PIMCO Multisector Bond Active Exchange-Traded Fund

Summary Prospectus

May 19, 2023 

Ticker PYLD NYSE Arca

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus, reports to shareholders (once available) and other information about the Fund online at pimcoetfs.com/resources. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 888.400.4ETF (888.400.4383) or by sending an email request to piprocess@dstsystems.com. The Fund’s prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, both dated May 19, 2023, as supplemented, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks to maximize yield and long term capital appreciation consistent with prudent investment management.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

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

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment): N/A

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment): 

Management Fees	0.65%
Other Expenses(1)	0.02%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	0.67%
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement(2)(3)	(0.12%)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement	0.55%

1

“Other Expenses” reflect estimated expenses for the Fund's first fiscal year.

2

Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (“PIMCO”) has contractually agreed, through October 31, 2025, to waive its management fee, or reimburse the Fund, to the extent that organizational expenses, pro rata share of expenses related to obtaining or maintaining a Legal Entity Identifier and pro rata Trustees’ fees exceed 0.0049% of the Fund’s average net assets (the “Expense Limit”). Under the Expense Limitation Agreement, which renews annually for a full year unless terminated by PIMCO upon at least 30 days’ notice prior to the end of the contract term, PIMCO may recoup these waivers and reimbursements in future periods, not exceeding three years, provided that organizational expenses, pro rata share of expenses related to obtaining or maintaining a Legal Entity Identifier and pro rata Trustees’ fees, plus recoupment, do not exceed the Expense Limit (or the amount of the expense limit in place at the time the amount being recouped was originally waived if lower than the Expense Limit).

3

PIMCO has contractually agreed, through October 31, 2025, to reduce its management fee by 0.10% of the average daily net assets of the Fund. In any month in which the investment management agreement is in effect, PIMCO is entitled to reimbursement by the Fund of any portion of the management fee waived as set forth above (the “Fee Waiver Reimbursement Amount”) during the previous thirty-six months from the time of the waiver, provided that such amount paid to PIMCO will not: 1) together with any recoupment of organizational expenses, pro rata share of expenses related to obtaining or maintaining a Legal Entity Identifier and pro rata Trustee fees pursuant to the Expense Limitation Agreement, exceed the Expense Limit (calculated as a percentage of average daily net assets) (or the amount of the expense limit in place at the time the amount being recouped was originally waived if

lower than the Expense Limit); 2) exceed the total Fee Waiver Reimbursement Amount; or 3) include any amounts previously reimbursed to PIMCO.

Example.  The Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the costs of investing in other exchange-traded funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, and then  hold or sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: 

1 Year	3 Years
$56	$188

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs 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 the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example tables, affect the Fund’s performance. The Fund has not yet commenced operations as of the date of this prospectus. Thus no portfolio turnover rate is provided for the Fund.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its assets in a multi-sector portfolio of Fixed Income Instruments of varying maturities, which may be represented by forwards or derivatives such as options, futures contracts or swap agreements. “Fixed Income Instruments” include bonds, debt securities and other similar instruments issued by various U.S. and non-U.S. public- or private-sector entities. The Fund will not be managed to a benchmark, meaning the Fund can pursue investment opportunities as it sees fit (consistent with its disclosed investment guidelines) without regard to any benchmark index.

In pursuing the Fund’s investment objective, PIMCO expects to emphasize investment strategies that are more strategic, or long-term in nature, with less emphasis on short-term, tactical trading strategies and security selection. In addition, PIMCO will utilize an approach to seek to identify sectors and securities that are undervalued. The Fund’s investment program may involve a longer investment horizon designed to minimize trading volume and distinct investment strategies as compared with other PIMCO-advised funds with names, investment objectives and policies similar to the Fund. As a result, investments made by the Fund and the results achieved by the Fund at any given time are not expected to be the same as or similar to those made by such other PIMCO-advised funds.

The Fund will generally allocate its assets among several investment sectors, without limitation, which may include: (i) high yield securities (“junk bonds”) and investment grade corporate bonds of issuers located in the United States and non-U.S. countries, including emerging market countries; (ii) fixed income securities issued by U.S. and non-U.S. governments (including emerging market governments), their

PIMCO ETF Trust | Summary Prospectus

 

PIMCO Multisector Bond Active Exchange-Traded Fund

agencies and instrumentalities; (iii) mortgage-related and other asset backed securities; and (iv) foreign currencies, including those of emerging market countries. However, the Fund is not required to gain exposure to any one investment sector, and the Fund’s exposure to any one investment sector will vary over time. The Fund may invest in instruments of any maturity or duration but the average portfolio duration of this Fund is normally expected to vary from two to eight years based on Pacific Investment Management Company LLC’s (“PIMCO”) market forecasts. Duration is a measure used to determine the sensitivity of a security’s price to changes in interest rates. The longer a security’s duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates.

