485APOS 1 vbnd_485a.htm POST EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT vbnd_485a.htm

 
Filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on July 15, 2014
 
1933 Act Registration File No. 333-179562
1940 Act File No. 811-22668
 
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.  20549

FORM N-1A
 
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
x
Pre-Effective Amendment No.         
¨
Post-Effective Amendment No. 13
x
and
 
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940
x
Amendment No. 14
x
(Check appropriate box or boxes.)
 
ETF SERIES SOLUTIONS
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

615 East Michigan Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202
(Address of Principal Executive Offices, Zip Code)

 (Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code)
(414) 765-5586

Michael D. Barolsky, Esq.
ETF Series Solutions
c/o U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC
777 East Wisconsin Avenue, 10th Floor
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202
(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

Copy to:
W. John McGuire
Bingham McCutchen LLP
2020 K Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20006-1806

As soon as practical after the effective date of this Registration Statement
Approximate Date of Proposed Public Offering
 
It is proposed that this filing will become effective
 
¨
immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)
¨
on                                      pursuant to paragraph (b)
¨
60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
¨
on                                      pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
x
75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)
¨
on                                      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.
 
 
 

 
 
SUBJECT TO COMPLETION       July 15, 2014
 
THE INFORMATION HEREIN IS NOT COMPLETE AND MAY BE CHANGED. WE MAY NOT SELL THESE SECURITIES UNTIL THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT FILED WITH THE SEC IS EFFECTIVE. THIS PROSPECTUS IS NOT AN OFFER TO SELL THESE SECURITIES AND IS NOT SOLICITING AN OFFER TO BUY THESE SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE OFFER OR SALE IS NOT PERMITTED.
 
PROSPECTUS
[                                ] 
 
 
 
 
Vident Core U.S. Bond FundTM (VBND)
 
* Principal U.S. Listing Exchange: NASDAQ
 
 

 
THE SEC HAS NOT APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THESE SECURITIES OR PASSED UPON THE ADEQUACY OF THIS PROSPECTUS. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.
 
 
 
Vident Core U.S. Bond FundTM

 
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: n ARE NOT FDIC INSURED n MAY LOSE VALUE n ARE NOT BANK GUARANTEED
 
 
 
 
2

 
 
Vident Core U.S. Bond FundTM
 
 
 
Investment Objective
The Vident Core U.S. Bond FundTM (the “Fund”) seeks to track the price and total return performance, before fees and expenses, of the Vident Core U.S. Bond IndexTM (the “Index”).
 
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. The fees are expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s average net assets.
 
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
None
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
 
Management Fees
[     %]
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
Other Expenses
[     %]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
[     %]
 
Example
The following example is intended to help retail investors compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. It illustrates the hypothetical expenses that such investors would incur over various periods if they were to invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of the shares at the end of those periods. This example assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that 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
[$   ]
[$  ]
 
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. Because the Fund is newly organized, portfolio turnover information is not yet available.
 
Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund
The Fund employs a “passive management” – or indexing – investment approach designed to track the performance of the Index. The rules-based Index measures the performance of the core U.S. intermediate-term bond market based on a principled reasoning investment framework that seeks to diversify investments across fixed-income sectors (U.S. Treasuries, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (“TIPS”), U.S. agency securities, including mortgage backed securities, investment-grade corporate bonds, and high-yield corporate bonds). The Index weights the allocation to each sector based on risk of loss in extreme events (expected tail loss) and macro-economic factors (e.g., fiscal policy and demographic factors). The Index also seeks to identify corporate issuers with a demonstrated commitment to high standards of corporate governance, financial reporting, managerial stewardship, and creditworthiness.

The Index selects a subset of corporate issuers through a proprietary scoring system that takes into account each company’s adherence to high governance standards (principles) and debt servicing criteria (e.g., leverage, interest coverage). Each corporate issuer is assigned a score based on a variety of factors relating to governance, financial quality, and management stewardship, such as default risk, financial stress, quality of financial management, and overall creditworthiness. Companies are then ranked according to each company’s respective risk factors, debt servicing criteria, and liquidity. Companies with low relative scores are removed from the universe of eligible companies. The remaining companies comprise the Index’s eligible universe of corporate issuers. Within the eligible universe, companies are weighted based upon their ranking, liquidity, and risk characteristics.
 
The Index limits exposure to each of high-yield securities and TIPS to 20% of the Index. The Index will generally have an effective duration of three to seven years and will generally have an average credit quality of investment grade.
The Fund’s Investment Strategy
 
The Fund attempts to invest all, or substantially all, of its assets in the bonds that make up the Index. The Fund will generally use a “representative sampling” strategy, meaning it may invest in a sample of the securities in the Index whose risk, return and other characteristics closely resemble the risk, return and other characteristics of the Index as a whole, but may, when the sub-adviser believes it is in the best interests of the Fund, use a “replication” strategy to achieve its investment objective, meaning it may invest in all of the component securities of the Index.
 
Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund’s total assets (exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) will be invested in the component securities of the Index and investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of such component securities. Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (“ETC” or the “Adviser”), the Fund’s investment adviser, expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund’s performance and that of the Index, before fees and expenses, will be 95% or better.
 
To the extent the Index concentrates (i.e., holds 25% or more of its total assets) in the securities of a particular industry or group of related industries, the Fund will concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent as the Index.
 
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
You can lose money on your investment in the Fund. The Fund is subject to the risks described below. Some or all of these risks may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”), trading price, yield, total return and/or ability to meet its objectives. For more information about the risks of investing in the Fund, see the section in the Fund’s Prospectus, titled “Additional Risk Information About the Fund.”
 
n  
Call Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable bond held by the Fund may “call” or repay the security before its stated maturity, and the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Fund's income.
 
n  
Cash Redemption Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy may require it to redeem shares for cash or to otherwise include cash as part of its redemption proceeds. The Fund may be required to sell or unwind portfolio investments to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize a capital gain that it might not have recognized if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used.
 
n  
Credit Risk. Debt issuers and other counterparties may not honor their obligations or may have their debt downgraded by ratings agencies.
 
n  
Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations will be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments.
 
 
Government Obligations Risks. No assurance can be given that the U.S. government will provide financial support to U.S. government-sponsored agencies or instrumentalities where it is not obligated to do so by law, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”).  Securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have historically been supported only by the discretionary authority of the U.S. government.  While the U.S. government provides financial support to various U.S. government-sponsored agencies and instrumentalities, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, no assurance can be given that it will always do so.  In September 2008, at the direction of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed into conservatorship under the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”), an independent regulator, and they remain in such status as of the date of this Prospectus.  The U.S. government also took steps to provide additional financial support to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
 
n  
High-Yield Securities Risk.   High-yield securities carry a greater degree of risk and are considered speculative by the major credit rating agencies. High-yield securities may be issued by companies that are restructuring, are smaller and less creditworthy, or are more highly indebted than other companies. This means that they may have more difficulty making scheduled payments of principal and interest. Changes in the value of high-yield securities are influenced more by changes in the financial and business position of the issuing company than by changes in interest rates when compared to investment grade securities. High-yield securities have greater volatility because there is less certainty that principal and interest payments will be made as scheduled. The Fund's investments in high-yield securities expose it to a substantial degree of credit risk. These investments are considered speculative under traditional investment standards. Prices of high-yield securities will rise and fall primarily in response to actual or perceived changes in the issuer's financial health, although changes in market interest rates also will affect prices. High-yield securities may experience reduced liquidity and sudden and substantial decreases in price.
n  
Interest Rate Risk. An increase in interest rates may cause the value of fixed-income securities held by the Fund to decline. The Fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates due to the current period of historically low rates and the effect of potential government fiscal policy initiatives and resulting market reaction to those initiatives.
 
n  
Investment Risk. As with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to investment risk. Investors in the Fund could lose money, including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an investment, over short or long periods of time.
 
n  
Investment Style Risk. The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, its Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform its Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general decline in the market segments relating to its Index.
 
n  
Issuer-Specific Risk. Issuer-specific events, including changes in the financial condition of an issuer, can have a negative impact on the value of the Fund.
 
n  
Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk exists when particular investments are difficult to purchase or sell. This can reduce the Fund's returns because the Fund may be unable to transact at advantageous times or prices.
 
n  
Market Risk. The trading prices of debt securities and other instruments fluctuate in response to a variety of factors. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly in response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose money over short or long periods of time.
 
n  
Mortgage- and Asset-Backed Securities Risks. Mortgage- and asset-backed securities are subject to interest rate risk.  Modest movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain types of these securities.  When interest rates fall, mortgage- and asset-backed securities may be subject to prepayment risk.  When interest rates rise, certain types of mortgage- and asset-backed securities are subject to extension risk.  Mortgage- and asset-backed securities can also be subject to the risk of default on the underlying residential or commercial mortgage(s) or other assets.
 
n  
Non-Correlation Risk. As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its Index may differ from each other for a variety of reasons.
 
n  
Prepayment Risk.  This is the risk that a borrower will prepay some or the entire principal owed to the Fund.  If that happens, the Fund may have to replace the security by investing the proceeds in a security with a lower yield.  This could reduce the share price and income distributions of the Fund.
 
n  
Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all exchange traded funds (“ETFs”), Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the Fund will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
 
Fund Performance
 
The Fund is new and therefore does not have a performance history.
 
Management
 
Investment Adviser and Sub-Advisers
 
Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC serves as investment adviser to the Fund.
 
Vident Investment Advisors, LLC (“Vident” or the “Investment Sub-Adviser”) serves as investment sub-adviser to the Fund.
 
[   ] (“[   ]” or the “Trading Sub-Adviser”) serves as trading sub-adviser to the Fund.
 
Portfolio Manager
 
[   ], has primary responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Fund.
 
Buying and Selling Fund Shares
 
The Fund is an ETF. This means that shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange, such as NASDAQ, and trade at market prices. Most investors will buy and sell shares of the Fund through brokers. Because Fund shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).
 
The Fund issues and redeems shares at NAV only in large blocks of shares (“Creation Units”), which only institutions or large investors may purchase or redeem. Currently, Creation Units generally consist of 50,000 shares, though this may change from time to time. The Fund generally issues and redeems Creation Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities closely approximating the holdings of the Fund and/or a designated amount of U.S. cash.
Tax Information
 
The Fund intends to make distributions that may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income, or capital gains.
 
Additional Information About the Fund’s Investment Objective. The Fund seeks to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Index developed by Vident Financial, LLC (the “Index Provider”). The Index consists of securities in the market suggested by its name that meet specific criteria developed by the Index Provider. Since the Fund’s investment objective has been adopted as a non-fundamental investment policy, the Fund’s investment objective may be changed without a vote of shareholders upon sixty (60) days’ written notice to shareholders.

Additional Information About the Fund’s Investment Strategy. The Fund normally will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowing for investment purposes, in the types of securities suggested by its name, including investments that are tied economically to the particular country or geographic region suggested by the Fund’s name. The Fund generally may invest up to 20% of its total assets in securities not included in the Index, but which the Fund believes will help it track the Index.For example, the Fund may invest in securities that are not components of the Index to reflect various corporate actions and other changes to the Index (such as reconstitutions, additions and deletions). Under normal circumstances, as long as the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets as noted above, it also may invest its other assets in cash and cash equivalents, as well as in shares of other investment companies, futures contracts, and swaps.
 
Index. Unlike most traditional indices that weight issuers based on market capitalization, the Fund’s Index uses a risk-based assessment of issuers, together with factors related to their attractiveness based on evolving economic, market and valuation conditions. The Index also seeks to mitigate some of the risks often associated with market capitalization-weighted indices, including issuer concentration.
 
Each issuer is determined to be a “U.S. issuer” based primarily on its place of organization or principal place of business. However, issuers with extensive foreign operations may be eliminated from the Index based on a variety of factors, such as the geographic location of the issuer’s assets, revenue sources, manufacturing facilities, employees and customers.
 
All rules are systematized and rely on data available at each rebalancing period. The Index is reconstituted quarterly in January, April, July, and October.
 
The Index was created in 2014 in anticipation of the commencement of operations of the Fund. Additional information regarding the Index, including its value, is available through Bloomberg using the ticker symbol VBNDX, as well as on the websites of Vident Financial, LLC, the Index Provider, at www.videntfinancial.com and [            ], the Index Calculation Agent, at [www.            .com].
 
Index/Trademark Licenses/Disclaimers. Vident Financial, LLCTM, the Index Provider, is a financial services company that focuses on structuring investment solutions and indices for institutional clients. The Index Provider is the parent company of the Fund’s Investment Sub-Adviser.
 
Management of the Fund’s Sub-Advisers. The Fund and the Adviser will be requesting exemptive relief from the SEC permitting the Adviser (subject to certain conditions and the Board’s approval) to change or select new sub-advisers without obtaining shareholder approval.  The relief would also permit the Adviser to materially amend the terms of agreements with a sub-adviser (including an increase in its fee) or to continue the employment of a sub-adviser after an event that would otherwise cause the automatic termination of services with Board approval, but without shareholder approval.  Shareholders will be notified of any sub-adviser changes.   Unless and until such exemptive relief is granted, shareholder approval will be required for changes in a sub-adviser agreement or for the addition of a new sub-adviser.
 
This section provides additional information regarding the principal risks described under “Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund” in the Fund Summary. Each of the factors below could have a negative impact on Fund performance and trading prices.

Call Risk
During periods of falling interest rates, an issuer of a callable bond held by the Fund may “call” or repay the security before its stated maturity, which may result in the Fund having to reinvest the proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income.
 
Cash Redemption Risk
When the Fund’s investment strategy requires it to redeem shares for cash or to otherwise include cash as part of its redemption proceeds, it may be required to sell or unwind portfolio investments in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize a capital gain that it might not have recognized if it had made a redemption in-kind (i.e., distribute securities as payment of redemption proceeds). As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used.
Credit Risk
Credit risk is the risk that an issuer or guarantor of debt instruments or the counterparty to a derivatives contract, repurchase agreement or loan of portfolio securities will be unable or unwilling to make its timely interest and/or principal payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. Debt instruments are subject to varying degrees of credit risk, which may be reflected in their credit ratings. There is the chance that the Fund’s portfolio holdings will have their credit ratings downgraded or will default (i.e., fail to make scheduled interest or principal payments), potentially reducing the Fund’s income level or share price.
 
Extension Risk
During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations will be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments.

Government Obligations Risk
The Fund may invest in securities issued, sponsored or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities.  However, no assurance can be given that the U.S. government will provide financial support to U.S. government-sponsored agencies or instrumentalities where it is not obligated to do so by law.  For instance, securities issued by the Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”) are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States.  Securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have historically been supported only by the discretionary authority of the U.S. government.  While the U.S. government provides financial support to various U.S. government-sponsored agencies and instrumentalities, such as those listed above, no assurance can be given that it will always do so.  In September 2008, at the direction of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed into conservatorship under the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”), an independent regulator, and they remain in such status as of the date of this Prospectus.  The U.S. government also took steps to provide additional financial support to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The total public debt of the United States as a percentage of gross domestic product has grown rapidly since the beginning of the 2008-2009 financial downturn. Although high debt levels do not necessarily indicate or cause economic problems, they may create certain systemic risks if sound debt management practices are not implemented. A high national debt can raise concerns that the U.S. Government will not be able to make principal or interest payments when they are due. This increase has also necessitated the need for the U.S. Congress to negotiate adjustments to the statutory debt ceiling to increase the cap on the amount the U.S. government is permitted to borrow to meet its existing obligations and finance current budget deficits. The U.S. Congress temporarily resolved the statutory debt ceiling issue in February 2014 through passage of a bill allowing the government to borrow money to pay its bills through March 2015.  In August 2011, S&P lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on the U.S. In explaining the downgrade at that time, S&P cited, among other reasons, controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and growth in public spending.  Any controversy or ongoing uncertainty regarding the statutory debt ceiling negotiations may impact the U.S. long-term sovereign credit rating and may cause market uncertainty. As a result, market prices and yields of securities supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government may be adversely affected.

