497K 1 claymoreetftrust1122015def.htm 497K 497K


DEF
 
Exchange Traded Funds
 
|
 
12.29.2015
 
Guggenheim ETFs
Summary Prospectus
 
 
 
 
NYSE ARCA, Inc.
Ticker Symbol
Fund Name
DEF
Guggenheim Defensive Equity ETF













Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus and other information about the Fund online at guggenheiminvestments.com. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800.820.0888 or by sending an e-mail request to etfinfo@guggenheiminvestments.com. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, each dated December 29, 2015, are incorporated by reference into (and are considered part of) this Summary Prospectus.

ETF-SUMPRO-DEF
guggenheiminvestments.com






Investment Objective
 
The Guggenheim Defensive Equity ETF (the "Fund") seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund’s fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Sabrient Defensive Equity Index (the “Defensive Equity Index” or “Index”).
 
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
 
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors purchasing Shares of the Fund in the secondary market may be subject to costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
 
Management fees
0.50
 %
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees
0.00
 %
Other expenses
0.22
 %
Total annual Fund operating expenses
0.72
 %
Expense reimbursements(1)
-0.07
 %
Total annual Fund operating expenses after expense reimbursements
0.65
 %
 
1 Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC (the "Investment Adviser") has contractually agreed to reimburse Fund expenses to the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of the Fund (excluding interest expenses, a portion of the Fund’s licensing fees, brokerage commissions and other trading expenses, taxes and extraordinary expenses such as litigation and other expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business) from exceeding 0.60% of average net assets per year (the “Expense Cap”), at least until December 31, 2018, and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Board of Trustees (the "Board") of Claymore Exchange-Traded Fund Trust (the "Trust").
 
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 does not take into account brokerage commissions that you may pay when purchasing or selling Shares.
 
The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem 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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

One Year
Three Years
Five Years
Ten Years
$66
$262
$490
$1,147
 
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 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. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 96% of the average value of its portfolio.
 
Principal Investment Strategies
 
The Fund, using a “passive” or “indexing” investment approach, seeks to replicate, before the Fund’s fees and expenses, the performance of the Defensive Equity Index. As of November 30, 2015, the Index was comprised of approximately 100 securities selected, based on investment and other criteria developed by Sabrient Systems LLC





(“Sabrient” or the “Index Provider”), from a broad universe of U.S.-traded securities, including master limited partnerships (“MLPs”) and American depositary receipts (“ADRs”). The depositary receipts included in the Index may be sponsored or unsponsored. The universe of potential Index constituents includes approximately 1,000 listed companies, generally with market capitalizations in excess of $1 billion. The Fund will invest at least 90% of its total assets in common stock, ADRs and MLPs that comprise the Index and depositary receipts representing common stocks included in the Index (or underlying securities representing ADRs included in the Index). The Fund has adopted a policy that requires the Fund to provide shareholders with at least 60 days notice prior to any material change in this policy or the Index. The Board may change the Fund’s investment strategy and other policies without shareholder approval, except as otherwise indicated.
 
The Fund may invest directly in one or more underlying securities represented by depositary receipts included in the Index under the following limited circumstances: (a) when market conditions result in the underlying security providing improved liquidity relative to the depositary receipt; (b) when a depositary receipt is trading at a significantly different price than its underlying security; or (c) the timing of trade executions is improved due to the local market in which an underlying security is traded being open at different times than the market in which the security’s corresponding depositary receipt is traded.
 
The Fund generally will invest in all of the securities comprising 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 the securities in the Index in those weightings. In those circumstances, the Fund may purchase a sample of the securities in the Index in proportions expected by the Investment Adviser to replicate generally the performance of the Index as a whole. There may also be instances, such as: (i) regulatory requirements which may affect the Fund’s ability to hold a security included in the Index, (ii) restrictions or requirements in local markets (to the extent the Fund invests in underlying securities representing ADRs included in the Index) which may render it infeasible or inefficient for the Fund to purchase or sell a security included in the Index or (iii) liquidity concerns that may affect the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell a security included in the Index, in which the Investment Adviser may choose to overweight another security in the Index or purchase (or sell) securities not in the Index which the Investment Adviser believes are appropriate to substitute for one or more Index components in seeking to accurately track the Index. In addition, from time to time securities are added to or removed from the Index. The Fund may sell securities that are represented in the Index or purchase securities that are not yet represented in the Index in anticipation of their removal from or addition to the Index pursuant to scheduled reconstitutions and rebalancings of the Index. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to the extent the Index is so concentrated. As of August 31, 2015, the financial services and utilities sectors each represented a substantial portion of the Index.
 
