497 1 apex_497.htm 497

APEX HealthCare ETF

 

APXH

 

a series of Two Roads Shared Trust

 

 

 

 

 

PROSPECTUS

August 17, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advised by:
Regents Park Funds, LLC
4041 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 155
Newport Beach, CA 92660

 

 

RegentsParkFunds.com 1-866-866-4848

 

This Prospectus provides important information about the Fund that you should know before investing. Please read it carefully and keep it for future reference.

 

These securities have not been approved or disapproved by the Securities and Exchange Commission nor has the Securities and Exchange Commission passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

Shares of the Fund are listed and traded on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the “Exchange”).

 
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

 

FUND SUMMARY 1
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND RELATED RISKS 7
Investment Objective 7
Principal Investment Strategies 8
Principal And Other Investment Risks 9
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure 17
Cybersecurity 17
MANAGEMENT 18
Investment Adviser 18
Investment Sub-Adviser 18
Portfolio Managers 18
DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE 19
FREQUENT PURCHASES AND REDEMPTIONS OF FUND SHARES 21
DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICE PLAN 21
DIVIDENDS, OTHER DISTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES 21
FUND SERVICE PROVIDERS 23
OTHER INFORMATION 23
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS 25
Privacy Notice 26

 

 

 
 

FUND SUMMARY – APEX HealthCare ETF

 

Investment Objective: The APEX HealthCare ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the MarketGrader Global Health Care Leaders Index.

 

Fees and Expenses of the Fund: This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
 
Management Fees 0.75%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees 0.00%
Other Expenses(1) 0.38%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 1.13%
Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement (0.23)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement(2) 0.90%
(1)Estimated for the current fiscal year.
(2)The Fund’s Adviser has contractually agreed to reduce the Fund’s fees and/or absorb expenses of the Fund through at least November 30, 2022 to ensure that total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and reimbursement (exclusive of any taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization, indirect expenses, expenses of other investment companies in which the Fund may invest, or extraordinary expenses such as litigation) will not exceed 0.90% of average daily net assets. This agreement may be terminated by the Fund’s Board of Trustees on 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser. These fee waivers and expense reimbursements are subject to possible recoupment from the Fund in future years on a rolling three-year basis (within the three years after the fees have been waived or reimbursed) if such recoupment can be achieved without exceeding the foregoing expense limits as well as any expense limitation in effect at the time the reimbursement is made.

 

Example: This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds.

 

The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that the Example incorporates any applicable fee waiver and/or expense limitation arrangements for only the first year). Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based upon these assumptions your costs would be:

 

1Year 3 Years
$92 $336

 

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.

 

Principal Investment Strategies: The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of total assets in securities of the MarketGrader Global Health Care Leaders Index (the “MarketGrader Index” or the “Index”) or in depositary receipts representing securities of the Index. The Index, which was developed and is provided by MarketGrader.com Corp. (“MarketGrader” or the “Index Provider”), consists of 100 fundamentally sound companies in the healthcare sector that are domiciled in any Developed Market or Emerging Market (each as defined by the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Database) and are in the MarketGrader research universe. The Index constituents are selected on the basis of the strength of their fundamentals as measured by the MarketGrader Score (zero to 100). To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must have a minimum market capitalization of $500 million at the time of inclusion and a minimum three-month average daily trading volume of $2 million. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities of healthcare companies. This investment policy may be changed without shareholder approval, upon 60 days’ notice to shareholders.

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Companies eligible for inclusion in the MarketGrader Index are publicly-traded global companies in the healthcare sector. The Index Provider reviews the financial statements of such companies to identify those companies for which it deems reporting to be reliable and consistent and filters out those companies it deems unreliable due to anomalies and inconsistencies. Once all companies are filtered, the data in their financial statements, along with historic stock prices, form the foundation of the Index Provider’s analysis and ratings. The Index Provider applies a series of metrics in order to identify those companies that are proven compounders of value and that have sustainable growth at a reasonable valuation allowing for long term capital appreciation. These metrics seek to find companies with characteristics that include consistent bottom to top line growth with sustainable margins and high cash flow generation; and a sound capital structure that doesn’t impair operating growth, combined with high returns on invested capital and low capital intensity. The metrics are aggregated into 24 individually graded indicators which are classified into four categories of analysis: growth, value, profitability and cash flow. All 24 indicators are then aggregated into a final MarketGrader Score for each company, which the Index Provider uses to select the constituents of the Index. Once selected, Index constituents are weighted according to their free-float market capitalization, with a maximum Index weight per constituent of 5% and a minimum Index weight per constituent of 0.25%.

 

The Index consists of securities of both U.S. and foreign issuers, including securities of issuers located in emerging markets countries. The Index may consist of up to 20 issuers located in emerging markets countries, with a maximum of 10 issuers located in a single emerging markets country. Under normal circumstances, the Index is rebalanced and reconstituted on a semi-annual basis. The aggregate amount and weight of U.S. and foreign issuers included in the Index at the beginning of each rebalancing period will be impacted by factors such as the MarketGrader Scores and free-float market capitalizations of the eligible issuers. In addition, in between semi-annual rebalancings, market conditions could cause the weight of U.S. and foreign issuers in the Index to fluctuate. For example, during periods in which U.S. securities outperform other markets, the weight of foreign issuers in the Index will decrease. Under normal circumstances, the Fund expects that the weight of foreign issuers in the Index at the beginning of a rebalancing period will range from 25% to 45%, however this could change due to market conditions. Deletions from the Index may be made at any time due to changes in business, mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, suspensions, de-listings and spin-offs, or for other reasons as determined at the sole discretion of the Index Provider. The Index is unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.

 

The Fund uses a “passive” investment strategy in seeking to achieve its investment objective. The Fund generally will use a replication methodology, meaning it will invest in all of the securities comprising the Index in proportion to the weightings in the Index. However, the Fund may utilize a sampling methodology under various circumstances, including when it may not be possible or practicable to purchase all of the securities in the Index.

 

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., invest more than 25% of its total assets) in the healthcare industry sector. In addition, the Fund may concentrate its investments in a particular country or region to the extent that the MarketGrader Index concentrates in a country or region. The Fund could invest over 80% of its total assets in the securities of U.S. issuers at any time depending upon the composition of the Index and market conditions. The Fund may invest up to 40% of its total assets in the securities of foreign issuers, although the amount of securities of foreign issuers will vary depending upon the composition of the Index and market conditions.

 

The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in investments that are not included in the Index, but which Adviser believes will help the Fund track the Index.

 

The Index Provider is not affiliated with the Fund, the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser. The Index Provider developed the methodology for determining the securities to be included in the Index and for the ongoing maintenance of the Index. The Index is calculated by Refinitiv Indices, which is not affiliated with the Fund, the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser.

 

For the purpose of achieving income, the Fund may engage in securities lending.

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Principal Investment Risks: As with all funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. The Fund is not intended to be a complete investment program but rather one component of a diversified investment portfolio. An investment in the Fund is not guaranteed to achieve its investment objective; is not a deposit with a bank; is not insured, endorsed or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency; and is subject to investment risks. The value of your investment in the Fund, as well as the amount of return you receive on your investment, may fluctuate significantly. You may lose part or all of your investment in the Fund or your investment may not perform as well as other similar investments. Many factors affect the Fund’s net asset value and performance. Each risk summarized below is a principal risk of investing in the Fund and different risks may be more significant at different times depending upon market conditions or other factors.

 

As with any fund, there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its goal.

 

Healthcare Sector Risk: The Fund’s investments will be concentrated in the healthcare sector, and will therefore be susceptible to an increased risk of loss resulting from adverse events that affect the healthcare sector more than the market as a whole. The profitability of companies in the healthcare sector may be affected by government regulations and government healthcare programs, increases or decreases in the cost of medical products and services, an increased emphasis on outpatient services, demand for medical products and services and product liability claims, among other factors. Many healthcare companies are heavily dependent on patent protection, and the expiration of a company’s patent may adversely affect that company’s profitability. Healthcare companies are subject to competitive forces that may result in price discounting, and may be thinly capitalized and susceptible to product obsolescence. The Fund may be, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in securities of a particular industry, group of industries or sector.

 

Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investment Risk: Foreign (non-U.S.) securities present greater investment risks than investing in the securities of U.S. issuers and may experience more rapid and extreme changes in value than the securities of U.S. companies due to less information about foreign (non-U.S.) companies in the form of reports and ratings than about U.S. issuers; different accounting, auditing and financial reporting requirements; smaller markets; nationalization; expropriation or confiscatory taxation; currency blockage; or political changes or diplomatic developments. Foreign (non-U.S.) securities may also be less liquid and more difficult to value than securities of U.S. issuers.

 

Market Risk: Overall market risk may affect the value of individual instruments in which the Fund invests. The Fund is subject to the risk that the securities markets will move down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, based on overall economic conditions and other factors, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Factors such as domestic and foreign (non-U.S.) economic growth and market conditions, real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions, inflation, changes in interest rate levels, lack of liquidity in the bond or other markets, volatility in the equities or other securities markets or adverse investor sentiment affect the securities markets and political events affect the securities markets. Securities markets also may experience long periods of decline in value. When the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, your investment in the Fund decreases in value and you could lose money.

 

Local, state, regional, national or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in decreases to the Fund’s net asset value. Political, geopolitical, natural and other events, including war, terrorism, trade disputes, government shutdowns, market closures, natural and environmental disasters, epidemics, pandemics and other public health crises and related events and governments’ reactions to such events have led, and in the future may lead, to economic uncertainty, decreased economic activity, increased market volatility and other disruptive effects on U.S. and global economies and markets. Such events may have significant adverse direct or indirect effects on the Fund and its investments. For example, a widespread health crisis such as a global pandemic could cause substantial market volatility, exchange trading suspensions and closures, impact the ability to complete redemptions, and affect Fund performance. A health crisis may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks. In addition, the increasing interconnectedness of markets around the world may result in many markets being affected by events or conditions in a single country or region or events affecting a single or small number of issuers.

 

Market Events Risk: There has been increased volatility, depressed valuations, decreased liquidity and heightened uncertainty in the financial markets during the past several years, including what was experienced in 2020. These conditions may continue, recur, worsen or spread. The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve, as well as certain foreign governments and central banks, have taken steps to support financial markets, including by keeping interest rates at historically low levels. This and other government intervention may not work as intended, particularly if the efforts are perceived by investors as being unlikely to achieve the desired results. The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve may reduce market support activities. Such reduction, including interest rate increases, could negatively affect financial markets generally, increase market volatility and reduce the value and liquidity of securities in which the Fund invests. Policy and legislative changes in the United States and in other countries may also continue to contribute to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the financial markets. The impact of these changes on the markets, and the practical implications for market participants, may not be fully known for some time.

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Index Risk: Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not utilize an investing strategy that seeks returns in excess of the MarketGrader Index. Therefore, the Sub-Adviser would not necessarily sell a security unless that security is removed from the MarketGrader Index, even if that security generally is underperforming or the security’s issuer was in financial trouble, and the Fund will be negatively affected by general declines in the securities and asset classes represented in the MarketGrader Index. The Fund does not take defensive positions in declining markets. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the MarketGrader Index. The Index Provider relies on third party data it believes to be reliable in constructing the MarketGrader Index, but it does not guarantee the accuracy or availability of any such third party data, and there is also no guarantee with respect to the accuracy, availability or timeliness of the production of the MarketGrader Index.

 

Authorized Participant Concentration Risk: To the extent that authorized participants are unable or otherwise unavailable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders and no other authorized participant is able to create or redeem in their place, shares may trade at a discount to NAV and may face delisting.

 

Calculation Methodology Risk: The MarketGrader Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor MarketGrader can offer assurances that the MarketGrader Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the MarketGrader Index.

 

Concentration Risk: Because the Fund invests a significant portion of its total assets in certain issuers within the same economic sector, an adverse economic, business or political development affecting that sector may affect the value of the Fund’s investments more than if the Fund’s investments were not so concentrated.

 

Currency Risk: The risk that foreign (non-U.S.) currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investments in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities that trade in, and receive revenues in, or in derivatives that provide exposure to, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies.

 

Cybersecurity Risk: There is risk to the Fund of an unauthorized breach and access to fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or the risk of an incident occurring that causes the Fund, the investment adviser, custodian, transfer agent, distributor and other service providers and financial intermediaries to suffer data breaches, data corruption or lose operational functionality. Successful cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures or events affecting the Fund or its service providers may adversely impact the Fund or its shareholders.

 

Early Close/Trading Halt Risk: An exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities, or the ability to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may result in the Fund being unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments. In such circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.

 

Emerging Markets Risk: Investing in emerging markets involves not only the risks described below with respect to investing in foreign securities, but also other risks, including exposure to economic structures that are generally less diverse and mature, and to political systems that can be expected to have less stability, than those of developed countries. The typically small size of the markets may also result in a lack of liquidity and in price volatility of these securities. Emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative and share the risks of foreign developed markets but to a greater extent. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging financial markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets, which may result in increased price volatility of emerging market investments. The legal remedies for investors in emerging markets may be more limited than the remedies available in the U.S., and the ability of U.S. authorities (e.g., SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice) to bring actions against bad actors may be limited.

 

Equity Risk: Equity securities are susceptible to general market fluctuations and volatile increases and decreases in value as market confidence in and perceptions of their issuers change. Factors that may influence the price of equity securities include developments affecting a specific company or industry, or changing economic, political or market conditions.

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ETF Structure Risks: The Fund is structured as an ETF and as a result is subject to the special risks, including:

o    Not Individually Redeemable: Shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at net asset value (“NAV”) only in large blocks known as “Creation Units.” You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough shares to constitute a Creation Unit.

o    Trading Issues: Trading in shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility. There can be no assurance that shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the Exchange. An active trading market for the Fund’s shares may not be developed or maintained. If the Fund’s shares are traded outside a collateralized settlement system, the number of financial institutions that can act as authorized participants that can post collateral on an agency basis is limited, which may limit the market for the Fund’s shares.

o    Market Price Variance Risk: The market prices of shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for shares and will include a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. There may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. This means that shares may trade at a discount or premium to NAV. If a shareholder purchases shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV or sells shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses if the shares are sold at a price that is less than the price paid by the shareholder for the shares.

§In times of market stress, such as what was experienced in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic, market makers may step away from their role market making in shares of ETFs and in executing trades, which can lead to differences between the market value of Fund shares and the Fund’s net asset value.
§The market price for the Fund’s shares may deviate from the Fund’s net asset value, particularly during times of market stress, with the result that investors may pay significantly more or significantly less for Fund shares than the Fund’s net asset value, which is reflected in the bid and ask price for Fund shares or in the closing price.
§When all or a portion of an ETFs underlying securities trade in a market that is closed when the market for the Fund’s shares is open, there may be changes from the last quote of the closed market and the quote from the Fund’s domestic trading day, which could lead to differences between the market value of the Fund’s shares and the Fund’s net asset value.
§In stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s shares may become less liquid in response to the deteriorating liquidity of the Fund’s portfolio. This adverse effect on the liquidity of the Fund’s shares may, in turn, lead to differences between the market value of the Fund’s shares and the Fund’s net asset value.

 

Fluctuation of Net Asset Value Risk: The NAV of the Fund’s shares will generally fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund’s holdings. The market prices of the shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of and demand for the shares on the Exchange. The Adviser cannot predict whether the shares will trade below, at or above their NAV. Price differences may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for the shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the Fund’s holdings trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time.

 

Gap Risk: The Fund is subject to the risk that a stock price or derivative value will change dramatically from one level to another with no trading in between and/or before the Fund can exit from the investment. Usually such movements occur when there are adverse news announcements, which can cause a stock price or derivative value to drop substantially from the previous day’s closing price. Trading halts may lead to gap risk.

 

Geographic and Sector Risk: The risk that if the Fund invests a significant portion of its total assets in certain issuers within the same geographic region or economic sector, an adverse economic, business or political development, natural or other event, including war, terrorism, natural and environmental disasters, epidemics, pandemics and other public health crisis, affecting that region or sector may affect the value of the Fund’s investments more than if the Fund’s investments were not so focused.

 

Index Tracking Error Risk: As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and the MarketGrader 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 MarketGrader Index. In addition, the Fund may not be fully invested in the securities of the MarketGrader Index at all times, may deviate from the relative weightings of the MarketGrader Index or may hold securities not included in the MarketGrader Index. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of market volatility or other unusual market conditions.

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Investment Style Risk: There is a chance that returns from the types of stocks in which the Fund invests will trail returns from the overall stock market. Small-, mid-, and large-cap stocks each tend to go through cycles of doing better, or worse, than other segments of the stock market or the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. Historically, small- and mid-cap stocks have been more volatile in price than large-cap stocks. The stock prices of small and mid-size companies tend to experience greater volatility because, among other things, these companies tend to be more sensitive to changing economic conditions.

 

Issuer-Specific Risk: The value of a specific security can be more volatile than the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market as a whole.

 

Management Risk: The Fund’s investment strategies may not result in an increase in the value of your investment or in overall performance equal to other similar investment vehicles having similar investment strategies to those of the Fund. Management risk includes the risk that the quantitative model used by the Fund’s investment sub-adviser may not perform as expected, particularly in volatile markets.

 

Market Capitalization Risk: Investing in larger-sized companies subjects the Fund to the risk that larger companies may not be able to attain the high growth rates of successful smaller companies, especially during strong economic periods, and that they may be less capable of responding quickly to competitive challenges and industry changes. Because the Fund may invest in medium-sized companies, its share price could be more volatile than the Fund that invests only in large companies. Small and medium–sized companies typically have less experienced management, narrower product lines, more limited financial resources, and less publicly available information than larger companies. The earnings and prospects of small and medium sized companies are more volatile than larger companies and may experience higher failure rates than larger companies. Medium sized companies normally have a lower trading volume than larger companies, which may tend to make their market price fall more disproportionately than larger companies in response to selling pressures.

 

New Fund Risk: The Fund is recently formed. Investors bear the risk that the Fund may not grow to or maintain economically viable size, not be successful in implementing its investment strategy, and may not employ a successful investment strategy, any of which could result in the Fund being liquidated at any time without shareholder approval and/or at a time that may not be favorable for certain shareholders. Such a liquidation could have negative tax consequences for shareholders.

 

Passive Investment Risk: The Fund is not actively managed and its Adviser would not sell shares of an equity security due to current or projected underperformance of a security, industry, or sector, unless that security is removed from the Index or the selling of shares of that security is otherwise required upon a reconstitution of the Index as addressed in the Index methodology. The Fund invests in securities included in, or representative of securities included in, the Index, regardless of their investment merits. The Fund does not take defensive positions under any market conditions, including conditions that are adverse to the performance of the Fund.

 

Portfolio Turnover Risk: The Fund may experience high portfolio turnover, including investments made on a shorter-term basis, which may lead to increased Fund expenses that may result in lower investment returns. A higher portfolio turnover may result in higher transactional and brokerage costs. High portfolio turnover may also result in higher short-term capital gains taxable to shareholders.

 

Value Investing Risk: Value investing attempts to identify securities selling at a discount in comparison to the Sub-Adviser’s assessments of their intrinsic value. Such securities may not increase in price as anticipated by the Sub-Adviser, and may even decline further in value if other investors fail to recognize the issuer’s value or if the events or factors that the Sub-Adviser believes will increase a security’s market value do not occur.

 

Growth Investing Risk: The Fund is subject to the risk that the Sub-Adviser’s bias towards a growth-oriented style of investing may underperform other investment styles or the equity markets as a whole. A principal risk of growth investing is that prices of growth stocks may be more sensitive to changes in current or expected earnings than the prices of other stocks.

 

Volatility Risk: The Fund’s investments may appreciate or decrease significantly in value over short periods of time. The value of an investment in the Fund’s portfolio may fluctuate due to factors that affect markets generally or that affect a particular industry or sector. The value of an investment in the Fund’s portfolio may also be more volatile than the market as a whole. This volatility may affect the Fund’s net asset value per share, including by causing it to experience significant increases or declines in value over short periods of time. Events or financial circumstances affecting individual investments, industries or sectors may increase the volatility of the Fund.

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Performance: Because the Fund has only recently commenced investment operations, no performance information is presented for the Fund at this time. In the future, performance information will be presented in this section of this Prospectus. In addition, shareholder reports containing financial and performance information will be available to shareholders semi-annually. Updated performance information is available at no cost by visiting RegentsParkFunds.com or by calling 1-866-866-4848.

 

Investment Adviser: Regents Park Funds, LLC (the “Adviser”)

 

Investment Sub-Adviser: Anfield Capital Management, LLC

 

Portfolio Managers: The Fund is jointly managed by Peter van de Zilver, Head of Portfolio Manager Analytics and Risk Management, and David Young, Chief Executive Officer. Messrs. van de Zilver and Young have managed the Fund since it commenced operations in 2021.

 

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares: The Fund will issue and redeem shares at NAV only in large blocks of 25,000 shares (each block of shares is called a “Creation Unit”). Creation Units are issued and redeemed for cash and/or in-kind for securities. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund.

 

Shares of the Fund are listed for trading on the Exchange and trade at market prices rather than NAV. Individual shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through a broker or dealer at market price. Because shares trade at market prices, rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (i.e., a premium) or less than NAV (i.e., a discount).

 

An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”).

 

Recent information, including information about the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is included on the Fund’s website at RegentsParkFunds.com.

 

Tax Information: The Fund’s distributions generally will be taxable as ordinary income, long-term capital gains or qualified dividend income, or a combination of the three. A sale of shares may result in capital gain or loss.

 

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries: If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND RELATED RISKS 

 

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE:

 

The APEX HealthCare ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the MarketGrader Global Health Care Leaders Index.

 

The Fund’s investment objective or underlying index may be changed by the Board of Trustees upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders. If the Index Provider no longer calculates the underlying index of the Fund, if the underlying index is terminated for any reason, if the identity or the character of the underlying index is materially changed, or for any other reason determined by the Board of Trustees in good faith, the Board of Trustees determines that it is impracticable to substitute a replacement index, it will take whatever action is deemed to be in the best interests of the Fund’s shareholders.

 

The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in securities of healthcare companies included in the Index. The Sub-Adviser anticipates that, generally, the Fund will hold all of the securities that compose the Index in proportion to their weightings in the Index. However, under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to purchase all of those securities in those weightings. In these circumstances, the Fund may purchase a sample of securities in the Index. There also may be instances in which the Sub-Adviser may choose to underweight or overweight a security in the Index, purchase securities not in the Index that the Sub-Adviser believes are appropriate to substitute for certain securities in the Index, or utilize various combinations of other available investment techniques. The Fund may sell securities that are represented in the Index in anticipation of their removal

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from the Index or purchase securities not represented in the Index in anticipation of their addition to the Index. The Fund may also, in order to comply with the tax diversification requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, temporarily invest in securities not included in the Index that are expected to be correlated with the securities included in the Index. Given the Fund’s investment objective of attempting to track the Index, the Fund does not follow traditional methods of active investment management, which may involve buying and selling securities based upon analysis of economic and market factors. Also, unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not attempt to outperform the Index that it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued. The Fund may concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to the extent that the Index concentrates in an industry or group of industries.

 

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES:

 

The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of total assets in securities of the MarketGrader Global Health Care Leaders Index (the “MarketGrader Index” or the “Index”) or in depositary receipts representing securities of the Index. The Index, which was developed and is provided by MarketGrader.com Corp. (“MarketGrader” or the “Index Provider”), consists of 100 fundamentally sound companies in the healthcare sector that are domiciled in any Developed Market or Emerging Market (each as defined by the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Database) and are in the MarketGrader research universe. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Development Market countries are: Austria, Hong Kong SAR, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland, New Zealand, Taiwan, Canada, Israel, Norway, United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, United States, Finland, Japan, Singapore, France, Korea, Spain, Germany, Luxembourg, and Sweden; and the Emerging Market countries are: Argentina, Egypt, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Hungary, Pakistan, South Africa, Chile, Indonesia, Peru, Thailand, China, India, Poland, Turkey, Colombia, Mexico, Qatar, and Vietnam. The Index constituents are selected on the basis of the strength of their fundamentals as measured by the MarketGrader Score (zero to 100). To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must have a minimum market capitalization of $500 million at the time of inclusion and a minimum three-month average daily trading volume of $2 million. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities of healthcare companies. This investment policy may be changed without shareholder approval, upon 60 days’ notice to shareholders.

 

Companies eligible for inclusion in the MarketGrader Index are publicly-traded global companies in the healthcare sector. The Index Provider reviews the financial statements of such companies to identify those companies for which it deems reporting to be reliable and consistent and filters out those companies it deems unreliable due to anomalies and inconsistencies. Once all companies are filtered, the data in their financial statements, along with historic stock prices, form the foundation of the Index Provider’s analysis and ratings. The Index Provider applies a series of metrics in order to identify those companies that are proven compounders of value and that have sustainable growth at a reasonable valuation allowing for long term capital appreciation. These metrics seek to find companies with characteristics that include consistent bottom to top line growth with sustainable margins and high cash flow generation; and a sound capital structure that doesn’t impair operating growth, combined with high returns on invested capital and low capital intensity. The metrics are aggregated into 24 individually graded indicators which are classified into four categories of analysis: growth, value, profitability and cash flow. All 24 indicators are then aggregated into a final MarketGrader Score for each company, which the Index Provider uses to select the constituents of the Index. Once selected, Index constituents are weighted according to their free-float market capitalization, with a maximum Index weight per constituent of 5% and a minimum Index weight per constituent of 0.25%.

 

The Index consists of securities of both U.S. and foreign issuers, including securities of issuers located in emerging markets countries. The Index may consist of up to 20 issuers located in emerging markets countries, with a maximum of 10 issuers located in a single emerging markets country. Under normal circumstances, the Index is rebalanced and reconstituted on a semi-annual basis. The aggregate amount and weight of U.S. and foreign issuers included in the Index at the beginning of each rebalancing period will be impacted by factors such as the MarketGrader Scores and free-float market capitalizations of the eligible issuers. In addition, in between semi-annual rebalancings, market conditions could cause the weight of U.S. and foreign issuers in the Index to fluctuate. For example, during periods in which U.S. securities outperform other markets, the weight of foreign issuers in the Index will decrease. Under normal circumstances, the Fund expects that the weight of foreign issuers in the Index at the beginning of a rebalancing period will range from 25% to 45%, however this could change due to market conditions. Deletions from the Index may be made at any time due to changes in business, mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, suspensions, de-listings and spin-offs, or for other reasons as determined at the sole discretion of the Index Provider. The Index is unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.

 

The Fund uses a “passive” investment strategy in seeking to achieve its investment objective. The Fund generally will use a replication methodology, meaning it will invest in all of the securities comprising the Index in proportion to the weightings in the Index. However, the Fund may utilize a sampling methodology under various circumstances, including when it may not be possible or practicable to purchase all of the securities in the Index.

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The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., invest more than 25% of its total assets) in the healthcare industry sector. In addition, the Fund may concentrate its investments in a particular country or region to the extent that the MarketGrader Index concentrates in a country or region. The Fund could invest over 80% of its total assets in the securities of U.S. issuers at any time depending upon the composition of the Index and market conditions. The Fund may invest up to 40% of its total assets in the securities of foreign issuers, although the amount of securities of foreign issuers will vary depending upon the composition of the Index and market conditions.

 

The Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in investments that are not included in the Index, but which Adviser believes will help the Fund track the Index.

 

The Index Provider is not affiliated with the Fund, the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser. The Index Provider developed the methodology for determining the securities to be included in the Index and for the ongoing maintenance of the Index. The Index is calculated by Refinitiv Indices, which is not affiliated with the Fund, the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser.

 

For the purpose of achieving income, the Fund may engage in securities lending.

 

PRINCIPAL AND OTHER INVESTMENT RISKS:

 

As with all funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not guaranteed to achieve its investment objective; is not a deposit with a bank; is not insured, endorsed or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency; and is subject to investment risks. Neither the Adviser nor the Sub-Adviser can guarantee that the Fund will achieve its objectives. The value of your investment in the Fund, as well as the amount of return you receive on your investment, may fluctuate significantly. You may lose part or all of your investment in the Fund or your investment may not perform as well as other similar investments. The Fund is not intended to be a complete investment program but rather one component of a diversified investment portfolio. Many factors affect the Fund’s net asset value and performance. It is important that investors closely review and understand these risks before making an investment in the Fund. Additional information regarding the principal and certain other risks of investing in the Fund is provided below. The Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), which is incorporated by reference into this Prospectus, includes more information about the Fund and its investments and risks. The risks described in this Prospectus (and in the SAI) are not intended to include every potential risk of investing in the Fund. The Fund could be subject to additional risks because the types of investments it makes may change over time.

 

Authorized Participant Concentration Risk: To the extent that authorized participants are unable or otherwise unavailable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders and no other authorized participant is able to create or redeem in their place, shares may trade at a discount to net asset value (NAV) and may face delisting.

 

Calculation Methodology Risk: The MarketGrader Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor MarketGrader can offer assurances that the MarketGrader Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or correct valuation of securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the MarketGrader Index.

 

Concentration Risk: Because the Fund invests a significant portion of its total assets in certain issuers within the same economic sector, an adverse economic, business or political development affecting that sector may affect the value of the Fund’s investments more than if the Fund’s investments were not so concentrated.

 

Currency Risk: The risk that foreign (non-U.S.) currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investments in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities that trade in, and receive revenues in, or in derivatives that provide exposure to, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies. Currency risk may be particularly high to the extent that the Fund invests in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or engages in foreign currency transactions that are economically tied to emerging market countries.

 

Cybersecurity Risk: There is risk to the Fund of an unauthorized breach and access to fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or the risk of an incident occurring that causes the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, administrator, custodian, transfer agent, distributor, and other service providers and financial intermediaries (collectively “Service Providers”) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or lose operational functionality. Successful cyber-attacks or other cyber-failures or events affecting the Fund, or its Service Providers may adversely impact the Fund or its shareholders. Because information technology (“IT”) systems and digital data underlie most of the Fund’s operations, the Fund and its Service Providers are exposed to the risk that their operations and data may be compromised as a result of internal and external cyber-failures, breaches or attacks (“Cyber Risk”). This could

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occur as a result of malicious or criminal cyber-attacks. Cyber-attacks include actions taken to: (i) steal or corrupt data maintained online or digitally, (ii) gain unauthorized access to or release confidential information, (iii) shut down the Fund or Service Provider website through denial-of-service attacks, or (iv) otherwise disrupt normal business operations. Events arising from human error, faulty or inadequately implemented policies and procedures or other systems failures unrelated to any external cyber-threat may have effects similar to those caused by deliberate cyber-attacks. See “Cybersecurity” below for additional risks related to potential cybersecurity breaches.

 

Early Close/Trading Halt Risk: An exchange or market may close early or issue trading halts on specific securities or financial instruments. The ability to trade certain securities or financial instruments may be restricted, which may disrupt the Fund’s creation and redemption process, potentially affect the price at which the Fund’s shares trade in the secondary market, and/or result in the Fund being unable to trade certain securities or financial instruments. In these circumstances, the Fund may be unable to rebalance its portfolio, may be unable to accurately price its investments and/or may incur substantial trading losses.

 

Emerging Markets Risk: To the extent the Fund invests in emerging market securities, the risks associated with foreign (non-U.S.) investment risk may be particularly high. The Fund’s investments in emerging market countries are subject to all of the risks of foreign investing generally, and have additional heightened risks due to a lack of established legal, political, business and social frameworks to support securities markets. These risks include less social, political and economic stability; smaller securities markets with low or nonexistent trading volume and greater illiquidity and price volatility; more restrictive national policies on foreign investment, including restrictions on investment in issuers or industries deemed sensitive to national interests; less transparent and established taxation policies; less developed regulatory or legal structures governing private and foreign investment; more pervasiveness of corruption and crime; less financial sophistication, creditworthiness and/or resources possessed by, and less government regulation of, the financial institutions and issuers with which the Fund transacts; less government supervision and regulation of business and industry practices, stock exchanges, brokers and listed companies than in the U.S.; greater concentration in a few industries resulting in greater vulnerability to regional and global trade conditions; higher rates of inflation and more rapid and extreme fluctuations in inflation rates; greater sensitivity to interest rate changes; increased volatility in currency exchange rates and potential for currency devaluations and/or currency controls; greater debt burdens relative to the size of the economy; more delays in settling portfolio transactions and heightened risk of loss from share registration and custody practices; and less assurance that recent favorable economic developments will not be slowed or reversed by unanticipated economic, political or social events in such countries. Because of these risk factors, the Fund’s investments in developing market countries are subject to greater price volatility and illiquidity than investments in developed markets. Governments of emerging market countries may own or control parts of the private sector. Accordingly, government actions could have a significant impact on economic conditions. Certain emerging market countries require governmental approval prior to investments by foreign persons, limit the amount of investment by foreign persons in a particular sector and/or company, limit the investment by foreign persons to a specific class of securities of an issuer that may have less advantageous rights than a domestically available class, require foreign investors to maintain a trading account with only one licensed securities company in the relevant market and/or impose additional taxes on foreign investors. These may contribute to the illiquidity of the relevant securities market, as well as create inflexibility and uncertainty as to the trading environment. The legal remedies for investors in emerging markets may be more limited than the remedies available in the U.S., and the ability of U.S. authorities (e.g., SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice) to bring actions against bad actors may be limited.

 

Equity Risk: Equity securities are susceptible to general market fluctuations and volatile increases and decreases in value as market confidence in and perceptions of their issuers change. Factors that may influence the price of equity securities include developments affecting a specific company or industry, or changing economic, political or market conditions.

 

ETF Structure Risks: The Fund is structured as an ETF and as a result is subject to the special risks, including:

oNot Individually Redeemable: Shares are not individually redeemable and may be redeemed by the Fund at NAV only in large blocks known as “Creation Units.” You may incur brokerage costs purchasing enough shares to constitute a Creation Unit.
oTrading Issues: Trading in shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in shares inadvisable, such as extraordinary market volatility. There can be no assurance that shares will continue to meet the listing requirements of the Exchange. An active trading market for the Fund’s shares may not be developed or maintained. If the Fund’s shares are traded outside a collateralized settlement system, the number of financial institutions that can act as authorized participants that can post collateral on an agency basis is limited, which may limit the market for the Fund’s shares.
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o    Market Price Variance Risk: The market prices of shares will fluctuate in response to changes in NAV and supply and demand for shares and will include a “bid-ask spread” charged by the exchange specialists, market makers or other participants that trade the particular security. There may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly and you may pay more than NAV when buying shares on the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those shares. This means that shares may trade at a discount or premium to NAV. If a shareholder purchases shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV or sells shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses if the shares are sold at a price that is less than the price paid by the shareholder for the shares. In times of market stress, such as what was experienced in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic, market makers may step away from their role market making in shares of ETFs and in executing trades, which can lead to differences between the market value of Fund shares and the Fund’s net asset value. The market price for the Fund’s shares may deviate from the Fund’s net asset value, particularly during times of market stress, with the result that investors may pay significantly more or significantly less for Fund shares than the Fund’s net asset value, which is reflected in the bid and ask price for Fund shares or in the closing price. When all or a portion of an ETFs underlying securities trade in a market that is closed when the market for the Fund’s shares is open, there may be changes from the last quote of the closed market and the quote from the Fund’s domestic trading day, which could lead to differences between the market value of the Fund’s shares and the Fund’s net asset value. In stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s shares may become less liquid in response to the deteriorating liquidity of the Fund’s portfolio. This adverse effect on the liquidity of the Fund’s shares may, in turn, lead to differences between the market value of the Fund’s shares and the Fund’s net asset value.

 

Fluctuation of Net Asset Value Risk: The NAV of the Fund’s shares will generally fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund’s holdings. The market prices of the shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of and demand for the shares on the Exchange. The Adviser cannot predict whether the shares will trade below, at or above their NAV. Price differences may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for the shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the Fund’s holdings trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time.

 

Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investment Risk: Foreign securities include direct investments in non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities traded primarily outside of the United States and dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers. Foreign securities also include indirect investments such as American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”). ADRs are U.S. dollar-denominated receipts representing shares of foreign-based corporations. ADRs are receipts that are traded in the United States, and entitle the holder to all dividend and capital gain distributions that are paid out on the underlying foreign shares. EDRs and GDRs are receipts that often trade on foreign exchanges. They represent ownership in an underlying foreign or U.S. security and generally are denominated in a foreign currency. Foreign government obligations may include debt obligations of supranational entities, including international organizations (such as The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, also known as the World Bank) and international banking institutions and related government agencies.

 

Foreign (non-U.S.) securities present greater investment risks than investing in the securities of U.S. issuers and may experience more rapid and extreme changes in value than the securities of U.S. companies, due to less stringent foreign securities regulations and less information about foreign (non-U.S.) companies in the form of reports and ratings than about U.S. issuers; different accounting, auditing and financial reporting requirements; smaller markets; nationalization; expropriation or confiscatory taxation; currency blockage; or political, financial, social and economic events (including, for example, military confrontations, war and terrorism) or diplomatic developments. To the extent that the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in a specific geographic region, the Fund will generally have more exposure to regional economic risks associated with foreign investments. Foreign (non-U.S.) securities may also be less liquid and more difficult to value than securities of U.S. issuers. In addition, foreign markets may have greater volatility than domestic markets and foreign securities may be less liquid and harder to value than domestic securities. Certain foreign markets may rely heavily on particular industries or foreign capital and are more vulnerable to diplomatic developments, the imposition of economic sanctions against a particular country or countries, organizations, entities and/or individuals, changes in international trading patterns, trade barriers, and other protectionist or retaliatory measures. International trade barriers or economic sanctions against foreign countries, organizations, entities and/or individuals may adversely affect the Fund’s foreign holdings or exposures.

 

Foreign securities involve special risks and costs, which are considered by the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser in evaluating the creditworthiness of issuers and making investment decisions for the Fund. Foreign securities fluctuate in price because of political, financial, social and economic events in foreign countries (including, for example, military confrontations, war and terrorism). A foreign security could also lose value because of more or less stringent foreign securities regulations and less stringent accounting and disclosure standards. In addition, foreign markets may have greater volatility than domestic markets and foreign securities may be less liquid and harder to value than domestic securities.

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Foreign securities, and in particular foreign debt securities, are sensitive to changes in interest rates. In addition, investment in the securities of foreign governments involves the risk that foreign governments may default on their obligations or may otherwise not respect the integrity of their obligations. The performance of investments in securities denominated in a foreign currency also will depend, in part, on the strength of the foreign currency against the U.S. dollar and the interest rate environment in the country issuing the currency. Absent other events which otherwise could affect the value of a foreign security (such as a change in the political climate or an issuer’s credit quality), appreciation in the value of the foreign currency generally results in an increase in value of a foreign currency-denominated security in terms of U.S. dollars. A decline in the value of the foreign currency relative to the U.S. dollar generally results in a decrease in value of a foreign currency-denominated security. Additionally, many countries throughout the world are dependent on a healthy U.S. economy and are adversely affected when the U.S. economy weakens or its markets decline.

 

Investment in foreign securities may involve higher costs than investment in U.S. securities, including higher transaction and custody costs as well as the imposition of additional taxes by foreign governments. Foreign investments also may involve risks associated with the level of currency exchange rates, less complete financial information about the issuers, less market liquidity, more market volatility and political instability. Future political and economic developments, the possible imposition of withholding taxes on dividend income, the possible seizure or nationalization of foreign holdings, the possible establishment of exchange controls or freezes on the convertibility of currency, trade restrictions (including tariffs) or the adoption of other governmental restrictions might adversely affect an investment in foreign securities. Additionally, foreign banks and foreign branches of domestic banks may be subject to less stringent reserve requirements and to different accounting, auditing and recordkeeping requirements.

 

While the Fund’s investments may, if permitted, be denominated in foreign currencies, the portfolio securities and other assets held by the Fund are valued in U.S. dollars. Price fluctuations may occur in the dollar value of foreign securities because of changing currency exchange rates or, in the case of hedged positions, because the U.S. dollar declines in value relative to the currency hedged. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time causing the Fund’s NAV to fluctuate as well. Currency exchange rates can be affected unpredictably by the intervention or the failure to intervene by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks, or by currency controls or political developments in the United States or abroad. To the extent that the Fund is invested in foreign securities while also maintaining currency positions, it may be exposed to greater combined risk. The net currency positions of the Fund may expose it to risks independent of its securities positions.

 

The Fund may operate in euros and/or may hold euros and/or euro-denominated bonds and other obligations. The euro requires participation of multiple sovereign states forming the Euro zone and is therefore sensitive to the credit and general economic and political positions of each such state, including, each state’s actual and intended ongoing engagement with and/or support for the other sovereign states then forming the European Union (“EU”), in particular those within the Euro zone. Changes in these factors might materially and adversely impact the value of securities in which the Fund has invested.

 

The United Kingdom (the “UK”) withdrew from the EU on January 31, 2020 (“Brexit”). There is significant market uncertainty regarding Brexit’s ramifications, and the range and potential implications of possible political, regulatory, economic, and market outcomes are difficult to predict. In addition, it is possible that measures could be taken to revote the issue of the withdrawal, or that regions of the UK could seek to separate and remain a part of the EU. As a result of the scheduled withdrawal, the Fund may be exposed to volatile trading markets and significant and unpredictable currency fluctuations over a short period of time, and potentially lower economic growth in the UK, Europe and globally. Securities issued by companies domiciled in the UK could be subject to changing regulatory and tax regimes. Banking and financial services companies that operate in the UK or EU could be disproportionately impacted by these actions. Further insecurity in EU membership or the abandonment of the euro could exacerbate market and currency volatility and negatively impact the Fund’s investments in securities issued by companies located in EU countries. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching.

 

A number of countries in Europe have suffered terror attacks, and additional attacks may occur in the future. Ukraine has experienced ongoing military conflict; this conflict may expand and military attacks could occur in Europe. Europe has also been struggling with mass migration from the Middle East and Africa. Recent and upcoming European elections could, depending on the outcomes, further call into question the future direction of the EU. The ultimate effects of these events and other socio-political or geopolitical issues are not known but could profoundly affect global economies and markets. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear, but could be significant and far-reaching. Whether or not the Fund invests in securities of issuers located in Europe or with significant exposure to European issuers or countries, these events could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments.

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Investment exposure to China subjects the Fund to specific risks. China may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability. It is a developing market and demonstrates significantly higher volatility from time to time in comparison to developed markets. Chinese markets generally continue to experience inefficiency, volatility and pricing anomalies resulting from governmental influence, a lack of publicly available information, and/or political and social instability. Internal social unrest or confrontations with other neighboring countries, including military conflicts in response to such events, may also disrupt economic development in China and result in a greater risk of currency fluctuations, currency convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher rates of inflation. Export growth continues to be a major driver of China’s rapid economic growth. Reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, institution of tariffs or other trade barriers, or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on its economy.

 

In addition, there has been enhanced regulatory focus in the U.S. on access to audit and other information regarding Chinese companies. In November 2020, an executive order was issued prohibiting investments in certain Chinese companies that might be owned or controlled by the military, resulting in NASDAQ removing shares of certain companies from its indexes and the NYSE delisting certain companies. In December 2020, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (“HFCAA”) was signed into law, requiring the SEC to ban trading on all U.S. exchanges of any foreign company for which the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) is unable to inspect audit workpapers for three consecutive years, which is a particular threat to Chinese companies as PCAOB inspection of the audit work of foreign accounting firms conflicts with Chinese law and policy. The enactment of the HFCAA and other efforts to increase U.S. regulatory access to audit workpapers could cause investor uncertainty, and the market price of any Chinese securities held by the Fund could be adversely affected. In addition, PCAOB’s inability to evaluate the audits and quality control procedures of auditors deprive investors of the transparency and protections provided by such evaluations and may subject such investors to a heightened risk of fraud. The composition of an emerging market index generally will not weigh individual securities by investor protection considerations. Therefore, to the extent the Fund tracks an emerging market index, it could invest in companies that lack transparency and other investor protections.

 

Gap Risk: The Fund is subject to the risk that a stock price or derivative value will change dramatically from one level to another with no trading in between and/or before the Fund can exit from the investment. Usually such movements occur when there are adverse news announcements, which can cause a stock price or derivative value to drop substantially from the previous day’s closing price. The difference between the two prices is the gap. Trading halts may lead to gap risk.

 

Geographic and Sector Risk: The risk that if the Fund invests a significant portion of its total assets in certain issuers within the same geographic region or economic sector, an adverse economic, business or political development or natural or other event, including war, terrorism, natural and environmental disasters, epidemics, pandemics and other public health crisis affecting that region or sector may affect the value of the Fund’s investments more than if the Fund’s investments were not so focused.

