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Balter Event-Driven Fund

Summary Section

Investment Objective.

The investment objective of the Balter Event-Driven Fund (the “Fund”) is to seek to generate absolute returns.

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.

Shareholder Fees

(fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - Balter Event-Driven Fund
Institutional Class
Investor Class
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) none none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) none none
Redemption Fee (as a percentage of amount redeemed within 60 days of purchase) 1.00% 1.00%

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

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

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - Balter Event-Driven Fund
Institutional Class
Investor Class
Management Fees 1.80% 1.80%
Distribution and Service (Rule 12b-1) Fees none 0.25%
Other Expenses (Investor Class includes 0.05% of Shareholder Servicing Fees) [1] 0.62% 0.67%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses [2] 0.01% 0.01%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 2.43% 2.73%
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement (0.43%) (0.43%)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement [3] 2.00% 2.30%
[1] These expenses are based on estimated amounts for the Fund's current fiscal year.
[2] This number represents an estimate for the Fund's current fiscal year of the combined total fees and operating expenses of underlying funds owned by the Fund and would not be a direct expense incurred by the Fund or deducted from Fund assets
[3] Pursuant to an operating expense limitation agreement between Balter Liquid Alternatives, LLC (the "Adviser") and the Fund, the Adviser has agreed to waive its fees and/or absorb expenses of the Fund to ensure that Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses (excluding any front-end or contingent deferred sales loads, brokerage fees and commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, borrowing costs (such as interest and dividend expense on securities sold short), taxes and extraordinary or non-recurring expenses, including, but not limited to, litigation) for the Fund do not exceed 1.99% and 2.29% of the Fund's average net assets, for Institutional Class and Investor Class shares, respectively, through February 28, 2017. This operating expense limitation agreement can be terminated only by, or with the consent of, the Board of Trustees. The Adviser is permitted to seek reimbursement from the Fund for fees it waived and Fund expenses it paid for the prior three fiscal years, as long as the reimbursement does not cause the Fund's operating expenses to exceed the lower of the current expense cap or the expense cap in place at the time of the waiver or reimbursement.

Example.

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual 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. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

Expense Example - Balter Event-Driven Fund - USD ($)
One Year
Three Years
Institutional Class 203 717
Investor Class 233 807

Portfolio Turnover.

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund was not operational during the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate will not be provided at this time.

Principal Investment Strategies.

Under normal market conditions, the Fund will seek absolute returns by investing in equity and debt and debt-like instruments of companies utilizing an event driven strategy. Event-driven investing isan investment strategy that seeks to exploit pricing inefficiencies that may occur before or after a corporate event, such as asset sales, mergers & acquisitions, spin-offs, lawsuits, various arbitrages, bankruptcies, defaults, liquidations, restructurings, and recapitalizations, (referred to as “event-driven opportunities”). The Fund will focus on investments in the securities of distressed, stressed and/or out-of-favor companies and special situations, all opportunities where a corporate, legal, regulatory, or other event could lead to a revaluation of certain securities and/or loans of an entity. The Fund seeks to profit from the often significant market inefficiencies surrounding these event-driven opportunities. The Fund may invest in both U.S. and foreign securities (including emerging market securities), and may invest in securities of companies of any market capitalization and in debt securities of any maturity. The Fund may invest in equity securities of any type, including, exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”).

 

The Fund will invest in “below investment grade” securities and obligations of domestic and non-U.S. issuers in weak financial condition, experiencing poor operating results, having substantial capital needs or negative net worth, facing special competitive or product obsolescence problems, including companies involved in bankruptcy or other reorganization and liquidation proceedings.

 

Tiburon Capital Management, LLC, the Fund’s sub-adviser (the “Sub-Adviser”), practices research intensive, fundamental security selection and bases its investment decisions on internally generated research, and from time to time on research obtained from outside sources. The Fund’s Sub-Adviser takes both long and short positions in a wide range of public and private equity and debt securities, including listed equities, when-issued equities, private equities and Private Investments in Public Equity Securities (“PIPES”), bonds, private placements, put or call options or other derivatives, loans, trade claims, lease paper and other instruments in implementing its strategies and in certain limited cases, these positions are leveraged, either through outright borrowings or through leverage embedded in derivatives acquired by the Fund.

Principal Risks.