Principal Investment Risks
 
Investors should consider the following risk factors and special considerations associated with investing in the Fund, which may cause you to lose money. The Fund’s Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund has not been guaranteed, sponsored, recommended, or approved by the United States, or any agency, instrumentality or officer of the United States, has not been insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and is not guaranteed by and is not otherwise an obligation of any bank or insured depository institution.

Investment Risk. An investment in the Fund is subject to investment risk, including the possible loss of the entire principal amount that you invest.
 
Equity Risk. If the prices of the equity securities held by the Fund fall, the value of your investment in the Fund will be adversely affected. The value of the equity and equity-related securities held by the Fund may fall (sometimes rapidly or unpredictably) due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the industries in which the issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific companies in which the Fund invests. For example, an adverse event, such as an unfavorable earnings report, may depress the value of equity securities of an issuer held by the Fund; the price of common stock of an issuer may be particularly sensitive to general movements in the stock market; or a drop in the stock market may depress the price of most or all of the common stocks and other equity securities held by the Fund. In addition, common stock of an issuer in the Fund’s portfolio may decline in price if the issuer fails to make anticipated dividend payments because the issuer of the security experiences a decline in its financial condition. Common stock generally represents the riskiest investment in an issuer and is subordinated to preferred stocks, bonds and other debt instruments in a company’s capital structure, in terms of priority to corporate income, and therefore will be subject to greater dividend risk





than preferred stocks or debt instruments of such issuers. In addition, while broad market measures of common stocks may generate higher average returns than other investments, common stocks generally experience more volatility in those returns. These risks are generally magnified in the case of investments in equity securities of issuers offered through initial public offerings.
 
Foreign Investment Risk. The Fund’s investments in or exposure to non-U.S. issuers, although generally limited to ADRs, may involve unique or additional risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers, including less market liquidity and generally greater market volatility. Brokerage commissions and other fees are generally higher for foreign investments than for domestic investments and the Fund may have limited or no legal recourse with respect to foreign securities. The Fund may at times find it difficult to value its foreign investments. In addition, adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the Fund’s investments or prevent the Fund from realizing the full value of its investments. It may be difficult to obtain reliable information about the securities and business operations of certain foreign issuers as a result of less extensive accounting, financial and other reporting requirements in non-U.S. markets. Finally, to the extent the Fund invests in foreign securities other than ADRs, the value of the currency of the country in which the Fund has invested could decline relative to the value of the U.S. dollar, which may affect the value of the investment to U.S. investors.
 
Depositary Receipt Risk. The Fund may hold the securities of non-U.S. companies in the form of ADRs. ADRs are negotiable certificates issued by a U.S. financial institution that represent a specified number of shares in a foreign stock and trade on a U.S. national securities exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange. Holders of certain depositary receipts may have limited voting rights and may not have the same rights typically afforded to shareholders in the event of a corporate action and may experience difficulty in receiving company stockholder communications. Sponsored ADRs are issued with the support of the issuer of the foreign stock underlying the ADRs and carry all of the rights of common shares, including voting rights. The underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Issuers of unsponsored depositary receipts are not contractually obligated to disclose material information in the U.S. and, therefore, such information may not correlate to the market value of the unsponsored depositary receipt. The underlying securities of the ADRs in the Fund’s portfolio are usually denominated or quoted in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. As a result, changes in foreign currency exchange rates may affect the value of the Fund’s portfolio. In addition, because the underlying securities of ADRs trade on foreign exchanges at times when the U.S. markets are not open for trading, the value of the securities underlying the ADRs may change materially at times when the U.S. markets are not open for trading, regardless of whether there is an active U.S. market for shares of the Fund.

In addition, depositary receipts are generally subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted.

Financial Services Sector Risk. The financial services sector is subject to extensive government regulation, can be subject to relatively rapid change due to increasingly blurred distinctions between service segments, and can be significantly affected by availability and cost of capital funds, changes in interest rates, the rate of corporate and consumer debt defaults, and increased competition. Companies in the financial services sector may be subject to extensive government regulation that affects the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. The profitability and viability of companies in the financial services sector may be adversely affected by increases in interest rates, by loan losses, which usually increase in economic downturns, and by credit rating downgrades. In addition, the financial services sector is undergoing numerous changes, including continuing consolidations, development of new products and structures and changes to its regulatory framework. Furthermore, some companies in the financial services sector perceived as benefiting from government intervention in the past may be subject to future government-imposed restrictions on their businesses or face increased government involvement in their operations. Increased government involvement in the financial services sector, including measures such as taking ownership positions in financial institutions, could result in a dilution of the Fund’s investments in financial institutions. Adverse developments in the credit markets may cause companies operating in the financial services sector to incur large losses, experience declines in the value of their assets and even cease operations.

