Artificial Intelligence Risk. Issuers engaged in artificial intelligence typically have high research and capital expenditures and, as a result, their profitability can vary widely, if they are profitable at all. The space in which they are engaged is highly competitive and issuers’ products and services may become obsolete very quickly. These companies are heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by loss or impairment of those rights. The issuers are also subject to legal, regulatory and political changes that may have a large impact on their profitability. A failure in an issuer’s product or even questions about the safety of the product could be devastating to the issuer, especially if it is the marquee product of the issuer. It can be difficult to accurately capture what qualifies as an artificial intelligence company.

Equity Market Risk. Common stocks, such as those held by the Fund, are generally exposed to greater risk than other types of securities, such as preferred stock and debt obligations, because common stockholders generally have inferior rights to receive payment from specific issuers. The equity securities held in the Fund’s portfolio may experience sudden, unpredictable drops in value or long periods of decline in value. This may occur because of factors that affect securities markets generally or factors affecting specific issuers, industries, or sectors in which the Fund invests.

Index Strategy Risk. The Fund’s strategy is linked to an Index maintained by the Index Provider that exercises complete control over the Index. The Index Provider may delay or add a rebalance date, which may adversely impact the performance of the Fund and its correlation to the Index. In addition, there is no guarantee that the methodology used by the Index Provider to identify constituents for the Index will achieve its intended result or positive performance. Errors in Index data, Index computations or the construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund.

Passive Investment Risk. The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, its Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform its Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general decline in the market segments relating to its Index.

Concentration Risk. The Fund’s investment exposure will be concentrated in (or substantially exposed to) the same industry or group of industries to the extent the Index is so concentrated. In such event, the value of Shares may rise and fall more than the value of shares that invest in securities of companies in a broader range of industries.

Derivatives Risk. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to, and greater than, those associated with directly investing in securities or other ordinary investments, including risk related to the market, imperfect correlation with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly investing in securities. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be an imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference asset and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.

The swap agreements in which the Fund invests are generally traded in the over-the-counter market, which generally has less transparency than exchange-traded derivative instruments. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference assets, securities, or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in the reference asset.

If the underlying security experiences a significant price movement that causes a material change in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to maintain exposure consistent with its investment objective. This may temporarily reduce the Fund’s ability to maintain its intended level of synthetic exposure until replacement transactions can be established.

Certain of the swap agreements entered into by the Fund may be unfunded total return swaps, pursuant to which the Fund does not make an initial investment of the full notional amount of the swap. As a result, the Fund is exposed to the risk that its counterparty will be unable to meet its obligations under the swap agreement, and the Fund’s exposure to a counterparty generally equals the net amount owed to the Fund based on the daily change in value of the reference asset. In the event of a counterparty default or insolvency, the Fund may incur losses in excess of the collateral, if any, posted by the counterparty, and the timing and amount of any recovery may be uncertain. In addition, the use of unfunded swap agreements may create economic leverage for the Fund, which may magnify gains and losses and increase the volatility of the Fund’s returns.

Counterparty Risk. To the extent contemplated by its investment strategy, the Fund may use derivative instruments, such as options, swaps, futures contracts and other instruments, to obtain or manage investment exposure. Derivatives may be subject to counterparty risk, meaning the risk that a counterparty, clearing member or clearing house will be unwilling or unable to perform its obligations to the Fund due to bankruptcy, insolvency, financial distress, operational failure or other default. If a counterparty or clearing member defaults, the Fund may lose the expected benefit of the transaction, experience delays or costs in recovering collateral or other amounts owed to it, or be required to enter into replacement transactions on less favorable terms, if at all. The Fund also may be unable to implement its investment strategy effectively if suitable counterparties or clearing members are unavailable.

Authorized Participants, Market Makers, and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that are authorized to purchase and redeem Shares directly from the Fund (known as “Authorized Participants” or “APs”). In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services; or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.

Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Buying or selling Shares involves certain costs, including brokerage commissions, other charges imposed by brokers, and bid-ask spreads. The bid-ask spread represents the difference between the price at which an investor is willing to buy Shares and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares. The spread varies over time based on the Shares’ trading volume and market liquidity. The spread is generally lower if Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, frequent trading of Shares may reduce investment results and an investment in Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.

Trading. Although Shares are listed on a national securities exchange, such as Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (the “Exchange”), and may be traded on U.S. exchanges other than the Exchange, there can be no assurance that Shares will trade with any volume, or at all, on any stock exchange. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Shares. This adverse effect on liquidity for the Fund’s shares may lead to wider bid-ask spreads and differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and the underlying value of the shares.

Economic and 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 the 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, 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. The imposition by the U.S. of tariffs on goods imported from foreign countries and reciprocal tariffs levied on U.S. goods by those countries also may lead to volatility and instability in domestic and foreign markets.

Market Capitalization Risk.

○          Mid-Capitalization Investing. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of large-capitalization companies. The securities of mid-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than large-capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole.

Money Market Instrument Risk. The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. Money market instruments, including money market funds, may lose money through fees or other means.  

Operational Risk. The Fund is subject to risks arising from various operational factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund relies on third-parties for a range of services, including custody. Any delay or failure relating to engaging or maintaining such service providers may affect the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. Although the Fund and Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect against such risks.