 

Healthcare Sector Risk: The Fund’s investments will be concentrated in the healthcare sector, and will therefore be susceptible to an increased risk of loss resulting from adverse events that affect the healthcare sector more than the market as a whole. The profitability of companies in the healthcare sector may be affected by government regulations and government healthcare programs, increases or decreases in the cost of medical products and services, an increased emphasis on outpatient services, demand for medical products and services and product liability claims, among other factors. Many healthcare companies are heavily dependent on patent protection, and the expiration of a company’s patent may adversely affect that company’s profitability. Healthcare companies are subject to competitive forces that may result in price discounting, and may be thinly capitalized and susceptible to product obsolescence. The Fund may be, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in securities of a particular industry, group of industries or sector.

 

Hedging Transactions Risk: The Sub-Adviser may employ various hedging techniques. The success of the Fund’s hedging strategy will be subject to the Sub-Adviser’s ability to correctly assess the degree of correlation between the performance of the instruments used in the hedging strategy and the performance of the investments in the portfolio being hedged. Since the characteristics of many securities change as markets change or time passes, the success of the Fund’s hedging strategy will also be subject to the Sub-Adviser’s ability to continually recalculate, readjust, and execute hedges in an efficient and timely manner. Investing for hedging purposes or to increase the Fund’s return may result in certain additional transaction costs.

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Hedging against a decline in the value of a portfolio position does not eliminate fluctuations in the values of those portfolio positions or prevent losses if the values of those positions decline. Rather, it establishes other positions designed to gain from those same declines, thus seeking to moderate the decline in the portfolio position’s value. Such hedging transactions also limit the opportunity for gain if the value of the portfolio position should increase. For a variety of reasons, the Sub-Adviser may not seek to establish a perfect correlation between such hedging instruments and the portfolio holdings being hedged. Such imperfect correlation may prevent the Fund from achieving the intended hedge or expose the Fund to risk of loss. In addition, it is not possible to hedge fully or perfectly against any risk, and hedging entails its own costs. The Sub-Adviser may determine, in its sole discretion, not to hedge against certain risks and certain risks may exist that cannot be hedged. Furthermore, the Sub-Adviser may not anticipate a particular risk so as to hedge against it effectively. Hedging transactions also limit the opportunity for gain if the value of a hedged portfolio position should increase.

 

Index Risk: Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not utilize an investing strategy that seeks returns in excess of the MarketGrader Index. Therefore, the Sub-Adviser would not necessarily sell a security unless that security is removed from the MarketGrader Index, even if that security generally is underperforming or the security’s issuer was in financial trouble, and the Fund will be negatively affected by general declines in the securities and asset classes represented in the MarketGrader Index. The Fund does not take defensive positions in declining markets. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the MarketGrader Index. The Index Provider relies on third party data it believes to be reliable in constructing the MarketGrader Index, but it does not guarantee the accuracy or availability of any such third party data, and there is also no guarantee with respect to the accuracy, availability or timeliness of the production of the MarketGrader Index.

 

Index Tracking Error Risk: As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and the MarketGrader 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 MarketGrader Index. In addition, the Fund may not be fully invested in the securities of the MarketGrader Index at all times, may deviate from the relative weightings of the MarketGrader Index or may hold securities not included in the Index. Tracking error risk may be heightened during times of market volatility or other unusual market conditions.

 

Investment Style Risk: There is a chance that returns from the types of stocks in which the Fund invests will trail returns from the overall stock market. Small-, mid-, and large-cap stocks each tend to go through cycles of doing better, or worse, than other segments of the stock market or the stock market in general. These periods have, in the past, lasted for as long as several years. Historically, small- and mid-cap stocks have been more volatile in price than large-cap stocks. The stock prices of small and mid-size companies tend to experience greater volatility because, among other things, these companies tend to be more sensitive to changing economic conditions.

 

Issuer-Specific Risk: Changes in the financial condition of an issuer or counterparty, changes in specific economic or political conditions that affect a particular type of security or issuer, and changes in general economic or political conditions can affect a security’s or instrument’s value. The value of securities of smaller, less well-known issuers can be more volatile than that of larger issuers. Issuer-specific events can have a negative impact on the value of the Fund.

 

Management Risk: The Fund’s investment strategies may not result in an increase in the value of your investment in the Fund or in overall performance equal to other similar investment vehicles having similar investment strategies to those of the Fund. The net asset value of the Fund changes daily based on the performance of the securities in which it invests. The Sub-Adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value and potential appreciation of particular securities and derivatives in which the Fund invests may prove to be incorrect and may not produce the desired results. Management risk includes the risk that the quantitative model used by the Fund’s investment sub-adviser may not perform as expected, particularly in volatile markets.

 

Market Capitalization Risk: Investing in larger-sized companies subjects the Fund to the risk that larger companies may not be able to attain the high growth rates of successful smaller companies, especially during strong economic periods, and that they may be less capable of responding quickly to competitive challenges and industry changes. Because the Fund may invest in medium-sized companies, its share price could be more volatile than the Fund that invests only in large companies. Small and medium–sized companies typically have less experienced management, narrower product lines, more limited financial resources, and less publicly available information than larger companies. The earnings and prospects of small and medium sized companies are more volatile than larger companies and may experience higher failure rates than larger companies. Medium sized companies normally have a lower trading volume than larger companies, which may tend to make their market price fall more disproportionately than larger companies in response to selling pressures.

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Market Events Risk: There has been increased volatility, depressed valuations, decreased liquidity and heightened uncertainty in the financial markets during the past several years, including what was experienced in 2020. These conditions are an inevitable part of investing in capital markets and may continue, recur, worsen or spread. The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve, as well as certain foreign governments and central banks, have taken steps to support financial markets, including by keeping interest rates at historically low levels. This and other government intervention may not work as intended, particularly if the efforts are perceived by investors as being unlikely to achieve the desired results. The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve may reduce market support activities. Such reduction, including interest rate increases, could negatively affect financial markets generally, increase market volatility and reduce the value and liquidity of securities in which the Fund invests. Policy and legislative changes in the United States and in other countries may also continue to contribute to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the financial markets. The impact of these changes on the markets, and the practical implications for market participants, may not be fully known for some time.

 

COVID-19 has resulted in travel restrictions, closed international borders, enhanced health screenings at ports of entry and elsewhere, disruption of and delays in healthcare service preparation and delivery, prolonged quarantines, cancellations, business and school closings, supply chain disruptions, and lower consumer demand, as well as general concern and uncertainty. The impact of COVID-19, and other infectious illness outbreaks that may arise in the future, could adversely affect the economies of many nations or the entire global economy, individual issuers and capital markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen.

 

Market Risk: Overall market risk may affect the value of individual instruments in which the Fund invests. The Fund is subject to the risk that the securities markets will move down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, based on overall economic conditions and other factors, which may negatively affect the Fund’s performance. Factors such as domestic and foreign (non-U.S.) economic growth and market conditions, real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions, inflation, changes in interest rate levels, lack of liquidity in the markets, volatility in the securities markets, adverse investor sentiment affect the securities markets and political events affect the securities markets. Securities markets also may experience long periods of decline in value. When the value of the Fund’s investments goes down, your investment in the Fund decreases in value and you could lose money.

 

Equity securities generally have greater price volatility than fixed income securities, although under certain market conditions fixed income securities may have comparable or greater price volatility. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may decline in value simultaneously. Adverse market conditions may be prolonged and may not have the same impact on all types of securities. Different sectors of the market and different security types may react differently to such developments. Changes in value may be temporary or may last for extended periods. The Fund may experience a substantial or complete loss on any individual security. Even when securities markets perform well, there is no assurance that the investments held by the Fund will increase in value along with the broader market. Market factors, such as the demand for particular portfolio securities, may cause the price of certain portfolio securities to fall while the prices of other securities rise or remain unchanged.

 

Local, state, regional, national or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in decreases to the Fund’s net asset value. Political, geopolitical, natural and other events, including war, terrorism, trade disputes, government shutdowns, market closures, natural and environmental disasters, epidemics, pandemics and other public health crises and related events and governments’ reactions to such events have led, and in the future may lead, to economic uncertainty, decreased economic activity, increased market volatility and other disruptive effects on U.S. and global economies and markets. Such events may have significant adverse direct or indirect effects on the Fund and its investments. For example, a widespread health crisis such as a global pandemic could cause substantial market volatility, exchange trading suspensions and closures, impact the ability to complete redemptions, and affect Fund performance. A health crisis may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks. In addition, the increasing interconnectedness of markets around the world may result in many markets being affected by events or conditions in a single country or region or events affecting a single or small number of issuers.

 

New Fund Risk: The Fund is recently formed. Investors bear the risk that the Fund may not grow to or maintain economically viable size, not be successful in implementing its investment strategy, and may not employ a successful investment strategy, any of which could result in the Fund being liquidated at any time without shareholder approval and/or at a time that may not be favorable for certain shareholders. Such a liquidation could have negative tax consequences for shareholders.

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Passive Investment Risk: The Fund is not actively managed. Therefore, unless a specific security is removed from an Index, or selling that security is otherwise required upon a rebalancing of an Index as addressed in the Index’s methodology, the Fund generally would not sell a security because the security’s issuer was in financial trouble. If a specific security is removed from an Index, the Fund may be forced to sell such security at an inopportune time or for a price other than the security’s current market value. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any equity securities traded on an exchange, such as market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. It is anticipated that the value of the Fund’s shares will decline, more or less, in correspondence with any decline in value of its Index. An Index may not contain the appropriate mix of securities for any particular point in the business cycle of the overall economy, particular economic sectors, or narrow industries within which the commercial activities of the companies comprising the portfolio securities holdings of the Fund are conducted, and the timing of movements from one type of security to another in seeking to replicate its Index could have a negative effect on that Fund. Unlike other funds that select investments based on analyses of financial or other information relating to companies, the economy or markets, the Fund, like other sector-focused or other narrowly-focused index funds, invests in companies included in their respective Index in accordance with their investment objective of tracking the performance of their respective Index. There can be no assurance that an investment in such companies would not underperform the broader market or investments with a different focus. The Fund should not be considered a complete investment program. Unlike with an actively managed fund, the Adviser does not use techniques or defensive strategies designed to lessen the effects of market volatility or to reduce the impact of periods of market decline. This means that, based on market and economic conditions, the Fund’s performance could be lower than other types of mutual funds that may actively shift their portfolio assets to take advantage of market opportunities or to lessen the impact of a market decline.

 

Portfolio Turnover Risk: The investment techniques and strategies utilized by the Fund, including investments made on a shorter-term basis or in derivative instruments or instruments with a maturity of one year or less at the time of acquisition, may result in frequent portfolio trading and high portfolio turnover. High portfolio turnover rates will cause the Fund to incur higher levels of brokerage fees and commissions, which may reduce performance, and may cause higher levels of current tax liability to shareholders in the Fund. The Adviser and its affiliates do not derive any benefits from such brokerage fees or commissions with respect to the Fund.

 

Securities Lending Risk: To realize additional income, the Fund may lend portfolio securities with a value of up to 33 1/3% of the total assets, including any collateral received from the loans. The Fund receives collateral equal to at least 102% of the market value for loans secured by government securities or cash in the same currency as the loaned shares and 105% for all other loaned securities at each loan’s inception. The collateral the Fund receives will generally take the form of cash, U.S. Government securities, letters of credit, or other collateral as deemed appropriate by the Adviser. The Fund may use any cash collateral it receives to invest in short-term investments, including money market funds. It is the Trust’s policy to obtain additional collateral from or return excess collateral to the borrower by the end of the next business day. Therefore, from time to time the value of the collateral received by the Fund may be less than the value of the securities on loan. The Fund will receive income earned on the securities loaned during the lending period and a portion of the interest or rebate earned on the collateral received. The risks associated with lending portfolio securities, as with other extensions of secured credit, include, but are not limited to, possible delays in receiving additional collateral or in the recovery of the securities loaned, possible loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower fail financially, as well as risk of loss in the value of the collateral or the value of the investments made with the collateral.

 

Trading Risk: Although each Fund’s shares are listed for trading on a listing exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Fund’s shares will develop or be maintained. Secondary market trading in the Fund’s shares may be halted by a listing exchange because of market conditions or for other reasons. In addition, trading in the Fund’s shares is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to “circuit breaker” rules. There can be no assurance that the requirements necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund’s shares will continue to be met or will remain unchanged.

 

Shares of the Fund may trade at, above or below their most recent NAV. The per share NAV of each Fund is calculated at the end of each business day and fluctuates with changes in the market value of the Fund’s holdings since the prior most recent calculation. The trading prices of each Fund’s shares will fluctuate continuously throughout trading hours based on market supply and demand. The trading prices of each Fund’s shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility. These factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. However, given that shares of the Fund can be created and redeemed only in Creation Units at NAV (unlike shares of many closed-end funds, which frequently trade at appreciable discounts from, and sometimes at premiums to, their NAVs), the Adviser does not believe that large discounts or premiums to NAV will exist for extended periods of time. While the creation/redemption feature is designed to make it likely that

16 
 

the Fund’s shares normally will trade close to its NAV, exchange prices are not expected to correlate exactly with a Fund’s NAV due to timing reasons as well as market supply and demand factors. In addition, disruptions to creations and redemptions or the existence of extreme volatility may result in trading prices that differ significantly from NAV. If a shareholder purchases at a time when the market price of the Fund is at a premium to its NAV or sells at time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses.

 

Investors buying or selling shares of the Fund in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of shares of the Fund. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for shares of the Fund (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell shares of the Fund (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for shares of the Fund based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if that Fund’s shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if that Fund’s shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads. Due to the costs of buying or selling shares of the Fund, including bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of such shares may significantly reduce investment results and an investment in that Fund’s shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.

 

Value Investing Risk: Value investing attempts to identify securities selling at a discount in comparison to the Sub-Adviser’s assessments of their intrinsic value. Such securities may not increase in price as anticipated by the Sub-Adviser, and may even decline further in value if other investors fail to recognize the issuer’s value or if the events or factors that the Sub-Adviser believes will increase a security’s market value do not occur.

 

Growth Investing Risk: The Fund is subject to the risk that the Sub-Adviser’s bias towards a growth-oriented style of investing may underperform other investment styles or the equity markets as a whole. A principal risk of growth investing is that prices of growth stocks may be more sensitive to changes in current or expected earnings than the prices of other stocks.

 

Volatility Risk: The Fund’s investments may appreciate or decrease significantly in value over short periods of time. The value of an investment in the Fund’s portfolio may fluctuate due to factors that affect markets generally or that affect a particular industry or sector. The value of an investment in the Fund’s portfolio may also be more volatile than the market as a whole. This volatility may affect the Fund’s net asset value per share, including by causing it to experience significant increases or declines in value over short periods of time. Events or financial circumstances affecting individual investments, industries or sectors may increase the volatility of the Fund.

 

PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS DISCLOSURE: A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures regarding the release of portfolio holdings information is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI “).

 

CYBERSECURITY: The computer systems, networks and devices used by the Fund and its service providers to carry out routine business operations employ a variety of protections designed to prevent damage or interruption from computer viruses, network failures, computer and telecommunication failures, infiltration by unauthorized persons and security breaches. Despite the various protections utilized by the Fund and its service providers, systems, networks, or devices potentially can be breached. The Fund and its shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result of a cybersecurity breach. The Fund, the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser have limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third-party Service Providers.

 

Cybersecurity breaches can include unauthorized access to systems, networks, or devices; infection from computer viruses or other malicious software code; and attacks that shut down, disable, slow, or otherwise disrupt operations, business processes, or website access or functionality. Cybersecurity breaches may cause disruptions and impact the Fund’s business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses; interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV; impediments to trading; the inability of the Fund, the adviser, and other service providers to transact business; prevention of Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming or exchanging shares or receiving distributions; violations of applicable privacy and other laws; regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs; as well as the inadvertent release of confidential information.

 

Similar adverse consequences could result from cybersecurity breaches affecting issuers of securities in which the Fund invests; counterparties with which the Fund engages in transactions; governmental and other regulatory authorities; exchange and other financial market operators, banks, brokers, dealers, insurance companies, and other financial institutions (including financial intermediaries and service providers for the Fund’s shareholders); and other parties. In addition, substantial costs may be incurred by these entities in order to prevent any cybersecurity breaches in the future.

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MANAGEMENT 

 

INVESTMENT ADVISER: Regents Park Funds, LLC, located at 4041 MacArthur Boulevard, Suite 155, Newport Beach, CA 92660, serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. Subject to the authority of the Board of Trustees, the Adviser is responsible for the overall management of the Fund’s business affairs pursuant to an Advisory Agreement between the Fund and the Adviser. Regents Park was founded in May, 2016 and as of July 31 2021, the Adviser had approximately $345 million in assets under management. Anfield Group, LLC (“Anfield Group”), which is wholly owned by the David Young and Sandra G. Glain Family Trust, wholly owns Regents Park.

 

Subject to the supervision of the Board of Trustees, the Adviser is responsible for managing the Fund’s day-to-day operations; including selecting the overall investment strategies of the Fund; monitoring and evaluating investment sub-adviser performance; and providing related administrative services and facilities under an Investment Advisory Agreement between the Fund and the Adviser. The Adviser has the ultimate responsibility to oversee any investment sub-advisers, and to recommend their hiring, termination and replacement, subject to approval of the Trust’s Board of Trustees.

 

The management fee set forth in the Investment Advisory Agreement is 0.75% annually, to be paid on a monthly basis. In addition to investment advisory fees, the Fund pays other expenses including costs incurred in connection with the maintenance of securities law registration, printing and mailing prospectuses and Statements of Additional Information to shareholders, certain financial accounting services, taxes or governmental fees, custodial, transfer and shareholder servicing agent costs, expenses of outside counsel and independent accountants, preparation of shareholder reports and expenses of trustee and shareholders meetings.

 

The Adviser has contractually agreed to reduce its fees and/or absorb expenses of the Fund, through November 30, 2022, to ensure that total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or reimbursement (exclusive of any front-end or contingent deferred loads, taxes, brokerage fees and commissions, borrowing costs (such as interest and dividend expense on securities sold short), acquired fund fees and expenses, fees and expenses associated with investments in other collective investment vehicles or derivative instruments (including for example option and swap fees and expenses), or extraordinary expenses such as litigation) will not exceed 0.90% of the Fund’s average daily net assets; subject to possible recoupment from the Fund in future years within the three years after the fees have been waived or reimbursed if such recoupment can be achieved without exceeding the foregoing expense limits as well as any expense limitation in effect at the time the reimbursement is made. Fee waiver and reimbursement arrangements can decrease the Fund’s expenses and boost its performance. A discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the advisory agreement and sub-advisory agreement will be available in the first annual or semi-annual report of the Fund.

 

INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER 

 

Anfield Capital Management, LLC, located at 4041 MacArthur Boulevard, Suite 155, Newport Beach, CA 92660, serves as Sub-Adviser to the Fund. The Sub-Adviser was formed in 2009 and currently manages assets for private investors, financial intermediaries, and institutional clients. As of July 31, 2021, it had approximately $1.9 billion in assets under management. Anfield Group owns a 92% majority interest in Anfield. The Sub-Adviser is an affiliate of the Adviser. The Sub-Adviser is paid by the Adviser, not the Fund.

 

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS 

 

Peter van de Zilver, CFA Portfolio Manager, Risk Management

 

Mr. van de Zilver has served as Head of Portfolio Manager Analytics and Risk Management at the Adviser since 2012. Mr. van de Zilver has over 20 years of investment management experience and retired in 2010 from a senior position in PIMCO’s Portfolio Analytics group, where he was responsible for the architecture, development and implementation of many of PIMCO’s analytics and risk management systems. Mr. van de Zilver holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

 

David Young, CFA Portfolio Manager, Global Strategy

 

Mr. Young has served as Chief Executive Officer at the Adviser since 2009, and as Chief Investment Officer from 2009 through 2012. Mr. Young has over 25 years of investment management experience and retired at the end of 2008 from his position as Executive Vice President and Account Manager with PIMCO, where he was responsible for contributing to the firm’s global macroeconomic view and investment strategy, and building the business in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Mr. Young holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

 

The SAI provides additional information about the Portfolio Managers’ compensation, other accounts manages by the Portfolio Managers, and the Portfolio Managers’ ownership of securities in the Fund.

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DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE 

 

The net asset value (“NAV”) of the Fund’s shares is determined at the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on each day the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) is open. NAV is computed by determining the aggregate market value of all assets of the F und, less its liabilities, divided by the total number of shares outstanding ((assets-liabilities)/number of shares = NAV). The NYSE is closed on weekends and New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The NAV takes into account, the expenses and fees of the Fund, including management, administration, and distribution fees, which are accrued daily.

 

Generally, the Fund’s securities are valued each day at the last quoted sales price on each security’s primary exchange. Securities traded or dealt in upon one or more securities exchanges (whether domestic or foreign) for which market quotations are readily available and not subject to restrictions against resale shall be valued at the last quoted sales price on the primary exchange or, in the absence of a sale on the primary exchange, at the mean between the current bid and ask prices on such exchange. Securities primarily traded in the National Association of Securities Dealers’ Automated Quotation System (“NASDAQ”) National Market System for which market quotations are readily available shall be valued using the NASDAQ Official Closing Price. Securities that are not traded or dealt in any securities exchange (whether domestic or foreign) and for which over-the-counter market quotations are readily available generally shall be valued at the last sale price or, in the absence of a sale, at the mean between the current bid and ask price on such over-the-counter market. Debt securities not traded on an exchange may be valued at prices supplied by a pricing agent(s) based on broker or dealer supplied valuations or matrix pricing, a method of valuing securities by reference to the value of other securities with similar characteristics, such as rating, interest rate and maturity.

 

If market quotations are not readily available, securities will be valued at their fair market value as determined using the “fair value” procedures approved by the Board. Fair value pricing involves subjective judgments and it is possible that the fair value determined for a security may be materially different than the value that could be realized upon the sale of that security. The fair value prices can differ from market prices when they become available or when a price becomes available. The Board has delegated execution of these procedures to a fair value team composed of one or more representatives from each of the (i) Trust, (ii) administrator, and (iii) adviser. The team may also enlist third party consultants such as an audit firm or financial officer of a security issuer on an as-needed basis to assist in determining a security-specific fair value. The Board reviews and considers the determinations reached by the fair value committee in ratifying the fair value committee’s application of the fair valuation methodologies employed.

 

The Fund may use independent pricing services to assist in calculating the value of the Fund’s securities. In addition, market prices for foreign securities are not determined at the same time of day as the NAV for the Fund. Because the Fund may invest in securities primarily listed on foreign exchanges, and these exchanges may trade on weekends or other days when the Fund does not price its shares, the value of some of the Fund’s portfolio securities may change on days when APs may not be able to purchase or redeem Fund shares.

 

In computing the NAV, the Fund values foreign securities held by the Fund at the latest closing price on the exchange in which they are traded immediately prior to closing of the NYSE. Prices of foreign securities quoted in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars at current rates. If events materially affecting the value of a security in the Fund’s portfolio, particularly foreign securities, occur after the close of trading on a foreign market but before the Fund prices its shares, the security will be valued at fair value. For example, if trading in a portfolio security is halted and does not resume before the Fund calculates its NAV, the Adviser may need to price the security using the Fund’s fair value pricing guidelines. The determination of fair value involves subjective judgments. As a result, using fair value to price a security may result in a price materially different from the prices used by other funds to determine net asset value, or from the price that may be realized upon the actual sale of the security.

 

With respect to any portion of the Fund’s assets that are invested in one or more open-end management investment companies registered under the 1940 Act, the Fund’s net asset value is calculated based upon the net asset values of those open-end management investment companies, and the prospectuses for these companies explain the circumstances under which those companies will use fair value pricing and the effects of using fair value pricing.

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Premium/Discount Information

 

Most investors will buy and sell shares of the Fund in secondary market transactions through brokers at market prices and the Fund’s shares will trade at market prices. The market price of shares of the Fund may be greater than, equal to, or less than NAV. Market forces of supply and demand, economic conditions and other factors may affect the trading prices of shares of the Fund.

 

Information regarding the intraday value of shares of the Fund, also known as the “indicative optimized portfolio value” (“IOPV”), may (but is not required to) be disseminated every 15 seconds throughout each trading day by the securities exchange on which the Fund’s shares are listed or by market data vendors or other information providers. The IOPV is based on the current market value of the Fund’s securities, including cash required to be deposited in exchange for a Creation Unit. The IOPV is generally determined by using both current market quotations and price quotations obtained from broker-dealers and other market intermediaries that may trade in the Fund’s portfolio securities. The IOPV may not reflect the exact composition of the Fund’s current portfolio of securities at a particular point in time or the best possible valuation of the Fund’s current portfolio. As a result, the IOPV should not be confused with the NAV, which is computed only once a day. Information regarding how often the shares of the Fund traded at a price above (at a premium to) or below (at a discount to) the NAV of the Fund during the past four calendar quarters, when available, can be found at RegentsParkFunds.com.

 

 

HOW TO BUY AND SELL SHARES 

 

Shares of the Fund are listed for trading on the Exchange under the symbol APXH. Share prices are reported in dollars and cents per Share. Shares can be bought and sold on the secondary market throughout the trading day like other publicly traded shares, and shares typically trade in blocks of less than a Creation Unit. There is no minimum investment required. Shares may only be purchased and sold on the secondary market when the Exchange is open for trading. The Exchange is open for trading Monday through Friday and is closed on weekends and the following holidays, as observed: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

 

When buying or selling shares through a broker, you will incur customary brokerage commissions and charges, and you may pay some or all of the spread between the bid and the offered price in the secondary market on each leg of a round trip (purchase and sale) transaction.

 

Authorized participants (“APs”) may acquire shares directly from the Fund, and APs may tender their shares for redemption directly to the Fund, at NAV per Share only in large blocks, or Creation Units, of 25,000 shares. Purchases and redemptions directly from the Fund must follow the Fund’s procedures, which are described in the SAI.

 

The Fund may liquidate and terminate at any time without shareholder approval.

 

Share Trading Prices

 

The approximate value of shares of the Fund, an amount representing on a per share basis the sum of the current market price of the securities accepted by the Fund in exchange for shares of the Fund and an estimated cash component will be disseminated every 15 seconds throughout the trading day through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association. This approximate value should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the NAV per Share of the Fund because the approximate value may not be calculated in the same manner as the NAV, which is computed once a day, generally at the end of the business day. The Fund is not involved in, or responsible for, the calculation or dissemination of the approximate value of the shares, and the Fund does not make any warranty as to the accuracy of these values.

 

Book Entry

 

Shares are held in book entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding shares of the Fund and is recognized as the owner of all shares for all purposes.

 

Investors owning shares are beneficial owners as shown on the records of DTC or its participants. DTC serves as the securities depository for all shares. Participants in DTC include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and other institutions that directly or indirectly maintain a custodial relationship with DTC. As a beneficial owner of shares, you are not entitled to receive physical delivery of stock certificates or to have shares registered in your name, and you are not considered a registered owner of shares. Therefore, to exercise any right as an owner of shares, you must rely upon the procedures of DTC and its participants. These procedures are the same as those that apply to any other securities that you hold in book entry or “street name” form.

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FREQUENT PURCHASES AND REDEMPTIONS OF FUND SHARES 

 

The Fund’s shares can only be purchased and redeemed directly from the Fund in Creation Units by APs, and the vast majority of trading in the Fund’s shares occurs on the secondary market. Because the secondary market trades do not directly involve the Fund, it is unlikely those trades would cause the harmful effects of market timing, including dilution, disruption of portfolio management, increases in the Fund’s trading costs and the realization of capital gains. With regard to the purchase or redemption of Creation Units directly with the Fund, to the extent effected in-kind (i.e., for securities), those trades do not cause the harmful effects that may result from frequent cash trades. To the extent trades are effected in whole or in part in cash, those trades could result in dilution to the Fund and increased transaction costs, which could negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. However, direct trading by APs is critical to ensuring that the Fund’s shares trade at or close to NAV. The Fund also employs fair valuation pricing to minimize potential dilution from market timing. In addition, the Fund imposes transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Fund shares to cover the custodial and other costs incurred by the Fund in effecting trades. These fees increase if an investor substitutes cash in part or in whole for securities, reflecting the fact that the Fund’s trading costs increase in those circumstances. Given this structure, the Trust has determined that it is not necessary to adopt policies and procedures to detect and deter market timing of the Fund’s shares.

 

 

DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICE PLAN 

 

The Fund has adopted a distribution and service plan (“Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. Under the Plan, the Fund is authorized to pay distribution fees to the distributor and other firms that provide distribution and shareholder services (“Service Providers”). If a Service Provider provides these services, the Fund may pay fees at an annual rate not to exceed 0.25% of average daily net assets, pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.

 

No distribution or service fees are currently paid by the Fund, and there are no current plans to impose these fees. In the event Rule 12b-1 fees were charged, over time they would increase the cost of an investment in the Fund.

 

Additional Compensation to Financial Intermediaries: Northern Lights Distributors, LLC, the Fund’s distributor, its affiliates, and the Fund’s Adviser or Sub-Adviser or their affiliates may, at their own expense and out of their own legitimate profits, provide additional cash payments to financial intermediaries who sell shares of the Fund, including affiliates of the Adviser or Sub-Adviser. Financial intermediaries include brokers, financial planners, banks, insurance companies, retirement or 401(k) plan administrators and others. These payments may be in addition to any Rule 12b-1 fees that the Fund could charge pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan and any sales charges that are disclosed elsewhere in this Prospectus. These payments are generally made to financial intermediaries that provide shareholder or administrative services, or marketing support. Marketing support may include access to sales meetings, sales representatives and financial intermediary management representatives, inclusion of the Fund on a sales list, including a preferred or select sales list, or other sales programs. These payments also may be made as an expense reimbursement in cases where the financial intermediary provides shareholder services to Fund shareholders.

 

APEX Shares, LLC: The Sub-Adviser has entered into an agreement with APEX Shares, LLC (“APEX”), a third-party marketing firm, pursuant to which APEX will provide marketing services for the shares of the Fund. Pursuant to the agreement, payment for APEX’s marketing services are the responsibility of the Sub-Adviser and not the Fund.

 

 

DIVIDENDS, OTHER DISTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES 

 

Unlike interests in conventional mutual funds, which typically are bought and sold from and to the fund only at closing NAVs, the Fund’s shares are traded throughout the day in the secondary market on a national securities exchange on an intra-day basis and are created and redeemed in-kind and/or for cash in Creation Units at each day’s next calculated NAV.

 

In-kind arrangements are designed to protect ongoing shareholders from the adverse effects on the Fund’s portfolio that could arise from frequent cash redemption transactions. In a conventional mutual fund, redemptions can have an adverse tax impact on taxable shareholders if the mutual fund needs to sell portfolio securities to obtain cash to meet net fund redemptions. These sales may generate taxable gains for the ongoing shareholders of the mutual fund, whereas the shares’ in-kind redemption mechanism generally will not lead to a tax event for the Fund or its ongoing shareholders.

 

Ordinarily, dividends from net investment income, if any, are declared and paid annually by the Fund. The Fund distributes its net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders annually.

 

Distributions in cash may be reinvested automatically in additional whole shares only if the broker through whom you purchased shares makes such option available.

21 
 

Taxes

 

As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in shares will be taxed. The tax information in this Prospectus is provided as general information. You should consult your own tax professional about the tax consequences of an investment in shares.

 

Unless your investment in shares is made through a tax-exempt entity or tax-deferred retirement account, such as an individual retirement account, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when:

  • The Fund makes distributions,
  • You sell your shares listed on the Exchange, and
  • You purchase or redeem Creation Units.

 

Taxes on Distributions

 

As stated above, dividends from net investment income, if any, ordinarily are declared and paid annually by the Fund. The Fund may also pay a special distribution at the end of a calendar year to comply with federal tax requirements. Distributions from the Fund’s net investment income, including net short-term capital gains, if any, are taxable to you as ordinary income, except that the Fund’s dividends attributable to its “qualified dividend income” (i.e., dividends received on stock of most domestic and certain foreign corporations with respect to which the Fund satisfies certain holding period and other restrictions), if any, generally are subject to federal income tax for non-corporate shareholders who satisfy those restrictions with respect to their Fund shares at the rate for net capital gain -- a maximum of 20%. In addition, a 3.8% Medicare tax may also apply. A part of the Fund’s dividends also may be eligible for the dividends-received deduction allowed to corporations -- the eligible portion may not exceed the aggregate dividends the Fund receives from domestic corporations subject to federal income tax (excluding REITs) and excludes dividends from foreign corporations -- subject to similar restrictions. However, dividends a corporate shareholder deducts pursuant to that deduction are subject indirectly to the federal alternative minimum tax.

 

In general, your distributions are subject to federal income tax when they are paid, whether you take them in cash or reinvest them in the Fund (if that option is available). Distributions reinvested in additional shares of the Fund through the means of a dividend reinvestment service, if available, will be taxable to shareholders acquiring the additional shares to the same extent as if such distributions had been received in cash. Distributions of net long-term capital gains, if any, in excess of net short-term capital losses are taxable as long-term capital gains, regardless of how long you have held the shares.

 

Distributions in excess of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits are treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of (and in reduction of) your basis in the shares and as capital gain thereafter. A distribution will reduce the Fund’s NAV per Share and may be taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gain (as described above) even though, from an investment standpoint, the distribution may constitute a return of capital.

 

By law, the Fund is required to withhold 24% of your distributions and redemption proceeds if you have not provided the Fund with a correct Social Security number or other taxpayer identification number and in certain other situations.

 

Taxes on Exchange-Listed Share Sales

 

Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of shares is generally treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the shares have been held for more than one year and as short-term capital gain or loss if the shares have been held for one year or less. The ability to deduct capital losses from sales of shares may be limited.

 

Taxes on Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units

 

An AP who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or a loss equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time of the exchange and the sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered plus any Cash Component (as defined in the SAI) it pays. An AP who exchanges Creation Units for securities will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate market value of the securities received plus any cash equal to the difference between the NAV of the shares being redeemed and the value of the securities. The Internal Revenue Service (“Service”), however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing “wash sales” or for other reasons. Persons exchanging securities should consult their own tax advisor with respect to whether wash sale rules apply and when a loss might be deductible.

22 
 

Any capital gain or loss realized upon redemption of Creation Units is generally treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the shares have been held for more than one year and as short-term capital gain or loss if the shares have been held for one year or less.

 

If you purchase or redeem Creation Units, you will be sent a confirmation statement showing how many shares you purchased or sold and at what price. See “Tax Status” in the SAI for a description of the requirement regarding basis determination methods applicable to Share redemptions and the Fund’s obligation to report basis information to the Service.

 

The foregoing discussion summarizes some of the possible consequences under current federal tax law of an investment in the Fund. It is not a substitute for personal tax advice. Consult your personal tax advisor about the potential tax consequences of an investment in the shares under all applicable tax laws. See “Tax Status” in the SAI for more information.

 

 

FUND SERVICE PROVIDERS 

 

Gemini Fund Services, LLC (the “Administrator”) is the Fund’s administrator and fund accountant. It has its principal office at 4221 North 203rd Street, Suite 100, Elkhorn, NE 68022, and is primarily in the business of providing administrative, fund accounting and transfer agent services to retail and institutional mutual funds. It is an affiliate of the Distributor.

 

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., 50 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02110, is the Fund’s custodian (the “Custodian”) and the Fund’s transfer agent (the “Transfer Agent”).

 

Northern Lights Distributors, LLC (the “Distributor”), 4221 North 203rd Street, Suite 100, Elkhorn, NE 68022, is the distributor for the shares of the Fund. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”).

 

Blank Rome LLP, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, serves as legal counsel to the Trust.

 

RSM US LLP, 555 17th Street, Suite 1200, Denver, CO 80202, serves as the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm. The independent registered public accounting firm is responsible for auditing the annual financial statements of the Fund and providing other audit, tax and related services for the Fund.

 

 

OTHER INFORMATION 

 

Investment by Other Investment Companies

 

The SEC has granted an exemptive order to the Adviser permitting, among other relief, registered investment companies and unit investment trusts that enter into an agreement with respect to certain investment companies that the Adviser or an affiliate advises (“Investing Funds”) to invest in such investment companies beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act, subject to certain terms and conditions. Pursuant to recently enacted SEC rules, the Investing Funds may rely on the exemptive order to make such investments until January 19, 2022. This aspect of the exemptive order is not applicable to the Fund. Accordingly, Investing Funds must adhere to the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act when investing in the Fund.

 

Continuous Offering

 

The method by which Creation Units of shares are created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Units of shares are issued and sold by the Fund on an ongoing basis, a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), may occur at any point. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner which could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus delivery requirement and liability provisions of the Securities Act.

 

For example, a broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if it takes Creation Units after placing an order with the Distributor, breaks them down into constituent shares and sells the shares directly to customers or if it chooses to couple the creation of a supply of new shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand for shares. A determination of whether one is an underwriter for purposes of the Securities Act must take into account all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the activities of the broker-dealer or its client in the particular case, and the examples mentioned above should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could lead to a characterization as an underwriter.

23 
 

Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of shares, are generally required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(3) of the Securities Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. As a result, broker-dealer firms should note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted with engaging in ordinary secondary market transactions) and thus dealing with the shares that are part of an overallotment within the meaning of Section 4(3)(C) of the Securities Act, will be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(3) of the Securities Act. For delivery of prospectuses to exchange members, the prospectus delivery mechanism of Rule 153 under the Securities Act is only available with respect to transactions on a national exchange.

 

Dealers effecting transactions in the shares, whether or not participating in this distribution, are generally required to deliver a Prospectus. This is in addition to any obligation of dealers to deliver a Prospectus when acting as underwriters.

 

Householding: To reduce expenses, the Fund mails only one copy of the prospectus and each annual and semi-annual report (or, if applicable, each notice of electronic accessibility thereof) to those addresses shared by two or more accounts. If you wish to receive individual copies of these documents, please call the Fund at 1-866-866-4848 on days the Fund is open for business or contact your financial institution.

 

The Fund will begin sending you individual copies thirty days after receiving your request.

 

Index, Index Provider, Calculation Agent and Index Disclaimers

 

Index

 

The Index, which was developed and is provided by MarketGrader.com Corp. (“MarketGrader” or the “Index Provider”), consists of 100 fundamentally sound companies in the healthcare sector that are domiciled in any Developed Market or Emerging Market (each as defined by the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Database) and are in the MarketGrader research universe. The Index constituents are selected on the basis of the strength of their fundamentals as measured by the MarketGrader Score (zero to 100). To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must have a minimum market capitalization of $500 million at the time of inclusion and a minimum three-month average daily trading volume of $2 million.

 

Companies eligible for inclusion in the MarketGrader Index are publicly-traded global companies in the healthcare sector. The Index Provider reviews the financial statements of such companies to identify those companies for which it deems reporting to be reliable and consistent and filters out those companies it deems unreliable due to anomalies and inconsistencies. Once all companies are filtered, the data in their financial statements, along with historic stock prices, form the foundation of the Index Provider’s analysis and ratings. The Index Provider applies a series of metrics in order to identify those companies that are proven compounders of value and that have sustainable growth at a reasonable valuation allowing for long term capital appreciation. These metrics seek to find companies with characteristics that include consistent bottom to top line growth with sustainable margins and high cash flow generation; and a sound capital structure that doesn’t impair operating growth, combined with high returns on invested capital and low capital intensity. The metrics are aggregated into 24 individually graded indicators which are classified into four categories of analysis: growth, value, profitability and cash flow. All 24 indicators are then aggregated into a final MarketGrader Score for each company, which the Index Provider uses to select the constituents of the Index. Once selected, Index constituents are weighted according to their free-float market capitalization, with a maximum Index weight per constituent of 5% and a minimum Index weight per constituent of 0.25%.

 

The Index consists of securities of both U.S. and foreign issuers, including securities of issuers located in emerging markets countries. The Index may consist of up to 20 issuers located in emerging markets countries, with a maximum of 10 issuers located in a single emerging markets country. Under normal circumstances, the Index is rebalanced and reconstituted on a semi-annual basis. Deletions from the Index may be made at any time due to changes in business, mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, suspensions, de-listings and spin-offs, or for other reasons as determined at the sole discretion of the Index Provider. The Index is unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.

 

Index Provider

 

The Index Provider is not affiliated with the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Administrator, the Custodian, the Transfer Agent or the Distributor, or any of their respective affiliates. MarketGrader serves as the Index administrator and is responsible for Index governance. The Index is governed by a published methodology. Changes to the methodology will be publicly disclosed prior to implementation. The Adviser is entitled to use the Index pursuant to a license agreement with the Index Provider. The Fund is entitled to use the Index pursuant to a sub-licensing arrangement with the Adviser.

24 
 

Calculation Agent

 

The Index’s calculation agent is Refinitiv Indices, which is not affiliated with the Fund, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Fund’s administrator, custodian, transfer agent or distributor, or any of their respective affiliates.

 

Index Disclaimers

 

Neither Regents Park Funds, LLC, Anfield Capital Management, LLC, nor MarketGrader guarantee the accuracy and/or the completeness of the Index or any data included therein, and neither Regents Park Funds, LLC, Anfield Capital Management, LLC, nor MarketGrader shall have any liability for any errors, omissions or interruptions therein. Neither Regents Park Funds, LLC, Anfield Capital Management, LLC, nor MarketGrader make any warranty, express or implied, as to results to be obtained by the Fund, owners of the shares of the Fund or any other person or entity from the use of the Index, trading based on the Index, or any data included therein, either in connection with the Fund or for any other use. Neither Regents Park Funds, LLC, Anfield Capital Management, LLC, nor MarketGrader makes any express or implied warranties, and expressly disclaim all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use with respect to the Index or any data included therein. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall either Regents Park Funds, LLC, Anfield Capital Management, LLC, or MarketGrader have any liability for any special, punitive, direct, indirect or consequential damages (including lost profits) arising out of matters relating to the use of the Index, even if notified of the possibility of such damages.

 

The Fund, the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser make no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of the Fund or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Fund in particular or the ability of the Index to track general stock market performance.

 

MarketGrader will not be liable for any errors or omissions in calculating the Index. The Fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by MarketGrader. MarketGrader does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of the Fund or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Fund particularly or the ability of the Index to track general market performance. MarketGrader’s only relationship to Regents Park Funds, LLC and Anfield Capital Management, LLC is the licensing of the Index, which is determined, composed and calculated by the Index Provider and Refinitiv Indices, as Index Calculation Agent, and the licensing of certain trademarks, service marks and trade names of MarketGrader. MarketGrader is not responsible for and has not participated in the determination of the prices and amount of the Fund or the timing of the issuance or sale of the Fund or in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the Fund may converted into cash or other redemption mechanics. MarketGrader (has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the Fund. MarketGrader is not an investment adviser. Inclusion of a security within the Index is not a recommendation by MarketGrader to buy, sell, or hold such security, nor is it investment advice. MARKETGRADER (DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ADEQUACY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS AND/OR THE COMPLETENESS OF THE INDEX OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO OR ANY COMMUNICATION WITH RESPECT THERETO, INCLUDING, ORAL, WRITTEN, OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS. MARKETGRADER SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO ANY DAMAGES OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR DELAYS THEREIN. MARKETGRADER MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE OR AS TO RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY ANFIELD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC, OWNERS OF THE FUND, OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FROM THE USE OF THE INDEX OR WITH RESPECT TO ANY DATA RELATED THERETO. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, IN NO EVENT WHATSOEVER SHALL MARKETGRADER BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF PROFITS, TRADING LOSSES, LOST TIME, OR GOODWILL, EVEN IF THEY HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE.

 

The MarketGrader Logo and “MarketGrader” are registered trademarks of MarketGrader.com Corp. or its affiliates. No purchaser, seller or holder of this product, or any other person or entity, should use or refer to any MarketGrader trade name, trademark or service mark to sponsor, endorse, market or promote this product without first contacting MarketGrader to determine whether MarketGrader’s permission is required. Under no circumstances may any person or entity claim any affiliation with MarketGrader without the prior written permission of MarketGrader.

 

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS 

 

Because the Fund has not commenced investment operations as of the date of this Prospectus, no financial highlights are available for the Fund at this time. In the future, financial highlights will be presented in this section of the Prospectus.

25 
 

PRIVACY NOTICE 

 

FACTS WHAT DOES TWO ROADS SHARED TRUST DO WITH YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Why?

Financial companies choose how they share your personal information.

Federal law gives consumers the right to limit some but not all sharing.

Federal law also requires us to tell you how we collect, share, and protect your personal information. Please read this notice carefully to understand what we do.

What?

THE TYPES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND SHARE DEPENDS ON THE PRODUCT OR SERVICE THAT YOU HAVE WITH US. THIS INFORMATION CAN INCLUDE:

  • Social Security number and income
  • Account transactions and transaction history
  • Investment experience and purchase history

When you are no longer our customer, we continue to share your information as described in this notice.

How? All financial companies need to share customers’ personal information to run their everyday business.  In the section below, we list the reasons financial companies can share their customers’ personal information; the reason Two Roads Shared Trust chooses to share and whether you can limit this sharing.

 

Reasons we can share your personal information Does Two Roads Shared Trust share? Can you limit this sharing?