High-Yield Securities Risk.
Below investment grade instruments are commonly referred to as "junk" or high-yield instruments and are regarded as predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer's capacity to pay interest and repay principal. Lower grade instruments may be particularly susceptible to economic downturns. It is likely that a prolonged or deepening economic recession could adversely affect the ability of the issuers of such instruments to repay principal and pay interest thereon, increase the incidence of default for such instruments and severely disrupt the market value of such instruments.

Lower grade instruments, though higher yielding, are characterized by higher risk. They may be subject to certain risks with respect to the issuing entity and to greater market fluctuations than certain lower yielding, higher rated instruments. The retail secondary market for lower grade instruments may be less liquid than that for higher rated instruments. Adverse publicity and investor perceptions, whether or not based on fundamental analysis, may also decrease the value and liquidity of these high-yield securities. Adverse conditions could make it difficult at times for the Fund to sell certain instruments or could result in lower prices than those used in calculating the Fund's NAV. Because of the substantial risks associated with investments in lower grade instruments, investors could lose money on their investment in the Fund, both in the short-term and the long-term.

The Fund's investments in distressed and defaulted securities may be considered speculative and involve substantial risks in addition to the risks of investing in junk bonds. The Fund will generally not receive interest payments on the distressed securities and the principal may also be at risk. These securities may present a substantial risk of default or may be in default at the time of investment, requiring the Fund to incur additional costs.
Interest Rate Risk
As interest rates rise, the value of a fixed-income security held by the Fund is likely to decrease. Securities with longer durations tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes, usually making them more volatile than securities with shorter durations. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in fixed-income securities with longer-term durations, rising interest rates may cause the value of the Fund’s investments to decline significantly.
 
Investment Risk
As with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to investment risk. Investors in the Fund could lose money, including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an investment, over short or long periods of time. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
 
Investment Style Risk
The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, its Index regardless of their investment merit. The Fund does not attempt to outperform its Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be adversely affected by a general decline in the market segments relating to its Index. The returns from the types of securities in which the Fund invests may underperform returns from the various general securities markets or different asset classes. This may cause the Fund to underperform other investment vehicles that invest in different asset classes. Different types of securities (for example, U.S. Treasuries, mortgage-backed securities, corporate bonds and high-yield bonds) tend to go through cycles of doing better – or worse – than the general securities markets. In the past, these periods have lasted for as long as several years.
 
Issuer-Specific Risk
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 value. The value of securities of smaller, less well-known issuers can be more volatile than that of larger issuers. Issuer-specific events can have a negative impact on the value of the Fund.

Liquidity Risk
Liquidity risk exists when particular investments are difficult to purchase or sell. To the extent the Fund invests in illiquid securities or securities that become less liquid, such investments may have a negative effect on the returns of the Fund because the Fund may be unable to sell the illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. To the extent that the Fund’s principal investment strategies involve investing in securities with substantial market and/or credit risk, the Fund will tend to have the greatest exposure to liquidity risk. Liquid investments may become illiquid after purchase by the Fund, particularly during periods of market turmoil. 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. There can be no assurance that a security that is deemed to be liquid when purchased will continue to be liquid for as long as it is held by the Fund.
 
Market Risk
The trading prices of debt securities and other instruments fluctuate in response to a variety of factors. These factors include events impacting the entire market or specific market segments, such as political, market and economic developments, as well as events that impact specific issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price, like security and commodity prices generally, may fluctuate significantly in response to these and other factors. As a result, an investor could lose money over short or long periods of time.
 
Mortgage- and Asset-Backed Securities Risks.
Mortgage- and asset-backed securities are more sensitive to interest rate risk than other types of fixed income securities.  Modest movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain types of these securities.  When interest rates fall, mortgage- and asset-backed securities may be subject to prepayment risk.  Prepayment risk is the risk that the borrower will prepay some or the entire principal owed to the investor.  If that happens, the Fund may have to replace the security by investing the proceeds in a security with a lower yield.  This could reduce the share price and income distributions of the Fund, which invests in mortgage- and asset-backed securities.  When interest rates rise, certain types of mortgage- and asset-backed securities are subject to extension risk.  Mortgage- and asset-backed securities can also be subject to the risk of default on the underlying residential or commercial mortgage(s) or other assets.  Weakening real estate markets may cause default rates to rise, which would result in a decline in the value of mortgage-backed securities.
 
Non-Correlation Risk
As with all index funds, the performance of the Fund and its Index may vary somewhat for a variety of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs operating expenses and portfolio transaction costs not incurred by its Index. In addition, the Fund may not be fully invested in the securities of its Index at all times or may hold securities not included in its Index. The use of sampling techniques may affect the Fund’s ability to achieve close correlation with its Index. The Fund generally uses a Representative Sampling strategy to achieve its investment objective, and a Representative Sampling strategy generally can be expected to produce a greater non-correlation risk.
Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV
As with all ETFs, Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the Fund will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV intra-day when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive more (or less) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market.
 
Information about the Fund’s daily portfolio holdings will be available at www.videntfinancialsolutions.com. In addition, the Fund will disclose its complete portfolio holdings as of the end of its fiscal year (August 31) and its second fiscal quarter (February 28 in non-leap years and February 29 in leap years) in its reports to shareholders. The Fund will file its complete portfolio holdings as of the end of its first and third fiscal quarters (November 30 and May 31, respectively) with the SEC on Form N-Q no later than 60 days after the relevant fiscal period. You can find the SEC filings on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. A summarized description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio holdings is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).
 
 
Investment Adviser
As investment adviser, ETC has overall responsibility for the general management and administration of ETF Series Solutions (the “Trust”) and each of its separate investment portfolios called “Funds.” ETC is a registered investment adviser with offices located at 2545 S. Kelly Avenue, Suite C, Edmond, Oklahoma 73013. ETC also arranges for sub-advisory, transfer agency, custody, fund administration, securities lending, and all other non-distribution related services necessary for the Fund to operate. For its services, ETC expects to receive fees from the Fund, based on a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets, as shown in the following table:
   
Name of Fund
Management Fee
Vident Core U.S. Bond FundTM
 [     %]
 
Under the Investment Advisory Agreement, ETC has agreed to pay all expenses of the Fund, except for: the fee paid to ETC pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement, interest charges on any borrowings, taxes, brokerage commissions and other expenses incurred in placing orders for the purchase and sale of securities and other investment instruments, acquired fund fees and expenses, accrued deferred tax liability, extraordinary expenses, and distribution (12b-1) fees and expenses.
 
The basis for the Board’s approval of the Fund’s Investment Advisory Agreement will be available in the Fund’s first Semi-Annual or Annual Report to Shareholders.
 
Investment Sub-Adviser
As Investment Sub-Adviser, Vident is responsible for working with the Fund’s Trading Sub-Adviser to ensure that the characteristics of the Fund’s aggregate portfolio reflect the principles used to determine the constituents of the Index, subject to the oversight of the Adviser and the Board. The Investment Sub-Adviser’s principal office is located at 300 Colonial Center Parkway, Suite 330, Roswell, GA 30076. The basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the investment Sub-Advisory Agreement with Vident will be available in the Fund’s first Semi-Annual or Annual Report to Shareholders. ETC pays Vident a fee based on a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets of [    ] for providing sub-advisory services to the Fund.
 
Trading Sub-Adviser
The Trading Sub-Adviser is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund, subject to the oversight of the Adviser and the Board and consultations with the Investment Sub-Adviser. As Trading Sub-Adviser, [  ] is responsible for trading portfolio securities for the Fund, including selecting broker-dealers to execute purchase and sale transactions or in connection with any rebalancing or reconstitution of the Index. The Trading Sub-Adviser is also responsible for determining, in conjunction with the Investment Sub-Adviser, which component securities of the Index will be held by the Fund. The Trading Sub-Adviser’s principal office is located at [  ]. The basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the investment Sub-Advisory Agreement with [  ] will be available in the Fund’s first Semi-Annual or Annual Report to Shareholders. ETC pays [  ] a fee based on a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets of [   ] for providing sub-advisory services to the Fund.
 
Portfolio Manager
The Fund is managed by [  ].
 
The Fund’s SAI provides additional information about the Portfolio Manager’s compensation, other accounts managed by the Portfolio Manager, and the Portfolio Manager’s ownership of shares in the Fund.
 
Most investors will buy and sell shares of the Fund through brokers. Shares of the Fund trade on NASDAQ (the “Listing Exchange”) and elsewhere during the trading day and can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like other shares of publicly traded securities. When buying or selling shares through a broker, most investors will incur customary brokerage commissions and charges. Shares of the Fund trade under the trading symbol listed on the cover of this Prospectus. Only authorized participants (“Authorized Participants” or “APs”) may acquire shares directly from a Fund, and only APs may tender their shares for redemption directly to the Fund, at NAV in Creation Units. Once created, shares trade in the secondary market in amounts less than a Creation Unit.
Share Trading Prices
Transactions in Fund shares will be priced at NAV only if you purchase shares directly from the Fund in Creation Units. As with other types of securities, the trading prices of shares in the secondary market can be affected by market forces such as supply and demand, economic conditions and other factors. The price you pay or receive when you buy or sell your shares in the secondary market may be more or less than the NAV of such shares.
 
The approximate value of shares of the Fund is disseminated every 15 seconds throughout the trading day by the Listing Exchange or by other information providers. This approximate value should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the Fund’s NAV, because the approximate value may not be calculated in the same manner as the NAV, which is computed once per day. The approximate value generally is determined by using current market quotations, price quotations obtained from broker-dealers that may trade in the portfolio securities and instruments held by the Fund, and/or amortized cost for securities with remaining maturities of 60 days or less. The Fund is not involved in, or responsible for, the calculation or dissemination of the approximate value and makes no warranty as to its accuracy.
 
Determination of Net Asset Value
The NAV of the Fund’s shares is calculated each day the national securities exchanges are open for trading as of the close of regular trading on the Listing Exchange, generally 4:00 p.m. New York time (the “NAV Calculation Time”). NAV per share is calculated by dividing the Fund’s net assets by the number of Fund shares outstanding.
 
In calculating its NAV, the Fund generally values its assets on the basis of market quotations, last sale prices, or estimates of value furnished by a pricing service or brokers who make markets in such instruments. Debt obligations with maturities of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost.
 
Fair Value Pricing
 
The Board has adopted procedures and methodologies to fair value Fund securities whose market prices are not “readily available” or are deemed to be unreliable. For example, such circumstances may arise when: (i) a security has been de-listed or has had its trading halted or suspended; (ii) a security’s primary pricing source is unable or unwilling to provide a price; (iii) when a security’s primary trading market is closed during regular market hours; or (iv) when a security’s value is materially affected by events occurring after the close of the security’s primary trading market. Generally, when fair valuing a security, the Fund’s Valuation Committee will take into account all reasonably available information that may be relevant to a particular valuation including, but not limited to, fundamental analytical data regarding the issuer, information relating to the issuer’s business, recent trades or offers of the security, general and/or specific market conditions and the specific facts giving rise to the need to fair value the security. The Fund’s Valuation Committee makes fair value determinations in good faith and in accordance with the fair value methodologies included in the Board-adopted valuation procedures. Due to the subjective and variable nature of fair value pricing, there can be no assurance that the Adviser or Trading Sub-Adviser will be able to obtain the fair value assigned to the security upon the sale of such security.
 
Dividends and Distributions
The Fund intends to pay out dividends on a quarterly basis. Nonetheless, the Fund may not make a dividend payment every quarter. The Fund intends to distribute its net realized capital gains to investors annually. The Fund occasionally may be required to make supplemental distributions at some other time during the year. Distributions in cash may be reinvested automatically in additional whole shares only if the broker through whom you purchased shares makes such option available. Your broker is responsible for distributing the income and capital gain distributions to you.
 
Book Entry
Shares of the Fund are held in book-entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding shares of the Fund.
 
Investors owning shares of the Fund are beneficial owners as shown on the records of DTC or its participants. DTC serves as the securities depository for all shares of the Fund. Participants include DTC, 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 stock 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 securities that you hold in book-entry or “street name” form. Your broker will provide you with account statements, confirmations of your purchases and sales, and tax information.
Delivery of Shareholder Documents – Householding
Householding is an option available to certain investors of the Fund. Householding is a method of delivery, based on the preference of the individual investor, in which a single copy of certain shareholder documents can be delivered to investors who share the same address, even if their accounts are registered under different names. Householding for the Fund is available through certain broker-dealers. If you are interested in enrolling in householding and receiving a single copy of prospectuses and other shareholder documents, please contact your broker-dealer. If you are currently enrolled in householding and wish to change your householding status, please contact your broker-dealer.
 
Frequent Purchases and Redemptions of Fund Shares
The Fund imposes no restrictions on the frequency of purchases and redemptions of shares. In determining not to approve a written, established policy, the Board evaluated the risks of market timing activities by Fund shareholders. Purchases and redemptions by APs, who are the only parties that may purchase or redeem shares directly with the Fund, are an essential part of the ETF process and help keep share trading prices in line with NAV. As such, the Fund accommodates frequent purchases and redemptions by APs. However, the Board has also determined that frequent purchases and redemptions for cash may increase tracking error and portfolio transaction costs and may lead to the realization of capital gains. To minimize these potential consequences of frequent purchases and redemptions, the Fund employs fair value pricing and imposes transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Creation Units to cover the custodial and other costs incurred by the Fund in effective trades. In addition, the Fund and the Adviser reserve the right to reject any purchase order at any time.
 
Investments by Registered Investment Companies
Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act restricts investments by registered investment companies in the securities of other investment companies, including shares of the Fund. Registered investment companies are permitted to invest in the Fund beyond the limits set forth in section 12(d)(1), subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in an SEC exemptive order issued to the Trust, including that such investment companies enter into an agreement with the Fund.
 
The following discussion is a summary of some important U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to investments in the Fund. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. Please consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of an investment in Fund shares, including the possible application of foreign, state, and local tax laws.
 
The Fund intends to qualify each year for treatment as a regulated investment company. If it meets certain minimum distribution requirements, a regulated investment company is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are timely distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund’s failure to qualify as a regulated investment company or to meet minimum distribution requirements would result (if certain relief provisions were not available) in fund-level taxation and, consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to shareholders.
 
Unless your investment in Fund shares is made through a tax-exempt entity or tax-deferred retirement account, such as an individual retirement account, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when:
 
 
n
The Fund makes distributions;
 
 
n
You sell Fund shares; and
 
 
n
You purchase or redeem Creation Units (institutional investors only).
 
Taxes on Distributions
For federal income tax purposes, distributions of investment income are generally taxable as ordinary income. Taxes on distributions of capital gains (if any) are determined by how long the Fund owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long a shareholder has owned his or her Fund shares. Sales of assets held by the Fund for more than one year generally result in long-term capital gains and losses, and sales of assets held by the Fund for one year or less generally result in short-term capital gains and losses. Distributions of the Fund’s net capital gain (the excess of net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses) that are properly reported by the Fund as capital gain dividends (“Capital Gain Dividends”) will be taxable as long-term capital gains. Distributions of short-term capital gain will be taxable as ordinary income.