Privately Placed Securities Risk. The Fund may invest in non-exchange traded, privately placed securities, including privately placed securities issued by special purpose vehicles, which are subject to liquidity and valuation risks. These risks may make it difficult for those securities to be traded or valued, especially in the event of adverse economic and liquidity conditions or adverse changes in the issuer’s financial condition. The market for certain non-exchange traded securities may be limited to institutional investors, subjecting such investments to further liquidity risk if a market were to limit institutional trading. There may also be less information available regarding such non-exchange traded securities than for publicly traded securities, which may make it more difficult for the Adviser to fully evaluate the risks of investing in such securities and as a result place the Fund’s assets at a greater risk of loss than if the Adviser has more complete information. In addition, the issuers of non-exchange traded securities may be distressed, insolvent, or delinquent in filing information needed to be listed on an exchange. Disposing of non-exchange traded securities, including privately placed securities, may involve time-consuming negotiation and legal expenses, and selling them promptly at an acceptable price may be difficult or impossible. Securities purchased in private placements may be subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale. The Fund may have to bear the expense of registering restricted securities for resale and the risk of substantial delay in effecting registration.  

Underlying Index Risk. Neither the Fund’s investment adviser nor the Index Provider is able to guarantee the continuous availability or timeliness of the production of the Index. The calculation and dissemination of the Index values may be delayed if the information technology or other facilities of the Index Provider, calculation agent, data providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason. A significant delay may cause trading in shares of the Fund to be suspended. Errors in Index data, computation and/or the construction in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider, calculation agent or other applicable party for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders.

Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is “non-diversified,” it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund. As a result, a decline in the value of an investment in a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers could cause the Fund’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than if the Fund held a more diversified portfolio.

Equity Market Risk. Common stocks, such as those held by the Fund, are generally exposed to greater risk than other types of securities, such as preferred stock and debt obligations, because common stockholders generally have inferior rights to receive payment from specific issuers. The equity securities held in the Fund’s portfolio may experience sudden, unpredictable drops in value or long periods of decline in value. This may occur because of factors that affect securities markets generally or factors affecting specific issuers, industries, or sectors in which the Fund invests.

Index Strategy Risk. The Fund’s strategy is linked to an Index maintained by the Index Provider that exercises complete control over the Index. The Index Provider may delay or add a rebalance date, which may adversely impact the performance of the Fund and its correlation to the Index. In addition, there is no guarantee that the methodology used by the Index Provider to identify constituents for the Index will achieve its intended result or positive performance. Errors in Index data, Index computations or the construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund.

Passive Investment Risk. The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, its Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform its Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general decline in the market segments relating to its Index.

Concentration Risk. The Fund’s investment exposure will be concentrated in (or substantially exposed to) the same industry or group of industries to the extent the Index is so concentrated. In such event, the value of Shares may rise and fall more than the value of shares that invest in securities of companies in a broader range of industries.

Derivatives Risk. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to, and greater than, those associated with directly investing in securities or other ordinary investments, including risk related to the market, imperfect correlation with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly investing in securities. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be an imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference asset and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.

The swap agreements in which the Fund invests are generally traded in the over-the-counter market, which generally has less transparency than exchange-traded derivative instruments. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference assets, securities, or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in the reference asset.

If the underlying security experiences a significant price movement that causes a material change in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to maintain exposure consistent with its investment objective. This may temporarily reduce the Fund’s ability to maintain its intended level of synthetic exposure until replacement transactions can be established.

Certain of the swap agreements entered into by the Fund may be unfunded total return swaps, pursuant to which the Fund does not make an initial investment of the full notional amount of the swap. As a result, the Fund is exposed to the risk that its counterparty will be unable to meet its obligations under the swap agreement, and the Fund’s exposure to a counterparty generally equals the net amount owed to the Fund based on the daily change in value of the reference asset. In the event of a counterparty default or insolvency, the Fund may incur losses in excess of the collateral, if any, posted by the counterparty, and the timing and amount of any recovery may be uncertain. In addition, the use of unfunded swap agreements may create economic leverage for the Fund, which may magnify gains and losses and increase the volatility of the Fund’s returns.

Counterparty Risk. To the extent contemplated by its investment strategy, the Fund may use derivative instruments, such as options, swaps, futures contracts and other instruments, to obtain or manage investment exposure. Derivatives may be subject to counterparty risk, meaning the risk that a counterparty, clearing member or clearing house will be unwilling or unable to perform its obligations to the Fund due to bankruptcy, insolvency, financial distress, operational failure or other default. If a counterparty or clearing member defaults, the Fund may lose the expected benefit of the transaction, experience delays or costs in recovering collateral or other amounts owed to it, or be required to enter into replacement transactions on less favorable terms, if at all. The Fund also may be unable to implement its investment strategy effectively if suitable counterparties or clearing members are unavailable.

Authorized Participants, Market Makers, and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that are authorized to purchase and redeem Shares directly from the Fund (known as “Authorized Participants” or “APs”). In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services; or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.

Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Buying or selling Shares involves certain costs, including brokerage commissions, other charges imposed by brokers, and bid-ask spreads. The bid-ask spread represents the difference between the price at which an investor is willing to buy Shares and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares. The spread varies over time based on the Shares’ trading volume and market liquidity. The spread is generally lower if Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, frequent trading of Shares may reduce investment results and an investment in Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.