For our everyday business purposes –

such as to process your transactions, maintain your account(s), respond to court orders and legal investigations, or report to credit bureaus

YES NO

For our marketing purposes –

to offer our products and services to you

NO We do not share
For joint marketing with other financial companies NO We do not share

For our affiliates’ everyday business purposes –

information about your transactions and experiences

NO We do not share

For our affiliates’ everyday business purposes –

information about your creditworthiness

NO We do not share
For our affiliates to market to you NO We do not share
For nonaffiliates to market to you NO We do not share
   
Questions? Call 1-631-490-4300
26 
 

What we do

How does Two Roads Shared Trust protect my personal information?

To protect your personal information from unauthorized access and use, we use security measures that comply with federal law.

 

These measures include computer safeguards and secured files and buildings.

 

Our service providers are held accountable for adhering to strict policies and procedures to prevent any misuse of your nonpublic personal information.

How does Two Roads Shared Trust collect my personal information?

We collect your personal information, for example, when you

  • open an account or give us contact information
  • provide account information or give us your income information
  • make deposits or withdrawals from your account

We also collect your personal information from other companies.

Why can’t I limit all sharing?

Federal law gives you the right to limit only

  • sharing for affiliates’ everyday business purposes – information about your creditworthiness
  • affiliates from using your information to market to you
  • sharing for nonaffiliates to market to you

State laws and individual companies may give you additional rights to limit sharing

 

 

Definitions

Affiliates

Companies related by common ownership or control. They can be financial and nonfinancial companies.

  • Two Roads Shared Trust has no affiliates.
Nonaffiliates

Companies not related by common ownership or control. They can be financial and nonfinancial companies.

  • Two Roads Shared Trust does not share with nonaffiliates so they can market to you.
Joint marketing

A formal agreement between nonaffiliates financial companies that together market financial products or services to you.

  • Two Roads Shared Trust does not jointly market.

 

27 
 

APEX HealthCare ETF

 

Adviser Regents Park Funds, LLC
4041 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 155
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Distributor Northern Lights Distributors, LLC
4221 North 203rd Street, Suite 100
Elkhorn, NE 68022
Sub-Adviser Anfield Capital Management, LLC,
4041 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 150
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Legal
Counsel
Blank Rome LLP
1271 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Custodian &
Transfer Agent
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
50 Post Office Square
Boston, MA 02110
Independent
Registered Public
Accounting Firm

RSM US LLP

555 17th Street, Suite 1200

Denver, CO 80202

Administrator Gemini Fund Services, LLC
4221 North 203
rd Street, Suite 100
Elkhorn, NE 68022
   

 

Additional information about the Fund is included in the Fund’s SAI dated August 17, 2021. The SAI is incorporated into this Prospectus by reference (i.e., legally made a part of this Prospectus). The SAI provides more details about the Fund’s policies and management. Additional information about the Fund’s investments will be available in the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In the Fund’s Annual Report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during the last fiscal year.

 

To obtain a free copy of the SAI and the annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders, when available, or other information about the Fund, or to make shareholder inquiries about the Fund, please call 1-866-866-4848. The Fund does not have a website; however information relating to the Fund can be found on the website at RegentsParkFunds.com. You may also write to:

 

APEX HealthCare ETF
c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC
P.O. Box 541150
Omaha, NE 68154

 

Reports and other information about the Funds are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of the information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following E-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.

 

 

Investment Company Act File # 811-22718

28 
 

 

APEX HealthCare ETF

 

APXH

 

a series of Two Roads Shared Trust

 

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

August 17, 2021

 

Listed and traded on:

Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus and should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus of the APEX HealthCare ETF (the “Fund”) dated August 17, 2021. The Fund’s Prospectus is hereby incorporated by reference, which means it is legally part of this document. You can obtain copies of the Fund’s Prospectus, annual or semi-annual reports without charge by contacting the Fund’s Distributor, Northern Lights Distributors, LLC, 4221 North 203rd Street, Ste. 100 Elkhorn, NE 68022-3474 or by calling 1-866-866-4848. You may also obtain a Prospectus by visiting the website at www.RegentsParkFunds.com.

 
 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

THE FUND 1
TYPES OF INVESTMENTS, STRATEGIES AND RELATED RISKS 2
INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS 28
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS 30
MANAGEMENT 31
CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS 36
INVESTMENT ADVISER AND SUB-ADVISER 36
THE DISTRIBUTOR 40
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS 41
ALLOCATION OF PORTFOLIO BROKERAGE 42
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER 43
OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS 43
DESCRIPTION OF SHARES 45
ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING PROGRAM 45
PURCHASE, REDEMPTION AND PRICING OF SHARES 46
TAX STATUS 74
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM 80
LEGAL COUNSEL 80
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 80
APPENDIX A – PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES A-1
APPENDIX B – DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES RATINGS
B-1
 

 

 
 

 

THE FUND

 

The Fund is a diversified series of Two Roads Shared Trust, a Delaware statutory trust organized on June 8, 2012 (the “Trust”). The Trust is registered as an open-end management investment company , currently consisting of twenty-three separate, active portfolios. The Trust is governed by its Board of Trustees (the “Board” or “Trustees”).

 

The Fund may issue an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest. All shares of the Fund have equal rights and privileges. Each share of the Fund is entitled to one vote on all matters as to which shares are entitled to vote. In addition, each share of the Fund is entitled to participate equally with other shares (i) in dividends and distributions declared by the Fund and (ii) on liquidation to its proportionate share of the assets remaining after satisfaction of outstanding liabilities. Shares of the Fund are fully paid, non-assessable and fully transferable when issued and have no pre-emptive, conversion or exchange rights. Fractional shares have proportionately the same rights, including voting rights, as are provided for a full share.

 

The Fund is a “diversified” series of the Trust, meaning the Fund is subject to the diversification requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), which generally limit investments, as to 75% of a fund’s total assets, to no more than 5% in securities in a single issuer and 10% of an issuer’s voting securities.

 

The Fund’s investment objective, restrictions and policies are more fully described here and in the Prospectus. The Board may start other series and offer shares of a new fund under the Trust at any time.

 

Under the Trust’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust, each Trustee will continue in office until the termination of the Trust or his/her earlier death, incapacity, resignation or removal. Shareholders can remove a Trustee to the extent provided by the 1940 Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. Vacancies may be filled by a majority of the remaining Trustees, except insofar as the 1940 Act may require the election by shareholders. As a result, normally no annual or regular meetings of shareholders will be held unless matters arise requiring a vote of shareholders under the Agreement and Declaration of Trust or the 1940 Act.

 

The Fund will issue and redeem Shares at net asset value (“NAV”) only in aggregations of 25,000 Shares (a “Creation Unit”). The Fund will issue and redeem Creation Units principally in exchange for an in-kind deposit of a basket of designated securities (the “Deposit Securities”), together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (the “Cash Component”), plus a transaction fee. The Fund is expected to be approved for listing, subject to notice of issuance, on CBOE BZX Exchange, Inc. (the “Exchange”). Shares will trade on the Exchange at market prices that may be below, at, or above NAV. In the event of the liquidation of the Fund, a share split, reverse split or the like, the Trust may revise the number of Shares in a Creation Unit.

 

The Fund reserves the right to offer creations and redemptions of Shares for cash. In addition, Shares may be issued in advance of receipt of Deposit Securities subject to various conditions, including a requirement to maintain on deposit with the Trust cash equal to up to 115% of the market value of the missing Deposit Securities. In each instance of such cash creations or redemptions, transaction fees, may be imposed and may be higher than the transaction fees associated with in-kind creations or redemptions. See PURCHASE, REDEMPTION AND PRICING OF SHARES below.

 

Exchange Listing and Trading

 

In order to provide additional information regarding the indicative value of Shares of the Fund, the Exchange or a market data vendor may disseminate every 15 seconds through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association or other widely disseminated means an updated “intraday indicative value” (“IIV”) for the Fund as calculated by an information provider or market data vendor. The Trust is not involved in or responsible for any aspect of the calculation or dissemination of the IIV and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the IIV.

1 
 

 

TYPES OF INVESTMENTS , STRATEGIES AND RELATED RISKS

 

The investment objective of the Fund and the description of the Fund’s principal investment strategies are set forth under “Investment Objective” and Principal Investment Strategies” in the Prospectus. The Fund’s investment objective is not fundamental and may be changed without the approval of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund.

 

The Fund has adopted a non-fundamental investment policy in accordance with Rule 35d-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities of healthcare companies included in the MarketGrader Global Health Care Leaders Index (the “MarketGrader Index” or the “Index”). The Fund will provide its shareholders with at least 60 days’ prior written notice of any change in such policy or change in the Index. For these purposes, “net assets” is measured at the time of purchase.

 

The following pages contain more detailed information about the types of instruments in which the Fund may invest directly or indirectly as a principal or non-principal investment strategy. These instruments include other strategies that Regents Park Funds, LLC (“Regents Park” or the “Adviser”) or Anfield Capital Management, LLC (“Anfield” or the “Sub-Adviser”) employ in pursuit of the Fund’s investment objective and a summary of related risks.

 

Securities of Other Investment Companies

 

Investments in exchange traded funds (“ETFs”) and mutual funds involve certain additional expenses and certain tax results, which would not be present in a direct investment in such funds. Due to legal limitations, the Fund will be prevented from: 1) purchasing more than 3% of an investment company’s (including ETFs) outstanding shares; 2) investing more than 5% of the Fund’s assets in any single such investment company, and 3) investing more than 10% of the Fund’s assets in investment companies overall; however if the underlying investment company and/or the Fund has received an order for exemptive relief from the SEC in connection with such purchases, the Fund may rely on such relief to make such purchases until January 19, 2022, so long as the underlying investment company and the Fund take appropriate steps to comply with any conditions in such order. In the alternative, the Fund may rely on Rule 12d1-3, which allows unaffiliated mutual funds to exceed the 5% limitation and the 10% limitation, provided the aggregate sales loads any investor pays (i.e., the combined distribution expenses of both the acquiring fund and the acquired fund) does not exceed the limits on sales loads established by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) for funds of funds. In addition to ETFs, the Fund may invest in other investment companies such as open-end mutual funds or exchange-traded funds, and closed-end funds within the limitations described above. Each investment company is subject to specific risks, depending on the nature of the Fund. ETFs and mutual funds may employ leverage, which magnifies the changes in the underlying stock or other index upon which they are based.

 

Open-End Investment Companies

 

Pursuant to recently enacted SEC rules, the Fund and any “affiliated persons,” as defined by the 1940 Act, must comply with certain conditions in order to purchase more than 3% in the aggregate of the total outstanding securities of any underlying fund , however, if the underlying investment company and/or the Fund has received an order for exemptive relief from the SEC in connection with such purchases, the Fund may rely on such relief to make such purchases until January 19, 2022, so long as the underlying investment company and the Fund take appropriate steps to comply with any conditions in such order. Accordingly, when affiliated persons hold shares of any of the underlying funds, the Fund’s ability to invest fully in shares of those funds is restricted, and the Adviser or Sub-Adviser must then, in some instances, select alternative investments that would not have been its first preference. The 1940 Act also provides that an underlying fund whose shares are purchased by the Fund will not be obligated to redeem shares held by the Fund in an amount exceeding 1% of the underlying fund’s outstanding securities during any period of less than 30 days. Shares held by the Fund in excess of 1% of an underlying fund’s

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outstanding securities therefore, will be considered not readily marketable securities, which, together with other such securities, may not exceed 15% of the Fund’s total assets.

 

Under certain circumstances an underlying fund may determine to make payment of a redemption by the Fund wholly or partly by a distribution in kind of securities from its portfolio, in lieu of cash, in conformity with the rules of the SEC. In such cases, the Fund may hold securities distributed by an underlying fund until the Adviser or Sub-Adviser determines that it is appropriate to dispose of such securities.

 

Investment decisions by the investment advisers of the underlying fund(s) are made independently of the Fund and its Adviser and Sub-Adviser. Therefore, the investment adviser of one underlying fund may be purchasing shares of the same issuer whose shares are being sold by the investment adviser or sub-adviser of another such fund. The result would be an indirect expense to the Fund without accomplishing any investment purpose.

 

Exchange Traded Funds

 

ETFs are generally passive funds that track their related index and have the flexibility of trading like a security. They are managed by professionals and typically provide the investor with diversification, cost and tax efficiency, liquidity, marginability, are useful for hedging, have the ability to go long and short, and some provide quarterly dividends. Additionally, some ETFs are unit investment trusts (“UITs”). ETFs typically have two markets. The primary market is where institutions swap “creation units” in block-multiples of, for example, 50,000 shares for in-kind securities and cash in the form of dividends. The secondary market is where individual investors can trade as little as a single share during trading hours on the exchange. This is different from open-ended mutual funds that are traded after hours once the net asset value (“NAV”) is calculated. ETFs share many similar risks with open-end and closed-end funds.

 

ETFs are shares issued by investment companies that are traded like traditional equity securities on a national stock exchange or the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations System (“NASDAQ”) National Market System. An investment in an ETF generally presents the same primary risks as an investment in a conventional fund (i.e., one that is not exchange traded) that has the same investment objectives, strategies, and policies. The price of an ETF can fluctuate within a wide range, and the Fund could lose money investing in an ETF if the prices of the securities owned by the ETF go down. In addition, ETFs are subject to the following risks that do not apply to conventional open-end mutual funds: (i) the market price of the ETF’s shares may trade at a discount to their net asset value; (ii) an active trading market for an ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained; or (iii) trading of an ETF’s shares may be halted if the listing exchange’s officials deem such action appropriate, the shares are de-listed from the exchange, or the activation of market-wide “circuit breakers” (which are tied to large decreases in stock prices) halts stock trading generally.

 

ETF shares are not individually redeemable from the ETF, except upon termination of the ETF. To redeem from the ETF, an investor must accumulate enough ETF shares to reconstitute a creation unit. Upon redemption of a creation unit, an investor will receive securities underlying the ETF and cash identical to the portfolio deposit required of an investor wishing to purchase a creation unit that day. The Fund may sell ETF shares through a broker dealer.

 

The price of an ETF’s shares is derived from and based upon the securities held by the ETF. Accordingly, the level of risk involved in the purchase or sale of an ETF is similar to the risk involved in the purchase or sale of traditional common stock, with the exception that the pricing mechanism for ETFs generally is based on a basket of stocks. Disruptions in the markets for the securities underlying ETFs purchased or sold by the Fund could result in losses on ETFs.

 

Adviser Risks

 

If the Adviser to the Fund manages more money in the future, including money raised in this offering, such additional funds could affect its performance or trading strategies. Also, the Adviser

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manages other accounts. This increases the competition for the same trades which the Fund makes. There is no assurance that the Fund’s trading will generate the same results as any other accounts managed by the Adviser.

 

Borrowing

 

While the Fund does not anticipate doing so, other than for cash management, the Fund may borrow money for investment purposes. Borrowing for investment purposes is one form of leverage. Leveraging investments, by purchasing securities with borrowed money, is a speculative technique that increases investment risk, but also increases investment opportunity. Because substantially all of the Fund’s assets will fluctuate in value, whereas the interest obligations on borrowings may be fixed, the NAV per share of the Fund will increase more when the Fund’s portfolio assets increase in value and decrease more when the Fund’s portfolio assets decrease in value than would otherwise be the case. Moreover, interest costs on borrowings may fluctuate with changing market rates of interest and may partially offset or exceed the returns on the borrowed funds. Under adverse conditions, the Fund might have to sell portfolio securities to meet interest or principal payments at a time when investment considerations would not favor such sales. The Fund may use leverage during periods when the Adviser believes that the Fund’s investment objective would be furthered.

 

The Fund may also borrow money to facilitate management of the Fund’s portfolio by enabling the Fund to meet redemption requests when the liquidation of portfolio instruments would be inconvenient or disadvantageous. Such borrowing is not for investment purposes and will be repaid by the Fund promptly. As required by the 1940 Act, the Fund must maintain continuous asset coverage (total assets, including assets acquired with borrowed funds, less liabilities exclusive of borrowings) of 300% of all amounts borrowed. If, at any time, the value of the Fund’s assets should fail to meet this 300% coverage test, the Fund, within three days (not including Sundays and holidays), will reduce the amount of the Fund’s borrowings to the extent necessary to meet this 300% coverage requirement. Maintenance of this percentage limitation may result in the sale of portfolio securities at a time when investment considerations otherwise indicate that it would be disadvantageous to do so.

 

In addition to the foregoing, the Fund is authorized to borrow money as a temporary measure for extraordinary or emergency purposes in amounts not in excess of 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets. Borrowings for extraordinary or emergency purposes are not subject to the foregoing 300% asset coverage requirement.

 

Certificates of Deposit and Bankers’ Acceptances

 

Certificates of deposit are receipts issued by a depository institution in exchange for the deposit of funds. The issuer agrees to pay the amount deposited plus interest to the bearer of the receipt on the date specified on the certificate. The certificate usually can be traded in the secondary market prior to maturity. Bankers’ acceptances typically arise from short-term credit arrangements designed to enable businesses to obtain funds to finance commercial transactions. Generally, an acceptance is a time draft drawn on a bank by an exporter or an importer to obtain a stated amount of funds to pay for specific merchandise. The draft is then “accepted” by a bank that, in effect, unconditionally guarantees to pay the face value of the instrument on its maturity date. The acceptance may then be held by the accepting bank as an earning asset or it may be sold in the secondary market at the going rate of discount for a specific maturity. Although maturities for acceptances can be as long as 270 days, most acceptances have maturities of six months or less.

 

Commercial Paper

 

Commercial paper consists of short-term (usually from 1 to 270 days) unsecured promissory notes issued by corporations in order to finance their current operations. See Appendix B for more information on ratings assigned to commercial paper. It may be secured by letters of credit, a surety bond or other forms of collateral. Commercial paper is usually repaid at maturity by the issuer from the proceeds of the issuance of new commercial paper. As a result, investment in commercial paper is subject to the risk the

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issuer cannot issue enough new commercial paper to satisfy its outstanding commercial paper, also known as rollover risk. Commercial paper may become illiquid or may suffer from reduced liquidity in certain circumstances. Like all fixed income securities, commercial paper prices are susceptible to fluctuations in interest rates. If interest rates rise, commercial paper prices will decline. The short-term nature of a commercial paper investment makes it less susceptible to interest rate risk than many other fixed income securities because interest rate risk typically increases as maturity lengths increase. Commercial paper tends to yield smaller returns than longer-term corporate debt because securities with shorter maturities typically have lower effective yields than those with longer maturities. As with all fixed income securities, there is a chance that the issuer will default on its commercial paper obligation.

 

Convertible Securities

 

Convertible securities include fixed income securities that may be exchanged or converted into a predetermined number of shares of the issuer’s underlying common stock at the option of the holder during a specified period. Convertible securities may take the form of convertible preferred stock, convertible bonds or debentures, units consisting of “usable” bonds and warrants or a combination of the features of several of these securities. Convertible securities are senior to common stocks in an issuer’s capital structure, but are usually subordinated to similar non-convertible securities. While providing a fixed-income stream (generally higher in yield than the income derivable from common stock but lower than that afforded by a similar nonconvertible security), a convertible security also gives an investor the opportunity, through its conversion feature, to participate in the capital appreciation of the issuing company depending upon a market price advance in the convertible security’s underlying common stock.

 

Cyber Security Risk

 

The Fund and its service providers may be prone to operational and information security risks resulting from breaches in cyber security. A breach in cyber security refers to both intentional and unintentional events that may cause the Fund to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption, or lose operational capacity. Breaches in cyber security include, among other behaviors, stealing or corrupting data maintained online or digitally, denial of service attacks on websites, the unauthorized release of confidential information or various other forms of cyber-attacks. Cyber security breaches affecting the Fund or its Adviser or Sub-Adviser, custodian, transfer agent, intermediaries and other third-party service providers may adversely impact the Fund. For instance, cyber security breaches may interfere with the processing of shareholders transactions, impact the Fund’s ability to calculate its NAVs, cause the release of private shareholder information or confidential business information, impede trading, subject the Fund to regulatory fines or financial losses and/or cause reputational damage. The Fund may also incur additional costs for cyber security risk management purposes. Similar types of cyber security risks are also present for issuers of securities in which the Fund may invest, which could result in material adverse consequences for such issuers and may cause the Fund’s investment in such companies to lose value.

 

Depositary Receipts

 

Sponsored and unsponsored American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), are receipts issued by an American bank or trust company evidencing ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign issuer. ADRs, in registered form, are designed for use in U.S. securities markets. Unsponsored ADRs may be created without the participation of the foreign issuer. Holders of these ADRs generally bear all the costs of the ADR facility, whereas foreign issuers typically bear certain costs in a sponsored ADR. The bank or trust company depositary of an unsponsored ADR may be under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications received from the foreign issuer or to pass through voting rights. Many of the risks described below regarding foreign securities apply to investments in ADRs.

 

Derivative Instruments

 

The Fund may purchase and write call and put options on securities, securities indices and foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, and enter into futures contracts and use options on futures contracts as further

5 
 

described below. The Fund may also enter into swap agreements with respect to foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, interest rates and securities indices. The Fund may use these techniques to hedge against changes in interest rates, foreign (non-U.S.) currency exchange rates or securities prices or to attempt to achieve investment returns as part of its overall investment strategies. The Fund may also purchase and sell options relating to foreign (non-U.S.) currencies for purposes of increasing exposure to a foreign (non-U.S.) currency or to shift exposure to foreign (non-U.S.) currency fluctuations from one country to another. The Fund will segregate or “earmark” assets determined to be liquid by the Adviser or Sub-Adviser in accordance with procedures established by the Board (or, as permitted by applicable regulation, enter into certain offsetting positions) to cover its obligations under options, futures, and swaps to avoid leveraging the portfolio of the Fund as described below.

 

The Fund considers derivative instruments to consist of securities or other instruments whose value is derived, at least in part, from or related to the price or value of another instrument or asset or the level of an index, such as the S&P Index, or indices, and not to include those securities whose payment of principal and/or interest depends upon cash flows from underlying assets, such as mortgage-related or asset-backed securities. The value of some derivative instruments in which the Fund invests may be particularly sensitive to changes in prevailing interest rates, and, like the other investments of the Fund, the ability of the Fund to successfully utilize these instruments may depend in part upon the ability of the Adviser or Sub-Adviser to correctly forecast interest rates and other economic factors. If the Adviser or Sub-Adviser incorrectly forecasts such factors and has taken positions in derivative instruments contrary to prevailing market trends, the Fund could be exposed to the risk of loss. In addition, while the use of derivatives for hedging purposes can reduce losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains, and hedges are sometimes subject to imperfect matching between the derivative and security it is hedging, which means that a hedge might not be effective. The Fund might not employ any of the strategies described above, and no assurance can be given that any strategy used will succeed. A decision as to whether, when and how to utilize derivative instruments involves skill and judgment, and even a well-conceived derivatives strategy may be unsuccessful. The use of derivative instruments involves brokerage fees and/or other transaction costs.

 

Investment in futures-related and commodity-linked derivatives may subject the Fund to additional risks, and in particular may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The value of futures-related and commodity-linked derivative instruments may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity index volatility, changes in interest rates or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity, such as drought, floods, weather, livestock disease, embargoes, tariffs, and international economic, political and regulatory developments. In order to qualify for the special tax treatment available to regulated investment companies under the Code, the Fund must, among other things, derive at least 90% of its gross income each taxable year from certain specified types of investments. It is currently unclear which types of commodities-linked derivatives fall within these specified investment types. As a result, if the Fund’s investment in commodities-linked derivatives were to exceed a certain threshold, the Fund could fail to qualify for the special tax treatment available to regulated investment companies under the Code.

 

Regulatory Risks of Derivative Use

 

The U.S. government has enacted legislation that provides for new regulation of the derivatives market. The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has recently adopted a new rule relating to a registered investment company’s use of derivatives and related instruments that will require the Fund to observe more stringent asset coverage and related requirements than previously imposed by the 1940 Act, which could adversely affect the value or performance of the Fund. The European Union (and some other countries) are implementing similar requirements, which will affect the Fund when it enters into a derivatives transaction with a counterparty organized in that country or otherwise subject to that country’s derivatives regulations. Because these regulations are new and evolving (and some of the rules are not yet final), their impact remains unclear. These regulations could limit or impact the Fund’s ability to invest in derivatives and other instruments, limit the Fund’s ability to employ certain strategies that use derivatives and adversely affect the Fund’s performance, efficiency in implementing its strategy, liquidity and ability to pursue its investment objectives.

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Effective 2013, the CFTC rules require advisers to certain registered investment companies to register with the CFTC as commodity pool operators (“CPO”) if their investment companies are unable to meet certain trading and marketing limitations. The Fund’s Adviser has claimed relief from registration as a CPO. However, it is possible that the Adviser may be required to register as a CPO in the future and comply with any applicable reporting, disclosure or other regulatory requirements. Compliance with CFTC regulatory requirements will increase Fund expenses. Other potentially adverse regulatory initiatives could also develop.

 

It is also possible that additional government regulation of various types of derivative instruments, including futures, options and swap agreements, may limit or prevent the Fund from using such instruments as a part of its investment strategy, and could ultimately prevent the Fund from being able to achieve its investment objective. It is impossible to fully predict the effects of past, present or future legislation and regulation in this area, but the effects could be substantial and adverse. It is possible that legislative and regulatory activity could limit or restrict the ability of the Fund to use certain instruments as a part of its investment strategy. Limits or restrictions applicable to the counterparties with which the Fund may engage in derivative transactions could also prevent the Fund from using certain instruments.

 

There is a possibility of future regulatory changes altering, perhaps to a material extent, the nature of an investment in the Fund or the ability of the Fund to continue to implement its investment strategy. The futures, options and swaps markets are subject to comprehensive statutes, regulations, and margin requirements. In addition, the SEC, CFTC and the exchanges are authorized to take extraordinary actions in the event of a market emergency, including, for example, the implementation or reduction of speculative position limits, the implementation of higher margin requirements, the establishment of daily price limits and the suspension of trading. The regulation of futures, options and swaps transactions in the U.S. is a rapidly changing area of law and is subject to modification by government and judicial action.

 

In 2010, the U.S. government enacted legislation that provides for new regulation of the derivatives market, including clearing, margin, reporting and registration requirements. The CFTC and certain futures exchanges have also established limits, referred to as “position limits,” on the maximum net long or net short positions which any person may hold or control in particular options and futures contracts. All positions owned or controlled by the same person or entity, even if in different accounts, may be aggregated for purposes of determining whether the applicable position limits have been exceeded. Thus, even if the Fund does not intend to exceed applicable position limits, it is possible that different clients managed by the Adviser and its affiliates may be aggregated for this purpose. The trading decisions of the Adviser or Sub-Adviser may have to be modified and positions held by the Fund may have to be liquidated in order to avoid exceeding such limits. The modification of investment decisions or the elimination of open positions, if it occurs, may adversely affect the profitability of the Fund.

 

The SEC has in the past adopted interim rules requiring reporting of all short positions on securities above a certain de minimis threshold and may rules requiring monthly and/or enhanced public disclosure in the future. In addition, other non-U.S. jurisdictions where the Fund may trade have adopted reporting requirements. If the Fund’s securities short positions or its strategy become generally known, it could have a significant effect on the Adviser’s or Sub-Adviser’s ability to implement its investment strategy. In particular, it would make it more likely that other investors could cause a “short squeeze” in the securities held short by the Fund forcing the Fund to cover its positions at a loss. Such reporting requirements may also limit the Adviser’s or Sub-Adviser’s ability to access management and other personnel at certain companies where the Adviser or Sub-Adviser seeks to take a short position. In addition, if other investors engage in copycat behavior by taking positions in the same issuers as the Fund, the cost of borrowing securities to sell short could increase drastically and the availability of such securities to the Fund could decrease drastically. Such events could make the Fund unable to execute its investment strategy. In addition, the SEC recently proposed additional restrictions on short sales. If the SEC were to adopt additional restrictions regarding short sales, they could restrict the Fund’s ability to engage in short sales of securities in certain circumstances, and the Fund may be unable to execute its investment strategy as a result.

 

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The SEC and regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions may adopt (and in certain cases, have adopted) bans on short sales of certain securities in response to market events. Bans on short selling may make it impossible for the Fund to execute certain investment strategies and may have a material adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to generate returns.

 

Equity Securities

 

Equity securities include common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into common stocks, such as convertible bonds, warrants, rights and options. The value of equity securities varies in response to many factors, including the activities and financial condition of individual companies, the business market in which individual companies compete and general market and economic conditions. Equity securities fluctuate in value, often based on factors unrelated to the value of the issuer of the securities, and such fluctuations can be significant.

 

Common Stock

 

Common stock represents an equity (ownership) interest in a company, and usually possesses voting rights and earns dividends. Dividends on common stock are not fixed but are declared at the discretion of the issuer. Common stock generally represents the riskiest investment in a company. In addition, common stock generally has the greatest appreciation and depreciation potential because increases and decreases in earnings are usually reflected in a company’s stock price.

 

Preferred Stock

 

Preferred stock is a class of stock having a preference over common stock as to the payment of dividends and the recovery of investment should a company be liquidated, although preferred stock is usually junior to the debt securities of the issuer. Preferred stock typically does not possess voting rights and its market value may change based on changes in interest rates.

 

The Fundamental risk of investing in common and preferred stock is the risk that the value of the stock might decrease. Stock values fluctuate in response to the activities of an individual company or in response to general market and/or economic conditions. Historically, common stocks have provided greater long-term returns and have entailed greater short-term risks than preferred stocks, fixed-income securities and money market investments. The market value of all securities, including common and preferred stocks, is based upon the market’s perception of value and not necessarily the book value of an issuer or other objective measures of a company’s worth.

 

Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investments – General

 

Investment in foreign securities involves special risks. These include market risk, interest rate risk and the risks of investing in securities of foreign issuers and of companies whose securities are principally traded outside the United States on foreign exchanges or foreign over-the-counter markets and in investments denominated in foreign currencies. Market risk involves the possibility that security prices will decline over short or even extended periods. The markets tend to be cyclical, with periods of generally rising prices and periods of generally declining prices. These cycles will affect the value of the Fund to the extent that it invests in foreign securities. The holdings of the Fund, to the extent that it invests in fixed-income securities, will be sensitive to changes in interest rates and the interest rate environment. Generally, the prices of bonds and debt securities fluctuate inversely with interest rate changes. In addition, the performance of investments in securities denominated in a foreign currency will depend on the strength of the foreign currency against the U.S. dollar and the interest rate environment in the country issuing the currency. Absent other events which could otherwise affect the value of a foreign security (such as a change in the political climate or an issuer’s credit quality), appreciation in the value of the foreign currency generally can be expected to increase the value of a foreign currency-denominated security in terms of U.S. dollars. A rise in foreign interest rates or decline in the value of the foreign currency relative to the U.S. dollar generally can be expected to depress the value of a foreign currency-denominated security.

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There are other risks and costs involved in investing in foreign securities which are in addition to the usual risks inherent in domestic investments. Investment in foreign securities involves higher costs than investment in U.S. securities, including higher transaction and custody costs as well as the imposition of additional taxes by foreign governments. Foreign investments also involve risks associated with the level of currency exchange rates, less complete financial information about the issuers, less market liquidity, more market volatility and political instability. Future political and economic developments, the possible imposition of withholding taxes on dividend income, the possible seizure or nationalization of foreign holdings, the possible establishment of exchange controls, or the adoption of other governmental restrictions might adversely affect an investment in foreign securities. Additionally, foreign banks and foreign branches of domestic banks are subject to less stringent reserve requirements, and to different accounting, auditing and recordkeeping requirements. Also, the legal remedies for investors may be more limited than the remedies available in the United States. Additionally, many countries throughout the world are dependent on a healthy U.S. economy and are adversely affected when the U.S. economy weakens or its markets decline. For example, the decline in the U.S. subprime mortgage market quickly spread throughout global credit markets, triggering a liquidity crisis that affected fixed-income and equity markets around the world.

 

European countries can be affected by the significant fiscal and monetary controls that the European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU”) imposes for membership. Europe’s economies are diverse, its governments are decentralized, and its cultures vary widely. Several European Union (“EU”) countries, including Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal, have faced budget issues, some of which may have negative long-term effects for the economies of those countries and other EU countries. There is continued concern about national-level support for the euro and the accompanying coordination of fiscal and wage policy among EMU member countries. Member countries are required to maintain tight control over inflation, public debt, and budget deficit to qualify for membership in the EMU. These requirements can severely limit the ability of EMU member countries to implement monetary policy to address regional economic conditions.

 

The United Kingdom (the “UK”) withdrew from the EU on January 31, 2020. It is unclear what the potential consequences may be. In addition, it is possible that measures could be taken to revote the issue of the withdrawal, or that regions of the UK could seek to separate and remain a part of the EU. As a result of the scheduled withdrawal, the Fund may be exposed to volatile trading markets and significant and unpredictable currency fluctuations over a short period of time, and potentially lower economic growth in the UK, Europe and globally. Securities issued by companies domiciled in the UK could be subject to changing regulatory and tax regimes. Banking and financial services companies that operate in the UK or EU could be disproportionately impacted by these actions. Further insecurity in EU membership or the abandonment of the euro could exacerbate market and currency volatility and negatively impact the Fund’s investments in securities issued by companies located in EU countries. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching.

 

Many non-governmental issuers, and even certain governments, have defaulted on, or been forced to restructure, their debts; many other issuers have faced difficulties obtaining credit or refinancing existing obligations; financial institutions have in many cases required government or central bank support, have needed to raise capital, and/or have been impaired in their ability to extend credit; and financial markets in Europe and elsewhere have experienced extreme volatility and declines in asset values and liquidity. These difficulties may continue, worsen or spread within and without Europe. Responses to the financial problems by European governments, central banks and others, including austerity measures and reforms, may not work, may result in social unrest and may limit future growth and economic recovery or have other unintended consequences. Further defaults or restructurings by governments and others of their debt could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets and asset valuations around the world. In addition, one or more countries may abandon the euro, the common currency of the European Union, and/or withdraw from the European Union. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching.

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To the extent consistent with its investment objectives and strategies, the Fund may invest in foreign debt, including the securities of foreign governments. Several risks exist concerning such investments, including the risk that foreign governments may default on their obligations, may not respect the integrity of such debt, may attempt to renegotiate the debt at a lower rate, and may not honor investments by U.S. entities or citizens.

 

Although the Fund may invest in securities denominated in foreign currencies, its portfolio securities and other assets are valued in U.S. dollars. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time causing, together with other factors, the Fund’s NAV to fluctuate as well. Currency exchange rates can be affected unpredictably by the intervention or the failure to intervene by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks, or by currency controls or political developments in the United States or abroad. To the extent that the Fund’s total assets, adjusted to reflect the Fund’s net position after giving effect to currency transactions, are denominated in the currencies of foreign countries, the Fund will be more susceptible to the risk of adverse economic and political developments within those countries.

 

Dividends and interest payable on the Fund’s foreign portfolio securities may be subject to foreign withholding taxes. To the extent such taxes are not offset by credits or deductions allowed to investors under U.S. federal income tax law, they may reduce the net return to the shareholders.

 

The Fund’s income and, in some cases, capital gains from foreign stocks and securities will be subject to applicable taxation in certain of the countries in which it invests, and treaties between the United States and such countries may not be available in some cases to reduce the otherwise applicable tax rates.

 

The Fund also is subject to the possible imposition of exchange control regulations or freezes on the convertibility of currency. In addition, the use of forward currency exchange contracts with other instruments may expose them to risks independent of their securities positions. Although the net long and short foreign currency exposure of the Fund will not exceed its total asset values, to the extent that the Fund is fully invested in foreign securities while also maintaining currency positions, it may be exposed to greater risk than it would have if it did not maintain the currency positions.

 

The Fund’s foreign securities are generally held outside the United States in the primary market for the securities in the custody of certain eligible foreign banks and trust companies, as permitted under the 1940 Act (“foreign sub-custodians”). Settlement practices for foreign securities may differ from those in the United States. Some countries have limited governmental oversight and regulation of industry practices, stock exchanges, depositories, registrars, brokers and listed companies, which increases the risk of corruption and fraud and the possibility of losses to the Fund. In particular, under certain circumstances, foreign securities may settle on a delayed delivery basis, meaning that the Fund may be required to make payment for securities before the Fund has actually received delivery of the securities or deliver securities prior to the receipt of payment. Typically, in these cases, the Fund will receive evidence of ownership in accordance with the generally accepted settlement practices in the local market entitling the Fund to deliver payment at a future date, but there is a risk that the security will not be delivered to the Fund or that payment will not be received, although the Fund and its foreign sub-custodians take reasonable precautions to mitigate this risk.

 

Foreign markets also have different clearance and settlement procedures, and in certain markets there have been times when settlements have been unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions, making it difficult to conduct such transactions. Such delays in settlement could result in temporary periods when a portion of the assets of the Fund remain uninvested and no return is earned on such assets. The inability of the Fund to make intended security purchases or sales due to settlement problems could result in missed attractive investment opportunities, losses to the Fund due to subsequent declines in value of the portfolio securities or, if the Fund has entered into a contract to sell the securities, possible liability to the purchaser. Losses can also result from lost, stolen or counterfeit securities;

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defaults by brokers and banks; failures or defects of the settlement system; or poor and improper record keeping by registrars and issuers.

 

Share blocking refers to a practice in certain foreign markets under which an issuer’s securities are blocked from trading at the custodian or sub-custodian level for a specified number of days before and, in certain instances, after a shareholder meeting where a vote of shareholders takes place. The blocking period can last up to several weeks. Share blocking may prevent the Fund from buying or selling securities during this period, because during the time shares are blocked, trades in such securities will not settle. It may be difficult or impossible to lift blocking restrictions, with the particular requirements varying widely by country.

 

The Fund may invest a significant percentage of its assets in the securities of issuers located in geographic regions with securities markets that are highly developed, liquid and subject to extensive regulation, including Japan. Japan’s economy has historically lagged that of its Asian neighbors and other major developed economies and it has experienced lengthy periods of recession and deterioration of its competitiveness. Although Japan has attempted to reform its political process and deregulate its economy to address the situation, there is no guarantee that these efforts will succeed.

 

Japan’s economy is heavily dependent upon international trade, and is especially sensitive to trade barriers and disputes. Domestic or foreign trade sanctions or other protectionist measures may also adversely impact Japan’s economy. In particular, Japan relies on large imports of agricultural products, raw materials and fuels. Japan also remains heavily dependent on oil imports, and a substantial rise in commodity prices, or a fall-off in Japan’s manufactured exports, may affect Japan’s economy adversely. Additionally, slowdowns in the economies of key trading partners such as the United States, China and countries in Southeast Asia could have a negative impact on the Japanese economy.

 

Furthermore, Japan has an aging workforce. It is a labor market undergoing fundamental structural changes, as traditional lifetime employment clashes with the need for increased labor mobility, which may adversely affect Japan’s economic competitiveness.

 

The Japanese yen has fluctuated widely at times and any increase in its value may cause a decline in exports that could weaken the economy. The Japanese yen may also be affected by currency volatility elsewhere in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia. The Japanese securities markets are less regulated than the U.S. markets. Evidence has emerged from time to time of distortion of market prices to serve political or other purposes. Shareholders’ rights also are not always enforced.

 

Japan has had territorial disputes and/or defense issues with China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, among others. In the past several years, Japan’s relationship with North Korea has been especially strained because of increased nuclear and military activity by North Korea. Japan’s disputes with neighboring countries have the potential to cause uncertainty in the Japanese markets and affect the overall Japanese economy in times of crisis.

 

Japan is located in a part of the world that has historically been prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis and is economically sensitive to environmental events. Any such event could result in a significant adverse impact on the Japanese economy.

 

Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investments – Emerging Markets

 

The Fund, to the extent permitted by its investment objectives and strategies, may also invest in countries with emerging economies or securities markets. Emerging market countries are generally located in the Asia and Pacific regions, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Central America, South America and Africa. Political and economic structures in many of these countries may be undergoing significant evolution and rapid development, and these countries may lack the social, political and economic stability characteristics of more developed countries.

 

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In general, the securities markets of emerging countries are less liquid, subject to greater price volatility and have a smaller market capitalization than the U.S. securities markets. In certain countries, there may be fewer publicly traded securities and the market may be dominated by a few issues or sectors. Issuers and securities markets in such countries are not subject to as extensive and frequent accounting, financial and other reporting requirements or as comprehensive government regulations as are issuers and securities markets in the United States. In particular, the assets and profits appearing on the financial statements of emerging country issuers may not reflect their financial position or results of operations in the same manner as financial statements for U.S. issuers. Substantially less information may be publicly available about emerging country issuers than is available about issuers in the United States.

 

Emerging country securities markets are typically marked by a high concentration of market capitalization and trading volume in a small number of issuers representing a limited number of industries, as well as a high concentration of ownership of such securities by a limited number of investors. The markets for securities in certain emerging countries are in the earliest stages of their development. Even the markets for relatively widely traded securities in emerging countries may not be able to absorb, without price disruptions, a significant increase in trading volume or trades of a size customarily undertaken by institutional investors in the securities markets of developed countries. The limited size of many of these securities markets can cause prices to be erratic for reasons apart from factors that affect the soundness and competitiveness of the securities issuers. For example, prices may be unduly influenced by traders who control large positions in these markets. Additionally, market making and arbitrage activities are generally less extensive in such markets, which may contribute to increased volatility and reduced liquidity of such markets. The limited liquidity of emerging country securities may also affect the Fund’s ability to accurately value its portfolio securities or to acquire or dispose of securities at the price and time it wishes to do so or in order to meet redemption requests.

 

Certain emerging market countries may have antiquated legal systems, which may adversely impact the Fund. For example, while the potential liability of a shareholder in a U.S. corporation with respect to acts of the corporation is generally limited to the amount of the shareholder’s investment, the notion of limited liability is less clear in certain emerging market countries. Similarly, the rights of investors in emerging market companies may be more limited than those of shareholders in U.S. corporations. In addition, the systems of corporate governance to which issuers in certain emerging countries are subject may be less advanced than the systems to which issuers located in more developed countries are subject, and therefore, shareholders of such issuers may not receive many of the protections available to shareholders of issuers located in more developed countries.

 

Because of the recent formation of the Russian securities markets, the underdeveloped state of Russia’s banking and telecommunication system and the legal and regulatory framework in Russia, settlement, clearing and registration of securities transactions are subject to additional risks. Prior to 2013, there was no central registration system for equity share registration in Russia and registration was carried out either by the issuers themselves or by registrars located throughout Russia. These registrars may not have been subject to effective state supervision or licensed with any governmental entity. In 2013, Russia established the National Settlement Depository (“NSD”) as a recognized central securities depository, and title to Russian equities is now based on the records of the NSD and not on the records of local registrars. The implementation of the NSD is generally expected to decrease the risk of loss in connection with recording and transferring title to securities; however, loss may still occur. Additionally, issuers and registrars remain prominent in the validation and approval of documentation requirements for corporate action processing in Russia, and there remain inconsistent market standards in the Russian market with respect to the completion and submission of corporate action elections. To the extent that the Fund suffers a loss relating to title or corporate actions relating to its portfolio securities, it may be difficult for the Fund to enforce its rights or otherwise remedy the loss. In addition, Russia also may attempt to assert its influence in the region through economic or even military measures, as it did with Georgia in the summer of 2008 and the Ukraine in 2014. Such measures may have an adverse effect on the Russian economy, which may, in turn negatively impact the Fund.

 

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The United States, the EU and other countries have imposed economic sanctions on certain Russian individuals and Russian corporations. Additional broader sanctions may be imposed in the future. These sanctions, or even the threat of further sanctions, may result in the decline of the value and liquidity of Russian securities, a weakening of the ruble or other adverse consequences to the Russian economy. These sanctions could also result in the immediate freeze of Russian securities, impairing the ability of the Fund to buy, sell, receive or deliver those securities. Sanctions could also result in Russia taking counter measures or retaliatory actions, which may further impair the value and liquidity of Russian securities.

 

The sanctions against certain Russian issuers include prohibitions on transacting in or dealing in new debt of longer than 30 or 90 days maturity or new equity of such issuers. Securities held by the Fund issued prior to the date of the sanctions being imposed are not currently subject to any restrictions under the sanctions. However, compliance with each of these sanctions may impair the ability of the Fund to buy, sell, hold, receive or deliver the affected securities or other securities of such issuers. If it becomes impracticable or unlawful for the Fund to hold securities subject to, or otherwise affected by, sanctions (collectively, “affected securities”), or if deemed appropriate by the Fund’s investment adviser, the Fund may prohibit in-kind deposits of the affected securities in connection with creation transactions and instead require a cash deposit, which may also increase the Fund’s transaction costs.

