chain areas described above. The twenty companies with the highest thematic exposure are selected for inclusion in the Index. If two or more companies are tied, the company with the higher three-month average daily traded value is selected. If a company has more than one share class that qualifies for membership in the Index on a stand-alone basis, only the share class with the highest three-month average daily traded value is eligible for inclusion. Index constituents are equally weighted.

The Index is reconstituted and rebalanced quarterly in March, June, September, and December. Extraordinary adjustments to the Index are allowed to add recent initial public offerings (“IPOs”) with more than 50% thematic exposure to any AI value chain area discussed above that, on their first trading day, rank among the ten largest eligible companies by market capitalization.

To the extent the Index is concentrated in a particular industry, the Fund is expected to be concentrated in that industry. It is expected that the Index will be concentrated in the technology hardware industry or group of industries.  

The Fund’s Investment Strategy

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of the Fund’s net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in investments that provide exposure to the component securities of the Index. For purposes of this policy, investments providing exposure to Index component securities include: (i) the component securities themselves; (ii) depositary receipts representing such securities; and (iii) derivative instruments (e.g., options and total return swaps) that provide economic exposure to one or more Index component securities or to the Index. For purposes of the Fund’s 80% policy, derivative instruments are valued at their notional value.

The Fund seeks to track the performance of the Index by investing in, or obtaining economic exposure to, the securities included in the Index. The Fund generally uses a “replication” strategy, meaning it will invest directly or indirectly in all, or substantially all, of the component securities of the Index. The Fund may also use a “representative sampling” strategy, under which it invests in a sample of securities that collectively are expected to have investment characteristics similar to those of the Index when the Adviser believes doing so is in the best interests of the Fund.

The Fund may obtain exposure to the Index synthetically through derivatives, including total return swaps and listed options referencing the Index or one or more Index component securities. The Fund may use short-dated, in-the-money call options and other option strategies designed to provide investment exposure similar to direct ownership of underlying securities.

The Fund also may invest in securities, options contracts, swaps, American Depository Receipts (“ADRs”), or other investments not included in the Index when the Adviser believes such investments will help the Fund track the Index, enhance performance, manage risk, or otherwise benefit the Fund. These investments may include securities of companies that are economically connected to AI value chain activities, as well as investments made in connection with corporate actions, Index reconstitutions, liquidity management, or other portfolio management purposes.

The Fund may invest in equity securities and equity-related interests, whether publicly traded or privately issued, including common stocks and other equity interests. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in privately issued securities. The Fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, money market funds, and short-term instruments.

The Fund is classified as “non-diversified,” which means the Fund may invest a larger percentage of its assets in the securities of a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

Overview

The Fund uses a “passive management” (or indexing) approach to seek to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index is constructed using a rules-based methodology that identifies publicly listed Taiwanese companies that operate across the artificial intelligence (“AI”) value chain, as classified by BITA GmbH (the “Index Provider”).

Index Overview

The Index is rules-based.

The Index is designed to track the performance of publicly listed Taiwanese companies operating across the following areas of the AI value chain: AI Hardware Infrastructure, AI Software and Services, AI Applications, and AI Capital Infrastructure. For purposes of determining eligibility, the Index defines a publicly listed Taiwanese company as one whose equity securities are listed on one of the exchanges listed under the prospectus section titled “Additional Information About the Funds.”

To be eligible for inclusion, a company must derive significant business exposure from the AI value chain as discussed under the Thematic Exposure Requirement below. AI value chain areas include:

The Index provider then applies the following screens and filters:   

The Index targets a maximum of twenty constituents. Eligible companies are ranked based on their thematic exposure, defined as the percentage of total revenue derived from the AI value chain areas described above. The twenty companies with the highest thematic exposure are selected for inclusion in the Index. If two or more companies are tied, the company with the higher three-month average daily traded value is selected. If a company has more than one share class that independently qualifies for inclusion in the Index, only the share class with the highest three-month average daily traded value is eligible for inclusion. Index constituents are equally weighted.  

The Index is reconstituted and rebalanced quarterly in March, June, September, and December.   The Index may make extraordinary adjustments to include recent initial public offerings (“IPOs”) with more than 50% thematic exposure to an AI value chain area described above that, on their first day of trading, rank among the ten largest eligible companies by market capitalization.

 To the extent the Index is concentrated in a particular industry, the Fund is expected to be concentrated in that industry. It is expected that the Index will be concentrated in the technology hardware industry or group of industries.  

The Fund’s Investment Strategy

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of the Fund’s net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in investments that provide exposure to the component securities of the Index. For purposes of this policy, investments providing exposure to Index component securities include: (i) the component securities themselves; (ii) depositary receipts representing such securities; and (iii) derivative instruments (e.g., options and total return swaps) that provide economic exposure to one or more Index component securities or to the Index. For purposes of the Fund’s 80% policy, derivative instruments are valued at their notional value.