The Fund may invest, without limitation, in high yield securities rated below investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (“S&P”) or Fitch, Inc. (“Fitch”), or if unrated, as determined by PIMCO. The Fund may invest, without limitation, in securities denominated in foreign currencies and in U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers. The Fund may obtain foreign currency exposure (from non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities or currencies) without limitation. In addition, the Fund may invest, without limitation, in fixed income securities and instruments that are economically tied to emerging market countries.

The Fund may invest, without limitation, in derivative instruments, such as options, futures contracts or swap agreements, or in mortgage- or asset-backed securities, subject to applicable law and any other restrictions described in the Fund’s prospectus or Statement of Additional Information. The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis and may engage in short sales. The Fund may, without limitation, seek to obtain market exposure to the securities in which it primarily invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts or by using other investment techniques (such as buy backs or dollar rolls). The Fund may also invest in contingent convertible securities and up to 10% of its total assets in preferred securities.

Principal Risks

It is possible to lose money on an investment in the Fund. The principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net asset value, yield and total return, are listed below.

New Fund Risk: the risk that a new fund’s performance may not represent how the fund is expected to or may perform in the long term. In addition, new funds have limited operating histories for investors to evaluate and new funds may not attract sufficient assets to achieve investment and trading efficiencies

Small Fund Risk: the risk that a smaller fund may not achieve investment or trading efficiencies. Additionally, a smaller fund may be more adversely affected by large purchases or redemptions of fund shares

Market Trading Risk: the risk that an active secondary trading market for Fund shares does not continue once developed, that the Fund may not continue to meet a listing exchange’s trading or listing requirements

that trading in Fund shares may be halted or become less liquid, or that Fund shares trade at prices other than the Fund’s net asset value, and are subject to trading costs, which may be exacerbated if the creation/redemption process becomes less effective, particularly during times of market stress

Interest Rate Risk: the risk that fixed income securities will decline in value because of an increase in interest rates; a fund with a longer average portfolio duration will be more sensitive to changes in interest rates than a fund with a shorter average portfolio duration

Call Risk: the risk that an issuer may exercise its right to redeem a fixed income security earlier than expected (a call). Issuers may call outstanding securities prior to their maturity for a number of reasons (e.g., declining interest rates, changes in credit spreads and improvements in the issuer’s credit quality). If an issuer calls a security that the Fund has invested in, the Fund may not recoup the full amount of its initial investment and may be forced to reinvest in lower-yielding securities, securities with greater credit risks or securities with other, less favorable features

Credit Risk: the risk that the Fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a fixed income security, or the counterparty to a derivative contract, is unable or unwilling, or is perceived (whether by market participants, rating agencies, pricing services or otherwise) as unable or unwilling, to meet its financial obligations

High Yield Risk: the risk that high yield securities and unrated securities of similar credit quality (commonly known as “junk bonds”) are subject to greater levels of credit, call and liquidity risks. High yield securities are considered primarily speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments, and may be more volatile than higher-rated securities of similar maturity

Market Risk: the risk that the value of securities owned by the Fund may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to factors affecting securities markets generally or particular industries

Issuer Risk: the risk that the value of a security may decline for a reason directly related to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer’s goods or services

Liquidity Risk: the risk that a particular investment may be difficult to purchase or sell and that the Fund may be unable to sell illiquid investments at an advantageous time or price or achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain sector. Liquidity risk may result from the lack of an active market, reduced number and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in fixed income securities, and may be magnified in a rising interest rate environment or other circumstances where investor redemptions from fixed income funds may be higher than normal, causing increased supply in the market due to selling activity

Derivatives Risk: the risk of investing in derivative instruments (such as forwards, futures, swaps and structured securities) and other similar investments, including leverage, liquidity, interest rate, market, counterparty (including credit), operational, legal and management

2   Summary Prospectus | PIMCO ETF Trust

Summary Prospectus

risks, and valuation complexity. Changes in the value of a derivative or other similar investment may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the underlying asset, rate or index, and the Fund could lose more than the initial amount invested. Changes in the value of a derivative or other similar instrument may also create margin delivery or settlement payment obligations for the Fund. The Fund’s use of derivatives or other similar investments may result in losses to the Fund, a reduction in the Fund’s returns and/or increased volatility. Over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives or other similar investments are also subject to the risk that a counterparty to the transaction will not fulfill its contractual obligations to the other party, as many of the protections afforded to centrally-cleared derivative transactions might not be available for OTC derivatives or other similar investments. The primary credit risk on derivatives or other similar investments that are exchange-traded or traded through a central clearing counterparty resides with the Fund's clearing broker or the clearinghouse. Changes in regulation relating to a registered fund’s use of derivatives and related instruments could potentially limit or impact the Fund’s ability to invest in derivatives, limit the Fund’s ability to employ certain strategies that use derivatives or other similar investments and/or adversely affect the value of derivatives and the Fund’s performance

Equity Risk: the risk that the value of equity or equity-related securities, including preferred securities, may decline due to general market conditions which are not specifically related to a particular company or to factors affecting a particular industry or industries. Equity or equity-related securities generally have greater price volatility than fixed income securities. In addition, preferred securities may be subject to greater credit risk or other risks, such as risks related to deferred and omitted distributions, limited voting rights, liquidity, interest rates, regulatory changes and special redemption rights 