Utilities Sector Risk. The rates that traditional regulated utility companies may charge their customers generally are subject to review and limitation by governmental regulatory commissions. Although rate changes of a utility usually fluctuate in approximate correlation with financing costs due to political and regulatory factors, rate





changes ordinarily occur only following a delay after the changes in financing costs. This factor will tend to favorably affect a regulated utility company’s earnings and dividends in times of decreasing costs, but conversely, will tend to adversely affect earnings and dividends when costs are rising. The value of regulated utility debt securities (and, to a lesser extent, equity securities) tends to have an inverse relationship to the movement of interest rates. Certain utility companies have experienced full or partial deregulation in recent years. These utility companies are frequently more similar to industrial companies in that they are subject to greater competition and have been permitted by regulators to diversify outside of their original geographic regions and their traditional lines of business. These opportunities may permit certain utility companies to earn more than their traditional regulated rates of return. Some companies, however, may be forced to defend their core business and may be less profitable. 

Among the risks that may affect utility companies are the following: risks of increases in fuel and other operating costs; the high cost of borrowing to finance capital construction during inflationary periods; restrictions on operations and increased costs and delays associated with compliance with environmental and nuclear safety regulations; and the difficulties involved in obtaining natural gas for resale or fuel for generating electricity at reasonable prices. Other risks include those related to the construction and operation of nuclear power plants, the effects of energy conservation and the effects of regulatory changes.

Small and Medium-Sized Company Risk. Investing in securities of small and medium-sized companies involves greater risk than is customarily associated with investing in larger, more established companies. Securities of these companies present additional risks because their earnings are less predictable and they are more likely than larger companies to have narrower product lines, markets or financial resources. These companies’ securities may be more volatile and less liquid than those of larger, more established companies. These securities may have returns that vary, sometimes significantly, from the overall stock market.
 
MLP Risk. Investments in securities of MLPs involve risks that differ from an investment in common stock. Holders of the units of MLPs have more limited control and limited rights to vote on matters affecting the partnership. In addition, conflicts of interest may exist between common unit holders, subordinated unit holders and the general partner of a MLP, including a conflict arising as a result of incentive distribution payments. MLPs that concentrate in a particular industry or a particular geographic region are subject to risks associated with such industry or region. Furthermore, as partnerships, MLPs may be subject to less regulation (and less protection for investors) under state laws than corporations. Securities issued by MLPs may experience limited trading volumes and, thus, may be relatively illiquid or volatile at times. There are also certain tax risks associated with an investment in units of MLPs. A change in current tax law or a change in the underlying business of a given MLP could adversely affect the Fund's investment in an MLP.
 
Non-Correlation Risk. The Fund’s return may not match the return of the Index for a number of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs a number of operating expenses not applicable to the Index, and incurs costs in buying and selling securities, especially when rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition of the Index. Since the Index constituents may vary on a quarterly basis, the Fund’s costs associated with rebalancing may be greater than those incurred by other exchange-traded funds ("ETFs") that track indices whose composition changes less frequently. In addition, the performance of the Fund and the Index may vary due to asset valuation differences and differences between the Fund's portfolio and the Index resulting from legal restrictions, cash flows or operational inefficiencies.

Due to legal and regulatory rules and limitations, the Fund may not be able to invest in all securities included in the Index.  For tax efficiency purposes, the Fund may sell certain securities to realize losses, causing it to deviate from the Index.
 
The Fund may not be fully invested at times, either as a result of cash flows into the Fund or reserves of cash held by the Fund to meet redemptions and expenses. If the Fund utilizes a sampling approach, or otherwise holds investments other than those which comprise the Index, its return may not correlate as well with the return of the Index, as would be the case if it purchased all of the securities in the Index with the same weightings as the Index.

Market Price Risk. Shares are listed for trading on NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca”) and are bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The market prices of Shares may fluctuate continuously during trading hours, in some cases materially, in response to changes in the net asset value (“NAV”) and supply and demand for Shares, among other factors. Although it is expected that the market price of Shares typically will remain closely correlated to the NAV, the market price will generally differ from the NAV because of timing reasons, supply and





