485BPOS 1 etf3_485b.txt POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 15, 2016 ================================================================================ 1933 Act Registration No. 333-176976 1940 Act Registration No. 811-22245 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM N-1A REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 [ ] Pre-Effective Amendment No. __ [ ] Post-Effective Amendment No. 47 [X] and/or REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940 [ ] Amendment No. 48 [X] FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND III (Exact name of registrant as specified in charter) 120 East Liberty Drive, Suite 400 Wheaton, Illinois 60187 (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code) REGISTRANT'S TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCLUDING AREA CODE: (800) 621-1675 W. Scott Jardine, Esq., Secretary First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III First Trust Advisors L.P. 120 East Liberty Drive, Suite 400 Wheaton, Illinois 60187 (Name and Address of Agent for Service) Copy to: Eric F. Fess, Esq. Chapman and Cutler LLP 111 West Monroe Street Chicago, Illinois 60603 It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box): [X] immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b) [ ] on (date) pursuant to paragraph (b) [ ] 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) [ ] on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) [ ] 75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) [ ] on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485 If appropriate, check the following box: [ ] this post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment. CONTENTS OF POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 47 This Post-Effective Amendment to the Registration Statement comprises the following papers and contents: The Facing Sheet Part A - Prospectus for First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF Part B - Statement of Additional Information for First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF Part C - Other Information Signatures Index to Exhibits Exhibits First Trust FIRST TRUST Exchange-Traded Fund III -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FUND NAME TICKER SYMBOL EXCHANGE First Trust RiverFront Dynamic RFEM Nasdaq Emerging Markets ETF First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF (the "Fund") is a series of First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III (the "Trust") and an exchange-traded fund organized as a separate series of a registered management investment company. The Fund intends to list and principally trade its shares on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq"). Market prices may differ to some degree from the net asset value of the shares. Unlike mutual funds, the Fund issues and redeems shares at net asset value, only in large specified blocks each consisting of 50,000 shares (each such block of shares called a "Creation Unit," and, collectively, the "Creation Units"). The Fund's Creation Units are generally issued and redeemed in-kind for securities in which the Fund invests and, in certain circumstances, for cash, and only to and from broker-dealers and large institutional investors that have entered into participation agreements. THE FUND IS AN ACTIVELY MANAGED EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND AND, EXCEPT WHEN AGGREGATED IN CREATION UNITS, ITS SHARES ARE NOT REDEEMABLE SECURITIES OF THE FUND. THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION HAS NOT APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED OF THESE SECURITIES OR PASSED UPON THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS PROSPECTUS. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE. NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE ----------------- June 15, 2016 ----------------- Table of Contents Summary Information............................................................1 Additional Information on the Fund's Investment Objective and Strategies.......7 Fund Investments...............................................................7 Additional Risks of Investing in the Fund......................................9 Fund Organization.............................................................13 Management of the Fund........................................................13 How to Buy and Sell Shares....................................................15 Dividends, Distributions and Taxes............................................16 Federal Tax Matters...........................................................16 Distribution Plan.............................................................18 Net Asset Value...............................................................18 Fund Service Providers........................................................19 Premium/Discount Information..................................................19 Other Information.............................................................20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY INFORMATION First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF (RFEM) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE The investment objective of First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF (the "Fund") is to provide capital appreciation. FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. Investors purchasing and selling shares may be subject to costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker, which are not reflected in the table below. SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases None (as a percentage of offering price) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) Management Fees 0.95% Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees (1) 0.00% Other Expenses(2) 0.00% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.95% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Although the Fund has adopted a 12b-1 plan that permits it to pay up to 0.25% per annum, it will not pay 12b-1 fees at any time before February 4, 2018. (2) "Other Expenses" is an estimate based on the expenses the Fund expects to incur for the current fiscal year. EXAMPLE The example below is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling shares of the Fund in the secondary market. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain at current levels until February 4, 2018, and thereafter at 1.20% to represent the imposition of the 12b-1 fee of 0.25% per annum of the Fund's average daily net assets. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: 1 Year 3 Years -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $97 $330 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Under normal market conditions, the Fund will seek to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in a portfolio of equity securities of emerging market companies, including through investments in common stock, depositary receipts, and common and preferred shares of real estate investment trusts ("REITs"), and forward foreign currency exchange contracts and currency spot transactions used to hedge the Fund's exposure to the currencies in which the equity securities of such emerging market companies are denominated (each, an "Emerging Market currency" and, collectively, the "Emerging Market currencies"). The Fund considers an emerging market company to be one (i) domiciled or with a principal place of business or primary securities trading market in an emerging market country, or (ii) that derives a substantial portion of its total revenues or profits from emerging market countries. The Fund considers an emerging market country to be any country whose issuers are included in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Markets Index and/or those countries considered to be developing by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation or the United Nations. The Fund will generally focus its emerging market company investments in Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, the 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF (RFEM) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and/or the United Arab Emirates. The Fund will utilize a dynamic currency hedging strategy through the use of forward foreign currency exchange contracts and currency spot transactions to hedge up to 100% of the Fund's currency exposure. As a result of such dynamic currency hedging strategy, the portion of the Fund's portfolio securities which are subject to currency hedging transactions may vary widely, from 0% to 100% of the portfolio securities. A forward contract on foreign currency is an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days agreed upon by the parties from the date of the contract, at a price set on the date of the contract. A forward foreign currency exchange contract may reduce the Fund's exposure to changes in the value of the currency it will deliver and increase its exposure to changes in the value of the currency it will receive for the duration of the contract. The effect on the value of the Fund is similar to selling securities denominated in one currency and purchasing securities denominated in another currency. The Fund also may enter into currency spot transactions as part of its dynamic currency hedging strategy. A currency spot transaction is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell a specific currency for delivery on a date that is typically two business days from the date of the agreement, as opposed to a date set in the future. The underlying currencies of the forward foreign currency exchange contracts and currency spot transactions included in the Fund's policy relating to the investment of at least 80% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) will be limited to Emerging Market currencies. The Fund also may invest up to 20% of its net assets in equity securities of companies in developed market countries and forward foreign currency exchange contracts and currency spot transactions used to hedge the Fund's exposure to non-Emerging Market currencies as well as any proxy currency hedging transactions involving non-Emerging Market currencies determined by the Sub-Advisor to be representative of, and serve as a proxy for, Emerging Market currencies. Such developed market companies are companies that are (i) domiciled or with a principal place of business or primary securities trading market in a country that is not an emerging market country, or (ii) that derives a substantial portion of its total revenues or profits from countries that are not emerging market countries. The equity securities of developed market companies in which the Fund may invest include investments in common stock, depositary receipts, common and preferred shares of REITs and business development companies ("BDCs"). The securities in which the Fund may invest must be listed on a U.S. or non-U.S. securities exchange. The Fund may invest in small, mid and large capitalization companies. In selecting the portfolio securities of the Fund, RiverFront Investment Group, LLC, the Fund's sub-adviser ("RIG" or the "Sub-Advisor"), assembles a portfolio of eligible securities based on several core attributes, including, but not limited to, value, quality and momentum. The Sub-Advisor will consider multiple factors within each core attribute, such as the price-to-book value of a security when determining value and a company's cash as a percentage of the company's market capitalization when determining quality. The Sub-Advisor then assigns each qualifying security a score based on its core attributes and selects the individual securities with the highest scores for investment. In doing so, the Sub-Advisor utilizes its proprietary optimization process to maximize the percentage of high-scoring securities included in the portfolio in accordance with country, sector and risk factor (e.g., beta, quality, volatility) limitations. The Sub-Advisor will also consider the market capitalization of the companies in which the Fund may invest, and the trading volume of a company's shares in the secondary market. In managing the Fund's currency exposure, the Sub-Advisor will deploy a dynamic currency hedging strategy based on a proprietary hedging methodology that considers a combination of quantitative measures, such as interest rate differentials, central bank balance sheet expansion/contraction and price momentum, and qualitative measures, such as formal and informal guidance from central bankers. To the extent permitted under applicable law, percentage limitations described in this prospectus are generally as of the time of investment by the Fund and may be exceeded on a going-forward basis as a result of market fluctuations affecting the Fund's portfolio securities. The Fund is classified as "non-diversified" under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"). PRINCIPAL RISKS You could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. There can be no assurance that the Fund's investment objective will be achieved. BDC RISK. Investments in BDCs may be subject to a high degree of risk. A BDC's portfolio typically will include a substantial amount of securities purchased in private placements and, as a result, its portfolio may carry risks similar to those of a private equity or private debt fund. Securities that are not publicly 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF (RFEM) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- registered may be difficult to value and may be difficult to sell at a price representative of their intrinsic value. In addition, investments in BDCs are subject to various other risks, including management's ability to meet the BDC's investment objective and to manage the BDC's portfolio when the underlying securities are redeemed or sold during periods of market turmoil and as investors' perceptions regarding a BDC or its underlying investments change. BDC shares are not redeemable at the option of the BDC shareholder and they may trade in the secondary market at a discount to their net asset value. BDCs may also employ the use of leverage in their portfolios through borrowings or the issuance of preferred stock. Such use of leverage may subject the BDC to increased risks, including the likelihood of increased volatility and the possibility that the BDC's common share income may fall if the interest rate on any borrowings rises. The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any management and other operating expenses, and of any performance based or incentive fees, charged by the BDCs in which it invests, in addition to the expenses paid by the Fund. CASH TRANSACTIONS RISK. The Fund may, under certain circumstances, effect creations and redemptions, in whole or in part, for cash, rather than in-kind, because of the nature of the Fund's underlying investments. As a result, an investment in the Fund may be less tax efficient than it would be through more frequent creations and redemptions in-kind. COUNTERPARTY RISK. The Fund bears the risk that the counterparty to the Fund's forward foreign currency exchange contracts and currency spot transactions may default on its obligations or otherwise fail to honor its obligations. If a counterparty defaults on its payment obligations, the Fund will lose money and the value of an investment in Fund shares may decrease. In addition, the Fund may engage in such investment transactions with a limited number of counterparties. CREDIT RISK. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer of a security will be unable or unwilling to make dividend payments when due and the related risk that the value of a security may decline because of concerns about the issuer's ability to make such payments. CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE RISK. The Fund will hold investments that are denominated in non-U.S. currencies, or in securities that provide exposure to such currencies, currency exchange rates or interest rates denominated in such currencies. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of the Fund's investments and the value of Fund shares. Changes in currency exchange rates also may affect the value of interest earned and gains and losses realized on the sale of securities. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an investment in the Fund may change quickly and without warning and you may lose money. CURRENCY RISK. Because the Fund's net asset value is determined on the basis of U.S. dollars and the Fund invests in non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities, you may lose money if the local currency of a foreign market depreciates against the U.S. dollar, even if the local currency value of the Fund's holdings goes up. The Fund may hedge certain of its non-U.S. dollar holdings. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS RISK. Depositary receipts may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market. Any distributions paid to the holders of depositary receipts are usually subject to a fee charged by the depositary. Holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights, and investment restrictions in certain countries may adversely impact the value of depositary receipts because such restrictions may limit the ability to convert shares into depositary receipts and vice versa. Such restrictions may cause shares of the underlying issuer to trade at a discount or premium to the market price of the depositary receipts. DERIVATIVES RISK. The use of forward contracts and currency spot transactions can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the underlying asset, index or rate, which may be magnified by certain features of the derivatives. In addition to the above risks, the Fund is "deemed" to have entered into an ISDA Master Agreement (the "ISDA Master Agreement"), a standard umbrella relationship-framework agreement between two parties under which one or more individual derivatives transactions are entered. While most ISDA Master Agreements are highly customized and heavily negotiated, a "deemed" ISDA Master Agreement has predetermined elections. Therefore, the Fund may forego certain protections it would have been afforded had it negotiated the ISDA Master Agreements, such as terms related to choice of law, events of default, termination events, payments on early termination, and calculation agents. DYNAMIC HEDGING RISK. Because of the Fund's utilization of the dynamic currency hedging strategy, the Fund may have lower returns than an equivalent non-currency hedged investment when the component currencies are rising relative to the U.S. dollar. As such, contracts to sell foreign currency will generally be expected to limit any potential gain that might be realized by the Fund if the value of the hedged currency increases. In addition, the use of currency hedging will not necessarily eliminate exposure to all currency fluctuations. Hedging against a decline in the value of a currency does not eliminate fluctuations in the value of a portfolio security traded in that currency or prevent a loss if the value of the security declines. Moreover, it may not be 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF (RFEM) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- possible for the Fund to hedge against a devaluation that is so generally anticipated that the Fund is not able to contract to sell the currency at a price above the devaluation level it anticipates. EMERGING MARKETS RISK. Investments in securities and instruments traded in developing or emerging markets or that provide exposure to such securities or markets can involve additional risks relating to political, economic or regulatory conditions not associated with investments in U.S. securities and instruments or investments in more developed international markets. Emerging market governments may, without prior warning, impose capital controls on the ability to transfer currency, securities or other assets. The Fund's ability to access certain developing or emerging markets also may be limited due to a variety of factors, including currency convertibility issues. Such conditions may impact the ability of the Fund to buy, sell or otherwise transfer securities, cause the Fund's returns to differ from those available to domestic investors, adversely affect the trading market and price for Fund shares, and cause the Fund to decline in value. EQUITY SECURITIES RISK. Because the Fund invests in equity securities, the value of the Fund's shares will fluctuate with changes in the value of its equity securities. Equity securities prices fluctuate for several reasons, including changes in investors' perceptions of the financial condition of an issuer or the general condition of the relevant stock market, such as market volatility, or when political or economic events affecting the issuer occur. In addition, common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of the capital rises and borrowing costs increase. FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS RISK. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts involve certain risks, including the risk of failure of the counterparty to perform its obligations under the contract and the risk that the use of forward contracts may not serve as a complete hedge because of an imperfect correlation between movements in the prices of the contracts and the prices of the currencies hedged. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts may limit any potential gain that might result should the value of the underlying currencies increase. In addition, because forward currency exchange contracts are privately negotiated transactions, there can be no assurance that the Fund will have flexibility to roll-over a forward currency exchange contract upon its expiration if it desires to do so. Hedging against a decline in the value of a currency does not eliminate fluctuations in the value of a portfolio security traded in that currency or prevent a loss if the value of the security declines. LIQUIDITY RISK. The Fund invests in equity securities that may have limited liquidity despite being listed on a securities exchange. Equity securities that are less liquid or that trade less can be more difficult or more costly to buy, or to sell, compared to other more liquid or active investments. This liquidity risk is a factor of the trading volume of a particular security, as well as the size and liquidity of the market for such security. The prices at which the equity securities are held in the Fund will be adversely affected if trading markets for the equity securities are limited or absent. MANAGEMENT RISK. The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed portfolio. In managing the Fund's investment portfolio, the Sub-Advisor will apply investment techniques and risk analyses that may not have the desired result. There can be no guarantee that the Fund will meet its investment objective. MARKET RISK. Market risk is the risk that a particular security owned by the Fund or shares of the Fund in general, may fall in value. Securities are subject to market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic, political, regulatory or market developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. Overall securities values could decline generally or could underperform other investments. NEW FUND RISK. The Fund currently has fewer assets than larger funds, and like other relatively new funds, large inflows and outflows may impact the Fund's market exposure for limited periods of time. This impact may be positive or negative, depending on the direction of market movement during the period affected. Also, during the initial invest-up period, the Fund may depart from its principal investment strategies and invest a larger amount or all of its assets in cash equivalents or it may hold cash. NON-DIVERSIFICATION RISK. The Fund is classified as "non-diversified" under the 1940 Act. As a result, the Fund is only limited as to the percentage of its assets which may be invested in the securities of any one issuer by the diversification requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to a single adverse economic or regulatory occurrence affecting one or more of these issuers, experience increased volatility and be highly concentrated in certain issuers. NON-U.S. SECURITIES RISK. Non-U.S. securities are subject to higher volatility than securities of domestic issuers due to possible adverse political, social or economic developments, restrictions on foreign investment or exchange of securities, lack of liquidity, currency exchange rates, excessive taxation, government seizure of assets, different legal or accounting standards, and less government supervision and regulation of exchanges in foreign countries. 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF (RFEM) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PORTFOLIO TURNOVER RISK. High portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and generating greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund's performance to be less than expected. PREFERRED STOCK RISK. Preferred stocks combine some of the characteristics of both common stocks and bonds. Preferred stocks are typically subordinated to 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 credit risk than those debt instruments. Preferred stocks are also subject to credit risk, interest rate risk and income risk. REIT INVESTMENT RISK. In addition to risks related to investments in real estate generally, investing in REITs involves certain other risks related to their structure and focus, which include, but are not limited to, dependency upon management skills, limited diversification, the risks of locating and managing financing for projects, heavy cash flow dependency, possible default by borrowers, the costs and potential losses of self-liquidation of one or more holdings, the risk of a possible lack of mortgage funds and associated interest rate risks, overbuilding, property vacancies, increases in property taxes and operating expenses, changes in zoning laws, losses due to environmental damages, changes in neighborhood values and appeal to purchases, the possibility of failing to maintain exemptions from registration under the 1940 Act and, in many cases, relatively small market capitalization, which may result in less market liquidity and greater price volatility. REITs are also subject to the risk that the real estate market may experience an economic downturn generally, which may have a material effect on the real estate in which the REITs invest and their underlying portfolio securities. SMALLER COMPANIES RISK. The Fund may invest in small- and mid-capitalization companies. Such companies may be more vulnerable to adverse general market or economic developments, and their securities may be less liquid and may experience greater price volatility than larger, more established companies as a result of several factors, including limited trading volumes, products or financial resources, management inexperience and less publicly available information. Accordingly, such companies are generally subject to greater market risk than larger, more established companies. PERFORMANCE The Fund has not yet commenced operations and, therefore, does not have a performance history. Once available, the Fund's performance information, and information that gives some indication of the risks of an investment in the Fund by comparing the Fund's performance with a broad measure of market performance, will be available on the Fund's website at www.ftportfolios.com. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT ADVISOR First Trust Advisors L.P. ("First Trust" or the "Advisor") INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISOR RiverFront Investment Group, LLC ("RIG" or the "Sub-Advisor") PORTFOLIO MANAGERS The following persons serve as portfolio managers of the Fund. o Doug Sandler, CFA, Portfolio Manager of RIG; o Michael Jones, CFA, Portfolio Manager of RIG; o Adam Grossman, CFA, Portfolio Manager of RIG; o Chris Konstantinos, CFA, Portfolio Manager of RIG; o Kevin Nicholson, CFA, Portfolio Manager of RIG; o Sam Turner, CMT, Portfolio Manager of RIG; and o Scott Hays, Portfolio Manager of RIG. Each of the portfolio managers is primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund and has served in such capacity for the Fund since inception. 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF (RFEM) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES The Fund issues and redeems shares on a continuous basis, at net asset value, only in Creation Units consisting of 50,000 shares. The Fund's Creation Units are generally issued and redeemed in-kind for securities in which the Fund invests and, in certain circumstances, for cash, and only to and from broker-dealers and large institutional investors that have entered into participation agreements. Individual shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold on Nasdaq through a broker-dealer. Shares of the Fund will trade on Nasdaq at market prices rather than net asset value, which may cause the shares to trade at a price greater than net asset value (premium) or less than net asset value (discount). TAX INFORMATION The Fund's distributions are taxable and will generally be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains. Distributions on shares held in a tax-deferred account, while not immediately taxable, will be subject to tax when the shares are no longer held in a tax-deferred account. 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), First Trust and First Trust Portfolios L.P., the Fund's distributor, 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. 6 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE FUND'S INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE AND STRATEGIES The Fund is a series of the Trust, an investment company and an actively managed exchange-traded fund. The Fund's investment objective is fundamental and may not be changed without approval by the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. Unless an investment policy is identified as being fundamental, all investment policies included in this prospectus and the Fund's Statement of Additional Information ("SAI") are non-fundamental and may be changed by the Board of Trustees (the "Board") of First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III (the "Trust"), without shareholder approval. However, the Fund's investment policy adopted pursuant to Rule 35d-1 under the 1940 Act relating to the investment of at least 80% of the Fund's net assets (including investment borrowings) may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval only upon 60 days' prior written notice. If there is a material change to the Fund's principal investment strategies, you should consider whether the Fund remains an appropriate investment for you. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. During the initial invest-up period, the Fund may depart from its principal investment strategies and invest a larger amount or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents. FUND INVESTMENTS PRINCIPAL INVESTMENTS EQUITY SECURITIES The Fund invests in equity securities, which may include common stock and other securities with equity characteristics, such as real estate investment trusts ("REITs") and depositary receipts. Common Stock. Common stock represents residual ownership interest in issuers and holders of common stock are entitled to the income and increase in the value of the assets and business of the issuers after all debt obligations and obligations to preferred stockholders are satisfied. Common stockholders generally have voting rights. Common stock fluctuates in price in response to many factors including historical and prospective earnings of the issuer, the value of its assets, general economic conditions, interest rates, investor perceptions and market liquidity. The value of common stock purchased by the Fund could decline if the financial condition of the companies the Fund invests in declines or if overall market and economic conditions deteriorate. Their value also may decline due to factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or an increase in production costs and competitive conditions within an industry. In addition, they may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a company or industry, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates or generally adverse investor sentiment. Preferred Stock. Preferred stocks represent an equity ownership interest in the issuer, but generally entitle the holder to receive, in preference to the holders of other stocks such as common stocks, dividends and a fixed share of the proceeds resulting from liquidation of the company. Some preferred stocks also entitle their holders to receive additional liquidation proceeds on the same basis as holders of a company's common stock. Some preferred stocks offer a fixed rate of return with no maturity date. Because those preferred stocks never mature, they act like long-term bonds, can be more volatile than other types of preferred stocks and may have heightened sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Other preferred stocks have a variable dividend, generally determined on a quarterly or other periodic basis, either according to a formula based upon a specified premium or discount to the yield on particular U.S. Treasury securities or based on an auction process, involving bids submitted by holders and prospective purchasers of such stocks. Because preferred stocks represent an equity ownership interest in a company, their value usually will react more strongly than bonds and other debt instruments to actual or perceived changes in the company's financial condition or prospects or to fluctuations in the equity markets. Holders of preferred stocks generally have no voting rights or their voting rights are limited to certain extraordinary transactions or events. REITs. The Fund may invest in common and preferred shares of REITs. REITs are financial vehicles that pool investors' capital to purchase or finance real estate. REITs are generally classified as equity REITs, mortgage REITs or a combination of equity and mortgage REITs. Equity REITs invest the majority of their assets directly in real property and derive income primarily from the collection of rents. Equity REITs can also realize capital gains by selling properties that have appreciated in value. Mortgage REITs invest the majority of their assets in real estate mortgages and derive income from the collection of interest payments. REITs are not taxed on income distributed to shareholders provided they comply with the applicable tax requirements. Depositary Receipts. The Fund may make foreign investments through American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs"), European Depositary Receipts ("EDRs") and Global Depositary Receipts ("GDRs"), or other securities representing underlying shares 7 of foreign issuers. Positions in those securities are not necessarily denominated in the same currency as the underlying shares they represent. ADRs are receipts typically issued by a U.S. bank or trust company evidencing ownership of the underlying securities issued by foreign issuers. EDRs are European receipts listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange evidencing a similar arrangement. GDRs are U.S. dollar denominated receipts evidencing ownership of foreign securities. Generally, ADRs, in registered form, are designed for the U.S. securities markets and EDRs and GDRs, in bearer form, are designed for use in foreign securities markets. Investments in depositary receipts involve risks similar to those accompanying direct investments in non-U.S. securities, including liquidity, currency, political, information and other risks. Business Development Companies. Business Development Companies ("BDCs") are a type of closed-end fund regulated under the 1940 Act that typically invest in and lend to small and medium-sized private and certain public companies that may not have access to public equity markets for capital raising. BDCs invest in such diverse industries as healthcare, chemical and manufacturing, technology and service companies. BDCs are unique in that at least 70% of their investments must be made in private and certain public U.S. businesses, and BDCs are required to make available significant managerial assistance to their portfolio companies. Unlike corporations, BDCs are not taxed on income distributed to their shareholders provided they comply with the applicable requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. BDCs, which are required to distribute substantially all of their income to investors in order to not be subject to entity level taxation, often offer a yield advantage over other types of securities. The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any management and other expenses, and of any performance based or incentive fees, charged by the BDCs in which it invests, in addition to the expenses paid by the Fund. The Fund is permitted to invest in BDCs in excess of the limits imposed under the 1940 Act pursuant to an exemptive order obtained by the Trust and the Advisor. CURRENCY HEDGING TRANSACTIONS In connection with its non-U.S. investments, to protect the value of its portfolio against uncertainty in the level of future currency exchange rates, the Fund may enter into foreign currency transactions on a spot (i.e., cash) basis or may enter into forward foreign currency exchange contracts. The Fund will invest in forward foreign currency exchange contracts for hedging or currency risk management purposes and not in order to speculate on currency exchange rate movements, and the amount the Fund may invest in such transactions depends in part on the extent of the Fund's non-U.S. investments. As part of such currency hedging transactions, the Fund may shift its exposure to foreign currency fluctuations from one currency to another. In this regard, the Fund may use one currency (or a basket of currencies) to hedge against adverse changes in the value of another currency (or basket of currencies) when exchange rates between the two currencies are positively correlated. This may include shifting exposure from a foreign currency to U.S. dollars or from one foreign currency to another foreign currency. A forward foreign currency exchange contract is an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days agreed upon by the parties from the date of the contract, at a price set on the date of the contract. A forward foreign currency exchange contract may reduce the Fund's exposure to changes in the value of the currency it will deliver and increase its exposure to changes in the value of the currency it will receive for the duration of the contract. The effect on the value of the Fund is similar to selling securities denominated in one currency and purchasing securities denominated in another currency. At the maturity of a forward contract to deliver a particular currency, the Fund may either sell portfolio securities denominated in such currency and make delivery of the currency, or it may retain the securities and acquire the currency on the spot market, negotiate to roll over the contract into a new forward contract with a new future settlement date or terminate its contractual obligation to deliver the currency by purchasing an offsetting contract with the same currency trader obligating it to purchase on the same maturity date the same amount of the currency. The Fund's currency hedging transactions may involve the Fund transacting in a currency whose value is expected to correlate to the value of a currency in which a portfolio security of the Fund is denominated--i.e., such substitute currency will act as a "proxy" for a currency that the Fund seeks to hedge. The Sub-Advisor may employ such proxy hedging (as opposed to direct hedging) under certain circumstances, including when: (i) the currency that it seeks to hedge is thinly traded or illiquid, (ii) the proxy hedging transaction would be less expensive than the corresponding direct hedging transaction, and/or (iii) it would not be efficient or cost effective to transact in the currency that it seeks to hedge as a result of its limited representation in the Fund's portfolio. In this regard, the Sub-Advisor has determined: (i) each of the Japanese Yen, the Australian Dollar and the Canadian Dollar to be representative of, and may serve as a proxy for, the Taiwanese Dollar, the Singapore Dollar and/or the Korean Won; (ii) each of the Euro, the British Pound, the Swiss Franc and the Canadian Dollar to be representative of, and may serve as a proxy for, the Swedish Krona, the Norwegian Krone, the Danish Krone and/or the Israeli Shekel; (iii) each of the Australian Dollar, the Canadian Dollar and the Mexican Peso to be representative of, and may serve as a proxy for, all Latin American currencies, including Brazil, Chile and Peru; and (iv) the Polish Zloty to be representative of, and may serve as a proxy for, all Eastern European currencies, including the Ukraine and the Czech Republic. 8 NON-U.S. INVESTMENTS Non-U.S. investments include securities issued or guaranteed by companies organized under the laws of countries other than the United States, including companies domiciled in emerging markets. Non-U.S. investments may be traded on foreign securities exchanges or in over-the-counter capital markets. Many non-U.S. companies issue both foreign currency and U.S. dollar-denominated securities. ADDITIONAL INVESTMENTS CASH EQUIVALENTS AND SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS Normally, the Fund invests substantially all of its assets to meet its objective. The Fund may invest the remainder of its assets in securities with maturities of less than one year or cash equivalents, or it may hold cash. The percentage of the Fund invested in such holdings varies and depends on several factors, including market conditions. For temporary defensive purposes and during periods of high cash inflows or outflows, the Fund may depart from its principal investment strategies and invest part or all of its assets in these securities or it may hold cash. During such periods, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective. The Fund may adopt a defensive strategy when the portfolio managers believe securities in which the Fund normally invests have elevated risks due to political or economic factors and in other extraordinary circumstances. For more information on eligible short term investments, see the SAI. ILLIQUID SECURITIES The Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in securities and other instruments that are illiquid (determined using the Securities and Exchange Commission's standard applicable to investment companies, i.e., securities that cannot be disposed of by a fund within seven days in the ordinary course of business at approximately the price at which the fund has valued the securities). DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS A description of the policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund's portfolio securities is included in the Fund's SAI, which is available on the Fund's website at www.ftportfolios.com. ADDITIONAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND Risk is inherent in all investing. Investing in the Fund involves risk, including the risk that you may lose all or part of your investment. There can be no assurance that the Fund will meet its stated objective. Before you invest, you should consider the following risks in addition to the Principal Risks set forth above in this prospectus. PRINCIPAL RISKS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COMPANY RISK. The Fund may invest in BDCs which may carry risks similar to those of a private equity or venture capital fund. Small and medium-sized companies may have fewer lines of business so that changes in any one line of business may have a greater impact on the value of their stock than is the case with a larger company. An investment in BDCs is also subject to additional risks, including management's ability to meet the fund's investment objective, and to manage the fund's portfolio when the underlying securities are redeemed or sold, during periods of market turmoil and as investors' perceptions regarding the funds or their underlying investments change. BDCs are not redeemable at the option of the shareholder and they may trade in the market at a discount to their net asset value. The BDCs included in the Fund may employ the use of leverage in their portfolios through borrowings or the issuance of preferred stock. This leverage also subjects a BDC to increased risks, including the likelihood of increased volatility and the possibility that a BDC's common share income will fall if the dividend rate of the preferred shares or the interest rate on any borrowings rises. CASH TRANSACTIONS RISK. The Fund may, under certain circumstances, effect a portion of creations and redemptions for cash, rather than in-kind securities. As a result, an investment in the Fund may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an exchange-traded fund ("ETF") that effects its creations and redemptions for in-kind securities. ETFs are able to make in-kind redemptions and avoid being taxed on gains on the distributed portfolio securities at the fund level. Because the Fund may effect a portion of redemptions for cash, it may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. Any recognized gain on these sales by the Fund will generally cause the Fund to recognize gain it might not otherwise have recognized, or to recognize such gain sooner than would otherwise be required if it was to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. The Fund generally intends to distribute these gains to shareholders to avoid being taxed on this gain at the fund level and otherwise comply with the special tax rules that apply to them. This strategy may cause shareholders to be subject to tax on gains they would not otherwise be subject to, or at an earlier date than if they had made an investment in a different ETF. Moreover, cash transactions may have to be 9 carried out over several days if the securities market is relatively illiquid and may involve considerable brokerage fees and taxes. These brokerage fees and taxes, which will be higher than if the Fund sold and redeemed its shares in-kind, will be passed on to purchasers and redeemers of Creation Units in the form of creation and redemption transaction fees. In addition, these factors may result in wider spreads between the bid and the offered prices of the Fund's shares than for ETFs that distribute portfolio securities in-kind. CURRENCY RISK. An increase in the strength of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies may cause the value of the Fund to decline. Certain non-U.S. currencies may be particularly volatile, and non-U.S. governments may intervene in the currency markets, causing a decline in value or liquidity in the Fund's non-U.S. holdings whose value is tied to the affected non-U.S. currency. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS RISK. Depositary receipts are usually in the form of ADRs or GDRs. ADRs are U.S. dollar-denominated receipts representing shares of foreign-based corporations. ADRs are issued by U.S. banks or trust companies, and entitle the holder to all dividends and capital gains that are paid out on the underlying foreign shares. GDRs are similar to ADRs, but are shares of foreign-based corporations generally issued by non-U.S. banks in one or more markets around the world. ADRs or GDRs may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market. Any distributions paid to the holders of depositary receipts, whether ADRs or GDRs, are usually subject to a fee charged by the depositary. Holders of depositary receipts may have limited voting rights pursuant to a deposit agreement between the underlying issuer and the depositary. In certain cases, the depositary will vote the equity shares deposited with it as directed by the underlying issuer's board of directors. Furthermore, investment restrictions in certain countries may adversely impact the value of depositary receipts because such restrictions may limit the ability to convert the equity shares into depositary receipts and vice versa. Such restrictions may cause the equity shares of the underlying issuer to trade at a discount or premium to the market price of the depositary receipt. Moreover, if depositary receipts are converted into equity shares, the laws in certain countries may limit the ability of a non-resident to trade the equity shares and to reconvert the equity shares to depositary receipts. DYNAMIC HEDGING RISK. At the discretion of the Sub-Advisor, the Fund will utilize a dynamic currency hedging process through the use of forward foreign currency exchange contracts and currency spot transactions to hedge a portion of the Fund's currency exposure. The Sub-Advisor will adjust the extent to which the Fund will utilize currency hedging transactions on an ongoing basis based on, among other things, market conditions, currency exchange rates and the currency exposure of the Fund's portfolio investments. As a result of the dynamic currency hedging process, the portion of the Fund's portfolio securities which are subject to currency hedging transactions may vary widely, from 0% to 100% of the Fund's portfolio securities. The Fund may have higher returns than an equivalent non-currency hedged investment when the component currencies are weakening relative to the U.S. dollar. Conversely, the Fund may have lower returns than an equivalent non-currency hedged investment when the component currencies are rising relative to the U.S. dollar. As such, contracts to sell foreign currency will generally be expected to limit any potential gain that might be realized by the Fund if the value of the hedged currency increases. Although the Fund seeks to minimize the impact of currency fluctuations on Fund returns, the use of currency hedging will not necessarily eliminate exposure to all currency fluctuations. Hedging against a decline in the value of a currency does not eliminate fluctuations in the value of a portfolio security traded in that currency or prevent a loss if the value of the security declines. Moreover, it may not be possible for the Fund to hedge against a devaluation that is so generally anticipated that the Fund is not able to contract to sell the currency at a price above the devaluation level it anticipates. The cost to the Fund of engaging in currency exchange transactions varies with such factors as the currency involved, the length of the contract period and prevailing market conditions. A proxy hedging transaction entails greater risk than a direct hedging transaction as it is dependent on a stable relationship between the two currencies paired as proxies, and that relationship may not always be maintained. EMERGING MARKETS RISK. Investments in securities of issuers located in emerging market countries are considered speculative. Heightened risks of investing in emerging markets securities include: (i) smaller market capitalization of securities markets, which may suffer periods of relative illiquidity; (ii) significant price volatility; (iii) restrictions on foreign investment; and (iv) possible repatriation of investment income and capital. Furthermore, non-U.S. investors may be required to register the proceeds of sales and future economic or political crises could lead to price controls, forced mergers, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, seizure, nationalization or creation of government monopolies. The currencies of emerging market countries may experience significant declines against the U.S. dollar, and devaluation may occur subsequent to investments in these currencies by the Fund. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had, and may continue to have, negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain emerging market countries. EQUITY SECURITIES RISK. Equity securities may decline significantly in price over short or extended periods of time, and such declines may occur in the equity market as a whole, or they may occur only in a particular country, company, industry or sector of the market. 10 ILLIQUID SECURITIES RISK. Illiquid securities may be difficult to dispose of at the price at which the Fund has valued the securities and at the times when the Fund believes it is desirable to do so. The market price of illiquid securities generally is more volatile than that of more liquid securities, which may adversely affect the price that the Fund recovers upon the sale of such securities. Illiquid securities are also more difficult to value, especially in challenging markets. The Sub-Advisor's judgment may play a greater role in the valuation process. Investment of the Fund's assets in illiquid securities may restrict the Fund's ability to take advantage of market opportunities. The risks associated with illiquid securities may be particularly acute in situations in which the Fund's operations require cash and could result in the Fund incurring losses on the sale of illiquid or restricted securities. NON-U.S. SECURITIES RISK. The Fund will invest in securities of non-U.S. issuers. An investment in securities of non-U.S. issuers involves risks not associated with domestic issuers. Non-U.S. securities are subject to higher volatility than securities of domestic issuers due to possible adverse political, social or economic developments, restrictions on foreign investment or exchange of securities, lack of liquidity, currency exchange rates, excessive taxation, government seizure of assets, different legal or accounting standards, and less government supervision and regulation of exchanges in non-U.S. countries. The adoption of new governmental restrictions, including the possible imposition of withholding taxes on dividend income and the possible establishment of exchange controls or freezes on the convertibility of currency, might adversely affect an investment in non-U.S. securities. Investments in non-U.S. securities also may involve higher costs than investments in U.S. securities, including higher transaction and custody costs as well as the imposition of additional taxes by non-U.S. governments. Non-U.S. investments may also involve risks associated with less complete financial information about the issuers. PREFERRED STOCK RISK. An investment in preferred stocks involves the further risks not associated with an investment in common stocks set forth below: o Limited Voting Rights. Generally, holders of preferred stocks (such as the Fund) have no voting rights with respect to the issuing company unless preferred dividends have been in arrears for a specified number of periods, at which time the preferred stock holders may elect a number of directors to the issuer's board. Generally, once the issuer pays all the arrearages, the preferred stock holders no longer have voting rights. o Special Redemptions Rights. In certain circumstances, an issuer of preferred stocks may redeem the securities prior to a specified date. For instance, for certain types of preferred stocks, a redemption may be triggered by a change in federal income tax or securities laws. As with call provisions, a special redemption by the issuer may negatively impact the return of the security held by the Fund. o Deferral. Preferred stocks may include provisions that permit the issuer, at its discretion, to defer distributions for a stated period without any adverse consequences to the issuer. If the Fund owns a preferred stock that is deferring its distributions, the Fund may be required to report income for federal income tax purposes although it has not yet received such income in cash. o Subordination. Preferred stocks are subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in a company's capital structure in terms of priority to corporate income and liquidation payments and therefore will be subject to greater credit risk than those debt instruments. o Liquidity. Preferred stocks may be substantially less liquid than many other securities, such as common stocks or U.S. government securities. NON-PRINCIPAL RISKS AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT CONCENTRATION RISK. Only an authorized participant (as defined in the "Frequent Purchases and Redemptions" Section) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, in either of these cases, Fund shares may trade at a discount to the Fund's net asset value and possibly face delisting. BORROWING AND LEVERAGE RISKS. If the Fund borrows money, it must pay interest and other fees, which may reduce the Fund's returns. As prescribed by the 1940 Act, the Fund will be required to maintain specified asset coverage of at least 300% with respect to any bank borrowing immediately following such borrowing. The Fund may be required to dispose of assets on unfavorable terms if market fluctuations or other factors reduce the Fund's asset coverage to less than the prescribed amount. DEPENDENCE ON KEY PERSONNEL. The Sub-Advisor is dependent upon the experience and expertise of the Fund's portfolio managers in providing advisory services with respect to the Fund's investments. If the Sub-Advisor were to lose the 11 services of any of these portfolio managers, its ability to service the Fund could be adversely affected. There can be no assurance that a suitable replacement could be found for any of the portfolio managers in the event of their death, resignation, retirement or inability to act on behalf of the Sub-Advisor. INFLATION RISK. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the value of the Fund's assets can decline as can the value of the Fund's distributions. Certain securities in which the Fund invests may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase. INTERNATIONAL CLOSED MARKET TRADING RISK. Because securities held by the Fund trade on non-U.S. exchanges that are closed when the Fund's primary listing exchange is open, there are likely to be deviations between the current price of an underlying security and the last quoted price for the underlying security (i.e., the Fund's quote from the closed foreign market), resulting in premiums or discounts to the Fund's net asset value that may be greater than those experienced by other exchange-traded funds. However, because shares can be created and redeemed in Creation Units at the Fund's net asset value, it is not expected that large discounts or premiums to the net asset value of the Fund will be sustained over the long term (unlike shares of many closed-end funds, which frequently trade at appreciable discounts from, and sometimes at premiums to, their net asset values). ISSUER SPECIFIC CHANGES RISK. The value of an individual security or particular type of security can be more volatile than the market as a whole and can perform differently from the value of the market as a whole. LEGISLATION/LITIGATION RISK. From time to time, various legislative initiatives are proposed in the United States and abroad, which may have a negative impact on certain companies in which the Fund invests. Such legislation or litigation may cause the Fund to lose value or may result in higher portfolio turnover if the Sub-Advisor determines to sell such a holding. MARKET MAKER RISK. If the Fund has lower average daily trading volumes, it may rely on a small number of third-party market makers to provide a market for the purchase and sale of shares. Any trading halt or other problem relating to the trading activity of these market makers could result in a dramatic change in the spread between the Fund's net asset value and the price at which the Fund's shares are trading on Nasdaq which could result in a decrease in value of the Fund's shares. In addition, decisions by market makers or authorized participants to reduce their role or step away from these activities in times of market stress could inhibit the effectiveness of the arbitrage process in maintaining the relationship between the underlying values of the Fund's portfolio securities and the Fund's market price. This reduced effectiveness could result in Fund shares trading at a discount to net asset value and also in greater than normal intraday bid-ask spreads for Fund shares. TRADING ISSUES Although the shares of the Fund are listed for trading on Nasdaq, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in shares on Nasdaq may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of Nasdaq, make trading in shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in shares on Nasdaq is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to Nasdaq "circuit breaker" rules. Market makers are under no obligation to make a market in the Fund's shares, and authorized participants are not obligated to submit purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. There can be no assurance that the requirements of Nasdaq necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. Initially, due to the small asset size of the Fund, it may have difficulty maintaining its listing on Nasdaq. FLUCTUATION OF NET ASSET VALUE The net asset value of shares of the Fund will generally fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund's holdings. The market prices of shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in net asset value as well as the relative supply of and demand for shares on Nasdaq. The Fund cannot predict whether shares will trade below, at or above its net asset value because the shares trade on Nasdaq at market prices and not at net asset value. Price differences may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the holdings of the Fund trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. However, given that shares can only be purchased and redeemed either in-kind or for cash in Creation Units, and only to and from broker-dealers and large institutional investors that have entered into participation agreements (unlike shares of closed-end funds, which frequently trade at appreciable discounts from, and sometimes at premiums to, their net asset value), the Fund believes that large discounts or premiums to the net asset value of shares should not be sustained. 12 FUND ORGANIZATION The Fund is a series of the Trust, an investment company registered under the 1940 Act. The Fund is treated as a separate fund with its own investment objective and policies. The Trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust. Its Board is responsible for the overall management and direction of the Trust. The Board elects the Trust's officers and approves all significant agreements, including those with the investment advisers, custodian and fund administrative and accounting agent. MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND First Trust Advisors L.P., 120 East Liberty Drive, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, is the investment adviser to the Fund. In this capacity, First Trust is responsible for overseeing the Sub-Advisor in the investment of the Fund's assets, managing the Fund's business affairs and providing certain clerical, bookkeeping and other administrative services. First Trust is a limited partnership with one limited partner, Grace Partners of DuPage L.P., and one general partner, The Charger Corporation. Grace Partners of DuPage L.P. is a limited partnership with one general partner, The Charger Corporation, and a number of limited partners. The Charger Corporation is an Illinois corporation controlled by James A. Bowen, the Chief Executive Officer of the Advisor. First Trust discharges its responsibilities subject to the policies of the Board. First Trust serves as adviser or sub-adviser for seven mutual fund portfolios, nine exchange-traded funds consisting of 101 series, and 16 closed-end funds. It is also the portfolio supervisor of certain unit investment trusts sponsored by First Trust Portfolios L.P., an affiliate of First Trust ("FTP"), 120 East Liberty Drive, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. FTP specializes in the underwriting, trading and distribution of unit investment trusts and other securities. FTP is the principal underwriter of the shares of the Fund. The Fund and First Trust have retained RiverFront Investment Group, LLC, 1214 East Cary Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, to serve as investment sub-adviser. In this capacity, RIG is responsible for the selection and ongoing monitoring of the securities in the Fund's investment portfolio. RIG was formed in 2008 and serves as investment adviser to investment portfolios with approximately $5.5 billion in assets which it managed as of March 31, 2016. RIG provides investment advisory services to separately managed accounts, unified managed accounts, model delivery programs, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. RIG is an investment management firm specializing in asset allocation portfolios. The members of its portfolio management team for the Fund are: Doug Sandler, CFA; Michael Jones, CFA; Adam Grossman, CFA; Chris Konstantinos, CFA; Kevin Nicholson, CFA; Sam Turner, CMT; and Scott Hays, who share responsibilities for the day-to-day management of the Fund's investment portfolio. o Mr. Sandler, CFA, serves as Chief US Equity Officer, bringing more than 20 years of investment experience to the equity team. In addition, he serves on the firm's Operating Committee. Prior to launching RIG, Mr. Sandler served as Managing Director and Chief Equity Strategist at Wachovia Securities, where he was responsible for all equity advice of the firm. He led a team of talented and experienced portfolio managers and strategists, whose goal was to provide independent and sound equity recommendations. The work of his team included actively managed portfolios, weekly investment pieces and the regular monitoring of widely held positions of the firm's clients. Mr. Sandler earned a BS in Accounting and an MBA from the University of Richmond, graduating with honors. He received his CFA designation in 1997. o Mr. Jones, CFA, serves as Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, bringing close to 30 years of global investment experience to his role in leading the organization. Mr. Jones' primary investment responsibility is setting the firm's overall asset allocation strategy and ensuring appropriate investment and risk management processes are applied to all of the firm's portfolio decisions. In addition, he serves on the firm's Executive and Operating Committees. Prior to launching RIG in 2008, Mr. Jones was the Chief Investment Officer at Wachovia Securities from 2002. In this capacity, he was responsible for all aspects of financial advice, including asset allocation, tactical strategy and portfolio implementation and managed over $75 billion in discretionary portfolio assets. Mr. Jones began his career in fixed income portfolio management, serving in a variety of roles cumulating in his promotion to Chief Fixed Income Officer for Mentor Investment Group. While at Mentor and its successor firm, Evergreen Investment Management, Michael managed over $12 billion in high grade and high yield fixed income assets and was responsible for the design and implementation of advanced fixed income and risk management analytics. Mr. Jones earned a BA in Economics from the College of William and Mary and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his CFA designation in 1990. 13 o Mr. Grossman, CFA, serves as the Chief Global Equity Officer, responsible for the investments of the US Equity and International Equity teams. He brings over a decade's worth of industry experience in quantitative risk management and portfolio analytics. Mr. Grossman is responsible for the tactical decisions made in the various strategies and the development of equity investment processes at RIG. Prior to joining RIG, Mr Grossman worked at the Virginia Retirement System (VRS), where he managed International Equity and REIT Portfolios and developed research on equity selection and portfolio construction. He began his investment career as a fixed income analyst at VRS. Mr. Grossman earned a BS from Baldwin-Wallace College with a double major in Mathematical Economics and Finance, and an MA in Financial Economics from Virginia Commonwealth University. He received his CFA designation in 2009. o Mr. Konstantinos, CFA, serves as Director of International Portfolio Management with more than 14 years' experience as an equity sector analyst, portfolio manager, and portfolio risk manager across domestic and international markets. In addition, he serves on the firm's Operating Committee. Mr. Konstantinos has been with RIG since the company's founding in 2008. He began his career in 2000 as a corporate finance analyst in the Technology sector at a predecessor to Wachovia Securities. He joined Wachovia's Advisory Services Group in 2002 as an equity strategist, and worked in various capacities within equity strategy and portfolio management until his departure in 2008. Mr. Konstantinos earned his BS in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Konstantinos received his CFA designation in 2013 and is a member of CFA Virginia Society. He has successfully completed the FINRA Series 7, 66, 86 and 87 licensing exams. Mr. Konstantinos is also a regular guest on the financial news channels (CNBC, Bloomberg) and is frequently quoted in the financial press. o Mr. Nicholson, CFA, serves as Chief Risk Officer, bringing more than 22 years of industry experience to the role. In addition, Mr. Nicholson serves on the firm's Operating Committee. Prior to joining RIG, Mr. Nicholson served as Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager at Wells Fargo Advisors where he managed both taxable and tax exempt portfolios. He served for 18 years at Wells Fargo and its predecessor firms. He began his career in 1992 at Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, during which time he held numerous fixed income positions. These included senior preferred stock trader, corporate bond trader, senior fixed income strategist, and senior fixed income portfolio manager. Mr. Nicholson earned a BA in Business and Economics from Randolph-Macon College and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned his CFA designation in 2014. o Mr. Turner, CMT, serves as Director of US Equity with over 15 years of experience managing equity portfolios. Prior to launching RIG, Mr. Turner served as Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Wachovia Securities, where he was responsible for the management of large cap equity funds within the Advisory Services Group (ASG). Mr. Turner was also actively involved with Wachovia Securities' advice team, publishing weekly reports and contributing to the firm's tactical asset allocation decisions. He originally joined Wachovia Securities in 1996 as an analyst for ASG, internal asset management arm of the firm, primarily focusing on the Mentor Strategy Fund. Mr. Turner earned his BA in Business Administration from James Madison University. He received the Chartered Market Technician designation in 2007. o Mr. Hays serves as Quantitative Portfolio Manager. As a Quantitative Portfolio manager, he is responsible for developing and implementing analytical investment approaches in the US Equity and International Equity markets. Prior to joining RIG, Mr. Hays co-founded and served as Chief Investment Officer of an alternative asset management company that employed a quantitative market-neutral equity approach. Mr. Hays also worked for 6 years at Analysis Group, a financial and economic consulting firm, where he managed a team dedicated to valuing illiquid assets such as mortgage-backed securities, real estate, and oil and gas properties. Mr. Hays received a BBA from Millsaps College, Summa Cum Laude, with a double major in Economics and Business Administration. He also earned an MBA with High Honors from the University of Chicago in Analytic Finance, Econometrics/Statistics and Economics. Additionally, Mr. Hays has successfully completed the FINRA Series 65 licensing exam. For additional information concerning First Trust and RIG, including a description of the services provided to the Fund, see the Fund's SAI. Additional information about the portfolio managers' compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers and the portfolio managers' ownership of securities in the Fund is provided in the SAI. MANAGEMENT FEE Pursuant to the Investment Management Agreements, First Trust supervises RIG and its management of the investment of the Fund's assets and pays RIG for its services as the Fund's sub-adviser. First Trust is responsible for the Fund's expenses, including the cost of transfer agency, sub-advisory, custody, fund administration, legal, audit and other services, but excluding fee payments under the Fund's Investment Management Agreement, interest, taxes, brokerage 14 commissions and other expenses connected with the execution of portfolio transactions, distribution and service fees pursuant to a 12b-1 plan, if any, and extraordinary expenses. The Fund has agreed to pay First Trust an annual management fee equal to 0.95% of its average daily net assets. As of the date of this prospectus, the Fund has neither commenced operations nor paid management fees. A discussion regarding the Board's approval of the Investment Management Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement for the Fund will be available in the Fund's Annual Report to Shareholders for the period ended October 31, 2016. HOW TO BUY AND SELL SHARES Most investors will buy and sell shares of the Fund in secondary market transactions through brokers. Shares of the Fund are expected to be listed for trading on the secondary market on Nasdaq. Shares can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like other publicly traded shares. There is no minimum investment when buying shares on Nasdaq. Although shares are generally purchased and sold in "round lots" of 100 shares, brokerage firms typically permit investors to purchase or sell shares in smaller "odd lots," at no per-share price differential. When buying or selling shares through a broker, investors should expect to incur customary brokerage commissions, investors may receive less than the net asset value of the shares because shares are bought and sold at market prices rather than net asset value, and investors may pay some or all of the spread between the bid and the offer price in the secondary market on each leg of a round trip (purchase and sale) transaction. Share prices are reported in dollars and cents per share. For purposes of the 1940 Act, the Fund is treated as a registered investment company, and the acquisition of shares by other registered investment companies is subject to the restrictions of Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act. The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has received an exemptive order from the Securities and Exchange Commission that permits certain registered investment companies to invest in the Fund beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1), subject to certain terms and conditions, including that any such investment companies enter into an agreement with the Fund regarding the terms of any investment. BOOK ENTRY Shares are held in book-entry form, which means that no share 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 share 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 stocks that you hold in book-entry or "street name" form. SHARE TRADING PRICES The trading prices of shares of the Fund on Nasdaq may differ from the Fund's daily net asset value and can be affected by market forces of supply and demand, economic conditions and other factors. Information regarding the intra-day value of the shares of the Fund, also referred to as the "indicative optimized portfolio value" ("IOPV"), is disseminated every 15 seconds throughout the Fund's trading day by the national securities exchange on which the shares are listed or by market data vendors or other information providers. The IOPV should not be viewed as a "real-time" update of the net asset value per share of the Fund because the IOPV may not be calculated in the same manner as the net asset value, which is computed once a day, generally at the end of the business day. The price of a non-U.S. security that is primarily traded on a non-U.S. exchange will be updated, using the last sale price, every 15 seconds throughout the trading day, provided, that, upon the closing of such non-U.S. exchange, the closing price of the security, after being converted to U.S. dollars, will be used. This will likely cause the IOPV to deviate significantly from the true market value of the portfolio. Furthermore, in calculating the IOPV of the Fund's shares, exchange rates may be used throughout the day (9:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., Eastern time) that may differ from those used to calculate the net asset value per share of the Fund and consequently may result in differences between the net asset value and the IOPV. The Fund is not involved in, or responsible for, the calculation or dissemination of the IOPV of shares of the Fund and the Fund does not make any warranty as to its accuracy. 15 FREQUENT PURCHASES AND REDEMPTIONS OF THE FUND'S SHARES The Fund imposes no restrictions on the frequency of purchases and redemptions ("market timing"). In determining not to approve a written, established policy, the Board evaluated the risks of market timing activities by the Fund's shareholders. The Board considered that the Fund's shares can only be purchased and redeemed directly from the Fund in Creation Units by broker-dealers and large institutional investors that have entered into participation agreements (i.e., authorized participants ("APs")) and that the vast majority of trading in the Fund's shares occurs on the secondary market. Because the secondary market trades do not involve the Fund directly, it is unlikely those trades would cause many of 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. As the Fund may effect the purchase or redemption of Creation Units in exchange wholly or partially for cash, the Board noted that such 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, the Board noted that direct trading by APs is critical to ensuring that the shares trade at or close to net asset value. In addition, the Fund imposes fixed and variable transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Creation Units to cover the custodial and other costs incurred by the Fund in effecting trades. Finally, the Advisor monitors purchase and redemption orders from APs for patterns of abusive trading. The Fund reserves the right to reject purchase and redemption orders from APs that the Advisor has determined may be disruptive to the management of the Fund, or otherwise not in the Fund's best interests. DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES Dividends from net investment income of the Fund, if any, are declared and paid quarterly by the Fund. The Fund distributes its net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders at least 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. Such shares will generally be reinvested by the broker based upon the market price of those shares and investors may be subject to customary brokerage commissions charged by the broker. FEDERAL TAX MATTERS This section summarizes some of the main U.S. federal income tax consequences of owning shares of the Fund. This section is current as of the date of this prospectus. Tax laws and interpretations change frequently, and these summaries do not describe all of the tax consequences to all taxpayers. For example, these summaries generally do not describe your situation if you are a corporation, a non-U.S. person, a broker-dealer or other investor with special circumstances. In addition, this section does not describe your state, local or non-U.S. tax consequences. This federal income tax summary is based in part on the advice of counsel to the Fund. The Internal Revenue Service could disagree with any conclusions set forth in this section. In addition, counsel to the Fund was not asked to review, and has not reached a conclusion with respect to, the federal income tax treatment of the assets to be included in the Fund. This may not be sufficient for you to use for the purpose of avoiding penalties under federal tax law. As with any investment, you should seek advice based on your individual circumstances from your own tax advisor. FUND STATUS The Fund intends to qualify as a "regulated investment company" under the federal tax laws. If the Fund qualifies as a regulated investment company and distributes its income as required by the tax law, the Fund generally will not pay federal income taxes. DISTRIBUTIONS The Fund's distributions are generally taxable. After the end of each year, you will receive a tax statement that separates the distributions of the Fund into two categories: ordinary income distributions and capital gain dividends. Ordinary income distributions are generally taxed at your ordinary tax rate, however, as further discussed below, certain ordinary income distributions received from the Fund may be taxed at the capital gains tax rates. Generally, you will treat all capital gain dividends as long-term capital gains regardless of how long you have owned your shares. To determine your actual tax liability for your capital gain dividends, you must calculate your total net capital gain or loss for the tax year after considering all of your other taxable transactions, as described below. In addition, the Fund may make distributions that represent a return of capital for tax purposes and thus will generally not be taxable to you; however, such distributions may reduce your tax basis in your shares, which could result in you having to pay higher taxes in the future when shares are sold, even if you sell the shares at a loss from your original investment. The tax status of your distributions from the Fund is not affected by whether you reinvest your distributions in 16 additional shares or receive them in cash. The income from the Fund that you must take into account for federal income tax purposes is not reduced by amounts used to pay a deferred sales fee, if any. The tax laws may require you to treat distributions made to you in January as if you had received them on December 31 of the previous year. Income from the Fund may also be subject to a 3.8% "Medicare tax." This tax generally applies to your net investment income if your adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts, which are $250,000 in the case of married couples filing joint returns and $200,000 in the case of single individuals. DIVIDENDS RECEIVED DEDUCTION A corporation that owns shares generally will not be entitled to the dividends received deduction with respect to many dividends received from the Fund because the dividends received deduction is generally not available for distributions from regulated investment companies. However, certain ordinary income dividends on shares that are attributable to qualifying dividends received by the Fund from certain corporations may be reported by the Fund as being eligible for the dividends received deduction. CAPITAL GAINS AND LOSSES AND CERTAIN ORDINARY INCOME DIVIDENDS If you are an individual, the maximum marginal stated federal tax rate for net capital gain is generally 20% for taxpayers in the 39.6% tax bracket, 15% for taxpayers in the 25%, 28%, 33% and 35% tax brackets and 0% for taxpayers in the 10% and 15% tax brackets. Some capital gain dividends may be taxed at a higher maximum stated tax rate. Capital gain received from assets held for more than one year that is considered "unrecaptured section 1250 gain" (which may be the case, for example, with some capital gains attributable to equity interests in real estate investment trusts that constitute interests in entities treated as real estate investment trusts for federal income tax purposes) is taxed at a maximum marginal stated federal tax rate of 25%. In the case of capital gain dividends, the determination of which portion of the capital gain dividend, if any, is subject to the 25% tax rate, will be made based on rules prescribed by the United States Treasury. Capital gains may also be subject to the Medicare tax described above. Net capital gain equals net long-term capital gain minus net short-term capital loss for the taxable year. Capital gain or loss is long-term if the holding period for the asset is more than one year and is short-term if the holding period for the asset is one year or less. You must exclude the date you purchase your shares to determine your holding period. However, if you receive a capital gain dividend from the Fund and sell your shares at a loss after holding it for six months or less, the loss will be recharacterized as long-term capital loss to the extent of the capital gain dividend received. The tax rates for capital gains realized from assets held for one year or less are generally the same as for ordinary income. The Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, treats certain capital gains as ordinary income in special situations. Ordinary income dividends received by an individual shareholder from a regulated investment company such as the Fund are generally taxed at the same rates that apply to net capital gain (as discussed above), provided certain holding period requirements are satisfied and provided the dividends are attributable to qualifying dividends received by the Fund itself. Dividends from REITs and foreign corporations are qualifying dividends only in limited circumstances. The Fund will provide notice to its shareholders of the amount of any distribution which may be taken into account as a dividend which is eligible for the capital gains tax rates. SALE OF SHARES If you sell or redeem your shares, you will generally recognize a taxable gain or loss. To determine the amount of this gain or loss, you must subtract your tax basis in your shares from the amount you receive in the transaction. Your tax basis in your shares is generally equal to the cost of your shares, generally including sales charges. In some cases, however, you may have to adjust your tax basis after you purchase your shares. TAXES ON PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF CREATION UNITS If you exchange securities for Creation Units you will generally recognize a gain or a loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time and your aggregate basis in the securities surrendered and the cash component paid. If you exchange Creation Units for securities, you will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between your basis in the Creation Units and the aggregate market value of the securities received and the cash redemption amount. The Internal Revenue Service, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units or Creation Units for securities cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing "wash sales," or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position. DEDUCTIBILITY OF FUND EXPENSES Expenses incurred and deducted by the Fund will generally not be treated as income taxable to you. In some cases, however, you may be required to treat your portion of these Fund expenses as income. In these cases, you may be able to 17 take a deduction for these expenses. However, certain miscellaneous itemized deductions, such as investment expenses, may be deducted by individuals only to the extent that all of these deductions exceed 2% of the individual's adjusted gross income. Some individuals may also be subject to further limitations on the amount of their itemized deductions, depending on their income. NON-U.S. TAX CREDIT Because the Fund invests in non-U.S. securities, the tax statement that you receive may include an item showing non-U.S. taxes the Fund paid to other countries. In this case, dividends taxed to you will include your share of the taxes the Fund paid to other countries. You may be able to deduct or receive a tax credit for your share of these taxes. NON-U.S. INVESTORS If you are a non-U.S. investor (i.e., an investor other than a U.S. citizen or resident or a U.S. corporation, partnership, estate or trust), you should be aware that, generally, subject to applicable tax treaties, distributions from the Fund will be characterized as dividends for federal income tax purposes (other than dividends which the Fund properly reports as capital gain dividends) and will be subject to U.S. federal income taxes, including withholding taxes, subject to certain exceptions described below. However, distributions received by a non-U.S. investor from the Fund that are properly reported the Fund as capital gain dividends may not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes, including withholding taxes, provided that the Fund makes certain elections and certain other conditions are met. Distributions may be subject to a U.S. withholding tax of 30% in the case of distributions to (i) certain non-U.S. financial institutions that have not entered into an agreement with the U.S. Treasury to collect and disclose certain information and are not resident in a jurisdiction that has entered into such an agreement with the U.S. Treasury and (ii) certain other non-U.S. entities that do not provide certain certifications and information about the entity's U.S. owners. Dispositions of shares by such persons may be subject to such withholding after December 31, 2018. INVESTMENTS IN CERTAIN NON-U.S. CORPORATIONS If the Fund holds an equity interest in any passive foreign investment companies ("PFICs"), which are generally certain non-U.S. corporations that receive at least 75% of their annual gross income from passive sources (such as interest, dividends, certain rents and royalties or capital gains) or that hold at least 50% of their assets in investments producing such passive income, the Fund could be subject to U.S. federal income tax and additional interest charges on gains and certain distributions with respect to those equity interests, even if all the income or gain is timely distributed to its shareholders. The Fund will not be able to pass through to its shareholders any credit or deduction for such taxes. The Fund may be able to make an election that could ameliorate these adverse tax consequences. In this case, the Fund would recognize as ordinary income any increase in the value of such PFIC shares, and as ordinary loss any decrease in such value to the extent it did not exceed prior increases included in income. Under this election, the Fund might be required to recognize in a year income in excess of its distributions from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock during that year, and such income would nevertheless be subject to the distribution requirement and would be taken into account for purposes of the 4% excise tax. Dividends paid by PFICs are not treated as qualified dividend income. DISTRIBUTION PLAN FTP serves as the distributor of Creation Units for the Fund on an agency basis. FTP does not maintain a secondary market in shares. The Board has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. In accordance with its Rule 12b-1 plan, the Fund is authorized to pay an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year to reimburse FTP for amounts expended to finance activities primarily intended to result in the sale of Creation Units or the provision of investor services. FTP may also use this amount to compensate securities dealers or other persons that are APs for providing distribution assistance, including broker-dealer and shareholder support and educational and promotional services. The Fund does not currently pay 12b-1 fees, and pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund will not pay 12b-1 fees anytime before February 4, 2018. However, in the event 12b-1 fees are charged in the future, because these fees are paid out of the Fund's assets, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than certain other types of sales charges. NET ASSET VALUE The Fund's net asset value is determined as of the close of trading (normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) on the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") on each day the NYSE is open for trading. If the NYSE closes early on a valuation day, the 18 Fund's net asset value will be determined as of that time. Net asset value per share is calculated for the Fund by taking the market price of the Fund's total assets, including interest or dividends accrued but not yet collected, less all liabilities, and dividing such amount by the total number of shares outstanding. The result, rounded to the nearest cent, is the net asset value per share. All valuations are subject to review by the Board or its delegate. The Fund's investments are valued daily at market or, in the absence of market value with respect to any investments, at fair value. Market value prices represent last sale or official closing prices from a national or foreign exchange (i.e., a regulated market) and are primarily obtained from third party pricing services ("Pricing Services"). Fair value prices represent any prices not considered market value prices and are either obtained from a Pricing Service or determined by the Advisor's pricing committee (the "Pricing Committee"), in accordance with valuation procedures (which may be revised from time to time) adopted by the Board, and in accordance with provisions of the 1940 Act. As a general principle, the current "fair value" of a security would appear to be the amount which the owner might reasonably expect to receive for the security upon its current sale. Valuing the Fund's assets using fair value pricing can result in using prices for those assets (particularly assets that trade in foreign markets) that may differ from current market valuations. Equity securities listed on any exchange other than Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market ("AIM") are typically valued at the last sale price on the exchange on which they are principally traded. Such securities listed on Nasdaq or the AIM are typically valued at the official closing price on the business day as of which such value is being determined. If there has been no sale on such day, or no official closing price in the case of securities traded on Nasdaq or the AIM, such securities are typically valued using fair value pricing. Such securities traded on more than one securities exchange are valued at the last sale price or official closing price, as applicable, on the business day as of which such value is being determined at the close of the exchange representing the principal market for such securities. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are typically fair valued at the current day's interpolated foreign exchange rate, as calculated using the current day's spot rate, and the thirty, sixty, ninety and one-hundred-eighty day forward rates provided by a Pricing Service or by certain independent dealers in such contracts. Currency spot transactions also will typically be valued using information provided by a Pricing Service. Because foreign securities exchanges may be open on different days than the days during which an investor may purchase or sell shares of the Fund, the value of the Fund's securities may change on days when investors are not able to purchase or sell shares of the Fund. Assets denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate of such currencies against the U.S. dollar as provided by a Pricing Service. The value of assets denominated in foreign currencies is converted into U.S. dollars at the exchange rates in effect at the time of valuation. FUND SERVICE PROVIDERS Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., 50 Post Office Square, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, acts as the administrator, accounting agent, custodian and transfer agent to the Fund. Chapman and Cutler LLP, 111 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603, serves as legal counsel to the Fund. PREMIUM/DISCOUNT INFORMATION The Fund has not yet commenced operations and, therefore, does not have information about the differences between the Fund's daily market price on Nasdaq and its net asset value. Once the Fund has commenced operations, this information will be available on the Fund's website at www.ftportfolios.com. 19 OTHER INFORMATION CONTINUOUS OFFERING The Fund will issue, on a continuous offering basis, its shares in one or more groups of a fixed number of Fund shares (each such group of such specified number of individual Fund shares, a "Creation Unit Aggregation"). The method by which Creation Unit Aggregations of Fund shares are created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Unit Aggregations 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 "1933 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 that could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus delivery requirement and liability provisions of the 1933 Act. For example, a broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if it takes Creation Unit Aggregations after placing an order with FTP, breaks them down into constituent shares and sells such 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 1933 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. 