Trading. Although Shares are listed on a national securities exchange, such as Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (the “Exchange”), and may be traded on U.S. exchanges other than the Exchange, there can be no assurance that Shares will trade with any volume, or at all, on any stock exchange. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Shares. This adverse effect on liquidity for the Fund’s shares may lead to wider bid-ask spreads and differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and the underlying value of the shares.

Economic and 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 the 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, 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. The imposition by the U.S. of tariffs on goods imported from foreign countries and reciprocal tariffs levied on U.S. goods by those countries also may lead to volatility and instability in domestic and foreign markets.

Money Market Instrument Risk. The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. Money market instruments, including money market funds, may lose money through fees or other means.  

Operational Risk. The Fund is subject to risks arising from various operational factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund relies on third-parties for a range of services, including custody. Any delay or failure relating to engaging or maintaining such service providers may affect the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. Although the Fund and Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect against such risks.

Privately Placed Securities Risk. The Fund may invest in non-exchange traded, privately placed securities, including privately placed securities issued by special purpose vehicles, which are subject to liquidity and valuation risks. These risks may make it difficult for those securities to be traded or valued, especially in the event of adverse economic and liquidity conditions or adverse changes in the issuer’s financial condition. The market for certain non-exchange traded securities may be limited to institutional investors, subjecting such investments to further liquidity risk if a market were to limit institutional trading. There may also be less information available regarding such non-exchange traded securities than for publicly traded securities, which may make it more difficult for the Adviser to fully evaluate the risks of investing in such securities and as a result place the Fund’s assets at a greater risk of loss than if the Adviser has more complete information. In addition, the issuers of non-exchange traded securities may be distressed, insolvent, or delinquent in filing information needed to be listed on an exchange. Disposing of non-exchange traded securities, including privately placed securities, may involve time-consuming negotiation and legal expenses, and selling them promptly at an acceptable price may be difficult or impossible. Securities purchased in private placements may be subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale. The Fund may have to bear the expense of registering restricted securities for resale and the risk of substantial delay in effecting registration.

Underlying Index Risk. Neither the Fund’s investment adviser nor the Index Provider is able to guarantee the continuous availability or timeliness of the production of the Index. The calculation and dissemination of the Index values may be delayed if the information technology or other facilities of the Index Provider, calculation agent, data providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason. A significant delay may cause trading in shares of the Fund to be suspended. Errors in Index data, computation and/or the construction in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider, calculation agent or other applicable party for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders.

Market Capitalization Risk.

○          Mid-Capitalization Investing. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of large-capitalization companies. The securities of mid-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than large-capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole.

Artificial Intelligence Risk. Issuers engaged in artificial intelligence typically have high research and capital expenditures and, as a result, their profitability can vary widely, if they are profitable at all. The space in which they are engaged is highly competitive and issuers’ products and services may become obsolete very quickly. These companies are heavily dependent on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by loss or impairment of those rights. The issuers are also subject to legal, regulatory and political changes that may have a large impact on their profitability. A failure in an issuer’s product or even questions about the safety of the product could be devastating to the issuer, especially if it is the marquee product of the issuer. It can be difficult to accurately capture what qualifies as an artificial intelligence company.

Focused Portfolio Risk. The Fund will hold a relatively focused portfolio that may contain exposure to the securities of fewer issuers than the portfolios of other ETFs. Holding a relatively focused portfolio may increase the risk that the value of the Fund could go down because of the poor performance of one or a few investments.

Data Risk. The composition of the Index is heavily dependent on information and data supplied by third parties (“Data”). When Data proves to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon may lead to the inclusion or exclusion of securities from the Index universe that would have been excluded or included had the Data been correct and complete. If the composition of the Index reflects such errors, the Fund’s portfolio can be expected to also reflect the errors.

Tracking Error Risk. While the Fund generally seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index, the performance of the Fund and its Index may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs not incurred by the Index. In addition, the Fund may not be fully invested in the securities of the Index at all times or may hold securities not included in the Index.

Management Risk. The risk that the investment techniques and risk analyses applied by the investment adviser will not produce the desired results and that legislative, regulatory, or tax developments may affect the investment techniques available to the investment adviser and the individual portfolio manager in connection with managing the Fund. There is no guarantee that the investment objective of the Fund will be achieved.

Equity Total Return Swaps. A total return swap (also sometimes referred to as a synthetic equity swap or “contract for difference” when written with respect to an equity security or basket of equity securities) is an agreement between two parties under which the parties agree to make payments to each other so as to replicate the economic consequences that would apply had a purchase or short sale of the underlying reference instrument or index thereof taken place. For example, one party agrees to pay the other party the total return earned or realized on the notional amount of an underlying equity security and any dividends declared with respect to that equity security. In return the other party makes payments, typically at a floating rate, calculated based on the notional amount.

ETF Risks

Cash Redemption Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy may require it to redeem Shares for cash or to otherwise include cash as part of its redemption proceeds. For example, the Fund may not be able to redeem in-kind certain securities held by the Fund (e.g., derivative instruments). In such a case, the Fund may be required to sell or unwind portfolio investments to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize a capital gain that it might not have recognized if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used. By paying out higher annual capital gain distributions, investors may be subjected to increased capital gains taxes. The costs associated with cash redemptions may include brokerage costs that the Fund may not have incurred if it had made the redemptions in-kind. These costs could be imposed on the Fund, decreasing its NAV, to the extent these costs are not offset by a transaction fee payable by an authorized participant.

Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all ETFs, Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of Shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of Shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount) due to supply and demand of Shares or during periods of market volatility. This risk is heightened in times of market volatility, periods of steep market declines, and periods when there is limited trading activity for Shares in the secondary market, in which case such premiums or discounts may be significant.

Liquidity Risk. In certain circumstances, such as the disruption of the orderly markets for the financial instruments in which the Fund invests, the Fund might not be able to acquire or dispose of certain holdings quickly or at prices that represent true market value in the judgment of the Adviser. Markets for the financial instruments in which the Fund invests may be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to economic crises, health crises, natural disasters, excessive volatility, new legislation, or regulatory changes inside or outside of the U.S. These situations may have an impact on the liquidity of the Fund’s own shares.

Liquidity Risk. Some securities held by the Fund may be difficult to sell or be illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Markets for securities or financial instruments could be disrupted by a number of events, including, but not limited to, an economic crisis, natural disasters, epidemics/pandemics, new legislation or regulatory changes inside or outside the United States. Illiquid securities may be difficult to value, especially in changing or volatile markets. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or price, the Fund may be adversely impacted. There is no assurance that a security that is deemed liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid. Market illiquidity may cause losses for the Fund.

New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with no operating history. As a result, prospective investors do not have a track record or history on which to base their investment decisions.

IPO/SPAC/de-SPAC Risk. The Fund may invest in companies that have recently completed an IPO, are derived from a SPAC, or are derived from a de-SPAC business combination, including SPACs that have not yet completed a business combination (“Pre-Combination” SPACs). These companies may be unseasoned and lack a trading history, a track record of reporting to investors, and widely available research coverage. IPOs and stocks derived from SPACs or de-SPAC business combinations are thus often subject to extreme price volatility and speculative trading. These stocks may have above-average price appreciation in connection with the IPO or relevant transaction prior to the Fund’s purchase. The price of stocks selected may not continue to appreciate and the performance of these stocks may not replicate the performance exhibited in the past. In addition, IPOs and stocks derived from SPACs or de-SPAC business combinations may share similar illiquidity risks of private equity and venture capital. The ownership of many IPOs and stocks derived from SPACs or de-SPACs often includes large holdings by venture capital and private equity investors who seek to sell their shares in the public market in the months following an IPO or relevant transaction when shares restricted by lock-up are released, causing greater volatility and possible downward pressure during the time that locked-up shares are released, and SPAC investments may involve additional risks, including pricing misalignment, limited publicly available information, dependence on the sponsor’s ability to identify and consummate a business combination, potential conflicts of interest, and, in the case of Pre-Combination SPACs, the risk that a suitable business combination is not completed within a specified time period, which may result in liquidation of the SPAC.

Tax Risk. The Fund intends to elect and to qualify each year to be treated as a regulated investment company (a “RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Code”). As a RIC, the Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its net investment income and net capital gain that it distributes to shareholders, provided that it satisfies certain requirements of the Code. If the Fund does not qualify as a RIC for any taxable year and certain relief provisions are not available, the Fund’s taxable income will be subject to tax at the Fund level and to a further tax at the shareholder level when such income is distributed. To comply with the asset diversification test applicable to a RIC, the Fund will attempt to ensure that the value of swap contracts on shares of a single issuer does not exceed 25% of the Fund’s value at the close of any quarter. If the value of swap contracts on shares of a single issuer were to exceed 25% of the Fund’s total assets at the end of a tax quarter, the Fund, generally, has a grace period to cure such lack of compliance. If the Fund fails to timely cure, it may no longer be eligible to be treated as a RIC.

Market Capitalization Risk.

○          Mid-Capitalization Investing. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of large-capitalization companies. The securities of mid-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than large-capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole.

Taiwanese Investment Risk. Investments in companies that are domiciled in, listed in, or have substantial business exposure to Taiwan involve risks that are specific to Taiwan, including legal, regulatory, political and economic risks. Political and economic developments of Taiwan’s neighbors may have an adverse effect on Taiwan’s economy. Specifically, Taiwan’s geographic proximity and history of political contention with China have resulted in ongoing tensions, which may materially affect the Taiwanese economy and its securities market and may have an adverse impact on the values of companies that are domiciled in, listed in, or have substantial business exposure to Taiwan, or make such investments impracticable or impossible.

Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is “non-diversified,” it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund. As a result, a decline in the value of an investment in a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers could cause the Fund’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than if the Fund held a more diversified portfolio.

Focused Portfolio Risk. The Fund will hold a relatively focused portfolio that may contain exposure to the securities of fewer issuers than the portfolios of other ETFs. Holding a relatively focused portfolio may increase the risk that the value of the Fund could go down because of the poor performance of one or a few investments.

Data Risk. The composition of the Index is heavily dependent on information and data supplied by third parties (“Data”). When Data proves to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon may lead to the inclusion or exclusion of securities from the Index universe that would have been excluded or included had the Data been correct and complete. If the composition of the Index reflects such errors, the Fund’s portfolio can be expected to also reflect the errors.

Tracking Error Risk. While the Fund generally seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index, the performance of the Fund and its Index may differ from each other for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs not incurred by the Index. In addition, the Fund may not be fully invested in the securities of the Index at all times or may hold securities not included in the Index.