 

Current or future sanctions may result in Russia taking counter measures or retaliatory actions, which may further impair the value and liquidity of Russian securities. These retaliatory measures may include the immediate freeze of Russian assets held by the Fund. In the event of such a freeze of any Fund assets, including depositary receipts, the Fund may need to liquidate non-restricted assets in order to satisfy any Fund redemption orders. The liquidation of Fund assets during this time may also result in the Fund receiving substantially lower prices for its securities.

 

Transaction costs, including brokerage commissions or dealer mark-ups, in emerging countries may be higher than in developed securities markets. In addition, existing laws and regulations are often inconsistently applied. As legal systems in emerging countries develop, foreign investors may be adversely affected by new or amended laws and regulations. In circumstances where adequate laws exist, it may not be possible to obtain swift and equitable enforcement of the law.

 

Certain emerging countries may restrict or control foreign investments in their securities markets. These restrictions may limit the Fund’s investment in those countries and may increase the expenses of the Fund. Certain emerging countries require governmental approval prior to investments by foreign persons or limit investment by foreign persons to only a specified percentage of an issuer’s outstanding securities or a specific class of securities which may have less advantageous terms (including price) than securities of the company available for purchase by nationals. In addition, the repatriation of both investment income and capital from emerging countries may be subject to restrictions which require governmental consents or prohibit repatriation entirely for a period of time. Even where there is no outright restriction on repatriation of capital, the mechanics of repatriation may affect certain aspects of the operation of the Fund. Custodial and/or settlement systems in emerging countries may not be fully developed. To the extent the Fund invests in emerging countries, Fund assets that are traded in such markets and which have been entrusted to sub-custodians in these markets may be exposed to risks for which the sub-custodian will have no liability.

 

Emerging countries may be subject to a substantially greater degree of economic, political and social instability and disruption than more developed countries. This instability may result from, among other things, the following: (i) authoritarian governments or military involvement in political and economic decision making, including changes or attempted changes in governments through extra-constitutional means; (ii) social unrest associated with demands for improved political, economic or social conditions; (iii) internal insurgencies; (iv) hostile relations with neighboring countries; (v) ethnic, religious and racial disaffection or conflict; and (vi) the absence of developed legal structures governing foreign private investments and private property. Such economic, political and social instability could disrupt the principal financial markets in which the Fund may invest and adversely affect the value of the Fund’s assets. The

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Fund’s investments can also be adversely affected by any increase in taxes or by political, economic or diplomatic developments.

 

The Fund may invest in former “east bloc” countries in Eastern Europe. Most Eastern European countries had a centrally planned, socialist economy for a substantial period of time. The governments of many Eastern European countries have more recently been implementing reforms directed at political and economic liberalization, including efforts to decentralize the economic decision-making process and move towards a market economy. However, business entities in many Eastern European countries do not have an extended history of operating in a market-oriented economy, and the ultimate impact of Eastern European countries’ attempts to move toward more market-oriented economies is currently unclear. In addition, any change in the leadership or policies of Eastern European countries may halt the expansion of or reverse the liberalization of foreign investment policies now occurring and adversely affect existing investment opportunities.

 

Investment exposure to China subjects the Fund to risks specific to China. China may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability. China is a developing market and demonstrates significantly higher volatility from time to time in comparison to developed markets. The Chinese government has undertaken reform of economic and market practices and expansion of the sphere for private ownership of property in China. However, Chinese markets generally continue to experience inefficiency, volatility and pricing anomalies resulting from governmental influence, a lack of publicly available information and/or political and social instability. Internal social unrest or confrontations with other neighboring countries, including military conflicts in response to such events, may also disrupt economic development in China and result in a greater risk of currency fluctuations, currency convertibility, interest rate fluctuations and higher rates of inflation. Export growth continues to be a major driver of China’s rapid economic growth. Reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, institution of tariffs or other trade barriers, or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy.

 

A significant portion of the Fund may also be invested in issuers located in Central and South American countries. Securities markets in Central and South American countries may experience greater volatility than in other emerging countries. In addition, a number of Central and South American countries are among the largest emerging country debtors. There have been moratoria on, and reschedulings of, repayment with respect to these debts. Such events can restrict the flexibility of these debtor nations in the international markets and result in the imposition of onerous conditions on their economies.

 

Many of the currencies of Central and South American countries have experienced steady devaluation relative to the U.S. dollar, and major devaluations have historically occurred in certain countries. Any devaluations in the currencies in which the Fund’s portfolio securities are denominated may have a detrimental impact on the Fund. There is also a risk that certain Central and South American countries may restrict the free conversion of their currencies into other currencies. Some Central and South American countries may have managed currencies that are not free floating against the U.S. Dollar. This type of system can lead to sudden and large adjustments in the currency that, in turn, can have a disruptive and negative effect on foreign investors. Certain Central and South American currencies may not be internationally traded and it would be difficult for the Fund to engage in foreign currency transactions designed to protect the value of the Fund’s interests in securities denominated in such currencies.

 

The emergence of the Central and South American economies and securities markets will require continued economic and fiscal discipline that has been lacking at times in the past, as well as stable political and social conditions. Governments of many Central and South American countries have exercised and continue to exercise substantial influence over many aspects of the private sector. The political history of certain Central and South American countries has been characterized by political uncertainty, intervention by the military in civilian and economic spheres and political corruption. Such developments, if they were to recur, could reverse favorable trends toward market and economic reform, privatization and removal of trade barriers.

 

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International economic conditions, particularly those in the United States, as well as world prices for oil and other commodities may also influence the recovery of the Central and South American economies. Because commodities such as oil, gas, minerals and metals represent a significant percentage of the region’s exports, the economies of Central and South American countries are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in commodity prices. As a result, the economies in many of these countries can experience significant volatility.

 

Certain Central and South American countries have entered into regional trade agreements that would, among other things, reduce barriers among countries, increase competition among companies and reduce government subsidies in certain industries. No assurance can be given that these changes will result in the economic stability intended. There is a possibility that these trade arrangements will not be implemented, will be implemented but not completed or will be completed but then partially or completely unwound. It is also possible that a significant participant could choose to abandon a trade agreement, which could diminish its credibility and influence. Any of these occurrences could have adverse effects on the markets of both participating and non-participating countries, including share appreciation or depreciation of participant’s national currencies and a significant increase in exchange rate volatility, a resurgence in economic protectionism, an undermining of confidence in the Central and South American markets, an undermining of Central and South American economic stability, the collapse or slowdown of the drive toward Central and South American economic unity, and/or reversion of the attempts to lower government debt and inflation rates that were introduced in anticipation of such trade agreements. Such developments could have an adverse impact on the Fund’s investments in Central and South America generally or in specific countries participating in such trade agreements.

 

The economies of emerging countries may suffer from unfavorable growth of gross domestic product, rates of inflation and hyperinflation, capital reinvestment, resources, self-sufficiency and balance of payments. Many emerging countries have experienced in the past, and continue to experience, high rates of inflation. In certain countries inflation has at times accelerated rapidly to hyperinflationary levels, creating a negative interest rate environment and sharply eroding the value of outstanding financial assets in those countries. Other emerging countries, on the other hand, have recently experienced deflationary pressures and are in economic recessions. The economies of many emerging countries are heavily dependent upon international trade and are accordingly affected by protective trade barriers and the economic conditions of their trading partners. In addition, the economies of some emerging countries are vulnerable to weakness in world prices for their commodity exports.

 

Risks related to currencies and corporate actions are also greater in emerging countries than in developed countries. For example, some emerging countries may have fixed or managed currencies that are not free-floating against the U.S. dollar. Certain emerging countries may experience sudden and large adjustments in their currency, which can have a disruptive and adverse effect on foreign investors. Some emerging countries have a higher risk of currency devaluations, and some of these countries may experience sustained periods of high inflation or rapid changes in inflation rates which can have negative effects on a country’s economy and securities markets. Some emerging countries may impose restrictions on the free conversion of their currencies into foreign currencies, including the U.S. dollar. Corporate action procedures in emerging countries may be less reliable and have limited or no involvement by the depositories and central banks. Lack of standard practices and payment systems can lead to significant delays in payment.

 

Illiquid and Restricted Securities

 

Pursuant to Rule 22e-4 under the 1940 Act, the Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments. An illiquid investment is an investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions within 7 calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment. Illiquid investments include securities that are illiquid by virtue of the absence of a readily available market (e.g., because trading in the security is suspended or because market makers do not exist or will not entertain bids or offers) or legal or contractual restrictions on resale (e.g., because they have not been registered under the Securities Act). Illiquid investments include: repurchase agreements and time deposits with a notice or

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demand period of more than seven days; interest rate; currency, mortgage and credit default swaps; interest rate caps; floors and collars; municipal leases; certain restricted securities, such as those purchased in a private placement of securities, unless it is determined, based upon a review of the trading markets for a specific restricted security, that such restricted security is liquid; and certain over-the-counter (“OTC”) options and cover for OTC options. Securities that have legal or contractual restrictions on resale but have a readily available market are not considered illiquid for purposes of this limitation. With respect to the Fund, repurchase agreements subject to demand are deemed to have a maturity equal to the notice period. Foreign (non-U.S.) securities that are freely tradable in their principal markets are not considered to be illiquid. To the extent an investment held by the Fund is deemed to be an illiquid investment or a less liquid investment, the Fund will be exposed to a greater liquidity risk.

 

Restricted and other illiquid securities may be subject to the potential for delays on resale and uncertainty in valuation. The Fund might be unable to dispose of illiquid securities promptly or at reasonable prices and might thereby experience difficulty in satisfying redemption requests from shareholders. The Fund might have to register restricted securities in order to dispose of them, resulting in additional expense and delay. Adverse market conditions could impede such a public offering of securities.

 

In October 2016, the SEC adopted a new liquidity risk management rule, Rule 22e-4 under the 1940 Act, requiring open-end funds, such as the Fund, to establish a liquidity risk management program and enhance disclosures regarding fund liquidity. As required by Rule 22e-4, the Trust has implemented a liquidity risk management program and related procedures to identify illiquid investments pursuant to Rule 22e-4. If the limitation on illiquid investments is exceeded, other than by a change in market values, the condition will be reported to the Board and, when required, to the SEC. The rule may impact the Fund’s performance and ability to achieve its investment objective.

 

A large institutional market exists for certain securities that are not registered under the Securities Act, including foreign securities. The fact that there are contractual or legal restrictions on resale to the general public or to certain institutions may not be indicative of the liquidity of such investments. Rule 144A under the Securities Act allows such a broader institutional trading market for securities otherwise subject to restrictions on resale to the general public. Rule 144A establishes a “safe harbor” from the registration requirements of the Securities Act for resale of certain securities to qualified institutional buyers. Rule 144A has produced enhanced liquidity for many restricted securities, and market liquidity for such securities may continue to expand as a result of this regulation and the consequent existence of the PORTAL system, which is an automated system for the trading, clearance and settlement of unregistered securities of domestic and foreign issuers sponsored by NASDAQ.

 

Under the current guidelines of the staff of the SEC, illiquid securities are also considered to include, among other securities, purchased over-the-counter (“OTC”) options, certain cover for OTC options, repurchase agreements with maturities in excess of seven days, and certain securities whose disposition is restricted under the federal securities laws.

 

Under guidelines adopted by the Trust’s Board, the Fund’s Adviser may determine that particular Rule 144A securities, and commercial paper issued in reliance on the private placement exemption from registration afforded by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act, are liquid even though they are not registered. A determination of whether such a security is liquid or not is a question of fact. In making this determination, the Adviser or Sub-Adviser will consider, as it deems appropriate under the circumstances and among other factors: (1) the frequency of trades and quotes for the security; (2) the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the security; (3) the number of other potential purchasers of the security; (4) dealer undertakings to make a market in the security; (5) the nature of the security (e.g., debt or equity, date of maturity, terms of dividend or interest payments, and other material terms) and the nature of the marketplace trades (e.g., the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers, and the mechanics of transfer); and (6) the rating of the security and the financial condition and prospects of the issuer. In the case of commercial paper, the Adviser or Sub-Adviser will also determine that the paper (1) is not traded flat or in default as to principal and interest, and (2) is rated in one of the two highest rating categories by at least two National Statistical Rating Organizations (“NRSROs”) or, if

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only one NRSRO rates the security, by that NRSRO, or, if the security is unrated, the Adviser determines that it is of equivalent quality.

 

Rule 144A securities and Section 4(a)(2) commercial paper that have been deemed liquid as described above will continue to be monitored by the Adviser or Sub-Adviser to determine if the security is no longer liquid as the result of changed conditions. Investing in Rule 144A securities or Section 4(a)(2) commercial paper could have the effect of increasing the amount of the Fund’s assets invested in illiquid securities if institutional buyers are unwilling to purchase such securities.

 

Insured Bank Obligations

 

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insures the deposits of federally insured banks and savings and loan associations (collectively referred to as “banks”), currently up to $250,000. The Fund may elect to purchase bank obligations which are fully insured as to principal by the FDIC. Currently, to remain fully insured as to principal, these investments must be limited to $250,000 per bank; if the principal amount and accrued interest together exceed $250,000, the excess principal and accrued interest will not be insured. Insured bank obligations may have limited marketability.

 

Lending Portfolio Securities

 

For the purpose of achieving income, the Fund may lend its portfolio securities, provided (1) the loan is secured continuously by collateral consisting of U.S. Government securities or cash or cash equivalents (cash, U.S. Government securities, negotiable certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances or letters of credit) maintained on a daily mark-to-market basis in an amount at least equal to the current market value of the securities loaned, (2) the Fund may at any time call the loan and obtain the return of securities loaned, (3) the Fund will receive any interest or dividends received on the loaned securities, and (4) the aggregate value of the securities loaned will not at any time exceed one-third of the total assets of the Fund.

 

As with other extensions of credit, there are risks that collateral could be inadequate in the event of the borrower failing financially, which could result in actual financial loss, and risks that recovery of loaned securities could be delayed, which could result in interference with portfolio management decisions or exercise of ownership rights. The Fund will be responsible for the risks associated with the investment of cash collateral, including the risk that the Fund may lose money on the investment or may fail to earn sufficient income to meet its obligations to the borrower. In addition, the Fund may lose its right to vote its shares of the loaned securities at a shareholders meeting if the Adviser or Sub-Adviser does not recall or does not timely recall the loaned securities, or if the borrower fails to return the recalled securities in advance of the record date for the meeting.

 

Securities lending involves counterparty risk, including the risk that the loaned securities may not be returned or returned in a timely manner and/or a loss of rights in the collateral if the borrower or the lending agent defaults or fails financially. This risk is increased when the Fund’s loans are concentrated with a single or limited number of borrowers. There are no limits on the number of borrowers to which the Fund may lend securities and the Fund may lend securities to only one or a small group of borrowers.

 

Recent Market Events

 

The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. The value of a security or other instrument may decline due to changes in general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security or other instrument, or factors that affect a particular issuer or issuers, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. During a general market downturn, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected. Changes in market conditions and interest rates generally do not have the same impact on all types of securities and instruments.

 

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Stresses associated with the 2008 financial crisis in the United States and global economies peaked approximately a decade ago, but periods of unusually high volatility in the financial markets and restrictive credit conditions, sometimes limited to a particular sector or a geography, continue to recur. Some countries, including the United States, have adopted and/or are considering the adoption of more protectionist trade policies, a move away from the tighter financial industry regulations that followed the financial crisis, and/or substantially reducing corporate taxes. The exact shape of these policies is still being considered, but the equity and debt markets may react strongly to expectations of change, which could increase volatility, especially if the market’s expectations are not borne out. A rise in protectionist trade policies, and the possibility of changes to some international trade agreements, could affect the economies of many nations in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen at the present time. In addition, geopolitical and other risks, including environmental and public health, may add to instability in world economies and markets generally. Economies and financial markets throughout the world are becoming increasingly interconnected. As a result, whether or not the Fund invests in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to countries experiencing economic, political and/or financial difficulties, the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments may be negatively affected by such events.

 

COVID-19 has resulted in travel restrictions, closed international borders, enhanced health screenings at ports of entry and elsewhere, disruption of and delays in healthcare service preparation and delivery, prolonged quarantines, cancellations, business and school closings, supply chain disruptions, and lower consumer demand, as well as general concern and uncertainty. The impact of COVID-19, and other infectious illness outbreaks that may arise in the future, could adversely affect the economies of many nations or the entire global economy, individual issuers and capital markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen.. In addition, as a possible consequence of the measures taken in response to the spread of COVID-19 and the resulting market disruptions, volatility and liquidity concerns, the Fund may have difficulty in complying with the distribution requirements necessary for the Fund to maintain its status as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code.

 

Regulation as a Commodity Pool Operator

 

The Adviser, on behalf of the Fund, will file with the National Futures Association, a notice claiming an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, and the rules of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission promulgated thereunder, with respect to the Fund’s operation. Accordingly, the Fund will not be subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool operator.

 

Repurchase Agreements

 

The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements. In a repurchase agreement, an investor (such as the Fund) purchases a security (known as the "underlying security") from a securities dealer or bank. Any such dealer or bank must be deemed creditworthy by the Adviser or Sub-Adviser. At that time, the bank or securities dealer agrees to repurchase the underlying security at a mutually agreed upon price on a designated future date. The repurchase price may be higher than the purchase price, the difference being income to the Fund, or the purchase and repurchase prices may be the same, with interest at an agreed upon rate due to the Fund on repurchase. In either case, the income to the Fund generally will be unrelated to the interest rate on the underlying securities. Repurchase agreements must be "fully collateralized," in that the market value of the underlying securities (including accrued interest) must at all times be equal to or greater than the repurchase price. Therefore, a repurchase agreement can be considered a loan collateralized by the underlying securities.

 

Repurchase agreements are generally for a short period of time, often less than a week, and will generally be used by the Fund to invest excess cash or as part of a temporary defensive strategy. Repurchase agreements that do not provide for payment within seven days will be treated as illiquid securities. In the event of a bankruptcy or other default by the seller of a repurchase agreement, the Fund could experience both delays in liquidating the underlying security and losses. These losses could result from: (a) possible decline in the value of the underlying security while the Fund is seeking to enforce its

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rights under the repurchase agreement; (b) possible reduced levels of income or lack of access to income during this period; and (c) expenses of enforcing its rights.

 

Securities Options

 

The Fund may purchase and write (i.e., sell) put and call options. Such options may relate to particular securities or stock indices, and may or may not be listed on a domestic or foreign securities exchange and may or may not be issued by the Options Clearing Corporation. Options trading is a highly specialized activity that entails greater than ordinary investment risk. Options may be more volatile than the underlying instruments, and therefore, on a percentage basis, an investment in options may be subject to greater fluctuation than an investment in the underlying instruments themselves.

 

A call option for a particular security gives the purchaser of the option the right to buy, and the writer (seller) the obligation to sell, the underlying security at the stated exercise price at any time prior to the expiration of the option, regardless of the market price of the security. The premium paid to the writer is in consideration for undertaking the obligation under the option contract. A put option for a particular security gives the purchaser the right to sell the security at the stated exercise price at any time prior to the expiration date of the option, regardless of the market price of the security.

 

Stock index options are put options and call options on various stock indices. In most respects, they are identical to listed options on common stocks. The primary difference between stock options and index options occurs when index options are exercised. In the case of stock options, the underlying security, common stock, is delivered. However, upon the exercise of an index option, settlement does not occur by delivery of the securities comprising the index. The option holder who exercises the index option receives an amount of cash if the closing level of the stock index upon which the option is based is greater than, in the case of a call, or less than, in the case of a put, the exercise price of the option. This amount of cash is equal to the difference between the closing price of the stock index and the exercise price of the option expressed in dollars times a specified multiple. A stock index fluctuates with changes in the market value of the stocks included in the index. For example, some stock index options are based on a broad market index, such as the Standard & Poor’s 500® Index or the Value Line Composite Index or a narrower market index, such as the Standard & Poor’s 100®. Indices may also be based on an industry or market segment, such as the NYSE Arca Oil and Gas Index or the Computer and Business Equipment Index. Options on stock indices are currently traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange , the American Stock Exchange, the Pacific Stock Exchange, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ PHLX.

 

The Fund’s obligation to sell an instrument subject to a call option written by it, or to purchase an instrument subject to a put option written by it, may be terminated prior to the expiration date of the option by the Fund’s execution of a closing purchase transaction, which is effected by purchasing on an exchange an option of the same series (i.e., same underlying instrument, exercise price and expiration date) as the option previously written. A closing purchase transaction will ordinarily be effected to realize a profit on an outstanding option, to prevent an underlying instrument from being called, to permit the sale of the underlying instrument or to permit the writing of a new option containing different terms on such underlying instrument. The cost of such a liquidation purchase plus transactions costs may be greater than the premium received upon the original option, in which event the Fund will have incurred a loss in the transaction. There is no assurance that a liquid secondary market will exist for any particular option. An option writer unable to effect a closing purchase transaction will not be able to sell the underlying instrument or liquidate the assets held in a segregated account, as described below, until the option expires or the optioned instrument is delivered upon exercise. In such circumstances, the writer will be subject to the risk of market decline or appreciation in the instrument during such period.

 

If an option purchased by the Fund expires unexercised, the Fund realizes a loss equal to the premium paid. If the Fund enters into a closing sale transaction on an option purchased by it, the Fund will realize a gain if the premium received by the Fund on the closing transaction is more than the premium paid to purchase the option, or a loss if it is less. If an option written by the Fund expires on the stipulated expiration date or if the Fund enters into a closing purchase transaction, it will realize a gain (or

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loss if the cost of a closing purchase transaction exceeds the net premium received when the option is sold). If an option written by the Fund is exercised, the proceeds of the sale will be increased by the net premium originally received and the Fund will realize a gain or loss.

 

Certain Risks Regarding Options

 

There are several risks associated with transactions in options. For example, there are significant differences between the securities and options markets that could result in an imperfect correlation between these markets, causing a given transaction not to achieve its objectives. In addition, a liquid secondary market for particular options, whether traded over-the-counter or on an exchange, may be absent for reasons which include the following: there may be insufficient trading interest in certain options; restrictions may be imposed by an exchange on opening transactions or closing transactions or both; trading halts, suspensions or other restrictions may be imposed with respect to particular classes or series of options or underlying securities or currencies; unusual or unforeseen circumstances may interrupt normal operations on an exchange; the facilities of an exchange or the Options Clearing Corporation may not at all times be adequate to handle current trading value; or one or more exchanges could, for economic or other reasons, decide or be compelled at some future date to discontinue the trading of options (or a particular class or series of options), in which event the secondary market on that exchange (or in that class or series of options) would cease to exist, although outstanding options that had been issued by the Options Clearing Corporation as a result of trades on that exchange would continue to be exercisable in accordance with their terms.

 

Successful use by the Fund of options on stock indices will be subject to the ability of the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser to correctly predict movements in the directions of the stock market. This requires different skills and techniques than predicting changes in the prices of individual securities. In addition, the Fund’s ability to effectively hedge all or a portion of the securities in its portfolio, in anticipation of or during a market decline, through transactions in put options on stock indices, depends on the degree to which price movements in the underlying index correlate with the price movements of the securities held by the Fund. Inasmuch as the Fund’s securities will not duplicate the components of an index, the correlation will not be perfect. Consequently, the Fund bears the risk that the prices of its securities being hedged will not move in the same amount as the prices of its put options on the stock indices. It is also possible that there may be a negative correlation between the index and the Fund’s securities that would result in a loss on both such securities and the options on stock indices acquired by the Fund.

 

The hours of trading for options may not conform to the hours during which the underlying securities are traded. To the extent that the options markets close before the markets for the underlying securities, significant price and rate movements can take place in the underlying markets that cannot be reflected in the options markets. The purchase of options is a highly specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The purchase of stock index options involves the risk that the premium and transaction costs paid by the Fund in purchasing an option will be lost as a result of unanticipated movements in prices of the securities comprising the stock index on which the option is based.

 

There is no assurance that a liquid secondary market on an options exchange will exist for any particular option, or at any particular time, and for some options no secondary market on an exchange or elsewhere may exist. If the Fund is unable to close out a call option on securities that it has written before the option is exercised, the Fund may be required to purchase the optioned securities in order to satisfy its obligation under the option to deliver such securities. If the Fund is unable to effect a closing sale transaction with respect to options on securities that it has purchased, it would have to exercise the option in order to realize any profit and would incur transaction costs upon the purchase and sale of the underlying securities.

 

Cover for Options Positions

 

Transactions using options (other than options that the Fund has purchased) expose the Fund to an obligation to another party. The Fund will not enter into any such transactions unless it owns either (i)

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an offsetting (“covered”) position in securities or other options or (ii) cash or liquid securities with a value sufficient at all times to cover its potential obligations not covered as provided in (i) above. The Fund will comply with SEC guidelines regarding cover for these instruments and, if the guidelines so require, set aside cash or liquid securities in a segregated account with the Fund’ custodian in the prescribed amount. Under current SEC guidelines, the Fund will segregate assets to cover transactions in which the Fund writes or sells options.

 

Assets used as cover or held in a segregated account cannot be sold while the position in the corresponding option is open, unless they are replaced with similar assets. As a result, the commitment of a large portion of the Fund’s assets to cover or segregated accounts could impede portfolio management or the Fund’s ability to meet redemption requests or other current obligations.

 

Dealer Options

 

The Fund may engage in transactions involving dealer options as well as exchange-traded options. Certain additional risks are specific to dealer options. While the Fund might look to a clearing corporation to exercise exchange-traded options, if the Fund were to purchase a dealer option it would need to rely on the dealer from which it purchased the option to perform if the option were exercised. Failure by the dealer to do so would result in the loss of the premium paid by the Fund as well as loss of the expected benefit of the transaction.

 

Exchange-traded options generally have a continuous liquid market while dealer options may not. Consequently, the Fund may generally be able to realize the value of a dealer option it has purchased only by exercising or reselling the option to the dealer who issued it. Similarly, when the Fund writes a dealer option, it may generally be able to close out the option prior to its expiration only by entering into a closing purchase transaction with the dealer to whom the Fund originally wrote the option. While the Fund will seek to enter into dealer options only with dealers who will agree to and which are expected to be capable of entering into closing transactions with the Fund, there can be no assurance that the Fund will at any time be able to liquidate a dealer option at a favorable price at any time prior to expiration. Unless the Fund, as a covered dealer call option writer, is able to effect a closing purchase transaction, it will not be able to liquidate securities (or other assets) used as cover until the option expires or is exercised. In the event of insolvency of the other party, the Fund may be unable to liquidate a dealer option. With respect to options written by the Fund, the inability to enter into a closing transaction may result in material losses to the Fund. For example, because the Fund must maintain a secured position with respect to any call option on a security it writes, the Fund may not sell the assets, which it has segregated to secure the position while it is obligated under the option. This requirement may impair the Fund’s ability to sell portfolio securities at a time when such sale might be advantageous.

 

The Staff of the SEC has taken the position that purchased dealer options are illiquid securities. A Fund may treat the cover used for written dealer options as liquid if the dealer agrees that the Fund may repurchase the dealer option it has written for a maximum price to be calculated by a predetermined formula. In such cases, the dealer option would be considered illiquid only to the extent the maximum purchase price under the formula exceeds the intrinsic value of the option. Accordingly, the Fund will treat dealer options as subject to the Fund’s limitation on illiquid securities. If the SEC changes its position on the liquidity of dealer options, the Fund will change its treatment of such instruments accordingly.

 

Options on Futures Contracts

 

The Fund may purchase and sell options on the same types of futures in which it may invest. Options on futures are similar to options on underlying instruments except that options on futures give the purchaser the right, in return for the premium paid, to assume a position in a futures contract (a long position if the option is a call and a short position if the option is a put), rather than to purchase or sell the futures contract, at a specified exercise price at any time during the period of the option. Upon exercise of the option, the delivery of the futures position by the writer of the option to the holder of the option will be accompanied by the delivery of the accumulated balance in the writer's futures margin account which represents the amount by which the market price of the futures contract, at exercise, exceeds (in the case

21 
 

of a call) or is less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option on the futures contract. Purchasers of options who fail to exercise their options prior to the exercise date suffer a loss of the premium paid.

 

Spread Transactions

 

The Fund may purchase covered spread options from securities dealers. These covered spread options are not presently exchange-listed or exchange-traded. The purchase of a spread option gives the Fund the right to put securities that it owns at a fixed dollar spread or fixed yield spread in relationship to another security that the Fund does not own, but which is used as a benchmark. The risk to the Fund, in addition to the risks of dealer options described above, is the cost of the premium paid as well as any transaction costs. The purchase of spread options will be used to protect the Fund against adverse changes in prevailing credit quality spreads, i.e., the yield spread between high quality and lower quality securities. This protection is provided only during the life of the spread options.

 

Short Sales

 

The Fund may sell securities short as an outright investment strategy and to offset potential declines in long positions in similar securities. A short sale is a transaction in which the Fund sells a security it does not own or have the right to acquire (or that it owns but does not wish to deliver) in anticipation that the market price of that security will decline.

 

When the Fund makes a short sale, the broker-dealer through which the short sale is made must borrow the security sold short and deliver it to the party purchasing the security. The Fund is required to make a margin deposit in connection with such short sales; the Fund may have to pay a fee to borrow particular securities and will often be obligated to pay over any dividends and accrued interest on borrowed securities.

 

If the price of the security sold short increases between the time of the short sale and the time the Fund covers its short position, the Fund will incur a loss; conversely, if the price declines, the Fund will realize a capital gain. Any gain will be decreased, and any loss increased, by the transaction costs described above. The successful use of short selling may be adversely affected by imperfect correlation between movements in the price of the security sold short and the securities being hedged.

 

To the extent the Fund sells securities short, it will provide collateral to the broker-dealer and (except in the case of short sales "against the box") will maintain additional asset coverage in the form of cash, U.S. government securities or other liquid securities with its custodian in a segregated account in an amount at least equal to the difference between the current market value of the securities sold short and any amounts required to be deposited as collateral with the selling broker. A short sale is "against the box" to the extent the Fund contemporaneously owns, or has the right to obtain at no added cost, securities identical to those sold short.

 

Positions in shorted securities are speculative and riskier than “long” positions (purchases) because the cost of the replacement security is unknown. Therefore, the potential loss on an uncovered short is unlimited, whereas the potential loss on long positions is limited to the original purchase price. Any strategy that includes selling securities short could suffer significant losses. If the Fund is required to cover its short positions in securities at the same time other short-sellers are trying to borrow or buy such securities, a “short squeeze” could occur, causing the stock price to rise and making it more likely that the Fund will have to cover its short positions at an unfavorable price. Shorting may result in higher transaction costs (such as interest and dividends), which reduce the Fund’s return, and may result in higher taxes.

 

Technology Risk

 

The Adviser or Sub-Adviser uses various technologies in managing the Fund, consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and strategy described in the Fund’s prospectus. For example, proprietary

22 
 

and third-party data and systems are utilized to support decision making for the Fund. Data imprecision, software or other technology malfunctions, programming inaccuracies and similar circumstances may impair the performance of these systems, which may negatively impact the Fund.

 

Temporary Defensive Position

 

In anticipation of or in response to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, the Fund may take temporary defensive positions (up to 100% of its assets) in cash, cash equivalents and short term U.S. government securities. If the Fund were to take a temporary defensive position, its opportunity to achieve upside return may be limited; however, the ability to be fully defensive is an integral part of achieving the Fund’s investment objective.

 

Time Deposits and Variable Rate Notes

 

Time deposits are issued by a depository institution in exchange for the deposit of funds. The issuer agrees to pay the amount deposited plus interest to the depositor on the date specified with respect to the deposit. Time deposits do not trade in the secondary market prior to maturity. However, some time deposits may be redeemable prior to maturity and may be subject to withdrawal penalties.

 

The commercial paper obligations are typically unsecured and may include variable rate notes. The nature and terms of a variable rate note (i.e., a “Master Note”) permit the Fund to invest fluctuating amounts at varying rates of interest pursuant to a direct arrangement between the Fund and the issuer. It permits daily changes in the amounts invested. The Fund, typically, has the right at any time to increase, up to the full amount stated in the note agreement, or to decrease the amount outstanding under the note. The issuer may prepay at any time and without penalty any part of or the full amount of the note. The note may or may not be backed by one or more bank letters of credit. Because these notes are direct investment arrangements between the Fund and the issuer, it is not generally contemplated that they will be traded; moreover, there is currently no secondary market for them. Except as specifically provided in the Prospectus, there is no limitation on the type of issuer from whom these notes may be purchased; however, in connection with such purchase and on an ongoing basis, the Adviser will consider the earning power, cash flow and other liquidity ratios of the issuer, and its ability to pay principal and interest on demand, including a situation in which all holders of such notes made demand simultaneously. Variable rate notes are subject to the Fund’s investment restriction on illiquid securities unless such notes can be put back to the issuer (redeemed) on demand within seven days.

 

Trading in Futures Contracts

 

A futures contract provides for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified amount of a specific financial instrument (e.g., units of a stock index) for a specified price, date, time and place designated at the time the contract is made. Brokerage fees are paid when a futures contract is bought or sold and margin deposits must be maintained. Entering into a contract to buy is commonly referred to as buying or purchasing a contract or holding a long position. Entering into a contract to sell is commonly referred to as selling a contract or holding a short position.

 

Unlike when the Fund purchases or sells a security, no price would be paid or received by the Fund upon the purchase or sale of a futures contract. Upon entering into a futures contract, and to maintain the Fund’s open positions in futures contracts, the Fund would be required to deposit with its custodian or futures broker in a segregated account in the name of the futures broker an amount of cash, U.S. government securities, suitable money market instruments, or other liquid securities, known as "initial margin." The margin required for a particular futures contract is set by the exchange on which the contract is traded, and may be significantly modified from time to time by the exchange during the term of the contract. Futures contracts are customarily purchased and sold on margins that may range upward from less than 5% of the value of the contract being traded.

 

If the price of an open futures contract changes (by increase in underlying instrument or index in the case of a sale or by decrease in the case of a purchase) so that the loss on the futures contract

23 
 

reaches a point at which the margin on deposit does not satisfy margin requirements, the broker will require an increase in the margin. However, if the value of a position increases because of favorable price changes in the futures contract so that the margin deposit exceeds the required margin, the broker will pay the excess to the Fund.

 

These subsequent payments, called "variation margin," to and from the futures broker, are made on a daily basis as the price of the underlying assets fluctuate making the long and short positions in the futures contract more or less valuable, a process known as "marking to the market." The Fund expects to earn interest income on margin deposits.

 

Although certain futures contracts, by their terms, require actual future delivery of and payment for the underlying instruments, in practice most futures contracts are usually closed out before the delivery date. Closing out an open futures contract purchase or sale is effected by entering into an offsetting futures contract sale or purchase, respectively, for the same aggregate amount of the identical underlying instrument or index and the same delivery date. If the offsetting purchase price is less than the original sale price, the Fund realizes a gain; if it is more, the Fund realizes a loss. Conversely, if the offsetting sale price is more than the original purchase price, the Fund realizes a gain; if it is less, the Fund realizes a loss. The transaction costs must also be included in these calculations. There can be no assurance, however, that the Fund will be able to enter into an offsetting transaction with respect to a particular futures contract at a particular time. If the Fund is not able to enter into an offsetting transaction, the Fund will continue to be required to maintain the margin deposits on the futures contract.

 

For example, one contract in the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index future is a contract to buy 25 pounds sterling multiplied by the level of the UK Financial Times 100 Share Index on a given future date. Settlement of a stock index futures contract may or may not be in the underlying instrument or index. If not in the underlying instrument or index, then settlement will be made in cash, equivalent over time to the difference between the contract price and the actual price of the underlying asset at the time the stock index futures contract expires.

 

United States Government Agency

 

The Fund may invest in securities issued by United States Government Agencies. These consist of fixed income securities issued by agencies and instrumentalities of the United States Government, including the various types of instruments currently outstanding or which may be offered in the future. Agencies include, among others, the Federal Housing Administration, Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), Export-Import Bank of the United States, Maritime Administration, and General Services Administration. Instrumentalities include, for example, each of the Federal Home Loan Banks, the National Bank for Cooperatives, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“FHLMC”), the Farm Credit Banks, the Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”), and the United States Postal Service. These securities are either: (i) backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government (e.g., United States Treasury Bills); (ii) guaranteed by the United States Treasury (e.g., GNMA mortgage-backed securities); (iii) supported by the issuing agency’s or instrumentality’s right to borrow from the United States Treasury (e.g., FNMA Discount Notes); or (iv) supported only by the issuing agency’s or instrumentality’s own credit (e.g., Tennessee Valley Association).

 

Mortgage-backed securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) include Fannie Mae Guaranteed Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, which are solely the obligations of Fannie Mae and are not backed by or entitled to the full faith and credit of the United States, except as described below, but are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury. Fannie Mae is a stockholder-owned corporation chartered under an Act of the U.S. Congress. Fannie Mae certificates are guaranteed as to timely payment of the principal and interest by Fannie Mae. Mortgage-related securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”) include Freddie Mac Mortgage Participation Certificates. Freddie Mac is a corporate instrumentality of the United States, created pursuant to an Act of Congress. Freddie Mac certificates are not guaranteed by the United States or by any Federal Home Loan Banks and do not constitute a debt or obligation of the United States or of any Federal Home Loan Bank. Freddie Mac certificates entitle the holder to timely

24 
 

payment of interest, which is guaranteed by Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac guarantees either ultimate collection or timely payment of all principal payments on the underlying mortgage loans. When Freddie Mac does not guarantee timely payment of principal, Freddie Mac may remit the amount due on account of its guarantee of ultimate payment of principal after default.

 

From time to time, proposals have been introduced before Congress for the purpose of restricting or eliminating federal sponsorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Trust cannot predict what legislation, if any, may be proposed in the future in Congress with regard to such sponsorship or which proposals, if any, might be enacted. Such proposals, if enacted, might materially and adversely affect the availability of government guaranteed mortgage-backed securities and the Fund’s liquidity and value.

 

There is risk that the U.S. government will not provide financial support to its agencies, authorities, instrumentalities or sponsored enterprises. The Fund may purchase U.S. government securities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, such as those issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The maximum potential liability of the issuers of some U.S. government securities held by the Fund may greatly exceed their current resources, including their legal right to support from the U.S. Treasury. It is possible that these issuers will not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future.

 

The volatility and disruption that impacted the capital and credit markets during late 2008 and into 2009 have led to increased market concerns about Freddie Mac’s and Fannie Mae’s ability to withstand future credit losses associated with securities held in their investment portfolios, and on which they provide guarantees, without the direct support of the federal government. On September 7, 2008, both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were placed under the conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”).

 

Under the plan of conservatorship, the FHFA has assumed control of, and generally has the power to direct, the operations of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and is empowered to exercise all powers collectively held by their respective shareholders, directors and officers, including the power to: (1) take over the assets of and operate Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae with all the powers of the shareholders, the directors, and the officers of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and conduct all business of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; (2) collect all obligations and money due to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; (3) perform all functions of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae which are consistent with the conservator’s appointment; (4) preserve and conserve the assets and property of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; and (5) contract for assistance in fulfilling any function, activity, action or duty of the conservator. In addition, in connection with the actions taken by the FHFA, the U.S. Treasury Department (the “Treasury”) entered into certain preferred stock purchase agreements with each of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae which established the Treasury as the holder of a new class of senior preferred stock in each of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which stock was issued in connection with financial contributions from the Treasury to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

 

The conditions attached to the financial contribution made by the Treasury to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and the issuance of this senior preferred stock placed significant restrictions on the activities of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae must obtain the consent of the Treasury to, among other things: (i) make any payment to purchase or redeem its capital stock or pay any dividend other than in respect of the senior preferred stock issued to the Treasury, (ii) issue capital stock of any kind, (iii) terminate the conservatorship of the FHFA except in connection with a receivership, or (iv) increase its debt beyond certain specified levels. In addition, significant restrictions were placed on the maximum size of each of Freddie Mac’s and Fannie Mae’s respective portfolios of mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, and the purchase agreements entered into by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae provide that the maximum size of their portfolios of these assets must decrease by a specified percentage each year. The future status and role of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae could be impacted by (among other things): the actions taken and restrictions placed on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae by the FHFA in its role as conservator; the restrictions placed on Freddie Mac’s and Fannie Mae’s operations and activities as a result of the senior preferred stock investment made by the Treasury; market responses to developments at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; and future legislative and regulatory action that alters the operations,

25 
 

ownership, structure and/or mission of these institutions, each of which may, in turn, impact the value of, and cash flows on, any mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, including any such mortgage-backed securities held by the Fund.

 

As a result of the economic recession that commenced in the United States in 2008, there is a heightened risk that the receivables and loans underlying the asset-backed securities purchased by the Fund may suffer greater levels of default than was historically experienced.

 

United States Government Obligations

 

These consist of various types of marketable securities issued by the United States Treasury, i.e., bills, notes and bonds. Such securities are direct obligations of the United States government and differ mainly in the length of their maturity. Treasury bills, the most frequently issued marketable government security, have a maturity of up to one year and are issued on a discount basis.

 

Receipts

 

Interests in separately traded interest and principal component parts of U.S. government obligations that are issued by banks or brokerage firms and are created by depositing U.S. government obligations into a special account at a custodian bank. The custodian holds the interest and principal payments for the benefit of the registered owners of the certificates or receipts. The custodian arranges for the issuance of the certificates or receipts evidencing ownership and maintains the register. Treasury Receipts (“TRs”) and Separately Traded Registered Interest and Principal Securities (“STRIPS”) are interests in accounts sponsored by the U.S. Treasury. Receipts are sold as zero coupon securities.

 

U.S. Government Zero Coupon Securities

 

STRIPS and receipts are sold as zero coupon securities, that is, fixed income securities that have been stripped of their unmatured interest coupons. Zero coupon securities are sold at a (usually substantial) discount and redeemed at face value at their maturity date without interim cash payments of interest or principal. The amount of this discount is accreted over the life of the security, and the accretion constitutes the income earned on the security for both accounting and tax purposes. Because of these features, the market prices of zero coupon securities are generally more volatile than the market prices of securities that have similar maturity but that pay interest periodically. Zero coupon securities are likely to respond to a greater degree to interest rate changes than are non-zero coupon securities with similar maturity and credit qualities.

 

U.S. Treasury Obligations

 

U.S. Treasury obligations consist of bills, notes and bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury and separately traded interest and principal component parts of such obligations that are transferable through the federal book-entry system known as STRIPS and TRs.

 

Warrants

 

Warrants are options to purchase common stock at a specific price (usually at a premium above the market value of the optioned common stock at issuance) valid for a specific period of time. Warrants may have a life ranging from less than one year to twenty years, or they may be perpetual. However, most warrants have expiration dates after which they are worthless. In addition, a warrant is worthless if the market price of the common stock does not exceed the warrant’s exercise price during the life of the warrant. Warrants have no voting rights, pay no dividends, and have no rights with respect to the assets of the corporation issuing them. The percentage increase or decrease in the market price of the warrant may tend to be greater than the percentage increase or decrease in the market price of the optioned common stock.

  

 

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When-Issued, Forward Commitments and Delayed Settlements

 

The Fund may purchase and sell securities on a when-issued, forward commitment or delayed settlement basis. In this event, the Custodian (as defined under the section entitled “Custodian”) will segregate liquid assets equal to the amount of the commitment in a separate account. Normally, the Custodian will set aside portfolio securities to satisfy a purchase commitment. In such a case, the Fund may be required subsequently to segregate additional assets in order to assure that the value of the account remains equal to the amount of the Fund’s commitment. It may be expected that the Fund’s net assets will fluctuate to a greater degree when it sets aside portfolio securities to cover such purchase commitments than when it sets aside cash.

 

The Fund does not intend to engage in these transactions for speculative purposes but only in furtherance of its investment objectives. Because the Fund will segregate liquid assets to satisfy its purchase commitments in the manner described, the Fund’s liquidity and the ability of the Adviser or Sub-Adviser to manage them may be affected in the event the Fund’s forward commitments, commitments to purchase when-issued securities and delayed settlements ever exceeded 15% of the value of its net assets.

 

The Fund will purchase securities on a when-issued, forward commitment or delayed settlement basis only with the intention of completing the transaction. If deemed advisable as a matter of investment strategy, however, the Fund may dispose of or renegotiate a commitment after it is entered into, and may sell securities it has committed to purchase before those securities are delivered to the Fund on the settlement date. In these cases the Fund may realize a taxable capital gain or loss. When the Fund engages in when-issued, forward commitment and delayed settlement transactions, it relies on the other party to consummate the trade. Failure of such party to do so may result in the Fund incurring a loss or missing an opportunity to obtain a price credited to be advantageous.

 

The market value of the securities underlying a when-issued purchase, forward commitment to purchase securities, or a delayed settlement and any subsequent fluctuations in their market value is taken into account when determining the market value of the Fund starting on the day the Fund agrees to purchase the securities. The Fund does not earn interest on the securities it has committed to purchase until it has paid for and delivered on the settlement date.