Remember that in addition to possibly not achieving your investment goals, you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are:

 

Bank Loans Risk. The Fund may invest in bank loans and participations. These obligations are subject to unique risks, including: (i) the possible invalidation of an investment transaction as a fraudulent conveyance under relevant creditors’ rights laws; (ii) so-called lender-liability claims by the issuer of the obligations; (iii) environmental liabilities that may arise with respect to collateral securing the obligations; and (iv) limitations on the ability of the Fund to directly enforce its rights with respect to participations.

 

Bankruptcy Claims Risk. The Fund may invest in bankruptcy claims which are amounts owed to creditors of companies in financial difficulty. Bankruptcy claims are illiquid and generally do not pay interest and there can be no guarantee that the debtor will ever be able to satisfy the obligation on the bankruptcy claim.

 

Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the security will not be able to make interest or principal payments when due. The Fund may invest in debt securities, including high-yield debt securities, also known as “junk bonds.” Investments in junk bonds are subject to greater credit risks than securities with credit ratings above investment grade and have a greater risk of default than investment grade debt securities.

 

Counterparty Risk. The Fund is subject to the risk that the issuers or counterparties with whom the Fund engages in derivative transactions will not fulfill their obligation to the Fund. Counterparty risk may arise because of the counterparty’s financial condition (i.e., financial difficulties, bankruptcy, or insolvency), market activities and developments, or other reasons, whether foreseen or not. A counterparty’s inability to fulfill its obligation may result in significant financial loss to the Fund.

 

Cyber Security Risk. As the use of technology has become more prevalent in the course of business, the Fund has become more susceptible to operational, financial and information security risks resulting from cyber-attacks and/or technological malfunctions. Successful cyber-attacks and/or technological malfunctions affecting the Fund or its service providers can result in, among other things, financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, the inability to process transactions with shareholders or other parties and the release of private shareholder information or confidential Fund information. While measures have been developed which are designed to reduce the risks associated with cyber security, there are inherent limitations in such measures and there is no guarantee those measures will be effective, particularly since the Fund does not directly control the cyber security measures of its service providers, financial intermediaries and companies in which it invests or with which it does business.

 

Derivatives Risk. The Fund may invest in derivative instruments, including options, warrants, convertibles and swaps. In general, a derivative contract typically involves leverage, i.e., it provides long or short exposure to a reference instrument thereby providing the potential for gain or loss from a change in the level of the market price of a security, currency in a notional amount that exceeds the amount of cash or assets required to establish or maintain the derivative contract. In this way, the Fund can obtain market exposure to the reference instrument which is greater than the net assets used to establish the derivative position. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may not perform as anticipated, may not be able to be closed out at a favorable time or price, or may increase the Fund’s volatility. Increases and decreases in the value of the Fund’s portfolio may be magnified when the Fund uses leverage. Futures and forward contract prices, and the prices of the related contracts in which the Fund may trade, are highly volatile. Such prices are influenced by, among other things: changing supply and demand relationships; government trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies; national and international political and economic events; and changes in interest rates.

 

Distressed Investments Risk. The Fund may invest in distressed investments, which are issued by companies that are, or might be, involved in reorganizations or financial restructurings, either out of court or in bankruptcy. The Fund’s investments in distressed securities typically may involve the purchase of high-yield bonds, bank debt, corporate loans or other indebtedness of such companies. These investments may present a substantial risk of default or may be in default at the time of investment. The Fund may incur additional expenses to the extent it is required to seek recovery upon a default in the payment of principal or interest on its portfolio holdings. In any reorganization or liquidation proceeding relating to an investment, the Fund may lose its entire investment or may be required to accept cash or securities with a value less than its original investment. Among the risks inherent in investments in a troubled issuer is that it frequently may be difficult to obtain information as to the true financial condition of the issuer. The Adviser’s or Sub-Adviser’s judgments about the credit quality of a financially distressed issuer and the relative value of its securities may prove to be wrong.

 

Emerging Market Risk. The Fund intends to have exposure to emerging markets. Emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging securities markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets.

 

Equity Risk. The Fund’s investments in equity securities may decline in value due to factors affecting the issuing companies, their industries, or the economy and equity markets, generally. The values of equity securities may decline for a number of reasons which directly relate to the issuing company, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer’s goods or services. They may also decline due to factors which affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry. In addition, they may decline due to general market conditions which 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 adverse investor sentiment, generally.