Management Risk. The risk that the investment techniques and risk analyses applied by the investment adviser will not produce the desired results and that legislative, regulatory, or tax developments may affect the investment techniques available to the investment adviser and the individual portfolio manager in connection with managing the Fund. There is no guarantee that the investment objective of the Fund will be achieved.

Equity Total Return Swaps. A total return swap (also sometimes referred to as a synthetic equity swap or “contract for difference” when written with respect to an equity security or basket of equity securities) is an agreement between two parties under which the parties agree to make payments to each other so as to replicate the economic consequences that would apply had a purchase or short sale of the underlying reference instrument or index thereof taken place. For example, one party agrees to pay the other party the total return earned or realized on the notional amount of an underlying equity security and any dividends declared with respect to that equity security. In return the other party makes payments, typically at a floating rate, calculated based on the notional amount.

ETF Risks

Cash Redemption Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy may require it to redeem Shares for cash or to otherwise include cash as part of its redemption proceeds. For example, the Fund may not be able to redeem in-kind certain securities held by the Fund (e.g., derivative instruments). In such a case, the Fund may be required to sell or unwind portfolio investments to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize a capital gain that it might not have recognized if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used. By paying out higher annual capital gain distributions, investors may be subjected to increased capital gains taxes. The costs associated with cash redemptions may include brokerage costs that the Fund may not have incurred if it had made the redemptions in-kind. These costs could be imposed on the Fund, decreasing its NAV, to the extent these costs are not offset by a transaction fee payable by an authorized participant.

Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all ETFs, Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of Shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of Shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount) due to supply and demand of Shares or during periods of market volatility. This risk is heightened in times of market volatility, periods of steep market declines, and periods when there is limited trading activity for Shares in the secondary market, in which case such premiums or discounts may be significant.

Liquidity Risk. In certain circumstances, such as the disruption of the orderly markets for the financial instruments in which the Fund invests, the Fund might not be able to acquire or dispose of certain holdings quickly or at prices that represent true market value in the judgment of the Adviser. Markets for the financial instruments in which the Fund invests may be disrupted by a number of events, including but not limited to economic crises, health crises, natural disasters, excessive volatility, new legislation, or regulatory changes inside or outside of the U.S. These situations may have an impact on the liquidity of the Fund’s own shares.

Liquidity Risk. Some securities held by the Fund may be difficult to sell or be illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil. Markets for securities or financial instruments could be disrupted by a number of events, including, but not limited to, an economic crisis, natural disasters, epidemics/pandemics, new legislation or regulatory changes inside or outside the United States. Illiquid securities may be difficult to value, especially in changing or volatile markets. If the Fund is forced to sell an illiquid security at an unfavorable time or price, the Fund may be adversely impacted. There is no assurance that a security that is deemed liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid. Market illiquidity may cause losses for the Fund.

New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with no operating history. As a result, prospective investors do not have a track record or history on which to base their investment decisions.

IPO/SPAC/de-SPAC Risk. The Fund may invest in companies that have recently completed an IPO, are derived from a SPAC, or are derived from a de-SPAC business combination, including SPACs that have not yet completed a business combination (“Pre-Combination” SPACs). These companies may be unseasoned and lack a trading history, a track record of reporting to investors, and widely available research coverage. IPOs and stocks derived from SPACs or de-SPAC business combinations are thus often subject to extreme price volatility and speculative trading. These stocks may have above-average price appreciation in connection with the IPO or relevant transaction prior to the Fund’s purchase. The price of stocks selected may not continue to appreciate and the performance of these stocks may not replicate the performance exhibited in the past. In addition, IPOs and stocks derived from SPACs or de-SPAC business combinations may share similar illiquidity risks of private equity and venture capital. The ownership of many IPOs and stocks derived from SPACs or de-SPACs often includes large holdings by venture capital and private equity investors who seek to sell their shares in the public market in the months following an IPO or relevant transaction when shares restricted by lock-up are released, causing greater volatility and possible downward pressure during the time that locked-up shares are released, and SPAC investments may involve additional risks, including pricing misalignment, limited publicly available information, dependence on the sponsor’s ability to identify and consummate a business combination, potential conflicts of interest, and, in the case of Pre-Combination SPACs, the risk that a suitable business combination is not completed within a specified time period, which may result in liquidation of the SPAC.

Tax Risk. The Fund intends to elect and to qualify each year to be treated as a regulated investment company (a “RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Code”). As a RIC, the Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its net investment income and net capital gain that it distributes to shareholders, provided that it satisfies certain requirements of the Code. If the Fund does not qualify as a RIC for any taxable year and certain relief provisions are not available, the Fund’s taxable income will be subject to tax at the Fund level and to a further tax at the shareholder level when such income is distributed. To comply with the asset diversification test applicable to a RIC, the Fund will attempt to ensure that the value of swap contracts on shares of a single issuer does not exceed 25% of the Fund’s value at the close of any quarter. If the value of swap contracts on shares of a single issuer were to exceed 25% of the Fund’s total assets at the end of a tax quarter, the Fund, generally, has a grace period to cure such lack of compliance. If the Fund fails to timely cure, it may no longer be eligible to be treated as a RIC.

Market Capitalization Risk.

○          Mid-Capitalization Investing. The securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of large-capitalization companies. The securities of mid-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than large-capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole.

