497K 1 ess-vbnd_497k.htm SUMMARY PROSPECTUS ess-vbnd_497k.htm

 
 vident logo
Vident Core U.S. Bond Strategy ETFTM
 
Trading Symbol: VBND
Listed on NASDAQ
 
Summary Prospectus
October 15, 2014
 
http://videntfinancialsolutions.com
 
 
Before you invest, you may want to review the Vident Core U.S. Bond Strategy ETFTM (the “Fund”) statutory prospectus and statement of additional information, which contain more information about the Fund and its risks.  The current statutory prospectus and statement of additional information dated October 15, 2014, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.  You can find the Fund’s statutory prospectus, statement of additional information and other information about the Fund online at https://www.videntfinancialsolutions.com/VBND.  You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-617-0004 or by sending an e-mail request to ETF@usbank.com.
 
Investment Objective
The Vident Core U.S. Bond Strategy ETFTM (the “Fund”) seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of the Vident Core U.S. Bond Strategy IndexTM (the “Index”).
 
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net assets. This table and the Example below do not include the brokerage commissions that investors may pay on their purchases and sales of Fund shares.
 
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
None
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
 
Management Fees
0.45%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses*
0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.45 %
 
* Estimated for the current fiscal year.
 
Example
The following example is intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of the shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
 
1 Year
3 Years
$46
$144
 
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund is newly organized, portfolio turnover information is not yet available.
 
 
 

 
 
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund employs a “passive management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the performance of the Index.
 
The Vident Core U.S. Bond Strategy IndexTM (Bloomberg:VBNDX) seeks to diversify and improve interest rate and credit risks of traditional U.S. core bonds. Based on a principled reasoning investment framework, the Index diversifies interest rate risks across all core U.S. bond sectors, including U.S. Treasuries, U.S. agency securities, mortgage backed securities (“MBS”), and investment-grade corporate bonds, as well as non-core fixed income sectors such as high-yield corporate bonds (also known as “junk” bonds”) and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (“TIPS”). While diversification among sectors is an important factor that will drive the risk/return profile of the strategy, another source of risk management is derived from the rules-based process that systematically over- or under-weights each sector based on macroeconomics (e.g., fiscal policy and demographic factors) and valuation (e.g., expected tail loss). Within the investment grade and high yield corporate sectors, the strategy seeks to improve corporate bond exposures by screening for companies with relatively stronger leadership, governance, and creditworthiness factors. Within each sector, individual bonds are weighted based on a combination of yield, interest rate risk and creditworthiness rather than amount of debt/bonds outstanding, a common approach of traditional bond indices.
 
The Index limits exposure to each of the high-yield corporate bonds and TIPS sectors to 20% of the Index. The Index will generally have an effective duration of three to seven years and will generally have an average credit quality of investment grade.
 
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
 
The Fund attempts to invest all, or substantially all, of its assets in the bonds that make up the Index. The Fund expects to use a “replication” strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it may invest in all of the component securities of the Index, but may, when the sub-adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning it may invest in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other characteristics closely resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole.
 
The Fund may utilize the “To Be Announced” (“TBA”) market for MBS investments. The TBA market allows investors to gain exposure to MBS securities with certain broad characteristics (maturity, coupon, age) without taking delivery of the actual securities until the settlement day which is once every month.  In addition, the Fund may utilize the TBA roll market, in which one sells, in the TBA market, the security for current month settlement, while simultaneously committing to buy the same TBA security for next month settlement.  The Fund may utilize the TBA roll market for extended periods of time without taking delivery of the physical securities.  
 
Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s total assets (exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in the component securities of the Index and investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of such component securities (such as TBA securities). Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (“ETC” or the “Adviser”), the Fund’s investment adviser, expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund’s performance and that of the Index, before fees and expenses, will be 95% or better.
 
To the extent the Index concentrates (i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a particular industry or group of related industries, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
 
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
You can lose money on your investment in the Fund. The Fund is subject to the risks described below. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and/or ability to meet its objectives. For more information about the risks of investing in the Fund, see the section in the Fund’s Prospectus, titled “Additional Risk Information About the Fund.”
 
n
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable bond held by the Fund may “call” or repay the security before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Fund's income.
 