Mortgage-Related and Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk: the risks of investing in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities, including interest rate risk, extension risk, prepayment risk and credit risk. The Fund may invest in any tranche of mortgage-related or other asset-backed securities, including junior and/or equity tranches (to the extent consistent with other of the Fund’s guidelines), which generally carry higher levels of the foregoing risks 

Foreign (Non-U.S.) Investment Risk: the risk that investing in foreign (non-U.S.) securities may result in the Fund experiencing more rapid and extreme changes in value than a fund that invests exclusively in securities of U.S. companies, due to smaller markets, differing reporting, accounting and auditing standards, increased risk of delayed settlement of portfolio transactions or loss of certificates of portfolio securities, and the risk of unfavorable foreign government actions, including nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, currency blockage, or political changes, diplomatic developments or the imposition of sanctions and other similar measures. Foreign securities may also be less liquid and more difficult to value than securities of U.S. issuers

Emerging Markets Risk: the risk of investing in emerging market securities, primarily increased foreign (non-U.S.) investment risk

Sovereign Debt Risk: the risk that investments in fixed income instruments issued by sovereign entities may decline in value as a result of default or other adverse credit event resulting from an issuer’s inability or unwillingness to make principal or interest payments in a timely fashion

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

Leveraging Risk: the risk that certain transactions of the Fund, such as reverse repurchase agreements, loans of portfolio securities, and the use of when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment transactions, or derivative instruments, may give rise to leverage, magnifying gains and losses and causing the Fund to be more volatile than if it had not been leveraged. This means that leverage entails a heightened risk of loss

Management Risk: the risk that the investment techniques and risk analyses applied by PIMCO will not produce the desired results and that actual or potential conflicts of interest, legislative, regulatory, or tax restrictions, policies or developments may affect the investment techniques available to PIMCO and the individual portfolio manager in connection with managing the Fund and may cause PIMCO to restrict or prohibit participation in certain investments. There is no guarantee that the investment objective of the Fund will be achieved

Short Exposure Risk: the risk of entering into short sales or other short positions, including the potential loss of more money than the actual cost of the investment, and the risk that the third party to the short sale or other short position will not fulfill its contractual obligations, causing a loss to the Fund

Contingent Convertible Securities Risk: the risks of investing in contingent convertible securities, including the risk that interest payments will be cancelled by the issuer or a regulatory authority, the risk of ranking junior to other creditors in the event of a liquidation or other bankruptcy- related event as a result of holding subordinated debt, the risk of the Fund’s investment becoming further subordinated as a result of conversion from debt to equity, the risk that principal amount due can be written down to a lesser amount, and the general risks applicable to fixed income investments, including interest rate risk, credit risk, market risk and liquidity risk, any of which could result in losses to the Fund

LIBOR Transition Risk: the risk related to the anticipated discontinuation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). Certain instruments held by the Fund rely in some fashion upon LIBOR. Although the transition process away from LIBOR has become increasingly well-defined in advance of the anticipated discontinuation date, there remains uncertainty regarding the nature of any replacement rate, and any potential effects of the transition away from LIBOR on the

May 19, 2023 | SUMMARY PROSPECTUS  3

PIMCO Multisector Bond Active Exchange-Traded Fund

Fund or on certain instruments in which the Fund invests can be difficult to ascertain. The transition process may involve, among other things, increased volatility or illiquidity in markets for instruments that currently rely on LIBOR and may result in a reduction in the value of certain instruments held by the Fund

Please see “Description of Principal Risks” in the Fund's prospectus for a more detailed description of the risks of 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 government agency.

Performance Information

The Fund does not have a full calendar year of performance. Thus, no bar chart or Average Annual Total Returns table is included for the Fund.Once the Fund commences operations, performance for the Fund will be updated daily and quarterly and may be obtained as follows: daily and quarterly updates on the net asset value and performance page at https://www.pimco.com/en-us/investments/etf.

Investment Adviser/Portfolio Managers

PIMCO serves as the investment adviser for the Fund. The Fund’s portfolio is jointly and primarily managed by Daniel Ivascyn, Alfred Murata, Sonali Pier, Amit Arora, Mukundan Devarajan and Jason Duko. Messrs. Ivascyn and Murata and Ms. Pier are Managing Directors of PIMCO and Messrs. Arora, Devarajan and Duko are Executive Vice Presidents of PIMCO, and they have managed the Fund since its inception.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”). Individual Fund shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer and may not be purchased or redeemed directly with the Fund. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than net asset value (“NAV”), shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (“bid”) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares (“ask”) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information, including information about the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is included on the Fund’s website at https://www.pimco.com/en-us/investments/etf.

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gains, or a combination of the two, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case distributions may be taxable upon withdrawal.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase Fund shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, PIMCO or other related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares or 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.

 

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