U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000 ($250,000 if married and filing jointly) are subject to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on their “net investment income,” which includes interest, dividends, and capital gains (including capital gains realized on the sale or exchange of Fund shares).
 
In general, your distributions are subject to federal income tax for the year in which they are paid. Certain distributions paid in January, however, may be treated as paid on December 31 of the prior year. Distributions are generally taxable even if they are paid from income or gains earned by the Fund before your investment (and thus were included in the price you paid for your shares).
 
Unlike many ETFs, the redemption of shares from the Fund generally incorporates a payment of cash by the Fund in addition to, or in place of, the delivery of a basket of securities. To meet this requirement, the Fund may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize capital gains or losses that it might not have recognized if it had completely satisfied the redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may be less tax efficient than if the in-kind redemption process was used.
Distributions (other than Capital Gain Dividends) paid to individual shareholders that are neither citizens nor residents of the U.S. or to foreign entities will generally be subject to a U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30%, unless a lower treaty rate applies. However, for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2014, distributions reported by the Fund as either “interest-related dividends” or “short-term capital gain dividends” and paid to a foreign shareholder will be eligible for an exemption from this withholding tax.
 
The Fund (or financial intermediaries, such as brokers, through which shareholders own Fund shares) generally are required to withhold and to remit to the U.S. Treasury a percentage of the taxable distributions and the sale or redemption proceeds paid to any shareholder who fails to properly furnish a correct taxpayer identification number, who has under-reported dividend or interest income, or who fails to certify that he, she or it is not subject to such withholding.
 
Taxes When Fund Shares Are Sold
Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Fund shares is generally treated as a long-term gain or loss if the shares have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Fund shares held for one year or less is generally treated as a short-term gain or loss, except that any capital loss on a sale of shares held for six months or less is treated as long-term capital loss to the extent that Capital Gain Dividends were paid with respect to such shares. The ability to deduct capital losses may be limited depending on your circumstances.
 
Taxes on Creation and Redemption of Creation Units
An Authorized Participant having the U.S. dollar as its functional currency for U.S. federal tax purposes that exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the market value of the Creation Units at the time of the exchange and any amount of cash received by the Authorized Participant in the exchange and (ii) the sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered and any amount of cash paid for such Creation Units. A person who redeems Creation Units for securities will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate U.S. dollar market value of the securities plus the amount of any cash received for such Creation Units. The Internal Revenue Service, however, may assert that a loss that is realized by an Authorized Participant upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units cannot be currently deducted under the rules governing “wash sales,” or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position.
 
Gain or loss recognized by an Authorized Participant upon an issuance of Creation Units in exchange for securities, or upon a redemption of Creation Units, may be capital or ordinary gain or loss depending on the circumstances. Any capital gain or loss realized upon an issuance of Creation Units in exchange for securities will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the securities have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon the redemption of a Creation Unit will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Fund shares comprising the Creation Unit have been held for more than one year. Otherwise, such capital gains or losses are treated as short-term capital gains or losses.
 
The Distributor, Quasar Distributors, LLC, is a broker-dealer registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Distributor distributes Creation Units for the Fund on an agency basis and does not maintain a secondary market in shares. The Distributor has no role in determining the policies of the Fund or the securities that are purchased or sold by the Fund. The Distributor’s principal address is 615 East Michigan Street, 4th Floor, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202.
 
The Board has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act.  In accordance with the Plan, the Fund is authorized to pay an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year for certain distribution-related activities and shareholder services.
 
No Rule 12b-1 fees are currently paid by the Fund, and there are no plans to impose these fees.  However, in the event Rule 12b-1 fees are charged in the future, because the 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.
 
The Fund is new and therefore does not have any information regarding how often shares of the Fund traded on the Listing Exchange at a price above (i.e., at a premium) or below (i.e., at a discount) the NAV of the Fund.
 
Shares of the Fund are not sponsored, endorsed, or promoted by the Listing Exchange. The Listing Exchange makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of the shares of the Fund or any member of the public regarding the ability of the Fund to track the total return performance of the Index or the ability of the Index identified herein to track stock market performance. The Listing Exchange is not responsible for, nor has it participated in, the determination of the compilation or the calculation of the Index, nor in the determination of the timing of, prices of, or quantities of the shares of the Fund to be issued, nor in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the shares are redeemable. The Listing Exchange has no obligation or liability to owners of the shares of the Fund in connection with the administration, marketing, or trading of the shares of the Fund.
The Listing Exchange does not guarantee the accuracy and/or the completeness of the Index or the data included therein. The Listing Exchange makes no warranty, express or implied, as to results to be obtained by the Trust on behalf of the Fund, owners of the shares, or any other person or entity from the use of the Index or the data included therein. The Listing Exchange makes no express or implied warranties, and hereby expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to the Index or the data included therein. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall the Listing Exchange have any liability for any lost profits or indirect, punitive, special, or consequential damages even if notified of the possibility thereof.
 
The Adviser, the Investment Sub-Adviser, the Trading Sub-Adviser, the Index Provider, and the Fund make no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of shares of the Fund or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Fund particularly. The Index Provider is a licensor of certain trademarks, service marks and trade names of the Fund. The Index Provider has no obligation to take the needs of the Fund or the owners of shares of the Fund into consideration in determining, composing, or calculating the Index. The Index Provider is not responsible for, and has not participated in, the determination of the timing of, prices of, or quantities of shares of the Fund to be issued or in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the shares of the Fund are redeemable. The Fund, the Index Provider and the Adviser do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or performance of the Index or the data included therein and shall have no liability in connection with the Index or Index calculation. The Index Provider owns the Index and the Index methodology and is a licensor of the Index to the Adviser, the licensee and the Index receipt agent. The Index Provider has contracted with [   ] (“[  ]”) to maintain and calculate the Index used by the Fund. [   ] shall have no liability for any errors or omissions in calculating the Index.
 
Financial information for the Fund will be available after the Fund has completed a fiscal year of operations.
Adviser
Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC
2545 S. Kelly Avenue, Suite C
Edmond, Oklahoma 73013
 
 
Investment Sub-Adviser
Vident Investment Advisors, LLC
300 Colonial Center Parkway, Suite 330
Roswell, GA 30076
 
 
Trading Sub-Adviser
[  ]
 
 
 
Index Provider
Vident Financial, LLC™
300 Colonial Center Parkway, Suite 330
Roswell, GA 30076
 
 
Distributor
Quasar Distributors, LLC
615 East Michigan Street, 4th Floor
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202
 
 
Custodian
U.S. Bank National Association
Custody Operations
1555 North River Center Drive, Suite 302
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212
 
 
Transfer Agent and Administrator
U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC
615 East Michigan Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202
 
 
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
[  ]
 
 
 
Legal Counsel
Bingham McCutchen LLP
2020 K Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20006-1806
The Trust’s current SAI provides additional detailed information about the Fund. The Trust has electronically filed the SAI with the SEC. It is incorporated by reference in this Prospectus.
 
Additional information about the Fund’s investments will be available in the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In the annual report you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance after the first fiscal year the Fund is in operation.
 
To make shareholder inquiries, for more detailed information on the Fund, or to request the SAI or annual or semi-annual shareholder reports (once available) free of charge, please:
         
Call:
1-800-617-0004
Monday through Friday
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Central time)
 
Write:
Vident Core U.S. Bond Fund
c/o U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC
P.O. Box 701
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202
         
Visit:
www.videntfinancialsolutions.com
     
 
Information about the Fund (including the SAI) can 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 the SEC at 1-202-551-8090. Reports and other information about the Fund are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at www.sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov, or by writing the SEC’s Public Reference Section, Washington, D.C. 20549-1520.
 
No person is authorized to give any information or to make any representations about the Fund and its shares not contained in this Prospectus and you should not rely on any other information. Read and keep this Prospectus for future reference.
 

(The Trust’s SEC Investment Company Act file number is 811-22668)
 
 
 
Vident Core U.S. Bond FundTM
Ticker: VBND
 
Principal U.S. Listing Exchange: NASDAQ
 
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
[                     ]
 
This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a Prospectus. It should be read in conjunction with the current Prospectus (“Prospectus”) for the Vident Core U.S. Bond FundTM (the “Fund”), a separate series of ETF Series Solutions (the “Trust”), as may be revised from time to time.
 
The current Prospectus for the Fund is dated [             ]. Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. The Fund’s audited financial statements for the most recent fiscal year (when available) are incorporated in this SAI by reference to the Fund’s most recent Annual Report to Shareholders (File No. 811-22668). When available, you may obtain a copy of the Fund’s Annual Report at no charge by request to the Fund at the address or phone number noted below.
 
THE U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (“SEC”) HAS NOT APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THESE SECURITIES OR PASSED UPON THE ADEQUACY OF THIS SAI. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.
 
A copy of the Prospectus for the Fund may be obtained, without charge, by calling 1-800-617-0004, visiting www.videntfinancialsolutions.com, or writing to Vident Core U.S. Bond Fund, c/o U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC, P.O. Box 701, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202.
 
THE INFORMATION HEREIN IS NOT COMPLETE AND MAY BE CHANGED. WE MAY NOT SELL THESE SECURITIES UNTIL THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT FILED WITH THE SEC IS EFFECTIVE. THIS SAI IS NOT AN OFFER TO SELL THESE SECURITIES AND IS NOT SOLICITING AN OFFER TO BUY THESE SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE OFFER OR SALE IS NOT PERMITTED.
 

 

 
 
1

 
 
 
The Trust was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on February 9, 2012 and is authorized to issue multiple series or portfolios. The Trust is an open-end management investment company, registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). The offering of the Trust’s shares is registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).
 
The Fund described in this SAI seeks to track the price and total return performance, before fees and expenses, of the Vident Core U.S. Bond IndexTM (the “Index”). The Index was created using proprietary methodology developed by Vident Financial, LLCTM (the “Index Provider”), an affiliate of the Fund’s Investment Sub-Adviser, as defined below. The Index Provider determines the relative weightings of the securities in the Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Index.
 
Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (“ETC” or the “Adviser”) is the investment adviser to the Fund. Vident Investment Advisors, LLC (“Vident” or the “Investment Sub-Adviser”) is the investment sub-adviser to the Fund. [  ] (“[  ]” or the “Trading Sub-Adviser”) is the trading sub-adviser to the Fund. The Adviser , Investment Sub-Adviser and Trading Sub-Adviser may be referred to together as the “Advisers”. Quasar Distributors, LLC is the distributor (the “Distributor”) of the shares of the Fund.
 
The Fund issues and redeems Shares (“Shares”) at net asset value per share (“NAV”) only in large blocks of Shares, typically 50,000 shares or more (“Creation Units” or “Creation Unit Aggregations”). Currently, Creation Units generally consist of 50,000 Shares, though this may change from time to time. These transactions are usually in exchange for a basket of securities and an amount of cash. As a practical matter, only institutions or large investors purchase or redeem Creation Units. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, Shares of the Fund are not redeemable securities.
 
Shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange, such as The NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC (“NASDAQ”) (the “Listing Exchange”), and trade throughout the day on the Listing Exchange and other secondary markets at market prices that may differ from NAV. As in the case of other publicly traded securities, brokers’ commissions on transactions will be based on negotiated commission rates at customary levels.
 
The Trust reserves the right to adjust the prices of Shares in the future to 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 applicable Fund.
 
 
The Fund’s investment objective, principal investment strategies and associated risks are described in the Fund’s Prospectus. The sections below supplement these principal investment strategies and risks and describe the Fund’s additional investment policies and the different types of investments that may be made by the Fund as a part of its non-principal investment strategies. With respect to the Fund’s investments, unless otherwise noted, if a percentage limitation on investment is adhered to at the time of investment or contract, a subsequent increase or decrease as a result of market movement or redemption will not result in a violation of such investment limitation. The Fund is new and therefore portfolio turnover information is not yet available.
 
All U.S. money market securities acquired by the Fund will be rated in the upper two short-term ratings by at least two Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (“NRSROs”) or, if unrated, deemed to be of equivalent quality. A First Tier security is (i) a rated security that has received a short-term rating from the NRSROs in the highest short-term rating category for debt obligations (within which there may be sub-categories or gradations indicating relative standing); (ii) an unrated security that is of comparable quality to a security, as determined by the Fund’s board of directors; (iii) a security issued by a registered investment company that is a money market fund; or (iv) a security issued by the U.S. government or any of its agencies or instrumentalities. A Second Tier security is a rated security that has received a short-term rating other than a first tier rating from an NRSRO for debt obligations (within which there may be sub-categories or gradations indicating relative standing) or is an unrated security that is of comparable quality. The Fund intends to limit its overall exposure to Second Tier money market securities to 5% of total assets. Any security originally issued as a long-term obligation (more than 397 days from maturity at issuance) will be rated A or higher (or the equivalent) at the time of purchase by at least two NRSROs or, if unrated, deemed to be of equivalent quality.
 
The Fund intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment company (a “RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), so that it will not be subject to federal income tax on income and gains that are timely distributed to Fund shareholders. The Fund will invest its assets, and otherwise conduct its operations, in a manner that is intended to satisfy the qualifying income, diversification and distribution requirements necessary to establish and maintain RIC qualification under Subchapter M.
 
In addition to satisfying the above referenced RIC diversification requirements, no portfolio security held by the Fund (other than U.S. government securities) will represent more than 30% of the weight of the Fund’s portfolio and the five highest weighted portfolio securities of the Fund (other than U.S. government securities and/or non-U.S. government securities) will not in the aggregate account for more than 65% of the weight of the Fund’s portfolio. For these purposes, the Fund may treat repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities or non-U.S. government securities as U.S. or non-U.S. government securities, as applicable.
 
 
 
The Fund’s investment strategy, known as “indexing,” may eliminate some of the risks of active portfolio management, such as poor security selection. In addition, indexing may also help increase after-tax investment performance by keeping portfolio turnover low in comparison to more actively managed investment strategies.
 
 
An investment in the Fund should be made with an understanding that the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities may fluctuate in accordance with changes in the financial condition of an issuer or counterparty, changes in specific economic or political conditions that affect a particular security or issuer and changes in general economic or political conditions. An investor in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods of time.
 
An investment in the Fund should also be made with an understanding of the risks inherent in an investment in fixed income securities, including the risk that the financial condition of issuers may become impaired or that the general condition of the bond market may deteriorate (either of which may cause a decrease in the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities and therefore a decrease in the value of Shares of the Fund). Fixed income securities are susceptible to general market fluctuations and to volatile increases and decreases in value as market confidence and perceptions change. These investor perceptions are based on various and 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.
 
There can be no guarantee that a liquid market for the securities held by the Fund will be maintained. The existence of a liquid trading market for certain securities may depend on whether dealers will make a market in such securities. There can be no assurance that a market will be made or maintained or that any such market will be or remain liquid. The price at which securities may be sold and the value of the Fund’s Shares will be adversely affected if trading markets for the Fund’s portfolio securities are limited or absent, or if bid/ask spreads are wide.
 
Events in the financial sector have resulted, and may continue to result, in an unusually high degree of volatility in the financial markets, both domestic and foreign. Domestic and foreign fixed income and equity markets experienced extreme volatility and turmoil in late 2008 and throughout much of 2009. Issuers that have exposure to the real estate, mortgage and credit markets have been particularly affected, and well-known financial institutions have experienced significant liquidity and other problems. Some of these institutions have declared bankruptcy or defaulted on their debt. It is uncertain whether or for how long these conditions will continue. These events and possible continuing market turbulence may have an adverse effect on Fund performance.
 