 

Event Driven Strategies Risk. Generally, the success of event driven strategies depends on the successful prediction of whether various corporate events will occur or be consummated. Investing in or seeking exposure to companies in anticipation of an event carries the risk that the event may not happen or may take considerable time to unfold, it may happen in modified or conditional form, or the market may react differently than expected to the event, in which case the Fund may experience losses or fail to achieve a desired rate of return. The Fund may also incur losses unwinding its event driven and distressed positions in the event that a proposed merger or other corporate event does not occur as expected by the sub-adviser or the sub-adviser determines the position no longer represents an attractive investment opportunity for the Fund and its shareholders. In addition, certain events, such as companies emerging from bankruptcy or restructurings resulting from bankruptcy, carry additional risks because of the issuer’s financial fragility and the likelihood that its management has little experience with bankruptcy, and the securities of such companies may be more likely to lose value than the securities of more financially stable companies.

 

Exchange-Traded Funds Risk: Investments in ETFs carry security specific risks and market risk. Also, if the area of the market representing the underlying index or benchmark does not perform as expected for any reason, the value of the investment in the ETF may decline. In addition, due to transactions via market prices rather than at net asset value, the performance of an ETF may not completely replicate the performance of the underlying index.

 

Fixed Income and Interest Rate Risk. The value of the Fund’s investments in fixed income securities and derivatives will fluctuate with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in interest rates causes a decline in the value of fixed income securities and derivatives owned by the Fund. On the other hand, if rates fall, the value of fixed income securities and derivatives generally increases. Securities with longer durations tend to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates, usually making them more volatile than securities with shorter durations.

 

Foreign Investment Risk. Foreign investing involves risks not typically associated with U.S. investments, including adverse fluctuations in foreign currency values, adverse political, social and economic developments, less liquidity, greater volatility, less developed or less efficient trading markets, political instability and differing auditing and legal standards. A portion of the derivatives trades may take place on foreign markets. Neither existing SEC regulations nor regulations of any other U.S. governmental agency apply to transactions on foreign markets.

 

General Risks. Domestic economic growth and market conditions, interest rate levels, and political events are among the factors affecting the securities markets in which the Fund invests. There is risk that these and other factors may adversely affect the Fund’s performance. You could lose money by investing in the Fund.

 

Hedging Transactions Risk. The Adviser and Sub-Adviser from time to time employ various hedging techniques. The success of the Fund’s hedging strategy will be subject to the Adviser’s or Sub-Adviser’s ability to correctly assess the degree of correlation between the performance of the instruments used in the hedging strategy and the performance of the investments in the portfolio being hedged. Since the characteristics of many securities change as markets change or time passes, the success of the Fund’s hedging strategy will also be subject to the Adviser’s and Sub-Adviser’s ability to continually recalculate, readjust, and execute hedges in an efficient and timely manner. For a variety of reasons, the Adviser or Sub-Adviser may not seek to establish a perfect correlation between such hedging instruments and the portfolio holdings being hedged. Such imperfect correlation may prevent the Fund from achieving the intended hedge or expose the Fund to risk of loss. In addition, it is not possible to hedge fully or perfectly against any risk, and hedging entails its own costs (such as trading commissions and fees).

 

High-Yield and Unrated Securities Risk. The Fund’s exposure to higher yielding, below investment grade and unrated high risk debt securities (commonly known as “junk bonds”) may present additional risk because these securities may be less liquid and present greater credit risk than investment grade bonds. The price of high-yield securities tends to be subject to greater volatility due to issuer-specific operating results and outlook and to real or perceived adverse economic and competitive industry conditions.

 

Investment in Loans Risk. Loans, such as syndicated bank loans, senior floating rate loans, secured and unsecured loans, second lien or more junior loans, bridge loans and unfunded commitments, may incur some of the same risks as other debt securities, such as prepayment risk, credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk and risks found with high-yield securities. Although some loans are secured by collateral, the collateral may be difficult to liquidate and the value of the collateral can decline or be insufficient to meet the obligation of the borrower. The Fund could also have its interest subordinated to other indebtedness of the obligor. As a result, a loan may not be fully collateralized and can decline significantly in value, which may result in the Fund not receiving payments to which it is entitled.

 

Leveraging Risk. The Fund’s investment in derivative instruments generally requires a small investment relative to the amount of investment exposure assumed. As a result, such investments may give rise to losses that exceed the amount invested in those instruments. The cost of investing in such instruments generally increases as interest rates increase, which will lower the Fund’s return.

 

Liquidity Risk. Low trading volume, a lack of a market maker, or contractual or legal restrictions may limit or prevent the Fund from selling securities or closing derivative positions at desirable times or prices.