 

The Index

 

MarketGrader Global Health Care Leaders Index

 

NUMBER OF COMPONENTS: Approximately 100

 

INDEX DESCRIPTION: The Index, which was developed and is provided by MarketGrader.com Corp. (“MarketGrader” or the “Index Provider”), consists of 100 fundamentally sound companies in the healthcare sector that are domiciled in any Developed Market or Emerging Market (each as defined by the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Database) and are in the MarketGrader research universe. The Index constituents are selected on the basis of the strength of their fundamentals as measured by the MarketGrader Score (zero to 100). To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must have a minimum market capitalization of $500 million at the time of inclusion and a minimum three-month average daily trading volume of $2 million.

 

Companies eligible for inclusion in the MarketGrader Index are publicly-traded global companies in the healthcare sector. The Index Provider reviews the financial statements of such companies to identify those companies for which it deems reporting to be reliable and consistent and filters out those companies it deems unreliable due to anomalies and inconsistencies. Once all companies are filtered, the data in their financial statements, along with historic stock prices, form the foundation of the Index Provider’s analysis and ratings. The Index Provider applies a series of metrics in order to identify those companies that are proven compounders of value and that have sustainable growth at a reasonable valuation allowing for long term capital appreciation. These metrics seek to find companies with

27 
 

characteristics that include consistent bottom to top line growth with sustainable margins and high cash flow generation; and a sound capital structure that doesn’t impair operating growth, combined with high returns on invested capital and low capital intensity. The metrics are aggregated into 24 individually graded indicators which are classified into four categories of analysis: growth, value, profitability and cash flow. All 24 indicators are then aggregated into a final MarketGrader Score for each company, which the Index Provider uses to select the constituents of the Index. Once selected, Index constituents are weighted according to their free-float market capitalization, with a maximum Index weight per constituent of 5% and a minimum Index weight per constituent of 0.25%.

 

The Index consists of securities of both U.S. and foreign issuers, including securities of issuers located in emerging markets countries. The Index may consist of up to 20 issuers located in emerging markets countries, with a maximum of 10 issuers located in a single emerging markets country. Under normal circumstances, the Index is rebalanced and reconstituted on a semi-annual basis. Deletions from the Index may be made at any time due to changes in business, mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, suspensions, de-listings and spin-offs, or for other reasons as determined at the sole discretion of the Index Provider. The Index is unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.

 

 

INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS

 

The Fund has adopted the following investment restrictions that may not be changed without approval by a “majority of the outstanding shares” of the Fund, which, as used in this SAI, means the vote of the lesser of (a) 67% or more of the shares of the Fund represented at a meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund are present or represented by proxy, or (b) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund. The Fund may not:

 

1.       Issue senior securities, except as otherwise permitted under the 1940 Act, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder;

 

2.       Borrow money, except (a) from a bank, provided that immediately after such borrowing there is an asset coverage of 300% for all borrowings of the Fund; or (b) from a bank or other persons for temporary purposes only, provided that such temporary borrowings are in an amount not exceeding 5% of the Fund’s total assets at the time when the borrowing is made. This limitation does not preclude the Fund from entering into reverse repurchase transactions, provided that the Fund has an asset coverage of 300% for all borrowings and repurchase commitments of the Fund pursuant to reverse repurchase transactions;

 

3.       Purchase securities on margin, participate on a joint or joint and several basis in any securities trading account, or underwrite securities. (Does not preclude the Fund from obtaining such short-term credit as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of its portfolio securities, and except to the extent that the Fund may be deemed an underwriter under the Securities Act, by virtue of disposing of portfolio securities);

 

4.       Purchase or sell real estate or interests in real estate. This limitation is not applicable to investments in marketable securities that are secured by or represent interests in real estate. This limitation does not preclude the Fund from investing in mortgage-related securities or investing in companies engaged in the real estate business or that have a significant portion of their assets in real estate (including real estate investment trusts);

 

5.       Concentrate its investments in an industry or group of industries (i.e., invest more than 25% of its total assets in the securities of companies in a particular industry or group of industries), except that the Fund will concentrate to approximately the same extent that the MarketGrader Index concentrates in the securities of companies in such particular industry or group of industries (for purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. Government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities and securities of state or municipal governments and their political subdivisions are not considered to be issued by members of any industry); 

28 
 

 

6.       Purchase or sell commodities (unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other investments) or commodity futures contracts, except that the Fund may purchase and sell futures contracts and options to the full extent permitted under the 1940 Act, sell foreign currency contracts in accordance with any rules of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, invest in securities or other instruments backed by commodities, and invest in companies that are engaged in a commodities business or have a significant portion of their assets in commodities; or

 

7.       Make loans to others, except that the Fund may, in accordance with its investment objective and policies, (i) lend portfolio securities, (ii) purchase and hold debt securities or other debt instruments, including but not limited to loan participations and sub-participations, assignments, and structured securities, (iii) make loans secured by mortgages on real property, (iv) enter into repurchase agreements, (v) enter into transactions where each loan is represented by a note executed by the borrower, and (vi) make time deposits with financial institutions and invest in instruments issued by financial institutions. For purposes of this limitation, the term "loans" shall not include the purchase of a portion of an issue of publicly distributed bonds, debentures or other securities.

 

If a restriction on the Fund’s investments is adhered to at the time an investment is made, a subsequent change in the percentage of Fund assets invested in certain securities or other instruments of the Fund’s investment portfolio, resulting from changes in the value of the Fund’s total assets, will not be considered a violation of the restriction; provided, however, that the asset coverage requirement applicable to borrowings shall be maintained in the manner contemplated by applicable law.

 

With respect to fundamental investment limitation 2 above, if the Fund’s asset coverage falls below 300%, the Fund will reduce borrowing within 3 days in order to ensure that the Fund has 300% asset coverage.

 

With respect to the fundamental policy relating to concentration set forth in (5) above, the 1940 Act does not define what constitutes “concentration” in an industry. The SEC staff has taken the position that investment of 25% or more of a fund’s total assets in one or more issuers conducting their principal activities in the same industry or group of industries constitutes concentration. It is possible that interpretations of concentration could change in the future. The policy in (5) above will be interpreted to refer to concentration as that term may be interpreted from time to time. The policy also will be interpreted to permit investment without limit in the following: securities of the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities; securities of state, territory, possession or municipal governments and their authorities, agencies, instrumentalities or political subdivisions; and repurchase agreements collateralized by any such obligations. Accordingly, issuers of the foregoing securities will not be considered to be members of any industry. Finance companies will be considered to be in the industries of their parents if their activities are primarily related to financing the activities of the parents. Each foreign government will be considered to be a member of a separate industry. With respect to the Fund’s industry classifications, the Fund currently utilize any one or more of the industry sub-classifications used by one or more widely recognized market indexes or rating group indexes, and/or as defined by Fund management. The Fund’s investment adviser may analyze the characteristics of a particular issuer and security and assign an industry classification consistent with those characteristics in the event that either a third-party classification provider used by the investment adviser or another Fund service provider does not assign a classification or assigns a classification inconsistent with that believed appropriate by the investment adviser based on its analysis of the economic characteristics of the issuer. If the Fund invests in one or more investment companies that concentrates its investments in a particular industry, the Fund will examine its other investment company holdings to ensure that the Fund is not violating the fundamental policy relating to concentration set forth in (5) above.

 

29 
 

 

 

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS

 

The Trust has adopted policies and procedures that govern the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. These policies and procedures are designed to ensure that such disclosure is in the best interests of the Fund’s shareholders.

 

It is the Trust’s policy to: (1) ensure that any disclosure of portfolio holdings information is in the best interest of Trust shareholders; (2) protect the confidentiality of portfolio holdings information; (3) have procedures in place to guard against personal trading based on the information; and (4) ensure that the disclosure of portfolio holdings information does not create conflicts between the interests of the Trust’s shareholders and those of the Trust’s affiliates.

 

The Fund’s portfolio holdings are, or will be, disclosed on the Adviser’s website at www.RegentsParkFunds.com each day the Fund is open for business. The Fund’s portfolio holdings information will also generally be provided for dissemination through the facilities of the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) and/or other fee-based subscription services to NSCC members and/or subscribers to those other fee-based subscription services, including Authorized

 

Participants (as defined below), and to entities that publish and/or analyze such information in connection with the process of purchasing or redeeming Creation Units or trading shares of the Fund in the secondary market. This information typically reflects the Fund’s anticipated holdings as of the next Business Day.

 

The Fund discloses its portfolio holdings by mailing its annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders approximately two months after the end of the fiscal year and semi-annual period. The Fund also discloses its portfolio holdings reports on Form N-CSR and Form N- PORT two months after the end of each quarter/semi-annual period.

 

The Fund may choose to make portfolio holdings available to rating agencies such as Lipper, Morningstar or Bloomberg earlier and more frequently on a confidential basis.

 

Under limited circumstances, as described below, the Fund’s portfolio holdings may be disclosed to, or known by, certain third parties in advance of their posting on the Adviser’s website or their filing with the SEC on Form N-CSR or Form N- PORT. In each case, a determination has been made by the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer that such advance disclosure is supported by a legitimate business purpose of the Fund and that the recipient is subject to a duty to keep the information confidential.

 

  The Adviser and Sub-Adviser. Personnel of the Adviser and Sub-Adviser, including personnel responsible for managing the Fund’s portfolio, may have full daily access to portfolio holdings since that information is necessary in order for the Adviser to provide its management and administrative services to the Fund, and the Sub-Adviser to provide its investment services to the Fund. As required for purposes of analyzing the impact of existing and future market changes on the prices, availability, demand and liquidity of such securities, as well as for the assistance of the portfolio managers in the trading of such securities, Adviser and Sub-Adviser personnel may also release and discuss certain portfolio holdings with various broker-dealers.

 

  Gemini Fund Services, LLC is the fund accountant, administrator and custody administrator for the Fund; therefore, its personnel have full daily access to the Fund’s portfolio holdings since that information is necessary in order for them to provide the agreed-upon services for the Trust.

 

  Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is custodian for the Fund; therefore, its personnel have full daily access to the Fund’s portfolio holdings since that information is necessary in order for them to provide the agreed-upon services for the Trust.

 

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  RSM US LLP (“RSM”) is the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm; therefore, its personnel have access to the Fund’s portfolio holdings in connection with auditing of the Fund’s annual financial statements and providing other audit, tax and related services for the Fund.

 

  Blank Rome LLP is counsel to the Fund; therefore, its personnel have access to the Fund’s portfolio holdings in connection with review of the Fund’s annual and semi-annual shareholder reports and SEC filings.

 

Additions to List of Approved Recipients. The Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer is the person responsible, and whose prior approval is required, for any disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities at any time or to any persons other than those described above. In such cases, the recipient must have a legitimate business need for the information in connection with the operation or administration of the Fund, as determined by the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer, and must be subject to a duty to keep the information confidential. There are no ongoing arrangements in place with respect to the disclosure of portfolio holdings. In no event shall the Fund, the Adviser , the Sub-Adviser or any other party receive any direct or indirect compensation in connection with the disclosure of information about the Fund’s portfolio holdings.

 

Compliance With Portfolio Holdings Disclosure Procedures. The Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer will report periodically to the Board with respect to compliance with the Fund’s portfolio holdings disclosure procedures, and from time to time will provide the Board any updates to the portfolio holdings disclosure policies and procedures.

 

There is no assurance that the Trust’s policies on disclosure of portfolio holdings will protect the Fund from the potential misuse of holdings information by individuals or firms in possession of that information.

 

MANAGEMENT

 

The business of the Trust is managed under the direction of the Board in accordance with the Agreement and Declaration of Trust and the Trust’s By-laws (collectively, the “Governing Documents”), which have been filed with the SEC and are available upon request. The Board consists of four individuals, all of whom are not “interested persons” (as defined under the 1940 Act) of the Trust and the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser (“Independent Trustees”). Pursuant to the Governing Documents of the Trust, the Trustees shall elect officers including, but not limited to, a President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and a Chief Compliance Officer. The Board retains the power to conduct, operate and carry on the business of the Trust and has the power to incur and pay any expenses, which, in the opinion of the Board, are necessary or incidental to carry out any of the Trust’s purposes. The Trustees, officers, employees and agents of the Trust, when acting in such capacities, shall not be subject to any personal liability except for his or her own bad faith, willful misfeasance, gross negligence or reckless disregard of his or her duties.

 

Board Leadership Structure. The Board is led by Mark Gersten, who has served as the Chairman of the Board since the Trust was first registered with the SEC in 2012. Under the Trust’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust and By-Laws, the Chairman of the Board is responsible for (a) presiding at Board meetings, (b) calling special meetings on an as-needed basis, and (c) execution and administration of Trust policies, including (i) setting the agendas for Board meetings and (ii) providing information to Board members in advance of each Board meeting and between Board meetings. Generally, the Trust believes it best to have a non-executive Chairman of the Board, who together with the President (principal executive officer), are seen by our shareholders, business partners and other stakeholders as providing strong leadership. The Trust believes that its Chairman, the independent chair of the Audit Committee, and, as an entity, the full Board of Trustees, provide effective leadership that is in the best interests of the Trust, its funds and each shareholder.

 

Board Risk Oversight. The Board of Trustees is comprised entirely of Independent Trustees and has established an Audit Committee with a separate chair. The Board is responsible for overseeing risk management, and the full Board regularly engages in discussions of risk management and receives compliance reports that inform its oversight of risk management from its Chief Compliance Officer at

31 
 

quarterly meetings and on an ad hoc basis, when and if necessary. The Audit Committee considers financial and reporting risk within its area of responsibilities. Generally, the Board believes that its oversight of material risks is adequately maintained through the compliance-reporting chain where the Chief Compliance Officer is the primary recipient and communicator of such risk-related information.

 

Trustee Qualifications. Generally, the Trust believes that each Trustee is competent to serve because of their individual overall merits including: (i) experience, (ii) qualifications, (iii) attributes and (iv) skills. Mark Garbin has over 30 years of experience in corporate balance sheet and income statement risk management for large asset managers. Mr. Garbin has extensive derivatives experience and has provided consulting services to alternative asset managers. Mr. Garbin holds both a Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”) and Professional Risk Manager (“PRM”) designation and has earned and holds advanced degrees in international business, negotiation and derivatives. Mark Gersten has over 35 years of business experience in the investment management business with a focus on mutual funds and alternative funds. He serves as a member of other mutual fund boards outside of the Fund Complex and possesses a strong understanding of the regulatory framework under which investment companies must operate based on his service to this board and extensive experience administering mutual funds. Mr. Gersten is a certified public accountant and holds an MBA in accounting. Neil Kaufman has over 35 years of experience as a corporate and securities attorney and possesses a deep understanding of the securities industry in general and financial statements in particular. Mr. Kaufman has previously served as the Chairman of a NASDAQ-listed technology company and the Chairman of the Banking & Securities Law committee of the Nassau County Bar Association. Anita Krug has 9 years of experience as an attorney advising investment companies and investment advisory firms, particularly those managing hedge funds. She also has extensive experience as a law professor whose scholarship focuses on investment advisers, hedge funds and mutual funds. The Trust does not believe any one factor is determinative in assessing a Trustee’s qualifications, but that the collective experience of each Trustee makes them well qualified.

 

Trustees and Officers. The Trustees and officers of the Trust, together with information as to their principal business occupations during the past five years and other information, are shown below. The business address of each Trustee and Officer is 225 Pictoria Drive, Suite 450, Cincinnati, OH 45246. All correspondence to the Trustees and Officers should be directed to c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC, P.O. Box 541150, Omaha, Nebraska 68154.

 

Independent Trustees *

 

Name, Address,
Year of Birth
Position(s)
Held with
Registrant
Term and
Length
Served
Principal
Occupation(s) During
Past 5 Years
Number of
Portfolios
Overseen In
The Fund
Complex**
Other Directorships
Held During Past 5
Years
Mark Garbin
Year of Birth: 1951
Trustee Indefinite, Since 2012 Managing Principal, Coherent Capital Management LLC (since 2008) 7 Northern Lights Fund Trust (since 2013); Northern Lights Variable Trust (since 2013); Forethought Variable Insurance Trust (since 2013); OHA Mortgage Strategies Fund (offshore), Ltd. (2014 - 2017); iCapital KKR Private Markets Fund (since 2014); and Carlyle Tactical Private Credit Fund (since March 2018)
32 
 

 

Mark D. Gersten
Year of Birth: 1950
Chairman, Trustee Indefinite, Since 2012 Independent Consultant (since 2012); Senior Vice President – Global Fund Administration Mutual Funds & Alternative Funds, AllianceBernstein LP (1985 – 2011) 7 Northern Lights Fund Trust (since 2013); Northern Lights Variable Trust (since 2013); iCapital KKR Private Markets Fund (since 2014); previously, Ramius Archview Credit and Distressed Fund (2015-2017); and Schroder Global Series Trust (2012 to 2017)
Neil M. Kaufman
Year of Birth: 1960
Trustee, Audit Committee Chairman Indefinite, Since 2012 Managing Member, Kaufman McGowan PLLC (legal services)(Since 2016); Partner, Abrams Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara & Wolf, LLP (legal services) (2010-2016) 7 iCapital KKR Private Markets Fund (since 2014)
Anita K. Krug
Year of Birth: 1969
Trustee Indefinite, Since 2012 Dean and Professor (since 2019) Illinois Institute of Technology; Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (2018-2019) University of Washington Bothell; Interim Dean (2017-2018), Professor (2016-2019), Associate Professor (2014-2016); and Assistant Professor (2010-2014), University of Washington School of Law 7 iCapital KKR Private Markets Fund (since 2014); Centerstone Investors Trust (2016-2021)

 

  * Information is as of the date of this SAI.

 

  ** As of the date of this SAI, the Trust was comprised of 24 active portfolios managed by seven unaffiliated investment advisers and two affiliated investment advisers. The term “Fund Complex” applies only to those funds that (i) are advised by a common investment adviser or by an investment adviser that is an affiliated person of the investment adviser of any of the other funds of the Trust or (ii) hold themselves out to investors as related companies for purposes of investment and investor services. The Fund does not hold itself out as related to any other series within the Trust, except for Anfield Universal Fixed Income Fund, which is advised by Anfield, Anfield Universal Fixed Income ETF, Anfield Dynamic Fixed Income ETF, Anfield U.S. Equity Sector Rotation ETF and the Anfield Capital Diversified Alternatives ETF, which are advised by the Fund’s Adviser and sub-advised by Anfield, and Affinity World Leaders Equity ETF, which is advised by the Adviser.
33 
 

  

Officers of the Trust *

 

Name, Address,
Year of Birth
Position(s)
Held with
Registrant
Principal Occupation(s) During
Past 5 Years
Number of
Portfolios
Overseen In
The Fund
Complex**
Other
Directorships
Held During Past
5 Years
James Colantino
Year of Birth: 1969
President Since Feb. 2017 Treasurer (2012 to 2017) Senior Vice President (2012- present); Vice President (2004 to 2012); Gemini Fund Services, LLC N/A N/A
Laura Szalyga
Year of Birth: 1978
Treasurer Since Feb. 2017 Vice President, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (since 2015); Assistant Vice President, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (2011-2014) N/A N/A
Richard A. Malinowski
Year of Birth: 1983
Vice President Since Sep. 2018 Secretary Since 2013 Senior Vice President and Senior Managing Counsel, Gemini Fund Services, LLC, (since February 2020); Senior Vice President Legal Administration, Gemini Fund Services, LLC (April 2017 to February 2020); Vice President and Counsel (April 2016 – 2017) and AVP and Staff Attorney (September 2012 – March 2016). N/A N/A
William B. Kimme
Year of Birth: 1962
Chief Compliance Officer Since Inception Senior Compliance Officer, Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC (September 2011 - present) N/A N/A

 

  * Information is as of the date of this SAI.

 

  ** As of the date of this SAI, the Trust was comprised of 24 active portfolios managed by seven unaffiliated investment advisers and two affiliated investment advisers. The term “Fund Complex” applies only to those funds that (i) are advised by a common investment adviser or by an investment adviser that is an affiliated person of the investment adviser of any of the other funds of the Trust or (ii) hold themselves out to investors as related companies for purposes of investment and investor services. The Fund does not hold itself out as related to any other series within the Trust, except for Anfield Universal Fixed Income Fund, which is advised by Anfield, Anfield Universal Fixed Income ETF, Anfield Dynamic Fixed Income ETF, Anfield US Equity Sector Rotation ETF and Anfield Capital Diversified Alternatives ETF, which are advised by the Fund’s Adviser and sub-advised by Anfield, and Affinity World Leaders Equity ETF, which is advised by the Adviser.

 

Audit Committee. The Board has an Audit Committee that consists of all of the Trustees none of whom is an “interested persons” of the Trust within the meaning of the 1940 Act. The Audit Committee’s responsibilities include, among other things: (i) the selection, retention or termination of the Trust’s independent auditors and approval of audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors; (ii) reviewing with the independent auditors the scope, performance and anticipated cost of their

34 
 

audit; (iii) discussing with the independent auditors certain matters relating to the Trust’s financial statements, including any adjustment to such financial statements recommended by such independent auditors, or any other results of any audit; (iv) reviewing on a periodic basis a formal written statement from the independent auditors with respect to their independence, discussing with the independent auditors any relationships or services disclosed in the statement that may impact the objectivity and independence of the Trust’s independent auditors and recommending that the Board take appropriate action in response thereto to satisfy itself of the auditor’s independence; and (v) considering the comments of the independent auditors and management’s responses thereto with respect to the quality and adequacy of the Trust’s accounting and financial reporting policies and practices and internal controls. The Audit Committee operates pursuant to an Audit Committee Charter. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2020, the Audit Committee held seven meetings.

 

Compensation of Trustees.

 

Effective January 1, 2019, the Trust pays each Independent Trustee a fee of $50,000 per annum, as well as reimbursements for any reasonable expenses incurred attending the meetings, to be paid at the end of each calendar quarter. In addition, the Chairman of the Board receives an additional annual fee of $12,500 and the Chairman of the Audit Committee receives an additional annual fee of $10,000. The Trust also pays each Independent Trustee a fee of $1,000 for each Board meeting (and/or Committee meeting held in connection with such a Board meeting) other than a regularly scheduled meeting (a “Special Meeting”), except that the Audit Committee will permit up to four Special Meetings a year without any additional fees.

 

No “interested persons” who serves as a Trustee of the Trust will receive any compensation for their services as Trustee. None of the executive officers receive compensation from the Trust. The Trust does not have a bonus, profit sharing, deferred compensation, pension or retirement plan.

 

The table below details the amount of compensation the Trustees received from the Fund and the other funds in the Fund Complex during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2020. The Fund had not commenced operation as of that date and thus did not pay any Trustee fees. The Trust does not have a bonus, profit sharing, deferred compensation, pension or retirement plan.

 

Name and Aggregate Compensation From Total Compensation From Fund
Position APEX HealthCare ETF* Complex Paid to Trustees**
Mark Garbin $0 $10,851
Mark Gersten $0 $13,670
Neil Kaufman $0 $13,317
Anita Krug $0 $10,851

 

  * The Trustees’ fees are allocated equally to each series in the Trust. The Trust is comprised of multiple series with differing fiscal year ends. Each fund in the Fund Complex may also have differing fiscal year ends. The compensation paid to the Board of Trustees is determined on a calendar quarter basis. The term “Fund Complex” refers only to the Fund and to Affinity World Leaders Equity ETF, Anfield Capital Diversified Alternative ETF, Anfield Universal Fixed Income ETF, Anfield Universal Fixed Income Fund, Anfield US Equity Sector Rotation ETF, and Anfield Dynamic Fixed Income ETF, and not to any other series of the Trust. For the fiscal year ended July 31, 2020, the aggregate Independent Trustees’ fees paid by the entire Trust were $222,500.

 

Trustees’ Ownership of Shares in the Fund. As of December 31, 2020, the Trustees beneficially owned the following amounts in the Fund and the family of investment companies overseen by the Trustees.

 

35 
 

 

Name of Trustee Dollar Range of Equity
Securities in the Fund*
Aggregate Dollar Range of
Equity Securities in All
Registered Investment
Companies Overseen by
Trustee in Family of Investment
Companies
Mark Garbin None None
Mark Gersten None $50,001-$100,000
Neil Kaufman None None
Anita Krug None None

*As of the date of this SAI, the Fund had not commenced operations and did not have any equity securities outstanding.

 

Management Ownership

 

Because there were no shares of the Fund outstanding as of the date of this SAI, the Trustees and officers, as a group, owned 0% of the Fund’s outstanding shares. As of the date of this SAI the Trustees and officers, as a group, owned less than 1% of the Fund Complex’s outstanding shares.

 

CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS

 

A principal shareholder is any person who owns (either of record or beneficially) 5% or more of the outstanding shares of a fund. A control person is one who owns, either directly or indirectly more than 25% of the voting securities of a company or acknowledges the existence of control. A control person is one who owns beneficially or through controlled companies more than 25% of the voting securities of a company or acknowledged the existence of control.

 

 As of the date of this SAI, there were no shares of the Fund outstanding, and no shareholder(s) of record owned 5% or more of the outstanding shares of each class of the Fund.

 

INVESTMENT ADVISER AND SUB-ADVISER

 

Investment Adviser and Advisory Agreement

 

Regents Park Funds, LLC, 4041 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 155, Newport Beach, CA 92660, serves as the Fund’s investment adviser. The Adviser is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended.

 

Subject to the authority of the Board of Trustees, the Adviser is responsible for the overall management of the Fund’s investment-related business affairs. Pursuant to an investment advisory agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”) with the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, the Adviser, in conformity with the stated policies of the Fund, has overall supervisory responsibilities for the general management and investment of the Fund’s securities portfolio, as detailed below, which are subject to review and approval by the Board of Trustees. In general, the Adviser’s duties include setting the Fund’s overall investment strategies and asset allocation.

 

Pursuant to the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser, under the supervision of the Board of Trustees, agrees to provide a program of continuous investment management for the Fund in accordance with applicable law and the investment objective, policies and restrictions set forth in the Fund’s current Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, and subject to such further limitations as the Trust may from time to time impose by written notice to the Adviser. Pursuant to the Advisory Agreement and subject to the delegation of any such duties to a Sub-Adviser as described below, the Adviser shall act as the investment adviser to the Fund and, as such shall, (i) obtain and evaluate such information relating to the economy, industries, business, securities markets and securities as it may deem necessary or useful in discharging its responsibilities under the Advisory Agreement , (ii) formulate a continuing program for the investment of the assets of the Fund in a manner consistent with its investment objective, policies and restrictions, and (iii) determine from time to time securities to be purchased, sold, retained or lent by the Fund, and implement those decisions, including the selection of entities with or through which such

36 
 

purchases, sales or loans are to be effected; provided, that the Adviser or its designee, directly, will place orders pursuant to its investment determinations either directly with the issuer or with a broker or dealer, and if with a broker or dealer, (a) will attempt to obtain the best price and execution of its orders, and (b) may nevertheless in its discretion purchase and sell portfolio securities from and to brokers who provide the Adviser with research, analysis, advice and similar services and pay such brokers in return a higher commission or spread than may be charged by other brokers. The Advisory Agreement further provides that the Adviser shall make investment decisions for the Fund, including, but not limited to, the selection and management of investment sub-advisers for the Fund, in which case any of the duties of the Adviser set forth in the Advisory Agreement, including those duties described in the preceding paragraph, may be delegated to such investment sub-advisers subject to approval by the Board. Additionally, if one or more investment sub-advisers are appointed with respect to the Fund, the Advisory Agreement provides that the Adviser shall monitor and evaluate the performance of such investment sub-advisers under their respective sub-advisory agreements in light of the investment objectives and policies of the Fund and render to the Trustees such periodic and special reports related to such performance monitoring as the Trustees may reasonably request, and analyze and recommend changes in investment sub-advisers as the Adviser may deem appropriate. The Adviser also provides the Fund with all necessary office facilities and personnel for servicing the Fund’s investments, compensates all officers, Trustees and employees of the Trust who are officers, directors or employees of the Adviser, and all personnel of the Fund or the Adviser performing services relating to research, statistical and investment activities.

 

In addition, the Adviser, subject to the supervision of the Board of Trustees, provides the management and supplemental administrative services necessary for the operation of the Fund. These services include providing assisting in the supervising of relations with custodians, transfer and pricing agents, accountants, underwriters and other persons dealing with the Fund; assisting in the preparing of all general shareholder communications and conducting shareholder relations; assisting in maintaining the Fund’s records and the registration of the Fund’s shares under federal securities laws and making necessary filings under state securities laws; assisting in developing management and shareholder services for the Fund; and furnishing reports, evaluations and analyses on a variety of subjects to the Trustees.

 

The Fund pays an annual management fee (computed daily and payable monthly) of 0.75% of the Fund’s average daily net assets to the Adviser pursuant to the Advisory Agreement. The Advisory Agreement was approved by the Board of Trustees, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, at a meeting held on June 28-29, 2021.

 

The Adviser has contractually agreed to reduce its fees and/or absorb expenses of the Fund, through November 30, 2022 to ensure that total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or reimbursement (exclusive of any front-end or contingent deferred loads, taxes, brokerage fees and commissions, borrowing costs (such as interest and dividend expense on securities sold short), acquired fund fees and expenses, fees and expenses associated with investments in other collective investment vehicles or derivative instruments (including for example option and swap fees and expenses), or extraordinary expenses such as litigation expenses) will not exceed 0.90% of the Fund’s average daily net assets; subject to possible recoupment from the Fund in future years within the three years after the fees have been waived or reimbursed if such recoupment can be achieved within the lesser of the foregoing expense limits or the expense limits in place at the time of the recoupment.

 

Expenses not expressly assumed by the Adviser under the Advisory Agreement are paid by the Fund. Under the terms of the Advisory Agreement, the Fund is responsible for the payment of the following expenses among others: (a) the fees payable to the Adviser, (b) the fees and expenses of Trustees who are not affiliated persons of the Adviser or Distributor (as defined under the section entitled (“The Distributor”) (c) the fees and certain expenses of the Custodian and Transfer and Dividend Disbursing Agent, including the cost of maintaining certain required records of the Fund and of pricing the Fund’s shares, (d) the charges and expenses of legal counsel and independent accountants for the Fund, (e) brokerage commissions and any issue or transfer taxes chargeable to the Fund in connection with its securities transactions, (f) all taxes and corporate fees payable by the Fund to governmental agencies, (g) the fees of any trade association of which the Fund may be a member, (h) the cost of fidelity and

37 
 

liability insurance, (i) the fees and expenses involved in registering and maintaining registration of the Fund and of shares with the SEC, qualifying its shares under state securities laws, including the preparation and printing of the Fund’s registration statements and prospectuses for such purposes, (j) all expenses of shareholders and Trustees’ meetings (including travel expenses of trustees and officers of the Trust who are not directors, officers or employees of the Adviser) and of preparing, printing and mailing reports, proxy statements and prospectuses to shareholders in the amount necessary for distribution to the shareholders and (k) litigation and indemnification expenses and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business.

 

The Advisory Agreement will continue in effect for two (2) years initially and thereafter shall continue from year to year provided such continuance is approved at least annually by (a) a vote of the majority of the Independent Trustees, cast in person at a meeting specifically called for the purpose of voting on such approval and by (b) the majority vote of either all of the Trustees or the vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund. The Advisory Agreement may be terminated without penalty on 60 days written notice by a vote of a majority of the Trustees or by the Adviser, or by holders of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding shares (with respect to the Fund). The Advisory Agreement shall terminate automatically in the event of its assignment.

 

Sub-Adviser and Sub-Advisory Agreement

 

The Adviser has engaged Anfield Capital Management, LLC to serve as Sub-Adviser to the Fund. The Sub-Adviser, is responsible for selecting investments and assuring that investments are made in accordance with the Fund’s investment objective, policies and restrictions.

 

The Sub-Advisory Agreement provides that the Sub-Adviser will formulate and implement a continuous investment program for the Fund, in accordance with the Fund’s objective, policies and limitations and any investment guidelines established by the Adviser. The Sub-Adviser will, subject to the supervision and control of the Adviser, determine in its discretion which issuers and securities will be purchased, held, sold or exchanged by the Fund, and will place orders with and give instruction to brokers and dealers to cause the execution of such transactions. The Sub-Adviser is required to furnish, at its own expense, all investment facilities necessary to perform its obligations under the Sub-Advisory Agreement. Pursuant to the Sub-Advisory Agreement between the Adviser and Sub-Adviser, the Sub-Adviser is entitled to receive an annual sub-advisory fee on its portion of the Fund’s average daily net assets. The Sub-Adviser is paid by the Adviser, not the Fund.

 

The Sub-Advisory Agreement shall continue in effect for two (2) years initially and then from year to year, provided it is approved at least annually by a vote of the majority of the Trustees, who are not parties to the agreement or interested persons of any such party, cast in person at a meeting specifically called for the purpose of voting on such approval. The Sub-Advisory Agreement may be terminated without penalty at any time by the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser on 60 days written notice, and will automatically terminate in the event of its “assignment” (as that term is defined in the 1940 Act).

 

 

Affiliated Sub-Adviser

 

Regents Park and Anfield are affiliates in that they are both owned and controlled by Anfield Group, LLC. Regents Park and Anfield share the same principal place of business and are under joint ownership and control and share common officers and employees. Advisory arrangements involving affiliated sub-advisers present certain conflicts of interest. Since Regents Park and Anfield are affiliates, Regents Park’s use of Anfield presents a potential conflict of interest because Regents Park has financial and non-financial incentives for selecting Anfield over other sub-advisers. An investment adviser may be inclined to act in its own interest by recommending to clients the services of an affiliated sub-adviser that provide benefits to the investment adviser, instead of recommending the service that is in the best interest of the client. Anfield, the affiliated sub-adviser, will benefit from increased sub-advisory fees. In addition, Regents Park will benefit, not only from the net advisory fee retained by the Adviser but also from the sub-advisory fee paid by the Adviser to Anfield. Consequently, Regents Park and Anfield may be viewed

38 
 

as benefiting financially from: (i) the appointment of or continued service of Anfield as a Sub-Adviser by Regents Park; and (ii) the allocation by Anfield of the funds advised by Regents Park as part of certain investment portfolios for its clients. However, both Regents Park, in recommending to the Board the appointment or continued service of Anfield as a Sub-Adviser, and Anfield, in the allocation by Anfield of funds advised by Regents Park, including the Fund, as part of certain investment portfolios, have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their clients, including the Fund and its shareholders. Regents Park has a duty to recommend that Anfield be selected, retained, or replaced only when Regents Park believes it is in the best interests of Fund shareholders. The Board, comprised wholly of Independent Trustees, is aware of and monitor these conflicts of interest.

 

 

Codes of Ethics

 

The Trust, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser and the Distributor each have adopted codes of ethics under Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act that govern the personal securities transactions of their board members, officers and employees who may have access to current trading information of the Trust. Under the code of ethics adopted by the Trust (the “Code”), the Trustees are permitted to invest in securities that may also be purchased by the Fund.

 

In addition, the Trust has adopted a separate code of ethics that applies only to the Trust’s executive officers to ensure that these officers promote professional conduct in the practice of corporate governance and management. The purpose behind these guidelines is to promote i) honest and ethical conduct, including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest between personal and professional relationships; ii) full, fair, accurate, timely, and understandable disclosure in reports and documents that a registrant files with, or submits to, the SEC and in other public communications made by the Fund; iii) compliance with applicable governmental laws, rule and regulations; iv) the prompt internal reporting of violations of this Code to an appropriate person or persons identified in the Code; and v) accountability for adherence to the Code.

 

Proxy Voting Policies

 

The Board has adopted Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures (“Policies”) on behalf of the Trust, which delegate the responsibility for voting proxies to the Adviser or Sub-Adviser, as applicable, subject to the Board’s continuing oversight. The Policies require that the Adviser or Sub-Adviser vote proxies received in a manner consistent with the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders. The Policies also require the Adviser or Sub-Adviser to present to the Board, at least annually, the Adviser’s (and Sub-Adviser’s) Proxy Voting Policies and a record of each proxy voted by the Adviser or Sub-Adviser on behalf of the Fund, including a report on the resolution of all proxies identified by the Adviser or Sub-Adviser as involving a conflict of interest.

 

Where a proxy proposal raises a material conflict between the Adviser’s or Sub-Adviser’s interests and the Fund’s interests, the Adviser or Sub-Adviser will resolve the conflict by voting in accordance with the policy guidelines or at the client’s directive using the recommendation of an independent third party. If the third party’s recommendations are not received in a timely fashion, the Adviser or Sub-Adviser will abstain from voting the securities held by that client’s account. A copy of the Adviser’s and Sub-Adviser’s proxy voting policies are attached hereto as Appendix A.

 

More information. Information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available (1) without charge, upon request, by calling the Fund at 1-866-866-4848 and such information will be sent within three business days of receipt of a request and (2) on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

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THE DISTRIBUTOR

 

Northern Lights Distributors, LLC, located at 4221 North 203rd Street , Ste. 100 Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022 (the “Distributor”) serves as the principal underwriter and national distributor for the shares of the Fund pursuant to an ETF Distribution Agreement with the Trust (the “ETF Distribution Agreement”). The Distributor is registered as a broker-dealer under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and each state’s securities laws and is a member of FINRA. The offering of the Fund’s shares is continuous. The ETF Distribution Agreement provides that the Distributor, as agent in connection with the distribution of the Fund’s shares, will use reasonable efforts to facilitate the sale of the Fund’s shares.

 

The ETF Distribution Agreement provides that, unless sooner terminated, it will continue in effect for two years initially and thereafter shall continue from year to year, subject to annual approval by (a) the Board or a vote of a majority of the outstanding shares, and (b) by a majority of the Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust or of the Distributor by vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval.

 

The ETF Distribution Agreement may be terminated by the Fund at any time, without the payment of any penalty, by vote of a majority of the entire Board of Trustees or by vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund on 60 days written notice to the Distributor, or by the Distributor at any time, without the payment of any penalty, on 60 days written notice to the Fund. The ETF Distribution Agreement will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment.

 

The Distributor may enter into selling agreements with broker-dealers that solicit orders for the sale of shares of the Fund and may allow concessions to dealers that sell shares of the Fund.

 

Rule 12b-1 Plan

 

The Trust, with respect to the Fund, has adopted a Distribution Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act (the “Plan”) for Shares pursuant to which the Fund is authorized to pay the Distributor, as compensation for Distributor’s account maintenance services under the Plan. The Board has approved a distribution and shareholder servicing fee at the rate of up to 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. Such fees are to be paid by the Fund monthly, or at such other intervals as the Board shall determine. Such fees shall be based upon the Fund’s average daily net assets during the preceding month, and shall be calculated and accrued daily. The Fund may pay fees to the Distributor at a lesser rate, as agreed upon by the Board of Trustees and the Distributor. The Plan authorizes payments to the Distributor as compensation for providing account maintenance services to Fund shareholders, including arranging for certain securities dealers or brokers, administrators and others (“Recipients”) to provide these services and paying compensation for these services. The Fund will bear its own costs of distribution with respect to its shares. The Plan was adopted in order to permit the implementation of the Fund’s method of distribution. No fees are currently paid by the Fund under the Plan, and there are no current plans to impose such fees. In the event such fees were to be charged, over time they would increase the cost of an investment in the Fund.

 

The services to be provided by Recipients may include, but are not limited to, the following: assistance in the offering and sale of Fund shares and in other aspects of the marketing of the shares to clients or prospective clients of the respective recipients; answering routine inquiries concerning the Fund; assisting in the establishment and maintenance of accounts or sub-accounts in the Fund and in processing purchase and redemption transactions; making the Fund’s investment plan and shareholder services available; and providing such other information and services to investors in shares of the Fund as the Distributor or the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, may reasonably request. The distribution services shall also include any advertising and marketing services provided by or arranged by the Distributor with respect to the Fund.

40 
 

 

The Distributor is required to provide a written report, at least quarterly to the Board of Trustees, specifying in reasonable detail the amounts expended pursuant to the Plan and the purposes for which such expenditures were made. Further, the Distributor will inform the Board of any Rule 12b-1 fees to be paid by the Distributor to Recipients.

 

The initial term of the Plan is one year and will continue in effect from year to year thereafter, provided such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by a majority of the Board of Trustees and a majority of the Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust and do not have a direct or indirect financial interest in the Plan (“Rule 12b-1 Trustees”) by votes cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on the Plan. The Plan may be terminated at any time by the Trust or the Fund by vote of a majority of the Rule 12b-1 Trustees or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting shares of the Fund.

 

The Plan may not be amended to increase materially the amount of the Distributor’s compensation to be paid by the Fund, unless such amendment is approved by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the affected class of the Fund (as defined in the 1940 Act). All material amendments must be approved by a majority of the Board of Trustees and a majority of the Rule 12b-1 Trustees by votes cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on a Plan. During the term of a Plan, the selection and nomination of non-interested Trustees of the Trust will be

 

committed to the discretion of current non-interested Trustees. The Distributor will preserve copies of the Plan, any related agreements, and all reports, for a period of not less than six years from the date of such document and for at least the first two years in an easily accessible place.

 

Any agreement related to the Plan will be in writing and provide that: (a) it may be terminated by the Trust or the Fund at any time upon sixty days’ written notice, without the payment of any penalty, by vote of a majority of the respective Rule 12b-1 Trustees, or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust or the Fund; (b) it will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act); and (c) it will continue in effect for a period of more than one year from the date of its execution or adoption only so long as such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by a majority of the Board and a majority of the Rule 12b-1 Trustees by votes cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such agreement. No “interested person” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund nor any Trustee had a direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the plans or related agreements.

 

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS

 

Peter Van de Zilver and David Young serve as the portfolio managers of the Fund. As of July 31, 2021 the portfolio managers are responsible for the portfolio management of the following types of accounts in addition to the Fund:

 

Peter Van de Zilver

 

        Total Assets By
      Number of Account Type
  Total Number Total Assets By Accounts by Type Subject to a
Total Other Accounts of Accounts by Account Type Subject to a Performance Fee
By Type Account Type (in millions) Performance Fee (in millions)
Registered Investment
Companies
5 $463 0 $0
Other Pooled Investment
Vehicles
0 $0 0 $0
Other Accounts 846 $581 0 $0

 

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David Young

 

        Total Assets By
      Number of Account Type
  Total Number Total Assets By Accounts by Type Subject to a
Total Other Accounts of Accounts by Account Type Subject to a Performance Fee
By Type Account Type (in millions) Performance Fee (in millions)
Registered Investment
Companies
5 $463 0 $0
Other Pooled Investment
Vehicles
0 $0 0 $0
Other Accounts 846 $581 0 $0

 

 

Conflicts of Interest

 

 As a general matter, certain conflicts of interest may arise in connection with a portfolio manager's management of the Fund’s investments, on the one hand, and the investments of other accounts for which the portfolio manager is responsible, on the other. For example, it is possible that the various accounts managed could have different investment strategies that, at times, might conflict with one another to the possible detriment of the Fund. Alternatively, to the extent that the same investment opportunities might be desirable for more than one account, possible conflicts could arise in determining how to allocate them. Other potential conflicts might include conflicts created by specific portfolio manager compensation arrangements, and conflicts relating to selection of brokers or dealers to execute the Fund’s portfolio trades and/or specific uses of commissions from the Fund’s portfolio trades (for example, research, or "soft dollars", if any). The Adviser and Sub-Adviser each have adopted policies and procedures and has structured the portfolio managers' compensation in a manner reasonably designed to safeguard the Fund from being negatively affected as a result of any such potential conflicts.

 

Compensation

 

Messrs. Young and Van de Zilver are compensated through a combination of base salary, discretionary bonus and equity participation in the Sub-Adviser.

 

Ownership of Securities

 

 As of the date of this SAI, the portfolio managers did not beneficially own any securities of the Fund.

 

ALLOCATION OF PORTFOLIO BROKERAGE

 

Specific decisions to purchase or sell securities for the Fund are made by the portfolio managers who are employees of the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser. The Adviser and the Sub-Adviser are authorized by the Trustees to allocate the orders placed by them on behalf of the Fund to brokers or dealers who may, but need not, provide research or statistical material or other services to the Fund or the Adviser or Sub-Adviser for the Fund’s use. Such allocation is to be in such amounts and proportions as the Adviser of Sub-Adviser may determine.

 

In selecting a broker or dealer to execute each particular transaction, the Adviser or Sub-Adviser will take the following into consideration:

 

  the best net price available;

 

  the reliability, integrity and financial condition of the broker or dealer;

 

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  the size of and difficulty in executing the order; and

 

  the value of the expected contribution of the broker or dealer to the investment performance of the Fund on a continuing basis.

 

Brokers or dealers executing a portfolio transaction on behalf of the Fund may receive a commission in excess of the amount of commission another broker or dealer would have charged for executing the transaction if the Adviser or Sub-Adviser determines in good faith that such commission is reasonable in relation to the value of brokerage and research services provided to the Fund. In allocating portfolio brokerage, the Adviser or Sub-Adviser may select brokers or dealers who also provide brokerage, research and other services to other accounts over which the Adviser or Sub-Adviser exercises investment discretion. Some of the services received as the result of Fund transactions may primarily benefit accounts other than the Fund, while services received as the result of portfolio transactions effected on behalf of those other accounts may primarily benefit the Fund.