Robotics & Automation Investing Risks. Companies engaged in the design, manufacture, integration, or deployment of robotics and automation systems may be affected by rapid technological evolution, high research and development costs, and competitive pressures from global industrial, semiconductor, and software providers. The robotics and automation industry is sensitive to trends in industrial production, capital-expenditure cycles, supply-chain conditions, and adoption rates of automation technologies across manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and commercial sectors. Hardware and component manufacturers may face risks associated with semiconductor availability, sensor and actuator supply constraints, manufacturing delays, and reliance on specialized materials or precision engineering capabilities. Systems integrators and industrial automation firms may be adversely affected by fluctuations in factory activity, labor market dynamics, and the financial health of industrial end-users. Software and control-system developers may encounter data-security vulnerabilities, interoperability challenges, intellectual-property risks, and rapid shifts in AI, computer-vision, and automation software architecture. Companies deploying autonomous mobility systems or warehouse/logistics automation may be subject to regulatory constraints, safety and liability considerations, and varying regional standards governing autonomous technologies. These combined factors may cause companies in the robotics and automation industry to experience periods of significant volatility and performance that differs materially from the broader equity market.

Equity Market Risk. Common stocks, such as those held by the Fund, are generally exposed to greater risk than other types of securities, such as preferred stock and debt obligations, because common stockholders generally have inferior rights to receive payment from specific issuers. The equity securities held in the Fund’s portfolio may experience sudden, unpredictable drops in value or long periods of decline in value. This may occur because of factors that affect securities markets generally or factors affecting specific issuers, industries, or sectors in which the Fund invests.

Index Strategy Risk. The Fund’s strategy is linked to an Index maintained by the Index Provider that exercises complete control over the Index. The Index Provider may delay or add a rebalance date, which may adversely impact the performance of the Fund and its correlation to the Index. In addition, there is no guarantee that the methodology used by the Index Provider to identify constituents for the Index will achieve its intended result or positive performance. Errors in Index data, Index computations or the construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund.

Passive Investment Risk. The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, its Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform its Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general decline in the market segments relating to its Index.

Concentration Risk. The Fund’s investment exposure will be concentrated in (or substantially exposed to) the same industry or group of industries to the extent the Index is so concentrated. In such event, the value of Shares may rise and fall more than the value of shares that invest in securities of companies in a broader range of industries.

Derivatives Risk. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to, and greater than, those associated with directly investing in securities or other ordinary investments, including risk related to the market, imperfect correlation with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly investing in securities. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be an imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference asset and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.

The swap agreements in which the Fund invests are generally traded in the over-the-counter market, which generally has less transparency than exchange-traded derivative instruments. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference assets, securities, or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in the reference asset.

If the underlying security experiences a significant price movement that causes a material change in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to maintain exposure consistent with its investment objective. This may temporarily reduce the Fund’s ability to maintain its intended level of synthetic exposure until replacement transactions can be established.

Certain of the swap agreements entered into by the Fund may be unfunded total return swaps, pursuant to which the Fund does not make an initial investment of the full notional amount of the swap. As a result, the Fund is exposed to the risk that its counterparty will be unable to meet its obligations under the swap agreement, and the Fund’s exposure to a counterparty generally equals the net amount owed to the Fund based on the daily change in value of the reference asset. In the event of a counterparty default or insolvency, the Fund may incur losses in excess of the collateral, if any, posted by the counterparty, and the timing and amount of any recovery may be uncertain. In addition, the use of unfunded swap agreements may create economic leverage for the Fund, which may magnify gains and losses and increase the volatility of the Fund’s returns.

Counterparty Risk. To the extent contemplated by its investment strategy, the Fund may use derivative instruments, such as options, swaps, futures contracts and other instruments, to obtain or manage investment exposure. Derivatives may be subject to counterparty risk, meaning the risk that a counterparty, clearing member or clearing house will be unwilling or unable to perform its obligations to the Fund due to bankruptcy, insolvency, financial distress, operational failure or other default. If a counterparty or clearing member defaults, the Fund may lose the expected benefit of the transaction, experience delays or costs in recovering collateral or other amounts owed to it, or be required to enter into replacement transactions on less favorable terms, if at all. The Fund also may be unable to implement its investment strategy effectively if suitable counterparties or clearing members are unavailable.

Authorized Participants, Market Makers, and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that are authorized to purchase and redeem Shares directly from the Fund (known as “Authorized Participants” or “APs”). In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services; or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.

Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Buying or selling Shares involves certain costs, including brokerage commissions, other charges imposed by brokers, and bid-ask spreads. The bid-ask spread represents the difference between the price at which an investor is willing to buy Shares and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares. The spread varies over time based on the Shares’ trading volume and market liquidity. The spread is generally lower if Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, frequent trading of Shares may reduce investment results and an investment in Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.

Trading. Although Shares are listed on a national securities exchange, such as Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the “Exchange”), and may be traded on U.S. exchanges other than the Exchange, there can be no assurance that Shares will trade with any volume, or at all, on any stock exchange. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Shares. This adverse effect on liquidity for the Fund’s shares may lead to wider bid-ask spreads and differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and the underlying value of the shares.

Economic and 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 the 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, 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. The imposition by the U.S. of tariffs on goods imported from foreign countries and reciprocal tariffs levied on U.S. goods by those countries also may lead to volatility and instability in domestic and foreign markets.

Money Market Instrument Risk. The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. Money market instruments, including money market funds, may lose money through fees or other means.  