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(a)(3) of the 1933 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 ordinary secondary market transactions) and thus dealing with the shares that are part of an overallotment within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the 1933 Act would be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to shares are reminded that, under Rule 153 of the 1933 Act ("Rule 153"), a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the 1933 Act owed to a broker-dealer in connection with a sale on Nasdaq is satisfied by the fact that the prospectus is available from Nasdaq upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is available with respect to transactions on a national securities exchange, a trading facility or an alternative trading system. 20 This page is intentionally left blank. 21 First Trust FIRST TRUST Exchange-Traded Fund III -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF FOR MORE INFORMATION For more detailed information on the Fund, several additional sources of information are available to you. The SAI, incorporated by reference into this prospectus, contains detailed information on the Fund's policies and operation. Additional information about the Fund's investments is available in the annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In the Fund's annual reports, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly impacted the Fund's performance during the last fiscal year. The Fund's most recent SAI, annual or semi-annual reports and certain other information are available free of charge by calling the Fund at (800) 621-1675, on the Fund's website at www.ftportfolios.com or through your financial advisor. Shareholders may call the toll-free number above with any inquiries. You may obtain this and other information regarding the Fund, including the SAI and Codes of Ethics adopted by First Trust, FTP and the Trust, directly from the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Information on the SEC's website is free of charge. Visit the SEC's on-line EDGAR database at http://www.sec.gov or in person at the SEC's Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C., or call the SEC at (202) 551-8090 for information on the Public Reference Room. You may also request information regarding the Fund by sending a request (along with a duplication fee) to the SEC's Public Reference Section, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549-1520 or by sending an electronic request to publicinfo@sec.gov. First Trust Advisors L.P. 120 East Liberty Drive Suite 400 Wheaton, Illinois 60187 (800) 621-1675 SEC File #: 333-176976 www.ftportfolios.com 811-22245 STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT FILE NO. 811-22245 FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND III TICKER FUND NAME SYMBOL EXCHANGE FIRST TRUST RIVERFRONT DYNAMIC EMERGING MARKETS ETF RFEM Nasdaq DATED JUNE 15, 2016 This Statement of Additional Information ("SAI") is not a prospectus. It should be read in conjunction with the prospectus dated June 15, 2016, as it may be revised from time to time (the "Prospectus"), for First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF (the "Fund"), a series of the First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III (the "Trust"). Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. A copy of the Prospectus may be obtained without charge by writing to the Trust's distributor, First Trust Portfolios L.P., 120 East Liberty Drive, Suite 400, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, or by calling toll free at (800) 621-1675. TABLE OF CONTENTS GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE TRUST AND THE FUND..................................1 EXCHANGE LISTING AND TRADING...................................................3 INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES..............................................4 INVESTMENT STRATEGIES..........................................................6 INVESTMENT RISKS..............................................................14 MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND........................................................23 SUB-ADVISOR...................................................................34 BROKERAGE ALLOCATIONS.........................................................40 CUSTODIAN, ADMINISTRATOR, FUND ACCOUNTANT, TRANSFER AGENT, DISTRIBUTOR AND EXCHANGE...................................................41 ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS TO FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES...............................43 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION........................................................45 PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES..........................................47 CREATION AND REDEMPTION OF CREATION UNIT AGGREGATIONS.........................48 FEDERAL TAX MATTERS...........................................................59 DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE..............................................65 DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS...................................................68 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.....................................................69 EXHIBIT A - FTA PROXY VOTING GUIDELINES......................................A-1 EXHIBIT B - ISS PROXY VOTING GUIDELINES......................................B-1 -ii- GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE TRUST AND THE FUND The Trust was organized as a Massachusetts business trust on January 9, 2008, and is authorized to issue an unlimited number of shares in one or more series or funds. The Trust is an open-end management investment company, registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"). The Trust currently offers shares in eight series, including the First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Asia Pacific ETF, First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Developed International ETF, First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF, First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Europe ETF, First Trust Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond ETF, First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF, First Trust Managed Municipal ETF and First Trust Preferred Securities ETF, each a non-diversified series. This SAI relates to the Fund. The Fund, as a series of the Trust, represents a beneficial interest in a separate portfolio of securities and other assets, with its own objective and policies. The Board of Trustees of the Trust (the "Board of Trustees" or the "Trustees") has the right to establish additional series in the future, to determine the preferences, voting powers, rights and privileges thereof and to modify such preferences, voting powers, rights and privileges without shareholder approval. Shares of any series may also be divided into one or more classes at the discretion of the Trustees. The Trust or any series or class thereof may be terminated at any time by the Board of Trustees upon written notice to the shareholders. Each share has one vote with respect to matters upon which a shareholder vote is required, consistent with the requirements of the 1940 Act and the rules promulgated thereunder. Shares of all series of the Trust vote together as a single class except as otherwise required by the 1940 Act, or if the matter being voted on affects only a particular series, and, if a matter affects a particular series differently from other series, the shares of that series will vote separately on such matter. The Trust's Declaration of Trust (the "Declaration") requires a shareholder vote only on those matters where the 1940 Act requires a vote of shareholders and otherwise permits the Trustees to take actions without seeking the consent of shareholders. For example, the Declaration gives the Trustees broad authority to approve reorganizations between the Fund and another entity, such as another exchange-traded fund, or the sale of all or substantially all of the Fund's assets, or the termination of the Trust or the Fund without shareholder approval if the 1940 Act would not require such approval. The Declaration provides that by becoming a shareholder of the Fund, each shareholder shall be expressly held to have agreed to be bound by the provisions of the Declaration. The Declaration may, except in limited circumstances, be amended by the Trustees in any respect without a shareholder vote. The Declaration provides that the Trustees may establish the number of Trustees and that vacancies on the Board of Trustees may be filled by the remaining Trustees, except when election of Trustees by the shareholders is required under the 1940 Act. Trustees are then elected by a plurality of votes cast by shareholders at a meeting at which a quorum is present. The Declaration also provides that Trustees may be removed, with or without cause, by a vote of shareholders holding at least two-thirds of the voting power of the Trust, or by a vote of two-thirds of the remaining Trustees. The provisions of the Declaration relating to the election and removal of Trustees may not be amended without the approval of two-thirds of the Trustees. The holders of Fund shares are required to disclose information on direct or indirect ownership of Fund shares as may be required to comply with various laws applicable to the Fund or as the Trustees may determine, and ownership of Fund shares may be disclosed by the Fund if so required by law or regulation. In addition, pursuant to the Declaration, the Trustees may, in their discretion, require the Trust to redeem shares held by any shareholder for any reason under terms set by the Trustees. The Declaration provides a detailed process for the bringing of derivative actions by shareholders in order to permit legitimate inquiries and claims while avoiding the time, expense, distraction and other harm that can be caused to the Fund or its shareholders as a result of spurious shareholder demands and derivative actions. Prior to bringing a derivative action, a demand must first be made on the Trustees. The Declaration details various information, certifications, undertakings and acknowledgements that must be included in the demand. Following receipt of the demand, the Trustees have a period of 90 days, which may be extended by an additional 60 days, to consider the demand. If a majority of the Trustees who are considered independent for the purposes of considering the demand determine that maintaining the suit would not be in the best interests of the Fund, the Trustees are required to reject the demand and the complaining shareholder may not proceed with the derivative action unless the shareholder is able to sustain the burden of proof to a court that the decision of the Trustees not to pursue the requested action was not a good faith exercise of their business judgment on behalf of the Fund. In making such a determination, a Trustee is not considered to have a personal financial interest by virtue of being compensated for his or her services as a Trustee. If a demand is rejected, the complaining shareholder will be responsible for the costs and expenses (including attorneys' fees) incurred by the Fund in connection with the consideration of the demand under a number of circumstances. If a derivative action is brought in violation of the Declaration, the shareholder bringing the action may be responsible for the Fund's costs, including attorneys' fees. The Declaration also provides that any shareholder bringing an action against the Fund waives the right to trial by jury to the fullest extent permitted by law. The Trust is not required to and does not intend to hold annual meetings of shareholders. Under Massachusetts law applicable to Massachusetts business trusts, shareholders of such a trust may, under certain circumstances, be held personally liable as partners for its obligations. However, the Declaration contains an express disclaimer of shareholder liability for acts or obligations of the Trust and requires that notice of this disclaimer be given in each agreement, obligation or instrument entered into or executed by the Trust or the Trustees. The Declaration further provides for indemnification out of the assets and property of the Trust for all losses and expenses of any shareholder held personally liable for the obligations of the Trust. Thus, the risk of a shareholder incurring financial loss on account of shareholder liability is limited to circumstances in which both inadequate insurance existed and the Trust or the Fund itself was unable to meet its obligations. -2- The Declaration further provides that a Trustee acting in his or her capacity as Trustee is not personally liable to any person other than the Trust or its shareholders, for any act, omission, or obligation of the Trust. The Declaration requires the Trust to indemnify any persons who are or who have been Trustees, officers or employees of the Trust for any liability for actions or failure to act except to the extent prohibited by applicable federal law. In making any determination as to whether any person is entitled to the advancement of expenses in connection with a claim for which indemnification is sought, such person is entitled to a rebuttable presumption that he or she did not engage in conduct for which indemnification is not available. The Declaration provides that any Trustee who serves as chair of the Board of Trustees or of a committee of the Board of Trustees, as lead independent Trustee or as audit committee financial expert, or in any other similar capacity, will not be subject to any greater standard of care or liability because of such position. The Fund is advised by First Trust Advisors L.P. (the "Advisor" or "First Trust") and sub-advised by RiverFront Investment Group, LLC (the "Sub-Advisor" or "RIG"). The shares of the Fund list and principally trade on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq" or the "Exchange"). The shares of the Fund will trade on the Exchange at market prices that may be below, at or above net asset value. The Fund offers and issues shares at net asset value only in aggregations of a specified number of shares (each, a "Creation Unit" or a "Creation Unit Aggregation"), generally in exchange for a basket of securities (the "Deposit Securities"), together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (the "Cash Component"), or for cash as specified in the Prospectus. Creation Units are aggregations of 50,000 shares of the Fund. The Trust reserves the right to permit creations and redemptions of Fund shares to be made in whole or in part on a cash basis under certain circumstances. Fund shares may be issued in advance of receipt of Deposit Securities subject to various conditions including a requirement to maintain on deposit with the Fund cash at least equal to 115% of the market value of the missing Deposit Securities. See the section entitled "Creation and Redemption of Creation Unit Aggregations." In each instance of such cash creations or redemptions, transaction fees may be imposed that will be higher than the transaction fees associated with in-kind creations or redemptions. In all cases, such fees will be limited in accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") applicable to management investment companies offering redeemable securities. EXCHANGE LISTING AND TRADING There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of shares of the Fund will continue to be met. The Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the shares of the Fund from listing if (i) following the initial 12-month period beginning at the commencement of trading of the Fund, there are fewer than 50 beneficial owners of the shares of the Fund for 30 or more consecutive trading days or (ii) such other event shall occur or condition exist that, in the opinion of the Exchange, makes further dealings on the Exchange inadvisable. The Exchange will remove the shares of the Fund from listing and trading upon termination of the Fund. -3- As in the case of other stocks traded on the Exchange, brokers' commissions on transactions will be based on negotiated commission rates at customary levels. The Fund reserves the right to adjust the price levels of shares in the future to help maintain convenient trading ranges for investors. Any adjustments would be accomplished through stock splits or reverse stock splits, which would have no effect on the net assets of the Fund. INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES The Prospectus describes the investment objective and certain policies of the Fund. The following supplements the information contained in the Prospectus concerning the investment objective and policies of the Fund. The Fund is subject to the following fundamental policies, which may not be changed without approval of the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as such term is defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund: (1) The Fund may not issue senior securities, except as permitted under the 1940 Act. (2) The Fund may not borrow money, except as permitted under the 1940 Act. (3) The Fund will not underwrite the securities of other issuers except to the extent the Fund may be considered an underwriter under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"), in connection with the purchase and sale of portfolio securities. (4) The Fund will not purchase or sell real estate or interests therein, unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this shall not prohibit the Fund from purchasing or selling securities or other instruments backed by real estate or of issuers engaged in real estate activities). (5) The Fund may not make loans to other persons, except through (i) the purchase of debt securities permissible under the Fund's investment policies, (ii) repurchase agreements, or (iii) the lending of portfolio securities, provided that no such loan of portfolio securities may be made by the Fund if, as a result, the aggregate of such loans would exceed 33-1/3% of the value of the Fund's total assets. (6) The Fund may not purchase or sell physical commodities unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this shall not prevent the Fund from purchasing or selling options, futures contracts, forward contracts or other derivative instruments, or from investing in securities or other instruments backed by physical commodities). -4- (7) The Fund may not invest 25% or more of the value of its total assets in securities of issuers in any one industry or group of industries. This restriction does not apply to obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities, or securities of other investment companies. For purposes of applying restriction (1) above, under the 1940 Act as currently in effect, the Fund is not permitted to issue senior securities, except that the Fund may borrow from any bank if immediately after such borrowing the value of the Fund's total assets is at least 300% of the principal amount of all of the Fund's borrowings (i.e., the principal amount of the borrowings may not exceed 33 1/3% of the Fund's total assets). In the event that such asset coverage shall at any time fall below 300% the Fund shall, within three days thereafter (not including Sundays and holidays), reduce the amount of its borrowings to an extent that the asset coverage of such borrowing shall be at least 300%. Except for restriction (2) above, if a percentage restriction is adhered to at the time of investment, a later increase in percentage resulting from a change in market value of the investment or the total assets will not constitute a violation of that restriction. With respect to restriction (2), if the limitations are exceeded as a result of a change in market value then the Fund will reduce the amount of borrowings within three days thereafter to the extent necessary to comply with the limitations (not including Sundays and holidays). The fundamental investment limitations set forth above limit the Fund's ability to engage in certain investment practices and purchase securities or other instruments to the extent permitted by, or consistent with, applicable law. As such, these limitations will change as the statute, rules, regulations or orders (or, if applicable, interpretations) change, and no shareholder vote will be required or sought. The Fund's investment objective and the foregoing fundamental policies of the Fund may not be changed without the affirmative vote of the majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund. The 1940 Act defines a majority vote as the vote of the lesser of (i) 67% or more of the voting securities represented at a meeting at which more than 50% of the outstanding securities are represented; or (ii) more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities. With respect to the submission of a change in an investment policy to the holders of outstanding voting securities of the Fund, such matter shall be deemed to have been effectively acted upon with respect to the Fund if a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund vote for the approval of such matter, notwithstanding that such matter has not been approved by the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of any other series of the Trust affected by such matter. In addition to the foregoing fundamental policies, the Fund is also subject to strategies and policies discussed herein which, unless otherwise noted, are non-fundamental restrictions and policies and may be changed by the Board of Trustees. -5- INVESTMENT STRATEGIES Under normal market conditions, the Fund will seek to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in a portfolio of equity securities of emerging market companies, including through investments in common stock, depositary receipts, and common and preferred shares of REITs, and forward foreign currency exchange contracts and currency spot transactions used to hedge the Fund's exposure to the currencies in which the equity securities of such emerging market companies are denominated. Fund shareholders are entitled to 60 days' notice prior to any change in this non-fundamental investment policy. TYPES OF INVESTMENTS The following information supplements the discussion in the Fund's Prospectus and reflects certain investments in which the Fund may invest. For further discussion of the investments in which the Fund may principally invest, see the Prospectus. Depositary Receipts: The Fund may hold securities of certain non-U.S. companies in the form of depositary receipts ("Depositary Receipts"). Depositary Receipts may not necessarily be denominated in the same currency as the underlying securities into which they may be converted. American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") are receipts typically issued by an American bank or trust company that evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign corporation. European Depositary Receipts ("EDRs") are receipts issued by a European bank or trust company evidencing ownership of securities issued by a foreign corporation. Global Depositary Receipts ("GDRs") are receipts issued throughout the world that evidence a similar arrangement. In addition, the Fund may invest in New York shares, which are typically issued by a company incorporated in the Netherlands and represent a direct interest in the company, and global shares, which are the actual (ordinary) shares of a non-U.S. company which trade both in the home market and the United States. Unlike traditional Depositary Receipts, New York share programs do not involve custody of the Dutch shares of the company. Generally, ADRs and New York shares, in registered form, are designed for use in the U.S. securities markets. EDRs, in registered form, are used to access European markets. GDRs, in registered form, are tradable both in the United States and in Europe and are designed for use throughout the world. Global shares are represented by the same share certificate in the United States and the home market. Separate registrars in the United States and the home country are maintained. In most cases, purchases occurring on a U.S. exchange would be reflected on the U.S. registrar. Global shares may also be eligible to list on exchanges in addition to the United States and the home country. Equities: The Fund intends to invest in equity securities, which represent an ownership position in a company. The prices of equity securities fluctuate based on, among other things, events specific to their issuers and market, economic, and other conditions. Equity securities in which the Fund invests include common stocks. Common stocks may be common stock of any class or series of a domestic or foreign corporation or any similar equity interest, such as a trust or partnership interest. These investments may or may not pay dividends and may or may not carry voting rights. Common stock occupies the most junior -6- position in a company's capital structure. The Fund may also invest in warrants and rights related to common stocks. Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts: To protect the value of its portfolio against uncertainty in the level of future currency exchange rates between a particular foreign currency and the U.S. dollar or between foreign currencies, the Fund may enter into foreign currency transactions on a spot (i.e., cash) basis or it may enter into forward foreign currency exchange contracts. A forward foreign currency exchange contract is an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days agreed upon by the parties from the date of the contract at a price set on the date of the contract. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts (i) are traded in a market conducted directly between currency traders (typically, commercial banks or other financial institutions) and their customers, (ii) generally have no deposit requirements and (iii) are typically consummated without payment of any commissions. The Fund, however, may enter into forward foreign currency exchange contracts requiring deposits or involving the payment of commissions. The Fund will only enter into forward foreign currency exchange contracts with parties which it believes to be creditworthy institutions. To assure that its forward foreign currency exchange contracts are not used to achieve investment leverage, the Fund will segregate or earmark on its records liquid assets to the extent required under the 1940 Act. Futures Contracts: The Fund may enter into exchange-listed equity index futures contracts. A futures contract on an index is an agreement pursuant to which two parties agree to take or make delivery of an amount of cash equal to the difference between the value of the index at the close of the last trading day of the contract and the price at which the index contract was originally written. Although the value of a securities index is a function of the value of certain specified securities, no physical delivery of those securities is made. A public market exists in futures contracts covering a number of indexes (including, but not limited to: the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, the Russell 2000 Index, the Value Line Composite Index, and the New York Stock Exchange Composite Index). The Fund will not enter into futures contracts which are prohibited under the CEA and will, to the extent required by regulatory authorities, enter only into futures contracts that are traded on national futures exchanges and are standardized as to maturity date and underlying financial instrument. Futures exchanges and trading are regulated under the CEA by the CFTC. Futures contracts may be closed out prior to delivery by entering into an offsetting transaction in a matching futures contract. If the offsetting purchase price is less than the original sale price, a gain will be realized. Conversely, if the offsetting sale price is more than the original purchase price, a gain will be realized; if it is less, a loss will be realized. 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. Transaction costs are incurred when a futures contract is bought or sold and margin deposits must be maintained. Margin is the amount of funds that must be deposited by the Fund with its custodian in a segregated account in the name -7- of the futures commission merchant in order to initiate futures trading and to maintain the Fund's open positions in futures contracts. A margin deposit is intended to ensure the Fund's performance of the futures contract. The margin required for a particular futures contract is set by the exchange on which the futures contract is traded and may be significantly modified from time to time by the exchange during the term of the futures contract. Futures contracts are customarily purchased and sold on margins that may range upward from less than 5% of the value of the futures contract being traded. If the price of an open futures contract changes (by increase in the case of a sale or by decrease in the case of a purchase) so that the loss on the futures contract 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. In computing daily net asset value, the Fund will mark to market the current value of its open futures contracts. The Fund expects to earn interest income on its margin deposits. Because of the low margin deposits required, futures trading involves an extremely high degree of leverage. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial loss, as well as gain, to the investor. For example, if at the time of purchase, 10% of the value of the futures contract is deposited as margin, a subsequent 10% decrease in the value of the futures contract would result in a total loss of the margin deposit, before any deduction for the transaction costs, if the account were then closed out. A 15% decrease would result in a loss equal to 150% of the original margin deposit, if the future contracts were closed out. Thus, a purchase or sale of a futures contract may result in losses in excess of the amount initially invested in the futures contract. However, the Fund would presumably have sustained comparable losses if, instead of the futures contract, it had invested in the underlying financial instrument and sold it after the decline. Most U.S. futures exchanges limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. The day limit establishes the maximum amount that the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day's settlement price at the end of a trading session. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular type of futures contract, no trades may be made on that day at a price beyond that limit. The daily limit governs only price movement during a particular trading day and therefore does not limit potential losses, because the limit may prevent the liquidation of unfavorable positions. Futures contract prices have occasionally moved to the daily limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, thereby preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and subjecting some investors to substantial losses. There can be no assurance that a liquid market will exist at a time when the Fund seeks to close out a futures position. The Fund would continue to be required to meet margin requirements until the position is closed, possibly resulting in a decline in the Fund's net asset value. There can be no assurance that an active secondary market will develop or continue to exist. -8- The Fund will comply with the applicable regulatory requirements of the SEC and the CFTC with respect to coverage of futures positions by registered investment companies and, if the guidelines so require, will earmark or set aside cash, U.S. government securities, high grade liquid debt securities and/or other liquid assets permitted by the SEC and CFTC in a segregated custodial account in the amount prescribed or as may be held by the futures commission merchant or other applicable entity as permitted under the 1940 Act. Securities earmarked or held in a segregated account cannot be sold while the futures position is outstanding, unless replaced with other permissible assets, and will be marked-to-market daily. Illiquid Securities: The Fund may invest in illiquid securities (i.e., securities that cannot be disposed of by a Fund within seven days in the ordinary course of business at approximately the amount at which the Fund has valued the securities). For purposes of this restriction, illiquid securities include, but are not limited to, restricted securities (securities the disposition of which is restricted under the federal securities laws), securities that may only be resold pursuant to Rule 144A under the 1933 Act but that are deemed to be illiquid, and repurchase agreements with maturities in excess of seven days. The Fund will not acquire illiquid securities if, as a result, such securities would comprise more than 15% of the value of the Fund's net assets. The Board of Trustees or its delegate has the ultimate authority to determine, to the extent permissible under the federal securities laws, which securities are liquid or illiquid for purposes of this 15% limitation. The Board of Trustees has delegated to the Sub-Advisor the day-to-day determination of the illiquidity of any security, although it has retained oversight for such determinations. With respect to Rule 144A securities, the factors considered in such a determination may include (i) the nature of the market for a security (including the institutional private resale market), the frequency of trades and quotes for the security, the number of dealers willing to purchase or sell the security, the amount of time normally needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers and the mechanics of transfer), (ii) the terms of certain securities or other instruments allowing for the disposition to a third party or the issuer thereof (e.g., certain repurchase obligations and demand instruments), and (iii) other permissible relevant factors. Restricted securities may be sold only in privately negotiated transactions or in a public offering with respect to which a registration statement is in effect under the 1933 Act. Where registration is required, the Fund may be obligated to pay all or part of the registration expenses and a considerable period may elapse between the time of the decision to sell and the time the Fund may be permitted to sell a security under an effective registration statement. If, during such a period, adverse market conditions were to develop, the Fund might obtain a less favorable price than that which prevailed when it decided to sell. Illiquid securities will be priced at fair value as determined in good faith under procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees. If, through the appreciation of illiquid securities or the depreciation of liquid securities, the Fund should be in a position where more than 15% of the value of its net assets are invested in illiquid securities, including restricted securities which are not readily marketable, the Fund will take such steps as is deemed advisable, if any, to protect liquidity. Fixed Income Investments and Cash Equivalents: Normally, the Fund invests substantially all of its assets to meet its investment objective. However, for temporary or defensive purposes, the Fund may invest in fixed income investments and cash equivalents in order to provide income, liquidity and preserve capital. -9- Fixed income investments and cash equivalents held by the Fund may include, without limitation, the types of investments set forth below: (1) The Fund may invest in U.S. government securities, including bills, notes and bonds differing as to maturity and rates of interest, which are either issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury or by U.S. government agencies or instrumentalities. U.S. government securities include securities that are issued or guaranteed by the United States Treasury, by various agencies of the U.S. government, or by various instrumentalities that have been established or sponsored by the U.S. government. U.S. Treasury securities are backed by the "full faith and credit" of the United States. Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies and U.S. government-sponsored instrumentalities may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Some of the U.S. government agencies that issue or guarantee securities include the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Farmers Home Administration, the Federal Housing Administration, the Maritime Administration, the Small Business Administration and the Tennessee Valley Authority. An instrumentality of the U.S. government is a government agency organized under federal charter with government supervision. Instrumentalities issuing or guaranteeing securities include, among others, the Federal Home Loan Banks, the Federal Land Banks, the Central Bank for Cooperatives, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks and Federal National Mortgage Association ("FNMA"). In the case of those U.S. government securities not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, the investor must look principally to the agency or instrumentality issuing or guaranteeing the security for ultimate repayment, and may not be able to assert a claim against the United States itself in the event that the agency or instrumentality does not meet its commitment. The U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities do not guarantee the market value of their securities; consequently, the value of such securities may fluctuate. In addition, the Fund may invest in sovereign debt obligations of non-U.S. countries. A sovereign debtor's willingness or ability to repay principal and interest in a timely manner may be affected by a number of factors, including its cash flow situation, the extent of its non-U.S. reserves, the availability of sufficient non-U.S. exchange on the date a payment is due, the relative size of the debt service burden to the economy as a whole, the sovereign debtor's policy toward principal international lenders and the political constraints to which it may be subject. (2) The Fund may invest in certificates of deposit issued against funds deposited in a bank or savings and loan association. Such certificates are for a definite period of time, earn a specified rate of return, and are normally negotiable. If such certificates of deposit are non-negotiable, they will be considered illiquid securities and be subject to the Fund's 15% restriction on investments in illiquid securities. Pursuant to the certificate of deposit, the issuer agrees to pay the amount deposited plus interest to the bearer of the certificate on the date specified thereon. Under current FDIC regulations, the maximum insurance payable as to any one certificate of deposit is $250,000; -10- therefore, certificates of deposit purchased by the Fund may not be fully insured. The Fund may only invest in certificates of deposit issued by U.S. banks with at least $1 billion in assets. (3) The Fund may invest in bankers' acceptances, which are short-term credit instruments used 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 asset or it may be sold in the secondary market at the going rate of interest for a specific maturity. (4) The Fund may invest in repurchase agreements, which involve purchases of debt securities with counterparties that are deemed by the Advisor to present acceptable credit risks. In such an action, at the time the Fund purchases the security, it simultaneously agrees to resell and redeliver the security to the seller, who also simultaneously agrees to buy back the security at a fixed price and time. This assures a predetermined yield for the Fund during its holding period since the resale price is always greater than the purchase price and reflects an agreed-upon market rate. Such actions afford an opportunity for the Fund to invest temporarily available cash. The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements only with respect to obligations of the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities; certificates of deposit; or bankers' acceptances in which the Fund may invest. Repurchase agreements may be considered loans to the seller, collateralized by the underlying securities. The risk to the Fund is limited to the ability of the seller to pay the agreed-upon sum on the repurchase date; in the event of default, the repurchase agreement provides that the affected Fund is entitled to sell the underlying collateral. If the value of the collateral declines after the agreement is entered into, however, and if the seller defaults under a repurchase agreement when the value of the underlying collateral is less than the repurchase price, the Fund could incur a loss of both principal and interest. The portfolio managers monitor the value of the collateral at the time the action is entered into and at all times during the term of the repurchase agreement. The portfolio managers do so in an effort to determine that the value of the collateral always equals or exceeds the agreed-upon repurchase price to be paid to the Fund. If the seller were to be subject to a federal bankruptcy proceeding, the ability of the Fund to liquidate the collateral could be delayed or impaired because of certain provisions of the bankruptcy laws. (5) The Fund may invest in bank time deposits, which are monies kept on deposit with banks or savings and loan associations for a stated period of time at a fixed rate of interest. There may be penalties for the early withdrawal of such time deposits, in which case the yields of these investments will be reduced. (6) The Fund may invest in commercial paper, which are short-term unsecured promissory notes, including variable rate master demand notes issued by corporations to finance their current operations. Master demand notes are direct lending arrangements between the Fund and a corporation. There is no secondary market for the notes. However, they are redeemable -11- by the Fund at any time. The Fund's portfolio managers will consider the financial condition of the corporation (e.g., earning power, cash flow and other liquidity ratios) and will continuously monitor the corporation's ability to meet all of its financial obligations, because the Fund's liquidity might be impaired if the corporation were unable to pay principal and interest on demand. The Fund may invest in commercial paper only if its has received the highest rating from at least one nationally recognized statistical rating organization or, if unrated, judged by First Trust to be of comparable quality. (7) The Fund may invest in shares of money market funds, as consistent with its investment objective and policies. Shares of money market funds are subject to management fees and other expenses of those funds. Therefore, investments in money market funds will cause the Fund to bear proportionately the costs incurred by the money market funds' operations. At the same time, the Fund will continue to pay its own management fees and expenses with respect to all of its assets, including any portion invested in the shares of other investment companies. Although money market funds that operate in accordance with Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act seek to preserve a $1.00 share price, it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in money market funds. Delayed-Delivery Transactions: The Fund may from time to time purchase securities on a "when-issued" or other delayed-delivery basis. The price of securities purchased in such transactions is fixed at the time the commitment to purchase is made, but delivery and payment for the securities take place at a later date. During the period between the purchase and settlement, the Fund does not remit payment to the issuer, no interest is accrued on debt securities and dividend income is not earned on equity securities. Delayed-delivery commitments involve a risk of loss if the value of the security to be purchased declines prior to the settlement date, which risk is in addition to the risk of a decline in value of the Fund's other assets. While securities purchased in delayed-delivery transactions may be sold prior to the settlement date, the Fund intends to purchase such securities with the purpose of actually acquiring them. At the time the Fund makes the commitment to purchase a security in a delayed-delivery transaction, it will record the transaction and reflect the value of the security in determining its net asset value. The Fund will earmark or maintain in a segregated account cash, U.S. government securities, and high-grade liquid debt securities equal in value to commitments for delayed-delivery securities. Such earmarked or segregated securities will mature or, if necessary, be sold on or before the settlement date. When the time comes to pay for delayed-delivery securities, the Fund will meet its obligations from then-available cash flow, sale of the securities earmarked or held in the segregated account described above, sale of other securities, or, although it would not normally expect to do so, from the sale of the delayed-delivery securities themselves (which may have a market value greater or less than the Fund's payment obligation). Although the Prospectus and this SAI describe certain permitted methods of segregating assets or otherwise "covering" certain transactions, such descriptions are not all-inclusive. The Fund may segregate against or cover such transactions using other methods permitted under the 1940 Act, the rules and -12- regulations thereunder, or orders issued by the SEC thereunder. For these purposes, interpretations and guidance provided by the SEC staff may be taken into account when deemed appropriate by the Fund. HEDGING STRATEGIES The Fund may engage in hedging activities and, in this regard, may utilize forward contracts, currency spot transactions and futures contracts. The use of futures is not a part of a principal investment strategy of the Fund. Hedging or derivative instruments on securities generally are used to hedge against price movements in one or more particular securities positions that the Fund owns or intends to acquire. Such instruments may also be used to "lock-in" realized but unrecognized gains in the value of portfolio securities. Hedging instruments on stock indices, in contrast, generally are used to hedge against price movements in broad market sectors in which the Fund has invested or expects to invest. Hedging strategies, if successful, can reduce the risk of loss by wholly or partially offsetting the negative effect of unfavorable price movements in the investments being hedged. However, hedging strategies can also reduce the opportunity for gain by offsetting the positive effect of favorable price movements in the hedged investments. The use of hedging instruments is subject to applicable regulations of the SEC, the several futures exchanges upon which they are traded, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the "CFTC") and various state regulatory authorities. In addition, the Fund's ability to use hedging instruments may be limited by tax