 

Litigation and Enforcement Risk. Investing in companies involved in significant restructuring tends to involve increased litigation risk. This risk may be greater in the event the Fund takes a large position or is otherwise prominently involved on a bankruptcy or creditors’ committee. The expense of asserting claims (or defending against counterclaims) and recovering any amounts pursuant to settlements or judgments may be borne by the Fund. Further, ownership of companies over certain threshold levels involves additional filing requirements and substantive regulation on such owners, and if the Fund fails to comply with all of these requirements, the Fund may be forced to disgorge profits, pay fines or otherwise bear losses or other costs from such failure to comply.

 

Options Risk. An option is an agreement that, for a premium payment or fee, gives the option holder (the purchaser) the right but not the obligation to buy (a “call option”) or sell (a “put option”) the underlying asset (or settle for cash an amount based on an underlying asset, rate, or index) at a specified price (the “exercise price”) during a period of time or on a specified date. Investments in options are considered speculative. When the Fund purchases an option, it may lose the premium paid for it if the price of the underlying security or other assets decreased or remained the same (in the case of a call option) or increased or remained the same (in the case of a put option). If a put or call option purchased by the Fund were permitted to expire without being sold or exercised, its premium would represent a loss to the Fund.

 

Management Risk. Management risk is the risk that the investment process used by the Fund’s portfolio manager could fail to achieve the Fund’s investment goal and cause an investment in the Fund to lose value.

 

Non-Diversification Risk: The Fund is classified as non-diversified under the 1940 Act. This means that the Fund may invest in securities of relatively few issuers. Thus, the performance of one or a small number of portfolio holdings can affect overall performance.

 

PIPEs Risk. The Fund may make private investments in public companies whose stocks are quoted on stock exchanges or which trade in the over-the-counter securities market, a type of investment commonly referred to as a “PIPE” transaction. PIPE transactions will generally result in the Fund acquiring either restricted stock or an instrument convertible into restricted stock. As with investments in other types of restricted securities, such an investment may be illiquid. The Fund’s ability to dispose of securities acquired in PIPE transactions may depend upon the registration of such securities for resale. Any number of factors may prevent or delay a proposed registration. Even if the Fund is able to have securities acquired in a PIPE transaction registered or sell such securities through an exempt transaction, the Fund may not be able to sell all the securities on short notice, and the sale of the securities could lower the market price of the securities.

 

Restricted Securities Risk. Restricted securities are securities that cannot be offered for public resale unless registered under the applicable securities laws or that have a contractual restriction that prohibits or limits their resale. Restricted securities may not be listed on an exchange and may have no active trading market. Restricted securities may include private placement securities that have not been registered under the applicable securities laws. Certain restricted securities can be resold to institutional investors and traded in the institutional market under Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and are called Rule 144A securities. Rule 144A securities can be resold to qualified institutional buyers but not to the general public.

 

Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may buy and sell investments frequently. Such a strategy often involves higher transaction costs, including brokerage commissions, and may increase the amount of capital gains (in particular, short term gains) realized by the Fund. Shareholders may pay tax on such capital gains.

 

Short Position Risk. The Fund will incur a loss as a result of a short position if the price of the short position instrument increases in value between the date of the short position sale and the date on which an offsetting position is purchased. Short positions may be considered speculative transactions and involve special risks, including greater reliance on the Sub-Adviser’s ability to accurately anticipate the future value of a security or instrument. The Fund does sell stocks short. The Fund’s losses are potentially unlimited in a short position transaction.

 

Stock Market Volatility. The value of equity securities fluctuates in response to issuer, political, market, and economic developments. Fluctuations, especially in foreign markets, can be dramatic over the short as well as long term, and different parts of the market, including different market sectors, and different types of equity securities can react differently to these developments.

Performance.

The bar chart illustrates the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns through December 31, 2014 compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. Remember, the Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The Fund is the successor to the Tiburon Credit Opportunities Master Fund, Ltd. (the “Predecessor Fund”), which transferred its assets to the Institutional Share Class of the Fund in connection with the Fund’s commencement of operations. The Sub-Adviser managed the Predecessor Fund, and the Fund’s investment policies, objective, guidelines and restrictions are, in all material respects, equivalent to those of the Predecessor Fund. The performance includes the performance of the Predecessor Fund prior to the commencement of the Fund’s operations. The Predecessor Fund’s performance has been adjusted to reflect the annual deduction of anticipated fees and expenses applicable to the Institutional Class Shares. The Predecessor Fund was not registered as a mutual fund under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), and therefore was not subject to certain investment restrictions, limitations and diversification requirements imposed by the 1940 Act and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). If the Predecessor Fund had been registered under the 1940 Act, its performance may have been different. Please refer to the financial statements of the Predecessor Fund in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for additional information on the Predecessor Fund. Past performance, both before and after taxes, does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information will be available at no cost by calling the Fund toll-free at 1-844-322-8112 or on the Fund’s website www.balterliquidalts.com.