 
2

 
 
n
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. 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.
 
n
Credit Risk. Debt issuers and other counterparties may not honor their obligations or may have their debt downgraded by ratings agencies.
 
n
Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations will be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments.
 
n
Government Obligations Risk. No assurance can be given that the U.S. government will provide financial support to U.S. government-sponsored agencies or instrumentalities where it is not obligated to do so by law, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”). Securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have historically been supported only by the discretionary authority of the U.S. government. While the U.S. government provides financial support to various U.S. government-sponsored agencies and instrumentalities, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, no assurance can be given that it will always do so. In September 2008, at the direction of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed into conservatorship under the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”), an independent regulator, and they remain in such status as of the date of this Prospectus. The U.S. government also took steps to provide additional financial support to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
 
n
High-Yield Securities Risk.  High-yield securities (also known as “junk bonds”) carry a greater degree of risk and are considered speculative by the major credit rating agencies. High-yield securities may be issued by companies that are restructuring, are smaller and less creditworthy, or are more highly indebted than other companies. This means that they may have more difficulty making scheduled payments of principal and interest. Changes in the value of high-yield securities are influenced more by changes in the financial and business position of the issuing company than by changes in interest rates when compared to investment grade securities. High-yield securities have greater volatility because there is less certainty that principal and interest payments will be made as scheduled. The Fund's investments in high-yield securities expose it to a substantial degree of credit risk. These investments are considered speculative under traditional investment standards. Prices of high-yield securities will rise and fall primarily in response to actual or perceived changes in the issuer's financial health, although changes in market interest rates also will affect prices. High-yield securities may experience reduced liquidity and sudden and substantial decreases in price.
 
n
Interest Rate Risk. An increase in interest rates may cause the value of fixed-income securities held by the Fund to decline. The Fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates due to the current period of historically low rates and the effect of potential government fiscal policy initiatives and resulting market reaction to those initiatives.
 
n
Investment Risk. As with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to investment risk. Investors in the Fund could lose money, including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an investment, over short or long periods of time.
 
n
Investment Style 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.
 
n
Issuer-Specific Risk. Issuer-specific events, including changes in the financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value of the Fund.
 
 
3

 
 
n
Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk exists when particular investments are difficult to purchase or sell. This can reduce the Fund's returns because the Fund may be unable to transact at advantageous times or prices.
 
n
Market Risk. The trading prices of debt securities and other instruments fluctuate in response to a variety of factors. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose money over short or long periods of time.
 
n
Mortgage- and Asset-Backed Securities Risk. The Fund may invest in U.S. government agency-backed mortgage- and asset-backed securities. Mortgage- and asset-backed securities are subject to interest rate risk. Modest movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain types of these securities. When interest rates fall, mortgage- and asset-backed securities may be subject to prepayment risk. When interest rates rise, certain types of mortgage- and asset-backed securities are subject to extension risk. Mortgage- and asset-backed securities can also be subject to the risk of default on the underlying residential or commercial mortgage(s) or other assets.
 
n
Non-Correlation Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its Index may differ from each other for a variety of reasons.
 
n
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 small 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 could cause the Fund’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than if the Fund held a more diversified portfolio. This may increase the Fund’s volatility and cause the performance of a relatively smaller number of issuers to have a greater impact on the Fund’s performance.
 
n
Prepayment Risk. This is the risk that a borrower will prepay some or the entire principal owed to the Fund. If that happens, the Fund may have to replace the security by investing the proceeds in a security with a lower yield. This could reduce the share price and income distributions of the Fund.
 
n
Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange traded funds (“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the Fund will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
 
n
TBA Securities and Rolls Risk.  TBA transactions are subject to increased credit risk and increased overall investment exposure. TBA rolls involve the risk that the Fund’s counterparty will be unable to deliver the mortgage-backed securities underlying the TBA roll at the fixed time. If the buyer files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, the buyer or its representative may ask for and receive an extension of time to decide whether to enforce the Fund’s repurchase obligation.  In addition, the Fund earns interest by investing the transaction proceeds during the roll period. TBA roll transactions may have the effect of creating leverage in the Fund’s portfolio.
 
Fund Performance
The Fund is new and therefore does not have a performance history.
 
Management
Investment Adviser and Sub-Adviser
Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC serves as investment adviser to the Fund.
Mellon Capital Management Corporation (“Mellon Capital” or the “Sub-Adviser”) serves as sub-adviser to the Fund.
 
Portfolio Managers
David C. Kwan, CFA, a Managing Director, Fixed Income of Mellon Capital, has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception.
Zandra Zelaya, CFA, a Director, Fixed Income of Mellon Capital, has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception.
 
 
4

 
 
Buying and Selling Fund Shares
The Fund is an ETF. This means that shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange, such as NASDAQ, and trade at market prices. Most investors will buy and sell shares of the Fund through brokers. Because Fund shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).
 
The Fund issues and redeems shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only institutions or large investors may purchase or redeem. Currently, Creation Units generally consist of 100,000 shares, though this may change from time to time. The Fund generally issues and redeems Creation Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities closely approximating the holdings of the Fund (the “Deposit Securities”) and/or a designated amount of U.S. cash.
 
Tax Information
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains.
 

5