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AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Short ETF (Prospectus Summary) | AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Short ETF
ADVISORSHARES DORSEY WRIGHT SHORT ETF NASDAQ Ticker: DWSH
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Short ETF (the "Fund") seeks capital appreciation through short selling securities.

FUND FEES AND EXPENSES

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. Most investors will incur customary brokerage commissions when buying or selling shares of the Fund, which are not reflected in the table below.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment) None
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Short ETF (Prospectus Summary)
AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Short ETF
AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Short ETF
MANAGEMENT FEES 0.75%
DISTRIBUTION (12b-1) FEES none
OTHER EXPENSES 2.51%
Short Interest Expenses 1.71%
Remaining Expenses 0.80%
ACQUIRED FUND FEES AND EXPENSES 0.11% [1]
TOTAL ANNUAL OPERATING EXPENSES 3.37%
FEE WAIVER/EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT (0.30%) [2],[3]
TOTAL ANNUAL OPERATING EXPENSES AFTER FEE WAIVER/EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT 3.07%
[1] Total Annual Operating Expenses in this fee table may not correlate to the expense ratio in the Fund's financial highlights (and the Fund's financial statements) because the financial highlights include only the Fund's direct operating expenses and do not include Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, which represent the Fund's pro rata share of the fees and expenses of the exchange-traded funds in which it invests.
[2] AdvisorShares Investments, LLC (the "Advisor") has contractually agreed to waive its fees and/or reimburse expenses to keep net expenses (excluding amounts payable pursuant to any plan adopted in accordance with Rule 12b-1, interest expense, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, other expenditures which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 1.25% of the Fund's average daily net assets for at least one year from the date of this Prospectus. The expense limitation agreement may be terminated without payment of any penalty (i) by the Trust for any reason and at any time and (ii) by the Advisor, for any reason, upon ninety (90) days' prior written notice to the Trust, such termination to be effective as of the close of business on the last day of the then-current one-year period. If it becomes unnecessary for the Advisor to waive fees or reimburse expenses, the Trust's Board of Trustees may permit the Advisor to retain the difference between the Fund's total annual operating expenses and the expense limitation currently in effect, or, if lower, the expense limitation that was in effect at the time of the waiver and/or reimbursement, to recapture all or a portion of its prior fee waivers or expense reimbursements within three years of the date they were waived or reimbursed.
[3] The amount of fee waiver/expense reimbursement has been restated to reflect the current expense limit of 1.25%. Prior to November 1, 2019, the expense limit was 0.99% and the amount waived/reimbursed for the most recent fiscal year was 0.56%.
EXAMPLE

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This Example does not take into account creation or redemption transaction fees, or the brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling shares of the Fund. If these fees and commissions were included, your costs would be higher.

 

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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example
1 YEAR
3 YEARS
5 YEARS
10 YEARS
AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Short ETF (Prospectus Summary) | AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Short ETF | AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Short ETF | USD ($) 310 1,008 1,729 3,638
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 Total Annual Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. This rate excludes the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund's shares. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 357% of the average value of its portfolio.

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

Dorsey, Wright & Associates, LLC (the "Sub-Advisor"), the sub-advisor to the Fund, seeks to achieve the Fund's investment objective by obtaining short exposure to investment returns of the broad U.S. large-capitalization equity market by engaging in short sales of U.S.-traded equity securities and exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"). Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in investments that create or result in short exposure to U.S. equity securities.

 

The Fund is actively-managed with an investment focus that applies a shorting strategy to the Sub-Advisor's core philosophy of relative strength. Relative strength investing involves buying securities that have appreciated in price more than the other securities in the investment universe and holding those securities until they underperform. In applying the Fund's shorting strategy to its core philosophy of relative strength, the Sub-Advisor will identify and short those securities with the highest relative weakness within the universe of investable securities, which is primarily comprised of large-capitalization U.S.-traded equity securities and ETFs.