A discussion of some of the other risks associated with an investment in the Fund is contained in the Fund’s Prospectus.
 
 
A description of certain investment strategies and types of investments used by the Fund is set forth below.
 
DERIVATIVES. The Fund may use derivative instruments as part of its investment strategies. Generally, derivatives are financial contracts whose value depends upon, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate or index, and may relate to bonds, interest rates, currencies, commodities, and related indexes. Examples of derivative instruments include forward contracts, currency and interest rate swaps, currency options, futures contracts, options on futures contracts and swap agreements. The Fund’s use of derivative instruments will be underpinned by investments in short-term, high-quality instruments, such as U.S. money market securities.
 
With respect to certain kinds of derivative transactions that involve obligations to make future payments to third parties, including, but not limited to, futures contracts, forward contracts, swap contracts, the purchase of securities on a when-issued or delayed delivery basis, or reverse repurchase agreements, under applicable federal securities laws, rules, and interpretations thereof, the Fund must “set aside” liquid assets, or engage in other measures to “cover” open positions with respect to such transactions. For example, with respect to forward contracts and futures contracts that are not contractually required to “cash-settle,” the Fund must cover its open positions by setting aside liquid assets equal to the contracts’ full, notional value. The Fund treats deliverable forward contracts for currencies that are liquid as the equivalent of “cash-settled” contracts. As such, the Fund may set aside liquid assets in an amount equal to the Fund’s daily marked-to-market (net) obligation (i.e., the Fund’s daily net liability if any) rather than the full notional amount under such deliverable forward contracts. Similarly, with respect to futures contracts that are contractually required to “cash-settle” the Fund may set aside liquid assets in an amount equal to the Fund’s daily marked-to-market (net) obligation rather than the notional value. The Fund reserves the right to modify these policies in the future.
 
Swap Agreements. The Fund may enter into swap agreements, including interest rate swaps. A typical interest rate swap involves the exchange of a floating interest rate payment for a fixed interest payment. Swap agreements may be used to hedge or achieve exposure to, for example, interest rates, and money market securities without actually purchasing such securities. The Fund may use swap agreements to invest in a market without owning or taking physical custody of the underlying securities in circumstances in which direct investment is restricted for legal reasons or is otherwise impracticable. Swap agreements will tend to shift the Fund’s investment exposure from one type of investment to another or from one payment stream to another. Depending on their structure, swap agreements may increase or decrease the Fund’s exposure to long- or short-term interest rates (in the United States or abroad), corporate borrowing rates, or other factors, and may increase or decrease the overall volatility of the Fund’s investments and its share price.
 
Futures, Options and Options on Futures Contracts. The Fund may enter into U.S. options and options on futures contracts. When the Fund purchases a futures contract, it agrees to purchase a specified underlying instrument at a specified future date. When the Fund sells a futures contract, it agrees to sell the underlying instrument at a specified future date. The price at which the purchase and sale will take place is fixed when the Fund enters into the contract. Futures can be held until their delivery dates, or can be closed out before then if a liquid secondary market is available. To the extent the Fund uses futures and options, it will do so only in accordance with applicable requirements of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) and the rules thereunder.
 
With regard to the Fund, ETC will continue to claim relief from the definition of commodity pool operator (“CPO”) under revised U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Rule 4.5. Specifically, pursuant to CFTC Rule 4.5, ETC may claim exclusion from the definition of CPO, and thus from having to register as a CPO, with regard to a Fund that enters into commodity futures, commodity options or swaps solely for “bona fide hedging purposes,” or that limits its investment in commodities to a “de minimis” amount, as defined in CFTC rules, so long as the Shares of such Fund are not marketed as interests in a commodity pool or other vehicle for trading in commodity futures, commodity options or swaps. It is expected that the Fund will be able to operate pursuant to the limitations under the revised CFTC Rule 4.5 without materially adversely affecting its ability to achieve its investment objective. If, however, these limitations were to make it difficult for the Fund to achieve its investment objective in the future, the Trust may determine to operate the Fund as a regulated commodity pool pursuant to ETC’s CPO registration or to reorganize or close the Fund or to materially change the Fund’s investment objective and strategy.
 
The risk of loss in trading futures contracts or uncovered call options in some strategies (e.g., selling uncovered stock index futures contracts) is potentially unlimited. The Fund does not plan to use futures and options contracts in this way. The risk of a futures position may still be large as traditionally measured due to the low margin deposits required. In many cases, a relatively small price movement in a futures contract may result in immediate and substantial loss or gain to the investor relative to the size of a required margin deposit. The Fund, however, intends to utilize futures and options contracts in a manner designed to limit its risk exposure to levels comparable to direct investment in stocks.
 
Utilization of futures and options on futures by the Fund involves the risk of imperfect or even negative correlation to the underlying Index if the index underlying the futures contract differs from the Fund’s underlying Index. There is also the risk of loss by the Fund of margin deposits in the event of bankruptcy of a broker with whom the Fund has an open position in the futures contract or option. The purchase of put or call options will be based upon predictions by the Fund as to anticipated trends, which predictions could prove to be incorrect.
 
The potential for loss related to the purchase of an option on a futures contract is limited to the premium paid for the option plus transaction costs. Because the value of the option is fixed at the point of sale, there are no daily cash payments by the purchaser to reflect changes in the value of the underlying contract; however, the value of the option changes daily and that change would be reflected in the NAV of the Fund. The potential for loss related to writing options may be unlimited.
 
Although the Fund intends to enter into futures contracts only if there is an active market for such contracts, there is no assurance that an active market will exist for the contracts at any particular time.
 
EXCHANGE-TRADED NOTES. The Fund may invest in exchange-traded notes (“ETNs”). ETNs generally are senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt securities issued by a sponsor, such as an investment bank. ETNs are traded on exchanges and the returns are linked to the performance of market indexes. In addition to trading ETNs on exchanges, investors may redeem ETNs directly with the issuer on a periodic basis, typically in a minimum amount of 50,000 units, or hold the ETNs until maturity. The value of an ETN may be influenced by time to maturity, level of supply and demand for the ETN, volatility and lack of liquidity in the underlying market, changes in the applicable interest rates, and economic, legal, political or geographic events that affect the referenced market. Because ETNs are debt securities, they are subject to credit risk. If the issuer has financial difficulties or goes bankrupt, the Fund may not receive the return it was promised. If a rating agency lowers an issuer’s credit rating, the value of the ETN may decline and a lower credit rating reflects a greater risk that the issuer will default on its obligation. There may be restrictions on the Fund’s right to redeem its investment in an ETN. There are no periodic interest payments for ETNs, and principal is not protected. The Fund’s decision to sell its ETN holdings may be limited by the availability of a secondary market.
 
INVESTMENT COMPANY SECURITIES. The Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies. The 1940 Act generally prohibits a fund from acquiring more than 3% of the outstanding voting shares of an investment company and limits such investments to no more than 5% of the fund’s total assets in any single investment company and no more than 10% in any combination of two or more investment companies. The Fund may purchase or otherwise invest in shares of affiliated exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and affiliated money market funds.
MONEY MARKET INSTRUMENTS. The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in high-quality money market instruments on an ongoing basis to provide liquidity or for other reasons. The instruments in which the Fund may invest include: (i) short-term obligations issued by the U.S. Government; (ii) negotiable certificates of deposit (“CDs”), fixed time deposits and bankers’ acceptances of U.S. and foreign banks and similar institutions; (iii) commercial paper rated at the date of purchase “Prime-1” by Moody’s or “A-1+” or “A-1” by Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) or, if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by the Fund; and (iv) repurchase agreements. CDs are short-term negotiable obligations of commercial banks. Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained in banking institutions for specified periods of time at stated interest rates. Banker’s acceptances are time drafts drawn on commercial banks by borrowers, usually in connection with international transactions.
 
REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS. The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements with counterparties that are deemed to present acceptable credit risks. A repurchase agreement is a transaction in which the Fund purchases securities or other obligations from a bank or securities dealer (or its affiliate) and simultaneously commits to resell them to a counterparty at an agreed-upon date or upon demand and at a price reflecting a market rate of interest unrelated to the coupon rate or maturity of the purchased obligations. The Fund maintains custody of the underlying obligations prior to their repurchase, either through its regular custodian or through a special “tri-party” custodian or sub-custodian that maintains separate accounts for both the Fund and its counterparty. Thus, the obligation of the counterparty to pay the repurchase price on the date agreed to or upon demand is, in effect, secured by such obligations.
 
Repurchase agreements carry certain risks not associated with direct investments in securities, including a possible decline in the market value of the underlying obligations. If their value becomes less than the repurchase price, plus any agreed-upon additional amount, the counterparty must provide additional collateral so that at all times the collateral is at least equal to the repurchase price plus any agreed-upon additional amount. The difference between the total amount to be received upon repurchase of the obligations and the price that was paid by the Fund upon acquisition is accrued as interest and included in its net investment income. Repurchase agreements involving obligations other than U.S. Government securities (such as commercial paper and corporate bonds) may be subject to special risks and may not have the benefit of certain protections in the event of the counterparty’s insolvency. If the seller or guarantor becomes insolvent, the Fund may suffer delays, costs and possible losses in connection with the disposition of collateral.
 
REVERSE REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS. The Fund may enter into reverse repurchase agreements, which involve the sale of securities held by the Fund subject to its agreement to repurchase the securities at an agreed-upon date or upon demand and at a price reflecting a market rate of interest. Reverse repurchase agreements are subject to the Fund’s limitation on borrowings and may be entered into only with banks or securities dealers or their affiliates. While a reverse repurchase agreement is outstanding, the Fund will maintain the segregation, either on its records or with the Trust’s custodian, of cash or other liquid securities, marked-to-market daily, in an amount at least equal to its obligations under the reverse repurchase agreement.
 
Reverse repurchase agreements involve the risk that the buyer of the securities sold by the Fund might be unable to deliver them when that Fund seeks to repurchase. If the buyer of securities under a reverse repurchase agreement files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, the buyer or trustee or receiver may receive an extension of time to determine whether to enforce the Fund’s obligation to repurchase the securities, and the Fund’s use of the proceeds of the reverse repurchase agreement may effectively be restricted pending such decision.
 
SECURITIES LENDING. The Fund may lend portfolio securities to certain creditworthy borrowers, including the Fund’s securities lending agent. Loans of portfolio securities provide the Fund with the opportunity to earn additional income on the Fund’s portfolio securities. All securities loans will be made pursuant to agreements requiring the loans to be continuously secured by collateral in cash, or money market instruments, or money market funds at least equal at all times to the market value of the loaned securities. The borrower pays to the Fund an amount equal to any dividends or interest received on loaned securities. The Fund retains all or a portion of the interest received on investment of cash collateral or receives a fee from the borrower. Lending portfolio securities involves risks of delay in recovery of the loaned securities or in some cases loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower fail financially. Furthermore, because of the risks of delay in recovery, the Fund may lose the opportunity to sell the securities at a desirable price. The Fund will generally not have the right to vote securities while they are being loaned.
 
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS. The Trust’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) may, in the future, authorize the Fund to invest in securities contracts and investments other than those listed in this SAI and in the Fund’s Prospectus, provided they are consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and do not violate any investment restrictions or policies.
 
FIXED-INCOME SECURITIES RATINGS. The NRSROs publish ratings based upon their assessment of the relative creditworthiness of the rated fixed-income securities. Generally, a lower rating indicates higher credit risk, and higher yields are ordinarily available from fixed-income securities in the lower rating categories to compensate investors for the increased credit risk. Any use of credit ratings in evaluating fixed-income securities can involve certain risks. For example, ratings assigned by the rating agencies are based upon an analysis completed at the time of the rating of the obligor's ability to pay interest and repay principal, typically relying to a large extent on historical data. Rating agencies typically rely to a large extent on historical data which may not accurately represent present or future circumstances. Ratings do not purport to reflect to risk of fluctuations in market value of the fixed-income security and are not absolute standards of quality and only express the rating agency's current opinion of an obligor's overall financial capacity to pay its financial obligations. A credit rating is not a statement of fact or a recommendation to purchase, sell or hold a fixed-income obligation. Also, credit quality can change suddenly and unexpectedly, and credit ratings may not reflect the issuer's current financial condition or events since the security was last rated. Rating agencies may have a financial interest in generating business, including the arranger or issuer of the security that normally pays for that rating, and a low rating might affect future business. While rating agencies have policies and procedures to address this potential conflict of interest, there is a risk that these policies will fail to prevent a conflict of interest from impacting the rating. Additionally, legislation has been enacted in an effort to reform rating agencies. Rules have also been adopted by the SEC to require rating agencies to provide additional disclosure and reduce conflicts of interest, and further reform has been proposed. It is uncertain how such legislation or additional regulation might impact the ratings agencies business and the Adviser's investment process.
Prepayment risk occurs when a fixed-income investment held by the Fund may be repaid in whole or in part prior to its maturity. The amount of prepayable obligations the Fund invests in from time to time may be affected by general business conditions, market interest rates, borrowers' financial conditions and competitive conditions among lenders. In a period of declining interest rates, borrowers may repay investments more quickly than anticipated, reducing the yield to maturity and the average life of the relevant investment. Moreover, when the Fund reinvests the proceeds of a prepayment in these circumstances, it will likely receive a rate of interest that is lower than the rate on the security that was prepaid. To the extent that the Fund purchases a relevant investment at a premium, prepayments may result in a loss to the extent of the premium paid. If the Fund buys such investments at a discount, both scheduled payments and unscheduled prepayments will increase current and total returns and unscheduled prepayments will also accelerate the recognition of income. In a period of rising interest rates, prepayments of investments may occur at a slower than expected rate, creating maturity extension risk. This particular risk may effectively change an investment that was considered short- or intermediate-term at the time of purchase into a longer-term investment. Since the value of longer-term investments generally fluctuates more widely in response to changes in interest rates than short-term investments, maturity extension risk could increase the volatility of the Fund. When interest rates decline, the value of an investment with prepayment features may not increase as much as that of other fixed-income securities and, as noted above, changes in market rates of interest may accelerate or delay prepayments and thus affect maturities.
 
 
The Fund has delegated proxy voting responsibilities to the Adviser, subject to the Board’s oversight. In delegating proxy responsibilities, the Board has directed that proxies be voted consistent with the Fund’s and its shareholders’ best interests and in compliance with all applicable proxy voting rules and regulations. The Adviser has adopted proxy voting policies and guidelines for this purpose (“Proxy Voting Policies”) and has engaged a third party proxy solicitation firm to assist with voting proxies in a timely manner. A copy of the Proxy Voting Policies is set forth in Appendix B to this SAI. The Trust’s chief compliance officer is responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the Proxy Voting Policies. The Proxy Voting Policies have been adopted by the Trust as the policies and procedures that the Adviser will use when voting proxies on behalf of the Fund.
 
The Proxy Voting Policies address, among other things, material conflicts of interest that may arise between the interests of the Fund and the interests of the Adviser. The Proxy Voting Policies will ensure that all issues brought to shareholders are analyzed in light of the Adviser’s fiduciary responsibilities.
 
When available, information on how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12 month period will be available (1) without charge, upon request, by calling 1-800-617-0004 and (2) on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
 
 
The Trust’s Board of Trustees has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of information about the Fund’s security holdings. As an exchange-traded fund, information about the Fund’s portfolio holdings is made available on a daily basis in accordance with the provisions of any Order of the SEC applicable to the Fund, regulations of the Fund’s Listing Exchange and other applicable SEC regulations, orders and no-action relief. Such information typically reflects all or a portion of the Fund’s anticipated portfolio holdings as of the next Business Day. A “Business Day” is any day on which the Fund’s Listing Exchange is open for business. As of the date of this SAI, the Listing Exchange observes the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day (observed), Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. This information is used in connection with the creation and redemption process and is disseminated on a daily basis through the facilities of the Listing Exchange, the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) and/or third-party service providers.
 