 

 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

 

The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated by dividing the lesser of purchases or sales of portfolio securities for the fiscal year by the monthly average of the value of the portfolio securities owned by the Fund during the fiscal year. The calculation excludes from both the numerator and the denominator securities with maturities at the time of acquisition of one year or less. High portfolio turnover involves correspondingly greater brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, which will be borne directly by the Fund. A 100% turnover rate would occur if all of the Fund’s portfolio securities were replaced once within a one-year period.

 

OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS

 

Fund Administration

 

Gemini Fund Services, LLC, (the “Administrator” or “GFS ”), which has its principal office at 4221 North 203rd Street, Suite 100, Elkhorn, NE 68022, and is primarily in the business of providing administrative, fund accounting and transfer agent services to retail and institutional mutual funds. The Administrator is an affiliate of the Distributor.

 

Pursuant to an ETF Fund Services Agreement with the Fund, the Administrator provides administrative services to the Fund, subject to the supervision of the Board. The Administrator may provide persons to serve as officers of the Fund. Such officers may be directors, officers or employees of the Administrator or its affiliates.

 

The ETF Fund Services Agreement is dated September 19, 2017. The ETF Fund Services Agreement was initially approved by the Board with respect to the Fund at a meeting held on June 28-29, 2021. The ETF Fund Services Agreement remains in effect for two years from its initial approval and is subject to annual approval of the Board for one-year periods thereafter. The ETF Fund Services Agreement is terminable by the Board or the Administrator on ninety days’ written notice and may be assigned provided the non-assigning party provides prior written consent. This ETF Fund Services Agreement provides that in the absence of willful misconduct , bad faith or gross negligence on the part of the Administrator or reckless disregard of its obligations thereunder, the Administrator shall not be liable for any action or failure to act in accordance with its duties thereunder.

 

Under the ETF Fund Services Agreement, the Administrator provides facilitating administrative services, including: (i) providing services of persons competent to perform such administrative and clerical functions as are necessary to provide effective administration of the Fund; (ii) facilitating the performance of administrative and professional services to the Fund by others, including the Fund’s Custodian; (iii) preparing, but not paying for, the periodic updating of the Fund’s Registration Statement, Prospectus and

43 
 

Statement of Additional Information in conjunction with Fund counsel, including the printing of such documents for the purpose of filings with the SEC and state securities administrators, and preparing reports to the Fund’s shareholders and the SEC; (iv) preparing in conjunction with Fund counsel, but not paying for, all filings under the securities or “Blue Sky” laws of such states or countries as are designated by the Distributor, which may be required to register or qualify, or continue the registration or qualification, of the Fund and/or its shares under such laws; (v) preparing notices and agendas for meetings of the Board and minutes of such meetings in all matters required by the 1940 Act to be acted upon by the Board; (vi) monitoring sales of Shares and ensure that the Shares are properly and duly listed with the applicable securities exchanges; and (vii) monitoring daily and periodic compliance with respect to all requirements and restrictions of the 1940 Act, the Internal Revenue Code and the Prospectus.

 

The Administrator also provides the Fund with accounting services, including: (i) daily computation of net asset value; (ii) maintenance of security ledgers and books and records as required by the 1940 Act; (iii) production of the Fund’s listing of portfolio securities and general ledger reports; (iv) reconciliation of accounting records; (v) calculation of yield and total return for the Fund; (vi) maintaining certain books and records described in Rule 31a-1 under the 1940 Act, and reconciling account information and balances among the Fund’s custodian and Adviser; and (vii) monitoring and evaluating daily income and expense accruals, and sales and redemptions of shares of the Fund ; and (viii) creating the Fund’s daily portfolio composition file (“PCF”), assisting with inputting the PCF into the NSCC system and facilitating any other communications required by the NSCC related to the PCFs.

 

For administrative services rendered to the Fund under the ETF Fund Services Agreement, the Fund pays GFS the greater of an annual minimum fee or an asset based fee, which scales downward based upon net assets. For the fund accounting services rendered to the Fund under the ETF Fund Services Agreement, the Fund pays GFS the greater of an annual minimum fee or an asset-based fee, which scales downward based upon net assets. The Fund also pays GFS for any out-of-pocket expenses. For.

 

Effective February 1, 2019, NorthStar Financial Services Group, LLC, the parent company of GFS, the Distributor, and Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC (collectively, the “Gemini Companies”), sold its interest in the Gemini Companies to a third party private equity firm that contemporaneously acquired Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC (an independent mutual fund administration firm) and its affiliates (collectively, the “Ultimus Companies”). As a result of these separate transactions, the Gemini Companies and the Ultimus Companies are now indirectly owned through a common parent entity, The Ultimus Group, LLC.

 

Transfer Agent

 

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acts as transfer, dividend disbursing, and shareholder servicing agent for the Fund pursuant to written agreement with Fund (the “Transfer Agent”). Under the agreement, the Transfer Agent is responsible for administering and performing transfer agent functions, dividend distribution, shareholder administration, and maintaining necessary records in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.

 

Custodian

 

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (the “Custodian”), serves as the custodian of the Fund’s assets pursuant to a Custodian and Transfer Agent Agreement by and between the Custodian and the Trust on behalf of the Fund. The Custodian’s responsibilities include safeguarding and controlling the Fund’s cash and securities, handling the receipt and delivery of securities, and collecting interest and dividends on the Fund’s investments. Pursuant to the Custodian and Transfer Agent Agreement, the Custodian also maintains original entry documents and books of record and general ledgers; posts cash receipts and disbursements; and records purchases and sales based upon communications from the Adviser. The Fund may employ foreign sub-custodians that are approved by the Board to hold foreign assets.

 

44 
 

Chief Compliance Officer

 

Northern Lights Compliance Services, LLC (“NLCS”), 4221 North 203rd Street, Suite 100, Elkhorn, NE 68022, an affiliate of the Administrator and the Distributor, provides a Chief Compliance Officer to the Trust as well as related compliance services pursuant to a consulting agreement between NLCS and the Trust. NLCS’s compliance services consist primarily of reviewing and assessing the policies and procedures of the Trust and its service providers pertaining to compliance with applicable federal securities laws, including Rule 38a-1 under the 1940 Act. For the compliance services rendered to the Fund, the Fund pays NLCS a one-time fee plus an annual asset-based fee, which scales downward based upon net assets. The Fund also pays NLCS for any out-of-pocket expenses.

 

DESCRIPTION OF SHARES

 

Each share of beneficial interest of the Trust has one vote in the election of Trustees. Cumulative voting is not authorized for the Trust. This means that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voting for the election of Trustees can elect 100% of the Trustees if they choose to do so, and, in that event, the holders of the remaining shares will be unable to elect any Trustees.

 

Shareholders of the Trust and any other future series of the Trust will vote in the aggregate and not by series except as otherwise required by law or when the Board determines that the matter to be voted upon affects only the interest of the shareholders of a particular series or classes. Matters such as ratification of the independent public accountants and election of Trustees are not subject to separate voting requirements and may be acted upon by shareholders of the Trust voting without regard to series.

 

The Trust’s by-laws state that unless the Trust consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forums for any Shareholder (including a beneficial owner) to bring (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Trust; (ii) any action asserting a claim or breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any Trustee, officer or employee, if any, of the Trust to the Trust or the Trust’s Shareholders or its beneficial owners; (iii) any action asserting a claim against the Trust, its Trustees, officers or employees, if any, arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware Statutory Trust Act or the Trust’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust or by-laws; or (iv) any action asserting a claim against the Trust, its Trustees, officers or employees, if any, governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be a state or federal court located within the State of Delaware. The Trust’s by-laws also state that any person or entity that is a shareholder of the Trust shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the foregoing provisions of the Trust’s by-laws.

 

The Trust is authorized to issue an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest. Each share has equal, per-class, dividend, distribution and liquidation rights. There are no conversion or preemptive rights applicable to any shares of the Fund. All shares issued are fully paid and non-assessable.

 

ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING PROGRAM

 

 

The Trust has established an Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program (the “Program”) as required by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (“USA PATRIOT Act”). To ensure compliance with this law, the Trust’s Program provides for the development of internal practices, procedures and controls, designation of anti-money laundering compliance officers, an ongoing training program and an independent audit function to determine the effectiveness of the Program. The Trust’s Secretary serves as its Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer.

 

Procedures to implement the Program include, but are not limited to, determining that the Fund’s Distributor, and Transfer Agent have established proper anti-money laundering procedures, reported suspicious and/or fraudulent activity and a complete and thorough review of all new opening account applications. The Trust will not transact business with any person or entity whose identity cannot be adequately verified under the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.

45 
 

 

As a result of the Program, the Trust may be required to “freeze” the account of a shareholder if the shareholder appears to be involved in suspicious activity or if certain account information matches information on government lists of known terrorists or other suspicious persons, or the Trust may be required to transfer the account or proceeds of the account to a governmental agency.

 

PURCHASE, REDEMPTION AND PRICING OF SHARES

 

 

Calculation of Share Price

 

As indicated in the Prospectus under the heading “Determination of Net Asset Value ,”, the NAV of the Fund’s shares is determined by dividing the total value of the Fund’s portfolio investments and other assets, less any liabilities, by the total number of shares outstanding of the Fund.

 

Generally, the Fund’s domestic securities (including underlying ETFs which hold portfolio securities primarily listed on foreign (non-U.S.) exchanges) are valued each day at the last quoted sales price on each security’s primary exchange. Securities traded or dealt in upon one or more securities exchanges for which market quotations are readily available and not subject to restrictions against resale shall be valued at the last quoted sales price on the primary exchange or, in the absence of a sale on the primary exchange, at the mean between the current bid and ask prices on such exchange. Securities primarily traded in the National Association of Securities Dealers’ Automated Quotation System (“NASDAQ”) National Market System for which market quotations are readily available shall be valued using the NASDAQ Official Closing Price. If market quotations are not readily available, securities will be valued at their fair market value as determined in good faith by the Fund’s fair value committee in accordance with procedures approved by the Board and as further described below. Securities that are not traded or dealt in any securities exchange (whether domestic or foreign) and for which over-the-counter market quotations are readily available generally shall be valued at the last sale price or, in the absence of a sale, at the mean between the current bid and ask price on such over-the-counter market.

 

Certain securities or investments for which daily market quotes are not readily available may be valued, pursuant to guidelines established by the Board, with reference to other securities or indices. Debt securities not traded on an exchange may be valued at prices supplied by a pricing agent(s) based on broker or dealer supplied valuations or matrix pricing, a method of valuing securities by reference to the value of other securities with similar characteristics, such as rating, interest rate and maturity. Short-term investments having a maturity of 60 days or less may be generally valued at amortized cost, provided such valuations represent par value.

 

Exchange traded options are valued at the last quoted sales price or, in the absence of a sale, at the mean between the current bid and ask prices on the exchange on which such options are traded. Futures and options on futures are valued at the settlement price determined by the exchange. Other securities for which market quotes are not readily available are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the Board or persons acting at their direction. Swap agreements and other derivatives are generally valued daily based upon quotations from market makers or by a pricing service in accordance with the valuation procedures approved by the Board.

 

Under certain circumstances, the Fund may use an independent pricing service to calculate the fair market value of foreign equity securities on a daily basis by applying valuation factors to the last sale price or the mean price as noted above. The fair market values supplied by the independent pricing service will generally reflect market trading that occurs after the close of the applicable foreign markets of comparable securities or the value of other instruments that have a strong correlation to the fair-valued securities. The independent pricing service will also take into account the current relevant currency exchange rate. A security that is fair valued may be valued at a price higher or lower than actual market quotations or the value determined by other funds using their own fair valuation procedures. Because foreign securities may trade on days when Fund shares are not priced, the value of securities held by the Fund can change on days when Fund shares cannot be redeemed or purchased. In the event that a foreign security’s market quotations are not readily available or are deemed unreliable (for reasons other

46 
 

than because the foreign exchange on which it trades closed before the Fund’s calculation of NAV), the security will be valued at its fair market value as determined in good faith by the Fund’s fair value committee in accordance with procedures approved by the Board as discussed below. In addition, because the Fund may invest in underlying ETFs which hold portfolio securities primarily listed on foreign (non-U.S.) exchanges, and these exchanges may trade on weekends or other days when the underlying ETFs do not price their shares, the value of these portfolio securities may change on days when you may not be able to buy or sell Fund shares.

 

Investments initially valued in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are converted to U.S. dollars using exchange rates obtained from pricing services. As a result, the NAV of the Fund’s shares may be affected by changes in the value of currencies in relation to the U.S. dollar. The value of securities traded in markets outside the United States or denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar may be affected significantly on a day that the New York Stock Exchange is closed and an investor is not able to purchase, redeem or exchange shares.

 

Fund shares are valued at the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) (the “NYSE Close”) on each day that the New York Stock Exchange is open. For purposes of calculating the NAV, the Fund normally uses pricing data for domestic equity securities received shortly after the NYSE Close and does not normally take into account trading, clearances or settlements that take place after the NYSE Close. Domestic fixed income and foreign (non-U.S.) securities are normally priced using data reflecting the earlier closing of the principal markets for those securities. Information that becomes known to the Fund or its agents after the NAV has been calculated on a particular day will not generally be used to retroactively adjust the price of the security or the NAV determined earlier that day.

 

When market quotations are insufficient or not readily available, the Fund may value securities at fair value or estimate their value as determined in good faith by the Board or its designees, pursuant to procedures approved by the Board. Fair valuation may also be used by the Board if extraordinary events occur after the close of the relevant market but prior to the NYSE Close.

 

Notice to Texas Shareholders

 

Under section 72.1021(a) of the Texas Property Code, initial investors in the Fund who are Texas residents may designate a representative to receive notices of abandoned property in connection with Fund shares. Texas shareholders who wish to appoint a representative should notify the Trust’s Transfer Agent by writing to the address below to obtain a form for providing written notice to the Trust:

 

APEX HealthCare ETF

c/o Gemini Fund Services, LLC

Po Box 541150

Omaha, Nebraska 68154

 

Creation Units

 

The Fund sells and redeems Shares in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Distributor, without a sales load, at the NAV next determined after receipt of an order in proper form on any Business Day. A “Business Day” is any day on which the NYSE is open for business. As of the date of this SAI, the NYSE observes the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

 

A Creation Unit is an aggregation of 25,000 Shares. The Board may declare a split or a consolidation in the number of Shares outstanding of the Fund or Trust, and make a corresponding change in the number of Shares in a Creation Unit.

 

47 
 

Authorized Participants

 

To purchase or redeem any Creation Units, you must be, or transact through, an Authorized Participant. In order to be an Authorized Participant, you must be either a broker-dealer or other participant (“Participating Party”) in the Continuous Net Settlement System (“Clearing Process”) of the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) or a participant in DTC with access to the DTC system (“DTC Participant”), and you must execute an agreement (“Participant Agreement”) with the Distributor that governs transactions in the Fund’s Creation Units.

 

Investors who are not Authorized Participants but want to transact in Creation Units may contact the Distributor for the names of Authorized Participants. An Authorized Participant may require investors to enter into a separate agreement to transact through it for Creation Units and may require orders for purchases of shares placed with it to be in a particular form. Investors transacting through a broker that is not itself an Authorized Participant and therefore must still transact through an Authorized Participant may incur additional charges. There are expected to be a limited number of Authorized Participants at any one time.

 

Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant by telephone or other transmission method acceptable to the Distributor. Market disruptions and telephone or other communication failures may impede the transmission of orders.

 

Transaction Fees

 

A fixed fee payable to the Custodian is imposed on each creation and redemption transaction regardless of the number of Creation Units involved in the transaction (“Fixed Fee”). Purchases and redemptions of Creation Units for cash or involving cash-in-lieu (as defined below) are required to pay an additional variable charge to compensate the Fund and its ongoing shareholders for brokerage and market impact expenses relating to Creation Unit transactions (“Variable Charge”, and together with the Fixed Fee, the “Transaction Fees”). With the approval of the Board, the Adviser may waive or adjust the Transaction Fees, including the Fixed Fee and/or Variable Charge (shown in the table below), from time to time. In such cases, the Authorized Participant will reimburse the Fund for, among other things, any difference between the market value at which the securities and/or financial instruments were purchased by the Fund and the cash-in-lieu amount, applicable registration fees, brokerage commissions and certain taxes. In addition, purchasers of Creation Units are responsible for the costs of transferring the Deposit Securities to the account of the Fund.

 

Investors who use the services of a broker, or other such intermediary may be charged a fee for such services. The Transaction Fees for the Fund are listed in the table below.

 

Fee for In-Kind and Cash Minimum Additional Variable Maximum Additional Variable
Purchases Charge for Cash Purchases* Charge for Cash Purchases*
$500 20bps 200bps

 

  * As a percentage of the amount invested.

 

The Clearing Process

 

Transactions by an Authorized Participant that is a Participating Party using the NSCC system are referred to as transactions “through the Clearing Process.” Transactions by an Authorized Participant that is a DTC Participant using the DTC system are referred to as transactions “outside the Clearing Process.” The Clearing Process is an enhanced clearing process that is available only for certain securities and only to DTC participants that are also participants in the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC. In-kind (portions of) purchase orders not subject to the Clearing Process will go through a manual clearing process run by DTC. Portfolio Deposits that include government securities must be delivered through the Federal Reserve Bank wire transfer system (“Federal Reserve System”).

48 
 

Fund Deposits that include cash may be delivered through the Clearing Process or the Federal Reserve System. In-kind deposits of securities for orders outside the Clearing Process must be delivered through the Federal Reserve System (for government securities) or through DTC (for corporate securities).

 

Foreign Securities

 

Because the portfolio securities of the Fund may trade on days that the Exchange is closed or are otherwise not Business Days for the Fund, shareholders may not be able to redeem their shares of the Fund, or to purchase or sell shares of the Fund on the Exchange, on days when the NAV of the Fund could be significantly affected by events in the relevant foreign markets.

 

Purchasing Creation Units

 

Portfolio Deposit

 

The consideration for a Creation Unit generally consists of the Deposit Securities and a Cash Component. Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Portfolio Deposit.” The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the net asset value per Creation Unit and the Deposit Securities. Thus, the Cash Component is equal to the difference between (x) the net asset value per Creation Unit of the Fund and (y) the market value of the Deposit Securities. If (x) is more than (y), the Authorized Participant will pay the Cash Component to the Fund. If (x) is less than (y), the Authorized Participant will receive the Cash Component from the Fund.

 

On each Business Day, prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern Time), the Adviser through the Custodian makes available through NSCC the name and amount of each Deposit Security in the current Portfolio Deposit (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for the Fund and the (estimated) Cash Component, effective through and including the previous Business Day, per Creation Unit. The Deposit Securities announced are applicable to purchases of Creation Units until the next announcement of Deposit Securities.

 

Payment of any stamp duty or the like shall be the sole responsibility of the Authorized Participant purchasing a Creation Unit. The Authorized Participant must ensure that all Deposit Securities properly denote change in beneficial ownership.

 

Custom Orders and Cash-in-lieu

 

The Fund may, in its sole discretion, permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash (“cash-in-lieu”) to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security. The Fund may permit or require cash-in-lieu when, for example, a Deposit Security may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or may not be eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC or the Clearing Process. Similarly, the Fund may permit or require cash in lieu of Deposit Securities when, for example, the Authorized Participant or its underlying investor is restricted under U.S. or local securities laws or policies from transacting in one or more Deposit Securities. The Fund will comply with the federal securities laws in accepting Deposit Securities including that the Deposit Securities are sold in transactions that would be exempt from registration under the Securities Act. All orders involving cash-in-lieu are considered to be “Custom Orders.”

 

Purchase Orders

 

To order a Creation Unit, an Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable purchase order to the Distributor.

 

Timing of Submission of Purchase Orders

 

An Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable purchase order no later than the earlier of (i) 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time or (ii) the closing time of the bond markets and/or the trading session on the

49 
 

Exchange, on any Business Day in order to receive that Business Day’s NAV (“Cut-off Time”). The Cut-off Time for Custom Orders is generally two hours earlier. The Business Day the order is deemed received by the Distributor is referred to as the “Transmittal Date.” An order to create Creation Units is deemed received on a Business Day if (i) such order is received by the Distributor by the Cut-off Time on such day and (ii) all other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement are properly followed. Persons placing or effectuating custom orders and/or orders involving cash should be mindful of time deadlines imposed by intermediaries, such as DTC and/or the Federal Reserve Bank wire system, which may impact the successful processing of such orders to ensure that cash and securities are transferred by the “Settlement Date,” which is generally the Business Day immediately following the Transmittal Date (“T+1”) for cash and the second Business Day following the Transmittal Date for securities (“T+2”).

 

Orders Using the Clearing Process

 

If available, (portions of) orders may be settled through the Clearing Process. In connection with such orders, the Distributor transmits, on behalf of the Authorized Participant, such trade instructions as are necessary to effect the creation order. Pursuant to such trade instructions, the Authorized Participant agrees to deliver the requisite Portfolio Deposit to the Fund, together with such additional information as may be required by the Distributor. Cash Components will be delivered using either the Clearing Process or the Federal Reserve System.

 

Orders Outside the Clearing Process

 

If the Clearing Process is not available for (portions of) an order, Portfolio Deposits will be made outside the Clearing Process. Orders outside the Clearing Process must state that the DTC Participant is not using the Clearing Process and that the creation of Creation Units will be effected through DTC. The Portfolio Deposit transfer must be ordered by the DTC Participant on the Transmittal Date in a timely fashion so as to ensure the delivery of Deposit Securities (whether standard or custom) through DTC to the Fund account by 11:00 a.m., Eastern time, on T+1. The Cash Component, along with any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee, must be transferred directly to the Custodian through the Federal Reserve System in a timely manner so as to be received by the Custodian no later than 12:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on T+1. If the Custodian does not receive both the Deposit Securities and the cash by the appointed time, the order may be canceled. A canceled order may be resubmitted the following Business Day but must conform to that Business Day’s Portfolio Deposit. Authorized Participants that submit a canceled order will be liable to the Fund for any losses incurred by the Fund in connection therewith.

 

Orders involving foreign Deposit Securities are expected to be settled outside the Clearing Process. Thus, upon receipt of an irrevocable purchase order, the Distributor will notify the Adviser and the Custodian of such order. The Custodian, who will have caused the appropriate local sub-custodian(s) of the Fund to maintain an account into which an Authorized Participant may deliver Deposit Securities (or cash-in-lieu), with adjustments determined by the Fund, will then provide information of the order to such local sub-custodian(s). The ordering Authorized Participant will then deliver the Deposit Securities (and any cash-in-lieu) to the Fund’s account at the applicable local sub-custodian. The Authorized Participant must also make available on or before the contractual settlement date, by means satisfactory to the Fund, immediately available or same day funds in U.S. dollars estimated by the Fund to be sufficient to pay the Cash Component and Transaction Fee. When a relevant local market is closed due to local market holidays, the local market settlement process will not commence until the end of the local holiday period. Settlement must occur by 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on the contractual settlement date.

 

Acceptance of Purchase Order

 

All questions as to the number of shares of each security in the Deposit Securities and the validity, form, eligibility and acceptance for deposit of any securities to be delivered shall be determined by the Fund. The Fund’s determination shall be final and binding.

 

The Fund reserves the absolute right to reject or revoke acceptance of a purchase order transmitted to it by the Distributor if (a) the order is not in proper form; (b) the investor(s), upon obtaining

50 
 

the shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding shares of the Fund; (c) the Deposit Securities delivered do not conform to the Deposit Securities for the applicable date; (d) acceptance of the Deposit Securities would have certain adverse tax consequences to the Fund; (e) the acceptance of the Portfolio Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; (f) the acceptance of the Portfolio Deposit would otherwise, in the discretion of the Trust, Fund or the Adviser, have an adverse effect on the Trust, Fund or the rights of beneficial owners; or (g) in the event that circumstances outside the control of the Trust, the Distributor and the Adviser make it for all practical purposes impossible to process purchase orders. Examples of such circumstances include acts of God; public service or utility problems resulting in telephone, telecopy or computer failures; fires, floods or extreme weather conditions; market conditions or activities causing trading halts; systems failures involving computer or other informational systems affecting the Trust, the Distributor, DTC, NSCC, the Adviser, the Fund’s Custodian, a sub-custodian or any other participant in the creation process; and similar extraordinary events. The Distributor shall notify an Authorized Participant of its rejection of the order. The Fund, the Custodian, any sub-custodian and the Distributor are under no duty, however, to give notification of any defects or irregularities in the delivery of Portfolio Deposits, and they shall not incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification.

 

Issuance of a Creation Unit

 

Once the Fund has accepted an order, upon next determination of the Fund’s NAV, the Fund will confirm the issuance of a Creation Unit, against receipt of payment, at such NAV. The Distributor will transmit a confirmation of acceptance to the Authorized Participant that placed the order.

 

Except as provided below, a Creation Unit will not be issued until the Fund obtains good title to the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component, along with any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee. The delivery of Creation Units will generally occur no later than T+2.

 

In certain cases, Authorized Participants will create and redeem Creation Units on the same trade date. In these instances, the Trust reserves the right to settle these transactions on a net basis.

 

With respect to orders involving foreign Deposit Securities, when the applicable local sub-custodian(s) have confirmed to the Custodian that the Deposit Securities (or cash-in-lieu) have been delivered to the Fund’s account at the applicable local sub-custodian(s), the Distributor and the Adviser shall be notified of such delivery, and the Fund will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation Unit. While, as stated above, Creation Units are generally delivered on T+2, the Fund may settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 in order to accommodate foreign market holiday schedules, to account for different treatment among foreign and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates (that is the last day the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security), and in certain other circumstances.

 

The Fund may issue a Creation Unit prior to receiving good title to the Deposit Securities, under the following circumstances. Pursuant to the applicable Participant Agreement, the Fund may issue a Creation Unit notwithstanding that (certain) Deposit Securities have not been delivered, in reliance on an undertaking by the relevant Authorized Participant to deliver the missing Deposit Securities as soon as possible, which undertaking is secured by such Authorized Participant’s delivery to and maintenance with the Custodian of collateral having a value equal to at least 115% of the value of the missing Deposit Securities (“Collateral”), as adjusted by time to time by the Adviser. Such Collateral will have a value greater than the NAV of the Creation Unit on the date the order is placed. Such collateral must be delivered no later than 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on T+1. The only Collateral that is acceptable to the Fund is cash in U.S. Dollars.

 

While (certain) Deposit Securities remain undelivered, the Collateral shall at all times have a value equal to at least 115% (as adjusted by the Adviser) of the daily marked-to-market value of the missing Deposit Securities. At any time, the Fund may use the Collateral to purchase the missing securities, and the Authorized Participant will be liable to the Fund for any costs incurred thereby or losses resulting therefrom, whether or not they exceed the amount of the Collateral, including any

51 
 

Transaction Fee, any amount by which the purchase price of the missing Deposit Securities exceeds the market value of such securities on the Transmittal Date, brokerage and other transaction costs. The Trust will return any unused Collateral once all of the missing securities have been received by the Fund. More information regarding the Fund’s current procedures for collateralization is available from the Distributor.

 

Cash Purchase Method

 

When cash purchases of Creation Units are available or specified for the Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind purchases In the case of a cash purchase, the investor must pay the cash equivalent of the Portfolio Deposit. In addition, cash purchases will be subject to Transaction Fees, as described above.

 

Redeeming a Creation Unit

 

Redemption Basket

 

The consideration received in connection with the redemption of a Creation Unit generally consists of an in-kind basket of designated securities (“Redemption Securities”) and a Cash Component. Together, the Redemption Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Redemption Basket.”

 

There can be no assurance that there will be sufficient liquidity in Shares in the secondary market to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. In addition, investors may incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a Creation Unit.

 

The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the net asset value per Creation Unit and the Redemption Securities. Thus, the Cash Component is equal to the difference between (x) the net asset value per Creation Unit of the Fund and (y) the market value of the Redemption Securities. If (x) is more than (y), the Authorized Participant will receive the Cash Component from the Fund. If (x) is less than (y), the Authorized Participant will pay the Cash Component to the Fund.

 

If the Redemption Securities on a Business Day are different from the Deposit Securities, prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern Time), the Adviser through the Custodian makes available through NSCC the name and amount of each Redemption Security in the current Redemption Basket (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for the Fund and the (estimated) Cash Component, effective through and including the previous Business Day, per Creation Unit. If the Redemption Securities on a Business Day are different from the Deposit Securities, all redemption requests that day will be processed outside the Clearing Process.

 

The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed: (i) for any period during which the NYSE is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (ii) for any period during which trading on the NYSE is suspended or restricted; (iii) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the Shares or determination of the ETF’s NAV is not reasonably practicable; or (iv) in such other circumstances as permitted by the SEC, including as described below.

 

Custom Redemptions and Cash-in-lieu

 

The Fund may, in its sole discretion, permit or require the substitution of cash-in-lieu to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Redemption Security. The Fund may permit or require cash-in-lieu when, for example, a Redemption Security may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or may not be eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC or the Clearing Process. Similarly, the Fund may permit or require cash-in-lieu of Redemption Securities when, for example, the Authorized Participant or its underlying investor is restricted under U.S. or local securities law or policies from transacting in one or more Redemption Securities. The Fund will comply with the federal securities laws in satisfying redemptions with Redemption Securities, including that the Redemption Securities are sold in

52 
 

transactions that would be exempt from registration under the Securities Act. All redemption requests involving cash-in-lieu are considered to be “Custom Redemptions.”

 

Redemption Requests

 

To redeem a Creation Unit, an Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable redemption request to the Distributor.

 

An Authorized Participant submitting a redemption request is deemed to represent to the Fund that it has ascertained or has reasonable grounds to believe that as of the time of the contractual settlement date, that (i) it or its customer, as the case may be, owns, will own or have the authority and right to tender for redemption the Creation Unit to be redeemed and can receive the entire proceeds of the redemption, and (ii) all of the Shares that are in the Creation Unit to be redeemed have not been borrowed, loaned or pledged to another party nor are they the subject of a repurchase agreement, securities lending agreement or such other arrangement that would preclude the delivery of such Shares to the Fund on the contractual settlement date. The Fund reserves the absolute right, in its sole discretion, to verify these representations, but will typically require verification in connection with higher levels of redemption activity and/or short interest in the Fund. If the Authorized Participant, upon receipt of a verification request, does not provide sufficient verification of the requested representations, the redemption request will not be considered to be in proper form and may be rejected by the Fund.

 

Timing of Submission of Redemption Requests

 

An Authorized Participant must submit an irrevocable redemption order no later than the Cut-off Time. The Cut-off Time for Custom Orders is generally two hours earlier. The Business Day the order is deemed received by the Distributor is referred to as the “Transmittal Date.” A redemption request is deemed received if (i) such order is received by the Distributor by the Cut-off Time on such day and (ii) all other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement are properly followed. Persons placing or effectuating Custom Redemptions and/or orders involving cash should be mindful of time deadlines imposed by intermediaries, such as DTC and/or the Federal Reserve System, which may impact the successful processing of such orders to ensure that cash and securities are transferred by the Settlement Date, as defined above.

 

Requests Using the Clearing Process

 

If available, (portions of) redemption requests may be settled through the Clearing Process. In connection with such orders, the Distributor transmits on behalf of the Authorized Participant, such trade instructions as are necessary to effect the redemption. Pursuant to such trade instructions, the Authorized Participant agrees to deliver the requisite Creation Unit(s) to the Fund, together with such additional information as may be required by the Distributor. Cash Components will be delivered using either the Clearing Process or the Federal Reserve System, as described above.

 

Requests Outside the Clearing Process

 

If the Clearing Process is not available for (portions of) an order, Redemption Baskets will be delivered outside the Clearing Process. Orders outside the Clearing Process must state that the DTC Participant is not using the Clearing Process and that the redemption will be effected through DTC. The Authorized Participant must transfer or cause to be transferred the Creation Unit(s) of shares being redeemed through the book-entry system of DTC so as to be delivered through DTC to the Custodian by 10:00 a.m., Eastern Time, on received T+1. In addition, the Cash Component must be received by the Custodian by 12:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on T+1. If the Custodian does not receive the Creation Unit(s) and Cash Component by the appointed times on T+1, the redemption will be rejected, except in the circumstances described below. A rejected redemption request may be resubmitted the following Business Day.

 

53 
 

Orders involving foreign Redemption Securities are expected to be settled outside the Clearing Process. Thus, upon receipt of an irrevocable redemption request, the Distributor will notify the Adviser and the Custodian. The Custodian will then provide information of the redemption to the Fund’s local sub-custodian(s). The redeeming Authorized Participant, or the investor on whose behalf is acting, will have established appropriate arrangements with a broker-dealer, bank or other custody provider in each jurisdiction in which the Redemption Securities are customarily traded and to which such Redemption Securities (and any cash-in-lieu) can be delivered from the Fund’s accounts at the applicable local sub-custodian(s).

 

Acceptance of Redemption Requests

 

All questions as to the number of shares of each security in the Deposit Securities and the validity, form, eligibility and acceptance for deposit of any securities to be delivered shall be determined by the Trust. The Trust’s determination shall be final and binding.

 

Delivery of Redemption Basket

 

Once the Fund has accepted a redemption request, upon next determination of the Fund’s NAV, the Fund will confirm the issuance of a Redemption Basket, against receipt of the Creation Unit(s) at such NAV, any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee. A Creation Unit tendered for redemption and the payment of the Cash Component, any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee will be effected through DTC. The Authorized Participant, or the investor on whose behalf it is acting, will be recorded on the book-entry system of DTC.

 

The Redemption Basket will generally be delivered to the redeeming Authorized Participant within T+2. Except under the circumstances described below, however, a Redemption Basket generally will not be issued until the Creation Unit(s) are delivered to the Fund, along with the Cash Component, any cash-in-lieu and Transaction Fee.

 

In certain cases, Authorized Participants will create and redeem Creation Units on the same trade date. In these instances, the Trust reserves the right to settle these transactions on a net basis.

 

With respect to orders involving foreign Redemption Securities, the Fund may settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than T+2 in order to accommodate foreign market holiday schedules, to account for different treatment among foreign and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates (that is the last day the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security), and in certain other circumstances. When a relevant local market is closed due to local market holidays, the local market settlement process will not commence until the end of the local holiday period. Listed below are the dates in calendar year 2020 in which the regular holidays in non-U.S. markets may impact Fund settlement. This list is based on information available to the Fund. The list may not be accurate or complete and is subject to change:

 

Market Holiday Date Holiday Name
     
Argentina Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Argentina Monday, February 15, 2021 Carnival
Argentina Tuesday, February 16, 2021 Carnival
Argentina Wednesday, March 24, 2021 Memorial Day
Argentina Thursday, April 01, 2021 Holy Thursday
Argentina Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Argentina Tuesday, May 25, 2021 May Revolution’s Day
    Martin Miguel Guemes
Argentina Thursday, June 17, 2021 Memorial
Argentina Friday, July 09, 2021 Independence Day
Argentina Monday, August 16, 2021 San Martin’s Memorial Day
54 
 

 

Argentina Monday, October 11, 2021 Respect to Cultural Diversity
Argentina Monday, November 22, 2021 Day of National Sovereignty
Argentina Wednesday, December 08, 2021 Immaculate Conception
Australia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Australia Tuesday, January 26, 2021 Australia Day
Australia Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Australia Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Australia Monday, June 14, 2021 Queen’s Birthday
Australia Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Australia Monday, December 27, 2021 Christmas Day
Australia Tuesday, December 28, 2021 Boxing Day
Australia Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Austria Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Austria Wednesday, January 06, 2021 Epiphany
Austria Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Austria Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Austria Thursday, May 13, 2021 Ascension Day
Austria Monday, May 24, 2021 Whit Monday
Austria Thursday, June 03, 2021 Corpus Christi
Austria Tuesday, October 26, 2021 National Day
Austria Monday, November 01, 2021 All Saints’ Day
Austria Wednesday, December 08, 2021 Immaculate Conception
Austria Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Austria Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Bahrain Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Bahrain Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Bahrain Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Bahrain Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Bahrain Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Bahrain Thursday, July 22, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Bahrain Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Al Hijri New Year
Bahrain Wednesday, August 18, 2021 Ashoora
Bahrain Thursday, August 19, 2021 Ashoora
Bahrain Tuesday, October 19, 2021 Prophet Mohammad’s Birthday
Bahrain Thursday, December 16, 2021 National Day
Bahrain Sunday, December 19, 2021 National Day
Bangladesh Sunday, February 21, 2021 Shaheed / Martyrs Day
Bangladesh Wednesday, March 17, 2021 Birthday Father of the Nation
Bangladesh Wednesday, April 14, 2021 Bengali New Year’s Day
Bangladesh Sunday, August 15, 2021 National Mourning Day
Bangladesh Thursday, December 16, 2021 Victory Day
Belgium Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Belgium Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Belgium Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Bermuda Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Bermuda Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
55 
 

 

Bermuda Friday, May 28, 2021 Bermuda Day
Bermuda Monday, June 21, 2021 National Heroes’ Day
Bermuda Thursday, July 29, 2021 Emancipation and Somers Day
Bermuda Friday, July 30, 2021 Emancipation and Somers Day
Bermuda Monday, September 06, 2021 Labour Day
Bermuda Thursday, November 11, 2021 Remembrance Day
Bermuda Monday, December 27, 2021 Christmas Day (Observed)
Bermuda Tuesday, December 28, 2021 Boxing Day (Observed)
Bosnia and Herzegovina Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Bosnia and Herzegovina Wednesday, January 06, 2021 Orthodox Christmas
Bosnia and Herzegovina Thursday, January 07, 2021 Orthodox Christmas
Bosnia and Herzegovina Monday, March 01, 2021 Independence Day
Bosnia and Herzegovina Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday (Catholic)
Bosnia and Herzegovina Friday, April 30, 2021 Good Friday (Orthodox)
Bosnia and Herzegovina Monday, May 03, 2021 Easter Monday (Orthodox)
Bosnia and Herzegovina Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Bosnia and Herzegovina Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Eid-al-Adha/Hajj
Bosnia and Herzegovina Thursday, November 25, 2021 Statehood Day
Botswana Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Botswana Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Botswana Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Botswana Friday, May 21, 2021 Ascension Day
Botswana Monday, July 19, 2021 Sir Seretse Khama Day
Botswana Tuesday, July 20, 2021 President’s Day
Botswana Thursday, September 30, 2021 Independence Day
Botswana Monday, December 27, 2021 Boxing Day
Brazil Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Brazil Monday, February 15, 2021 Carnival
Brazil Tuesday, February 16, 2021 Carnival
Brazil Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Brazil Wednesday, April 21, 2021 Tiradentes Day
Brazil Thursday, June 03, 2021 Corpus Christi
Brazil Tuesday, September 07, 2021 Independence Day
Brazil Tuesday, October 12, 2021 Our Lady of Aparecida
Brazil Tuesday, November 02, 2021 All Souls’ Day
Bulgaria Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Bulgaria Wednesday, March 03, 2021 Liberation Day
Bulgaria Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Bulgaria Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Bulgaria Friday, April 30, 2021 Orthodox Good Friday
Bulgaria Monday, May 03, 2021 Easter Monday (Orthodox)
Bulgaria Tuesday, May 04, 2021 Labour Day
Bulgaria Thursday, May 06, 2021 Saint George’s Day
Bulgaria Monday, May 24, 2021 Slavic Culture Day
56 
 

 

Bulgaria Monday, September 06, 2021 Reunion Day
Bulgaria Wednesday, September 22, 2021 Independence Day
Bulgaria Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Bulgaria Monday, December 27, 2021 Christmas Day (Observed)
    Second Christmas Day
Bulgaria Tuesday, December 28, 2021 Observed
Canada Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Canada Monday, February 15, 2021 Family Day
Canada Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Canada Monday, May 24, 2021 Victoria Day
Canada Thursday, July 01, 2021 Canada Day
Canada Monday, August 02, 2021 Civic Holiday
Canada Monday, September 06, 2021 Labour Day
Canada Monday, October 11, 2021 Thanksgiving Day
Canada Thursday, November 11, 2021 Remembrance Day
Canada Monday, December 27, 2021 Boxing Day (Observed)
Chile Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Chile Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Chile Friday, May 21, 2021 Navy Day
Chile Monday, June 28, 2021 Saint Pedro and Saint Pablo
Chile Friday, July 16, 2021 Virgin del Carmen Day
Chile Monday, October 11, 2021 Columbus Day
Chile Monday, November 01, 2021 All Saints’ Day
Chile Wednesday, December 08, 2021 Immaculate Conception
Chile Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
China Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
China Thursday, February 11, 2021 Chinese New Year
China Friday, February 12, 2021 Chinese New Year
China Monday, February 15, 2021 Chinese New Year
China Tuesday, February 16, 2021 Chinese New Year
China Wednesday, February 17, 2021 Chinese New Year
China Monday, April 05, 2021 Qing Ming Festival
China Monday, May 03, 2021 Labor Day
China Monday, June 14, 2021 Dragon Boat Festival
China Tuesday, September 21, 2021 Mid-Autumn Festival
China Friday, October 01, 2021 National Day Holidays
China Monday, October 04, 2021 National Day Holidays
China Tuesday, October 05, 2021 National Day Holidays
China Wednesday, October 06, 2021 National Day Holidays
China Thursday, October 07, 2021 National Day Holidays
Colombia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Colombia Monday, January 11, 2021 Epiphany
Colombia Thursday, April 01, 2021 Holy Thursday
Colombia Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Colombia Monday, May 17, 2021 Ascension Day
Colombia Monday, June 07, 2021 Corpus Christi
Colombia Monday, June 14, 2021 Sacred Heart of Jesus Day
57 
 

 

Colombia Monday, July 05, 2021 St. Peter and St. Paul Day
Colombia Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Independence Day
Colombia Monday, August 16, 2021 Assumption of the Virgin Day
Colombia Monday, October 18, 2021 Columbus Day
Colombia Monday, November 01, 2021 All Saints’ Day
Colombia Monday, November 15, 2021 Independence of Cartagena
Colombia Wednesday, December 08, 2021 Immaculate Conception
Colombia Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Colombia Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Costa Rica Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Costa Rica Thursday, April 01, 2021 Holy Thursday
Costa Rica Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Costa Rica Monday, May 03, 2021 Labour Day
Costa Rica Monday, July 26, 2021 Anexion of Guanacaste
Costa Rica Monday, August 02, 2021 Virgen de los Angeles Day
Costa Rica Monday, September 13, 2021 Independence Day
Costa Rica Monday, November 29, 2021 Army Abolution
Croatia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Croatia Wednesday, January 06, 2021 Epiphany
Croatia Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Croatia Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Croatia Thursday, June 03, 2021 Corpus Christi
Croatia Tuesday, June 22, 2021 Day of Antifascist Struggle
Croatia Thursday, August 05, 2021 Victory Day
Croatia Monday, November 01, 2021 All Saints’ Day
Croatia Thursday, November 18, 2021 Remembrance Day
Croatia Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Croatia Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Cyprus Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Cyprus Wednesday, January 06, 2021 Epiphany
Cyprus Monday, March 15, 2021 Ash Monday
Cyprus Thursday, March 25, 2021 Greek Independence Day
Cyprus Thursday, April 01, 2021 Cyprus National Day
Cyprus Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Cyprus Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Cyprus Friday, April 30, 2021 Orthodox Good Friday
Cyprus Monday, May 03, 2021 Orthodox Easter Monday
Cyprus Tuesday, May 04, 2021 Orthodox Easter Tuesday
Cyprus Monday, June 21, 2021 Pentecost
Cyprus Friday, October 01, 2021 Cyprus Independence Day
Cyprus Thursday, October 28, 2021 National Holiday
Cyprus Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
58 
 

 

Czech Republic Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Czech Republic Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Czech Republic Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Czech Republic Monday, July 05, 2021 Saints Cyril Day
Czech Republic Tuesday, July 06, 2021 Jan Hus Day
Czech Republic Tuesday, September 28, 2021 Statehood Day
Czech Republic Thursday, October 28, 2021 Independence Day
Czech Republic Wednesday, November 17, 2021 Freedom and Democracy Day
Czech Republic Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Denmark Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Denmark Thursday, April 01, 2021 Maundy Thursday
Denmark Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Denmark Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Denmark Friday, April 30, 2021 Prayer Day
Denmark Thursday, May 13, 2021 Ascension Day
Denmark Friday, May 14, 2021 Bank Holiday
Denmark Monday, May 24, 2021 Whit Monday
Denmark Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Denmark Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Egypt Thursday, January 07, 2021 Coptic Christmas Day
Egypt Sunday, April 04, 2021 Easter Sunday
Egypt Sunday, April 25, 2021 Sinai Liberation Day
Egypt Monday, May 03, 2021 Sham El Nassim
Egypt Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Egypt Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Egypt Monday, July 19, 2021 Wakfet Arafat
Egypt Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Egypt Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Egypt Thursday, July 22, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Egypt Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Islamic (Hijri) New Year
Egypt Wednesday, October 06, 2021 Armed Forces Day
Egypt Tuesday, October 19, 2021 Prophet’s Birthday
Estonia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Estonia Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Estonia Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Eswatini Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Eswatini Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Eswatini Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Eswatini Monday, April 19, 2021 King’s Birthday
Eswatini Monday, April 26, 2021 National Flag Day
Eswatini Thursday, May 13, 2021 Ascension Day
Eswatini Thursday, July 22, 2021 King Father’s Birthday
Eswatini Monday, September 06, 2021 Somhlolo Day
Eswatini Monday, December 27, 2021 Boxing Day
Eswatini Tuesday, December 28, 2021 Inwcwala Day
Finland Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Finland Wednesday, January 06, 2021 Epiphany
Finland Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Finland Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
59 
 

