FlexShares Credit-Scored US Long Corporate Bond Index Fund

FlexShares^®  Credit-Scored US Long Corporate Bond Index Fund

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Northern Trust Credit-Scored US Long Corporate Bond Index^SM (the “Underlying Index”).

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. Under the Fund’s Investment Advisory Agreement, the Fund is responsible for the following other expenses: interest expenses, brokerage commissions and other trading expenses, fees and expenses of the independent trustees and their independent legal counsel, taxes and other extraordinary costs such as litigation and other expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of business. You will also incur usual and customary brokerage commissions when buying or selling shares of the Fund in the secondary market, which are not reflected in the example that follows:

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

Annual Fund Operating Expenses		FlexShares Credit-Scored US Long Corporate Bond Index Fund FlexShares Credit-Scored US Long Corporate Bond Index Fund
Management Fees		0.22%
Distribution (12b-1) Fees		none
Other Expenses	[1]	0.01%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses		0.23%
Expense Reimbursement	[2]	(0.01%)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursement		0.22%

Example

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

Expense Example	FlexShares Credit-Scored US Long Corporate Bond Index Fund FlexShares Credit-Scored US Long Corporate Bond Index Fund USD ($)
1 Year	$ 23
3 Years	$ 73

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. Portfolio turnover may vary from year to year, as well as within a year. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Fund had not commenced operations.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Underlying Index reflects the performance of a broad universe of US-dollar denominated bonds of companies that are considered by the Index Provider to have higher credit quality, lower risk of default and the potential for higher yield, price appreciation and liquidity relative to the universe of securities comprising the Northern Trust Investment-Grade US Long Corporate Bond Index^SM (the “Parent Index”), pursuant to the Underlying Index’s index methodology. The Underlying Index is designed to outperform the Parent Index on a risk-adjusted basis, as measured by a combination of yield return and price appreciation. Securities included in the Underlying Index are component securities of the Parent Index. The Underlying Index begins with the Parent Index and then follows a rules-based methodology to select and calculate optimal weights for securities in the Underlying Index based on liquidity and security issuers’ fundamental factors, as determined by NTI, in its capacity as index provider (the “Index Provider”). An eligible bond must have a final time to stated maturity that is greater than or equal to ten years. In order to be eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index, a bond also must (i) be a fixed rate taxable bond with $500 million or greater outstanding principal at the time of Index reconstitution; and (ii) be either publicly offered in the U.S. or that is offered pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), with registration rights. In addition, a security also must be rated within the top four rating categories by a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (“NRSRO”) or of comparable quality as determined by the Index Provider. The Underlying Index is a new index, with an inception date of July 7, 2015. As of July 31, 2015, there were 628 issues in the Underlying Index.

The Underlying Index is governed by transparent, objective rules for security selection, exclusion, rebalancing and adjustments for corporate actions. The Index is reconstituted monthly.

NTI uses a “passive” or indexing approach to try to achieve the Fund’s investment objective. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not try to “beat” the index it tracks and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued. In addition to tracking the performance of the Underlying Index, the Investment Adviser seeks to minimize portfolio turnover and tax inefficiencies.

NTI uses representative sampling strategy to manage the Fund. “Representative sampling” is investing in a representative sample of securities that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Underlying Index. Securities selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of the Underlying Index. The Fund may or may not hold all of the securities that are included in the Underlying Index. Funds that employ a representative sampling strategy may incur tracking error to a greater extent than a fund that seeks to replicate an index. “Replication” is an indexing strategy in which a fund invests in substantially all of the securities in its underlying index in approximately the same proportions as in the underlying index. The Fund reserves the right to use a replication indexing strategy if NTI determines that it is in the best interests of the Fund.

The Fund generally will invest under normal circumstances at least 80% of its total assets in the securities of its Underlying Index. The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its assets in cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by NTI or its affiliates, futures contracts and options on futures, as well as securities not included in the Underlying Index, but which NTI believes will help the Fund track its Underlying Index.

The Underlying Index is created and sponsored by NTI, as the Index Provider. NTI also serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. The Index Provider determines the composition and relative weightings of the securities in the Underlying Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Underlying Index. Additional information regarding the Index Provider is provided in the “More Information about the Underlying Index and Index Provider” section of the Prospectus.

The Fund is “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”), as amended, and may invest more of its assets in fewer issuers than “diversified” funds.

Industry Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities) are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. The components of the Underlying Index, and the degree to which these components represent certain industries, may change over time.

Principal Risks

As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund’s performance could trail that of other investments. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment objective.

Asset Class Risk is the risk that securities in the Underlying Index or the Fund’s portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general securities markets or other asset classes.

Concentration Risk is the risk that, to the extent the Fund’s investments are concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular region, country, market, industry, sector or asset class, the Fund may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that region, country, market, industry, sector or asset class.

Corporate Bond Risk is the risk the Fund faces because it invests primarily in bonds issued by corporations. Corporate debt securities are subject to the risk of the issuer’s inability to meet principal and interest payments on the obligation and may also be subject to price volatility due to such factors as interest rate sensitivity, market perception of the creditworthiness of the issuer and general market liquidity. When interest rates rise, the value of corporate debt can be expected to decline. Debt securities with longer maturities tend to be more sensitive to interest rate movements than those with shorter maturities.

Counterparty Risk is the risk that a counterparty to a financial instrument may default on its payment obligation to the Fund. Such a default may cause the value of an investment in the Fund to decrease.