The Fund may disclose on its website at the start of each Business Day the identities and quantities of the securities and other assets held by the Fund that will form the basis of the Fund’s calculation of its NAV on that Business Day. The portfolio holdings so disclosed will be based on information as of the close of business on the prior Business Day and/or trades that have been completed prior to the opening of business on that Business Day and that are expected to settle on that Business Day.
The Fund may disclose its complete portfolio holdings or a portion of its portfolio holdings online at www.videntfinancialsolutions.com. Online disclosure of such holdings is publicly available at no charge.
 
The Fund will disclose its complete portfolio holdings schedule in public filings with the SEC on a quarterly basis, based on the Fund’s fiscal year, within sixty (60) days of the end of the quarter, and will provide that information to shareholders, as required by federal securities laws and regulations thereunder.
 
 
A brief description of the Fund’s underlying Index is provided below. Additional information about the Index, including the components and weightings of the Index, as well as the rules that govern inclusion and weighting in the Index, is available at www.videntfinancial.com.
 
Vident Core U.S. Bond Index
 
Fixed-Income Sector Allocations: U.S. Treasuries, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (“TIPS”), U.S. agency securities, corporate bonds and high-yield bonds.
 
Number of Components: approximately [  ].
 
Index Description. The rules-based Index measures the performance of the core U.S. intermediate-term bond market based on a principled reasoning investment framework that seeks to diversify investments across fixed-income sectors. The Index weights the allocation to each sector based on expected tail loss and seeks to identify corporate issuers with a demonstrated commitment to high standards of corporate governance, financial reporting and managerial stewardship.
 
Semi-Annual Index Reconstitution. The Index is “reconstituted” quarterly in January, April, July, and October.
 
During each reconstitution, securities are screened to determine whether they comply with the Index Provider’s index methodology and are eligible to be included in the Index. The date of the determination is sometimes referred to as the “Index measurement date” or the “Screening Point.” Based on this screening, securities that meet the Index requirements are added to the Index, and securities that do not meet such requirements are dropped from the Index.
 
Index Maintenance. Index maintenance occurs throughout the year and includes monitoring and implementing the adjustments for company additions and deletions, stock splits, corporate restructurings and other corporate actions. Corporate actions are generally implemented after the close of trading on the day prior to the ex-date of such corporate actions. To the extent reasonably practicable, such changes will be announced at least two days prior to their implementation.
 
Index Availability: The Index is calculated and disseminated throughout each day the NYSE is open for trading.
 
Changes to the Index Methodology. The Index is governed by a published, rules-based methodology. Changes to the methodology will be publicly disclosed at www.videntfinancial.com prior to implementation. Sixty days’ notice will be given prior to the implementation of any such change.
 
Index Calculation Agent. The Index Provider has retained an unaffiliated third party to calculate each Index (the “Calculation Agent”). The Calculation Agent, using the rules-based methodology, will calculate, maintain and disseminate the Index on a daily basis. The Index Provider will monitor the results produced by the Calculation Agent to help ensure that the Index is being calculated in accordance with the rules-based methodology. In addition, the Index Provider has established policies and procedures designed to prevent non-public information about pending changes to the Index from being used or disseminated in an improper manner. Furthermore, ETC has established policies and procedures designed to prevent improper use and dissemination of non-public information about the Fund’s portfolio strategies and to prevent the Fund’s portfolio managers from having any influence on the construction of the Index methodology.
 
 
The following fundamental investment policies and limitations supplement those set forth in the Fund’s Prospectus. Unless otherwise noted, whenever a fundamental investment policy or limitation states a maximum percentage of the Fund’s assets that may be invested in any security or other asset, or sets forth a policy regarding quality standards, such standard or percentage limitation will be determined immediately after and as a result of the Fund’s acquisition of such security or other asset. Accordingly, other than with respect to the Fund’s limitations on borrowings, any subsequent change in values, net assets, or other circumstances will not be considered when determining whether the investment complies with the Fund’s investment policies and limitations.
The Fund’s fundamental investment policies cannot be changed without the approval of the holders of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities as defined under the 1940 Act. The Fund, however, may change the non-fundamental investment policies described below, its investment objective, and its underlying Index without a shareholder vote provided that it obtains Board approval and notifies its shareholders with at least sixty (60) days’ prior written notice of any such change.
 
Fundamental Policies. The following investment policies and limitations are fundamental and may NOT be changed without shareholder approval.
 
The Fund, as a fundamental investment policy, may not:
 
Senior Securities
 
Issue senior securities, except as permitted under the 1940 Act.
 
Borrowing
 
Borrow money, except as permitted under the 1940 Act.
 
Underwriting
 
Act as an underwriter of another issuer’s securities, except to the extent that the Fund may be considered an underwriter within the meaning of the Securities Act in the disposition of portfolio securities.
 
Concentration
 
Purchase the securities of any issuer (other than securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or any of its agencies or instrumentalities) if, as a result, more than 25% of the Fund’s total assets would be invested in the securities of companies whose principal business activities are in the same industry, except that the Fund will invest more than 25% of its total assets in securities of the same industry to approximately the same extent that the Fund’s underlying Index concentrates in the securities of a particular industry or group of industries.
 
Real Estate
 
Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this shall not prevent the Fund from investing in securities or other instruments backed by real estate, real estate investment trusts or securities of companies engaged in the real estate business).
 
Commodities
 
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 and futures contracts or from investing in securities or other instruments backed by physical commodities).
 
Loans
 
Lend any security or make any other loan except as permitted under the 1940 Act.
 
This means that no more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties. This limitation does not apply to purchases of debt securities or to repurchase agreements, or to acquisitions of loans, loan participations or other forms of debt instruments, permissible under the Fund’s investment policies.
 
Non-Fundamental Policies. The following investment policy is not fundamental and may be changed without shareholder approval.
 
The Fund has adopted a non-fundamental investment policy in accordance with Rule 35d-1 under the 1940 Act to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in the types of securities suggested by the Fund’s name, including investments that are tied economically to the particular country or geographic region suggested by the Fund’s name. If, subsequent to an investment, the 80% requirement is no longer met, the Fund’s future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy.
 
The Fund will not invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. An illiquid asset is any asset that may not be sold or disposed of in the ordinary course of business within seven days at approximately the value at which the Fund has valued the investment.
 
 
The method by which Creation Unit Aggregations of 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, at any point a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act, may occur. 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 which could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus delivery requirement and liability provisions of the Securities 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 the Fund’s Distributor, 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 Securities 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 categorization 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, generally are required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(3) of the Securities Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. Firms that incur a prospectus delivery obligation with respect to Shares of the Fund are reminded that, pursuant to Rule 153 under the Securities Act, a prospectus delivery obligation under Section 5(b)(2) of the Securities Act owed to an exchange member in connection with the sale on the Listing Exchange is satisfied by the fact that the prospectus is available at the Listing Exchange upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism provided in Rule 153 is only available with respect to transactions on an exchange.
 
Board Responsibilities. The management and affairs of the Trust and its series are overseen by the Board, which elects the officers of the Trust who are responsible for administering the day-to-day operations of the Trust and the Fund.  The Board has approved contracts, as described below, under which certain companies provide essential services to the Trust.
 
The day-to-day business of the Trust, including the management of risk, is performed by third-party service providers, such as the Advisers, the Distributor and the Administrator. The Board is responsible for overseeing the Trust’s service providers and, thus, has oversight responsibility with respect to risk management performed by those service providers. Risk management seeks to identify and address risks, i.e., events or circumstances that could have material adverse effects on the business, operations, shareholder services, investment performance or reputation of the Fund. The Fund and its service providers employ a variety of processes, procedures and controls to identify various of those possible events or circumstances, to lessen the probability of their occurrence and/or to mitigate the effects of such events or circumstances if they do occur. Each service provider is responsible for one or more discrete aspects of the Trust’s business (e.g., the Trading Sub-Adviser is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio investments) and, consequently, for managing the risks associated with that business. The Board has emphasized to the Fund’s service providers the importance of maintaining vigorous risk management.
 
The Board’s role in risk oversight begins before the inception of the Fund, at which time certain of the Fund’s service providers present the Board with information concerning the investment objectives, strategies and risks of the Fund as well as proposed investment limitations for the Fund. Additionally, the Adviser provides the Board with an overview of, among other things, its investment philosophy, brokerage practices and compliance infrastructure. Thereafter, the Board continues its oversight function as various personnel, including the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer, as well as personnel of the Investment Sub-Adviser and Trading Sub-Adviser, and other service providers such as the Fund’s independent accountants, make periodic reports to the Audit Committee or to the Board with respect to various aspects of risk management. The Board and the Audit Committee oversee efforts by management and service providers to manage risks to which the Fund may be exposed.
 
The Board is responsible for overseeing the nature, extent and quality of the services provided to the Fund by the Advisers and receives information about those services at its regular meetings. In addition, on an annual basis, in connection with its consideration of whether to renew the Advisory Agreements with the Advisers, the Board or its designee meets with the Advisers to review such services. Among other things, the Board regularly considers the Advisers’ adherence to the Fund’s investment restrictions and compliance with various Fund policies and procedures and with applicable securities regulations. The Board also reviews information about the Fund’s performance and the Fund’s investments, including, for example, portfolio holdings schedules.
 
The Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer reports regularly to the Board to review and discuss compliance issues and Fund and Adviser or Sub-Adviser risk assessments. At least annually, the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer provides the Board with a report reviewing the adequacy and effectiveness of the Trust’s policies and procedures and those of its service providers, including the Advisers. The report addresses the operation of the policies and procedures of the Trust and each service provider since the date of the last report; any material changes to the policies and procedures since the date of the last report; any recommendations for material changes to the policies and procedures; and any material compliance matters since the date of the last report.
 
The Board receives reports from the Fund’s service providers regarding operational risks and risks related to the valuation and liquidity of portfolio securities. Annually, the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm reviews with the Audit Committee its audit of the Fund’s financial statements, focusing on major areas of risk encountered by the Fund and noting any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in the Fund’s internal controls. Additionally, in connection with its oversight function, the Board oversees Fund management’s implementation of disclosure controls and procedures, which are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Trust in its periodic reports with the SEC are recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the required time periods. The Board also oversees the Trust’s internal controls over financial reporting, which comprise policies and procedures designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of the Trust’s financial reporting and the preparation of the Trust’s financial statements.
From their review of these reports and discussions with the Advisers, the Chief Compliance Officer, the independent registered public accounting firm and other service providers, the Board and the Audit Committee learn in detail about the material risks of the Fund, thereby facilitating a dialogue about how management and service providers identify and mitigate those risks.
 
The Board recognizes that not all risks that may affect the Fund can be identified and/or quantified, that it may not be practical or cost-effective to eliminate or mitigate certain risks, that it may be necessary to bear certain risks (such as investment-related risks) to achieve the Fund’s goals, and that the processes, procedures and controls employed to address certain risks may be limited in their effectiveness. Moreover, reports received by the Board as to risk management matters are typically summaries of the relevant information. Most of the Fund’s investment management and business affairs are carried out by or through the Adviser and other service providers, each of which has an independent interest in risk management but whose policies and the methods by which one or more risk management functions are carried out may differ from the Fund’s and each other’s in the setting of priorities, the resources available or the effectiveness of relevant controls. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, the Board’s ability to monitor and manage risk, as a practical matter, is subject to limitations.
 
Members of the Board. There are four members of the Board of Trustees, three of whom are not interested persons of the Trust, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act (the “Independent Trustees”). Mr. Michael A. Castino serves as Chairman of the Board. The Trust does not have a lead independent trustee. The Board is comprised of a super-majority (75 percent) of Independent Trustees. There is an Audit Committee of the Board that is chaired by an Independent Trustee and comprised solely of Independent Trustees. The Audit Committee chair presides at the Audit Committee meetings, participates in formulating agendas for Audit Committee meetings, and coordinates with management to serve as a liaison between the Independent Trustees and management on matters within the scope of responsibilities of the Audit Committee as set forth in its Board-approved charter. The Trust has determined its leadership structure is appropriate given the specific characteristics and circumstances of the Trust. The Trust made this determination in consideration of, among other things, the fact that the Independent Trustees of the Fund constitute a super-majority of the Board, the number of Independent Trustees that constitute the Board, the amount of assets under management in the Trust, and the number of funds overseen by the Board. The Board also believes that its leadership structure facilitates the orderly and efficient flow of information to the Independent Trustees from Fund management.
 
Additional information about each Trustee of the Trust is set forth below.
 
Name,
Address, and
Year of Birth
Position
Held with
the Trust
Term of
Office and
Length of
Time Served
Principal Occupation(s) During
Past 5 Years
Number of
Portfolios in Fund
Complex Overseen
by Trustee(1)
Other Directorships
Held by Trustee
During Past 5 Years
Interested Trustee
J. Garrett Stevens
2545 S. Kelly Avenue
Suite C
Edmond, OK 73013
Born: 1979
Trustee
Indefinite
term; since
2012
Investment Advisor, T.S. Phillips Investments, Inc. (2000 to 2011); CEO and Secretary, Exchange Traded Concepts Trust (since 2009); President, Exchange Traded Concepts Trust II (since 2011); CEO and Portfolio Manager, Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (since 2009).
[11]
None
Independent Trustees
Ronald T. Beckman
615 E. Michigan St.
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Born: 1947
Trustee
Indefinite
term; since
2012
Retired; formerly Audit Partner specializing in investment management, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (1972–2004).
 
[4]
None
 
 
Name,
Address, and
Year of Birth
Position
Held with
the Trust
Term of
Office and
Length of
Time Served
Principal Occupation(s) During
Past 5 Years
Number of
Portfolios in Fund
Complex Overseen
by Trustee(1)
Other Directorships
Held by Trustee
During Past 5 Years
David A. Massart
615 E. Michigan St.
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Born: 1967
Trustee
Indefinite
term; since
2012
Co-Founder and Chief Investment Strategist, Next Generation Wealth Management, Inc. (since 2005).
[4]
Independent Trustee, Managed Portfolio Solutions
([16] portfolios).
Leonard M. Rush, CPA
615 E. Michigan St.
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Born: 1946
Trustee
Indefinite
term; since
2012
Retired; formerly Chief Financial Officer, Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (2000–2011).
[4]
Independent Trustee, Managed Portfolio Solutions ([16] portfolios).
(1)  
The Fund Complex includes the Trust and each other registered investment company for which the Adviser serves as investment adviser. The Fund does not hold itself out as related to any other investment company for investment purposes.
 
Individual Trustee Qualifications. The Trust has concluded that each of the Trustees should serve on the Board because of their ability to review and understand information about the Fund provided to them by management, to identify and request other information they may deem relevant to the performance of their duties, to question management and other service providers regarding material factors bearing on the management and administration of the Fund, and to exercise their business judgment in a manner that serves the best interests of the Fund’s shareholders. The Trust has concluded that each of the Trustees should serve as a Trustee based on their own experience, qualifications, attributes and skills as described below.
 
The Trust has concluded that Mr. Stevens should serve as Trustee because of the experience he gained in his roles with registered broker-dealer and investment management firms, as Chief Executive Officer of the Adviser, his experience in and knowledge of the financial services industry, and the experience he has gained as serving as trustee of another investment company trust since 2009.
 