The Fund seeks to track the performance of the Index by investing in, or obtaining economic exposure to, the securities included in the Index. The Fund generally uses a “replication” strategy, meaning it will invest directly or indirectly in all, or substantially all, of the component securities of the Index. The Fund may also use a “representative sampling” strategy, under which it invests in a sample of securities that collectively are expected to have investment characteristics similar to those of the Index when the Adviser believes doing so is in the best interests of the Fund.

The Fund may obtain exposure to the Index synthetically through derivatives, including total return swaps and listed options referencing the Index or one or more Index component securities. The Fund may use short-dated, in-the-money call options and other option strategies designed to provide investment exposure similar to direct ownership of underlying securities.

The Fund also may invest in securities, options contracts, swaps, American Depository Receipts (“ADRs”), or other investments not included in the Index when the Adviser believes such investments will help the Fund track the Index, enhance performance, manage risk, or otherwise benefit the Fund. These investments may include securities of companies that are economically connected to AI value chain activities, as well as investments made in connection with corporate actions, Index reconstitutions, liquidity management, or other portfolio management purposes.

The Fund may invest in equity securities and equity-related interests, whether publicly traded or privately issued, including common stocks and other equity interests. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in privately issued securities. The Fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, money market funds, and short-term instruments.

The Fund is classified as “non-diversified,” which means the Fund may invest a larger percentage of its assets in the securities of a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

Overview

The Fund uses a “passive management” (or indexing) approach to seek to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index. The Index is constructed using a rules-based methodology that identifies publicly listed companies that operate across the most critical segments of the robotics value chain, as classified by BITA GmbH (the “Index Provider”).

Index Overview

The Index is rules-based.

The Index is designed to track the performance of global publicly listed companies operating across the most critical segments of the robotics value chain.

To be eligible for inclusion, a company must derive significant business exposure from the critical segments of the global robotics value chain as discussed under the Thematic Exposure Requirement below. Critical segments of the robotics value chain areas include:

The Index provider then applies the following screens and filters:   

The Index targets ten constituents. Eligible companies are ranked based on their thematic exposure, defined as the percentage of total revenue derived from the critical segments of the robotics value chain described above. The ten companies with the highest thematic exposure are selected for inclusion in the Index. If two or more companies are tied, the company with the higher three-month average daily traded value is selected. If a company has more than one share class that independently qualifies for inclusion in the Index, only the share class with the highest three-month average daily traded value is eligible for inclusion. Index constituents are equally weighted.

The Index is reconstituted and rebalanced quarterly in March, June, September, and December. The Index may make extraordinary adjustments to include recent initial public offerings (“IPOs”) with more than 50% thematic exposure to a critical segment of the robotics value chain described above that, on their first day of trading, rank among the ten largest eligible companies by market capitalization.

To the extent the Index is concentrated in a particular industry, the Fund is expected to be concentrated in that industry. It is expected that the Index will be concentrated in the technology hardware industry or group of industries.

The Fund’s Investment Strategy

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of the Fund’s net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in investments that provide exposure to the component securities of the Index. For purposes of this policy, investments providing exposure to Index component securities include: (i) the component securities themselves; (ii) depositary receipts representing such securities; and (iii) derivative instruments (e.g., options and total return swaps) that provide economic exposure to one or more Index component securities or to the Index. For purposes of the Fund’s 80% policy, derivative instruments are valued at their notional value.

The Fund seeks to track the performance of the Index by investing in, or obtaining economic exposure to, the securities included in the Index. The Fund generally uses a “replication” strategy, meaning it will invest directly or indirectly in all, or substantially all, of the component securities of the Index. The Fund may also use a “representative sampling” strategy, under which it invests in a sample of securities that collectively are expected to have investment characteristics similar to those of the Index when the Adviser believes doing so is in the best interests of the Fund.

The Fund may obtain exposure to the Index synthetically through derivatives, including total return swaps and listed options referencing the Index or one or more Index component securities. The Fund may use short-dated, in-the-money call options and other option strategies designed to provide investment exposure similar to direct ownership of underlying securities.

The Fund also may invest in securities, options contracts, swaps, American Depository Receipts (“ADRs”), or other investments not included in the Index when the Adviser believes such investments will help the Fund track the Index, enhance performance, manage risk, or otherwise benefit the Fund. These investments may include securities of companies that are economically connected to robotics value chain activities, as well as investments made in connection with corporate actions, Index reconstitutions, liquidity management, or other portfolio management purposes.

The Fund may invest in equity securities and equity-related interests, whether publicly traded or privately issued, including common stocks and other equity interests. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in privately issued securities. The Fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, money market funds, and short-term instruments.

The Fund is classified as “non-diversified,” which means the Fund may invest a larger percentage of its assets in the securities of a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.