demand imbalances and other factors. As a result, the trading prices of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during certain periods, especially those of market volatility. The Investment Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at their NAV. Thus, an investor may pay more than NAV when buying Shares in the secondary market and receive less than NAV when selling Shares in the secondary market. Given the fact that Shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units, the Investment Adviser believes that large discounts or premiums to the NAV of Shares should not be sustained in the long-term. However, the Fund may have a limited number of financial institutions that may act as “Authorized Participants.” Only Authorized Participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund (as described under “How to Buy and Sell Shares”). If some or all of these Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to process creation and/or redemption orders, and no other Authorized Participant is able to create and redeem in either of these cases, Shares may trade at a discount to NAV like closed-end fund shares (and may even face delisting). Further, while the creation/redemption feature is designed to make it likely that Shares normally will trade at prices closely correlated to the Fund's next calculated NAV, disruptions to creations and redemptions, including disruptions at market makers, Authorized Participants or market participants, or during periods of significant market volatility, among other factors, may result in market prices that differ significantly from NAV. Although market makers will generally take advantage of differences between the NAV and the market price of Shares through arbitrage opportunities, there is no guarantee that they will do so. In addition, secondary markets may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid-ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods, which could cause a material decline in the NAV and/or market prices for Shares. The bid-ask spread is generally larger during periods of lower than regular trading volume in Shares or reduced market liquidity and can increase significantly during periods of market disruption or steep declines, which may be the time an investor most wants to sell its Shares. The Fund's bid-ask spread may also be impacted by the liquidity of the underlying securities held by the Fund, particularly for newly launched or smaller funds or in instances of significant volatility of the underlying securities. The Fund’s investment results are measured based upon the daily NAV of the Shares. Investors purchasing and selling Shares in the secondary market may not experience investment results consistent with those experienced by Authorized Participants creating and redeeming directly with the Fund.

Concentration Risk. If the Index concentrates in an industry or group of industries, the Fund’s investments will be concentrated accordingly. In such event, the value of the Fund’s Shares may rise and fall more than the value of shares of a fund that invests in securities of companies in a broader range of industries.
 
Passive Management Risk. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not “actively” managed. Therefore, it would not necessarily sell a security because the security’s issuer was in financial trouble or defaulted, or whose credit rating was downgraded, unless that security is removed from the Index. In addition, the Fund will not otherwise take defensive positions in declining markets unless such positions are reflected in the Index. 

Tax Risks. In order to qualify for the favorable tax treatment generally available to regulated investment companies (“RICs”) and avoid Fund-level taxes, the Fund must satisfy certain income and asset composition requirements, as well as certain distribution requirements. If the Fund fails to satisfy the distribution requirement necessary to qualify for treatment as a RIC for any taxable year, the Fund would be treated as a corporation subject to U.S. federal income tax, thereby subjecting any income earned by the Fund to tax at the corporate level. If the Fund fails to satisfy a separate distribution requirement, it will be subject to a Fund-level excise tax.

Fund Performance
 
The chart and table below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for one year, five years and since inception compare with those of the Index and a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information for the Fund is available at guggenheiminvestments.com.





Calendar Year Total Returns as of 12/31
 
The Fund commenced operations on December 15, 2006. The Fund’s year-to-date total return was -6.98% as of September 30, 2015.
 
During the periods shown in the above chart, the Fund’s highest and lowest calendar quarter returns were 14.45% and -20.10%, respectively, for the quarters ended June 30, 2009 and December 31, 2008.
 
All after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of any state or local tax. Your own actual after-tax returns will depend on your tax situation and may differ from what is shown here. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares in tax-deferred accounts such as individual retirement accounts (IRAs) or employee-sponsored retirement plans.
 
 
 
 
Since

Average Annual Total Returns for the
 
 
inception

Periods Ended December 31, 2014
1 year

5 years

12/15/2006

Returns Before Taxes
12.87
%
14.90
%
7.49
%
Returns After Taxes on Distributions
11.65
%
13.99
%
6.63
%
Returns After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
7.28
%
11.55
%
5.55
%
Sabrient Defensive Equity Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
13.50
%
15.60
%
8.21
%
Standard & Poor’s 500® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
13.69
%
15.45
%
6.95
%
 
Management
 
Investment Adviser. Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC.

Portfolio Managers. The portfolio managers who are currently responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio are Michael P. Byrum, CFA, Senior Vice President, James R. King, CFA, Portfolio Manager, and Adrian Bachman, CFA, Portfolio Manager.  Messrs. Byrum and King have managed the Fund’s portfolio since December 2013. Mr. Bachman has managed the Fund's portfolio since December 2014.
 
Purchase and Sale of Shares
 
The Fund will issue and redeem Shares at NAV only in a large specified number of Shares called a “Creation Unit” or multiples thereof. A Creation Unit consists of 50,000 Shares. The Fund generally issues and redeems Creation





Units principally in-kind. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund. Individual Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through brokers. Shares of the Fund are listed for trading on NYSE Arca and because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares of the Fund may trade at a price greater than or less than NAV.
 
Tax Information
 
The Fund’s distributions are taxable and will generally be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains.
 
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
 
If you purchase Shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Investment Adviser or other related companies may pay the intermediary for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, the support of technology platforms and/or reporting systems or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. 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.
 







227 West Monroe Street
Chicago, Illinois 60606
800.820.0888
guggenheiminvestments.com