The Trust has concluded that Mr. Beckman should serve as a Trustee because of his substantial investment management industry experience through his prior service as a business assurance (audit) partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for over 15 years.
 
The Trust has concluded that Mr. Massart should serve as a Trustee because of his substantial industry experience, including over 15 years working with high net worth individuals, families, trusts and retirement accounts to make strategic and tactical asset allocation decisions, evaluate and select investment managers and manage client relationships, and the experience he has gained as serving as trustee of another investment company trust since 2011. He is currently the Chief Investment Strategist and lead member of the investment management committee of the SEC registered investment advisory firm he co-founded. Previously, he served as Managing Director of Strong Private Client and as a Manager of Wells Fargo Investments, LLC.
 
The Trust has concluded that Mr. Rush should serve as a Trustee because of his substantial industry experience, including serving in several different senior executive roles at various global financial services firms, and the experience he has gained as serving as trustee of another investment company trust since 2011. He most recently served as Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated and several other affiliated entities and served as the Treasurer for Baird Funds. He also served as the Chief Financial Officer for Fidelity Investments’ four broker-dealers and has substantial experience with mutual fund and investment advisory organizations and related businesses, including Vice President and Head of Compliance for Fidelity Investments, a Vice President at Credit Suisse First Boston, a Manager with Goldman Sachs, & Co. and a Senior Manager with Deloitte & Touche. Mr. Rush has been determined to qualify as an Audit Committee Financial Expert for the Trust.
 
In its periodic assessment of the effectiveness of the Board, the Board considers the complementary individual skills and experience of the individual Trustees primarily in the broader context of the Board’s overall composition so that the Board, as a body, possesses the appropriate (and appropriately diverse) skills and experience to oversee the business of the funds.
 
Board Committees. The Board has established the following standing committees of the Board:
 
Audit Committee. The Board has a standing Audit Committee that is composed of each of the Independent Trustees of the Trust. The Audit Committee operates under a written charter approved by the Board. The principal responsibilities of the Audit Committee include: recommending which firm to engage as the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm and whether to terminate this relationship; reviewing the independent registered public accounting firm’s compensation, the proposed scope and terms of its engagement, and the firm’s independence; pre-approving audit and non-audit services provided by the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm to the Trust and certain other affiliated entities; serving as a channel of communication between the independent registered public accounting firm and the Trustees; reviewing the results of each external audit, including any qualifications in the independent registered public accounting firm’s opinion, any related management letter, management’s responses to recommendations made by the independent registered public accounting firm in connection with the audit, reports submitted to the Committee by the internal auditing department of the Trust’s Administrator that are material to the Trust as a whole, if any, and management’s responses to any such reports; reviewing the Fund’s audited financial statements and considering any significant disputes between the Trust’s management and the independent registered public accounting firm that arose in connection with the preparation of those financial statements; considering, in consultation with the independent registered public accounting firm and the Trust’s senior internal accounting executive, if any, the independent registered public accounting firms’ report on the adequacy of the Trust’s internal financial controls; reviewing, in consultation with the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm, major changes regarding auditing and accounting principles and practices to be followed when preparing the Fund’s financial statements; and other audit related matters. Each Independent Trustee currently serves as members of the Audit Committee. As of the date of this SAI, the Audit Committee had met once with respect to the Fund.
 
 
 
The Audit Committee also serves as the Qualified Legal Compliance Committee (“QLCC”) for the Trust for the purpose of compliance with Rules 205.2(k) and 205.3(c) of the Code of Federal Regulations, regarding alternative reporting procedures for attorneys retained or employed by an issuer who appear and practice before the SEC on behalf of the issuer (the “issuer attorneys”).  An issuer attorney who becomes aware of evidence of a material violation by the Trust, or by any officer, director, employee, or agent of the Trust, may report evidence of such material violation to the QLCC as an alternative to the reporting requirements of Rule 205.3(b) (which requires reporting to the chief legal officer and potentially “up the ladder” to other entities).
 
Nominating Committee. The Board has a standing Nominating Committee that is composed of each of the Independent Trustees of the Trust. The Nominating Committee operates under a written charter approved by the Board. The principal responsibility of the Nominating Committee is to consider, recommend and nominate candidates to fill vacancies on the Trust’s Board, if any. The Nominating Committee generally will not consider nominees recommended by shareholders. The Nominating Committee meets periodically, as necessary. During the fiscal period ended [       ], the Nominating Committee [did not meet].
 
Valuation Committee. The Board has delegated day-to-day valuation issues to a Valuation Committee that is comprised of certain officers of the Trust and employees of USBFS. Although the Valuation Committee is not a committee of the Board (i.e., no Trustee is a member of Valuation Committee), the Valuation Committee’s membership is appointed by the Board and its charter and applicable procedures are approved by the Board. The function of the Valuation Committee is to value securities held by any series of the Trust for which current and reliable market quotations are not readily available. Such securities are valued at their respective fair values as determined in good faith by the Valuation Committee and the actions of the Valuation Committee are subsequently reviewed and ratified by the Board. The Valuation Committee meets as necessary. As of the date of this SAI, the Valuation Committee had not met with respect to the Fund.
 
Principal Officers of the Trust
 
The officers of the Trust conduct and supervise its daily business. The address of each officer of the Trust is c/o USBFS, 615 E. Michigan Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202. Additional information about the Trust’s officers is as follows:
 
Name, Address and Year
of Birth
Position(s) Held with Fund
Term of Office
and Length of
Time Served
Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five
Years
Michael A. Castino(1)
Born: 1967
Chairman, President
and Principal
Executive Officer
 
Indefinite term;
since 2013
Senior Vice President, USBFS (since 2013); Managing Director of Index Services, Zacks Investment Management (2011–2013); Vice President, Marco Polo Network (financial services firm) (2009–2011).
Paul R. Fearday, CPA
Born: 1979
Treasurer and
Principal Financial
Officer
 
Indefinite term;
since 2013
Vice President, U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC (since 2008); Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (accounting firm) (2002–2008).
Michael R. McVoy
Born: 1957
Chief Compliance
Officer
Indefinite term;
since 2013
Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer, USBFS (since 1986).
Michael D. Barolsky, Esq.
Born: 1981
Secretary
Indefinite term;
since 2014
Vice President, USBFS (since 2012); Associate, Thompson Hine LLP (law firm) (2008–2012).
Kristen M. Weitzel, CPA
Born: 1977
Assistant
Treasurer
Indefinite term;
since 2013
Assistant Vice President, USBFS (since 2011); Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (accounting firm) (2005–2011).
 
(1)      Though Mr. Castino is the Chairman of the Trust, he is not a Trustee and has no voting authority.

Trustee Ownership of Shares. The Fund is required to show the dollar amount ranges of each Trustee’s “beneficial ownership” of Shares of the Fund and each other series of the Trust as of the end of the most recently completely calendar year. Dollar amount ranges disclosed are established by the SEC. “Beneficial ownership” is determined in accordance with Rule 16a-1(a)(2) under the 1934 Act.
 
As of the date of this SAI, no Trustee or officer of the Trust owned Shares of the Fund [or any other series of the Trust.]
Board Compensation. The Independent Trustees each receive an annual trustee fee of $25,000 for attendance at the four regularly scheduled quarterly meetings and one annual meeting, if necessary, and receive additional compensation for each additional meeting attended of $1,500 for an in-person meeting and $500 for a telephonic meeting, as well as reimbursement for travel and other out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with attendance at Board meetings. The Trust has no pension or retirement plan. No officer, director or employee of the Adviser receives any compensation from the Fund for acting as a Trustee or officer of the Trust. The following table shows the compensation estimated to be earned by each Trustee for the Fund’s fiscal year ending August 31, 2014:

 Name
Aggregate
Compensation
From Fund
Pension or
Retirement Benefits
Accrued As Part of
the Fund’s Expenses
Estimated
Annual
Benefits Upon
Retirement
Total Compensation
From Fund Complex
Paid to Trustees
Interested Trustees
J. Garrett Stevens
$0
N/A
N/A
$0
Independent Trustees
Ronald T. Beckman
[$  ]
N/A
N/A
[$  ]
David A. Massart
[$  ]
N/A
N/A
[$  ]
Leonard M. Rush, CPA
[$  ]
N/A
N/A
[$  ]
 
Principal Shareholders, Control Persons and Management Ownership. A principal shareholder is any person who owns of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of a fund. A control person is a shareholder that owns beneficially or through controlled companies more than 25% of the voting securities of a company or acknowledges the existence of control. Shareholders owning voting securities in excess of 25% may determine the outcome of any matter affecting and voted on by shareholders of a Fund. Because the Fund is new there were no beneficial owners as of the date of this SAI.
 
Investment Adviser. ETC serves as investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to an investment advisory agreement between the Trust and ETC (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”). The Adviser is an Oklahoma limited liability company located at 2545 S. Kelly Avenue, Suite C, Edmond, Oklahoma 73013. The Adviser is majority owned by Yorkville ETF Holdings, LLC. As of  [            ], ETC had assets under management totaling approximately [$          ].
 
Under the Investment Advisory Agreement, ETC has overall responsibility for the general management and administration of the Trust. ETC provides an investment program for the Fund. The Adviser also arranges for sub-advisory, transfer agency, custody, fund administration, securities lending, and all other non-distribution-related services necessary for the Fund to operate. The Fund pays ETC a fee equal to [       %] of the Fund’s average daily net assets. Under the Investment Advisory Agreement, ETC has agreed to pay all expenses of the Fund, except for: the fee paid to ETC pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement, interest charges on any borrowings, taxes, brokerage commissions and other expenses incurred in placing orders for the purchase and sale of securities and other investment instruments, acquired fund fees and expenses, accrued deferred tax liability, extraordinary expenses, and distribution (12b-1) fees and expenses..
 
The Adviser, from its own resources, including profits from advisory fees received from the Fund, provided such fees are legitimate and not excessive, may make payments to broker-dealers and other financial institutions for their expenses in connection with the distribution of Fund Shares, and otherwise currently pays all distribution costs for Fund Shares.
 
The Investment Advisory Agreement with respect to the Fund continues in effect for two years from its effective date, and thereafter is subject to annual approval by (i) the Board of Trustees of the Trust or (ii) the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund, provided that in either event such continuance also is approved by a vote of a majority of the Trustees of the Trust who are not interested persons (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund, by a vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. If the shareholders of the Fund fail to approve the Investment Advisory Agreement, ETC may continue to serve in the manner and to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and rules and regulations thereunder.
 
The Investment Advisory Agreement with respect to the Fund is terminable without any penalty, by vote of the Board of Trustees of the Trust or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund, or by ETC, in each case on not less than thirty (30) days’ nor more than sixty (60) days’ prior written notice to the other party; provided that a shorter notice period shall be permitted for the Fund in the event its Shares are no longer listed on a national securities exchange. The Investment Advisory Agreement will terminate automatically and immediately in the event of its “assignment” (as defined in the 1940 Act).
Investment Sub-Adviser. The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, and the Adviser have retained Vident Investment Advisors, LLC (“Vident” or the “Investment Sub-Adviser”), 300 Colonial Center Parkway, Suite 330, Roswell, GA 30076, to serve as investment sub-adviser for the Fund. The Investment Sub-Adviser in 2014 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vident Financial, LLC, the Fund’s Sponsor.
 
Pursuant to a Sub-Advisory Agreement between the Adviser and the Investment Sub-Adviser (the “Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement”), the Investment Sub-Adviser is responsible for working with the Fund’s Trading Sub-Adviser to ensure that the characteristics of the Fund’s aggregate portfolio reflect the principles used to determine the constituents of the Strategy Index, subject to the oversight of the Adviser and the Board. For the services it provides to the Fund, the Investment Sub-Adviser is compensated by the Adviser from the management fees paid by the Fund to the Adviser. The Adviser pays the Investment Sub-Adviser a fee equal to [       %] of the Fund’s average daily net assets.
 
The Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement was initially approved by the Trustees (including all non-interested Trustees) and the Adviser, as sole shareholder of the Fund in compliance with the 1940 Act. The Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement with respect to the Fund will continue in force for an initial period of two years after the date of its approval. Thereafter, the Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement will be renewable from year to year with respect to the Fund, so long as its continuance is approved at least annually (1) by the vote, cast in person at a meeting called for that purpose, of a majority of those Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust; and (2) by the majority vote of either the full Board or the vote of a majority of the outstanding Shares of the Fund. The Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment, and is terminable at any time without penalty by the Board or, with respect to the Fund, by a majority of the outstanding Shares of the Fund, on not less than 30 days’ nor more than 60 days’ written notice to the Investment Sub-Adviser, or by the Investment Sub-Adviser on 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser and the Trust. The Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement provides that the Sub-Adviser shall not be protected against any liability to the Trust or its shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on its part in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard of its obligations or duties thereunder.
 
Trading Sub-Adviser. The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, and the Adviser have retained [  ] (“[  ]” or the “Trading Sub-Adviser”), [located at], to serve as trading sub-adviser for the Fund. The Sub-Adviser was established in [  ] and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of [  ].
 
Pursuant to a Sub-Advisory Agreement between the Adviser and the Trading Sub-Adviser (the “Trading Sub-Advisory Agreement”), the Trading Sub-Adviser is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund, subject to the oversight of the Adviser and the Board and consultations with the Investment Sub-Adviser. As Trading Sub-Adviser, [  ] is responsible for trading portfolio securities for the Fund, including selecting broker-dealers to execute purchase and sale transactions or in connection with any rebalancing or reconstitution of the Index. The Trading Sub-Adviser is also responsible for determining, in conjunction with the Investment Sub-Adviser, which component securities of the Strategy Index will be held by the Fund. For the services it provides to the Fund, the Trading Sub-Adviser is compensated by the Adviser from the management fees paid by the Fund to the Adviser. The Adviser pays the Trading Sub-Adviser a fee equal to [       %] of the Fund’s average daily net assets.
 
The Trading Sub-Advisory Agreement was initially approved by the Trustees (including all non-interested Trustees) and the Adviser, as sole shareholder of the Fund in compliance with the 1940 Act. The Trading Sub-Advisory Agreement with respect to the Fund will continue in force for an initial period of two years after the date of its approval. Thereafter, the Trading Sub-Advisory Agreement will be renewable from year to year with respect to the Fund, so long as its continuance is approved at least annually (1) by the vote, cast in person at a meeting called for that purpose, of a majority of those Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust; and (2) by the majority vote of either the full Board or the vote of a majority of the outstanding Shares of the Fund. The Trading Sub-Advisory Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment, and is terminable at any time without penalty by the Board or, with respect to the Fund, by a majority of the outstanding Shares of the Fund, on not less than 30 days’ nor more than 60 days’ written notice to the Trading Sub-Adviser, or by the Trading Sub-Adviser on 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser and the Trust. The Trading Sub-Advisory Agreement provides that the Sub-Adviser shall not be protected against any liability to the Trust or its shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on its part in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard of its obligations or duties thereunder.
 
Portfolio Manager. The Fund is managed by [   ]. [  ] has managed the Fund since its inception. [Biographical informant to be provided by subsequent amendment.]
 
 
 
 In addition to the Fund, the portfolio manager manages the following other accounts as of [                 ]:

Accounts
Total Number
of Accounts
Total Assets
Total Number of
Accounts with
Performance Based
Fees
Total Assets of
Accounts with
Performance
Based Fees
Registered Investment Companies
[]
$[]
[]
$[]
Other Pooled Investment Vehicles
[]
$[]
[]
$[]
Other Accounts
[]
$[]
[]
$[]
 
Portfolio Manager Fund Ownership. As of the date of this SAI, the portfolio manager did not own Shares of the Fund.