considerations. GENERAL LIMITATIONS ON DERIVATIVE TRANSACTIONS The Fund limits its direct investments in derivative instruments to the extent necessary for the Advisor to claim the exclusion from regulation as a "commodity pool operator" with respect to the Fund under CFTC Rule 4.5, as such rule may be amended from time to time. Under Rule 4.5 as currently in effect, the Fund limits its trading activity in certain derivative instruments (excluding activity for "bona fide hedging purposes," as defined by the CFTC) such that it meets one of the following tests: (i) aggregate initial margin and premiums required to establish its futures, options on futures and swap positions do not exceed 5% of the liquidation value of the Fund's portfolio, after taking into account unrealized profits and losses on such positions; or (ii) aggregate net notional value of the Fund's futures, options on futures and swap positions does not exceed 100% of the liquidation value of the Fund's portfolio, after taking into account unrealized profits and losses on such positions. The Advisor has filed a notice of eligibility for exclusion from the definition of the term "commodity pool operator" with respect to the Fund with the National Futures Association, the futures industry's self-regulatory organization. If First Trust were no longer able to claim the exclusion for the Fund, First Trust would be required to register as a "commodity pool operator," and the Fund and First Trust would be subject to regulation under the Commodity Exchange Act (the "CEA"). -13- The foregoing limitations are non-fundamental policies of the Fund and may be changed without shareholder approval as regulatory agencies permit. PORTFOLIO TURNOVER The Fund buys and sells portfolio securities in the normal course of its investment activities. The proportion of the Fund's investment portfolio that is bought and sold during a year is known as the Fund's portfolio turnover rate. A turnover rate of 100% would occur, for example, if the Fund bought and sold securities valued at 100% of its net assets within one year. A high portfolio turnover rate could result in the payment by the Fund of increased brokerage costs, expenses and taxes. LENDING OF PORTFOLIO SECURITIES In order to generate additional income, as a non-principal investment strategy, First Trust is authorized to select the Fund, with notice to the Board of Trustees, to lend portfolio securities representing up to 33-1/3% of the value of its total assets to broker-dealers, banks or other institutional borrowers of securities. As with other extensions of credit, there may be risks of delay in recovery of the securities or even loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially. However, the Fund will only enter into domestic loan arrangements with broker-dealers, banks or other institutions, that First Trust has determined are creditworthy under guidelines established by the Board of Trustees. The Fund will pay a portion of the income earned on the lending transaction to the placing broker and may pay administrative and custodial fees in connection with these loans. First Trust may select the Fund to participate in securities lending program, at its discretion with notice to the Board of Trustees. In these loan arrangements, the Fund will receive collateral in the form of cash, U.S. government securities or other high grade debt obligations equal to at least 102% (for domestic securities) or 105% (for international securities) of the market value of the securities loaned as determined at the time of loan origination. This collateral must be valued daily by First Trust or the Fund's lending agent and, if the market value of the loaned securities increases, the borrower must furnish additional collateral to the Fund. During the time portfolio securities are on loan, the borrower pays the Fund any dividends or interest paid on the securities. Loans are subject to termination at any time by the Fund or the borrower. While the Fund does not have the right to vote securities on loan, it would terminate the loan and regain the right to vote if that were considered important with respect to the investment. When the Fund lends portfolio securities to a borrower, payments in lieu of dividends made by the borrower to the Fund will not constitute "qualified dividends" taxable at the same rate as long-term capital gains, even if the actual dividends would have constituted qualified dividends had the Fund held the securities. INVESTMENT RISKS The following risk disclosure supplements the discussion of the Fund's investment risks that appears in the Prospectus. -14- Overview An investment in the Fund should be made with an understanding of the risks that an investment in the Fund's shares entails, including the risk that the financial condition of the issuers of the securities held by the Fund or the general condition of the securities market may worsen and the value of the equity securities and therefore the value of the Fund may decline. The Fund may not be an appropriate investment for those who are unable or unwilling to assume the risks involved generally with such an investment. The past market and earnings performance of any of the securities included in the Fund is not predictive of their future performance. Common Stock Risk Common stocks are especially susceptible to general stock market movements and to volatile increases and decreases of value as market confidence in and perceptions of the issuers change. These perceptions are based on unpredictable factors including expectations regarding government, economic, monetary and fiscal policies, inflation and interest rates, economic expansion or contraction, and global or regional political, economic or banking crises. First Trust cannot predict the direction or scope of any of these factors. Shareholders of common stocks have rights to receive payments from the issuers of those common stocks that are generally subordinate to those of creditors of, or holders of debt obligations or preferred stocks of, such issuers. Shareholders of common stocks of the type held by the Fund have a right to receive dividends only when and if, and in the amounts, declared by the issuer's board of directors and have a right to participate in amounts available for distribution by the issuer only after all other claims on the issuer have been paid. Common stocks do not represent an obligation of the issuer and, therefore, do not offer any assurance of income or provide the same degree of protection of capital as do debt securities. The issuance of additional debt securities or preferred stock will create prior claims for payment of principal, interest and dividends which could adversely affect the ability and inclination of the issuer to declare or pay dividends on its common stock or the rights of holders of common stock with respect to assets of the issuer upon liquidation or bankruptcy. The value of common stocks is subject to market fluctuations for as long as the common stocks remain outstanding, and thus the value of the equity securities in the Fund will fluctuate over the life of the Fund and may be more or less than the price at which they were purchased by the Fund. The equity securities held in the Fund may appreciate or depreciate in value (or pay dividends) depending on the full range of economic and market influences affecting these securities, including the impact of the Fund's purchase and sale of the equity securities and other factors. Holders of common stocks incur more risk than holders of preferred stocks and debt obligations because common stockholders, as owners of the entity, have generally inferior rights to receive payments from the issuer in comparison with the rights of creditors of, or holders of debt obligations or preferred stocks issued by, the issuer. Cumulative preferred stock dividends must be paid before common stock dividends and any cumulative preferred stock dividend omitted is added to future dividends payable to the holders of cumulative preferred stock. -15- Preferred stockholders are also generally entitled to rights on liquidation which are senior to those of common stockholders. Whether or not the equity securities in the Fund are listed on a securities exchange, the principal trading market for certain of the equity securities in the Fund may be in the over-the-counter ("OTC") market. As a result, the existence of a liquid trading market for the equity securities may depend on whether dealers will make a market in the equity securities. There can be no assurance that a market will be made for any of the equity securities, that any market for the equity securities will be maintained or that there will be sufficient liquidity of the equity securities in any markets made. The price at which the equity securities are held in the Fund will be adversely affected if trading markets for the equity securities are limited or absent. Cyber Security Risk As the use of Internet technology has become more prevalent in the course of business, the Fund has become more susceptible to potential operational risks through 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. Such events could cause the Fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial loss. Cyber security breaches may involve unauthorized access to the Fund's digital information systems through "hacking" or malicious software coding, but may also result from outside attacks such as denial-of-service attacks through efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users. In addition, cyber security breaches of the Fund's third party service providers, such as its administrator, transfer agent, custodian or sub-advisor, as applicable, or issuers in which the Fund invests, can also subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct cyber security breaches. The Fund has established risk management systems designed to reduce the risks associated with cyber security. However, there is no guarantee that such efforts will succeed, especially because the Fund does not directly control the cyber security systems of issuers or third party service providers. Derivatives Risk The use of derivatives presents risks different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in traditional securities. The use of derivatives can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the underlying asset, index or rate, which may be magnified by certain features of the derivatives. In addition, when the Fund invests in certain derivative securities, including, but not limited to, when-issued securities, forward commitments and futures contracts, it is effectively leveraging its investments, which could result in exaggerated changes in the net asset value of the Fund's shares and can result in losses that exceed the amount originally invested. The success of the Sub-Advisor's derivatives strategies will depend on its ability to assess and predict the impact of market or economic developments on the underlying asset, index or rate and the derivative itself, without the benefit of observing the performance of the derivative under all possible market conditions. Liquidity risk exists when a security cannot be purchased or sold at the time desired, or cannot be purchased or sold without adversely affecting the price. Certain specific risks associated with an -16- investment in derivatives may include: market risk, credit risk, correlation risk, liquidity risk, legal risk and systemic or "interconnection" risk, as specified below. (1) Market Risk. Market risk is the risk that the value of the underlying assets may go up or down. Adverse movements in the value of an underlying asset can expose the Fund to losses. Derivative instruments may include elements of leverage and, accordingly, fluctuations in the value of the derivative instrument in relation to the underlying asset may be magnified. The successful use of derivative instruments depends upon a variety of factors, particularly the ability of the portfolio managers to predict correctly market movements or changes in the relationships of such instruments to the Fund's portfolio holdings, and there can be no assurance the judgment of the portfolio managers in this respect will be accurate. Consequently, the use of derivatives for investment or hedging purposes might result in a poorer overall performance for the Fund, whether or not adjusted for risk, than if the Fund had not used derivatives. (2) Credit/Counterparty Risk. Credit risk is the risk that a loss is sustained as a result of the failure of a counterparty to comply with the terms of a derivative instrument. The counterparty risk for exchange-traded derivatives is generally lower than for over-the-counter derivatives not cleared through a central counterparty, since generally a clearing organization provides a guarantee of performance and cleared derivative transactions benefit from daily mark-to-market and settlement as well as from segregation and minimum capital requirements applicable to intermediaries. For privately-negotiated instruments not cleared through a central counterparty, there are no similar protections. In all transactions, the Fund will bear the risk that the counterparty will default, and this could result in a loss of the expected benefit of the derivative transactions and possibly other losses to the Fund. Such counterparty risk is accentuated in the case of contracts with longer maturities where there is a greater risk that a specific event may prevent or delay settlement, or where the Fund has concentrated its transactions with a single or small group of counterparties. The Fund is not restricted from dealing with any particular counterparty or from concentrating any or all of its transactions with one counterparty. The Fund will enter into transactions in derivative instruments only with counterparties that the portfolio managers reasonably believe are capable of performing under the contract. (3) Correlation Risk. Correlation risk is the risk that there might be an imperfect correlation, or even no correlation, between price movements of a derivative instrument and price movements of investments being hedged. When a derivative transaction is used to completely hedge another position, changes in the market value of the combined position (the derivative instrument plus the position being hedged) result from an imperfect correlation between the price movements of the two instruments. With a perfect hedge, the value of the combined position remains unchanged with any change in the price of the underlying asset. With an imperfect hedge, the value of the derivative instrument and its hedge are not perfectly correlated. For example, if the value of a derivative instrument used in a short hedge (such as selling a futures contract) increased by less than the decline in value of the hedged investments, the hedge would not be perfectly correlated. This might occur due to factors unrelated to the value of the investments being hedged, such as speculative or other -17- pressures on the markets in which these instruments are traded. In addition, the Fund's success in using hedging instruments is subject to the ability of the portfolio managers to correctly predict changes in relationships of such hedge instruments to the Fund's portfolio holdings, and there can be no assurance that the judgment of the portfolio managers in this respect will be accurate. An imperfect correlation may prevent the Fund from achieving the intended hedge or expose the Fund to a risk of loss. (4) Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk is the risk that a derivative instrument cannot be sold, closed out, or replaced quickly at or very close to its fundamental value. Generally, exchange contracts are more liquid than over-the-counter transactions. The illiquidity of the derivatives markets may be due to various factors, including congestion, disorderly markets, limitations on deliverable supplies, the participation of speculators, government regulation and intervention, and technical and operational or system failures. In addition, daily limits on price fluctuations and speculative position limits on exchanges on which the Fund may conduct its transactions in derivative instruments may prevent prompt liquidation of positions, subjecting the Fund to the potential of greater losses. The Fund might be required by applicable regulatory requirements to maintain assets as "cover," maintain segregated accounts and/or make margin payments when it takes positions in derivative instruments involving obligations to third parties (i.e., instruments other than purchase options). If the Fund is unable to close out its positions in such instruments, it might be required to continue to maintain such accounts or make such payments until the position expires, matures, or is closed out. These requirements might impair the Fund's ability to sell a security or make an investment at a time when it would otherwise be favorable to do so, or require that the Fund sell a portfolio security at a disadvantageous time. The Fund's ability to sell or close out a position in an instrument prior to expiration or maturity depends upon the existence of a liquid secondary market or, in the absence of such a market, the ability and willingness of a counterparty to enter into a transaction closing out the position. Due to liquidity risk, there is no assurance that any derivatives position can be sold or closed out at a time and price that is favorable to the Fund. (5) Legal Risk. Legal risk is the risk of loss caused by the unenforceability of a party's obligations under the derivative. While a party seeking price certainty agrees to surrender the potential upside in exchange for downside protection, the party taking the risk is looking for a positive payoff. Despite this voluntary assumption of risk, a counterparty that has lost money in a derivative transaction may try to avoid payment by exploiting various legal uncertainties about certain derivative products. (6) Volatility. The prices of many derivative instruments are highly volatile. Price movements of such instruments may be influenced by, among other things, interest rates, changing supply and demand relationships, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies of governments, and national and international political and economic events and policies. The value of such instruments also may depend upon the price of the securities or currencies underlying them. -18- (7) Systemic or "Interconnection" Risk. Systemic or interconnection risk is the risk that a disruption in the financial markets will cause difficulties for all market participants. In other words, a disruption in one market will spill over into other markets, perhaps creating a chain reaction. Much of the over-the-counter derivatives market takes place among the over-the-counter dealers themselves, thus creating a large interconnected web of financial obligations. This interconnectedness raises the possibility that a default by one large dealer could create losses for other dealers and destabilize the entire market for over-the-counter derivative instruments. Emerging Markets Risk Investments in securities of issuers located in emerging market countries are considered speculative and are subject to greater levels of non-U.S. securities risk than investments in more developed non-U.S. markets. Heightened risks of investing in emerging markets securities include: (i) smaller market capitalization of securities markets, which may suffer periods of relative illiquidity; (ii) significant price volatility; (iii) restrictions on foreign investment; (iv) possible repatriation of investment income and capital; (v) increased risk of default (including both government and private issuers); (vi) greater social, economic and political uncertainty and instability (including the risk of war); (vii) more substantial governmental involvement in the economy; (viii) less governmental supervision and regulation of the securities markets and participants in those markets; (ix) unavailability of currency hedging techniques in certain emerging market countries; and (x) the fact that companies in emerging market countries may be newly organized, smaller and less seasoned. Furthermore, foreign investors may be required to register the proceeds of sales and future economic or political crises could lead to price controls, forced mergers, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, seizure, nationalization or creation of government monopolies. The currencies of emerging market countries may experience significant declines against the U.S. dollar, and devaluation may occur subsequent to investments in these currencies by the Fund. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had, and may continue to have, negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain emerging market countries. Foreign Currency Risk The Fund will engage in practices and strategies that will result in exposure to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, thus subjecting the Fund to foreign currency risk. The Fund's exposure to foreign currencies or in securities or instruments that trade, or receive revenues, in foreign currencies are subject to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar or, in the case of hedging positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency being hedged. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including the forces of supply and demand in the non-U.S. exchange markets, actual or perceived changes in interest rates, rates of inflation, balance of payments and governmental surpluses or deficits, intervention (or the failure to intervene) by U.S. or foreign governments, central banks or supranational entities such as the International Monetary Fund, or by the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the United States or abroad. These fluctuations may have a significant adverse impact on the value of the Fund's portfolio and/or the level of Fund distributions made to its common shareholders. The Fund will seek to hedge -19- exposure to reduce the risk of loss due to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. There is no assurance, however, that these strategies will be available or will be successful and the Fund will incur costs associated with such strategies. Currency transactions are subject to risks different from those of other portfolio transactions. Because currency control is of great importance to the issuing governments and influences economic planning and policy, purchases and sales of currency and related instruments can be negatively affected by government exchange controls, blockages, and manipulations or exchange restrictions imposed by governments. These can result in losses if the Fund is unable to deliver or receive currency or funds in settlement of obligations and could also cause hedges it has entered into to be rendered useless, resulting in full currency exposure as well as incurring transactions costs. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate based on factors extrinsic to that country's economy. Geographic Concentration Risk The Fund may invest from time to time a substantial amount of its assets in issuers located in a single country or region. Investments in a single region, although representing a number of different countries within the region, may be affected by common economic forces and other factors. Because the Fund may concentrate its investments in this manner, it assumes the risk that economic, political and social conditions in those countries will have a significant impact on their investment performance. Market Disruption and Geopolitical Risk Some countries in which the Fund invests have experienced security concerns, war or threats of war and aggression, terrorism, economic uncertainty, natural and environmental disasters and/or systemic market dislocations that have led, and in the future may lead, to increased short term market volatility and may have adverse long term effects on the economies and markets of such countries generally, each of which may negatively impact the Fund's investments. For example, there have been various events throughout Europe, including Russia's annexation of Crimea and the resulting sanctions against Russia, ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine and the political uncertainty and market turmoil in Greece, that have recently had and may continue to have an adverse impact on European and global markets. It is possible, for instance, that the events occurring in Russia could result in, among other things, Russia withholding its natural gas supply from other European countries, which has the potential to harm the economies and markets of such countries. The events occurring in one country or region may spread through, or otherwise affect, other countries and regions and therefore adversely impact the Fund's investments in such countries and regions. In addition, the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001 had a disruptive effect on the securities markets. The ongoing U.S. military and related action throughout the world, as well as the continuing threat of terrorist attacks, could have significant adverse effects on the U.S. economy, the stock market and world economies and markets generally. A similar disruption of financial markets or other terrorist attacks could adversely affect Fund service providers and/or the Fund's operations as well as interest rates, -20- secondary trading, credit risk, inflation and other factors relating to the common shares of the Fund. The Fund cannot predict the effects or likelihood of similar events in the future on the U.S. and world economies, the value of its common shares or the NAV of the Fund. Non-U.S. Securities Risk Investing in securities of non-U.S. issuers, which are generally denominated in non-U.S. currencies, may involve certain risks not typically associated with investing in securities of U.S. issuers. These risks include: (i) there may be less publicly available information about non-U.S. issuers or markets due to less rigorous disclosure or accounting standards or regulatory practices, as non-U.S. companies are generally not subject to the same accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards as are U.S. companies; (ii) non-U.S. markets may be smaller, less liquid and more volatile than the U.S. market; (iii) potential adverse effects of fluctuations in currency exchange rates or controls on the value of the Fund's investments; (iv) the economies of non-U.S. countries may grow at slower rates than expected or may experience a downturn or recession; (v) the impact of economic, political, social or diplomatic events, including the risk of adverse political developments, nationalization, military unrest, social instability, war and terrorism, confiscation without fair compensation, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, limitations on the movement of funds and other assets between different countries, or diplomatic developments; (vi) certain non-U.S. countries may impose restrictions on the ability of non-U.S. issuers to make payments of principal and interest to investors located in the United States due to blockage of non-U.S. currency exchanges or otherwise; and (vii) withholding and other non-U.S. taxes may decrease the Fund's return. Action by these governments could have a significant effect on market prices of securities and dividend payments. In the event of nationalization, expropriation or other confiscation, the Fund could lose its entire investment in non-U.S. securities. In addition to the foregoing risks, there may be difficulty in obtaining or enforcing a court judgment abroad. These risks may be more pronounced to the extent that the Fund invests a significant amount of its assets in companies located in one region or in emerging markets (as described above). Governments in certain foreign countries continue to participate to a significant degree, through ownership interest or regulation, in their respective economies. Furthermore, 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. Additionally, many foreign country economies are heavily dependent on international trade and are adversely affected by protective trade barriers and economic conditions of their trading partners. Protectionist trade legislation enacted by those trading partners could have a significant adverse affect on the securities markets of those countries. Individual foreign economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross national product, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payments position. Fixed commissions on foreign securities exchanges are generally higher than negotiated commissions on U.S. exchanges, although the Fund endeavors to achieve the most favorable net results on its portfolio transactions. There is generally less government supervision and regulation of foreign securities exchanges, brokers, dealers and listed and unlisted companies than in the United -21- States, and the legal remedies for investors may be more limited than the remedies available in the United States. For example, there may be no comparable provisions under certain foreign laws to insider trading and similar investor protections that apply with respect to securities transactions consummated in the United States. Mail service between the United States and foreign countries may be slower or less reliable than within the United States, thus increasing the risk of delayed settlement of portfolio transactions or loss of certificates for portfolio securities. 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 some of the Fund's assets are uninvested and no return is earned on such assets. The inability of the Fund to make intended security purchases due to settlement problems could cause the Fund to miss attractive investment opportunities. Inability to dispose of portfolio securities due to settlement problems could result either in 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, in possible liability to the purchaser. Passive Foreign Investment Companies Risk The Fund may invest in companies that are considered to be "passive foreign investment companies" ("PFICs"), which are generally certain non-U.S. corporations that receive at least 75% of their annual gross income from passive sources (such as interest, dividends, certain rents and royalties or capital gains) or that hold at least 50% of their assets in investments producing such passive income. Therefore, the Fund could be subject to U.S. federal income tax and additional interest charges on gains and certain distributions with respect to those equity interests, even if all the income or gain is distributed to its shareholders in a timely manner. The Fund will not be able to pass through to its shareholders any credit or deduction for such taxes. Real Estate Investment Trust Risk REITs are financial vehicles that pool investors' capital to purchase or finance real estate. REITs may concentrate their investments in specific geographic areas or in specific property types, e.g., hotels, shopping malls, residential complexes and office buildings. The market value of REIT shares and the ability of the REITs to distribute income may be adversely affected by several factors, including: (i) rising interest rates; (ii) changes in the economic climate and real estate conditions; (iii) perceptions of prospective tenants of the safety, convenience and attractiveness of the properties; (iv) the ability of the owners to provide adequate management, maintenance and insurance; (v) the cost of complying with local laws; (vi) increased competition from new properties; (vii) the impact of present or future environmental legislation and compliance with environmental laws; (viii) changes in real estate taxes and other operating expenses; (ix) adverse changes in governmental rules and fiscal policies; (x) adverse changes in zoning laws; and (xi) other factors beyond the control of the REITs including changes in tax laws. In addition, distributions received by the Fund from REITs may consist of dividends, capital gains and/or return of capital. Many of these distributions, however, when further distributed to shareholders will not generally qualify for favorable treatment as qualified dividend income. -22- Certain REITs have relatively small market capitalizations. As such, REITs may have limited financial resources and their securities may trade less frequently and in limited volume and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements than larger company securities. Furthermore, REITs are dependent upon specialized management skills and have limited diversification. REITs are also subject to heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by borrowers or lessees and the possibility of failing to qualify for favorable tax treatment. By investing in REITs indirectly through the Fund, a shareholder will bear not only his or her proportionate share of the expenses of the Fund, but also, indirectly, similar expenses of the REITs. In addition, REITs depend generally on their ability to generate cash flow to make distributions to shareholders. REITs may incur significant amounts of leverage. MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS The general supervision of the duties performed for the Fund under the investment management agreement is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees. There are five Trustees of the Trust, one of whom is an "interested person" (as the term is defined in the 1940 Act) and four of whom are Trustees who are not officers or employees of First Trust or any of its affiliates ("Independent Trustees"). The Trustees set broad policies for the Fund, choose the Trust's officers and hire the Trust's investment advisor. The officers of the Trust manage its day-to-day operations and are responsible to the Trust's Board of Trustees. The following is a list of the Trustees and executive officers of the Trust and a statement of their present positions and principal occupations during the past five years, the number of portfolios each Trustee oversees and the other directorships they have held during the past five years, if applicable. Each Trustee has been elected for an indefinite term. The officers of the Trust serve indefinite terms. Each Trustee, except for James A. Bowen, is an Independent Trustee. Mr. Bowen is deemed an "interested person" (as that term is defined in the 1940 Act) ("Interested Trustee") of the Trust due to his position as Chief Executive Officer of First Trust, investment advisor to the Fund. -23-
NUMBER OF PORTFOLIOS IN OTHER THE FIRST TRUSTEESHIPS OR TERM OF OFFICE TRUST FUND DIRECTORSHIPS AND YEAR FIRST COMPLEX HELD BY TRUSTEE NAME, ADDRESS POSITION AND OFFICES ELECTED OR PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS OVERSEEN BY DURING THE PAST 5 AND DATE OF BIRTH WITH TRUST APPOINTED DURING PAST 5 YEARS TRUSTEE YEARS Trustee Who Is an Interested Person of the Trust ----------------------------- James A. Bowen(1) Chairman of the o Indefinite Chief Executive Officer, 126 None 120 East Liberty Drive, Board and Trustee term First Trust Advisors L.P. Portfolios Suite 400 and First Trust Portfolios Wheaton, IL 60187 L.P.; Chairman of the D.O.B.: 09/55 o Since Board of Directors, inception BondWave LLC (Software Development Company/Investment Advisor) and Stonebridge Advisors LLC (Investment Advisor) Independent Trustees ----------------------------- Richard E. Erickson Trustee o Indefinite Physician; President, 126 None c/o First Trust Advisors L.P. term Wheaton Orthopedics; Portfolios 120 East Liberty Drive, Limited Partner, Gundersen Suite 400 Real Estate Limited Wheaton, IL 60187 o Since Partnership; Member, D.O.B.: 04/51 inception Sportsmed LLC Thomas R. Kadlec Trustee o Indefinite President, ADM Investor 126 Director of ADM c/o First Trust Advisors L.P. term Services, Inc. (Futures Portfolios Investor 120 East Liberty Drive, Commission Merchant) Services, Inc., Suite 400 o Since ADM Investor Wheaton, IL 60187 inception Services D.O.B.: 11/57 International and Futures Industry Association Robert F. Keith Trustee o Indefinite President (2003 to 126 Director of c/o First Trust Advisors L.P. term present), Hibs Enterprises Portfolios Trust Company of 120 East Liberty Drive, (Financial and Management Illinois Suite 400 o Since Consulting) Wheaton, IL 60187 inception D.O.B.: 11/56 -24- NUMBER OF PORTFOLIOS IN OTHER THE FIRST TRUSTEESHIPS OR TERM OF OFFICE TRUST FUND DIRECTORSHIPS AND YEAR FIRST COMPLEX HELD BY TRUSTEE NAME, ADDRESS POSITION AND OFFICES ELECTED OR PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS OVERSEEN BY DURING THE PAST 5 AND DATE OF BIRTH WITH TRUST APPOINTED DURING PAST 5 YEARS TRUSTEE YEARS Niel B. Nielson Trustee o Indefinite Managing Director and 126 Director of c/o First Trust Advisors L.P. term Chief Operating Officer Portfolios Covenant 120 East Liberty Drive, (January 2015 to present), Transport Inc. Suite 400 o Since Pelita Harapan Educational (May 2003 to May Wheaton, IL 60187 inception Foundation (Educational 2014) D.O.B.: 03/54 Products and Services); President and Chief Executive Officer (June 2012 to September 2014), Servant Interactive LLC (Educational Products and Services); President and Chief Executive Officer (June 2012 to September 2014), Dew Learning LLC (Educational Products and Services); President (June 2002 to June 2012), Covenant College Officers of the Trust ----------------------------- James M. Dykas President and Chief o Indefinite Managing Director and N/A N/A 120 East Liberty Drive, Executive Officer term Chief Financial Officer Suite 400 (January 2016 to present), Wheaton, IL 60187 Controller (January 2011 D.O.B.: 01/66 o Since January to January 2016), Senior 2016 Vice President (April 2007 to January 2016), First Trust Advisors L.P. and First Trust Portfolios L.P. W. Scott Jardine Secretary and Chief o Indefinite General Counsel, First N/A N/A 120 East Liberty Drive, Legal Officer term Trust Advisors L.P. and Suite 400 First Trust Portfolios Wheaton, IL 60187 o Since L.P.; Secretary and D.O.B.: 05/60 inception General Counsel, BondWave LLC (Software Development Company/Investment Advisor) and Secretary, Stonebridge Advisors LLC (Investment Advisor) Daniel J. Lindquist Vice President o Indefinite Managing Director (July N/A N/A 120 East Liberty Drive, term 2012 to present), Senior Suite 400 Vice President (September Wheaton, IL 60187 o Since 2005 to July 2012), First D.O.B.: 02/70 inception Trust Advisors L.P. and First Trust Portfolios L.P. -25- NUMBER OF PORTFOLIOS IN OTHER THE FIRST TRUSTEESHIPS OR TERM OF OFFICE TRUST FUND DIRECTORSHIPS AND YEAR FIRST COMPLEX HELD BY TRUSTEE NAME, ADDRESS POSITION AND OFFICES ELECTED OR PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS OVERSEEN BY DURING THE PAST 5 AND DATE OF BIRTH WITH TRUST APPOINTED DURING PAST 5 YEARS TRUSTEE YEARS Kristi A. Maher Chief Compliance o Indefinite Deputy General Counsel, N/A N/A 120 East Liberty Drive, Officer and term First Trust Advisors L.P. Suite 400 Assistant Secretary and First Trust Portfolios Wheaton, IL 60187 o Chief L.P. D.O.B.: 12/66 Compliance Officer Since January 2011 o Assistant Secretary Since inception Donald Swade Treasurer, Chief o Indefinite Vice President (April 2012 N/A N/A 120 East Liberty Drive, Financial Officer term to present), First Trust Suite 400 and Chief Accounting Advisors L.P. and First Wheaton, IL 60187 Officer o Since January Trust Portfolios L.P., D.O.B.: 08/72 2016 Vice President (September 2006 to April 2012), Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC/Claymore Securities, Inc. Roger F. Testin Vice President o Indefinite Senior Vice President N/A N/A 120 East Liberty Drive, term (November 2003 to Suite 400 present), First Trust Wheaton, IL 60187 o Since Advisors L.P. and First D.O.B.: 06/66 inception Trust Portfolios L.P. Stan Ueland Vice President o Indefinite Senior Vice President N/A N/A 120 East Liberty Drive, term (September 2012 to Suite 400 present), Vice President Wheaton, IL 60187 o Since (August 2005 to D.O.B.: 11/70 inception September 2012) First Trust Advisors L.P. and First Trust Portfolios L.P.
------------------- (1) Mr. Bowen is deemed an "interested person" of the Trust due to his position as Chief Executive Officer of First Trust, investment advisor of the Fund. UNITARY BOARD LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE Each Trustee serves as a trustee of all open-end and closed-end funds in the First Trust Fund Complex (as defined below), which is known as a "unitary" board leadership structure. Each Trustee currently serves as a trustee of First Trust Series Fund and First Trust Variable Insurance Trust, open-end funds with seven portfolios advised by First Trust; First Trust Senior Floating Rate Income Fund II, Macquarie/First Trust Global Infrastructure/Utilities Dividend & Income Fund, First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund, First Trust Enhanced Equity Income Fund, First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportunity Income Fund, First Trust Mortgage Income Fund, First Trust Strategic High Income Fund II, First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Opportunity Fund, First Trust Specialty Finance and Financial Opportunities Fund, First Trust Dividend and Income Fund, First Trust High Income Long/Short Fund, First Trust Energy Infrastructure Fund, First Trust -26- MLP and Energy Income Fund, First Trust New Opportunities MLP & Energy Fund, First Trust Dynamic Europe Equity Income Fund and First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund, closed-end funds advised by First Trust; First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund, First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund II, First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III, First Trust Exchange Traded Fund IV, First Trust Exchange Traded Fund V, First Trust Exchange Traded Fund VI, First Trust Exchange Traded Fund VII, First Trust Exchange Traded Fund VIII, First Trust Exchange-Traded AlphaDEX(R) Fund and First Trust Exchange-Traded AlphaDEX(R) Fund II, exchange-traded funds with 103 portfolios advised by First Trust (each a "First Trust Fund" and collectively, the "First Trust Fund Complex"). None of the Trustees who are not "interested persons" of the Trust, nor any of their immediate family members, has ever been a director, officer or employee of, or consultant to, First Trust, First Trust Portfolios L.P. or their affiliates. The management of the Fund, including general supervision of the duties performed for the Fund under the investment management agreement between the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, and the Advisor, is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees. The Trustees of the Trust set broad policies for the Fund, choose the Trust's officers, and hire the Fund's investment advisor and other service providers. The officers of the Trust manage the day to-day operations and are responsible to the Trust's Board. The Trust's Board is composed of four Independent Trustees and one Interested Trustee. The Interested Trustee, James A. Bowen, serves as the Chairman of the Board for each fund in the First Trust Fund Complex. The same five persons serve as Trustees on the Trust's Board and on the Boards of all other First Trust Funds. The unitary board structure was adopted for the First Trust Funds because of the efficiencies it achieves with respect to the governance and oversight of the First Trust Funds. Each First Trust Fund is subject to the rules and regulations of the 1940 Act (and other applicable securities laws), which means that many of the First Trust Funds face similar issues with respect to certain of their fundamental activities, including risk management, portfolio liquidity, portfolio valuation and financial reporting. Because of the similar and often overlapping issues facing the First Trust Funds, including among the First Trust exchange-traded funds, the Board of the First Trust Funds believes that maintaining a unitary board structure promotes efficiency and consistency in the governance and oversight of all First Trust Funds and reduces the costs, administrative burdens and possible conflicts that may result from having multiple boards. In adopting a unitary board structure, the Trustees seek to provide effective governance through establishing a board the overall composition of which will, as a body, possess the appropriate skills, diversity, independence and experience to oversee the Fund's business. Annually, the Board reviews its governance structure and the committee structures, their performance and functions, and it reviews any processes that would enhance Board governance over the Fund's business. The Board has determined that its leadership structure, including the unitary board and committee structure, is appropriate based on the characteristics of the funds it serves and the characteristics of the First Trust Fund Complex as a whole. In order to streamline communication between the Advisor and the Independent Trustees and create certain efficiencies, the Board has a Lead Independent Trustee who is responsible for: (i) coordinating activities of the Independent Trustees; (ii) working with the Advisor, Fund counsel and the -27- independent legal counsel to the Independent Trustees to determine the agenda for Board meetings; (iii) serving as the principal contact for and facilitating communication between the Independent Trustees and the Fund's service providers, particularly the Advisor; and (iv) any other duties that the Independent Trustees may delegate to the Lead Independent Trustee. The Lead Independent Trustee is selected by the Independent Trustees and serves a three year term or until his or her successor is selected. The Board has established four standing committees (as described below) and has delegated certain of its responsibilities to those committees. The Board and its committees meet frequently throughout the year to oversee the Fund's activities, review contractual arrangements with and performance of service providers, oversee compliance with regulatory requirements, and review Fund performance. The Independent Trustees are represented by independent legal counsel at all Board and committee meetings (other than meetings of the Executive Committee). Generally, the Board acts by majority vote of all the Trustees, including a majority vote of the Independent Trustees if required by applicable law. The three Committee Chairmen and the Lead Independent Trustee rotate every three years in serving as Chairman of the Audit Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee or the Valuation Committee or as Lead Independent Trustee. The Lead Independent Trustee and immediate past Lead Independent Trustee also serve on the Executive Committee with the Interested Trustee. The four standing committees of the First Trust Fund Complex are: the Executive Committee (and Pricing and Dividend Committee), the Nominating and Governance Committee, the Valuation Committee and the Audit Committee. The Executive Committee, which meets between Board meetings, is authorized to exercise all powers of and to act in the place of the Board of Trustees to the extent permitted by the Trust's Declaration of Trust and By Laws. Such Committee is also responsible for the declaration and setting of dividends. Mr. Kadlec, Mr. Bowen and Mr. Keith are members of the Executive Committee. The Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for appointing and nominating non-interested persons to the Trust's Board of Trustees. Messrs. Erickson, Kadlec, Keith and Nielson are members of the Nominating and Governance Committee. If there is no vacancy on the Board of Trustees, the Board will not actively seek recommendations from other parties, including shareholders. The Board of Trustees adopted a mandatory retirement age of 75 for Trustees, beyond which age Trustees are ineligible to serve. The Committee will not consider new trustee candidates who are 72 years of age or older. When a vacancy on the Board of Trustees occurs and nominations are sought to fill such vacancy, the Nominating and Governance Committee may seek nominations from those sources it deems appropriate in its discretion, including shareholders of the Fund. To submit a recommendation for nomination as a candidate for a position on the Board of Trustees, shareholders of the Fund should mail such recommendation to W. Scott Jardine, Secretary, at the Trust's address, 120 East Liberty Drive, Suite 400, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. Such recommendation shall include the following information: (i) evidence of Fund ownership of the person or entity recommending the candidate (if a Fund shareholder); (ii) a full description of the proposed candidate's background, including education, experience, current employment and date of birth; (iii) names and addresses of at least three -28- professional references for the candidate; (iv) information as to whether the candidate is an "interested person" in relation to the Fund, as such term is defined in the 1940 Act, and such other information that may be considered to impair the candidate's independence; and (v) any other information that may be helpful to the Committee in evaluating the candidate. If a recommendation is received with satisfactorily completed information regarding a candidate during a time when a vacancy exists on the Board or during such other time as the Nominating and Governance Committee is accepting recommendations, the recommendation will be forwarded to the Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and to counsel to the Independent Trustees. Recommendations received at any other time will be kept on file until such time as the Nominating and Governance Committee is accepting recommendations, at which point they may be considered for nomination. The Valuation Committee is responsible for the oversight of the valuation procedures of the Fund (the "Valuation Procedures"), for determining the fair value of the Fund's securities or other assets under certain circumstances as described in the Valuation Procedures and for evaluating the performance of any pricing service for the Fund. Messrs. Erickson, Kadlec, Keith and Nielson are members of the Valuation Committee. The Audit Committee is responsible for overseeing the Fund's accounting and financial reporting process, the system of internal controls and audit process and for evaluating and appointing independent auditors (subject also to Board approval). Messrs. Erickson, Kadlec, Keith and Nielson serve on the Audit Committee. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS The executive officers of the Trust hold the same positions with each fund in the First Trust Fund Complex (representing 126 portfolios) as they hold with the Trust. RISK OVERSIGHT As part of the general oversight of the Fund, the Board is involved in the risk oversight of the Fund. The Board has adopted and periodically reviews policies and procedures designed to address the Fund's risks. Oversight of investment and compliance risk is performed primarily at the Board level in conjunction with the Advisor's investment oversight group and the Trust's Chief Compliance Officer ("CCO"). Oversight of other risks also occurs at the committee level. The Advisor's investment oversight group reports to the Board at quarterly meetings regarding, among other things, Fund performance and the various drivers of such performance. The Board reviews reports on the Fund's and the service providers' compliance policies and procedures at each quarterly Board meeting and receives an annual report from the CCO regarding the operations of the Fund's and the service providers' compliance program. In addition, the Independent Trustees meet privately each quarter with the CCO. The Audit Committee reviews with the Advisor the Fund's major financial risk exposures and the steps the Advisor has taken to monitor and control these exposures, including the Fund's risk assessment and risk management policies and guidelines. The Audit Committee also, as appropriate, reviews in a general manner the processes other Board committees have in place with respect to risk assessment and risk management. The Nominating and Governance Committee monitors all matters related to the corporate governance of the Trust. The Valuation -29- Committee monitors valuation risk and compliance with the Fund's Valuation Procedures and oversees the pricing services and actions by the Advisor's Pricing Committee with respect to the valuation of portfolio securities. Not all risks that may affect the Fund can be identified nor can controls be developed to eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects. It may not be practical or cost effective to eliminate or mitigate certain risks, the processes and controls employed to address certain risks may be limited in their effectiveness, and some risks are simply beyond the reasonable control of the Fund or the Advisor or other service providers. For instance, as the use of Internet technology has become more prevalent, the Fund and its service providers have become more susceptible to potential operational risks through breaches in cyber security (generally, intentional and unintentional events that may cause the Fund or a service provider to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption or lose operational capacity). There can be no guarantee that any risk management systems established by the Fund, its service providers, or issuers of the securities in which the Fund invests to reduce cyber security risks will succeed, and the Fund cannot control such systems put in place by service providers, issuers or other third parties whose operations may affect the Fund and/or its shareholders. Moreover, it is necessary to bear certain risks (such as investment related risks) to achieve the Fund's goals. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, the Fund's ability to manage risk is subject to substantial limitations. BOARD DIVERSIFICATION AND TRUSTEE QUALIFICATIONS As described above, the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Board oversees matters related to the nomination of Trustees. The Nominating and Governance Committee seeks to establish an effective Board with an appropriate range of skills and diversity, including, as appropriate, differences in background, professional experience, education, vocation, and other individual characteristics and traits in the aggregate. Each Trustee must meet certain basic requirements, including relevant skills and experience, time availability, and if qualifying as an Independent Trustee, independence from the Advisor, underwriters or other service providers, including any affiliates of these entities. Listed below for each current Trustee are the experiences, qualifications and attributes that led to the conclusion, as of the date of this SAI, that each current Trustee should serve as a Trustee in light of the Trust's business and structure. Richard E. Erickson, M.D., is an orthopedic surgeon and President of Wheaton Orthopedics. He also has been a co-owner and director of a fitness center and a limited partner of two real estate companies. Dr. Erickson has served as a Trustee of each First Trust Fund since its inception. Dr. Erickson has also served as the Lead Independent Trustee and on the Executive Committee (2008 - 2009), Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee (2003 - 2007), Chairman of the Audit Committee (2012 - 2013) and Chairman of the Valuation Committee (June 2006 - 2007 and 2010 - 2011) of the First Trust Funds. He currently serves as Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee (since January 1, 2014) of the First Trust Funds. -30- Thomas R. Kadlec is President of ADM Investor Services Inc. ("ADMIS"), a futures commission merchant and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Archer Daniels Midland Company ("ADM"). Mr. Kadlec has been employed by ADMIS and its affiliates since 1990 in various accounting, financial, operations and risk management capacities. Mr. Kadlec serves on the boards of several international affiliates of ADMIS and is a member of ADM's Integrated Risk Committee, which is tasked with the duty of implementing and communicating enterprise-wide risk management. In 2014, Mr. Kadlec was elected to the board of the Futures Industry Association. Mr. Kadlec has served as a Trustee of each First Trust Fund since its inception. Mr. Kadlec also served on the Executive Committee from the organization of the first First Trust closed-end fund in 2003 until he was elected as the first Lead Independent Trustee in December 2005, serving as such through 2007. He also served as Chairman of the Valuation Committee (2008 - 2009), Chairman of the Audit Committee (2010 - 2011) and Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee (2012 - 2013). He currently serves as Lead Independent Trustee and on the Executive Committee (since January 1, 2014) of the First Trust Funds. Robert F. Keith is President of Hibs Enterprises, a financial and management consulting firm. Mr. Keith has been with Hibs Enterprises since 2003. Prior thereto, Mr. Keith spent 18 years with ServiceMaster and Aramark, including three years as President and COO of ServiceMaster Consumer Services, where he led the initial expansion of certain products overseas; five years as President and COO of ServiceMaster Management Services; and two years as President of Aramark ServiceMaster Management Services. Mr. Keith is a certified public accountant and also has held the positions of Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of ServiceMaster, at which time he oversaw the financial aspects of ServiceMaster's expansion of its Management Services division into Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Mr. Keith has served as a Trustee of the First Trust Funds since June 2006. Mr. Keith has also served as the Chairman of the Audit Committee (2008 - 2009) and Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee (2010 - 2011) of the First Trust Funds. He served as Lead Independent Trustee and on the Executive Committee (2012 - 2013) and currently serves as Chairman of the Valuation Committee (since January 1, 2014) and on the Executive Committee (since January 31, 2014) of the First Trust Funds. Niel B. Nielson, Ph.D., has been the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Pelita Harapan Educational Foundation, a global provider of educational products and services since January 2015. Mr. Nielson formerly served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Dew Learning LLC from June 2012 through September 2014, President of Covenant College (2002 - 2012), and as a partner and trader (of options and futures contracts for hedging options) for Ritchie Capital Markets Group (1996 - 1997), where he held an administrative management position at this proprietary derivatives trading company. He also held prior positions in new business development for ServiceMaster Management Services Company and in personnel and human resources for NationsBank of North Carolina, N.A. and Chicago Research and Trading Group, Ltd. ("CRT"). His international experience includes serving as a director of CRT Europe, Inc. for two years, directing out of London all aspects of business conducted by the U.K. and European subsidiary of CRT. Prior to that, Mr. Nielson was a trader and manager at CRT in Chicago. Mr. Nielson has served as a Trustee of each First Trust Fund since its inception and of the First Trust Funds since 1999. Mr. Nielson has also served as the Chairman of the Audit Committee (2003 - -31- 2006), Chairman of the Valuation Committee (2007 - 2008), Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee (2008 - 2009) and Lead Independent Trustee and a member of the Executive Committee (2010 - 2011). He currently serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee (since January 1, 2014) of the First Trust Funds. James A. Bowen is Chief Executive Officer of First Trust Advisors L.P. and First Trust Portfolios L.P. Mr. Bowen is involved in the day-to-day management of the First Trust Funds and serves on the Executive Committee. He has over 26 years of experience in the investment company business in sales, sales management and executive management. Mr. Bowen has served as a Trustee of each First Trust Fund since its inception and of the First Trust Funds since 1999. Effective January 1, 2016, the fixed annual retainer paid to the Independent Trustees is $230,000 per year and an annual per fund fee is $2,500 for each closed-end fund and actively managed fund and $250 for each index fund. The fixed annual retainer is allocated equally among each fund in the First Trust Fund Complex rather than being allocated pro rata based on each fund's net assets. Additionally, the Lead Independent Trustee is paid $30,000 annually, the Chairman of the Audit Committee and the Chairman of the Valuation Committee are each paid $20,000 annually and the Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee is paid $10,000 annually to serve in such capacities with compensation allocated pro rata among each fund in the First Trust Fund Complex based on its net assets. The following table sets forth the estimated compensation (including reimbursement for travel and out-of-pocket expenses) to be paid by the Fund for one fiscal year and the actual compensation paid by the First Trust Fund Complex to each of the Independent Trustees for the calendar year ended December 31, 2015, respectively. The Trust has no retirement or pension plans. The officers and Trustee who are "interested persons" as designated above serve without any compensation from the Trust. The Trust has no employees. Its officers are compensated by First Trust. ESTIMATED TOTAL COMPENSATION COMPENSATION FROM FROM THE FIRST NAME OF TRUSTEE THE FUND(1) TRUST FUND COMPLEX(2) Richard E. Erickson $4,442 $352,350 Thomas R. Kadlec $4,492 $361,500 Robert F. Keith $4,467 $357,350 Niel B. Nielson $4,467 $356,500 -------------------- (1) The estimated compensation to be paid by the Fund to the Independent Trustees for one fiscal year for services to the Fund. (2) The total compensation paid to the Independent Trustees for the calendar year ended December 31, 2015 for services to the 120 portfolios, which consists of seven open-end mutual funds, 16 closed-end funds and 97 exchange-traded funds. -32- The following table sets forth the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned by the Trustees in the Fund and in other funds overseen by the Trustees in the First Trust Fund Complex as of December 31, 2015: AGGREGATE DOLLAR RANGE OF EQUITY SECURITIES IN ALL DOLLAR RANGE OF REGISTERED INVESTMENT COMPANIES EQUITY SECURITIES OVERSEEN BY TRUSTEE IN THE IN THE FUND FIRST TRUST TRUSTEE (NUMBER OF SHARES HELD) FUND COMPLEX Interested Trustee James A. Bowen None Over $100,000 Independent Trustees Richard E. Erickson None Over $100,000 Thomas R. Kadlec None Over $100,000 Robert F. Keith None Over $100,000 Niel B. Nielson None Over $100,000 As of June 15, 2016, the Independent Trustees of the Trust and immediate family members did not own beneficially or of record any class of securities of an investment advisor or principal underwriter of the Fund or any person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with an investment advisor or principal underwriter of the Fund. As of June 15, 2016, the officers and Trustees, in the aggregate, owned less than 1% of the shares of the Fund. As of June 15, 2016, First Trust Portfolios was the sole shareholder of the Fund. As a sole shareholder, First Trust Portfolios has the ability to control the outcome of any item presented to shareholders for approval. As of June 15, 2016, the Advisor did not own any shares of the Fund. Investment Advisor. The Board of Trustees of the Trust, including the Independent Trustees, approved an investment management agreement (the "Investment Management Agreement") for the Fund for an initial two-year term at a meeting held on February 1, 2016. The Board of Trustees determined that the Investment Management Agreement is in the best interests of the Fund in light of the extent and quality of the services expected to be provided, and such other matters as the Board of Trustees considered to be relevant in the exercise of its reasonable business judgment. Pursuant to the Investment Management Agreement between First Trust and the Trust, First Trust will manage the investment of the Fund's assets and will be responsible for paying all expenses of the Fund, excluding the fee payments under the Investment Management Agreement, interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees, if any, and expenses, and other expenses connected with the execution of portfolio transactions, distribution and service fees payable pursuant to a Rule 12b-1 plan, if any, and extraordinary expenses. The Fund has agreed to pay First Trust an annual management fee equal to 0.95% of its average daily net assets. -33- First Trust, 120 East Liberty Drive, Suite 400, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, is the investment advisor to the Fund. First Trust is a limited partnership with one limited partner, Grace Partners of DuPage L.P., and one general partner, The Charger Corporation. Grace Partners of DuPage L.P. is a limited partnership with one general partner, The Charger Corporation, and a number of limited partners. The Charger Corporation is an Illinois corporation controlled by James A. Bowen, the Chief Executive Officer of First Trust. First Trust discharges its responsibilities to the Fund subject to the policies of the Board of Trustees. First Trust provides investment tools and portfolios for advisors and investors. First Trust is committed to theoretically sound portfolio construction and empirically verifiable investment management approaches. Its asset management philosophy and investment discipline are deeply rooted in the application of intuitive factor analysis and model implementation to enhance investment decisions. First Trust acts as investment advisor for the Fund and is responsible for overseeing the Sub-Advisor, which manages the investment and reinvestment of the assets of the Fund. First Trust also administers the Trust's business affairs, provides office facilities and equipment and certain clerical, bookkeeping and administrative services, and permits any of its officers or employees to serve without compensation as Trustees or officers of the Trust if elected to such positions. Under the Investment Management Agreement, First Trust shall not be liable for any loss sustained by reason of the purchase, sale or retention of any security, whether or not such purchase, sale or retention shall have been based upon the investigation and research made by any other individual, firm or corporation, if such recommendation shall have been selected with due care and in good faith, except loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith, or gross negligence on the part of First Trust in the performance of its obligations and duties, or by reason of its reckless disregard of its obligations and duties. The Investment Management Agreement continues until two years after the initial issuance of Fund shares, and thereafter only if approved annually by the Board of Trustees, including a majority of the Independent Trustees. The Investment Management Agreement terminates automatically upon assignment and is terminable at any time without penalty as to the Fund by the Board of Trustees, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, or by vote of the holders of a majority of the Fund's outstanding voting securities on 60 days' written notice to First Trust, or by First Trust on 60 days' written notice to the Fund. SUB-ADVISOR The Fund and First Trust have retained RiverFront Investment Group, LLC, 1214 East Cary Street Richmond, Virginia 23219, to serve as the Fund's investment sub-advisor pursuant to an investment sub-advisory agreement (the "Sub-Advisory Agreement"). The Sub-Advisor is responsible for the selection and ongoing monitoring of the securities in the Fund's investment portfolio. However, First Trust will be responsible for effecting all security transactions for the Fund's assets and, in placing orders for the sale and purchase of -34- securities for the Fund, First Trust will be responsible for seeking the best execution of such orders. RIG was formed in 2008 and serves as investment advisor to investment portfolios with approximately $5.5 billion in assets which it managed as of March 31, 2016. RIG is an investment management firm specializing in asset allocation portfolios. The members of its portfolio management team for the Fund are: Doug Sandler, CFA; Michael Jones, CFA; Adam Grossman, CFA; Chris Konstantinos, CFA; Kevin Nicholson, CFA; Sam Turner, CMT; and Scott Hays, who share responsibilities for the day-to-day management of the Fund's investment portfolio. o Mr. Sandler, CFA, serves as Chief US Equity Officer, bringing more than 20 years of investment experience to the equity team. In addition, he serves on the firm's Operating Committees. Prior to launching RIG, Mr. Sandler served as Managing Director and Chief Equity Strategist at Wachovia Securities, where he was responsible for all equity advice of the firm. He led a team of talented and experienced portfolio managers and strategists, whose goal was to provide independent and sound equity recommendations. The work of his team included actively managed portfolios, weekly investment pieces and the regular monitoring of widely held positions of the firm's clients. Mr. Sandler earned a BS in Accounting and an MBA from the University of Richmond, graduating with honors. He received his CFA designation in 1997. o Mr. Jones, CFA, serves as Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, bringing close to 30 years of global investment experience to his role in leading the organization. Mr. Jones' primary investment responsibility is setting the firm's overall asset allocation strategy and ensuring appropriate investment and risk management processes are applied to all of the firm's portfolio decisions. In addition, he serves on the firm's Executive and Operating Committees. Prior to launching RIG in 2008, Mr. Jones was the Chief Investment Officer at Wachovia Securities from 2002. In this capacity, he was responsible for all aspects of financial advice, including asset allocation, tactical strategy and portfolio implementation and managed over $75 billion in discretionary portfolio assets. Mr. Jones began his career in fixed income portfolio management, serving in a variety of roles cumulating in his promotion to Chief Fixed Income Officer for Mentor Investment Group. While at Mentor and its successor firm, Evergreen Investment Management, Michael managed over $12 billion in high grade and high yield fixed income assets and was responsible for the design and implementation of advanced fixed income and risk management analytics. Mr. Jones earned a BA in Economics from the College of William and Mary and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his CFA designation in 1990. o Mr. Grossman, CFA, serves as the Chief Global Equity Officer, responsible for the investments of the US Equity and International Equity teams. He brings over a decade's worth of industry experience in quantitative risk management and portfolio analytics. Mr. -35- Grossman is responsible for the tactical decisions made in the various strategies and the development of equity investment processes at Riverfront. Prior to joining RIG, Mr. Grossman worked at the Virginia Retirement System (VRS), where he managed International Equity and REIT Portfolios and developed research on equity selection and portfolio construction. He began his investment career as a fixed income analyst at VRS. Mr. Grossman earned a BS from Baldwin-Wallace College with a double major in Mathematical Economics and Finance, and an MA in Financial Economics from Virginia Commonwealth University. He received his CFA designation in 2009. o Mr. Konstantinos, CFA, serves as Director of International Portfolio Management with more than 14 years' experience as an equity sector analyst, portfolio manager, and portfolio risk manager across domestic and international markets. In addition, he serves on the firm's Operating Committee. Mr. Konstantinos has been with RIG since the company's founding in 2008. He began his career in 2000 as a corporate finance analyst in the Technology sector at a predecessor to Wachovia Securities. He joined Wachovia's Advisory Services Group in 2002 as an equity strategist, and worked in various capacities within equity strategy and portfolio management until his departure in 2008. Mr. Konstantinos earned his BS in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Konstantinos received his CFA designation in 2013 and is a member of CFA Virginia Society. He has successfully completed the FINRA Series 7, 66, 86 and 87 licensing exams. Mr. Konstantinos is also a regular guest on the financial news channels (CNBC, Bloomberg) and is frequently quoted in the financial press. o Mr. Nicholson, CFA, serves as Chief Risk Officer, bringing more than 22 years of industry experience to the role. In addition, Mr. Nicholson serves on the firm's Operating Committee. Prior to joining RIG, Mr. Nicholson served as Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager at Wells Fargo Advisors where he managed both taxable and tax exempt portfolios. He served for 18 years at Wells Fargo and its predecessor firms. He began his career in 1992 at Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, during which time he held numerous fixed income positions. These included senior preferred stock trader, corporate bond trader, senior fixed income strategist, and senior fixed income portfolio manager. Mr. Nicholson earned a BA in Business and Economics from Randolph-Macon College and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned his CFA designation in 2014. o Mr. Turner, CMT, serves as Director of US Equity with over 15 years of experience managing equity portfolios. Prior to launching RIG, Mr. Turner served as Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Wachovia Securities, where he was responsible for the management of large cap equity funds within the Advisory Services Group (ASG). Mr. Turner was also actively involved with Wachovia Securities' advice team, publishing weekly reports and contributing to the firm's tactical asset allocation decisions. He originally joined Wachovia Securities in 1996 as an analyst for ASG, internal asset management arm of the firm, primarily focusing on the Mentor Strategy Fund. Mr. -36- Turner earned his BA in Business Administration from James Madison University. He received the Chartered Market Technician designation in 2007. o Mr. Hays, serves as Quantitative Portfolio Manager. As a Quantitative Portfolio manager, he is responsible for developing and implementing analytical investment approaches in the US Equity and International Equity markets. Prior to joining RIG, Mr. Hays co-founded and served as Chief Investment Officer of an alternative asset management company that employed a quantitative market-neutral equity approach. Mr. Hays also worked for 6 years at Analysis Group, a financial and economic consulting firm, where he managed a team dedicated to valuing illiquid assets such as mortgage-backed securities, real estate, and oil and gas properties. Mr. Hays received a BBA from Millsaps College, Summa Cum Laude, with a double major in Economics and Business Administration. He also earned an MBA with High Honors from the University of Chicago in Analytic Finance, Econometrics/Statistics and Economics. Additionally, Mr. Hays has successfully completed the FINRA Series 65 licensing exam. As of June 15, 2016, none of the portfolio managers beneficially owns any shares of the Fund. Compensation. Investment professionals of the Sub-Advisor are compensated through a combination of base salary and an annual performance-based bonus. The performance-based bonus is based on the investment professional's individual contribution to the performance of the given investment mandate and success of the firm. Investment managers who are also members of RIG may also receive periodic distributions based on the profitability of the firm. Other Accounts Managed. In addition to the Fund, the portfolio managers manage the investment vehicles with the number of accounts and assets, as of December 31, 2015, set forth in the table below: -37-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NUMBER OF OTHER ACCOUNTS MANAGED AND ASSETS BY ACCOUNT TYPE (DOLLAR AMOUNTS IN MILLIONS) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REGISTERED OTHER POOLED REGISTERED INVESTMENT INVESTMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES OTHER VEHICLES OTHER ACCOUNTS COMPANIES SUBJECT TO POOLED SUBJECT TO SUBJECT TO PORTFOLIO (OTHER THAN THE PERFORMANCE-BASED INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE-BASED PERFORMANCE-BASED MANAGER FUND) ADVISORY FEES VEHICLES ADVISORY FEES OTHER ACCOUNTS ADVISORY FEES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doug Number: 5 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 13,655 Number: 0 Sandler Assets: $355.8 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $5,061.7 Assets: $0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Number: 6 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 13,655 Number: 0 Jones Assets: $433.3 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $5,061.7 Assets: $0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adam Number: 5 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 13,655 Number: 0 Grossman Assets: $355.8 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $5,061.7 Assets: $0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Number: 5 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 13,655 Number: 0 Konstantino Assets: $355.8 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $5,061.7 Assets: $0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kevin Number: 6 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 13,655 Number: 0 Nicholson Assets: $433.3 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $5,061.7 Assets: $0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sam Turner Number: 5 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 13,655 Number: 0 Assets: $355.8 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $5,061.7 Assets: $0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scott Hays Number: 5 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 0 Number: 13,655 Number: 0 Assets: $355.8 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $0 Assets: $5,061.7 Assets: $0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conflicts of Interest. Actual or apparent conflicts of interest may arise when a portfolio manager has day-to-day management responsibilities with respect to more than one fund or other account. More specifically, portfolio managers who manage multiple funds and/or other accounts may be presented with one or more of the potential conflicts described below. The management of multiple funds and/or other accounts may result in a portfolio manager devoting unequal time and attention to the management of each fund and/or other account. The Sub-Advisor seeks to manage such competing interests for the time and attention of a portfolio manager by having the portfolio manager focus on a particular investment discipline. Most other accounts managed by a portfolio manager are managed using a similar investment model that is used in connection with the management of the Fund. The Fund is expected to be included as part of a broader investment program developed by the Sub-Advisor and managed by the portfolio managers. The portfolio managers will be required to satisfy their duties to both the Fund and the accounts that invest in these broader programs. Conflicts may potentially arise when the portfolio managers attempt to satisfy the needs of each type of customer. The Sub-Advisor has developed procedures to address these potential conflicts. If a portfolio manager identifies a limited investment opportunity that may be suitable for more than one fund or other account, a fund may not be able to take full advantage of that opportunity due to an allocation of filled purchase or sale orders across all eligible funds and other accounts. To deal with these situations, the Sub-Advisor has adopted procedures for allocating -38- portfolio transactions across multiple accounts. However, First Trust will be responsible for effecting all security transactions for the Fund's assets and, in placing orders for the sale and purchase of securities for the Fund, First Trust will be responsible for seeking the best execution of such orders. With respect to securities transactions for the Fund, First Trust determines which broker to use to execute each order, consistent with its duty to seek best execution of the transaction. However, with respect to certain other accounts (such as mutual funds for which the Sub-Advisor acts as sub-advisor, other pooled investment vehicles that are not registered mutual funds, and other accounts managed for organizations and individuals), the Sub-Advisor may be limited by the client with respect to the selection of brokers or may be instructed to direct trades through a particular broker. In these cases, trades for the Fund in a particular security may be placed separately from, rather than aggregated with, such other accounts. Having separate transactions with respect to a security may temporarily affect the market price of the security or the execution of the transaction, or both, to the possible detriment of the Fund or other account(s) involved. The Sub-Advisor, the Advisor and the Fund have adopted certain compliance procedures that are designed to address these types of conflicts. However, there is no guarantee that such procedures will detect each and every situation in which a conflict arises. The Sub-Advisory Agreement. The Sub-Advisor, subject to the Board of Trustees' and Advisor's supervision, provides the Fund with discretionary investment services. Specifically, the Sub-Advisor is responsible for managing the investments of the Fund in accordance with the Fund's investment objective, policies and restrictions as provided in the Prospectus and this SAI, as may be subsequently changed by the Board of Trustees and communicated to the Sub-Advisor in writing. The Sub-Advisor further agrees to conform to all applicable laws and regulations of the SEC in all material respects and to conduct its activities under the Sub-Advisory Agreement in all material respects in accordance with applicable regulations of any governmental authority pertaining to its investment advisory services. In the performance of its duties, the Sub-Advisor will in all material respects satisfy any applicable fiduciary duties it may have to the Fund, will monitor the Fund's investments and will comply with the provisions of the Trust's Declaration of Trust and By-Laws, as amended from time to time, and the stated investment objective, policies and restrictions of the Fund. First Trust is responsible for effecting all security transactions for the Fund's assets. The Sub-Advisory Agreement provides that the Sub-Advisor shall generally not be liable for any loss suffered by the Fund or the Advisor (including, without limitation, by reason of the purchase, sale or retention of any security) in connection with the performance of the Sub-Advisor's duties under the Sub-Advisory Agreement, except for a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of the Sub-Advisor in performance of its duties under the Sub-Advisory Agreement, or by reason of its reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under the Sub-Advisory Agreement. Pursuant to the Sub-Advisory Agreement among the Advisor, the Sub-Advisor and the Fund, the Advisor has agreed to pay for the services and facilities provided by the Sub-Advisor through sub-advisory fees, as set forth in the Fund's Prospectus. -39- The Sub-Advisory Agreement may be terminated without the payment of any penalty by First Trust, the Board of Trustees, or a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund (as defined in the 1940 Act), upon 60 days' written notice to the Sub-Advisor. All fees and expenses are accrued daily and deducted before payment of dividends to investors. The Sub-Advisory Agreement has been approved by the Board of Trustees, including a majority of the Independent Trustees of the Fund, and the initial shareholder of the Fund. BROKERAGE ALLOCATIONS First Trust is responsible for decisions to buy and sell securities for the Fund and for the placement of the Fund's securities business, the negotiation of the commissions to be paid on brokered transactions, the prices for principal trades in securities, and the allocation of portfolio brokerage and principal business. It is the policy of First Trust to seek the best execution at the best security price available with respect to each transaction, and with respect to brokered transactions in light of the overall quality of brokerage and research services provided to First Trust and its clients. The best price to the Fund means the best net price without regard to the mix between purchase or sale price and commission, if any. Purchases may be made from underwriters, dealers, and, on occasion, the issuers. Commissions will be paid on the Fund's futures and options transactions, if any. The purchase price of portfolio securities purchased from an underwriter or dealer may include underwriting commissions and dealer spreads. The Fund may pay markups on principal transactions. In selecting broker/dealers and in negotiating commissions, First Trust considers, among other things, the firm's reliability, the quality of its execution services on a continuing basis and its financial condition. Fund portfolio transactions may be effected with broker/dealers who have assisted investors in the purchase of shares. Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "1934 Act") permits an investment advisor, under certain circumstances, to cause an account to pay a broker or dealer who supplies brokerage and research services a commission for effecting a transaction in excess of the amount of commission another broker or dealer would have charged for effecting the transaction. Brokerage and research services include (a) furnishing advice as to the value of securities, the advisability of investing, purchasing or selling securities, and the availability of securities or purchasers or sellers of securities; (b) furnishing analyses and reports concerning issuers, industries, securities, economic factors and trends, portfolio strategy, and the performance of accounts; and (c) effecting securities transactions and performing functions incidental thereto (such as clearance, settlement and custody). Such brokerage and research services are often referred to as "soft dollars." First Trust may use soft dollars on a limited basis. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in selecting brokers, the First Trust may in the future consider investment and market information and other research, such as economic, securities and performance measurement research, provided by such brokers, and the quality and reliability of brokerage services, including execution capability, performance, and financial responsibility. Accordingly, the commissions charged by any such broker may be greater than the amount another firm might charge if First Trust determines in good faith that the amount of such commissions is reasonable in relation to the value of the research information and brokerage services provided by such broker to the First Trust or the Trust. In addition, First Trust must determine that the research -40- information received in this manner provides the Fund with benefits by supplementing the research otherwise available to the Fund. The Investment Management Agreement provides that such higher commissions will not be paid by the Fund unless First Trust determines in good faith that the amount is reasonable in relation to the services provided. The investment advisory fees paid by the Fund to First Trust under the Investment Management Agreement would not be reduced as a result of receipt by First Trust of research services. The First Trust places portfolio transactions for other advisory accounts advised by it, and research services furnished by firms through which the Fund effects its securities transactions may be used by First Trust in servicing all of its accounts; not all of such services may be used by First Trust in connection with the Fund. First Trust believes it is not possible to measure separately the benefits from research services to each of the accounts (including the Fund) advised by it. Because the volume and nature of the trading activities of the accounts are not uniform, the amount of commissions in excess of those charged by another broker paid by each account for brokerage and research services will vary. However, First Trust believes such costs to the Fund will not be disproportionate to the benefits received by the Fund on a continuing basis. First Trust seeks to allocate portfolio transactions equitably whenever concurrent decisions are made to purchase or sell securities by the Fund and another advisory account. In some cases, this procedure could have an adverse effect on the price or the amount of securities available to the Fund. In making such allocations between the Fund and other advisory accounts, the main factors considered by First Trust are the respective investment objectives, the relative size of portfolio holding of the same or comparable securities, the availability of cash for investment and the size of investment commitments generally held. CUSTODIAN, ADMINISTRATOR, FUND ACCOUNTANT, TRANSFER AGENT, DISTRIBUTOR AND EXCHANGE Custodian, Administrator, Fund Accountant and Transfer Agent. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. ("BBH"), as custodian for the Fund pursuant to a Custodian Agreement, holds the Fund's assets. Also, pursuant to an Administrative Agency Agreement, BBH provides certain administrative and accounting services to the Fund, including maintaining the Fund's books of account, records of the Fund's securities transactions and certain other books and records; acting as liaison with the Fund's independent registered public accounting firm by providing such accountant with various audit-related information with respect to the Fund; and providing other continuous accounting and administrative services. BBH also serves as the Fund's transfer agent pursuant to an Administrative Agency Agreement. BBH is located at 50 Post Office Square, Boston, Massachusetts, 02110. Pursuant to the Administrative Agency Agreement, the Trust on behalf of the Fund has agreed to indemnify the Administrator for certain liabilities, including certain liabilities arising under the federal securities laws, unless such loss or liability results from negligence or willful misconduct in the performance of its duties. -41- Pursuant to the Fund Administration and Accounting Agreement between BBH and the Trust, the Fund has agreed to pay such compensation as is mutually agreed from time to time and such out-of-pocket expenses as incurred by BBH in the performance of its duties. Distributor. First Trust Portfolios L.P., an affiliate of First Trust, is the distributor ("FTP" or the "Distributor") and principal underwriter of the shares of the Fund. Its principal address is 120 East Liberty Drive, Suite 400, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. The Distributor has entered into a Distribution Agreement with the Trust pursuant to which it distributes Fund shares. Shares are continuously offered for sale by the Fund through the Distributor only in Creation Unit Aggregations, as described in the Prospectus and below under the heading "Creation and Redemption of Creation Unit Aggregations." 12b-1 Plan. The Trust has adopted a Plan of Distribution pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act (the "Plan") pursuant to which the Fund may reimburse the Distributor up to a maximum annual rate of 0.25% of its average daily net assets. Under the Plan and as required by Rule 12b-1, the Trustees will receive and review after the end of each calendar quarter a written report provided by the Distributor of the amounts expended under the Plan and the purpose for which such expenditures were made. With the exception of the Distributor and its affiliates, no "interested person" of the Trust (as that term is defined in the 1940 Act) and no Trustee of the Trust has a direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or any related agreement. No fee is currently paid by the Fund under the Plan, and pursuant to a contractual agreement, the Fund will not pay 12b-1 fees anytime before February 4, 2018. Aggregations. Fund shares in less than Creation Unit Aggregations are not distributed by the Distributor. The Distributor will deliver the Prospectus and, upon request, this SAI to persons purchasing Creation Unit Aggregations and will maintain records of both orders placed with it and confirmations of acceptance furnished by it. The Distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the 1934 Act and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"). The Distribution Agreement provides that it may be terminated at any time, without the payment of any penalty, on at least 60 days' written notice by the Trust to the Distributor (i) by vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees; or (ii) by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund. The Distribution Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act). The Distributor may also enter into agreements with participants that utilize the facilities of the Depository Trust Company (the "DTC Participants"), which have international, operational, capabilities and place orders for Creation Unit Aggregations of Fund shares. Participating Parties (which are participants in the Continuous Net Settlement System of the National Securities Clearing Corporation) shall be DTC Participants. -42- Exchange. The only relationship that the Exchange has with First Trust or the Distributor of the Fund in connection with the Fund is that the Exchange will list the shares of the Fund and disseminates the intra-day portfolio values that are calculated by the IPV Calculator pursuant to its listing agreement with the Trust. The Exchange is not responsible for and has not participated in the determination of pricing or the timing of the issuance or sale of the shares of the Fund or in the determination or calculation of the asset value of the Fund. The Exchange has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the Fund. ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS TO FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES First Trust or its affiliates may from time to time make payments, out of their own resources, to certain financial intermediaries that sell shares of First Trust mutual funds and ETFs ("First Trust Funds") to promote the sales and retention of Fund shares by those firms and their customers. The amounts of these payments vary by intermediary. The level of payments that First Trust is willing to provide to a particular intermediary may be affected by, among other factors, (i) the firm's total assets or Fund shares held in and recent net investments into First Trust Funds, (ii) the value of the assets invested in the First Trust Funds by the intermediary's customers, (iii) redemption rates, (iv) its ability to attract and retain assets, (v) the intermediary's reputation in the industry, (vi) the level and/or type of marketing assistance and educational activities provided by the intermediary, (vii) the firm's level of participation in First Trust Funds' sales and marketing programs, (viii) the firm's compensation program for its registered representatives who sell Fund shares and provide services to Fund shareholders, and (ix) the asset class of the First Trust Funds for which these payments are provided. Such payments are generally asset-based but also may include the payment of a lump sum. First Trust may also make payments to certain intermediaries for certain administrative services and shareholder processing services, including record keeping and sub-accounting of shareholder accounts pursuant to a sub-transfer agency, omnibus account service or sub-accounting agreement. All fees payable by First Trust under this category of services may be charged back to the Fund, subject to approval by the Board. First Trust and/or its affiliates may make payments, out of its own assets, to those firms as compensation and/or reimbursement for marketing support and/or program servicing to selected intermediaries that are registered as holders or dealers of record for accounts invested in one or more of the First Trust Funds or that make First Trust Fund shares available through certain selected Fund no-transaction fee institutional platforms and fee-based wrap programs at certain financial intermediaries. Program servicing payments typically apply to employee benefit plans, such as retirement plans, or fee-based advisory programs but may apply to retail sales and assets in certain situations. The payments are based on such factors as the type and nature of services or support furnished by the intermediary and are generally asset-based. Services for which an intermediary receives marketing support payments may include, but are not limited to, business planning assistance, advertising, educating the intermediary's personnel about First Trust Funds in connection with shareholder financial planning needs, placement on the intermediary's preferred or recommended fund list, and access to sales meetings, sales representatives and management representatives of the intermediary. In addition, intermediaries may be compensated for enabling representatives of First Trust -43- and/or its affiliates to participate in and/or present at conferences or seminars, sales or training programs for invited registered representatives and other employees, client and investor events and other events sponsored by the intermediary. Services for which an intermediary receives program servicing payments typically include, but are not limited to, record keeping, reporting or transaction processing and shareholder communications and other account administration services, but may also include services rendered in connection with Fund/investment selection and monitoring, employee enrollment and education, plan balance rollover or separation, or other similar services. An intermediary may perform program services itself or may arrange with a third party to perform program services. These payments are in addition to the service fee and any applicable omnibus sub-accounting fees paid to these firms with respect to these services by the First Trust Funds out of Fund assets. From time to time, First Trust and/or its affiliates, at its expense, may provide other compensation to intermediaries that sell or arrange for the sale of shares of the First Trust Funds, which may be in addition to marketing support and program servicing payments described above. For example, First Trust and/or its affiliates may: (i) compensate intermediaries for National Securities Clearing Corporation networking system services (e.g., shareholder communication, account statements, trade confirmations and tax reporting) on an asset-based or per-account basis; (ii) compensate intermediaries for providing Fund shareholder trading information; (iii) make one-time or periodic payments to reimburse selected intermediaries for items such as ticket charges (i.e., fees that an intermediary charges its representatives for effecting transactions in Fund shares) or exchange order, operational charges (e.g., fees that an intermediary charges for establishing the Fund on its trading system) and literature printing and/or distribution costs; (iv) at the direction of a retirement plan's sponsor, reimburse or pay direct expenses of an employee benefit plan that would otherwise be payable by the plan; and (v) provide payments to broker-dealers to help defray their technology or infrastructure costs. When not provided for in a marketing support or program servicing agreement, First Trust and/ or its affiliates may also pay intermediaries for enabling First Trust and/or its affiliates to participate in and/or present at conferences or seminars, sales or training programs for invited registered representatives and other intermediary employees, client and investor events and other intermediary-sponsored events, and for travel expenses, including lodging incurred by registered representatives and other employees in connection with prospecting, asset retention and due diligence trips. These payments may vary depending upon the nature of the event. First Trust and/or its affiliates make payments for such events as it deems appropriate, subject to its internal guidelines and applicable law. First Trust and/or its affiliates occasionally sponsor due diligence meetings for registered representatives during which they receive updates on various First Trust Funds and are afforded the opportunity to speak with portfolio managers. Although invitations to these meetings are not conditioned on selling a specific number of shares, those who have shown an interest in First Trust Funds are more likely to be considered. To the extent permitted by their firm's policies and procedures, all or a portion of registered representatives' expenses in attending these meetings may be covered by First Trust and/or its affiliates. -44- The amounts of payments referenced above made by First Trust and/or its affiliates could be significant and may create an incentive for an intermediary or its representatives to recommend or offer shares of the First Trust Funds to its customers. The intermediary may elevate the prominence or profile of the First Trust Funds within the intermediary's organization by, for example, placing the First Trust Funds on a list of preferred or recommended funds and/or granting First Trust and/or its affiliates preferential or enhanced opportunities to promote the First Trust Funds in various ways within the intermediary's organization. These payments are made pursuant to negotiated agreements with intermediaries. The payments do not change the price paid by investors for the purchase of a share or the amount the Fund will receive as proceeds from such sales. Furthermore, many of these payments are not reflected in the fees and expenses listed in the fee table section of the Prospectus because they are not paid by the Fund. The types of payments described herein are not mutually exclusive, and a single intermediary may receive some or all types of payments as described. Other compensation may be offered to the extent not prohibited by state laws or any self-regulatory agency, such as FINRA. Investors can ask their intermediaries for information about any payments they receive from First Trust and/or its affiliates and the services it provides for those payments. Investors may wish to take intermediary payment arrangements into account when considering and evaluating any recommendations relating to Fund shares. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Book Entry Only System. The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus. DTC Acts as Securities Depository for Fund Shares. Shares of the Fund are represented by securities registered in the name of The Depository Trust Company ("DTC") or its nominee, Cede & Co., and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC. DTC, a limited-purpose trust company, was created to hold securities of its participants (the "DTC Participants") and to facilitate the clearance and settlement of securities transactions among the DTC Participants in such securities through electronic book-entry changes in accounts of the DTC Participants, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of securities, or certificates. DTC Participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and certain other organizations, some of whom (and/or their representatives) own DTC. More specifically, DTC is owned by a number of its DTC Participants and by the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") and FINRA. Access to the DTC system is also available to others such as banks, brokers, dealers and trust companies that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a DTC Participant, either directly or indirectly (the "Indirect Participants"). Beneficial ownership of shares is limited to DTC Participants, Indirect Participants and persons holding interests through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants. Ownership of beneficial interests in shares (owners of such beneficial interests are referred to herein as "Beneficial Owners") is shown on, and the transfer of ownership is effected only through, records maintained by DTC (with respect to DTC Participants) and on the records of DTC Participants -45- (with respect to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners that are not DTC Participants). Beneficial Owners will receive from or through the DTC Participant a written confirmation relating to their purchase and sale of shares. Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. Pursuant to a letter agreement between DTC and the Trust, DTC is required to make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee to be charged to the Trust a listing of the shares of the Fund held by each DTC Participant. The Trust shall inquire of each such DTC Participant as to the number of Beneficial Owners holding shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust shall provide each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement or other communication, in such form, number and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participants a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. Fund distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, as the registered holder of all Fund shares. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall immediately credit DTC Participants' accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in shares of the Fund as shown on the records of DTC or its nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners of shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a "street name," and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants. The Trust has no responsibility or liability for any aspect of the records relating to or notices to Beneficial Owners, or payments made on account of beneficial ownership interests in such shares, or for maintaining, supervising or reviewing any records relating to such beneficial ownership interests, or for any other aspect of the relationship between DTC and the DTC Participants or the relationship between such DTC Participants and the Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners owning through such DTC Participants. DTC may decide to discontinue providing its service with respect to shares at any time by giving reasonable notice to the Trust and discharging its responsibilities with respect thereto under applicable law. Under such circumstances, the Trust shall take action to find a replacement for DTC to perform its functions at a comparable cost. Intra-Day Portfolio Value. The price of a non U.S. security that is primarily traded on a non U.S. exchange shall be updated every 15 seconds throughout its trading day, provided, that, upon the closing of such non U.S. exchange, the closing price of the security will be used throughout the remainder of the business day where the markets remain open. These exchange rates may differ from those used by the Sub-Advisor and consequently result in intra day portfolio values that may vary. Furthermore, in calculating the intra day portfolio values of the Fund's shares, the exchange rates used throughout the day (9:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., Eastern Time) shall be those that are deemed to be most appropriate. -46- PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES The Trust has adopted a proxy voting policy that seeks to ensure that proxies for securities held by the Fund are voted consistently in the best interests of the Fund. The Board has delegated to First Trust the proxy voting responsibilities for the Fund and has directed First Trust to vote proxies consistent with the Fund's best interests. First Trust has engaged the services of Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. ("ISS") to make recommendations to First Trust on the voting of proxies relating to securities held by the Fund. If First Trust manages the assets of a company or its pension plan and the Fund holds any securities of that company, First Trust will vote proxies relating to such company's securities in accordance with the ISS recommendations to avoid any conflict of interest. The First Trust Proxy Voting Guidelines are attached hereto as Exhibit A and the ISS Proxy Voting Guidelines are attached hereto as Exhibit B. Quarterly Portfolio Schedule. The Trust is required to disclose, after its first and third fiscal quarters, the complete schedule of the Fund's portfolio holdings with the SEC on Form N-Q. Forms N-Q for the Trust are available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. The Fund's Form N-Q may also be reviewed and copied at the SEC's Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. The Trust's Forms N-Q are available without charge, upon request, by calling (800) 621-1675 or by writing to First Trust Portfolios L.P., 120 East Liberty Drive, Suite 400, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. Policy Regarding Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings. The Trust has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of information about the Fund's portfolio holdings. The Board of Trustees must approve all material amendments to this policy. The Fund's portfolio holdings are publicly disseminated each day the Fund is open for business through financial reporting and news services, including publicly accessible Internet websites. In addition, a basket composition file, which includes the security names and share quantities to deliver in exchange for Fund shares, together with estimates and actual cash components, is publicly disseminated each day the NYSE is open for trading via the National Securities Clearing Corporation ("NSCC"). The basket represents one Creation Unit of the Fund. The Fund's portfolio holdings are also available on the Fund's website at http://www.ftportfolios.com. The Trust, First Trust, FTP, RIG and BBH will not disseminate non-public information concerning the Trust. Codes of Ethics. In order to mitigate the possibility that the Fund will be adversely affected by personal trading, the Trust, First Trust, RIG and the Distributor have adopted Codes of Ethics under Rule 17j-1 of the 1940 Act. These Codes of Ethics contain policies restricting securities trading in personal accounts of the officers, Trustees and others who normally come into possession of information on portfolio transactions. Personnel subject to the Codes of Ethics may invest in securities that may be purchased or held by the Fund; however, the Codes of Ethics require that each transaction in such securities be reviewed by the Chief Compliance Officer or his or her designee. These Codes of Ethics are on public file with, and are available from, the SEC. -47- CREATION AND REDEMPTION OF CREATION UNIT AGGREGATIONS Creation. The Trust issues and sells shares of the Fund only in Creation Unit Aggregations on a continuous basis through the Distributor, without a sales load, at their net asset values next determined after receipt, on any Business Day (as defined below), of an order in proper form. 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. Deposit of Securities and Deposit or Delivery of Cash. The consideration for purchase of Creation Unit Aggregations of the Fund may consist of (i) cash in lieu of all or a portion of the Deposit Securities, as defined below, and/or (ii) a designated portfolio of securities determined by First Trust--the "Deposit Securities"--per each Creation Unit Aggregation and generally an amount of cash--the "Cash Component"--computed as described below. Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component (including the cash in lieu amount) constitute the "Fund Deposit," which represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit Aggregation of the Fund. The Cash Component is sometimes also referred to as the Balancing Amount. The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the net asset value per Creation Unit Aggregation and the Deposit Amount (as defined below). The Cash Component is an amount equal to the difference between (i) the net asset value of Fund shares (per Creation Unit Aggregation) and (ii) the "Deposit Amount"--an amount equal to the market value of the Deposit Securities and/or cash in lieu of all or a portion of the Deposit Securities. If the Cash Component is a positive number (i.e., the net asset value per Creation Unit Aggregation exceeds the Deposit Amount), the creator will deliver the Cash Component. If the Cash Component is a negative number (i.e., the net asset value per Creation Unit Aggregation is less than the Deposit Amount), the creator will receive the Cash Component. The Custodian, through the NSCC makes available on each Business Day, prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern Time), the list of the names and the required number of shares of each Deposit Security to be included in the current Fund Deposit (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for the Fund. Such Fund Deposit is applicable, subject to any applicable adjustments, in order to effect creations of Creation Unit Aggregations of the Fund until such time as the next-announced composition of the Deposit Securities is made available. The identity and number of shares of the Deposit Securities required for a Fund Deposit for the Fund change as corporate action events are reflected within the Fund from time to time by First Trust with a view to the investment objective of the Fund. In addition, the Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash--i.e., a "cash in lieu" amount--to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security that may not be -48- available, that may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or that might not be eligible for trading by an Authorized Participant (as defined below) or the investor for which it is acting or other relevant reason. The Trust also reserves the right to permit or require, under certain circumstances, the substitution of a different security in lieu of depositing some or all of the Deposit Securities The adjustments described above will reflect changes known to First Trust on the date of announcement to be in effect by the time of delivery of the Fund Deposit or resulting from certain corporate actions. In addition to the list of names and numbers of securities constituting the current Deposit Securities of a Fund Deposit, the Custodian, through the NSCC, also makes available on each Business Day, the estimated Cash Component, for the current day as well as the Cash Component for the previous Business Day, per outstanding Creation Unit Aggregation of the Fund. Procedures for Creation of Creation Unit Aggregations. In order to be eligible to place orders with the Distributor and to create a Creation Unit Aggregation of the Fund, an entity must be a DTC Participant (see the section entitled "Book Entry Only System"), must have executed an agreement with the Distributor and transfer agent, with respect to creations and redemptions of Creation Unit Aggregations ("Participant Agreement"), and must have international operational capabilities. A DTC Participant is also referred to as an "Authorized Participant." Investors should contact the Distributor for the names of Authorized Participants that have signed a Participant Agreement. All Fund shares, however created, will be entered on the records of DTC in the name of Cede & Co. for the account of a DTC Participant. All standard orders to create Creation Unit Aggregations must be received by the transfer agent no later than the closing time of the regular trading session on the NYSE ("Closing Time") (ordinarily 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time) in each case on the date such order is placed in order for the creation of Creation Unit Aggregations to be effected based on the net asset value of shares of the Fund as next determined on such date after receipt of the order in proper form. Subject to the provisions of the applicable Participant Agreement, in the case of custom orders, the order must generally be received by the transfer agent no later than 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the trade date. A custom order may be placed by an Authorized Participant in the event that the Trust permits or requires the substitution of an amount of cash to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security which may not be available, which may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or which may not be eligible for trading by such Authorized Participant or the investor for which it is acting or other relevant reason. The date on which an order to create Creation Unit Aggregations (or an order to redeem Creation Unit Aggregations, as discussed below) is placed is referred to as the "Transmittal Date." Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant by telephone or other transmission method acceptable to the transfer agent pursuant to procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement. Severe economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communications failure may impede the ability to reach the transfer agent or an Authorized Participant. All orders from investors who are not Authorized Participants to create Creation Unit Aggregations shall be placed with an Authorized Participant, as applicable, in the form required by such Authorized Participant. In addition, the Authorized Participant may request the investor to make certain -49- representations or enter into agreements with respect to the order, e.g., to provide for payments of cash, when required. Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not have executed a Participant Agreement and that, therefore, orders to create Creation Unit Aggregations of the Fund have to be placed by the investor's broker through an Authorized Participant that has executed a Participant Agreement. In such cases there may be additional charges to such investor. At any given time, there may be only a limited number of broker-dealers that have executed a Participant Agreement. Those persons placing orders should ascertain the deadlines applicable to DTC and the Federal Reserve Bank wire system by contacting the operations department of the broker or depository institution effectuating such transfer of Deposit Securities and Cash Component. Deposit Securities must be delivered to the Trust through DTC or NSCC, subject to and in accordance with the applicable provisions set forth in the Participant Agreement and Deposit Securities that are non-U.S. securities must be delivered to an account maintained at the applicable local subcustodian of the Trust on or before the International Contractual Settlement Date, as defined below all in accordance with the terms of the Participant Agreement. If a Deposit Security is an ADR or similar domestic instrument, it may be delivered to the Custodian. The Authorized Participant must also pay on or before the International Contractual Settlement Date immediately available or same-day funds estimated by Trust to be sufficient to pay the Cash Component next determined after acceptance of the creation order, together with the applicable Creation Transaction Fee (as defined below) and, if applicable, any operational processing and brokerage costs, transfer fees or stamp taxes. The "International Contractual Settlement Date" is the earlier of (i) the date upon which all of the required Deposit Securities, the Cash Component and any other cash amounts which may be due are delivered to the Fund or (ii) the latest day for settlement on the customary settlement cycle in the jurisdiction(s) where any of the securities of the Fund are customarily traded. Any excess funds will be returned following settlement of the issue of the Creation Unit Aggregation. Issuance of Creation Unit Aggregations. A Creation Unit Aggregation will generally not be issued until the transfer of good title to the Trust of the portfolio of Deposit Securities and the payment of the Cash Component, the payment of the Creation Transaction Fee (as defined below) and the payment of any other required cash amounts have been completed. When the required Deposit Securities which are U.S. securities have been delivered to the Trust through DTC or NSCC, and each relevant subcustodian confirms to Custodian that the required Deposit Securities which are non-U.S. securities (or, when permitted in the sole discretion of Trust, the cash in lieu thereof) have been delivered to the account of the relevant subcustodian, the Custodian shall notify the Distributor and the transfer agent which, acting on behalf of the Trust, will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation Unit Aggregations. The Trust may in its sole discretion permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash (i.e., a "cash in lieu" amount) to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security which may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or for other relevant reasons. If the Distributor, acting on behalf of the Trust, determines that a "cash in lieu" amount will be accepted, the Distributor will notify the Authorized Participant and the transfer agent, and the Authorized Participant shall deliver, on behalf of itself or the party on whose behalf it is acting, the "cash in lieu" amount, with any appropriate adjustments as advised by the Trust. -50- In the event that an order for a Creation Unit is incomplete because certain or all of the Deposit Securities are missing, the Trust may issue a Creation Unit notwithstanding such deficiency in reliance on the undertaking of the Authorized Participant to deliver the missing Deposit Securities as soon as possible, which undertaking shall be secured by an additional cash deposit (described below) with respect to the undelivered Deposit Securities. To the extent contemplated by the applicable Participant Agreement, Creation Unit Aggregations of the Fund will be issued to such Authorized Participant notwithstanding the fact that the corresponding Fund Deposits have not been received in part or in whole, in reliance on the undertaking of the Authorized Participant to deliver the missing Deposit Securities as soon as possible, which undertaking shall be secured by such Authorized Participant's delivery and maintenance of collateral consisting of cash in the form of U.S. dollars in immediately available funds having a value (marked to market daily) at least equal to 115% which First Trust may change from time to time of the value of the missing Deposit Securities. The Participant Agreement will permit the Fund to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time and will subject the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the cost to the Trust of purchasing such securities and the value of the collateral. Acceptance of Orders for Creation Unit Aggregations. The Trust reserves the absolute right to reject a creation order transmitted to it by the Distributor with respect to the Fund if: (i) the order is not in proper form; (ii) the investor(s), upon obtaining the Fund shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding shares of the Fund; (iii) the required Fund Deposit is not delivered; (iv) acceptance of the Deposit Securities would have certain adverse tax consequences to the Fund; (v) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of the Trust, be unlawful; (vi) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would otherwise have an adverse effect on the Trust, the Fund or the rights of Beneficial Owners; or (vii) circumstances outside the control of the Trust or the Fund make it impossible to process creation orders for all practical purposes. Examples of such circumstances include: acts of God or public service or utility problems such as fires, floods, extreme weather conditions and power outages resulting in telephone, telecopy and computer failures; market conditions or activities causing trading halts; systems failures involving computer or other information systems affecting the Fund, the Trust, First Trust, the Distributor, the transfer agent, DTC, NSCC, the Custodian or sub-custodian or any other participant in the creation process; the imposition by a foreign government or a regulatory body of controls, or other monetary, currency or trading restrictions that directly affect the portfolio securities held; and similar extraordinary events. The Distributor shall notify a prospective creator of a Creation Unit and/or the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such prospective creator of its rejection of the order of such person. The Trust, 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 Fund Deposits, nor shall any of them incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification. 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, and the Trust's determination shall be final and binding. Creation Transaction Fee. Purchasers of Creation Units must pay a creation transaction fee (the "Creation Transaction Fee") that is currently $11,600. The Creation Transaction Fee is applicable to each purchase transaction regardless -51- of the number of Creation Units purchased in the transaction. The Creation Transaction Fee may vary and is based on the composition of the securities included in the Fund's portfolio and the countries in which the transactions are settled. The price for each Creation Unit will equal the daily net asset value per share times the number of shares in a Creation Unit plus the fees described above and, if applicable, any operational processing and brokerage costs, transfer fees or stamp taxes. When the Fund permits an Authorized Participant to substitute cash or a different security in lieu of depositing one or more of the requisite Deposit Securities, the Authorized Participant may also be assessed an amount to cover the cost of purchasing the Deposit Securities and/or disposing of the substituted securities, including operational processing and brokerage costs, transfer fees, stamp taxes, and part or all of the spread between the expected bid and offer side of the market related to such Deposit Securities and/or substitute securities. As discussed above, shares of the Fund may be issued in advance of receipt of all Deposit Securities subject to various conditions including a requirement to maintain on deposit with the Fund cash at least equal to 115% of the market value of the missing Deposit Securities. Redemption of Fund Shares in Creation Unit Aggregations. Fund shares may be redeemed only in Creation Unit Aggregations at their net asset value next determined after receipt of a redemption request in proper form by the Fund through the transfer agent and only on a Business Day. The Fund will not redeem shares in amounts less than Creation Unit Aggregations. Beneficial Owners must accumulate enough shares in the secondary market to constitute a Creation Unit Aggregation in order to have such shares redeemed by the Trust. Shares generally will be redeemed in Creation Unit Aggregations in exchange for a particular portfolio of securities ("Fund Securities"), although the Fund has the right to make redemption payments in cash, in-kind or a combination of each. There can be no assurance, however, that there will be sufficient liquidity in the public trading market at any time to permit assembly of a Creation Unit Aggregation. Investors should expect to incur customary brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of Fund shares to constitute a redeemable Creation Unit Aggregation. With respect to the Fund, the Custodian, through the NSCC, makes available prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time) on each Business Day, the identity of the Fund Securities that will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to redemption requests received in proper form on that day. Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities that are applicable to creations of Creation Unit Aggregations. Unless cash redemptions are available or specified for the Fund (as discussed below), the redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit Aggregation generally consist of Fund Securities--as announced on the Business Day of the request for redemption received in proper form--plus or minus cash in an amount equal to the difference between the net asset value of the Creation Unit Aggregation being redeemed, as next determined after a receipt of a request in proper form, and the value of the Fund Securities (the "Cash Redemption Amount"), less the applicable Redemption Transaction Fee as listed below and, if applicable, any operational processing and brokerage costs, transfer fees or stamp taxes. In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the -52- net asset value of the Fund shares, a compensating cash payment equal to the difference plus, the applicable Redemption Transaction Fee and, if applicable, any operational processing and brokerage costs, transfer fees or stamp taxes is required to be made by or through an Authorized Participant by the redeeming shareholder. 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 of the Fund or determination of the Fund's net asset value is not reasonably practicable; or (iv) in such other circumstances as are permitted by the SEC. Redemption Transaction Fee. Parties redeeming Creation Units must pay a redemption transaction fee (the "Redemption Transaction Fee") that is currently $11,600. The Redemption Transaction Fee is applicable to each redemption transaction regardless of the number of Creation Units redeemed in the transaction. The Redemption Transaction Fee may vary and is based on the composition of the securities included in the Fund's portfolio and the countries in which the transactions are settled. Investors will also bear the costs of transferring the Fund Securities from the Trust to their account or on their order and may also be assessed an amount to cover other costs including operational processing and brokerage costs, transfer fees, stamp taxes and part or all of the spread between the expected bid and offer side of the market related to such securities. Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary in addition to an Authorized Participant to effect a redemption of a Creation Unit Aggregation may also be assessed an amount to cover the cost of such services. Placement of Redemption Orders. Orders to redeem Creation Unit Aggregations must be delivered through an Authorized Participant that has executed a Participant Agreement and must comply with the applicable provisions of such Participant Agreement. Investors other than APs are responsible for making arrangements for a redemption request to be made through an Authorized Participant. An order to redeem Creation Unit Aggregations of the Fund is deemed received by the Trust on the Transmittal Date if: (i) such order is received by BBH (in its capacity as transfer agent) not later than the Closing Time on the Transmittal Date; (ii) such order is accompanied or followed by the requisite number of shares of the Fund specified in such order, which delivery must be made through DTC to BBH; and (iii) all other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement are properly followed. Deliveries of Fund Securities to investors are generally expected to be made within three business days. Due to the schedule of holidays in certain countries, however, the delivery of in-kind redemption proceeds for the Fund may take longer than three Business Days after the day on which the redemption request is received in proper form. In such cases, the local market settlement procedures will not commence until the end of the local holiday periods. See below for a list of the local holidays in the foreign countries relevant to the Fund. Under the 1940 Act, the Fund would generally be required to make payment of redemption proceeds within seven days after a security is tendered for redemption. However, because the settlement of redemptions of Fund Shares is contingent not only on the settlement cycle of the United States securities markets, but also on delivery cycles of foreign markets, pursuant to an exemptive order on which the Fund may rely, the Fund's in-kind redemption -53- proceeds must be paid within the maximum number of calendar days required for such payment or satisfaction in the principal local markets where transactions in portfolio securities customarily clear and settle, but generally no later than twelve calendar days following tender of a Creation Unit Aggregation. In connection with taking delivery of shares of non-U.S. Fund Securities upon redemption of shares of the Fund, a redeeming Beneficial Owner, or AP acting on behalf of such Beneficial Owner, must maintain appropriate security arrangements with a qualified broker-dealer, bank or other custody provider in each jurisdiction in which any of the Fund Securities are customarily traded, to which account such Fund Securities will be delivered. To the extent contemplated by a Participant Agreement, in the event the Authorized Participant has submitted a redemption request in proper form but is unable to transfer all or part of the Creation Unit Aggregation to be redeemed to the Fund's transfer agent, the transfer agent may nonetheless accept the redemption request in reliance on the undertaking by the Authorized Participant to deliver the missing shares as soon as possible. Such undertaking shall be secured by the Authorized Participant's delivery and maintenance of collateral consisting of cash having a value (marked to market daily) at least equal to 115%, which First Trust may change from time to time, of the value of the missing shares. The current procedures for collateralization of missing shares require, among other things, that any cash collateral shall be in the form of U.S. dollars in immediately available funds and shall be held by BBH and marked to market daily, and that the fees of BBH and any sub-custodians in respect of the delivery, maintenance and redelivery of the cash collateral shall be payable by the Authorized Participant. If the Participant Agreement provides for collateralization, it will permit the Trust, on behalf of the affected Fund, to purchase the missing shares at any time and will subject the Authorized Participant to liability for any shortfall between the cost to the Trust of purchasing such shares and the value of the collateral. The calculation of the value of the Fund Securities and the Cash Redemption Amount to be delivered/received upon redemption will be made by BBH according to the procedures set forth in this SAI under "Determination of Net Asset Value" computed on the Business Day on which a redemption order is deemed received by the Trust. Therefore, if a redemption order in proper form is submitted to BBH by a DTC Participant not later than Closing Time on the Transmittal Date, and the requisite number of shares of the Fund are delivered to BBH prior to the specified time, then the value of the Fund Securities and the Cash Redemption Amount to be delivered will be determined by BBH on such Transmittal Date. If, however, a redemption order is submitted to BBH by a DTC Participant not later than the Closing Time on the Transmittal Date but either (i) the requisite number of shares of the relevant Fund are not delivered by the specified time, as described above, on such Transmittal Date, or (ii) the redemption order is not submitted in proper form, then the redemption order will not be deemed received as of the Transmittal Date. In such case, the value of the Fund Securities and the Cash Redemption Amount to be delivered/received will be computed on the Business Day that such order is deemed received by the Trust, i.e., the Business Day on which the shares of the Fund are delivered through DTC to BBH by the specified time on such Business Day pursuant to a properly submitted redemption order. -54- If it is not possible to effect deliveries of the Fund Securities, the Trust may in its discretion exercise its option to redeem such Fund shares in cash, and the redeeming Beneficial Owner will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash. In addition, an investor may request a redemption in cash that the Fund may, in its sole discretion, permit. In either case, the investor will receive a cash payment equal to the net asset value of its Fund shares based on the net asset value of shares of the relevant Fund next determined after the redemption request is received in proper form (minus a redemption transaction fee and additional charges for requested cash redemptions specified above, to offset the Trust's brokerage and other transaction costs associated with the disposition of Fund Securities). The Fund may also, in its sole discretion, upon request of a shareholder, provide such redeemer cash in lieu of some securities added to the Cash Redemption Amount, but in no event will the total value of the securities delivered and the cash transmitted differ from the net asset value. Redemptions of Fund shares for Fund Securities will be subject to compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws and the Fund (whether or not it otherwise permits cash redemptions) reserves the right to redeem Creation Unit Aggregations for cash to the extent that the Trust could not lawfully deliver specific Fund Securities upon redemptions or could not do so without first registering the Fund Securities under such laws. An Authorized Participant or an investor for which it is acting subject to a legal restriction with respect to a particular stock included in the Fund Securities applicable to the redemption of a Creation Unit Aggregation may be paid an equivalent amount of cash. The Authorized Participant may request the redeeming Beneficial Owner of the Fund shares to complete an order form or to enter into agreements with respect to such matters as compensating cash payment, beneficial ownership of shares or delivery instructions. Because the portfolio securities of the Fund may trade on the relevant exchange(s) on days that the listing exchange for the Fund is closed or that are otherwise not Business Days for the Fund, shareholders may not be able to redeem their shares of the Fund, or purchase and sell shares of the Fund on the listing exchange for the Fund, on days when the net asset value of the Fund could be significantly affected by events in the relevant foreign markets. REGULAR HOLIDAYS The Fund generally intends to effect deliveries of Creation Units and securities in its portfolio ("Portfolio Securities") on a basis of "T" plus three Business Days (i.e., days on which the NYSE is open). The Fund may effect deliveries of Creation Units and portfolio securities on a basis other than "T" plus three in order to accommodate local holiday schedules, to account for different treatment among non-U.S. and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates, or under certain other circumstances. The ability of the Trust to effect in-kind creations and redemptions within three Business Days of receipt of an order in good form is subject, among other things, to the condition that, within the time period from the date of the order to the date of delivery of the securities, there are no days that are holidays in the applicable foreign market. For every occurrence of one or more intervening holidays in the applicable non-U.S. market that are not holidays observed in the U.S. equity market, the redemption settlement cycle will be extended by the number of such intervening holidays. In addition to holidays, other -55- unforeseeable closings in a non-U.S. market due to emergencies may also prevent the Trust from delivering securities within the normal settlement period. The longest redemption cycle for the Fund is a function of the longest redemption cycle among the countries whose securities comprise the Fund. The securities delivery cycles currently practicable for transferring Portfolio Securities to redeeming investors, coupled with non-U.S. market holiday schedules, will require a delivery process longer than seven calendar days for the Fund in certain circumstances. It is not expected, however, that the Fund will take more than twelve calendar days from the date of the tender to deliver the redemption proceeds. The holidays applicable to the Fund during such periods are listed below. Certain holidays may occur on different dates in subsequent years. The proclamation of new holidays, the treatment by market participants of certain days as "informal holidays" (e.g., days on which no or limited securities transactions occur, as a result of substantially shortened trading hours), the elimination of existing holidays, or changes in local securities delivery practices, could affect the information set forth herein at some time in the future. The dates of the regular holidays affecting the relevant securities markets from February 2016 through January 2017 of the below-listed countries are as follows: ARGENTINA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA BELGIUM --------- --------- ------- ------- February 8 March 25 March 28 March 25 February 9 March 28 May 5 March 28 March 24 April 25 May 26 May 5 March 25 June 13 October 26 July 21 May 25 December 26 December 8 August 15 June 20 December 27 December 26 November 1 August 15 January 2 December 31 November 11 October 10 January 26 January 6 December 26 November 28 December 8 December 30 BRAZIL CANADA CHILE CHINA ------ ------ ----- ----- February 8 February 15 March 25 February 8 February 9 March 25 May 1 February 9 March 25 May 23 May 21 February 10 April 21 July 1 June 27 February 11 May 26 August 1 August 15 February 12 September 7 September 5 September 19 April 4 October 12 October 10 October 10 May 2 November 2 December 26 December 8 June 9 November 20 December 27 September 15 December 31 January 2 September 16 October 4 October 5 October 6 October 7 -56- DENMARK FINLAND FRANCE GERMANY ------- ------- ------ ------- March 24 March 25 March 25 March 25 March 25 March 28 March 28 March 28 March 28 May 5 May 5 May 5 April 22 June 25 May 16 May 16 May 5 December 26 December 26 May 6 January 6 May 16 December 26 GREECE HONG KONG INDIA IRELAND ------ --------- ----- ------- March 25 February 8 March 23 March 17 April 29 February 9 March 25 March 28 May 2 February 10 April 13 May 2 June 20 March 25 April 14 June 6 August 15 March 28 April 15 December 26 October 28 April 4 April 20 December 27 December 26 May 2 April 21 January 6 May 14 September 5 June 9 September 12 July 1 October 2 September 16 October 11 October 1 November 1 October 10 November 24 December 6 January 26 December 27 January 2 January 31 ISRAEL ITALY JAPAN MALAYSIA ------ ----- ----- -------- March 24 March 25 February 11 February 8 April 22 April 25 March 20 February 9 April 28 June 2 March 21 May 5 April 29 August 15 April 29 August 31 May 11 January 6 May 3 September 13 May 12 May 4 September 16 June 12 May 5 October 29 August 14 July 18 December 12 October 3 August 11 January 2 October 4 September 19 October 11 September 22 October 12 October 10 October 17 November 3 October 24 November 23 January 2 January 9 -57- MEXICO NEW ZEALAND NETHERLANDS NORWAY ------ ----------- ----------- ------ February 1 February 2 March 25 March 24 March 24 February 8 March 28 March 25 March 25 March 25 May 5 March 28 September 16 March 28 December 26 May 5 November 21 April 25 May 16 December 12 June 6 May 17 October 24 December 26 December 26 December 27 January 2 January 3 PORTUGAL SINGAPORE SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH KOREA -------- --------- ------------ ----------- March 25 February 8 March 21 February 8 March 28 February 9 March 25 February 9 June 10 March 25 March 28 March 1 August 15 May 2 April 27 May 5 December 26 July 6 May 2 June 6 