Operational Risk. The Fund is subject to risks arising from various operational factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund relies on third-parties for a range of services, including custody. Any delay or failure relating to engaging or maintaining such service providers may affect the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. Although the Fund and Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect against such risks.

Privately Placed Securities Risk. The Fund may invest in non-exchange traded, privately placed securities, including privately placed securities issued by special purpose vehicles, which are subject to liquidity and valuation risks. These risks may make it difficult for those securities to be traded or valued, especially in the event of adverse economic and liquidity conditions or adverse changes in the issuer’s financial condition. The market for certain non-exchange traded securities may be limited to institutional investors, subjecting such investments to further liquidity risk if a market were to limit institutional trading. There may also be less information available regarding such non-exchange traded securities than for publicly traded securities, which may make it more difficult for the Adviser to fully evaluate the risks of investing in such securities and as a result place the Fund’s assets at a greater risk of loss than if the Adviser has more complete information. In addition, the issuers of non-exchange traded securities may be distressed, insolvent, or delinquent in filing information needed to be listed on an exchange. Disposing of non-exchange traded securities, including privately placed securities, may involve time-consuming negotiation and legal expenses, and selling them promptly at an acceptable price may be difficult or impossible. Securities purchased in private placements may be subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale. The Fund may have to bear the expense of registering restricted securities for resale and the risk of substantial delay in effecting registration.

Underlying Index Risk. Neither the Fund’s investment adviser nor the Index Provider is able to guarantee the continuous availability or timeliness of the production of the Index. The calculation and dissemination of the Index values may be delayed if the information technology or other facilities of the Index Provider, calculation agent, data providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason. A significant delay may cause trading in shares of the Fund to be suspended. Errors in Index data, computation and/or the construction in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider, calculation agent or other applicable party for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders.

○          Large-Capitalization Investing. The securities of large-capitalization companies may be relatively mature compared to smaller companies and therefore subject to slower growth during times of economic expansion. Large-capitalization companies may also be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology and consumer tastes.

○          Small-Capitalization Investing. The securities of small-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of large- or mid-capitalization companies. The securities of small-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than large- or mid-capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole. There is typically less publicly available information concerning smaller-capitalization companies than for larger, more established companies.

Foreign Securities Risk. Investments in securities or other instruments of non-U.S. issuers involve certain risks not involved in domestic investments and may experience more rapid and extreme changes in value than investments in securities of U.S. companies. Financial markets in foreign countries often are not as developed, efficient, or liquid as financial markets in the United States, and therefore, the prices of non-U.S. securities and instruments can be more volatile. In addition, the Fund will be subject to risks associated with adverse political and economic developments in foreign countries, which may include the imposition of economic sanctions. Generally, there is less readily available and reliable information about non-U.S. issuers due to less rigorous disclosure or accounting standards and regulatory practices. Investments in foreign companies’ securities, including investments via depositary receipts, are subject to special risks, including the following:

Equity Market Risk. Common stocks, such as those held by the Fund, are generally exposed to greater risk than other types of securities, such as preferred stock and debt obligations, because common stockholders generally have inferior rights to receive payment from specific issuers. The equity securities held in the Fund’s portfolio may experience sudden, unpredictable drops in value or long periods of decline in value. This may occur because of factors that affect securities markets generally or factors affecting specific issuers, industries, or sectors in which the Fund invests.

Index Strategy Risk. The Fund’s strategy is linked to an Index maintained by the Index Provider that exercises complete control over the Index. The Index Provider may delay or add a rebalance date, which may adversely impact the performance of the Fund and its correlation to the Index. In addition, there is no guarantee that the methodology used by the Index Provider to identify constituents for the Index will achieve its intended result or positive performance. Errors in Index data, Index computations or the construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund.

Passive Investment Risk. The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, its Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform its Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general decline in the market segments relating to its Index.

Concentration Risk. The Fund’s investment exposure will be concentrated in (or substantially exposed to) the same industry or group of industries to the extent the Index is so concentrated. In such event, the value of Shares may rise and fall more than the value of shares that invest in securities of companies in a broader range of industries.

Derivatives Risk. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to, and greater than, those associated with directly investing in securities or other ordinary investments, including risk related to the market, imperfect correlation with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. The use of derivatives is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The use of derivatives may result in larger losses or smaller gains than directly investing in securities. When the Fund uses derivatives, there may be an imperfect correlation between the value of the underlying reference asset and the derivative, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective. Because derivatives often require only a limited initial investment, the use of derivatives may expose the Fund to losses in excess of those amounts initially invested.

The swap agreements in which the Fund invests are generally traded in the over-the-counter market, which generally has less transparency than exchange-traded derivative instruments. In a standard swap transaction, two parties agree to exchange the return (or differentials in rates of return) earned or realized on particular predetermined reference assets, securities, or instruments. The gross return to be exchanged or “swapped” between the parties is calculated based on a notional amount or the return on or change in value of a particular dollar amount invested in the reference asset.

If the underlying security experiences a significant price movement that causes a material change in the Fund’s net assets, the terms of a swap agreement between the Fund and its counterparty may permit the counterparty to close out the swap transaction with the Fund. In that event, the Fund may be unable to enter into another swap agreement or invest in other derivatives to maintain exposure consistent with its investment objective. This may temporarily reduce the Fund’s ability to maintain its intended level of synthetic exposure until replacement transactions can be established.