 

Finland Thursday, May 13, 2021 Ascension Day
Finland Friday, June 25, 2021 Midsummer’s Eve
Finland Monday, December 06, 2021 Independence Day
Finland Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Finland Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
France Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
France Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
France Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Germany Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Germany Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Germany Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Germany Thursday, May 13, 2021 Ascension Day
Germany Monday, May 24, 2021 Whit Monday
Germany Thursday, June 03, 2021 Corpus Christi
Germany Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Germany Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Ghana Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Ghana Monday, March 08, 2021 Independence Day
Ghana Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Ghana Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Ghana Monday, May 03, 2021 May Day
Ghana Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Ghana Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Christmas Eve
Ghana Wednesday, August 04, 2021 Founder Day
    Kwame Nkrumah Memorial
Ghana Tuesday, September 21, 2021 Day
Ghana Friday, December 03, 2021 Farmers’ Day
Ghana Monday, December 27, 2021 Christmas Day (Observed)
Greece Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Greece Wednesday, January 06, 2021 Epiphany
Greece Monday, March 15, 2021 Ash Monday
Greece Thursday, March 25, 2021 Independence Day
Greece Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday (Catholic Easter)
Greece Monday, April 05, 2021 Catholic Easter Monday
Greece Friday, April 30, 2021 Good Friday (Orthodox)
Greece Monday, May 03, 2021 Orthodox Easter Monday
Greece Monday, June 21, 2021 Whit Monday
Greece Thursday, October 28, 2021 National Holiday
Greece Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Hong Kong SAR Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Hong Kong SAR Thursday, February 11, 2021 Eve of Lunar New Year
Hong Kong SAR Friday, February 12, 2021 Lunar New Year’s Day
Hong Kong SAR Monday, February 15, 2021 4th Day of Lunar New Year
Hong Kong SAR Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Hong Kong SAR Monday, April 05, 2021 Ching Ming Festival
Hong Kong SAR Tuesday, April 06, 2021 Day After Easter Monday
Hong Kong SAR Wednesday, May 19, 2021 Buddha Birthday
60 
 

 

Hong Kong SAR Monday, June 14, 2021 Tuen Ng Festival
Hong Kong SAR Thursday, July 01, 2021 Establishment Day
Hong Kong SAR Wednesday, September 22, 2021 Mid-Autumn Festival
Hong Kong SAR Friday, October 01, 2021 National Day
Hong Kong SAR Thursday, October 14, 2021 Chung Yeung Festival
Hong Kong SAR Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Hong Kong SAR Monday, December 27, 2021 Christmas Day (Observed)
Hong Kong SAR Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Hungary Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Hungary Monday, March 15, 2021 Revolution Day
Hungary Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Hungary Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Hungary Monday, May 24, 2021 Whit Monday
Hungary Friday, August 20, 2021 St. Stephen’s Day
Hungary Monday, November 01, 2021 All Saints’ Day
Hungary Saturday, December 11, 2021 Replacement Workday
Hungary Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Iceland Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Iceland Thursday, April 01, 2021 Maundy Thursday
Iceland Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Iceland Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Iceland Thursday, April 22, 2021 First Day of Summer
Iceland Thursday, May 13, 2021 Ascension Day
Iceland Monday, May 24, 2021 Whit Monday
Iceland Thursday, June 17, 2021 Independence Day
Iceland Monday, August 02, 2021 Commerce Day
Iceland Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Iceland Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
India Tuesday, January 26, 2021 Republic Day
India Friday, February 19, 2021 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
India Thursday, April 01, 2021 Annual Closing Of Accounts
India Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Indonesia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Indonesia Friday, February 12, 2021 Chinese New Year
Indonesia Thursday, March 11, 2021 Ascension Day
Indonesia Friday, March 12, 2021 Mass Leave
Indonesia Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Indonesia Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Mass Leave for Idul Fitri
Indonesia Thursday, May 13, 2021 Mass Leave for Idul Fitri
Indonesia Friday, May 14, 2021 Mass Leave for Idul Fitri
Indonesia Monday, May 17, 2021 Mass Leave for Idul Fitri
Indonesia Tuesday, May 18, 2021 Mass Leave for Idul Fitri
Indonesia Wednesday, May 19, 2021 Mass Leave for Idul Fitri
Indonesia Wednesday, May 26, 2021 Buddhist Vesak Day
Indonesia Tuesday, June 01, 2021 Pancasila Day
Indonesia Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Idul Adha
Indonesia Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Islamic New Year
61 
 

 

Indonesia Tuesday, August 17, 2021 Independence Day
Indonesia Tuesday, October 19, 2021 Prophet’s Birthday
Indonesia Friday, December 24, 2021 Mass Leave for Christmas Day
Indonesia Monday, December 27, 2021 Mass Leave for Christmas Day
Indonesia Friday, December 31, 2021 Stock Exchange Holiday
Ireland Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Ireland Wednesday, March 17, 2021 St. Patrick’s Day
Ireland Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Ireland Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Ireland Monday, May 03, 2021 Bank Holiday
Ireland Monday, June 07, 2021 Bank Holiday
Ireland Monday, August 02, 2021 Bank Holiday
Ireland Monday, October 25, 2021 Bank Holiday
Ireland Monday, December 27, 2021 Christmas Day (Observed)
Israel Sunday, May 16, 2021 Pentecost (Shavuot) Eve
Israel Monday, May 17, 2021 Shavuot (Pentecost)
Israel Wednesday, September 22, 2021 Sukkot Mid Holiday
Israel Thursday, September 23, 2021 Sukkot Mid Holiday
Israel Sunday, September 26, 2021 Sukkot Mid Holiday
Israel Monday, September 27, 2021 Rejoicing of the Law
Israel Tuesday, September 28, 2021 Simchat Torah
Italy Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Italy Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Italy Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Italy Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Italy Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Ivory Coast Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Ivory Coast Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Ivory Coast Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Aid-el-Fitr
Ivory Coast Thursday, May 13, 2021 Ascension Day
Ivory Coast Monday, May 24, 2021 Whit Monday
Ivory Coast Monday, July 19, 2021 Christmas Eve
Ivory Coast Wednesday, October 20, 2021 Prophet’s Birthday
Ivory Coast Monday, November 01, 2021 All Saints’ Day
Ivory Coast Monday, November 15, 2021 National Peace Day
Japan Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Japan Monday, January 11, 2021 Coming of Age Day
Japan Thursday, February 11, 2021 National Foundation Day
Japan Tuesday, February 23, 2021 Emperor’s Birthday
Japan Thursday, April 29, 2021 Showa Day
Japan Monday, May 03, 2021 Constitution Memorial Day
Japan Tuesday, May 04, 2021 Greenery Day
Japan Wednesday, May 05, 2021 Children’s Day
Japan Monday, July 19, 2021 Marine Day
Japan Wednesday, August 11, 2021 Mountain Day
62 
 

 

Japan Monday, September 20, 2021 Respect for the Aged Day
Japan Thursday, September 23, 2021 Autumnal Equinox Day
Japan Monday, October 11, 2021 Health and Sports Day
Japan Wednesday, November 03, 2021 Culture Day
Japan Tuesday, November 23, 2021 Labor Thanksgiving Day
Japan Friday, December 31, 2021 Bank Holiday
Jordan Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Jordan Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Jordan Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Jordan Friday, May 14, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Jordan Tuesday, May 25, 2021 Independence Day
Jordan Monday, July 19, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Jordan Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Jordan Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Jordan Thursday, July 22, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Jordan Monday, August 09, 2021 Hijra New Year
Jordan Monday, October 18, 2021 Prophet’s Birthday
Kazakhstan Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Kazakhstan Monday, January 04, 2021 New Year’s Holiday
Kazakhstan Thursday, January 07, 2021 Orthodox Christmas
Kazakhstan Monday, March 08, 2021 Bridging Holiday
Kazakhstan Monday, March 22, 2021 Nauryz Meyramy Holiday
Kazakhstan Tuesday, March 23, 2021 Nauryz Meyramy Holiday
Kazakhstan Wednesday, March 24, 2021 Nauryz Meyramy Holiday
Kazakhstan Monday, May 03, 2021 Unity Day (Observed)
Kazakhstan Friday, May 07, 2021 Motherland Defenders’ Day
Kazakhstan Monday, May 10, 2021 Victory Day
Kazakhstan Tuesday, July 06, 2021 Day of the Capital
Kazakhstan Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Kurban Ait
Kazakhstan Monday, August 30, 2021 Constitution Day
Kazakhstan Wednesday, December 01, 2021 First President Day
Kazakhstan Thursday, December 16, 2021 Independence Day
Kazakhstan Friday, December 17, 2021 Independence Day
Kenya Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Kenya Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Kenya Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Kenya Friday, May 14, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Kenya Tuesday, June 01, 2021 Madaraka Day
Kenya Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Christmas Eve
Kenya Monday, October 11, 2021 Utamaduni Day
Kenya Wednesday, October 20, 2021 Mashujaa Day
Kenya Monday, December 13, 2021 Jamhuri Day (Observed)
Kuwait Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Kuwait Thursday, February 25, 2021 National Day
Kuwait Sunday, February 28, 2021 Liberation Day
Kuwait Thursday, March 11, 2021 Isra and Miraj Holiday
63 
 

 

Kuwait Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Kuwait Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Kuwait Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Kuwait Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Kuwait Thursday, July 22, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Kuwait Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Islamic New Year
Kuwait Tuesday, October 19, 2021 Prophet’s Birthday
Latvia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Latvia Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Latvia Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Lithuania Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Lithuania Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Lithuania Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Malaysia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Malaysia Thursday, January 28, 2021 Thaipusam
Malaysia Monday, February 01, 2021 Federal Territory Day
Malaysia Friday, February 12, 2021 Chinese New Year
Malaysia Thursday, April 29, 2021 Nuzul Al-Quran
Malaysia Thursday, May 13, 2021 Hari Raya Aidilfitri
Malaysia Friday, May 14, 2021 Hari Raya Aidilfitri
Malaysia Wednesday, May 26, 2021 Wesak Day
Malaysia Monday, June 07, 2021 King’s Birthday
Malaysia Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Hari Raya Aidiladha
Malaysia Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Awal Muharram (Maal Hijrah)
Malaysia Tuesday, August 31, 2021 National Day
Malaysia Thursday, September 16, 2021 Malaysia Day
Malaysia Tuesday, October 19, 2021 Prophet Muhamad’s Birthday
Malaysia Thursday, November 04, 2021 Deepavali
Mauritius Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Mauritius Thursday, January 28, 2021 Thaipoosam Cavadee
Mauritius Monday, February 01, 2021 Abolition of Slavery
Mauritius Friday, February 12, 2021 Chinese Spring Festival
Mauritius Thursday, March 11, 2021 Maha Shivaratree
Mauritius Friday, March 12, 2021 Independence Day
Mauritius Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Mauritius Monday, September 20, 2021 Ganesh Chaturthi
Mauritius Monday, November 01, 2021 All Saints’ Day
Mauritius Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Day (Observed)
Mauritius Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Mexico Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Mexico Friday, February 05, 2021 Constitution Day
Mexico Monday, March 15, 2021 Benito Juarez Day
Mexico Thursday, April 01, 2021 Holy Thursday
Mexico Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Mexico Thursday, September 16, 2021 Independence Day
Mexico Tuesday, November 02, 2021 All Souls’ Day
Mexico Monday, November 15, 2021 Revolution Day
64 
 

 

Morocco Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Morocco Friday, May 14, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Morocco Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Christmas Eve
Morocco Friday, July 30, 2021 Throne Day
Morocco Friday, August 20, 2021 Revolution Day
Morocco Wednesday, October 20, 2021 Eid-Al Mawlid Annabaoui
Morocco Thursday, November 18, 2021 Independence Day
Mozambique Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Mozambique Wednesday, February 03, 2021 Heroes’ Day
Mozambique Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Mozambique Wednesday, April 07, 2021 Women’s Day
Mozambique Friday, June 25, 2021 Independence Day
Mozambique Tuesday, September 07, 2021 Lusaka Peace Agreement Day
Mozambique Monday, October 04, 2021 National Reconciliation Day
Namibia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Namibia Monday, March 22, 2021 Public Holiday
Namibia Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Namibia Monday, April 05, 2021 Public Holiday
Namibia Tuesday, May 04, 2021 Cassinga Day
Namibia Thursday, May 13, 2021 Ascension Day
Namibia Tuesday, May 25, 2021 Africa Day
Namibia Thursday, August 26, 2021 Heroes’ Day
Namibia Friday, December 10, 2021 Namibian Women’s Day
Namibia Monday, December 27, 2021 Family Day
Netherlands Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Netherlands Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Netherlands Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
New Zealand Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
New Zealand Monday, January 04, 2021 New Year’s Holiday
New Zealand Monday, February 08, 2021 Waitangi Day
New Zealand Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
New Zealand Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
New Zealand Monday, April 26, 2021 ANZAC Day (Observed)
New Zealand Monday, June 07, 2021 Queen’s Birthday
New Zealand Monday, October 25, 2021 Labour Day
New Zealand Monday, December 27, 2021 Christmas Day (Observed)
New Zealand Tuesday, December 28, 2021 Boxing Day (Observed)
Nigeria Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Nigeria Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Nigeria Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Nigeria Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Nigeria Friday, May 14, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Nigeria Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Id el Kabir
Nigeria Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Id el Kabir
Nigeria Friday, October 01, 2021 National Day
Nigeria Tuesday, October 19, 2021 Id el Maulud
Nigeria Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
65 
 

 

Nigeria Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Norway Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Norway Wednesday, March 31, 2021 Holy Wednesday
Norway Thursday, April 01, 2021 Maundy Thursday
Norway Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Norway Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Norway Thursday, May 13, 2021 Ascension Day
Norway Monday, May 17, 2021 Constitution Day
Norway Thursday, June 24, 2021 Whit Monday
Norway Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Norway Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Oman Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Oman Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Oman Friday, May 14, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Oman Monday, July 19, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Oman Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Oman Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Oman Thursday, July 22, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Oman Tuesday, October 19, 2021 Prophet’s Birthday
Pakistan Friday, February 05, 2021 Kashmir Day
Peru Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Peru Thursday, April 01, 2021 Holy Thursday
Peru Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Peru Tuesday, June 29, 2021 St. Peter and St. Paul Day
Peru Wednesday, July 28, 2021 Independence Day
Peru Monday, August 30, 2021 Santa Rosa de Lima Day
Peru Friday, October 08, 2021 Battle of Angamos
Peru Monday, November 01, 2021 All Saints’ Day
Peru Wednesday, December 08, 2021 Immaculate Conception
Philippines Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Philippines Friday, February 12, 2021 Chinese New Year
Philippines Thursday, February 25, 2021 People Power Anniversary
Philippines Thursday, April 01, 2021 Maundy Thursday
Philippines Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Philippines Friday, April 09, 2021 The Day of Valor
Philippines Monday, August 30, 2021 National Heroes’ Day
Philippines Monday, November 01, 2021 All Saints’ Day
Philippines Tuesday, November 02, 2021 All Souls’ Day
Philippines Tuesday, November 30, 2021 Bonifacio Day
Philippines Wednesday, December 08, 2021 Immaculate Conception
Philippines Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Philippines Thursday, December 30, 2021 Rizal Day
Philippines Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Poland Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Poland Wednesday, January 06, 2021 Three Kings Day
Poland Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Poland Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Poland Monday, May 03, 2021 Constitution Day
66 
 

 

Poland Thursday, June 03, 2021 Corpus Christi
Poland Monday, November 01, 2021 All Saints’ Day
Poland Thursday, November 11, 2021 Independence Day
Poland Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Poland Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Portugal Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Portugal Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Portugal Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Qatar Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Qatar Tuesday, February 09, 2021 Sports Day
Qatar Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Qatar Friday, May 14, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Qatar Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Qatar Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Qatar Thursday, July 22, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Romania Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Romania Friday, April 30, 2021 Holy Friday
Romania Monday, May 03, 2021 Easter Monday (Orthodox)
Romania Tuesday, June 01, 2021 Universal Children’s Day
Romania Monday, June 21, 2021 Pentecost (Rusalii)
Romania Tuesday, November 30, 2021 St. Andrew’s Day
Romania Wednesday, December 01, 2021 National Day
Russia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Russia Monday, January 04, 2021 New Year’s Day
Russia Tuesday, January 05, 2021 New Year’s Day
Russia Wednesday, January 06, 2021 New Year’s Day
Russia Thursday, January 07, 2021 Orthodox Christmas
Russia Friday, January 08, 2021 New Year’s Day
Russia Monday, February 22, 2021 Bridging Holiday
Russia Tuesday, February 23, 2021 Motherland Defenders’ Day
Russia Monday, March 08, 2021 Women’s Day
Russia Monday, May 03, 2021 Labour Day
Russia Monday, May 10, 2021 Victory Day (Observed)
Russia Monday, June 14, 2021 Russia Day (Observed)
Russia Thursday, November 04, 2021 Unity Day
Russia Friday, November 05, 2021 Bridging Holiday
Russia Friday, December 31, 2021 Bridging Holiday
Rwanda Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Rwanda Monday, January 04, 2021 New Year’s Holiday
Rwanda Monday, February 01, 2021 National Heroes’ Day
Rwanda Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Rwanda Wednesday, April 07, 2021 Tutsi Genocide Memorial Day
Rwanda Monday, May 03, 2021 Labor Day
Rwanda Thursday, July 01, 2021 Independence Day
Rwanda Monday, July 05, 2021 Liberation Day (Observed)
Rwanda Monday, July 19, 2021 Eid al-Adha
67 
 

 

Rwanda Friday, August 06, 2021 Umuganura Day
    Assumption of Mary
Rwanda Monday, August 16, 2021 (Observed)
Rwanda Monday, December 27, 2021 Christmas Day (Observed)
Saudi Arabia Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Saudi Arabia Friday, May 14, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Saudi Arabia Monday, July 19, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Saudi Arabia Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Saudi Arabia Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Saudi Arabia Thursday, July 22, 2021 Eid al-Adha
Saudi Arabia Thursday, September 23, 2021 National Day
Serbia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Serbia Thursday, January 07, 2021 Orthodox Christmas
Serbia Monday, February 15, 2021 Statehood Day
Serbia Tuesday, February 16, 2021 Statehood Day
Serbia Friday, April 30, 2021 Good Friday (Orthodox)
Serbia Monday, May 03, 2021 Easter Monday (Orthodox)
Serbia Thursday, November 11, 2021 Armistice Day
Singapore Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Singapore Friday, February 12, 2021 Chinese New Year
Singapore Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Singapore Thursday, May 13, 2021 Hari Raya Puasa
Singapore Wednesday, May 26, 2021 Vesak Day
Singapore Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Hari Raya Haji
Singapore Monday, August 09, 2021 National Day
Singapore Thursday, November 04, 2021 Deepavali
Slovakia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Slovakia Wednesday, January 06, 2021 Epiphany
Slovakia Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Slovakia Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Slovakia Monday, July 05, 2021 Saint Cyril and Methodius Day
Slovakia Wednesday, September 01, 2021 Constitution Day
Slovakia Wednesday, September 15, 2021 Seven Sorrows Day
Slovakia Monday, November 01, 2021 All Saints’ Day
Slovakia Wednesday, November 17, 2021 Freedom and Democracy Day
Slovakia Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Slovenia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Slovenia Monday, February 08, 2021 Culture Day
Slovenia Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday (Catholic)
Slovenia Tuesday, April 27, 2021 Resistance Day
Slovenia Friday, June 25, 2021 Sovereignty Day
Slovenia Monday, November 01, 2021 All Saints’ Day
Slovenia Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Slovenia Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
South Africa Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
South Africa Monday, March 22, 2021 Human Rights Day
South Africa Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
68 
 

 

South Africa Monday, April 05, 2021 Family Day
South Africa Tuesday, April 27, 2021 Freedom Day
South Africa Wednesday, June 16, 2021 Youth Day
South Africa Monday, August 09, 2021 National Women’s Day
South Africa Friday, September 24, 2021 Heritage Day
South Africa Thursday, December 16, 2021 Day of Reconciliation
South Africa Monday, December 27, 2021 Day of Goodwill Holiday
South Africa Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
South Korea Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
South Korea Thursday, February 11, 2021 Lunar New Year
South Korea Friday, February 12, 2021 Lunar New Year
South Korea Monday, March 01, 2021 Independence Movement Day
South Korea Wednesday, May 05, 2021 Children’s Day
South Korea Wednesday, May 19, 2021 Birthday of Buddha
South Korea Monday, September 20, 2021 Korean Thanksgiving Day
South Korea Tuesday, September 21, 2021 Korean Thanksgiving Day
South Korea Wednesday, September 22, 2021 Korean Thanksgiving Day
Spain Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Spain Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Spain Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Spain Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Spain Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Sri Lanka Friday, January 01, 2021 CSE Customary Holiday
Sri Lanka Thursday, January 14, 2021 Tamil Thai Pongal Day
Sri Lanka Thursday, January 28, 2021 Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day
Sri Lanka Thursday, February 04, 2021 Independence Day
Sri Lanka Friday, February 26, 2021 Navam Full Moon Poya Day
Sri Lanka Thursday, March 11, 2021 Mahasivarathri Day
Sri Lanka Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Sri Lanka Tuesday, April 13, 2021 Sinhala Tamil New Year Day
Sri Lanka Wednesday, April 14, 2021 Sinhala Tamil New Year Day
Sri Lanka Monday, April 26, 2021 Bak Full Moon Poya Day
Sri Lanka Friday, April 30, 2021 May Day
Sri Lanka Friday, May 14, 2021 Id-Ul-Fitr
Sri Lanka Wednesday, May 26, 2021 Vesak Full Moon Poya Day
Sri Lanka Thursday, May 27, 2021 Vesak Full Moon Poya Day
Sri Lanka Thursday, June 24, 2021 Poson Full Moon Poya Day
Sri Lanka Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Id-Ul-Alha Hadji Festival Day
69 
 

 

Sri Lanka Friday, July 23, 2021 Esala Full Moon Poya Day
Sri Lanka Monday, September 20, 2021 Binara Full Moon Poya Day
Sri Lanka Tuesday, October 19, 2021 Milad Un Nabi Birthday
Sri Lanka Wednesday, October 20, 2021 Vap Full Moon Poya Day
Sri Lanka Thursday, November 04, 2021 Deepavali
Sri Lanka Thursday, November 18, 2021 IL Full Moon Poya Day
Sri Lanka Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Day (Observed)
Sweden Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Sweden Tuesday, January 05, 2021 Eve of Epiphany
Sweden Wednesday, January 06, 2021 Epiphany
Sweden Thursday, April 01, 2021 Maundy Thursday
Sweden Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Sweden Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Sweden Friday, April 30, 2021 Walpurgis Night
Sweden Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Ascension Eve
Sweden Thursday, May 13, 2021 Ascension Day
Sweden Friday, June 25, 2021 Midsummer’s Eve
Sweden Friday, November 05, 2021 Eve of All Saints’
Sweden Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Sweden Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Switzerland Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Switzerland Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Switzerland Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Switzerland Thursday, May 13, 2021 Ascension Day
Switzerland Monday, May 24, 2021 Whit Monday
Taiwan Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Taiwan Wednesday, February 10, 2021 Chinese New Year (Observed)
Taiwan Thursday, February 11, 2021 Chinese New Year
Taiwan Friday, February 12, 2021 Chinese New Year
Taiwan Monday, February 15, 2021 Chinese New Year
Taiwan Tuesday, February 16, 2021 Chinese New Year
    Peace Memorial Day
Taiwan Monday, March 01, 2021 (Observed)
Taiwan Friday, April 02, 2021 Tomb-Sweeping Day
Taiwan Monday, April 05, 2021 Tomb-Sweeping Day
Taiwan Friday, April 30, 2021 Labor Day
Taiwan Monday, June 14, 2021 Dragon Boat Festival
Taiwan Monday, September 20, 2021 Mid-Autumn Festival
Taiwan Tuesday, September 21, 2021 Mid-Autumn Festival
Taiwan Monday, October 11, 2021 National Day (Observed)
Taiwan Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Day (Observed)
Tanzania Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Tanzania Tuesday, January 12, 2021 Zanzibar Revolution Day
Tanzania Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Tanzania Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Tanzania Wednesday, April 07, 2021 Karume Day
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Tanzania Monday, April 26, 2021 Union Day
Tanzania Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Tanzania Wednesday, July 07, 2021 Saba Saba
Tanzania Thursday, October 14, 2021 Mwalimu Nyerere Day
Tanzania Tuesday, October 19, 2021 Mawlid
Tanzania Thursday, December 09, 2021 Independence Day
Thailand Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Thailand Friday, February 26, 2021 Makha Bucha
Thailand Tuesday, April 06, 2021 Chakri Day
Thailand Tuesday, April 13, 2021 Songkran
Thailand Wednesday, April 14, 2021 Songkran
Thailand Thursday, April 15, 2021 Songkran
Thailand Monday, May 03, 2021 Labor Day
Thailand Tuesday, May 04, 2021 Coronation Day
Thailand Wednesday, May 26, 2021 Visakha Bucha
Thailand Thursday, June 03, 2021 Queen Suthida’s Birthday
Thailand Monday, July 26, 2021 Asalha Bucha (Observed)
Thailand Wednesday, July 28, 2021 King Vajiralongkorn’s Birthday
Thailand Thursday, August 12, 2021 The Queen’s Birthday
Thailand Wednesday, October 13, 2021 Great Memorial Day
Thailand Monday, October 25, 2021 Chulalongkorn Day (Observed)
Thailand Monday, December 06, 2021 Father’s Day (Observed)
Thailand Friday, December 10, 2021 Constitution Day
Thailand Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Tunisia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Tunisia Thursday, January 14, 2021 Revolution National Day
Tunisia Friday, April 09, 2021 Martyr Day
Tunisia Thursday, May 13, 2021 Aid-el-Fitr
Tunisia Friday, May 14, 2021 Aid-el-Fitr
Tunisia Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Aid El Idha
Tunisia Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Aid El Idha
Tunisia Monday, August 09, 2021 Islamic New Year
Tunisia Friday, August 13, 2021 Women National Day
Tunisia Friday, October 15, 2021 Evacuation Day
Tunisia Tuesday, October 19, 2021 Prophet’s Birthday
Turkey Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Turkey Friday, April 23, 2021 Children’s Day
Turkey Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Ramadan Feast Eve Holiday
Turkey Thursday, May 13, 2021 Religious Ramadan Holiday
Turkey Friday, May 14, 2021 Religious Ramadan Holiday
Turkey Wednesday, May 19, 2021 Youth and Sports Day
Turkey Thursday, July 15, 2021 National Unity Day
Turkey Monday, July 19, 2021 Religious Holiday Eve
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Turkey Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Religious Holiday
Turkey Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Religious Holiday
Turkey Thursday, July 22, 2021 Religious Holiday
Turkey Friday, July 23, 2021 Religious Holiday
Turkey Monday, August 30, 2021 Victory Day
Turkey Thursday, October 28, 2021 Republic Day Eve Holiday
Turkey Friday, October 29, 2021 Republic Day
Uganda Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Uganda Tuesday, January 26, 2021 Liberation Day
Uganda Tuesday, February 16, 2021 Remembrance Day
Uganda Monday, March 08, 2021 International Women’s Day
Uganda Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Uganda Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Uganda Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
Uganda Thursday, June 03, 2021 Martyr’s Day
Uganda Wednesday, June 09, 2021 National Heroes’ Day
Uganda Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Christmas Eve
Ukraine Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Ukraine Thursday, January 07, 2021 Christmas Day
Ukraine Friday, January 08, 2021 Bridging Holiday
Ukraine Saturday, January 16, 2021 Replacement Workday
Ukraine Monday, March 08, 2021 Women’s Day
Ukraine Monday, May 03, 2021 Labour Day
Ukraine Tuesday, May 04, 2021 Easter Holiday
Ukraine Monday, May 10, 2021 Victory Day (Observed)
Ukraine Monday, June 21, 2021 Trinity Day (Observed)
Ukraine Monday, June 28, 2021 Constitution Day
Ukraine Monday, August 23, 2021 Bridging Holiday
Ukraine Tuesday, August 24, 2021 Independence Day
Ukraine Saturday, August 28, 2021 Replacement Workday
Ukraine Thursday, October 14, 2021 Day of Defender of Ukraine
Ukraine Monday, December 27, 2021 Christmas Day (Observed)
United Arab Emirates Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
United Arab Emirates Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
United Arab Emirates Thursday, May 13, 2021 Eid-al-Fitr
United Arab Emirates Monday, July 19, 2021 Eid al-Adha
United Arab Emirates Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Eid al-Adha
United Arab Emirates Wednesday, July 21, 2021 Eid al-Adha
United Arab Emirates Thursday, July 22, 2021 Eid al-Adha
United Arab Emirates Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Islamic New Year
United Arab Emirates Tuesday, October 19, 2021 Prophet’s Birthday
United Kingdom Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
United Kingdom Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
United Kingdom Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
United Kingdom Monday, May 03, 2021 Bank Holiday
United Kingdom Monday, May 31, 2021 Bank Holiday
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United Kingdom Monday, August 30, 2021 Bank Holiday
United Kingdom Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
United Kingdom Monday, December 27, 2021 Christmas Day (Observed)
United Kingdom Tuesday, December 28, 2021 Boxing Day
United Kingdom Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
United States Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
United States Wednesday, January 20, 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Day
United States Monday, February 15, 2021 President’s Day
United States Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
United States Monday, May 31, 2021 Memorial Day
United States Friday, July 02, 2021 Independence Day (Observed)
United States Monday, September 06, 2021 Labor Day
United States Monday, October 11, 2021 Columbus Day
United States Thursday, November 11, 2021 Veteran’s Day
United States Thursday, November 25, 2021 Thanksgiving Day
United States Friday, November 26, 2021 Day After Thanksgiving
Uruguay Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Uruguay Wednesday, January 06, 2021 Epiphany
Uruguay Monday, February 15, 2021 Carnival
Uruguay Tuesday, February 16, 2021 Carnival
Uruguay Thursday, April 01, 2021 Holy Thursday
Uruguay Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Uruguay Monday, April 19, 2021 Landing Day
Uruguay Monday, May 17, 2021 Las Piedras Battle Day
Uruguay Wednesday, August 25, 2021 Independence Day
Uruguay Monday, October 11, 2021 Columbus Day
Uruguay Tuesday, November 02, 2021 All Souls’ Day
Venezuela Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Venezuela Monday, February 15, 2021 Carnival
Venezuela Tuesday, February 16, 2021 Carnival
Venezuela Thursday, April 01, 2021 Holy Thursday
Venezuela Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Venezuela Monday, April 19, 2021 Declaration of Independence
Venezuela Thursday, June 24, 2021 Battle of Carabobo
Venezuela Monday, July 05, 2021 Independence Day
Venezuela Tuesday, October 12, 2021 Indigenous Resistance Day
Venezuela Friday, December 24, 2021 Christmas Eve
Venezuela Friday, December 31, 2021 New Year’s Eve
Vietnam Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Vietnam Thursday, February 11, 2021 Lunar New Year
Vietnam Friday, February 12, 2021 Lunar New Year’s Eve
Vietnam Monday, February 15, 2021 Lunar New Year 3rd Day
Vietnam Tuesday, February 16, 2021 Lunar New Year 4th Day
Vietnam Wednesday, February 17, 2021 Lunar New Year 5th Day
Vietnam Wednesday, April 21, 2021 Hung King Day
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Vietnam Friday, April 30, 2021 Liberation Day
Vietnam Monday, May 03, 2021 Labour Day
Vietnam Thursday, September 02, 2021 National Day Holidays
Vietnam Friday, September 03, 2021 National Day Holidays
Zambia Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Zambia Monday, March 08, 2021 International Women’s Day
Zambia Friday, March 12, 2021 Youth Day
Zambia Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Zambia Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Zambia Tuesday, May 25, 2021 Africa Freedom Day
Zambia Monday, July 05, 2021 Heroes’ Day
Zambia Tuesday, July 06, 2021 Unity Day
Zambia Monday, August 02, 2021 Farmers’ Day
Zambia Monday, October 18, 2021 Prayer Day
Zambia Monday, October 25, 2021 Independence Day (Observed)
Zimbabwe Friday, January 01, 2021 New Year’s Day
Zimbabwe Monday, February 22, 2021 National Youth Day (Observed)
Zimbabwe Friday, April 02, 2021 Good Friday
Zimbabwe Monday, April 05, 2021 Easter Monday
Zimbabwe Monday, April 19, 2021 Independence Day (Observed)
Zimbabwe Tuesday, May 25, 2021 Africa Day
Zimbabwe Monday, August 09, 2021 Heroes’ Day
Zimbabwe Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Defense Forces Day
Zimbabwe Wednesday, December 22, 2021 Unity Day
Zimbabwe Monday, December 27, 2021 Boxing Day (Observed)

 

Cash Redemption Method

 

When cash redemptions of Creation Units are available or specified for the Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind redemptions. In the case of a cash redemption, the investor will receive the cash equivalent of the Redemption Basket minus any Transaction Fees, as described above.

 

TAX STATUS

 

 

The following discussion is general in nature and should not be regarded as an exhaustive presentation of all possible tax ramifications. If an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds shares of the Fund, the U,S, federal income tax treatment of a partner in such partnership generally will depend upon the status of the partner and activities of the partnership. All shareholders (and partners in a partnership that is a shareholder) should consult a qualified tax advisor regarding their investment in the Fund.

 

The Fund has qualified and has elected to be treated as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and intends to continue to so qualify, which requires compliance with certain requirements concerning the sources of its income, diversification of its assets, and the amount and timing of its distributions to shareholders. Such qualification does not involve supervision of management or investment practices or policies by any government agency or bureau. By so qualifying, the Fund should not be subject to federal income or excise tax on its net investment income or net capital gain, which are distributed to shareholders in

74 
 

accordance with the applicable timing requirements. Net investment income and net capital gain of the Fund will be computed in accordance with Section 852 of the Code.

 

Net investment income is made up of dividends and interest less expenses. Net capital gain for a fiscal year is computed by taking into account any capital loss carryforward of the Fund. Capital losses may be carried forward indefinitely and retain the character of the original loss. Capital loss carry forwards are available to offset future realized capital gains. To the extent that these carry forwards are used to offset future capital gains it is probable that the amount offset will not be distributed to shareholders.

 

The Fund intends to distribute all of its net investment income, any excess of net short-term capital gains over net long-term capital losses, and any excess of net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses in accordance with the timing requirements imposed by the Code and therefore should not be required to pay any federal income or excise taxes. Distributions of net investment income if any, will be made annually and net capital gain, if any, will be made annually no later than December 31 of each year. Both types of distributions will be in shares of the Fund unless a shareholder elects to receive cash.

 

To be treated as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Code, the Fund must also, among other things, (a) derive at least 90% of its gross income from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans, net income from certain publicly traded partnerships and gains from the sale or other disposition of securities or foreign currencies, or other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to the business of investing in such securities or currencies, and (b) diversify its holdings so that, at the end of each fiscal quarter, (i) at least 50% of the market value of the Fund’s assets is represented by cash, U.S. government securities and securities of other regulated investment companies, and other securities (for purposes of this calculation, generally limited in respect of any one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the market value of the Fund’s assets and 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer) and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of its assets is invested in the securities of (other than U.S. government securities or the securities of other regulated investment companies) any one issuer, two or more issuers that the Fund controls and that are determined to be engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses, or the securities of certain publicly traded partnerships.

 

If the Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the code in any fiscal year, it will be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes. As such the Fund would be required to pay income taxes on its net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, at the rates generally applicable to corporations (currently, at a maximum rate of 21%). Shareholders of the Fund generally would not be liable for income tax on the Fund’s net investment income or net realized capital gains in their individual capacities. Distributions to shareholders, whether from the Fund’s net investment income or net realized capital gains, would be treated as taxable dividends to the extent of current or accumulated earnings and profits of the Fund. Distributions by the Fund in excess of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits will be treated as a return of capital to the extent of (and in reduction of) a shareholder’s tax basis in his or her shares of the Fund and any such amount in excess of that basis will be treated as gain from the sale of shares, as discussed below.

 

The Fund is subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on certain undistributed amounts of ordinary income and capital gain under a prescribed formula contained in Section 4982 of the Code. The formula requires payment to shareholders during a calendar year of distributions representing at least 98% of the Fund’s ordinary income for the calendar year and at least 98.2% of its capital gain net income (i.e., the excess of its capital gains over capital losses) realized during the one-year period ending October 31 during such year plus 100% of any income that was neither distributed nor taxed to the Fund during the preceding calendar year. Under ordinary circumstances, the Fund expects to time its distributions so as to avoid liability for this tax.

 

The following discussion of tax consequences is for the general information of shareholders that are subject to tax. Shareholders that are IRAs or other qualified retirement plans are exempt from income taxation under the Code.

75 
 

 

Distributions of taxable net investment income and the excess of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss are taxable to shareholders as ordinary income.

 

Distributions of net capital gain (“capital gain dividends”) generally are taxable to shareholders as long-term capital gain; regardless of the length of time the shares of the Fund have been held by such shareholders.

 

The Fund may be able to report a portion of its income as “qualified dividend income,” which, if certain conditions, including holding period requirements, are met by the Fund and the shareholders, is taxable to noncorporate shareholders at rates of up to 20%. In general, dividends may be reported by the Fund as qualified dividend income if they are attributable to qualified dividend income received by the Fund. Qualified dividend income is, in general, dividend income from U.S. corporations and certain foreign corporations (i.e., certain foreign corporations incorporated in a possession of the U.S. or in certain countries with a comprehensive tax treaty with the U.S., and certain other foreign corporations if the stock with respect to which the dividend is paid is readily tradable on an established securities market in the U.S.). Passive foreign investment companies are not qualified foreign corporations for this purpose, and dividends received by the Fund from REITs generally are not expected to qualify for treatment as qualified dividend income.

 

Certain U.S. shareholders, including individuals and estates and trusts, are subject to an additional 3.8% Medicare tax on all or a portion of their “net investment income,” which should include dividends from the Fund and net gains from the disposition of shares of the Fund, to the extent that such person’s “modified adjusted gross income” (in the case of an individual) or “adjusted gross income” (in the case of an estate or trust) exceed certain threshold amounts. U.S. shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors regarding the implications of the additional Medicare tax resulting from an investment in the Fund.

 

Redemption of Fund shares by a shareholder will result in the recognition of taxable gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized and the shareholder’s tax basis in his or her Fund shares. Such gain or loss is treated as a capital gain or loss if the shares are held as capital assets. However, any loss realized upon the redemption of shares within six months from the date of their purchase will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as capital gain dividends during such six-month period. All or a portion of any loss realized upon the redemption of shares may be disallowed to the extent shares are purchased (including shares acquired by means of reinvested dividends) within 30 days before or after such redemption.

 

Distributions of taxable net investment income and net capital gain will be taxable as described above, whether received in cash or additional shares. Shareholders electing to receive distributions in the form of additional shares will have a cost basis for federal income tax purposes in each share so received equal to the net asset value of a share on the reinvestment date.

 

All distributions of taxable net investment income and net capital gain, whether received in shares or in cash, must be reported by each taxable shareholder on his or her federal income tax return. Dividends or distributions declared in October, November or December as of a record date in such a month, if any, will be deemed to have been received by shareholders on December 31, if paid during January of the following year. Redemptions of shares may result in tax consequences (gain or loss) to the shareholder and are also subject to these reporting requirements.

 

Under the Code, the Fund will be required to report to the Internal Revenue Service all distributions of taxable income and capital gains as well as gross proceeds from the redemption or exchange of Fund shares, except in the case of certain exempt shareholders. Under the backup withholding provisions of Section 3406 of the Code, distributions of taxable net investment income and net capital gain and proceeds from the redemption or exchange of the shares of a regulated investment company may be subject to withholding of federal income tax (currently, at a 24% rate) in the case of non-exempt shareholders who fail to furnish the investment company with their taxpayer identification

76 
 

numbers and with required certifications regarding their status under the federal income tax law, or if the Fund is notified by the IRS or a broker that withholding is required due to an incorrect TIN or a previous failure to report taxable interest or dividends. If the withholding provisions are applicable, any such distributions and proceeds, whether taken in cash or reinvested in additional shares, will be reduced by the amounts required to be withheld.

 

The Fund (or its administrative agent) is required to report to the IRS and furnish to shareholders the cost basis information for sale transactions of shares. Shareholders may elect to have one of several cost basis methods applied to their account when calculating the cost basis of shares sold, including average cost, FIFO or some other specific identification method. Unless you instruct otherwise, the Fund will use average cost as its default cost basis method. If average cost is used for the first sale of shares, the shareholder may only use an alternative cost basis method for shares purchased prospectively. Shareholders should consult with their tax advisors to determine the best cost basis method for their tax situation. Shareholders that hold their shares through a financial intermediary should contact such financial intermediary with respect to reporting of cost basis and available elections for their accounts.

 

Foreign (Non-U.S.) Shareholders

 

The foregoing discussion relates only to U.S. federal income tax law as applicable to U.S. persons (i.e., U.S. citizens and residents and domestic corporations, trusts and estates). Shareholders who are not U.S. persons should consult their tax advisers regarding U.S. and foreign (non-U.S.) tax consequences of ownership of shares of the Fund, including the likelihood that distributions to them would be subject to withholding of U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 30% (or at a lower rate under a tax treaty) and the possibility they may be subject to U.S. estate tax. A portion of the Fund’s distributions received by a foreign (non-U.S.) shareholder may, however, be exempt from U.S. withholding tax to the extent properly reported by the Fund as attributable to U.S. source interest income and short-term capital gains. If a foreign (non-U.S.) shareholder is eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable tax treaty, the foreign (non-U.S.) shareholder will be required to provide an applicable IRS Form W-8 certifying its entitlement to benefits under the treaty in order to obtain a reduced rate of withholding tax. However, if the distributions are effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the foreign (non-U.S.) shareholder (or, if an income tax treaty applies, attributable to a permanent establishment in the United States of the foreign (non-U.S.) shareholder), then the distributions will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the rates applicable to U.S. persons, plus, in certain cases where the foreign (non-U.S.) shareholder is a corporation, a branch profits tax at a 30% rate (or lower rate provided in an applicable treaty). If the foreign (non-U.S.) shareholder is subject to such U.S. income tax on a distribution, then the Fund is not required to withhold U.S. federal tax if the foreign (non-U.S.) shareholder complies with applicable certification and disclosure requirements.

 

Ordinary dividends, paid to a foreign (non-U.S.) shareholder that fails to make certain required certifications, or that is a “foreign financial institution” as defined in Section 1471 of the Code and that does not meet the requirements imposed on foreign financial institutions by Section 1471, are generally subject to a U.S. withholding tax at a 30% rate. A foreign (non-U.S.) shareholder may be exempt from the withholding described in this paragraph under an intergovernmental agreement between the U.S. and a foreign government, provided that the shareholder and the applicable foreign government comply with the terms of such agreement. While withholding described in this paragraph would have applied also to payments of gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of shares on or after January 1, 2019, recently proposed Treasury regulations eliminate such withholding on payments of gross proceeds entirely. Taxpayers generally may rely on these proposed Treasury regulations until final Treasury regulations are issued.

 

Options, Futures, Forward Contracts and Swap Agreements

 

To the extent such investments are permissible for the Fund, the Fund’s transactions in options, futures contracts, hedging transactions, forward contracts, straddles and foreign currencies will be subject to special tax rules (including mark-to-market, constructive sale, straddle, wash sale and short sale rules), the effect of which may be to accelerate income to the Fund, defer losses to the Fund, cause adjustments

77 
 

in the holding periods of the Fund’s securities, convert long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains and convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses. These rules could therefore affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders.

 

To the extent such investments are permissible, certain of the Fund’s hedging activities (including its transactions, if any, in foreign currencies or foreign currency-denominated instruments) are likely to produce a difference between its book income and its taxable income. If the Fund’s book income exceeds its taxable income, the distribution (if any) of such excess book income will be treated as (i) a dividend to the extent of the Fund’s remaining earnings and profits (including earnings and profits arising from tax-exempt income), (ii) thereafter, as a return of capital to the extent of the recipient’s basis in the shares, and (iii) thereafter, as gain from the sale or exchange of a capital asset. If the Fund’s book income is less than taxable income, the Fund could be required to make distributions exceeding book income to qualify as a regulated investment company that is accorded special tax treatment.

 

Passive Foreign Investment Companies

 

Investment by the Fund in certain “passive foreign investment companies” (“PFICs”) could subject the Fund to a U.S. federal income tax (including interest charges) on distributions received from the company or on proceeds received from the disposition of shares in the company, which tax cannot be eliminated by making distributions to Fund shareholders. However, the Fund may elect to treat a PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” (“QEF”), in which case the Fund will be required to include its share of the company’s income and net capital gains annually, regardless of whether it receives any distribution from the company.