August 9 June 16 August 15 September 12 August 9 September 14 December 26 December 16 September 15 January 2 December 26 September 16 January 30 January 2 January 30 SPAIN SWEDEN SWITZERLAND TAIWAN ----- ------ ----------- ------ March 25 March 25 February 15 February 4 March 28 March 28 March 25 February 8 December 26 May 5 March 28 February 9 January 6 June 6 May 5 February 10 June 25 May 16 February 11 January 6 August 1 February 12 December 26 February 29 April 4 April 5 May 2 June 10 September 15 October 10 January 2 January 30 January 31 -58- THAILAND UNITED KINGDOM UNITED STATES -------- -------------- ------------- February 22 March 25 February 15 April 6 March 28 May 30 April 13 May 2 July 4 April 14 May 30 September 5 April 15 August 29 October 10 May 2 December 26 November 11 May 5 December 27 November 24 May 6 January 2 December 26 May 20 January 2 July 1 January 16 July 18 July 19 August 12 October 24 December 5 December 12 January 2 FEDERAL TAX MATTERS This section summarizes some of the main U.S. federal income tax consequences of owning shares of the Fund. This section is current as of the date of the SAI. Tax laws and interpretations change frequently, and these summaries do not describe all of the tax consequences to all taxpayers. For example, these summaries generally do not describe your situation if you are a corporation, a non-U.S. person, a broker-dealer, or other investor with special circumstances. In addition, this section does not describe your state, local or foreign tax consequences. This federal income tax summary is based in part on the advice of counsel to the Fund. The Internal Revenue Service could disagree with any conclusions set forth in this section. In addition, our counsel was not asked to review, and has not reached a conclusion with respect to the federal income tax treatment of the assets to be deposited in the Fund. This may not be sufficient for prospective investors to use for the purpose of avoiding penalties under federal tax law. As with any investment, prospective investors should seek advice based on their individual circumstances from their own tax advisor. The Fund intends to qualify annually and to elect to be treated as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). -59- To qualify for the favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment generally accorded to regulated investment companies, the Fund must, among other things, (i) derive in each taxable year at least 90% of its gross income from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans and gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies or other income derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, or net income derived from interests in certain publicly traded partnerships; (ii) diversify its holdings so that, at the end of each quarter of the taxable year, (i) at least 50% of the market value of the Fund's assets is represented by cash and cash items (including receivables), U.S. government securities, the securities of other regulated investment companies and other securities, with such other securities of any one issuer generally limited for the purposes of this calculation to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund's total assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of its total assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or the securities of other regulated investment companies) of any one issuer, or two or more issuers which the Fund controls which are engaged in the same, similar or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more of certain publicly traded partnerships; and (iii) distribute at least 90% of its investment company taxable income (which includes, among other items, dividends, interest and net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses) and at least 90% of its net tax-exempt interest income each taxable year. There are certain exceptions for failure to qualify if the failure is for reasonable cause or is de minimis, and certain corrective action is taken and certain tax payments are made by the Fund. As a regulated investment company, the Fund generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on its investment company taxable income (as that term is defined in the Code, but without regard to the deduction for dividends paid) and net capital gain (the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss), if any, that it distributes to shareholders. The Fund intends to distribute to its shareholders, at least annually, substantially all of its investment company taxable income and net capital gain. If the Fund retains any net capital gain or investment company taxable income, it will generally be subject to federal income tax at regular corporate rates on the amount retained. In addition, amounts not distributed on a timely basis in accordance with a calendar year distribution requirement are subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax unless, generally, the Fund distributes during each calendar year an amount equal to the sum of (1) at least 98% of its ordinary income (not taking into account any capital gains or losses) for the calendar year, (2) at least 98.2% of its capital gains in excess of its capital losses (adjusted for certain ordinary losses) for the one-year period ending October 31 of the calendar year, and (3) any ordinary income and capital gains for previous years that were not distributed during those years. In order to prevent application of the excise tax, the Fund intends to make its distributions in accordance with the calendar year distribution requirement. A distribution will be treated as paid on December 31 of the current calendar year if it is declared by the Fund in October, November or December with a record date in such a month and paid by the Fund during January of the following calendar year. Such distributions will be taxable to shareholders in the calendar year in which the distributions are declared, rather than the calendar year in which the distributions are received. Subject to certain reasonable cause and de minimis exceptions, if the Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company or fails to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement in any taxable year, the Fund would be taxed as an -60- ordinary corporation on its taxable income (even if such income were distributed to its shareholders) and all distributions out of earnings and profits would be taxed to shareholders as ordinary income. DISTRIBUTIONS Dividends paid out of the Fund's investment company taxable income are generally taxable to a shareholder as ordinary income to the extent of the Fund's earnings and profits, whether paid in cash or reinvested in additional shares. However, certain ordinary income distributions received from the Fund may be taxed at capital gains tax rates. In particular, ordinary income dividends received by an individual shareholder from a regulated investment company such as the Fund are generally taxed at the same rates that apply to net capital gain, provided that certain holding period requirements are satisfied and provided the dividends are attributable to qualifying dividends received by the Fund itself. Dividends received by the Fund from REITs and foreign corporations are qualifying dividends eligible for this lower tax rate only in certain circumstances. The Fund will provide notice to its shareholders of the amount of any distributions that may be taken into account as a dividend which is eligible for the capital gains tax rates. The Fund cannot make any guarantees as to the amount of any distribution which will be regarded as a qualifying dividend. Income from the Fund may also be subject to a 3.8% "Medicare tax." This tax generally applies to net investment income if the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds certain threshold amounts, which are $250,000 in the case of married couples filing joint returns and $200,000 in the case of single individuals. A corporation that owns shares generally will not be entitled to the dividends received deduction with respect to many dividends received from the Fund because the dividends received deduction is generally not available for distributions from regulated investment companies. However, certain ordinary income dividends on shares that are attributable to qualifying dividends received by the Fund from certain domestic corporations may be reported by the Fund as being eligible for the dividends received deduction. Distributions of net capital gain (the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss), if any, properly reported as capital gain dividends are taxable to a shareholder as long-term capital gains, regardless of how long the shareholder has held Fund shares. Shareholders receiving distributions in the form of additional shares, rather than cash, generally will have a tax basis in each such share equal to the value of a share of the Fund on the reinvestment date. A distribution of an amount in excess of the Fund's current and accumulated earnings and profits will be treated by a shareholder as a return of capital which is applied against and reduces the shareholder's basis in his or her shares. To the extent that the amount of any such distribution exceeds the shareholder's basis in his or her shares, the excess will be treated by the shareholder as gain from a sale or exchange of the shares. Shareholders will be notified annually as to the U.S. federal income tax status of distributions, and shareholders receiving distributions in the form of additional shares will receive a report as to the value of those shares. -61- SALE OR EXCHANGE OF FUND SHARES Upon the sale or other disposition of shares of the Fund, which a shareholder holds as a capital asset, such shareholder may realize a capital gain or loss which will be long-term or short-term, depending upon the shareholder's holding period for the shares. Generally, a shareholder's gain or loss will be a long-term gain or loss if the shares have been held for more than one year. Any loss realized on a sale or exchange will be disallowed to the extent that shares disposed of are replaced (including through reinvestment of dividends) within a period of 61 days beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after disposition of shares or to the extent that the shareholder, during such period, acquires or enters into an option or contract to acquire, substantially identical stock or securities. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss. Any loss realized by a shareholder on a disposition of Fund shares held by the shareholder for six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any distributions of long-term capital gain received by the shareholder with respect to such shares. TAXES ON PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF CREATION UNITS If a shareholder exchanges equity securities for Creation Units, the shareholder will generally recognize a gain or a loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time and the shareholder's aggregate basis in the securities surrendered and the Cash Component paid. If a shareholder exchanges Creation Units for equity securities, then the shareholder will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the shareholder's basis in the Creation Units and the aggregate market value of the securities received and the Cash Redemption Amount. The Internal Revenue Service, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units or Creation Units for securities cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing "wash sales," or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position. NATURE OF FUND'S INVESTMENTS Certain of the Fund's investment practices are subject to special and complex federal income tax provisions that may, among other things, (i) disallow, suspend or otherwise limit the allowance of certain losses or deductions, (ii) convert lower taxed long-term capital gain into higher taxed short-term capital gain or ordinary income, (iii) convert an ordinary loss or a deduction into a capital loss (the deductibility of which is more limited), (iv) cause the Fund to recognize income or gain without a corresponding receipt of cash, (v) adversely affect the time as to when a purchase or sale of stock or securities is deemed to occur and (vi) adversely alter the characterization of certain complex financial transactions. -62- FUTURES CONTRACTS AND OPTIONS The Fund's transactions in futures contracts and options will be subject to special provisions of the Code that, among other things, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the Fund (i.e., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital, or short-term or long-term), may accelerate recognition of income to the Fund and may defer Fund losses. These rules could, therefore, affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also (i) will require the Fund to mark-to-market certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out); and (ii) may cause the Fund to recognize income without receiving cash with which to make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement for qualifying to be taxed as a regulated investment company and the distribution requirements for avoiding excise taxes. INVESTMENTS IN CERTAIN FOREIGN CORPORATIONS If the Fund holds an equity interest in any PFICs, which are generally certain foreign corporations that receive at least 75% of their annual gross income from passive sources (such as interest, dividends, certain rents and royalties or capital gains) or that hold at least 50% of their assets in investments producing such passive income, the Fund could be subject to U.S. federal income tax and additional interest charges on gains and certain distributions with respect to those equity interests, even if all the income or gain is timely distributed to its shareholders. The Fund will not be able to pass through to its shareholders any credit or deduction for such taxes. The Fund may be able to make an election that could ameliorate these adverse tax consequences. In this case, the Fund would recognize as ordinary income any increase in the value of such PFIC shares, and as ordinary loss any decrease in such value to the extent it did not exceed prior increases included in income. Under this election, the Fund might be required to recognize in a year income in excess of its distributions from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock during that year, and such income would nevertheless be subject to the distribution requirement and would be taken into account for purposes of the 4% excise tax (described above). Dividends paid by PFICs are not treated as qualified dividend income. BACKUP WITHHOLDING The Fund may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax from all taxable distributions and sale proceeds payable to shareholders who fail to provide the Fund with their correct taxpayer identification number or fail to make required certifications, or who have been notified by the Internal Revenue Service that they are subject to backup withholding. Corporate shareholders and certain other shareholders specified in the Code generally are exempt from such backup withholding. This withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld may be credited against the shareholder's U.S. federal income tax liability. NON-U.S. SHAREHOLDERS U.S. taxation of a shareholder who, as to the United States, is a nonresident alien individual, a foreign trust or estate, a foreign corporation or foreign partnership ("non-U.S. shareholder") depends on whether the income of -63- the Fund is "effectively connected" with a U.S. trade or business carried on by the shareholder. In addition to the rules described in this section concerning the potential imposition of withholding on distributions to non-U.S. persons, distributions to non-U.S. persons that are "financial institutions" may be subject to a withholding tax of 30% unless an agreement is in place between the financial institution and the U.S. Treasury to collect and disclose information about accounts, equity investments, or debt interests in the financial institution held by one or more U.S. persons or the institution is resident in a jurisdiction that has entered into such an agreement with the U.S. Treasury. For these purposes, a "financial institution" means any entity that (i) accepts deposits in the ordinary course of a banking or similar business, (ii) holds financial assets for the account of others as a substantial portion of its business, or (iii) is engaged (or holds itself out as being engaged) primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities, partnership interests, commodities or any interest (including a futures contract or option) in such securities, partnership interests or commodities. Dispositions of shares by such persons may be subject to such withholding after December 31, 2018. Distributions to non-financial non-U.S. entities (other than publicly traded foreign entities, entities owned by residents of U.S. possessions, foreign governments, international organizations, or foreign central banks) will also be subject to a withholding tax of 30% if the entity does not certify that the entity does not have any substantial U.S. owners or provide the name, address and TIN of each substantial U.S. owner. Dispositions of shares by such persons may be subject to such withholding after December 31, 2018. Income Not Effectively Connected. If the income from the Fund is not "effectively connected" with a U.S. trade or business carried on by the non-U.S. shareholder, distributions of investment company taxable income will generally be subject to a U.S. tax of 30% (or lower treaty rate), which tax is generally withheld from such distributions. Distributions of capital gain dividends and any amounts retained by the Fund which are properly reported by the Fund as undistributed capital gains will not be subject to U.S. tax at the rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate) unless the non-U.S. shareholder is a nonresident alien individual and is physically present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year and meets certain other requirements. However, this 30% tax on capital gains of nonresident alien individuals who are physically present in the United States for more than the 182 day period only applies in exceptional cases because any individual present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year is generally treated as a resident for U.S. income tax purposes; in that case, he or she would be subject to U.S. income tax on his or her worldwide income at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens, rather than the 30% U.S. tax. In the case of a non-U.S. shareholder who is a nonresident alien individual, the Fund may be required to withhold U.S. income tax from distributions of net capital gain unless the non-U.S. shareholder certifies his or her non-U.S. status under penalties of perjury or otherwise establishes an exemption. If a non-U.S. shareholder is a nonresident alien individual, any gain such shareholder realizes upon the sale or exchange of such shareholder's shares of the Fund in the United States will ordinarily be exempt from U.S. tax unless the gain is U.S. source income and such shareholder is physically present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year and meets certain -64- other requirements. In addition, capital gains distributions attributable to gains from U.S. real property interests (including certain U.S. real property holding corporations) will generally be subject to United States withholding tax and will give rise to an obligation on the part of the foreign shareholder to file a United States tax return. Income Effectively Connected. If the income from the Fund is "effectively connected" with a U.S. trade or business carried on by a non-U.S. shareholder, then distributions of investment company taxable income and capital gain dividends, any amounts retained by the Fund which are properly reported by the Fund as undistributed capital gains and any gains realized upon the sale or exchange of shares of the Fund will be subject to U.S. income tax at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens, residents and domestic corporations. Non-U.S. corporate shareholders may also be subject to the branch profits tax imposed by the Code. The tax consequences to a non-U.S. shareholder entitled to claim the benefits of an applicable tax treaty may differ from those described herein. Non-U.S. shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the Fund. CAPITAL LOSS CARRY-FORWARD Under the Regulated Investment Company Modernization Act of 2010 (the "RIC Modernization Act"), net capital losses of the Fund may be carried forward indefinitely, and their character is retained as short-term and/or long-term losses. To the extent that these loss carry-forwards are used to offset future capital gains, it is probable that the capital gains so offset will not be distributed to Fund shareholders. The Fund is subject to certain limitations, under U.S. tax rules, on the use of capital loss carry-forwards and net unrealized built-in losses. These limitations apply when there has been a 50% change in ownership. OTHER TAXATION Fund shareholders may be subject to state, local and foreign taxes on their Fund distributions. Shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the Fund. DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled "Net Asset Value." The per-share net asset value of the Fund is determined by dividing the total value of the securities and other assets, less liabilities, by the total number of shares outstanding. Under normal circumstances, daily calculation of the net asset value will utilize the last closing sale price of each security held by the Fund at the close of the market on which such security is principally listed. In determining net asset value, portfolio securities for the Fund for which accurate market quotations are readily available will be valued by the Fund accounting agent as follows: -65- (1) Common stocks and other equity securities listed on any national or foreign exchange other than Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market ("AIM") will be valued at the last sale price on the exchange on which they are principally traded, or the official closing price for Nasdaq and AIM securities. Portfolio securities traded on more than one securities exchange are valued at the last sale price or official closing price, as applicable, on the Business Day as of which such value is being determined at the close of the exchange representing the principal market for such securities. (2) Shares of open-end mutual funds are valued at fair value which is based on NAV per share. (3) Securities traded in the OTC market are fair valued at the mean of their most recent bid and asked price, if available, and otherwise at their closing bid price. (4) Exchange traded options and futures contracts are valued at the closing price in the market where such contracts are principally traded. If no closing price is available, they will be fair valued at the mean of their most recent bid and asked price, if available, and otherwise at their closing bid price. OTC options and futures contracts are fair valued at the mean of their most recent bid and asked price, if available, and otherwise at their closing bid price. (5) Forward foreign currency contracts are fair valued at the current day's interpolated foreign exchange rate, as calculated using the current day's spot rate, and the 30, 60, 90 and 180-day forward rates provided by a pricing service or by certain independent dealers in such contracts. In addition, the following types of securities will be fair valued by the Fund accounting agent as follows: (1) Fixed-income securities, interest rate swaps, credit default swaps, total return swaps, currency swaps, currency-linked notes, credit-linked notes and other similar instruments will be fair valued using a pricing service. (2) Fixed income and other debt securities having a remaining maturity of 60 days or less when purchased are fair valued at cost adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts (amortized cost), provided the Advisor's Pricing Committee has determined that the use of amortized cost is an appropriate reflection of fair value given market and issuer-specific conditions existing at the time of the determination. Factors that may be considered in determining the appropriateness of the use of amortized cost include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) the credit conditions in the relevant market and changes thereto; -66- (ii) the liquidity conditions in the relevant market and changes thereto; (iii) the interest rate conditions in the relevant market and changes thereto (such as significant changes in interest rates); (iv) issuer-specific conditions (such as significant credit deterioration); and (v) any other market-based data the Advisor's Pricing Committee considers relevant. In this regard, the Advisor's Pricing Committee may use last-obtained market-based data to assist it when valuing portfolio securities using amortized cost. (3) Repurchase agreements will be valued as follows. Overnight repurchase agreements will be fair valued at amortized cost when it represents the best estimate of fair value. Term repurchase agreements (i.e., those whose maturity exceeds seven days) will be fair valued by the Advisor's Pricing Committee at the average of the bid quotations obtained daily from at least two recognized dealers. If the Advisor's Pricing Committee has reason to question the accuracy or reliability of a price supplied or the use of the amortized cost methodology, the Advisor's Pricing Committee shall determine if "it needs to fair value" such portfolio security pursuant to established valuation procedures. From time to time, the Advisor's Pricing Committee will request that the Fund accounting agent submit price challenges to a pricing service, usually in response to any updated broker prices received. Certain securities may not be able to be priced by pre-established pricing methods. Such securities may be valued by the Board of Trustees or its delegate, the Advisor's Pricing Committee, at fair value. These securities generally include but are not limited to, restricted securities (securities that may not be publicly sold without registration under the 1933 Act) for which a pricing service is unable to provide a market price; securities whose trading has been formally suspended; a security whose market or fair value price is not available from a pre-established pricing source; a security with respect to which an event has occurred that is likely to materially affect the value of the security after the market has closed but before the calculation of Fund net asset value (as may be the case in foreign markets on which the security is primarily traded) or is likely to make it difficult or impossible to obtain a reliable market quotation; and a security whose price, as provided by the pricing service, does not reflect the security's fair value. Fair value prices represent any prices not considered market value prices and are either obtained from a pricing service or are determined by the Advisor's Pricing Committee. Market value prices represent last sale or official closing prices from a national or foreign exchange (i.e., a regulated market) and are primarily obtained from pricing services. If no market price or official close price is available from either a pricing service or no quotations are available from one or more brokers or if the Advisor's Pricing Committee has reason to question the reliability or accuracy of a price supplied or the use of amortized cost, the value of any portfolio security held by the Fund for which reliable market prices/quotations are not readily available will be determined by the Advisor's Pricing Committee in a manner that most appropriately reflects fair market value of the security on the valuation -67- date, based on a consideration of all available information. When fair value prices are used, generally they will differ from market quotations or official closing prices on the applicable exchange. Because foreign markets may be open on different days than the days during which a shareholder may purchase the shares of the Fund, the value of the Fund's investments may change on the days when shareholders are not able to purchase the shares of the Fund. For foreign securities, if an extraordinary market event occurs between the time the last "current" market quotation is available for a security in the Fund's portfolio and the time the Fund's net asset value is determined and calls into doubt whether that earlier market quotation represents fair value at the time the Fund's net asset value is determined, the Fund accounting agent will immediately notify the Advisor's Pricing Committee and the Advisor's Pricing Committee shall determine the fair valuation. For foreign securities, the Advisor's Pricing Committee may seek to determine the "fair value" of such securities by retaining a pricing service to determine the value of the securities. Foreign securities, currencies and other assets denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate of such currencies against the U.S. dollar as provided by a pricing service. All assets denominated in foreign currencies will be converted into U.S. dollars at the exchange rates in effect at the time of valuation. DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled "Dividends, Distributions and Taxes." General Policies. Dividends from net investment income of the Fund, if any, are declared and paid quarterly. Distributions of net realized securities gains, if any, generally are declared and paid once a year, but the Trust may make distributions on a more frequent basis. The Trust reserves the right to declare special distributions if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to preserve the status of the Fund as a regulated investment company or to avoid imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income. Dividends and other distributions of Fund shares are distributed, as described below, on a pro rata basis to Beneficial Owners of such shares. Dividend payments are made through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants to Beneficial Owners then of record with proceeds received from the Fund. Dividend Reinvestment Service. No reinvestment service is provided by the Trust. Broker-dealers may make available the DTC book-entry Dividend Reinvestment Service for use by Beneficial Owners of the Fund for reinvestment of their dividend distributions. Beneficial Owners should contact their brokers in order to determine the availability and costs of the service and the details of participation therein. Brokers may require Beneficial Owners to adhere to specific procedures and timetables. If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and realized gains will be automatically reinvested in additional whole shares of the Fund purchased in the secondary market. -68- MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION Counsel. Chapman and Cutler LLP, 111 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603, is counsel to the Trust. Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. Deloitte & Touche LLP, 111 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606, serves as the Fund's independent registered public accounting firm. The firm audits the Fund's financial statements and performs other related audit services. -69- EXHIBIT A - FTA PROXY VOTING GUIDELINES FIRST TRUST ADVISORS L.P. PROXY VOTING GUIDELINES First Trust Advisors L.P. (the "Adviser") serves as investment adviser providing discretionary investment advisory services for separate managed accounts, ERISA accounts and open- and closed-end investment companies (the "Clients"). As part of these services, the Adviser may have responsibility for proxy voting and related duties. In fulfilling these duties, the Adviser has adopted the following policies and procedures: 1. It is the Adviser's policy to seek and to ensure that proxies are voted on securities in a Client's account consistently and solely in the best economic interests of the Client. 2. The Adviser shall be responsible for the oversight of Client proxy voting processes and shall assign a senior member of its staff to be responsible for this oversight. 3. The Adviser has engaged the services of Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. ("ISS") to make recommendations to the Adviser on the voting of proxies related to securities held by Clients. ISS provides voting recommendations based on established guidelines and practices. The Adviser has adopted these ISS Proxy Voting Guidelines. 4. The Adviser shall review the ISS recommendations and generally will vote proxies in accordance with such recommendations. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Adviser may not vote in accordance with the ISS recommendations if the Adviser believes that the specific ISS recommendation is not in the best interests of the Client. In addition, whenever a conflict of interest arises between ISS and a company subject to a proxy vote, the Adviser will vote the proxy without using the analyses of ISS and will consider the recommendation of the company and what the Adviser believes to be in the best interests of the Client. In addition, if the Adviser has actual knowledge of any other type of material conflict of interest between itself and the respective Client with respect to the voting of a proxy, the Adviser shall vote the applicable proxy in accordance with the ISS recommendations to avoid such conflict of interest. With respect to open- and closed-end funds and variable annuity sub-accounts, if there is a conflict of interest between fund shareholders and FTA, the fund's principal underwriter, or sub-adviser, if applicable, FTA will vote the proxy based on the recommendations of ISS to avoid such conflict of interest. 5. If the Adviser manages the assets or pension fund of a company and any of the Adviser's Clients hold any securities in that company, the Adviser will vote proxies relating to such company's securities in accordance with the ISS recommendations to avoid any conflict of interest. 6. If a Client requests the Adviser to follow specific voting guidelines or additional guidelines, the Adviser shall review the request and follow such A-1 guidelines, unless the Adviser determines that it is unable to follow such guidelines. In such case, the Adviser shall inform the Client that it is not able to follow the Client's request. 7. FTA will monitor changes to the ISS guidelines to determine that such guidelines continue to result in a voting policy that is in the best interests of Clients. 8. In certain circumstances, where FTA has determined that it is consistent with the Client's best interest, FTA will not take steps to ensure that proxies are voted on securities in the Client's accounts. The following are circumstances where this may occur: (a) Limited Value. Proxies will not be required to be voted on securities in a Client's account if the value of the Client's economic interest in the securities is indeterminable or insignificant (less than $1,000). Proxies will also not be required to be voted for any securities that are no longer held by the Client's account. (b) Securities Lending Program. When securities are out on loan, they are transferred into the borrower's name and are voted by the borrower, in its discretion. In most cases, FTA will not take steps to see that loaned securities are voted. However, where FTA determines that a proxy vote, or other shareholder action, is materially important to the Client's account, FTA will make a good faith effort to recall the security for purposes of voting, understanding that in certain cases, the attempt to recall the security may not be effective in time for voting deadlines to be met. (c) Unjustifiable Costs. In certain circumstances, after doing a cost-benefit analysis, FTA may choose not to vote where the cost of voting a Client's proxy would exceed any anticipated benefits to the Client of the proxy proposal (e.g. foreign securities). 9. For certain open- or closed-end funds relying on Section 12(d)(1)(F) of the 1940 Act, FTA will vote on proxies of securities of investment companies held by such funds in the same proportion as all other holders of such securities (i.e. mirror or echo voting) to the extent possible. Adopted: September 15, 2003 Amended: December 10, 2007 Amended: September 21, 2009 A-2 EXHIBIT B - PROXY VOTING GUIDELINES ISS United States Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Benchmark Policy Recommendations EFFECTIVE FOR MEETINGS ON OR AFTER FEBRUARY 1, 2016 PUBLISHED JANUARY 22, 2016 www.issgovernance.com (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-1 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE POLICIES CONTAINED HEREIN ARE A SAMPLING OF SELECTED KEY U.S. PROXY VOTING GUIDELINES AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO BE EXHAUSTIVE. A FULL SUMMARY OF ISS' 2016 PROXY VOTING GUIDELINES CAN BE FOUND AT: HTTP://WWW.ISSGOVERNANCE.COM/POLICY-GATEWAY/2016-POLICY-INFORMATION/ BOARD OF DIRECTORS: VOTING ON DIRECTOR NOMINEES IN UNCONTESTED ELECTIONS GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Generally vote for director nominees, except under the following circumstances: 1. ACCOUNTABILITY Vote against(1) or withhold from the entire board of directors (except new nominees(2), who should be considered case-by-case) for the following: PROBLEMATIC TAKEOVER DEFENSES CLASSIFIED BOARD STRUCTURE: 1.1. The board is classified, and a continuing director responsible for a problematic governance issue at the board/committee level that would warrant a withhold/against vote recommendation is not up for election. All appropriate nominees (except new) may be held accountable. DIRECTOR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: 1.2. The board lacks accountability and oversight, coupled with sustained poor performance relative to peers. Sustained poor performance is measured by one- and three-year total shareholder returns in the bottom half of a company's four-digit GICS industry group (Russell 3000 companies only). Take into consideration the company's five-year total shareholder return and operational metrics. Problematic provisions include but are not limited to: o A classified board structure; o A supermajority vote requirement; o Either a plurality vote standard in uncontested director elections or a majority vote standard with no plurality carve-out for contested elections; o The inability of shareholders to call special meetings; o The inability of shareholders to act by written consent; o A dual-class capital structure; and/or o A non-shareholder-approved poison pill. -------------------- 1 In general, companies with a plurality vote standard use "Withhold" as the contrary vote option in director elections; companies with a majority vote standard use "Against". However, it will vary by company and the proxy must be checked to determine the valid contrary vote option for the particular company. 2 A "new nominee" is any current nominee who has not already been elected by shareholders and who joined the board after the problematic action in question transpired. If ISS cannot determine whether the nominee joined the board before or after the problematic action transpired, the nominee will be considered a "new nominee" if he or she joined the board within the 12 months prior to the upcoming shareholder meeting. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-2 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- POISON PILLS: 1.3. The company's poison pill has a "dead-hand" or "modified dead-hand" feature. Vote against or withhold from nominees every year until this feature is removed; 1.4. The board adopts a poison pill with a term of more than 12 months ("long-term pill"), or renews any existing pill, including any "short-term" pill (12 months or less), without shareholder approval. A commitment or policy that puts a newly adopted pill to a binding shareholder vote may potentially offset an adverse vote recommendation. Review such companies with classified boards every year, and such companies with annually elected boards at least once every three years, and vote against or withhold votes from all nominees if the company still maintains a non-shareholder-approved poison pill; or 1.5. The board makes a material adverse change to an existing poison pill without shareholder approval. Vote case-by-case on all nominees if: 1.6. The board adopts a poison pill with a term of 12 months or less ("short-term pill") without shareholder approval, taking into account the following factors: o The date of the pill's adoption relative to the date of the next meeting of shareholders--i.e. whether the company had time to put the pill on the ballot for shareholder ratification given the circumstances; o The issuer's rationale; o The issuer's governance structure and practices; and o The issuer's track record of accountability to shareholders. PROBLEMATIC AUDIT-RELATED PRACTICES Generally vote against or withhold from the members of the Audit Committee if: 1.7. The non-audit fees paid to the auditor are excessive (see discussion under "Auditor Ratification"); 1.8. The company receives an adverse opinion on the company's financial statements from its auditor; or 1.9. There is persuasive evidence that the Audit Committee entered into an inappropriate indemnification agreement with its auditor that limits the ability of the company, or its shareholders, to pursue legitimate legal recourse against the audit firm. Vote case-by-case on members of the Audit Committee and potentially the full board if: 1.10. Poor accounting practices are identified that rise to a level of serious concern, such as: fraud; misapplication of GAAP; and material weaknesses identified in Section 404 disclosures. Examine the severity, breadth, chronological sequence, and duration, as well as the company's efforts at remediation or corrective actions, in determining whether withhold/against votes are warranted. PROBLEMATIC COMPENSATION PRACTICES/PAY FOR PERFORMANCE MISALIGNMENT In the absence of an Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation ballot item or in egregious situations, vote against or withhold from the members of the Compensation Committee and potentially the full board if: 1.11. There is a significant misalignment between CEO pay and company performance (pay for performance); 1.12. The company maintains significant problematic pay practices; 1.13. The board exhibits a significant level of poor communication and responsiveness to shareholders; 1.14. The company fails to submit one-time transfers of stock options to a shareholder vote; or 1.15. The company fails to fulfill the terms of a burn rate commitment made to shareholders. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-3 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vote case-by-case on Compensation Committee members (or, in exceptional cases, the full board) and the Management Say-on-Pay proposal if: 1.16. The company's previous say-on-pay received the support of less than 70 percent of votes cast, taking into account: o The company's response, including: o Disclosure of engagement efforts with major institutional investors regarding the issues that contributed to the low level of support; o Specific actions taken to address the issues that contributed to the low level of support; o Other recent compensation actions taken by the company; o Whether the issues raised are recurring or isolated; o The company's ownership structure; and o Whether the support level was less than 50 percent, which would warrant the highest degree of responsiveness. UNILATERAL BYLAW/CHARTER AMENDMENTS 1.17. Generally vote against or withhold from directors individually, committee members, or the entire board (except new nominees, who should be considered case-by-case) if the board amends the company's bylaws or charter without shareholder approval in a manner that materially diminishes shareholders' rights or that could adversely impact shareholders, considering the following factors: o The board's rationale for adopting the bylaw/charter amendment without shareholder ratification; o Disclosure by the company of any significant engagement with shareholders regarding the amendment; o The level of impairment of shareholders' rights caused by the board's unilateral amendment to the bylaws/charter; o The board's track record with regard to unilateral board action on bylaw/charter amendments or other entrenchment provisions; o The company's ownership structure; o The company's existing governance provisions; o The timing of the board's amendment to the bylaws/charter in connection with a significant business development; and, o Other factors, as deemed appropriate, that may be relevant to determine the impact of the amendment on shareholders. Unless the adverse amendment is reversed or submitted to a binding shareholder vote, in subsequent years vote case-by-case on director nominees. Generally vote against (except new nominees, who should be considered case-by-case) if the directors: o Classified the board; o Adopted supermajority vote requirements to amend the bylaws or charter; or o Eliminated shareholders' ability to amend bylaws. 1.18. For newly public companies, generally vote against or withhold from directors individually, committee members, or the entire board (except new nominees, who should be considered case-by-case) if, prior to or in connection with the company's public offering, the company or its board adopted bylaw or charter provisions materially adverse to shareholder rights, considering the following factors: o The level of impairment of shareholders' rights caused by the provision; o The disclosed rationale for adopting the provision; o The ability to change the governance structure in the future (e.g., limitations on shareholders' right to amend the bylaws or charter, or supermajority vote requirements to amend the bylaws or charter); -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-4 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- o The ability of shareholders to hold directors accountable through annual director elections, or whether the company has a classified board structure; and, o A public commitment to put the provision to a shareholder vote within three years of the date of the initial public offering. Unless the adverse provision is reversed or submitted to a vote of public shareholders, vote case-by-case on director nominees in subsequent years. GOVERNANCE FAILURES Under extraordinary circumstances, vote against or withhold from directors individually, committee members, or the entire board, due to: 1.19. Material failures of governance, stewardship, risk oversight (3), or fiduciary responsibilities at the company; 1.20. Failure to replace management as appropriate; or 1.21. Egregious actions related to a director's service on other boards that raise substantial doubt about his or her ability to effectively oversee management and serve the best interests of shareholders at any company. 2. RESPONSIVENESS Vote case-by-case on individual directors, committee members, or the entire board of directors as appropriate if: 2.1. The board failed to act on a shareholder proposal that received the support of a majority of the shares cast in the previous year. Factors that will be considered are: o Disclosed outreach efforts by the board to shareholders in the wake of the vote; o Rationale provided in the proxy statement for the level of implementation; o The subject matter of the proposal; o The level of support for and opposition to the resolution in past meetings; o Actions taken by the board in response to the majority vote and its engagement with shareholders; o The continuation of the underlying issue as a voting item on the ballot (as either shareholder or management proposals); and o Other factors as appropriate. 