Certain of the swap agreements entered into by the Fund may be unfunded total return swaps, pursuant to which the Fund does not make an initial investment of the full notional amount of the swap. As a result, the Fund is exposed to the risk that its counterparty will be unable to meet its obligations under the swap agreement, and the Fund’s exposure to a counterparty generally equals the net amount owed to the Fund based on the daily change in value of the reference asset. In the event of a counterparty default or insolvency, the Fund may incur losses in excess of the collateral, if any, posted by the counterparty, and the timing and amount of any recovery may be uncertain. In addition, the use of unfunded swap agreements may create economic leverage for the Fund, which may magnify gains and losses and increase the volatility of the Fund’s returns.

Counterparty Risk. To the extent contemplated by its investment strategy, the Fund may use derivative instruments, such as options, swaps, futures contracts and other instruments, to obtain or manage investment exposure. Derivatives may be subject to counterparty risk, meaning the risk that a counterparty, clearing member or clearing house will be unwilling or unable to perform its obligations to the Fund due to bankruptcy, insolvency, financial distress, operational failure or other default. If a counterparty or clearing member defaults, the Fund may lose the expected benefit of the transaction, experience delays or costs in recovering collateral or other amounts owed to it, or be required to enter into replacement transactions on less favorable terms, if at all. The Fund also may be unable to implement its investment strategy effectively if suitable counterparties or clearing members are unavailable.

Authorized Participants, Market Makers, and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that are authorized to purchase and redeem Shares directly from the Fund (known as “Authorized Participants” or “APs”). In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services; or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.

Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Buying or selling Shares involves certain costs, including brokerage commissions, other charges imposed by brokers, and bid-ask spreads. The bid-ask spread represents the difference between the price at which an investor is willing to buy Shares and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares. The spread varies over time based on the Shares’ trading volume and market liquidity. The spread is generally lower if Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, frequent trading of Shares may reduce investment results and an investment in Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.

Trading. Although Shares are listed on a national securities exchange, such as Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the “Exchange”), and may be traded on U.S. exchanges other than the Exchange, there can be no assurance that Shares will trade with any volume, or at all, on any stock exchange. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Shares. This adverse effect on liquidity for the Fund’s shares may lead to wider bid-ask spreads and differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and the underlying value of the shares.

Economic and 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 the 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, 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. The imposition by the U.S. of tariffs on goods imported from foreign countries and reciprocal tariffs levied on U.S. goods by those countries also may lead to volatility and instability in domestic and foreign markets.

Money Market Instrument Risk. The Fund may use a variety of money market instruments for cash management purposes, including money market funds, depositary accounts and repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements are contracts in which a seller of securities agrees to buy the securities back at a specified time and price. Repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk related to the collateral securing the repurchase agreement. Money market instruments, including money market funds, may lose money through fees or other means.

Operational Risk. The Fund is subject to risks arising from various operational factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund relies on third-parties for a range of services, including custody. Any delay or failure relating to engaging or maintaining such service providers may affect the Fund’s ability to meet its investment objective. Although the Fund and Adviser seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect against such risks.

Privately Placed Securities Risk. The Fund may invest in non-exchange traded, privately placed securities, including privately placed securities issued by special purpose vehicles, which are subject to liquidity and valuation risks. These risks may make it difficult for those securities to be traded or valued, especially in the event of adverse economic and liquidity conditions or adverse changes in the issuer’s financial condition. The market for certain non-exchange traded securities may be limited to institutional investors, subjecting such investments to further liquidity risk if a market were to limit institutional trading. There may also be less information available regarding such non-exchange traded securities than for publicly traded securities, which may make it more difficult for the Adviser to fully evaluate the risks of investing in such securities and as a result place the Fund’s assets at a greater risk of loss than if the Adviser has more complete information. In addition, the issuers of non-exchange traded securities may be distressed, insolvent, or delinquent in filing information needed to be listed on an exchange. Disposing of non-exchange traded securities, including privately placed securities, may involve time-consuming negotiation and legal expenses, and selling them promptly at an acceptable price may be difficult or impossible. Securities purchased in private placements may be subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale. The Fund may have to bear the expense of registering restricted securities for resale and the risk of substantial delay in effecting registration.

Underlying Index Risk. Neither the Fund’s investment adviser nor the Index Provider is able to guarantee the continuous availability or timeliness of the production of the Index. The calculation and dissemination of the Index values may be delayed if the information technology or other facilities of the Index Provider, calculation agent, data providers and/or relevant stock exchange malfunction for any reason. A significant delay may cause trading in shares of the Fund to be suspended. Errors in Index data, computation and/or the construction in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider, calculation agent or other applicable party for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders.

○          Large-Capitalization Investing. The securities of large-capitalization companies may be relatively mature compared to smaller companies and therefore subject to slower growth during times of economic expansion. Large-capitalization companies may also be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges, such as changes in technology and consumer tastes.

○          Small-Capitalization Investing. The securities of small-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse issuer, market, political, or economic developments than securities of large- or mid-capitalization companies. The securities of small-capitalization companies generally trade in lower volumes and are subject to greater and more unpredictable price changes than large- or mid-capitalization stocks or the stock market as a whole. There is typically less publicly available information concerning smaller-capitalization companies than for larger, more established companies.