Credit (or Default) Risk is the risk that the inability or unwillingness of an issuer or guarantor of a fixed-income security, or a counterparty to a repurchase or other transaction, to meet its payment or other financial obligations will adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investments and its returns. Changes in the credit rating of a debt security held by the Fund could have a similar effect. Although the Underlying Index is designed to measure a portfolio of bonds of companies with higher credit quality and low risk of default relative to the Parent Index, there is no assurance that the Underlying Index or Fund will be comprised of such securities or that companies that have historically exhibited fundamentals consistent with high credit quality will continue to exhibit such fundamentals. The Underlying Index relies on various sources of information regarding an issuer’s fundamental factors, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor NTI can offer assurances that the Underlying Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of the issuers of the securities included in the Underlying Index.

Debt Extension Risk is the risk that an issuer will exercise its right to pay principal on an obligation held by the Fund later than expected. This may happen during a period of rising interest rates. Under these circumstances, the value of the obligation will decrease and the Fund will suffer from the inability to invest in higher yielding securities.

Derivatives Risk is the risk of investing in derivative instruments, such as futures contracts and options on futures contracts. These risks include liquidity, interest rate, market, credit, counterparty and management risks, as well as the risk of mispricing or improper valuation. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying asset, rate or index, and the Fund could lose more than the principal amount invested.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk is the risk that the Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of its portfolio securities. High portfolio turnover (higher than 100%) may result in increased transaction costs to the Fund, including brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale of the securities and on reinvestment in other securities.

Income Risk is the risk that the Fund’s income may decline when interest rates fall. This decline can occur because the Fund must invest in lower-yielding bonds as bonds in its portfolio mature, bonds in the Underlying Index are substituted or the Fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds.

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 values of the Fund’s assets can decline.

Interest Rate/Maturity Risk is the risk that the value of the Fund’s fixed-income assets will decline because of rising interest rates. The magnitude of this decline will often be greater for longer-term fixed-income securities than shorter-term fixed-income securities. The Fund currently faces a heightened level of interest rate risk because interest rates are at historically low levels.

Issuer Risk is the risk that changes in the financial condition of an issuer or counterparty, changes in specific economic or political conditions that affect a particular type of security or issuer, and changes in general economic or political conditions can affect a security’s or instrument’s credit quality or value.

Liquidity Risk is the risk that certain portfolio securities may be less liquid than others, which may make them difficult or impossible to sell at the time and the price that the Fund would like, adversely affecting the value of the Fund’s investments and its returns. Illiquid investments may be harder to value, especially in changing markets, and if the Fund is forced to sell these investments to meet redemption requests or for other cash needs, the Fund may suffer a loss. The market for certain investments may become illiquid under adverse market or economic conditions independent of any specific adverse changes in the conditions of a particular issuer. In such cases, the Fund, due to limitations on investments in illiquid securities and/or purchasing and selling such investments, may be unable to achieve a high degree of correlation with the Underlying Index. Additionally, in adverse market conditions, the Fund’s market price may begin to reflect illiquidity or pricing uncertainty of the Fund’s portfolio securities. This could lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a price that is higher or lower than the Fund’s net asset value. At times, such differences may be significant.

Management Risk is the risk that the representative sampling strategy used by NTI may fail to produce the intended results.

Market Risk is the risk that the Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns.

Market Trading Risk is the risk that the Fund faces because its shares are listed on a securities exchange, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. ANY OF THESE FACTORS MAY LEAD TO THE FUND’S SHARES TRADING AT A PREMIUM OR DISCOUNT TO NAV.

New Fund Risk is the risk that the Fund faces because it is a new fund. As a new fund, there can be no assurance that it will grow to or maintain an economically viable size, in which case it may experience greater tracking error to its Underlying Index than it otherwise would at higher asset levels, or it could ultimately liquidate. The Fund’s Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in the shares.

Non-Diversification Risk is the risk that Fund performance may depend on the performance of a small number of issuers because the Fund may invest a large percentage of its assets in securities issued by or representing a small number of issuers.

Non-U.S. Issuer Risk is the risk the Fund faces because it may invest in U.S. dollar denominated bonds of non-U.S. corporations to the extent such bonds are included in the Underlying Index. The Fund’s investments in bonds of non-U.S. issuers may involve certain risks that are greater than those associated with investments in securities of U.S. issuers. These include the risks of adverse economic, political, diplomatic, financial and regulatory conditions that may affect non-U.S. issuers.

Passive Investment Risk is the risk that the Fund is not actively managed and NTI does not attempt to take defensive positions in any market conditions, including declining markets.

Prepayment (or Call) Risk is the risk that an issuer of a security held by the Fund may “call” or prepay the security before its stated maturity, during periods of falling interest rates, e.g., which may result in the Fund having to invest the proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.

Tracking Error Risk is the risk that the Fund’s performance may vary substantially from the performance of the Underlying Index. The Fund employs a representative sampling strategy, and may incur tracking error to a greater extent than a fund that seeks to replicate an index.

Valuation Risk is the risk that the sale price the Fund could receive for a portfolio security may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security, particularly for securities that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. In addition, the value of the securities in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Fund’s shares.

It is possible to lose money on an investment in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of any bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, any other government agency, or The Northern Trust Company, its affiliates, subsidiaries or any other bank.

Fund Performance

Because the Fund has less than one full calendar year of performance, no performance information has been included.

[1] Other expenses are estimated for the current fiscal year as the Fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this Prospectus.

[2] Northern Trust Investments, Inc. ("NTI" or "Investment Adviser") has contractually agreed to reimburse the fees and expenses of the Trust's independent trustees and their independent legal counsel until September 8, 2016. The Fund's Board of Trustees may terminate the contractual arrangement at any time if it determines that it is in the best interest of the Fund and its shareholders.