Portfolio Manager Compensation. [  ] [receives a fixed base salary and incentive awards based on profitability, growth in assets, and long-term investment performance].

Description of Material Conflicts of Interest. The portfolio manager’s management of “other accounts” is not expected to give rise to potential conflicts of interest in connection with their management of the Fund’s investments, on the one hand, and the investments of the other accounts, on the other. The Trading Sub-Adviser does not expect there to be any conflicts arising from the management of other accounts. [No account has a performance based fee.]
 
Codes of Ethics. The Trust, the Advisers and the Distributor (as defined under “The Distributor”) have each adopted codes of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 of the 1940 Act. These codes of ethics designed to prevent affiliated persons of the Trust, the Advisers and the Distributor from engaging in deceptive, manipulative or fraudulent activities in connection with securities held or to be acquired by the Fund (which may also be held by persons subject to the codes of ethics).
 
There can be no assurance that the codes of ethics will be effective in preventing such activities. Each code of ethics may be examined at the office of the SEC in Washington, D.C. or on the Internet at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
 
Administrator, Custodian and Transfer Agent. U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC (“USBFS”) serves as administrator, transfer agent and index receipt agent. USBFS’ principal address is 615 East Michigan Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202. Pursuant to a Fund Administration Servicing Agreement and a Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement between the Trust and USBFS, USBFS provides the Trust with administrative and management services (other than investment advisory services) and accounting services, including portfolio accounting services, tax accounting services and furnishing financial reports. In this capacity, USBFS does not have any responsibility or authority for the management of the Fund, the determination of investment policy, or for any matter pertaining to the distribution of Fund Shares. As compensation for the administration, accounting and management services, the Adviser pays USBFS a fee based on the Fund’s average daily net assets, subject to a minimum annual fee. USBFS also is entitled to certain out-of-pocket expenses for the services mentioned above, including pricing expenses. Pursuant to a Custody Agreement, U.S. Bank N.A., 1555 North River Center Drive, Suite 302, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212, serves as the custodian of the Fund’s assets. The custodian holds and administers the assets in a fund’s portfolios. Pursuant to the Custody Agreement, the custodian receives an annual fee from the Adviser based on the Trust’s total average daily net assets, subject to a minimum annual fee and certain settlement charges. The custodian also is entitled to certain out-of-pocket expenses. The Fund is new and the Adviser had not paid USBFS any fees for services to the Fund as of the fiscal period ended August 31, 2014.

Distributor. The Trust and Quasar Distributors, LLC (the “Distributor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, and an affiliate of the Administrator, are parties to a distribution agreement (“Distribution Agreement”), whereby the Distributor acts as principal underwriter for the Trust and distributes the Shares of the Fund. Shares are continuously offered for sale by the Distributor only in Creation Units. Each Creation Unit is generally comprised of 50,000 Shares, though this may change from time to time. The Distributor will not distribute Shares in amounts less than a Creation Unit. The principal business address of the Distributor is 615 East Michigan Street, 4th Floor, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202.

Under the Distribution Agreement, the Distributor, as agent for the Trust, will solicit orders for the purchase of the Shares, provided that any subscriptions and orders will not be binding on the Trust until accepted by the Trust. The Distributor will deliver Prospectuses and, upon request, SAIs to persons purchasing Creation Units and will maintain records of orders placed with it. The Distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and a member of FINRA.
The Distributor may also enter into agreements with securities dealers (“Soliciting Dealers”) who will solicit purchases of Creation Units of Shares. Such Soliciting Dealers may also be Authorized Participants (as discussed in “Procedures for Creation of Creation Units” below) or DTC participants (as defined below).
 
The Distribution Agreement will continue for two years from its effective date and is renewable thereafter. The continuance of the Distribution Agreement must be specifically approved at least annually (i) by the vote of the Trustees or by a vote of the shareholders of the Fund and (ii) by the vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operations of the Distribution Agreement or any related agreement, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. The Distribution Agreement is terminable without penalty by the Trust on 60 days’ written notice when authorized either by majority vote of its outstanding voting Shares or by a vote of a majority of its Board (including a majority of the Independent Trustees), or by the Distributor on 60 days’ written notice, and will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment. The Distribution Agreement provides that in the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of the Distributor, or reckless disregard by it of its obligations thereunder, the Distributor shall not be liable for any action or failure to act in accordance with its duties thereunder.
 
Intermediary Compensation. ETC or its affiliates, out of their own resources and not out of Fund assets (i.e., without additional cost to the Fund or its shareholders), may pay certain broker dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries (“Intermediaries”) for certain activities related to the Fund, including participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, including the Fund, or for other activities, such as marketing and educational training or support. These arrangements are not financed by the Fund and, thus, do not result in increased Fund expenses. They are not reflected in the fees and expenses listed in the fees and expenses sections of the Fund’s Prospectus and they do not change the price paid by investors for the purchase of the Fund’s Shares or the amount received by a shareholder as proceeds from the redemption of Fund Shares.
 
Such compensation may be paid to Intermediaries that provide services to the Fund, including marketing and education support (such as through conferences, webinars and printed communications). ETC periodically assesses the advisability of continuing to make these payments. Payments to an Intermediary may be significant to the Intermediary, and amounts that Intermediaries pay to your adviser, broker or other investment professional, if any, may also be significant to such adviser, broker or investment professional. Because an Intermediary may make decisions about what investment options it will make available or recommend, and what services to provide in connection with various products, based on payments it receives or is eligible to receive, such payments create conflicts of interest between the Intermediary and its clients. For example, these financial incentives may cause the Intermediary to recommend the Fund over other investments. The same conflict of interest exists with respect to your financial adviser, broker or investment professionals if he or she receives similar payments from his or her Intermediary firm.
 
Intermediary information is current only as of the date of this SAI. Please contact your adviser, broker or other investment professional for more information regarding any payments his or her Intermediary firm may receive. Any payments made by ETC or its affiliates to an Intermediary may create the incentive for an Intermediary to encourage customers to buy Shares of the Fund.
 
If you have any additional questions, please call 1-800-617-0004.
 
 
The policy of the Trust regarding purchases and sales of securities for the Fund is that primary consideration will be given to obtaining the most favorable prices and efficient executions of transactions. Consistent with this policy, when securities transactions are effected on a stock exchange, the Trust’s policy is to pay commissions which are considered fair and reasonable without necessarily determining that the lowest possible commissions are paid in all circumstances. The Trust believes that a requirement always to seek the lowest possible commission cost could impede effective portfolio management and preclude the Fund and the Sub-Adviser from obtaining a high quality of brokerage and research services. In seeking to determine the reasonableness of brokerage commissions paid in any transaction, the Trading Sub-Adviser will rely upon its experience and knowledge regarding commissions generally charged by various brokers and on its judgment in evaluating the brokerage services received from the broker effecting the transaction. Such determinations are necessarily subjective and imprecise, as in most cases, an exact dollar value for those services is not ascertainable. The Trust has adopted policies and procedures that prohibit the consideration of sales of the Fund’s Shares as a factor in the selection of a broker or dealer to execute its portfolio transactions.
 
The Trading Sub-Adviser owes a fiduciary duty to its clients to seek to provide best execution on trades effected. In selecting a broker/dealer for each specific transaction, the Trading Sub-Adviser chooses the broker/dealer deemed most capable of providing the services necessary to obtain the most favorable execution. “Best execution” is generally understood to mean the most favorable cost or net proceeds reasonably obtainable under the circumstances. The full range of brokerage services applicable to a particular transaction may be considered when making this judgment, which may include, but is not limited to: liquidity, price, commission, timing, aggregated trades, capable floor brokers or traders, competent block trading coverage, ability to position, capital strength and stability, reliable and accurate communications and settlement processing, use of automation, knowledge of other buyers or sellers, arbitrage skills, administrative ability, underwriting and provision of information on a particular security or market in which the transaction is to occur. The specific criteria will vary depending upon the nature of the transaction, the market in which it is executed, and the extent to which it is possible to select from among multiple broker/dealers. The Trading Sub-Adviser will also use electronic crossing networks (“ECNs”) when appropriate.
The Trading Sub-Adviser may use the Fund’s assets for, or participate in, third party soft dollar arrangements, in addition to receiving proprietary research from various full service brokers, the cost of which is bundled with the cost of the broker’s execution services. The Trading Sub-Adviser does not “pay up” for the value of any such proprietary research. Section 28(e) of the 1934 Act permits the Trading Sub-Adviser, under certain circumstances, to cause the Fund to pay a broker or dealer a commission for effecting a transaction in excess of the amount of commission another broker or dealer would have charged for effecting the transaction in recognition of the value of brokerage and research services provided by the broker or dealer. The Trading Sub-Adviser may receive a variety of research services and information on many topics, which it can use in connection with its management responsibilities with respect to the various accounts over which it exercises investment discretion or otherwise provides investment advice. The research services may include qualifying order management systems, portfolio attribution and monitoring services and computer software and access charges which are directly related to investment research. Accordingly, the Fund may pay a broker commission higher than the lowest available in recognition of the broker’s provision of such services to the Trading Sub-Adviser, but only if the Trading Sub-Adviser determines the total commission (including the soft dollar benefit) is comparable to the best commission rate that could be expected to be received from other brokers.. The amount of soft dollar benefits received depends on the amount of brokerage transactions effected with the brokers. A conflict of interest exists because there is an incentive to: 1) cause clients to pay a higher commission than the firm might otherwise be able to negotiate; 2) cause clients to engage in more securities transactions than would otherwise be optimal; and 3) only recommend brokers that provide soft dollar benefits.
 
The Trading Sub-Adviser faces a potential conflict of interest when it uses client trades to obtain brokerage or research services. This conflict exists because the Trading Sub-Adviser is able to use the brokerage or research services to manage client accounts without paying cash for such services, which reduces the Trading Sub-Adviser’s expenses to the extent that the Trading Sub-Adviser would have purchased such products had they not been provided by brokers. Section 28(e) permits the Trading Sub-Adviser to use brokerage or research services for the benefit of any account it manages. Certain accounts managed by the Trading Sub-Adviser may generate soft dollars used to purchase brokerage or research services that ultimately benefit other accounts managed by the Trading Sub-Adviser, effectively cross subsidizing the other accounts managed by the Trading Sub-Adviser that benefit directly from the product. The Trading Sub-adviser may not necessarily use all of the brokerage or research services in connection with managing the Fund whose trades generated the soft dollars used to purchase such products.
 
The Trading Sub-Adviser is responsible, subject to oversight by the Adviser and the Board, for placing orders on behalf of the Fund for the purchase or sale of portfolio securities. If purchases or sales of portfolio securities of the Fund and one or more other investment companies or clients supervised by the Trading Sub-Adviser are considered at or about the same time, transactions in such securities are allocated among the several investment companies and clients in a manner deemed equitable and consistent with its fiduciary obligations to all by the Trading Sub-Adviser. In some cases, this procedure could have a detrimental effect on the price or volume of the security so far as the Fund is concerned. However, in other cases, it is possible that the ability to participate in volume transactions and to negotiate lower brokerage commissions will be beneficial to the Fund. The primary consideration is prompt execution of orders at the most favorable net price.
 
The Fund may deal with affiliates in principal transactions to the extent permitted by exemptive order or applicable rule or regulation.
 
Brokerage with Fund Affiliates. The Fund may execute brokerage or other agency transactions through registered broker-dealer affiliates of either the Fund, the Advisers or the Distributor for a commission in conformity with the 1940 Act, the 1934 Act and rules promulgated by the SEC. These rules require that commissions paid to the affiliate by the Fund for exchange transactions not exceed “usual and customary” brokerage commissions. The rules define “usual and customary” commissions to include amounts which are “reasonable and fair compared to the commission, fee or other remuneration received or to be received by other brokers in connection with comparable transactions involving similar securities being purchased or sold on a securities exchange during a comparable period of time.” The Trustees, including those who are not “interested persons” of the Fund, have adopted procedures for evaluating the reasonableness of commissions paid to affiliates and review these procedures periodically.
 
Securities of “Regular Broker-Dealer.” The Fund is required to identify any securities of its “regular brokers and dealers” (as such term is defined in the 1940 Act) which it may hold at the close of its most recent fiscal year. “Regular brokers or dealers” of the Trust are the ten brokers or dealers that, during the most recent fiscal year: (i) received the greatest dollar amounts of brokerage commissions from the Trust’s portfolio transactions; (ii) engaged as principal in the largest dollar amounts of portfolio transactions of the Trust; or (iii) sold the largest dollar amounts of the Trust’s Shares. Because the Fund is new, as of the date of this SAI, the Fund does not hold any securities of “regular broker dealers” to report.
Brokerage Commissions. The Fund is new and had not paid any brokerage commissions as of the fiscal period ended August 31, 2014.
 
Affiliated Brokers. The Fund is new and had not paid any commissions to any affiliated brokers as of the fiscal period ended August 31, 2014.
 
Regular Broker-Dealers. The Fund is new and did not acquire securities of its regular brokers or dealers (as defined in the 1940 Act) or of their parents during the fiscal period ended August 31, 2014.
 
Portfolio Turnover. Portfolio turnover may vary from year to year, as well as within a year. High turnover rates are likely to result in comparatively greater brokerage expenses. The overall reasonableness of brokerage commissions is evaluated by the Adviser based upon its knowledge of available information as to the general level of commissions paid by the other institutional investors for comparable services.
 
The Fund is new and therefore did not have a portfolio turnover rate for the fiscal period ended August 31, 2014.
 
The Declaration of Trust authorizes the issuance of an unlimited number of funds and Shares of the Fund. Each Share of the Fund represents an equal proportionate interest in the Fund with each other Share. Shares are entitled upon liquidation to a pro rata share in the net assets of the Fund. Shareholders have no preemptive rights. The Declaration of Trust provides that the Trustees may create additional series or classes of shares. All consideration received by the Trust for shares of any additional funds and all assets in which such consideration is invested would belong to that fund and would be subject to the liabilities related thereto. Share certificates representing shares will not be issued. The Fund’s Shares, when issued, are fully paid and non-assessable.
 
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 funds of the Trust vote together as a single class, except that if the matter being voted on affects only a particular fund it will be voted on only by that fund and if a matter affects a particular fund differently from other funds, that fund will vote separately on such matter. As a Delaware statutory trust, the Trust is not required, and does not intend, to hold annual meetings of shareholders. Approval of shareholders will be sought, however, for certain changes in the operation of the Trust and for the election of Trustees under certain circumstances. Upon the written request of shareholders owning at least 10% of the Trust's shares, the Trust will call for a meeting of shareholders to consider the removal of one or more Trustees and other certain matters. In the event that such a meeting is requested, the Trust will provide appropriate assistance and information to the shareholders requesting the meeting.

Under the Declaration of Trust, the Trustees have the power to liquidate the Fund without shareholder approval. While the Trustees have no present intention of exercising this power, they may do so if the Fund fails to reach a viable size within a reasonable amount of time or for such other reasons as may be determined by the Board.
 
Role of the Depositary Trust Company (“DTC”). DTC acts as Securities Depository for the Shares of the Trust. Shares of the Fund are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC.
 
DTC, a limited-purpose trust company, was created to hold securities of its participants (“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’ certificates. DTC Participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and certain other organizations, some of which (and/or their representatives) own DTC. More specifically, DTC is owned by a number of DTC Participants and by the NYSE, the AMEX 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 (“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 (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 of Shares. No Beneficial Owner shall have the right to receive a certificate representing such Shares.
 
Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. Pursuant to the Depositary Agreement between the Trust and DTC, 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 and 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 Participant a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
Share distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., as the registered holder of all Shares of the Trust. 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 its service with respect to Shares of the Trust 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.
 