2.2. The board failed to act on takeover offers where the majority of shares are tendered; 2.3. At the previous board election, any director received more than 50 percent withhold/against votes of the shares cast and the company has failed to address the issue(s) that caused the high withhold/against vote; 2.4. The board implements an advisory vote on executive compensation on a less frequent basis than the frequency that received the majority of votes cast at the most recent shareholder meeting at which shareholders voted on the say-on-pay frequency; or 2.5. The board implements an advisory vote on executive compensation on a less frequent basis than the frequency that received a plurality, but not a majority, of the votes cast at the most recent shareholder meeting at which shareholders voted on the say-on-pay frequency, taking into account: o The board's rationale for selecting a frequency that is different from the frequency that received a plurality; o The company's ownership structure and vote results; -------------------- 3 Examples of failure of risk oversight include, but are not limited to: bribery; large or serial fines or sanctions from regulatory bodies; significant adverse legal judgments or settlements; hedging of company stock; or significant pledging of company stock. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-5 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- o ISS' analysis of whether there are compensation concerns or a history of problematic compensation practices; and o The previous year's support level on the company's say-on-pay proposal. 3. COMPOSITION ATTENDANCE AT BOARD AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS: 3.1. Generally vote against or withhold from directors (except new nominees, who should be considered case-by-case(4)) who attend less than 75 percent of the aggregate of their board and committee meetings for the period for which they served, unless an acceptable reason for absences is disclosed in the proxy or another SEC filing. Acceptable reasons for director absences are generally limited to the following: o Medical issues/illness; o Family emergencies; and o Missing only one meeting (when the total of all meetings is three or fewer). 3.2. If the proxy disclosure is unclear and insufficient to determine whether a director attended at least 75 percent of the aggregate of his/her board and committee meetings during his/her period of service, vote against or withhold from the director(s) in question. OVERBOARDED DIRECTORS: Vote against or withhold from individual directors who: 3.3. Sit on more than six public company boards; with respect to annual meetings on or after Feb. 1, 2017(5), sit on more than five public company boards; or 3.4. Are CEOs of public companies who sit on the boards of more than two public companies besides their own--withhold only at their outside boards(6). 4. INDEPENDENCE Vote against or withhold from Inside Directors and Affiliated Outside Directors (per the Categorization of Directors) when: 4.1. The inside or affiliated outside director serves on any of the three key committees: audit, compensation, or nominating; 4.2. The company lacks an audit, compensation, or nominating committee so that the full board functions as that committee; 4.3. The company lacks a formal nominating committee, even if the board attests that the independent directors fulfill the functions of such a committee; or 4.4. Independent directors make up less than a majority of the directors. -------------------- 4 For new nominees only, schedule conflicts due to commitments made prior to their appointment to the board are considered if disclosed in the proxy or another SEC filing. 5 This policy change includes a 1-year transition period to allow time for affected directors to address necessary changes if they wish. 6 Although all of a CEO's subsidiary boards will be counted as separate boards, ISS will not recommend a withhold vote from the CEO of a parent company board or any of the controlled (>50 percent ownership) subsidiaries of that parent, but may do so at subsidiaries that are less than 50 percent controlled and boards outside the parent/subsidiary relationships. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-6 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INDEPENDENT CHAIR (SEPARATE CHAIR/CEO) GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Generally vote for shareholder proposals requiring that the chairman's position be filled by an independent director, taking into consideration the following: o The scope of the proposal; o The company's current board leadership structure; o The company's governance structure and practices; o Company performance; and o Any other relevant factors that may be applicable. Regarding the scope of the proposal, consider whether the proposal is precatory or binding and whether the proposal is seeking an immediate change in the chairman role or the policy can be implemented at the next CEO transition. Under the review of the company's board leadership structure, ISS may support the proposal under the following scenarios absent a compelling rationale: the presence of an executive or non-independent chair in addition to the CEO; a recent recombination of the role of CEO and chair; and/or departure from a structure with an independent chair. ISS will also consider any recent transitions in board leadership and the effect such transitions may have on independent board leadership as well as the designation of a lead director role. When considering the governance structure, ISS will consider the overall independence of the board, the independence of key committees, the establishment of governance guidelines, board tenure and its relationship to CEO tenure, and any other factors that may be relevant. Any concerns about a company's governance structure will weigh in favor of support for the proposal. The review of the company's governance practices may include, but is not limited to poor compensation practices, material failures of governance and risk oversight, related-party transactions or other issues putting director independence at risk, corporate or management scandals, and actions by management or the board with potential or realized negative impact on shareholders. Any such practices may suggest a need for more independent oversight at the company thus warranting support of the proposal. ISS' performance assessment will generally consider one-, three, and five-year TSR compared to the company's peers and the market as a whole. While poor performance will weigh in favor of the adoption of an independent chair policy, strong performance over the long-term will be considered a mitigating factor when determining whether the proposed leadership change warrants support. PROXY ACCESS GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Generally vote for management and shareholder proposals for proxy access with the following provisions: o OWNERSHIP THRESHOLD: maximum requirement not more than three percent (3%) of the voting power; o OWNERSHIP DURATION: maximum requirement not longer than three (3) years of continuous ownership for each member of the nominating group; o AGGREGATION: minimal or no limits on the number of shareholders permitted to form a nominating group; o CAP: cap on nominees of generally twenty-five percent (25%) of the board. Review for reasonableness any other restrictions on the right of proxy access. Generally vote against proposals that are more restrictive than these guidelines. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-7 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROXY CONTESTS/PROXY ACCESS -- VOTING FOR DIRECTOR NOMINEES IN CONTESTED ELECTIONS GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Vote case-by-case on the election of directors in contested elections, considering the following factors: o Long-term financial performance of the company relative to its industry; o Management's track record; o Background to the contested election; o Nominee qualifications and any compensatory arrangements; o Strategic plan of dissident slate and quality of the critique against management; o Likelihood that the proposed goals and objectives can be achieved (both slates); and o Stock ownership positions. In the case of candidates nominated pursuant to proxy access, vote case-by-case considering any applicable factors listed above or additional factors which may be relevant, including those that are specific to the company, to the nominee(s) and/or to the nature of the election (such as whether or not there are more candidates than board seats). CAPITAL/RESTRUCTURING COMMON STOCK AUTHORIZATION GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Vote for proposals to increase the number of authorized common shares where the primary purpose of the increase is to issue shares in connection with a transaction on the same ballot that warrants support. Vote against proposals at companies with more than one class of common stock to increase the number of authorized shares of the class of common stock that has superior voting rights. Vote against proposals to increase the number of authorized common shares if a vote for a reverse stock split on the same ballot is warranted despite the fact that the authorized shares would not be reduced proportionally. Vote case-by-case on all other proposals to increase the number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance. Take into account company-specific factors that include, at a minimum, the following: o Past Board Performance: o The company's use of authorized shares during the last three years o The Current Request: o Disclosure in the proxy statement of the specific purposes of the proposed increase; o Disclosure in the proxy statement of specific and severe risks to shareholders of not approving the request; and o The dilutive impact of the request as determined relative to an allowable increase calculated by ISS (typically 100 percent of existing authorized shares) that reflects the company's need for shares and total shareholder returns. ISS will apply the relevant allowable increase below to requests to increase common stock that are for general corporate purposes (or to the general corporate purposes portion of a request that also includes a specific need): A. Most companies: 100 PERCENT of existing authorized shares. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-8 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. Companies with less than 50 percent of existing authorized shares either outstanding or reserved for issuance: 50 PERCENT of existing authorized shares. C. Companies with one- and three-year total shareholder returns (TSRs) in the bottom 10 percent of the U.S. market as of the end of the calendar quarter that is closest to their most recent fiscal year end: 50 PERCENT of existing authorized shares. D. Companies at which both conditions (B and C) above are both present: 25 PERCENT of existing authorized shares. If there is an acquisition, private placement, or similar transaction on the ballot (not including equity incentive plans) that ISS is recommending FOR, the allowable increase will be the greater of (i) twice the amount needed to support the transactions on the ballot, and (ii) the allowable increase as calculated above. MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Vote case-by-case on mergers and acquisitions. Review and evaluate the merits and drawbacks of the proposed transaction, balancing various and sometimes countervailing factors including: o Valuation - Is the value to be received by the target shareholders (or paid by the acquirer) reasonable? While the fairness opinion may provide an initial starting point for assessing valuation reasonableness, emphasis is placed on the offer premium, market reaction and strategic rationale. o Market reaction - How has the market responded to the proposed deal? A negative market reaction should cause closer scrutiny of a deal. o Strategic rationale - Does the deal make sense strategically? From where is the value derived? Cost and revenue synergies should not be overly aggressive or optimistic, but reasonably achievable. Management should also have a favorable track record of successful integration of historical acquisitions. o Negotiations and process - Were the terms of the transaction negotiated at arm's-length? Was the process fair and equitable? A fair process helps to ensure the best price for shareholders. Significant negotiation "wins" can also signify the deal makers' competency. The comprehensiveness of the sales process (e.g., full auction, partial auction, no auction) can also affect shareholder value. o Conflicts of interest - Are insiders benefiting from the transaction disproportionately and inappropriately as compared to non-insider shareholders? As the result of potential conflicts, the directors and officers of the company may be more likely to vote to approve a merger than if they did not hold these interests. Consider whether these interests may have influenced these directors and officers to support or recommend the merger. The CIC figure presented in the "ISS Transaction Summary" section of this report is an aggregate figure that can in certain cases be a misleading indicator of the true value transfer from shareholders to insiders. Where such figure appears to be excessive, analyze the underlying assumptions to determine whether a potential conflict exists. o Governance - Will the combined company have a better or worse governance profile than the current governance profiles of the respective parties to the transaction? If the governance profile is to change for the worse, the burden is on the company to prove that other issues (such as valuation) outweigh any deterioration in governance. COMPENSATION Executive Pay Evaluation Underlying all evaluations are five global principles that most investors expect corporations to adhere to in designing and administering executive and director compensation programs: 1. Maintain appropriate pay-for-performance alignment, with emphasis on long-term shareholder value: This principle encompasses overall executive pay practices, which must be designed to attract, retain, and appropriately motivate the key employees who drive shareholder value creation over the long term. It will take into consideration, among other factors, the link between pay and performance; the mix between fixed and variable pay; performance goals; and equity-based plan costs; -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-9 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Avoid arrangements that risk "pay for failure": This principle addresses the appropriateness of long or indefinite contracts, excessive severance packages, and guaranteed compensation; 3. Maintain an independent and effective compensation committee: This principle promotes oversight of executive pay programs by directors with appropriate skills, knowledge, experience, and a sound process for compensation decision-making (e.g., including access to independent expertise and advice when needed); 4. Provide shareholders with clear, comprehensive compensation disclosures: This principle underscores the importance of informative and timely disclosures that enable shareholders to evaluate executive pay practices fully and fairly; 5. Avoid inappropriate pay to non-executive directors: This principle recognizes the interests of shareholders in ensuring that compensation to outside directors does not compromise their independence and ability to make appropriate judgments in overseeing managers' pay and performance. At the market level, it may incorporate a variety of generally accepted best practices. ADVISORY VOTES ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION--MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS (MANAGEMENT SAY-ON-PAY) GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Vote case-by-case on ballot items related to executive pay and practices, as well as certain aspects of outside director compensation. Vote against Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation (Management Say-on-Pay--MSOP) if: o There is a significant misalignment between CEO pay and company performance (pay for performance); o The company maintains significant problematic pay practices; o The board exhibits a significant level of poor communication and responsiveness to shareholders. Vote against or withhold from the members of the Compensation Committee and potentially the full board if: o There is no MSOP on the ballot, and an against vote on an MSOP is warranted due to pay for performance misalignment, problematic pay practices, or the lack of adequate responsiveness on compensation issues raised previously, or a combination thereof; o The board fails to respond adequately to a previous MSOP proposal that received less than 70 percent support of votes cast; o The company has recently practiced or approved problematic pay practices, including option repricing or option backdating; or o The situation is egregious. PRIMARY EVALUATION FACTORS FOR EXECUTIVE PAY PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE EVALUATION ISS annually conducts a pay-for-performance analysis to identify strong or satisfactory alignment between pay and performance over a sustained period. With respect to companies in the Russell 3000 or Russell 3000E Indices(7), this analysis considers the following: 1. Peer Group(8) Alignment: -------------------- 7 The Russell 3000E Index includes approximately 4,000 of the largest U.S. equity securities. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-10 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- o The degree of alignment between the company's annualized TSR rank and the CEO's annualized total pay rank within a peer group, each measured over a three-year period. o The multiple of the CEO's total pay relative to the peer group median. 2. Absolute Alignment(9) - the absolute alignment between the trend in CEO pay and company TSR over the prior five fiscal years - i.e., the difference between the trend in annual pay changes and the trend in annualized TSR during the period. If the above analysis demonstrates significant unsatisfactory long-term pay-for-performance alignment or, in the case of companies outside the Russell indices, misaligned pay and performance are otherwise suggested, our analysis may include any of the following qualitative factors, as relevant to evaluating how various pay elements may work to encourage or to undermine long-term value creation and alignment with shareholder interests: o The ratio of performance- to time-based equity awards; o The overall ratio of performance-based compensation; o The completeness of disclosure and rigor of performance goals; o The company's peer group benchmarking practices; o Actual results of financial/operational metrics, such as growth in revenue, profit, cash flow, etc., both absolute and relative to peers; o Special circumstances related to, for example, a new CEO in the prior FY or anomalous equity grant practices (e.g., bi-annual awards); o Realizable pay(10) compared to grant pay; and o Any other factors deemed relevant. PROBLEMATIC PAY PRACTICES The focus is on executive compensation practices that contravene the global pay principles, including: o Problematic practices related to non-performance-based compensation elements; o Incentives that may motivate excessive risk-taking; and o Options Backdating. PROBLEMATIC PAY PRACTICES RELATED TO NON-PERFORMANCE-BASED COMPENSATION ELEMENTS Pay elements that are not directly based on performance are generally evaluated case-by-case considering the context of a company's overall pay program and demonstrated pay-for-performance philosophy. Please refer to ISS' Compensation FAQ document for detail on specific pay practices that have been identified as potentially problematic and may lead to negative recommendations if they are deemed to be inappropriate or unjustified relative to executive pay best practices. The list below highlights the problematic practices that carry significant weight in this overall consideration and may result in adverse vote recommendations: -------------------- 8 The revised peer group is generally comprised of 14-24 companies that are selected using market cap, revenue (or assets for certain financial firms), GICS industry group, and company's selected peers' GICS industry group, with size constraints, via a process designed to select peers that are comparable to the subject company in terms of revenue/assets and industry, and also within a market cap bucket that is reflective of the company's. For Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels companies, market cap is the only size determinant. 9 Only Russell 3000 Index companies are subject to the Absolute Alignment analysis. 10 ISS research reports include realizable pay for S&P1500 companies. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-11 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- o Repricing or replacing of underwater stock options/SARS without prior shareholder approval (including cash buyouts and voluntary surrender of underwater options); o Excessive perquisites or tax gross-ups, including any gross-up related to a secular trust or restricted stock vesting; o New or extended agreements that provide for: o CIC payments exceeding 3 times base salary and average/target/most recent bonus; o CIC severance payments without involuntary job loss or substantial diminution of duties ("single" or "modified single" triggers); o CIC payments with excise tax gross-ups (including "modified" gross-ups); o Insufficient executive compensation disclosure by externally- managed issuers (EMIs) such that a reasonable assessment of pay programs and practices applicable to the EMI's executives is not possible. INCENTIVES THAT MAY MOTIVATE EXCESSIVE RISK-TAKING o Multi-year guaranteed bonuses; o A single or common performance metric used for short- and long-term plans; o Lucrative severance packages; o High pay opportunities relative to industry peers; o Disproportionate supplemental pensions; or o Mega annual equity grants that provide unlimited upside with no downside risk. Factors that potentially mitigate the impact of risky incentives include rigorous claw-back provisions and robust stock ownership/holding guidelines. OPTIONS BACKDATING The following factors should be examined case-by-case to allow for distinctions to be made between "sloppy" plan administration versus deliberate action or fraud: o Reason and motive for the options backdating issue, such as inadvertent vs. deliberate grant date changes; o Duration of options backdating; o Size of restatement due to options backdating; o Corrective actions taken by the board or compensation committee, such as canceling or re-pricing backdated options, the recouping of option gains on backdated grants; and o Adoption of a grant policy that prohibits backdating, and creates a fixed grant schedule or window period for equity grants in the future. COMPENSATION COMMITTEE COMMUNICATIONS AND RESPONSIVENESS Consider the following factors case-by-case when evaluating ballot items related to executive pay on the board's responsiveness to investor input and engagement on compensation issues: o Failure to respond to majority-supported shareholder proposals on executive pay topics; or o Failure to adequately respond to the company's previous say-on-pay proposal that received the support of less than 70 percent of votes cast, taking into account: o The company's response, including: o Disclosure of engagement efforts with major institutional investors regarding the issues that contributed to the low level of support; o Specific actions taken to address the issues that contributed to the low level of support; o Other recent compensation actions taken by the company; -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-12 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- o Whether the issues raised are recurring or isolated; o The company's ownership structure; and o Whether the support level was less than 50 percent, which would warrant the highest degree of responsiveness. Equity-Based and Other Incentive Plans GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Vote case-by-case on certain equity-based compensation plans(11) depending on a combination of certain plan features and equity grant practices, where positive factors may counterbalance negative factors, and vice versa, as evaluated using an "equity plan scorecard" (EPSC) approach with three pillars: o PLAN COST: The total estimated cost of the company's equity plans relative to industry/market cap peers, measured by the company's estimated Shareholder Value Transfer (SVT) in relation to peers and considering both: o SVT based on new shares requested plus shares remaining for future grants, plus outstanding unvested/unexercised grants; and o SVT based only on new shares requested plus shares remaining for future grants. o PLAN FEATURES: o Automatic single-triggered award vesting upon a change in control (CIC); o Discretionary vesting authority; o Liberal share recycling on various award types; o Lack of minimum vesting period for grants made under the plan. o GRANT PRACTICES: o The company's three year burn rate relative to its industry/market cap peers; o Vesting requirements in most recent CEO equity grants (3-year look-back); o The estimated duration of the plan (based on the sum of shares remaining available and the new shares requested, divided by the average annual shares granted in the prior three years); o The proportion of the CEO's most recent equity grants/awards subject to performance conditions; o Whether the company maintains a claw-back policy; o Whether the company has established post exercise/vesting share-holding requirements. Generally vote against the plan proposal if the combination of above factors indicates that the plan is not, overall, in shareholders' interests, or if any of the following egregious factors apply: o Awards may vest in connection with a liberal change-of-control definition; o The plan would permit repricing or cash buyout of underwater options without shareholder approval (either by expressly permitting it - for NYSE and Nasdaq listed companies -- or by not prohibiting it when the company has a history of repricing - for non-listed companies); o The plan is a vehicle for problematic pay practices or a significant pay-for-performance disconnect under certain circumstances; or o Any other plan features are determined to have a significant negative impact on shareholder interests. -------------------- 11 Proposals evaluated under the EPSC policy generally include those to approve or amend (1) stock option plans for employees and/or employees and directors, (2) restricted stock plans for employees and/or employees and directors, and (3) omnibus stock incentive plans for employees and/or employees and directors. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-13 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOCIAL/ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS) Global Approach Issues covered under the policy include a wide range of topics, including consumer and product safety, environment and energy, labor standards and human rights, workplace and board diversity, and corporate political issues. While a variety of factors goes into each analysis, the overall principle guiding all vote recommendations focuses on how the proposal may enhance or protect shareholder value in either the short or long term. GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Generally vote case-by-case, taking into consideration whether implementation of the proposal is likely to enhance or protect shareholder value, and in addition the following will also be considered: o If the issues presented in the proposal are more appropriately or effectively dealt with through legislation or government regulation; o If the company has already responded in an appropriate and sufficient manner to the issue(s) raised in the proposal; o Whether the proposal's request is unduly burdensome (scope or timeframe) or overly prescriptive; o The company's approach compared with any industry standard practices for addressing the issue(s) raised by the proposal; o If the proposal requests increased disclosure or greater transparency, whether or not reasonable and sufficient information is currently available to shareholders from the company or from other publicly available sources; and o If the proposal requests increased disclosure or greater transparency, whether or not implementation would reveal proprietary or confidential information that could place the company at a competitive disadvantage. CLIMATE CHANGE/GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) EMISSIONS GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Generally vote for resolutions requesting that a company disclose information on the risks related to climate change on its operations and investments, such as financial, physical, or regulatory risks, considering: o Whether the company already provides current, publicly-available information on the impact that climate change may have on the company as well as associated company policies and procedures to address related risks and/or opportunities; o The company's level of disclosure is at least comparable to that of industry peers; and o There are no significant controversies, fines, penalties, or litigation associated with the company's environmental performance. Generally vote for proposals requesting a report on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from company operations and/or products and operations, unless: o The company already discloses current, publicly-available information on the impacts that GHG emissions may have on the company as well as associated company policies and procedures to address related risks and/or opportunities; o The company's level of disclosure is comparable to that of industry peers; and o There are no significant, controversies, fines, penalties, or litigation associated with the company's GHG emissions. Vote case-by-case on proposals that call for the adoption of GHG reduction goals from products and operations, taking into account: o Whether the company provides disclosure of year-over-year GHG emissions performance data; o Whether company disclosure lags behind industry peers; -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-14 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- o The company's actual GHG emissions performance; o The company's current GHG emission policies, oversight mechanisms, and related initiatives; and o Whether the company has been the subject of recent, significant violations, fines, litigation, or controversy related to GHG emissions. BOARD DIVERSITY GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Generally vote for requests for reports on a company's efforts to diversify the board, unless: o The gender and racial minority representation of the company's board is reasonably inclusive in relation to companies of similar size and business; and o The board already reports on its nominating procedures and gender and racial minority initiatives on the board and within the company. Vote case-by-case on proposals asking a company to increase the gender and racial minority representation on its board, taking into account: o The degree of existing gender and racial minority diversity on the company's board and among its executive officers; o The level of gender and racial minority representation that exists at the company's industry peers; o The company's established process for addressing gender and racial minority board representation; o Whether the proposal includes an overly prescriptive request to amend nominating committee charter language; o The independence of the company's nominating committee; o Whether the company uses an outside search firm to identify potential director nominees; and o Whether the company has had recent controversies, fines, or litigation regarding equal employment practices. SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Generally vote for proposals requesting that a company report on its policies, initiatives, and oversight mechanisms related to social, economic, and environmental sustainability, unless: o The company already discloses similar information through existing reports or policies such as an environment, health, and safety (EHS) report; a comprehensive code of corporate conduct; and/or a diversity report; or o The company has formally committed to the implementation of a reporting program based on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines or a similar standard within a specified time frame. ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) COMPENSATION-RELATED PROPOSALS GENERAL RECOMMENDATION: Vote case-by-case on proposals to link, or report on linking, executive compensation to sustainability (environmental and social) criteria, considering: o Whether the company has significant and/or persistent controversies or regulatory violations regarding social and/or environmental issues; o Whether the company has management systems and oversight mechanisms in place regarding its social and environmental performance; o The degree to which industry peers have incorporated similar non-financial performance criteria in their executive compensation practices; and o The company's current level of disclosure regarding its environmental and social performance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-15 ISS 2016 U.S. Concise Proxy Voting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This document and all of the information contained in it, including without limitation all text, data, graphs, and charts (collectively, the "Information") is the property of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), its subsidiaries, or, in some cases third party suppliers. The Information has not been submitted to, nor received approval from, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or any other regulatory body. None of the Information constitutes an offer to sell (or a solicitation of an offer to buy), or a promotion or recommendation of, any security, financial product or other investment vehicle or any trading strategy, and ISS does not endorse, approve, or otherwise express any opinion regarding any issuer, securities, financial products or instruments or trading strategies. The user of the Information assumes the entire risk of any use it may make or permit to be made of the Information. ISS MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ORIGINALITY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, NON-INFRINGEMENT, COMPLETENESS, MERCHANTABILITY, AND FITNESS for A PARTICULAR PURPOSE) WITH RESPECT TO ANY OF THE INFORMATION. Without limiting any of the foregoing and to the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event shall ISS have any liability regarding any of the Information for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential (including lost profits), or any other damages even if notified of the possibility of such damages. The foregoing shall not exclude or limit any liability that may not by applicable law be excluded or limited. ISS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Global Leader In Corporate Governance www.issgovernance.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enabling the financial community to manage governance risk for the benefit of shareholders. (c) 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services B-16 First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III PART C - OTHER INFORMATION ITEM 28. EXHIBITS EXHIBIT NO. DESCRIPTION (a)(1) Declaration of Trust of the Registrant and Establishment and Designation of Series Attached Thereto as Schedule A (1) (2) Amended and Restated Establishment and Designation of Series, dated November 16, 2015 (6) (b) By-Laws of the Registrant (2) (c) Not Applicable (d) (1) Investment Management Agreement between Registrant and First Trust Advisors L.P., dated February 4, 2016 (7) (2) Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement by and between First Trust Advisors L.P. and RiverFront Investment Group, LLC (7) (e) (1) Distribution Agreement by and between the Registrant and First Trust Portfolios L.P. dated February 1, 2013 (3) (2) Exhibit A to Distribution Agreement by and between the Registrant and First Trust Portfolios L.P. as of February 2, 2016 (7) (f) Not Applicable (g) (1) Custodian Agreement between the Registrant and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., dated January 25, 2013 (3) (2) Schedule A to the Custodian Agreement between the Registrant and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., dated February 4, 2016 (7) (h) (1) Form of Subscription Agreement (2) (2) Administrative Agency Agreement between the Registrant and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., dated January 23, 2013 (3) (3) Appendix A to Administrative Agency Agreement between the Registrant and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., dated February 4, 2016 (7) (i) (1) Opinion and Consent of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, dated June 15, 2016 (8) (2) Opinion and Consent of Chapman and Cutler LLP, dated June 15, 2016 (8) (j) Not Applicable (k) Not Applicable (l) Not Applicable (m) (1) 12b-1 Service Plan (3) (2) Exhibit A to 12b-1 Service Plan, as of February 2, 2016 (7) (n) Not Applicable (o) Not Applicable (p) (1) First Trust Advisors L.P., First Trust Portfolios L.P. Code of Ethics, amended on July 1, 2013 (4) (2) First Trust Funds Code of Ethics, amended on October 30, 2013 (4) (q) Powers of Attorney for Messrs. Bowen, Erickson, Kadlec, Keith and Nielson authorizing W. Scott Jardine, James M. Dykas, Kristi A. Maher and Eric F. Fess to execute the Registration Statement (5) ------------------ (1) Incorporated by reference to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File No. 333-176976) filed on September 23, 2011. (2) Incorporated by reference to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File No. 333-176976) filed on January 30, 2013. (3) Incorporated by reference to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File No. 333-176976) filed on February 28, 2014. (4) Incorporated by reference to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File No. 333-176976) filed on April 3, 2014. (5) Incorporated by reference to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File No. 333-176976) filed on January 07, 2016. (6) Incorporated by reference to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File No. 333-176976) filed on February 01, 2016. (7) Incorporated by reference to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form N-1A (File No. 333-176976) filed on April 14, 2016. (8) Filed herewith. ITEM 29. PERSONS CONTROLLED BY OR UNDER COMMON CONTROL WITH REGISTRANT Not Applicable ITEM 30. INDEMNIFICATION Section 9.5 of the Registrant's Declaration of Trust provides as follows: Section 9.5. Indemnification and Advancement of Expenses. Subject to the exceptions and limitations contained in this Section 9.5, every person who is, or has been, a Trustee, officer, or employee of the Trust, including persons who serve at the request of the Trust as directors, trustees, officers, employees or agents of another organization in which the Trust has an interest as a shareholder, creditor or otherwise (hereinafter referred to as a "Covered Person"), shall be indemnified by the Trust to the fullest extent permitted by law against liability and against all expenses reasonably incurred or paid by him or in connection with any claim, action, suit or proceeding in which he becomes involved as a party or otherwise by virtue of his being or having been such a Trustee, director, officer, employee or agent and against amounts paid or incurred by him in settlement thereof. No indemnification shall be provided hereunder to a Covered Person to the extent such indemnification is prohibited by applicable federal law. The rights of indemnification herein provided may be insured against by policies maintained by the Trust, shall be severable, shall not affect any other rights to which any Covered Person may now or hereafter be entitled, shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be such a Covered Person and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person. Subject to applicable federal law, expenses of preparation and presentation of a defense to any claim, action, suit or proceeding subject to a claim for indemnification under this Section 9.5 shall be advanced by the Trust prior to final disposition thereof upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the recipient to repay such amount if it is ultimately determined that he is not entitled to indemnification under this Section 9.5. To the extent that any determination is required to be made as to whether a Covered Person engaged in conduct for which indemnification is not provided as described herein, or as to whether there is reason to believe that a Covered Person ultimately will be found entitled to indemnification, the Person or Persons making the determination shall afford the Covered Person a rebuttable presumption that the Covered Person has not engaged in such conduct and that there is reason to believe that the Covered Person ultimately will be found entitled to indemnification. As used in this Section 9.5, the words "claim," "action," "suit" or "proceeding" shall apply to all claims, demands, actions, suits, investigations, regulatory inquiries, proceedings or any other occurrence of a similar nature, whether actual or threatened and whether civil, criminal, administrative or other, including appeals, and the words "liability" and "expenses" shall include without limitation, attorneys' fees, costs, judgments, amounts paid in settlement, fines, penalties and other liabilities. ITEM 31. BUSINESS AND OTHER CONNECTIONS OF THE INVESTMENT ADVISER First Trust Advisors L.P. ("First Trust"), investment adviser to the Registrant, serves as adviser or sub-adviser to various other open-end and closed-end management investment companies and is the portfolio supervisor of certain unit investment trusts. The principal business of certain of First Trust's principal executive officers involves various activities in connection with the family of unit investment trusts sponsored by First Trust Portfolios L.P. ("FTP"). The principal address for all these investment companies, First Trust, FTP and the persons below is 120 East Liberty Drive, Suite 400, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. A description of any business, profession, vocation or employment of a substantial nature in which the officers of First Trust who serve as officers or trustees of the Registrant have engaged during the last two years for his or her account or in the capacity of director, officer, employee, partner or trustee appears under "Management of the Fund" in the Statement of Additional Information. Such information for the remaining senior officers of First Trust appears below: NAME AND POSITION WITH FIRST TRUST EMPLOYMENT DURING PAST TWO YEARS Andrew S. Roggensack, President Managing Director and President, First Trust R. Scott Hall, Managing Director Managing Director, First Trust Ronald D. McAlister, Managing Director Managing Director, First Trust David G. McGarel, Chief Investment Officer, Managing Director (since July Chief Operating Officer and Managing 2012); Senior Vice President, Director First Trust Kathleen Brown, Chief Compliance Officer Chief Compliance Officer and and Senior Vice President Senior Vice President, First Trust Brian Wesbury, Chief Economist and Senior Chief Economist and Senior Vice Vice President President, First Trust ITEM 32. PRINCIPAL UNDERWRITER (a) FTP serves as principal underwriter of the shares of the Registrant, First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund, First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund II, First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV, First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund V, First Trust Exchange Traded Fund VI, First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VII, First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII, First Trust Exchange-Traded AlphaDEX(R) Fund, First Trust Exchange-Traded AlphaDEX(R) Fund II, First Trust Variable Insurance Trust and First Trust Series Fund. FTP serves as principal underwriter and depositor of the following investment companies registered as unit investment trusts: the First Trust Combined Series, FT Series (formerly known as the First Trust Special Situations Trust), the First Trust Insured Corporate Trust, the First Trust of Insured Municipal Bonds and the First Trust GNMA. (b)
NAME AND PRINCIPAL POSITIONS AND OFFICES POSITIONS AND BUSINESS ADDRESS* WITH UNDERWRITER OFFICES WITH FUND The Charger Corporation General Partner None Grace Partners of DuPage L.P. Limited Partner None James A. Bowen Chief Executive Officer and Trustee and Chairman of the Board Managing Director James M. Dykas Chief Financial Officer President and Chief Executive Officer Frank L. Fichera Managing Director None Russell J. Graham Managing Director None R. Scott Hall Managing Director None W. Scott Jardine General Counsel, Secretary and Secretary Managing Director Daniel J. Lindquist Managing Director Vice President Ronald D. McAlister Managing Director None David G. McGarel Chief Investment Officer, Chief None Operating Officer and Managing Director Richard A. Olson Managing Director None Marisa Bowen Managing Director None Andrew S. Roggensack President and Managing Director None Kristi A. Maher Deputy General Counsel Chief Compliance Officer and Assistant Secretary
* All addresses are 120 East Liberty Drive, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. (c) Not Applicable ITEM 33. LOCATION OF ACCOUNTS AND RECORDS First Trust, 120 East Liberty Drive, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, maintains the Registrant's organizational documents, minutes of meetings, contracts of the Registrant and all advisory material of the investment adviser. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., 50 Post Office Square, Boston, Massachusetts 02110 ("BBH") maintains all general and subsidiary ledgers, journals, trial balances, records of all portfolio purchases and sales, and all other requirement records not maintained by First Trust. BBH also maintains all the required records in its capacity as transfer, accounting, dividend payment and interest holder service agent for the Registrant. ITEM 34. MANAGEMENT SERVICES Not Applicable ITEM 35. UNDERTAKINGS Not Applicable SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Registrant certifies that it meets all of the requirements for effectiveness of this Registration Statement under rule 485(b) under the Securities Act and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, duly authorized, in the City of Wheaton, and State of Illinois, on the 15th day of June, 2016. FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND III By: /s/ James M. Dykas --------------------------------- James M. Dykas, President and Chief Executive Officer Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the date indicated: SIGNATURE TITLE DATE President and Chief June 15, 2016 /s/ James M. Dykas Executive Officer ---------------------------- James M. Dykas Treasurer, Chief Financial June 15, 2016 Officer and /s/ Donald P. Swade Chief Accounting Officer ---------------------------- Donald P. Swade ) James A. Bowen* Trustee ) ) ) Richard E. Erickson* Trustee ) ) BY: /s/ W. Scott Jardine ) ----------------------- Thomas R. Kadlec* Trustee ) W. Scott Jardine ) Attorney-In-Fact ) June 15, 2016 Robert F. Keith* Trustee ) ) ) Niel B. Nielson * Trustee ) ) * Original powers of attorney authorizing W. Scott Jardine, James M. Dykas, Eric F. Fess and Kristi A. Maher to execute Registrant's Registration Statement, and Amendments thereto, for each of the trustees of the Registrant on whose behalf this Registration Statement is filed, were previously executed, filed as an exhibit and are incorporated by reference herein. INDEX TO EXHIBITS (i)(1) Opinion and Consent of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, dated June 15, 2016 (i)(2) Opinion and Consent of Chapman and Cutler LLP, dated June 15, 2016