 

The Sub-Advisor's investment process seeks to identify market periods, typically after severe market corrections, where the stocks with the most relative weakness may subsequently outperform the broader market. The Sub-Advisor will utilize a quantitative investment process to seek to identify these periods, and will engage in short sales to seek to outperform the broader equity market. The strategy is entirely based on market movement of the securities and there is no company fundamental data involved in the analysis. The Sub-Advisor's process is systematic and removes emotion from the day-to-day decision making. In implementing the strategy, stock consideration is strictly based on identifying opportunities to provide short exposure to the lowest ranked securities as measured by the relative strength investment process. The Fund's strategy may frequently involve buying and selling securities, which may lead to relatively high portfolio turnover.

 

On a day-to-day basis, for investment purposes and to cover its short positions, the Fund may hold U.S. government securities, short-term high quality fixed income securities, money market instruments, overnight and fixed-term repurchase agreements, cash and cash equivalents with maturities of one year or less, and ETFs that invest in these types of instruments.

PRINCIPAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND

The Fund is subject to a number of risks, as described below, that may affect the value of its shares, including the possible loss of money. As with any fund, there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.

 

Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual issuers, industries or the stock market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time.

 

ETF Market Risk. In stressed market conditions, the market for ETF shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for the ETF's underlying portfolio holdings. This adverse effect on liquidity for the ETF's shares in turn can lead to differences between the market price of the ETF's shares and the underlying value of those shares.

 

ETF Investment Risk. Through its investments in other ETFs, the Fund is subject to the risks associated with the ETFs' investments, including the possibility that the value of the securities held by an ETF could decrease. These risks include any combination of the risks described in this section.

 

Large-Capitalization Risk. Large-cap securities tend to go in and out of favor based on market and economic conditions. During a period when the demand for large-cap securities is less than for other types of investments — small-cap securities, for instance — the Fund's performance could be reduced.

 

Management Risk. The Sub-Advisor continuously evaluates the Fund's holdings, purchases and sales with a view to achieving the Fund's investment objective. However, achievement of the stated investment objective cannot be guaranteed. The Sub-Advisor's judgment about the markets, the economy, or companies may not anticipate actual market movements, economic conditions or company performance, and these judgments may affect the return on your investment.

 

Market Risk. Due to market conditions, the value of the Fund's investments may fluctuate significantly from day to day. Price fluctuations may be temporary or may last for extended periods. This volatility may cause the value of your investment in the Fund to decrease. Because of its link to the markets, an investment in the Fund may be more suitable for long-term investors who can bear the risk of short-term principal fluctuations, which at times may be significant.

 

Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may experience relatively high portfolio turnover, which may result in increased transaction costs and performance that is lower than expected.

 

Short Sales Risk. Short sales are transactions in which the Fund sells a security it does not own. To complete the transaction, the Fund must borrow the security to make delivery to the buyer. The Fund is then obligated to replace the security borrowed by purchasing the security at the market price at the time of replacement. The price at such time may be higher or lower than the price at which the security was sold by the Fund. If the underlying security goes down in price between the time the Fund sells the security and buys it back, the Fund will realize a gain on the transaction. Conversely, if the underlying security goes up in price during the period, the Fund will realize a loss on the transaction. Any such loss is increased by the amount of premium or interest the Fund must pay to the lender of the security. Likewise, any gain will be decreased by the amount of premium or interest the Fund must pay to the lender of the security. Because a short position loses value as the security's price increases, the loss on a short sale is theoretically unlimited. Short sales involve leverage because the Fund borrows securities and then sells them, effectively leveraging its assets. The use of leverage may magnify gains or losses for the Fund.

 

Trading Risk. Shares of the Fund may trade above or below their net asset value ("NAV"). The trading price of the Fund's shares may deviate significantly from their NAV during periods of market volatility and, in such instances, you may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Fund's shares. There can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Fund's shares will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in shares of the Fund may be halted because of market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (the "Exchange"), make trading in shares inadvisable.

FUND PERFORMANCE

A comparison of the Fund's performance with that of a broad measure of market performance may give some indication of the risks of an investment in the Fund; however, the Fund is new and, therefore, does not have a performance history for a full calendar year. Of course, once the Fund has performance, this past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future.

 

Updated performance information is available on the Fund's website at www.advisorshares.com.