Under
normal market conditions, the Fund generally invests substantially all, but at least 80%, of its total assets in the securities comprising the Index. In addition, in seeking to
track the Index, the Fund may invest in equity securities that are not included in the Index (including common stock, preferred stock, depositary receipts and shares of other
investment companies), cash and cash equivalents or money market instruments, such as repurchase agreements and money market funds (including money market funds advised by the Adviser). In seeking to track the Index, the Fund's assets may be concentrated in an industry or group of industries, but only to the extent that the Index concentrates in a particular industry or group of industries. Futures contracts (a type of derivative instrument) may be used by the Fund in seeking performance that corresponds to the Index and in managing cash flows.
The Index is a market capitalization weighted index designed to represent the performance of
some of the largest companies across components of the 20 EURO STOXX Supersector Indexes. The EURO STOXX Supersector Indexes are subsets of the EURO STOXX Index. The EURO STOXX Index is a broad yet liquid subset of the STOXX Europe 600 Index, which covers the 600
largest companies in Europe. The Index captures approximately 60% of the free-float market capitalization of the EURO STOXX Total Market Index, which in turn covers at least 95% of the free-float market capitalization of the represented countries. A
company's free-float market capitalization is calculated by multiplying the number of shares readily available in the market by the price of such shares. The Index is reconstituted annually. The 50 companies in the Index are selected by first identifying the
companies that equal approximately 60% of the free-float market capitalization of each corresponding EURO STOXX Total Market Index Supersector Index. In addition, any stocks that are currently components of the Index are added to the list. From that list, the 40 largest stocks are selected to be components of the Index. In addition, any stocks that are current components of the Index (and ranked 41-60 on the list) are included as components. If there are still less than 50 component stocks, the applicable number of the largest remaining stocks on the list ranked 41 or higher are included as components of the Index. As of November 30, 2023, a
significant portion of the Fund comprised companies in the consumer discretionary, financial and industrial sectors, although this may change from time to time. As of November 30, 2023, countries represented in the Fund included Belgium, Finland, France,
Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. As of November 30, 2023, the Index comprised 50 securities.
The Index is sponsored by STOXX (the “Index Provider”), which is not affiliated with the Fund or the Adviser. The Index Provider determines the composition of the Index, relative
weightings of the securities in the Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Index.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with all investments, there are certain risks of investing in the Fund. Fund Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or
any other government agency.
Market
Risk: The Fund's investments are subject to changes in general economic conditions, general market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investment in securities markets. Investment markets can be volatile and prices of investments can change
substantially due to various factors including, but not limited to, economic growth or recession, changes in interest rates, inflation, changes in the actual or perceived creditworthiness of issuers, and general market liquidity. The Fund is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Local, regional or global
events such as war, military conflicts, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments.
Equity Investing Risk: The market prices of equity securities owned by the
Fund may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The value of a security may decline for a number of reasons that may directly relate to the issuer and also may decline due to general industry or market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time.
Non-U.S. Securities Risk: Non-U.S. securities (including depositary
receipts) are subject to political, regulatory, and economic risks not present in domestic investments. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. entity than
about a U.S. entity, and many non-U.S. entities are not subject to accounting, auditing, legal and financial report standards comparable to those in the United States. Further, such entities and/or their securities may be subject to risks associated with currency controls;
expropriation; changes in tax policy; greater market volatility; differing securities market structures; higher transaction costs; and various administrative difficulties, such as delays in clearing and settling portfolio transactions or in receiving payment of dividends. To the extent underlying securities held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the exchange on which the
Fund's shares trade is open, there may be deviations between the current price of an underlying security and the last quoted price for the underlying security on the closed foreign market. These deviations could result in the Fund experiencing premiums or
discounts greater than those of ETFs that invest in domestic securities. Securities traded on foreign markets may be less liquid (harder to sell) than securities traded domestically. Foreign governments may impose restrictions on the repatriation of capital to the U.S. In addition, to the extent that the Fund buys securities denominated in a foreign currency, there are special risks such as changes in currency exchange rates and the risk that a foreign government could regulate foreign exchange transactions. In