Institutional Class Shares

Calendar Year Returns as of December 31,

[1]
Bar Chart

The calendar year-to-date return for the Fund’s Institutional Class shares as of November 30, 2015 was -3.03%. During the period shown in the bar chart, the best performance for a quarter was 11.52% (for the quarter ended 3/31/2011). The worst performance was -5.77% (for the quarter ended 9/30/2014).

Average Annual Total Returns

For the Periods Ended December 31, 2014

[2]
Average Annual Total Returns - Balter Event-Driven Fund
Label
One Year
Three Years
Since Inception
Inception Date
Institutional Class Return Before Taxes 1.06% 9.97% 10.11% [1] Feb. 01, 2010
Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions   1.06% 9.97% 10.11%  
Institutional Class | After Taxes on Distributions and Sales   0.60% 7.76% 8.04%  
Investor Class Return Before Taxes 0.76% 9.64% 9.79% [1] Feb. 01, 2010
S&P 500 Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)   13.69% 15.45% 15.45%  
Barclays US Corporate High Yield (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)   2.45% 8.43% 9.03%  
HFRX Event Driven Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)   (4.06%) 5.00% 2.34%  
[1] The Predecessor Fund commenced operations on February 1, 2010.

After tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates in effect and do not reflect the effect of state and local taxes. The after-tax returns shown may not be relevant to those investors who hold their shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”). “Return After Taxes on Distributions” shows the effect of taxable distributions (dividends and capital gains distributions) but assumes that Fund shares are still held at the end of the period. After tax returns are shown for only Institutional Class Shares and after tax returns for Investor Class Shares will vary.

 

The S&P 500® is widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities. There is over USD 7 trillion benchmarked to the index, with index assets comprising approximately USD 1.9 trillion of this total. The index includes 500 leading companies and captures approximately 80% coverage of available market capitalization.

 

The Barclays US Corporate High Yield Bond Index measures the USD-denominated, high yield, fixed-rate corporate bond market. Securities are classified as high yield if the middle rating of Moody’s, Fitch and S&P is Ba1/BB+/BB+ or below. Bonds from issuers with an emerging markets country of risk, based on Barclays EM country definition, are excluded. The US Corporate High Yield Index is a component of the US Universal and Global High Yield Indices. The index was created in 1986, with history backfilled to July 1, 1983.

 

The HFRX Event Driven Index includes investment managers who maintain positions in companies currently or prospectively involved in corporate transactions of a wide variety including but not limited to mergers, restructurings, financial distress, tender offers, shareholder buybacks, debt exchanges, security issuance or other capital structure adjustments. Security types can range from most senior in the capital structure to most junior or subordinated, and frequently involve additional derivative securities. Event Driven exposure includes a combination of sensitivities to equity markets, credit markets and idiosyncratic, company specific developments. Investment theses are typically predicated on fundamental characteristics (as opposed to quantitative), with the realization of the thesis predicated on a specific development exogenous to the existing capital structure. Hedge Fund Research, Inc. (HFR) utilizes a UCITSIII compliant methodology to construct the HFRX Hedge Fund Indices. The methodology is based on defined and predetermined rules and objective criteria to select and rebalance components to maximize representation of the Hedge Fund Universe. HFRX Indices utilize state-of-the-art quantitative techniques and analysis; multi-level screening, cluster analysis, Monte-Carlo simulations and optimization techniques ensure that each Index is a pure representation of its corresponding investment focus.

[1] The returns shown in the bar chart are for Institutional Class shares. The performance of Investor Class shares will differ due to differences in expenses and sales load charges.
[2] This performance information reflects the performance of the Predecessor Fund as adjusted to reflect Institutional Class Shares and Investor Class Shares expenses reflected in the Fee Table. Returns after tax on distributions are not shown because the privately offered fund, unlike a regulated investment company, was not required to make annual distributions to its investors. The Fund expects to make sufficient distributions to qualify and be eligible for treatment as a regulated investment company for tax purposes.