 

The Fund also may make an election to “mark to market” the gains (and to a limited extent losses) in such holdings as though it had sold and repurchased its holdings in those PFICs on the last day of the Fund’s taxable year. Such gains and losses are treated as ordinary income and loss. The QEF and mark-to-market elections may accelerate the recognition of income (without the receipt of cash) and increase the amount required to be distributed for the Fund to avoid taxation. Making either of these elections, therefore, may require the Fund to liquidate other investments (including when it is not advantageous to do so) to meet its distribution requirement, which also may accelerate the recognition of gain and affect the Fund’s total return.

 

Foreign Currency Transactions

 

The Fund’s transactions in foreign currencies, foreign currency-denominated debt securities and certain foreign currency options, futures contracts and forward contracts (and similar instruments) may give rise to ordinary income or loss to the extent such income or loss results from fluctuations in the value of the foreign currency concerned.

 

Foreign Taxation

 

Income received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by such countries. Tax treaties and conventions between certain countries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate such taxes. If more than 50% of the value of the Fund’s total assets at the close of its taxable year consists of securities of foreign corporations, the Fund may be able to elect to “pass through” to the Fund’s shareholders the amount of eligible foreign income and similar taxes paid by the Fund. If this election is made, a shareholder generally subject to tax will be required to include in gross income (in addition to taxable dividends actually received) his or her pro rata share of the foreign taxes paid by the Fund, and may be entitled either to deduct (as an itemized deduction) his or her pro rata share of foreign taxes in computing his or her taxable income or to use it as a foreign tax credit against his or her U.S. federal income tax liability, subject to certain limitations. In particular, a shareholder must hold his or her shares (without protection from risk of loss) on the ex-dividend date and for at least 15 more days during the 30-day period surrounding the ex-dividend date to be eligible to claim a foreign tax credit with respect to a gain dividend. No deduction for foreign taxes may be claimed by a shareholder

78 
 

who does not itemize deductions. Each shareholder will be notified within 60 days after the close of the Fund’s taxable year whether the foreign taxes paid by the Fund will “pass through” for that year.

 

Generally, a credit for foreign taxes is subject to the limitation that it may not exceed the shareholder’s U.S. tax attributable to his or her total foreign source taxable income. For this purpose, if the pass-through election is made, the source of the Fund’s income will flow through to shareholders of the Fund. With respect to the Fund, gains from the sale of securities will be treated as derived from U.S. sources and certain currency fluctuation gains, including fluctuation gains from foreign currency-denominated debt securities, receivables and payables will be treated as ordinary income derived from U.S. sources. The limitation on the foreign tax credit is applied separately to foreign source passive income, and to certain other types of income. A shareholder may be unable to claim a credit for the full amount of his or her proportionate share of the foreign taxes paid by the Fund.

 

Original Issue Discount and Pay-In-Kind Securities

 

Current federal tax law requires the holder of a U.S. Treasury or other fixed income zero coupon security to accrue as income each year a portion of the discount at which the security was purchased, even though the holder receives no interest payment in cash on the security during the year. In addition, pay-in-kind securities will give rise to income, which is required to be distributed and is taxable even though the Fund holding the security receives no interest payment in cash on the security during the year.

 

Some of the debt securities (with a fixed maturity date of more than one year from the date of issuance) that may be acquired by the Fund may be treated as debt securities that are issued originally at a discount. Generally, the amount of the original issue discount (“OID”) is treated as interest income and is included in income over the term of the debt security, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, usually when the debt security matures. A portion of the OID includable in income with respect to certain high-yield corporate debt securities (including certain pay-in-kind securities) may be treated as a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

 

Some of the debt securities (with a fixed maturity date of more than one year from the date of issuance) that may be acquired by the Fund in the secondary market may be treated as having market discount. Generally, any gain recognized on the disposition of, and any partial payment of principal on, a debt security having market discount is treated as ordinary income to the extent the gain, or principal payment, does not exceed the “accrued market discount” on such debt security. Market discount generally accrues in equal daily installments. The Fund may make one or more of the elections applicable to debt securities having market discount, which could affect the character and timing of recognition of income.

 

Some debt securities (with a fixed maturity date of one year or less from the date of issuance) that may be acquired by the Fund may be treated as having acquisition discount, or OID in the case of certain types of debt securities. Generally, the Fund will be required to include the acquisition discount, or OID, in income over the term of the debt security, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, usually when the debt security matures. The Fund may make one or more of the elections applicable to debt securities having acquisition discount, or OID, which could affect the character and timing of recognition of income.

 

If the Fund holds the foregoing kinds of securities, it may be required to pay out as an income distribution each year an amount that is greater than the total amount of cash interest the Fund actually received. Such distributions may be made from the cash assets of the Fund or by liquidation of portfolio securities, if necessary (including when it is not advantageous to do so). The Fund may realize gains or losses from such liquidations. In the event the Fund realizes net capital gains from such transactions, its shareholders may receive a larger capital gain distribution, if any, than they would in the absence of such transactions.

 

Shareholders of the Fund may be subject to state and local taxes on distributions received from the Fund and on redemptions of the Fund’s shares.

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A brief explanation of the form and character of the distribution accompany each distribution. In January of each year the Fund issues to each shareholder a statement of the federal income tax status of all distributions.

 

Shareholders should consult their tax advisors about the application of federal, state and local and foreign tax law in light of their particular situation.

 

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

 

The Board has selected RSM US LLP, located at 555 17th Street, Suite 1200, Denver, CO 80202 as the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm for the current fiscal period. The firm provides services including (i) audit of annual financial statements and providing other audit, tax and related services for the Fund.

 

LEGAL COUNSEL

 

 

Blank Rome, LLP, located at 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, serves as the Trust’s legal counsel.

 

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

 

Because the Fund has recently commenced operations, there are no financial statements available at this time. Shareholders of the Fund will be informed of the Fund’s progress through periodic reports when those reports become available. Financial statements certified by the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm will be submitted to shareholders at least annually.

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 Adviser and Sub-Adviser Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures

 

REGENTS PARK FUNDS, LLC

Proxy Voting Policy

Adopted: December 31, 2020

 

16            Proxy Voting

 

Each Fund exercises its proxy voting rights with regard to the companies in that Fund’s investment portfolio, with the goals of maximizing the value of the Fund’s investments, promoting accountability of a company’s management and board of directors to its shareholders, aligning the interests of management with those of shareholders, and increasing transparency of a company’s business and operations.

 

In general, Regents Park believes that each sub-adviser, which selects the individual companies that are part of each Fund’s portfolio, is the most knowledgeable and best suited to make decisions about proxy votes. Therefore, Regents Park defers to and relies on the sub-adviser, as appropriate, to make decisions on casting proxy votes that are in the best interest of the clients.

 

16.1       Proxy Voting Policy

 

It is the policy of Regents Park to identify any potential conflicts of interest prior to the voting of any proxies. When reviewing proxy proposals, the CCO will monitor for conflicts of interest. If the proposal falls within our predetermined voting guidelines, we will vote according to the guidelines. If a conflict is identified, Regents Park may disclose the conflict to the applicable clients or contact a third party to advise Regents Park to determine the vote and/or provide voting recommendations.

 

It is feasible that from time to time a potential conflict of interest may arise in the voting of proxies. Such conflicts may occur if an adviser manages a pension plan, administers employee benefit plans, or provides brokerage, underwriting, insurance, or banking services to a company whose management is soliciting proxies. Failure to vote in favor of management may harm the adviser’s relationship with the company. The adviser may also have relationships with participants in proxy contests, corporate directors or candidates for directorships. For example, an executive of the adviser may have a spouse or other close relative who serves as a director or executive of a company. Another potential conflict of interest would be voting for an increase in 12b-1 fees when this is a source of compensation for advisers.

16.2       Proxy and Mirror Voting

 

Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act restricts investments by registered investment companies in the securities of other investment companies. Section 12(d)(1)(A) states that a registered investment company may not invest in the securities of another investment company if the acquiring company owns more than 3% of the total outstanding voting securities of the acquired company; the acquiring company owns securities issued by the acquired company with an aggregate value greater than 5% of its total assets; or the acquiring company owns securities issued by the acquired company and all other investment companies having an aggregate value greater than 10% of the value of its total assets.

 

 

Mirror Voting

 

Regents Park may invest in other investment companies in excess of the limitations in section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act. In order to benefit from the safe harbor of section 12(d)(1)(F), these Funds must mirror vote proposals on proxies issued by underlying investment companies.

 

Mirror voting means that the Fund votes its shares in the same proportion that all shares of the ETFs are voted, or in accordance with instructions received from fund shareholders, pursuant to Section 12(d)(1)(F) of the 1940 Act.

 

In addition, the Funds may invest in underlying investment companies in excess of the limitations prescribed within the 12d-1 safe-harbor. Such Funds may participate in exemptive orders of underlying investment companies to the extent the Trust have signed the requisite participation agreements.

 

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If an ETF invests in an underlying fund (i.e open end mutual fund) that does not have an exemptive order allowing investing funds to exceed the 12-d-1 safe harbor, Regents Park will then mirror vote proxies received from the Underlying in order to rely on section 12(d)(1)(F).

 

Regents Park provides quarterly certifications with respect to its adherence to its proxy voting and exemptive order policies and procedures.

 

16.3       Form N-PX

 

Except with respect to sub-advised Funds, the Adviser is responsible for voting proxies for all portfolio securities of the Funds and keeping certain records relating to how the proxies were voted as required by the Advisers Act. The Adviser and the Sub-Adviser shall provide a complete voting record for the Funds, as requested.

 

Annual Report of Proxy Voting Record

 

Form N-PX is used by Funds to file reports with the SEC containing the Fund’s proxy voting record for the most recent 12-month period ending June 30. The Form must be filed not later than August 31 of each year. The following information must be collected for the Trust separately for Fund in order to complete and file Form N-PX:

 

  1. The name of the issuer of the Fund security.

 

  2. The exchange ticker symbol of the Fund security.

 

  3. The CUSIP number (may be omitted if not available through reasonably practicable means);

 

  4. The shareholder meeting date.

 

  5. A brief description of the matter voted on.

 

  6. Whether the matter was proposed by the issuer or the security holder.

 

  7. Whether the Fund cast its vote on the matter.

 

  8. How the Fund cast its vote (e.g., for or against proposal, or abstain; for or withhold regarding election of directors).

 

  9. Whether the Fund cast its vote for or against management

 

  10. The Funds may invest in other mutual funds and ETFs, which have no requirement to have an annual meeting. Therefore, proxy votes on mutual funds and ETFs are rare.

 

16.4       Compliance Process

 

  1. The Fund manager shall complete a Form N-PX Report at the time a Fund manager votes proxies on behalf of a Fund.

 

  2. The Fund manager shall keep one copy of each completed of the Form N-PX Report and deliver a copy to the Chief Compliance Officer.

 

  3. At least 30 days prior to August 31, the Chief Compliance Officer shall review the Adviser’s corporate action records to determine whether any proxy votes were cast on behalf of the Fund for which reports were not filed. If an unreported vote is discovered, the Chief Compliance Officer shall contact the Fund manager for an explanation and documentation.

 

  4. The Chief Compliance Officer shall compile all Form N-PX reports submitted for the 12-month period ended June 30 and complete Form N-PX.

 

  5. Completed Form N-PX shall be sent to the Administrator who shall file Form N-PX with the SEC.

 

16.5       Recordkeeping

 

Regents Park will maintain the following records relating to our proxy voting procedures:

 

  1. Our proxy voting procedures and policies, and all amendments.

 

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  2. All proxy statements received regarding client securities (provided however, that Regents Park may rely on the proxy statement filed on EDGAR as its records).

 

  3. A record of all votes cast on behalf of clients.

 

  4. Records of all client requests for proxy voting information.

 

  5. Any documents prepared by Regents Park that were material to making a decision how to vote or that memorialized the basis for the decision; and

 

  6. All records relating to requests made to clients regarding conflicts of interest in voting the proxy.

 

  7. Documentation to support the method selected to resolve potential or actual conflicts of interests relating to a proxy proposal.

16.6       Pre-Trade Procedures for Funds of Funds

 

Regents Park may invest in series of other investment companies, including, but not limited to, mutual funds, closed end funds and ETFs (each an “Underlying Fund”). Fund investments in Underlying Funds are governed by Section 12d-1 of the 1940 Act, which restricts the amount that one investment company can invest in another.

 

By adopting “mirror voting” policies, Regents Park may rely on the safe harbor of Section 12d-1F of the 1940 Act, which permits broader latitude to invest in Underlying Funds.

 

In addition, Regents Park may further exceed the restrictions on investing in Underlying Funds through exemptive relief with the SEC. Regents Park has the ability to invest in Underlying Funds beyond the Section 12d-1F safe harbor, without directly obtaining an exemptive order, by participating in the exemptive orders of Underlying Funds (ETFs, mostly).

 

16.7       Oversight/Monitoring of SEC Exemptive Order Conditions

 

Prior to purchasing shares in an underlying ETF, mutual fund or closed end fund (and certain other investment companies), Regents Park will (1) ascertain the AUM of the underlying fund; (2) determine if the purchase would result in the Fund owning 3% or more of the outstanding shares of the underlying fund; and if not, whether any other Fund advised by Regents Park and other investment company accounts under its investment discretion own shares in the underlying fund; (3) will all Funds advised by Regents Park and other investment company accounts under Regents Park investment discretion, in the aggregate, including the anticipated purchase, own 3% or more of the outstanding shares of the underlying fund. If not, Regents Park can make the purchase.

 

As the Advisor, Regents Park conducts post-trade portfolio compliance monitoring that includes monitoring for certain aspects of Section 12d-1 compliance, such as the three percent limit on a Fund’s ownership of the outstanding shares of an Underlying Fund.

 

The CCO or designee must ensure pre-trade compliance with investment restrictions under Section 12d-1 and must report compliance with said Section to the board on a quarterly basis.

 

16.8       Exchange Listing Compliance for ETFs

 

As long as each Fund operates in reliance on the applicable Exemptive Order, its shares must be listed on a national securities exchange.

 

Regents Park shall semi-annually review compliance of each Fund with the listing exchange’s requirements for continued listing and shall confirm payment of all listing fees. Regents Park shall promptly share any communications from the listing exchange with the Chief Compliance Officer and Trust Counsel.

 

 
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ANFIELD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC

Proxy Voting Policy

Updated August 19, 2019

Proxy Voting

A registered investment adviser who exercises voting authority with respect to client securities must adopt and implement written policies and procedures:

 

  § That are reasonably designed to ensure that the adviser votes client securities in the best interest of clients; and

 

  § Which include how the adviser will address material conflicts that may arise between the adviser’s interests and those of the client.

 

Additionally, pursuant to the rule advisers must disclose to clients how they may obtain information from the adviser about how the adviser voted with respect to their securities; and describe to clients the adviser’s proxy voting policies and procedures and, upon request, furnish a copy of the policies and procedures to the requesting client.

 

Anfield, as an adviser, is a fiduciary that owes duties of care and loyalty to each of our clients with respect to the services undertaken on the client’s behalf.

Proxy Voting Policy

Anfield does not accept or have the authority to vote securities in individually managed accounts. Anfield will not be deemed have proxy voting authority solely as a result of providing advice or information about a particular proxy vote to a client. Our individually managed account clients will receive their proxies or other solicitations directly from their custodian or a transfer agent. Where a client’s account is invested in mutual funds, the investment adviser that manages the assets of the mutual fund generally votes proxies issued on securities held by the fund.

 

Mutual Funds

 

For the Anfield Universal Fixed Income Fund, Anfield is responsible for voting proxies for the securities held in the Fund in accordance with the voting policies of the Fund.

 

ETF Funds

 

For the Anfield ETFs (the “Funds”), Anfield will exercise its proxy voting rights with regard to the companies in the Fund’s investment portfolio, with the goals of maximizing the value of the Fund’s investments, promoting accountability of a company’s management and board of directors to its shareholders, aligning the interests of management with those of shareholders, and increasing transparency of a company’s business and operations.

 

Anfield will disclose a summary of our proxy voting policy to clients and prospective clients in the firm’s ADV 2 along with instructions on how they may obtain a complete copy of Anfield’s current proxy voting policies or report on how their proxies were voted.

 

Procedures and Responsible Party

  1. For accounts for which Anfield does not have proxy voting authority, the CCO will take reasonable steps to confirm that the custodian will send proxies directly to the client

 

  2. The CCO is responsible for the administration of the proxy voting system and records.

 

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  3. The CCO is responsible for voting proxies according to our written voting guidelines contained in the proxy voting policy. Anfield may deviate from these guidelines at our discretion if we determine that such action is in the best interests of the client.

 

  4. The CCO is responsible for maintaining documents that were prepared when making a decision how to vote or that memorialized the basis for the decision.

 

  5. The CCO is responsible for confirming that client requests for information on how their proxies were voted are responded to in a timely manner and are documented in the client file.

 

  6. In an effort to determine if Anfield is receiving the correct number of proxies, the CCO will:

 

  a) Include with the proxy an internal record of the number of shares Anfield’s systems indicate Anfield should vote and compare that number to the number of shares received on the proxy.

 

  b) If there is a significant discrepancy in the numbers, contact the appropriate custodian in an effort to correct the discrepancy.

 

  c) Document and maintain all significant discrepancies, custodian notifications, and responses in an appropriately designated file.

 

  7. When reviewing proxy proposals, the CCO will monitor for conflicts of interest. If the proposal falls within our predetermined voting guidelines, we will vote according to the guidelines. If a conflict is identified, Anfield may disclose the conflict to the applicable clients or contact a third party to advise Anfield to determine the vote and/or provide voting recommendations.

Recordkeeping

Anfield will maintain the following records relating to our proxy voting procedures:

  1. Our proxy voting procedures and policies, and all amendments;

 

  2. All proxy statements received regarding client securities (provided however, that Anfield may rely on the proxy statement filed on EDGAR as its records);

 

  3. A record of all votes cast on behalf of clients;

 

  4. Records of all client requests for proxy voting information;

 

  5. Any documents prepared by Anfield that were material to making a decision how to vote or that memorialized the basis for the decision; and

 

  6. All records relating to requests made to clients regarding conflicts of interest in voting the proxy.

 

  7. Documentation to support the method selected to resolve potential or actual conflicts of interests relating to a proxy proposal.

Proxy and Mirror Voting

Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act restricts investments by registered investment companies in the securities of other investment companies. Section 12(d)(1)(A) states that a registered investment company may not invest in the securities of another investment company if the acquiring company owns more than 3% of the total outstanding voting securities of the acquired company; the acquiring company owns securities issued by the acquired company with an aggregate value greater than 5% of its total assets; or the acquiring company owns securities issued by the acquired company and all other investment companies having an aggregate value greater than 10% of the value of its total assets.

 

Mirror Voting

 

Funds may invest in other investment companies in excess of the limitations in section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act. In order to benefit from the safe harbor of section 12(d)(1)(F), these Funds must mirror vote proposals on proxies issued by underlying investment companies.

 

Mirror voting means that the Fund votes its shares in the same proportion that all shares of the ETFs are voted, or in accordance with instructions received from fund shareholders, pursuant to Section 12(d)(1)(F) of the 1940 Act.

 

In addition, the Funds may invest in underlying investment companies in excess of the limitations prescribed within the 12d-1 safe-harbor. The Funds may participate in exemptive orders of underlying investment companies to the extent the Trust have signed the requisite participation agreements.

Form N-PX

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Except with respect to sub-advised Funds, the Adviser is responsible for voting proxies for all portfolio securities of the Funds and keeping certain records relating to how the proxies were voted as required by the Advisers Act. The Adviser and the Sub-Adviser shall provide a complete voting record for the Funds, as requested.

 

Annual Report of Proxy Voting Record

 

Form N-PX is used by Funds to file reports with the SEC containing the Fund’s proxy voting record for the most recent 12-month period ending June 30. The Form must be filed not later than August 31 of each year. The following information must be collected for the Trust separately for Fund in order to complete and file Form N-PX:

  1. The name of the issuer of the Fund security;

 

  2. The exchange ticker symbol of the Fund security;

 

  3. The CUSIP number (may be omitted if not available through reasonably practicable means);

 

  4. The shareholder meeting date;

 

  5. A brief description of the matter voted on;

 

  6. Whether the matter was proposed by the issuer or the security holder;

 

  7. Whether the Fund cast its vote on the matter;

 

  8. How the Fund cast its vote (e.g., for or against proposal, or abstain; for or withhold regarding election of directors)

 

  9. Whether the Fund cast its vote for or against management

 

  10. The Funds may invest in other mutual funds and ETFs, which have no requirement to have an annual meeting. Therefore, proxy votes on mutual funds and ETFs are rare.

Compliance Process

  1. The Fund manager shall complete a Form N-PX Report at the time the Fund manager votes proxies on behalf of the Fund.

 

  2. The Fund manager shall keep one copy of each completed of the Form N-PX Report and deliver a copy to the Chief Compliance Officer.

 

  3. At least 30 days prior to August 31, the Chief Compliance Officer shall review the Adviser’s corporate action records to determine whether any proxy votes were cast on behalf of the Fund for which reports were not filed. If an unreported vote is discovered, the Chief Compliance Officer shall contact the Fund manager for an explanation and documentation.

 

  4. The Chief Compliance Officer shall compile all Form N-PX reports submitted for the 12-month period ended June 30 and complete Form N-PX.

 

  5. Completed Form N-PX shall be sent to the Administrator who shall file Form N-PX with the SEC.

Pre-Trade Procedures for Funds of Funds

For the Anfield ETFs (the “Funds”), Anfield may invest in series of other investment companies, including, but not limited to, mutual funds, closed end funds and ETFs (each an “Underlying Fund”). Fund investments in Underlying Funds are governed by Section 12d-1 of the 1940 Act, which restricts the amount that one investment company can invest in another.

 

By adopting “mirror voting” policies, Anfield may rely on the safe harbor of Section 12d-1F of the 1940 Act, which permits broader latitude to invest in Underlying Funds.

 

In addition, Anfield may further exceed the restrictions on investing in Underlying Funds through exemptive relief with the SEC. Anfield has the ability to invest in Underlying Funds beyond the Section 12d-1F safe harbor, without directly obtaining an exemptive order, by participating in the exemptive orders of Underlying Funds (ETFs, mostly).

Oversight/Monitoring of SEC Exemptive Order Conditions

Prior to purchasing shares in an underlying ETF, mutual fund or closed end fund (and certain other investment companies), Anfield will (1) ascertain the AUM of the Underlying Fund; (2) determine if the purchase would result in the Fund owning 3% or more of the outstanding shares of the Underlying Fund; and if not, whether any other Fund sub-advised by Anfield and other investment company accounts under its investment discretion own shares in

A-6 
 

the Underlying Fund; (3) will all Funds sub-advised by Anfield and other investment company accounts under Anfield’s investment discretion, in the aggregate, including the anticipated purchase, own 3% or more of the outstanding shares of the Underlying Fund. If not, Anfield can make the purchase.

 

As the Sub-Adviser, Anfield conducts post-trade portfolio compliance monitoring that includes monitoring for certain aspects of Section 12d-1 compliance, such as the three percent limit on the Fund’s ownership of the outstanding shares of an Underlying Fund. The CCO must ensure pre-trade compliance with investment restrictions under Section 12d-1, and must report compliance with said Section to the Adviser on a quarterly basis.

Exchange Listing Compliance for ETFs

As long as the Fund operates in reliance on the applicable Exemptive Order, its shares must be listed on a national securities exchange.

 

As the Sub-Adviser, Anfield shall semi-annually review compliance of the Fund with the listing exchange’s requirements for continued listing and shall confirm payment of all listing fees. Anfield shall promptly share any communications from the listing exchange with the Chief Compliance Officer of the Adviser.

 

Class Action Filings

A securities “class action” lawsuit is a civil suit brought by one or more individuals (“Plaintiffs”) on behalf of themselves and others who have the same grievance against the issuer of a certain security. When a class action is filed, a written notice of filing and/or settlement is prepared (the “Notice”), which outlines the reasons for the lawsuit, the parameters for qualification as a member of the class and certain legal rights that need to be considered before becoming a member of the class (i.e. participating in the settlement). In addition, the Notice will contain instructions issued by the court or broker/dealers and/or other nominees (e.g. custodians) who receive the Notice and who hold the security on behalf of the owner/beneficiary, to either (1) provide the Claims Administrator (usually the attorney for the Plaintiffs) with the name and address of each such owner/beneficiary so the Claims Administrator can send the Notice directly to such owner/beneficiary, or (2) request additional copies of the Notice and send the Notice directly to the owner/beneficiary.

 

Anfield does not instruct or give advice to clients on whether or not to participate as a member of class action lawsuits and will not automatically file claims on the client’s behalf. However, if a client notifies us that they wish to participate in a class action, we will provide the client with any transaction information pertaining to the client’s account needed for the client to file a proof of claim in a class action.

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APPENDIX B

 

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES RATINGS

 

The ratings of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (“S&P Global Ratings”) and Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) represent their respective opinions as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact as to the quality of various long-term and short-term debt instruments they undertake to rate. It should be emphasized that ratings are general and are not absolute standards of quality. Consequently, debt instruments with the same maturity, coupon and rating may have different yields while debt instruments of the same maturity and coupon with different ratings may have the same yield. Ratings do not constitute recommendations to buy, sell, or hold any security, nor do they comment on the adequacy of market price, the suitability of any security for a particular investor, or the tax-exempt nature or taxability of any payments of any security.

 

Short-Term Credit Ratings

 

An S&P Global Ratings short-term issue credit rating is a forward-looking opinion about the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a specific financial obligation having an original maturity of no more than 365 days. The following summarizes the rating categories used by S&P Global Ratings for short-term issues:

 

“A-1” – A short-term obligation rated “A-1” is rated in the highest category by S&P Global Ratings. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is strong. Within this category, certain obligations are designated with a plus sign (+). This indicates that the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on these obligations is extremely strong.

 

“A-2” – A short-term obligation rated “A-2” is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher rating categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is satisfactory.

 

“A-3” – A short-term obligation rated “A-3” exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to weaken an obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

 

“B” – A short-term obligation rated “B” is regarded as vulnerable and has significant speculative characteristics. The obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments; however, it faces major ongoing uncertainties that could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments.

 

“C” – A short-term obligation rated “C” is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

 

“D” – A short-term obligation rated “D” is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the “D” rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P Global Ratings believes that such payments will be made within any stated grace period. However, any stated grace period longer than five business days will be treated as five business days. The “D” rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. An obligation’s rating is lowered to “D” if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.

 

Local Currency and Foreign Currency Ratings – S&P Global Ratings’ issuer credit ratings make a distinction between foreign currency ratings and local currency ratings. An issuer’s foreign currency rating will differ from its local currency rating when the obligor has a different capacity to meet its obligations denominated in its local currency, vs. obligations denominated in a foreign currency.

 

B-1 
 

Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) short-term ratings are forward-looking opinions of the relative credit risks of financial obligations with an original maturity of thirteen months or less and reflect both on the likelihood of a default on contractually promised payments and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default.

 

Moody’s employs the following designations to indicate the relative repayment ability of rated issuers:

 

“P-1” – Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-1 have a superior ability to repay short-term debt obligations.

 

“P-2” – Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-2 have a strong ability to repay short-term debt obligations.

 

“P-3” – Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-3 have an acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations.

 

“NP” – Issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Not Prime do not fall within any of the Prime rating categories.

 

Fitch, Inc. / Fitch Ratings Ltd. (“Fitch”) short-term issuer or obligation ratings are based in all cases on the short-term vulnerability to default of the rated entity and relates to the capacity to meet financial obligations in accordance with the documentation governing the relevant obligation. Short-term deposit ratings may be adjusted for loss severity. Short-term ratings are assigned to obligations whose initial maturity is viewed as “short-term” based on market convention. Typically, this means up to 13 months for corporate, sovereign, and structured obligations and up to 36 months for obligations in U.S. public finance markets. The following summarizes the rating categories used by Fitch for short-term obligations:

 

“F1” – Securities possess the highest short-term credit quality. This designation indicates the strongest intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments; may have an added “+” to denote any exceptionally strong credit feature.

 

“F2” – Securities possess good short-term credit quality. This designation indicates good intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments.

 

“F3” – Securities possess fair short-term credit quality. This designation indicates that the intrinsic capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is adequate.

 

“B” – Securities possess speculative short-term credit quality. This designation indicates minimal capacity for timely payment of financial commitments, plus heightened vulnerability to near term adverse changes in financial and economic conditions.

 

“C” – Securities possess high short-term default risk. Default is a real possibility.

 

“RD” – Restricted default. Indicates an entity that has defaulted on one or more of its financial commitments, although it continues to meet other financial obligations. Typically applicable to entity ratings only.

 

“D” – Default. Indicates a broad-based default event for an entity, or the default of a short-term obligation.

 

“NR” – This designation indicates that Fitch does not publicly rate the associated issuer or issue.

 

“WD” – This designation indicates that the rating has been withdrawn and is no longer maintained by Fitch.

B-2 
 

 

DBRS® Ratings Limited (“DBRS”) short-term debt rating scale provides an opinion on the risk that an issuer will not meet its short-term financial obligations in a timely manner. Ratings are based on quantitative and qualitative considerations relevant to the issuer and the relative ranking of claims. The “R-1” and “R-2” rating categories are further denoted by the sub-categories “(high)”, “(middle)”, and “(low)”.

 

The following summarizes the ratings used by DBRS for commercial paper and short-term debt:

 

“R-1 (high)” - Short-term debt rated “R-1 (high)” is of the highest credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is exceptionally high. Unlikely to be adversely affected by future events.

 

“R-1 (middle)” – Short-term debt rated “R-1 (middle)” is of superior credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is very high. Differs from “R-1 (high)” by a relatively modest degree. Unlikely to be significantly vulnerable to future events.

 

“R-1 (low)” – Short-term debt rated “R-1 (low)” is of good credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is substantial. Overall strength is not as favorable as higher rating categories. May be vulnerable to future events, but qualifying negative factors are considered manageable.

 

“R-2 (high)” – Short-term debt rated “R-2 (high)” is considered to be at the upper end of adequate credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is acceptable. May be vulnerable to future events.

 

“R-2 (middle)” – Short-term debt rated “R-2 (middle)” is considered to be of adequate credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is acceptable. May be vulnerable to future events or may be exposed to other factors that could reduce credit quality.

 

“R-2 (low)” – Short-term debt rated “R-2 (low)” is considered to be at the lower end of adequate credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is acceptable. May be vulnerable to future events. A number of challenges are present that could affect the issuer’s ability to meet such obligations.

 

“R-3” – Short-term debt rated “R-3” is considered to be at the lowest end of adequate credit quality. There is a capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due. May be vulnerable to future events and the certainty of meeting such obligations could be impacted by a variety of developments.

 

“R-4” – Short-term debt rated “R-4” is considered to be of speculative credit quality. The capacity for the payment of short-term financial obligations as they fall due is uncertain.

 

“R-5” – Short-term debt rated “R-5” is considered to be of highly speculative credit quality. There is a high level of uncertainty as to the capacity to meet short-term financial obligations as they fall due.

 

“D” – Short-term debt rated “D” is assigned when the issuer has filed under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or winding up statute or there is a failure to satisfy an obligation after the exhaustion of grace periods, a downgrade to “D” may occur. DBRS may also use “SD” (Selective Default) in cases where only some securities are impacted, such as the case of a “distressed exchange”.

 

Long-Term Credit Ratings

 

The following summarizes the ratings used by S&P Global Ratings for long-term issues:

 

B-3 
 

“AAA” – An obligation rated “AAA” has the highest rating assigned by S&P Global Ratings. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is extremely strong.

 

“AA” – An obligation rated “AA” differs from the highest-rated obligations only to a small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is very strong.

 

“A” – An obligation rated “A” is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher-rated categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation is still strong.

 

“BBB” – An obligation rated “BBB” exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to weaken the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

 

“BB,” “B,” “CCC,” “CC” and “C” – Obligations rated “BB,” “B,” “CCC,” “CC” and “C” are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. “BB” indicates the least degree of speculation and “C” the highest. While such obligations will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposures to adverse conditions.

 

“BB” – An obligation rated “BB” is less vulnerable to nonpayment than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions that could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

 

“B” – An obligation rated “B” is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated “BB”, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

 

“CCC” – An obligation rated “CCC” is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitments on the obligation. In the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitments on the obligation.

 

“CC” – An obligation rated “CC” is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment. The “CC” rating is used when a default has not yet occurred but S&P Global Ratings expects default to be a virtual certainty, regardless of the anticipated time to default.

 

“C” – An obligation rated “C” is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment, and the obligation is expected to have lower relative seniority or lower ultimate recovery compared with obligations that are rated higher.

 

“D” – An obligation rated “D” is in default or in breach of an imputed promise. For non-hybrid capital instruments, the “D” rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due, unless S&P Global Ratings believes that such payments will be made within five business days in the absence of a stated grace period or within the earlier of the stated grace period or 30 calendar days. The “D” rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of similar action and where default on an obligation is a virtual certainty, for example due to automatic stay provisions. An obligation’s rating is lowered to “D” if it is subject to a distressed exchange offer.

 

“NR” – This indicates that no rating has been requested, or that there is insufficient information on which to base a rating, or that S&P Global Ratings does not rate a particular obligation as a matter of policy.

 

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Plus (+) or minus (-) – The ratings from “AA” to “CCC” may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories.

 

Local Currency and Foreign Currency Ratings - S&P Global Ratings’ issuer credit ratings make a distinction between foreign currency ratings and local currency ratings. An issuer’s foreign currency rating will differ from its local currency rating when the obligor has a different capacity to meet its obligations denominated in its local currency, vs. obligations denominated in a foreign currency.

 

Moody’s long-term ratings are forward-looking opinions of the relative credit risks of financial obligations with an original maturity of one year or more and reflect both on the likelihood of a default on contractually promised payments and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default. The following summarizes the ratings used by Moody’s for long-term debt:

 

“Aaa” – Obligations rated “Aaa” are judged to be of the highest quality, subject to the lowest level of credit risk.

 

“Aa” – Obligations rated “Aa” are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.

 

“A” – Obligations rated “A” are judged to be upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.

 

“Baa” – Obligations rated “Baa” are judged to be medium-grade and subject to moderate credit risk and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics.

 

“Ba” – Obligations rated “Ba” are judged to be speculative and are subject to substantial credit risk.

 

“B” – Obligations rated “B” are considered speculative and are subject to high credit risk.

 

“Caa” – Obligations rated “Caa” are judged to be speculative of poor standing and are subject to very high credit risk.

 

“Ca” – Obligations rated “Ca” are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near, default, with some prospect of recovery of principal and interest.

 

“C” – Obligations rated “C” are the lowest rated and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.

 

Note: Moody’s appends numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 to each generic rating classification from “Aa” through “Caa.” The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.

 

The following summarizes long-term ratings used by Fitch:

 

“AAA” – Securities considered to be of the highest credit quality. “AAA” ratings denote the lowest expectation of credit risk. They are assigned only in cases of exceptionally strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is highly unlikely to be adversely affected by foreseeable events.

 

“AA” – Securities considered to be of very high credit quality. “AA” ratings denote expectations of very low credit risk. They indicate very strong capacity for payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.

 

“A” – Securities considered to be of high credit quality. “A” ratings denote expectations of low credit risk. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered strong. This capacity may,

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nevertheless, be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic conditions than is the case for higher ratings.

 

“BBB” – Securities considered to be of good credit quality. “BBB” ratings indicate that expectations of credit risk are currently low. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered adequate, but adverse business or economic conditions are more likely to impair this capacity.

 

“BB” – Securities considered to be speculative. “BB” ratings indicate an elevated vulnerability to credit risk, particularly in the event of adverse changes in business or economic conditions over time; however, business or financial alternatives may be available to allow financial commitments to be met.

 

“B” – Securities considered to be highly speculative. “B” ratings indicate that material credit risk is present.

 

“CCC” – A “CCC” rating indicates that substantial credit risk is present.

 

“CC” – A “CC” rating indicates very high levels of credit risk.

 

“C” – A “C” rating indicates exceptionally high levels of credit risk.

 

Defaulted obligations typically are not assigned “RD” or “D” ratings but are instead rated in the “B” to “C” rating categories, depending on their recovery prospects and other relevant characteristics. Fitch believes that this approach better aligns obligations that have comparable overall expected loss but varying vulnerability to default and loss.

 

Plus (+) or minus (-) may be appended to a rating to denote relative status within major rating categories. Such suffixes are not added to the “AAA” category or to categories below “CCC”.

 

“NR” – Denotes that Fitch does not publicly rate the associated issue or issuer.

 

“WD” – Indicates that the rating has been withdrawn and is no longer maintained by Fitch.

 

The DBRS long-term rating scale provides an opinion on the risk of default. That is, the risk that an issuer will fail to satisfy its financial obligations in accordance with the terms under which an obligation has been issued. Ratings are based on quantitative and qualitative considerations relevant to the issuer, and the relative ranking of claims. All rating categories other than “AAA” and “D” also contain subcategories “(high)” and “(low)”. The absence of either a “(high)” or “(low)” designation indicates the rating is in the middle of the category. The following summarizes the ratings used by DBRS for long-term debt:

 

“AAA” – Long-term debt rated “AAA” is of the highest credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is exceptionally high and unlikely to be adversely affected by future events.

 

“AA” – Long-term debt rated “AA” is of superior credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is considered high. Credit quality differs from “AAA” only to a small degree. Unlikely to be significantly vulnerable to future events.

 

“A” – Long-term debt rated “A” is of good credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is substantial, but of lesser credit quality than “AA.” May be vulnerable to future events, but qualifying negative factors are considered manageable.

 

“BBB” – Long-term debt rated “BBB” is of adequate credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is considered acceptable. May be vulnerable to future events.

 

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“BB” – Long-term debt rated “BB” is of speculative, non-investment grade credit quality. The capacity for the payment of financial obligations is uncertain. Vulnerable to future events.

 

“B” – Long-term debt rated “B” is of highly speculative credit quality. There is a high level of uncertainty as to the capacity to meet financial obligations.

 

“CCC”, “CC” and “C” – Long-term debt rated in any of these categories is of very highly speculative credit quality. In danger of defaulting on financial obligations. There is little difference between these three categories, although “CC” and “C” ratings are normally applied to obligations that are seen as highly likely to default, or subordinated to obligations rated in the “CCC” to “B” range. Obligations in respect of which default has not technically taken place but is considered inevitable may be rated in the “C” category.

 

“D” – A security rated “D” is assigned when the issuer has filed under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or winding up statute or there is a failure to satisfy an obligation after the exhaustion of grace periods, a downgrade to “D” may occur. DBRS may also use “SD” (Selective Default) in cases where only some securities are impacted, such as the case of a “distressed exchange”.

 

Municipal Note Ratings

 

An S&P Global Ratings U.S. municipal note rating reflects S&P Global Ratings’ opinion about the liquidity factors and market access risks unique to the notes. Notes due in three years or less will likely receive a note rating. Notes with an original maturity of more than three years will most likely receive a long-term debt rating. In determining which type of rating, if any, to assign, S&P Global Ratings’ analysis will review the following considerations:

 

  Amortization schedule - the larger the final maturity relative to other maturities, the more likely it will be treated as a note; and

 

  Source of payment - the more dependent the issue is on the market for its refinancing, the more likely it will be treated as a note.

 

Note rating symbols are as follows:

 

“SP-1” – A municipal note rated “SP-1” exhibits a strong capacity to pay principal and interest. An issue determined to possess a very strong capacity to pay debt service is given a plus (+) designation.

 

“SP-2” – A municipal note rated “SP-2” exhibits a satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest, with some vulnerability to adverse financial and economic changes over the term of the notes.

 

“SP-3” – A municipal note rated “SP-3” exhibits a speculative capacity to pay principal and interest.

 

Moody’s uses the Municipal Investment Grade (“MIG”) scale to rate U.S. municipal bond anticipation notes of up to three years maturity. Municipal notes rated on the MIG scale may be secured by either pledged revenues or proceeds of a take-out financing received prior to note maturity. MIG ratings expire at the maturity of the obligation, and the issuer’s long-term rating is only one consideration in assigning the MIG rating. MIG ratings are divided into three levels – “MIG-1” through “MIG-3” – while speculative grade short-term obligations are designated “SG”. The following summarizes the ratings used by Moody’s for these short-term obligations:

 

“MIG-1” – This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by established cash flows, highly reliable liquidity support, or demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing.

 

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“MIG-2” – This designation denotes strong credit quality. Margins of protection are ample, although not as large as in the preceding group.

 

“MIG-3” – This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Liquidity and cash-flow protection may be narrow, and market access for refinancing is likely to be less well-established.

 

“SG” – This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Debt instruments in this category may lack sufficient margins of protection.

 

In the case of variable rate demand obligations (“VRDOs”), a two-component rating is assigned; a long- or short-term debt rating and a demand obligation rating. The first element represents Moody’s evaluation of risk associated with scheduled principal and interest payments. The second element represents Moody’s evaluation of risk associated with the ability to receive purchase price upon demand (“demand feature”). The second element uses a rating from a variation of the MIG scale called the Variable Municipal Investment Grade (“VMIG”) scale. The rating transitions on the VMIG scale differ from those on the Prime scale to reflect the risk that external liquidity support generally will terminate if the issuer’s long-term rating drops below investment grade.

 

“VMIG-1” – This designation denotes superior credit quality. Excellent protection is afforded by the superior short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

 

“VMIG-2” – This designation denotes strong credit quality. Good protection is afforded by the strong short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

 

“VMIG-3” – This designation denotes acceptable credit quality. Adequate protection is afforded by the satisfactory short-term credit strength of the liquidity provider and structural and legal protections that ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

 

“SG” – This designation denotes speculative-grade credit quality. Demand features rated in this category may be supported by a liquidity provider that does not have an investment grade short-term rating or may lack the structural and/or legal protections necessary to ensure the timely payment of purchase price upon demand.

 

“NR” – Is assigned to an unrated obligation.

 

Fitch uses the same ratings for municipal securities as described above for other short-term credit ratings.

 

About Credit Ratings

 

An S&P Global Ratings issue credit rating is a forward-looking opinion about the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a specific financial obligation, a specific class of financial obligations, or a specific financial program (including ratings on medium-term note programs and commercial paper programs). It takes into consideration the creditworthiness of guarantors, insurers, or other forms of credit enhancement on the obligation and takes into account the currency in which the obligation is denominated. The opinion reflects S&P Global Ratings’ view of the obligor’s capacity and willingness to meet its financial commitments as they come due, and this opinion may assess terms, such as collateral security and subordination, which could affect ultimate payment in the event of default.

 

Moody’s credit ratings must be construed solely as statements of opinion and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, sell or hold any securities. Ratings assigned on Moody’s global long-term and short-term rating scales are forward-looking opinions of the relative credit risks of financial obligations issued by non-financial corporates, financial institutions, structured finance vehicles, project finance vehicles, and public sector entities.

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Fitch’s credit ratings relating to issuers are an opinion on the relative ability of an entity to meet financial commitments, such as interest, preferred dividends, repayment of principal, insurance claims or counterparty obligations. Fitch credit ratings are used by investors as indications of the likelihood of receiving the money owed to them in accordance with the terms on which they invested. Fitch’s credit ratings cover the global spectrum of corporate, sovereign financial, bank, insurance and public finance entities (including supranational and sub-national entities) and the securities or other obligations they issue, as well as structured finance securities backed by receivables or other financial assets.

 

Credit ratings provided by DBRS are forward-looking opinions about credit risk which reflect the creditworthiness of an issuer, rated entity, and/or security. Credit ratings are not statements of fact. While historical statistics and performance can be important considerations, credit ratings are not based solely on such; they include subjective considerations and involve expectations for future performance that cannot be guaranteed. To the extent that future

 

events and economic conditions do not match expectations, credit ratings assigned to issuers and/or securities can change. Credit ratings are also based on approved and applicable methodologies, models and criteria (“Methodologies”), which are periodically updated and when material changes are deemed necessary, this may also lead to rating changes.

 

Credit ratings typically provide an opinion on the risk that investors may not be repaid in accordance with the terms under which the obligation was issued. In some cases, credit ratings may also include consideration for the relative ranking of claims and recovery, should default occur. Credit ratings are meant to provide opinions on relative measures of risk and are not based on expectations of any specific default probability, nor are they meant to predict such.

 

The data and information on which DBRS bases its opinions is not audited or verified by DBRS, although DBRS conducts a reasonableness review of information received and relied upon in accordance with its Methodologies and policies.

 

DBRS uses rating symbols as a concise method of expressing its opinion to the market but there are a limited number of rating categories for the possible slight risk differentials that exist across the rating spectrum and DBRS does not assert that credit ratings in the same category are of “exactly” the same quality.

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