LIMITATION OF TRUSTEES’ LIABILITY
The Declaration of Trust provides that a Trustee shall be liable only for his or her own willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of the office of Trustee, and shall not be liable for errors of judgment or mistakes of fact or law. The Trustees shall not be responsible or liable in any event for any neglect or wrong-doing of any officer, agent, employee, investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Trust, nor shall any Trustee be responsible for the act or omission of any other Trustee. The Declaration of Trust also provides that the Trust shall indemnify each person who is, or has been, a Trustee, officer, employee or agent of the Trust, any person who is serving or has served at the Trust’s request as a Trustee, officer, trustee, employee or agent of another organization in which the Trust has any interest as a shareholder, creditor or otherwise to the extent and in the manner provided in the By-laws. However, nothing in the Declaration of Trust shall protect or indemnify a Trustee against any liability for his or her willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of the office of Trustee. Nothing contained in this section attempts to disclaim a Trustee’s individual liability in any manner inconsistent with the federal securities laws.
 
The Trust issues and sells Shares of the Fund only: (i) in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Distributor, without a sales load (but subject to transaction fees), at their NAV per share next determined after receipt of an order, on any Business Day, in proper form pursuant to the terms of the Authorized Participant Agreement (“Participant Agreement”); or (ii) pursuant to the Dividend Reinvestment Service (defined below). The NAV of the Fund’s Shares is calculated each business day as of the close of regular trading on the NASDAQ, generally 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time. The Fund will not issue fractional Creation Units. A “Business Day” is any day on which the NASDAQ is open for business.
 
FUND DEPOSIT. The consideration for purchase of a Creation Unit of the Fund generally consists of the in-kind deposit of a designated portfolio of securities (the “Deposit Securities”) per each Creation Unit, constituting a substantial replication, or a portfolio sampling representation, of the securities included in the Fund’s Index and the Cash Component (defined below), computed as described below. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of a “cash in lieu” amount (“Deposit Cash”) to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security. When accepting purchases of Creation Units for all or a portion of Deposit Cash, the Fund may incur additional costs associated with the acquisition of Deposit Securities that would otherwise be provided by an in-kind purchaser.

Together, the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of the Fund. The “Cash Component” is an amount equal to the difference between the net asset value of the Shares (per Creation Unit) and the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable. If the Cash Component is a positive number (i.e., the net asset value per Creation Unit exceeds the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable), the Cash Component shall be such positive amount. If the Cash Component is a negative number (i.e., the net asset value per Creation Unit is less than the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable), the Cash Component shall be such negative amount and the creator will be entitled to receive cash in an amount equal to the Cash Component. The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the net asset value per Creation Unit and the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable. Computation of the Cash Component excludes any stamp duty or other similar fees and expenses payable upon transfer of beneficial ownership of the Deposit Securities, if applicable, which shall be the sole responsibility of the Authorized Participant (as defined below).
The Fund, through NSCC, makes available on each Business Day, immediately prior to the opening of business on the NASDAQ (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern Time), the list of the names and the required number of Shares of each Deposit Security or the required amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, 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 subject to any applicable adjustments as described below, in order to effect purchases of Creation Units of the Fund until such time as the next-announced composition of the Deposit Securities or the required amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, is made available.

The identity and number of Shares of the Deposit Securities or the amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, required for a Fund Deposit for the Fund changes as rebalancing adjustments and corporate action events are reflected from time to time by the Investment Adviser with a view to the investment objective of the Fund. The composition of the Deposit Securities may also change in response to adjustments to the weighting or composition of the component securities of the Fund’s Index.

The Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash (i.e., a “cash in lieu” amount) to replace any Deposit Security, which shall be added to the Deposit Cash, if applicable, and the Cash Component, including, without limitation, in situations where the Deposit Security: (i) may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery; (ii) may not be eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC for corporate securities and municipal securities; (iii) may not be eligible for trading by an Authorized Participant (as defined below) or the investor for which it is acting; (iv) would be restricted under the securities laws or where the delivery of the Deposit Security to the Authorized Participant would result in the disposition of the Deposit Security by the Authorized Participant becoming restricted under the securities laws; or (v) in certain other situations (collectively, “custom orders”). The Trust also reserves the right to include or remove Deposit Securities from the basket in anticipation of Index rebalancing changes. The adjustments described above will reflect changes, known to the Adviser on the date of announcement to be in effect by the time of delivery of the Fund Deposit, in the composition of the subject Index being tracked by the Fund or resulting from certain corporate actions.

PROCEDURES FOR PURCHASE OF CREATION UNITS. To be eligible to place orders with the Distributor to purchase a Creation Unit of the Fund, an entity must be (i) a “Participating Party”, i.e., a broker-dealer or other participant in the clearing process through the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC (the “Clearing Process”), a clearing agency that is registered with the SEC; or (ii) a DTC Participant (see “BOOK ENTRY ONLY SYSTEM”). In addition, each Participating Party or DTC Participant (each, an “Authorized Participant”) must execute a Participant Agreement that has been agreed to by the Distributor, and that has been accepted by the Transfer Agent and the Trust, with respect to purchases and redemptions of Creation Units. Each Authorized Participant will agree, pursuant to the terms of a Participant Agreement, on behalf of itself or any investor on whose behalf it will act, to certain conditions, including that it will pay to the Trust, an amount of cash sufficient to pay the Cash Component together with the Creation Transaction Fee (defined below) and any other applicable fees and taxes. The Adviser may retain all or a portion of the Transaction Fee to the extent the Adviser bears the expenses that otherwise would be borne by the Trust in connection with the purchase of a Creation Unit, which the Transaction Fee is designed to cover.

All orders to purchase Shares directly from the Fund must be placed for one or more Creation Units and in the manner and by the time set forth in the Participant Agreement and/or applicable order form. The date on which an order to purchase Creation Units (or an order to redeem Creation Units, as set forth below) is received and accepted is referred to as the “Order Placement Date.”

An Authorized Participant may require an investor to make certain 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 purchase Shares directly from the Fund in Creation Units 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 and only a small number of such Authorized Participants may have international capabilities.

On days when the NASDAQ closes earlier than normal, the Fund may require orders to create Creation Units to be placed earlier in the day. In addition, if a market or markets on which the Fund’s investments are primarily traded is closed, the Fund will also generally not accept orders on such day(s). Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant by telephone or other transmission method acceptable to the Distributor pursuant to procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement and in accordance with the applicable order form. On behalf of the Fund, the Distributor will notify the Custodian of such order. The Custodian will then provide such information to the appropriate local sub-custodian(s). Those placing orders through an Authorized Participant should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the purchase order to the Distributor by the cut-off time on such Business Day. Economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure may impede the ability to reach the Distributor or an Authorized Participant.
 
 
 
Fund Deposits must be delivered by an Authorized Participant through the Federal Reserve System (for cash) or through DTC (for corporate securities), through a subcustody agent for (for foreign securities) and/or through such other arrangements allowed by the Trust or its agents. With respect to foreign Deposit Securities, the Custodian shall cause the subcustodian of the Fund to maintain an account into which the Authorized Participant shall deliver, on behalf of itself or the party on whose behalf it is acting, such Deposit Securities (or Deposit Cash for all or a part of such securities, as permitted or required), with any appropriate adjustments as advised by the Trust. Foreign Deposit Securities must be delivered to an account maintained at the applicable local subcustodian. The Fund Deposit transfer must be ordered by the Authorized Participant in a timely fashion so as to ensure the delivery of the requisite number of Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, to the account of the Fund or its agents by no later than 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (or such other time as specified by the Trust) on the Settlement Date. If the Fund or its agents do not receive all of the Deposit Securities, or the required Deposit Cash in lieu thereof, by such time, then the order may be deemed rejected and the Authorized Participant shall be liable to the Fund for losses, if any, resulting therefrom. The “Settlement Date” for the Fund is generally the third Business Day after the Order Placement Date. All questions as to the number of Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash to be delivered, as applicable, and the validity, form and eligibility (including time of receipt) for the deposit of any tendered securities or cash, as applicable, will be determined by the Trust, whose determination shall be final and binding. The amount of cash represented by the Cash Component must be transferred directly to the Custodian through the Federal Reserve Bank wire transfer system in a timely manner so as to be received by the Custodian no later than the Settlement Date. If the Cash Component and the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, are not received by in a timely manner by the Settlement Date, the creation order may be cancelled. Upon written notice to the Distributor, such canceled order may be resubmitted the following Business Day using a Fund Deposit as newly constituted to reflect the then current NAV of the Fund.

 
The order shall be deemed to be received on the Business Day on which the order is placed provided that the order is placed in proper form prior to the applicable cut-off time and the federal funds in the appropriate amount are deposited by 2:00 p.m. or 3:00 p.m., Eastern Time (as set forth on the applicable order form), with the Custodian on the Settlement Date. If the order is not placed in proper form as required, or federal funds in the appropriate amount are not received by 2:00 p.m. or 3:00 p.m., Eastern Time (as set forth on the applicable order form) on the Settlement Date, then the order may be deemed to be rejected and the Authorized Participant shall be liable to the Fund for losses, if any, resulting therefrom. A creation request is considered to be in “proper form” if all procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement, order form and this SAI are properly followed.

ISSUANCE OF A CREATION UNIT. Except as provided herein, Creation Units will not be issued until the transfer of good title to the Trust of the Deposit Securities or payment of Deposit Cash, as applicable, and the payment of the Cash Component have been completed. When the subcustodian has confirmed to the Custodian that the required Deposit Securities (or the cash value thereof) have been delivered to the account of the relevant subcustodian or subcustodians, the Distributor and the Adviser shall be notified of such delivery, and the Trust will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation Units. The delivery of Creation Units so created generally will occur no later than the third Business Day following the day on which the purchase order is deemed received by the Distributor. However, as discussed in Appendix A, the Fund reserves the right to settle Creation Unit transactions on a basis other than the third Business Day following the day on which the purchase order is deemed received by the Distributor in order to accommodate foreign market holiday schedules, to account for different treatment among foreign and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates (that is the last day the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security), and in certain other circumstances. The Authorized Participant shall be liable to the Fund for losses, if any, resulting from unsettled orders.

Creation Units may be purchased in advance of receipt by the Trust of all or a portion of the applicable Deposit Securities as described below. In these circumstances, the initial deposit will have a value greater than the net asset value of the Shares on the date the order is placed in proper form since, in addition to available Deposit Securities, cash must be deposited in an amount equal to the sum of (i) the Cash Component, plus (ii) an additional amount of cash equal to a percentage of the market value as set forth in the Participant Agreement, of the undelivered Deposit Securities (the “Additional Cash Deposit”), which shall be maintained in a separate non-interest bearing collateral account. The Authorized Participant must deposit with the Custodian the Additional Cash Deposit, as applicable, by 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (or such other time as specified by the Trust) on the Settlement Date. If the Fund or its agents do not receive the Additional Cash Deposit in the appropriate amount, by such time, then the order may be deemed rejected and the Authorized Participant shall be liable to the Fund for losses, if any, resulting therefrom. An additional amount of cash shall be required to be deposited with the Trust, pending delivery of the missing Deposit Securities to the extent necessary to maintain the Additional Cash Deposit with the Trust in an amount at least equal to the applicable percentage, as set forth in the Participant Agreement, of the daily marked to market value of the missing Deposit Securities. The Participant Agreement will permit the Trust to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time. Authorized Participants will be liable to the Trust for the costs incurred by the Trust in connection with any such purchases. These costs will be deemed to include the amount by which the actual purchase price of the Deposit Securities exceeds the market value of such Deposit Securities on the day the purchase order was deemed received by the Distributor plus the brokerage and related transaction costs associated with such purchases. The Trust will return any unused portion of the Additional Cash Deposit once all of the missing Deposit Securities have been properly received by the Custodian or purchased by the Trust and deposited into the Trust. In addition, a Transaction Fee, as set forth below under “Creation Transaction Fee” will be charged in all cases. The delivery of Creation Units so created generally will occur no later than the Settlement Date.
 
 
 
ACCEPTANCE OF ORDERS OF CREATION UNITS. The Trust reserves the absolute right to reject an order for Creation Units transmitted to it by the Distributor with respect to the Fund including, without limitation, if (a) the order is not in proper form; (b) the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, delivered by the Participant are not as disseminated through the facilities of the NSCC for that date by the Custodian; (c) the investor(s), upon obtaining the Shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding Shares of the Fund; (d) acceptance of the Deposit Securities would have certain adverse tax consequences to the Fund; (e) the acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; (f) the acceptance of the Fund Deposit would otherwise, in the discretion of the Trust or the Adviser, have an adverse effect on the Trust or the rights of beneficial owners; (g) the acceptance or receipt of the order for a Creation Unit would, in the opinion of counsel to the Trust, be unlawful; or (h) in the event that circumstances outside the control of the Trust, the Custodian, the Transfer Agent and/or the Adviser make it for all practical purposes not feasible to process orders for Creation Units.

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 Trust, the Distributor, the Custodian, a sub-custodian, the Transfer Agent, DTC, NSCC, Federal Reserve System, or any other participant in the creation process, and other extraordinary events. The Distributor shall notify a prospective creator of a Creation Unit and/or the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of the creator of a Creation Unit of its rejection of the order of such person. The Trust, the Transfer Agent, 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 either of them incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification. The Trust, the Transfer Agent, the Custodian and the Distributor shall not be liable for the rejection of any purchase order for Creation Units.

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. A purchase (i.e., creation) transaction fee is imposed for the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the purchase of Creation Units, and investors will be required to pay a creation transaction fee regardless of the number of Creation Units created in the transaction. The Fund may adjust the creation transaction fee from time to time based upon actual experience. The standard fixed creation transaction fee for the Fund will be $250. In addition, a variable fee will be charged on all cash transactions or substitutes for Creation Units of up to a maximum of 2% as a percentage of the value of the Creation Units subject to the transaction. The variable charge may be imposed for cash purchases, non-standard orders, or partial cash purchases incurred by the Fund, primarily designed to cover expenses related to broker commissions. Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary may be charged a fee for such services. Investors are responsible for the fixed costs of transferring the securities constituting the Deposit Securities to the account of the Trust.

RISKS OF PURCHASING CREATION UNITS. There are certain legal risks unique to investors purchasing Creation Units directly from the Fund. Because the Fund’s Shares may be issued on an ongoing basis, a “distribution” of Shares could be occurring at any time. Certain activities that a shareholder performs as a dealer could, depending on the circumstances, result in the shareholder being deemed a participant in the distribution in a manner that could render the shareholder a statutory underwriter and subject to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the Securities Act of 1933. For example, a shareholder could be deemed a statutory underwriter if it purchases Creation Units from the Fund, breaks them down into the constituent Shares, and sells those Shares directly to customers, or if a shareholder chooses to couple the creation of a supply of new Shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary-market demand for Shares. Whether a person is an underwriter depends upon all of the facts and circumstances pertaining to that person’s activities, and the examples mentioned here should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could cause you to be deemed an underwriter.

Dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as opposed to engaging in ordinary secondary-market transactions), and thus dealing with the Fund’s Shares as part of an "unsold allotment" within the meaning of Section 4(3)(C) of the Securities Act, will be unable to take advantage of the prospectus delivery exemption provided by Section 4(3) of the Securities Act.

REDEMPTION. Shares may be redeemed only in Creation Units 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. EXCEPT UPON LIQUIDATION OF A FUND, THE TRUST WILL NOT REDEEM SHARES IN AMOUNTS LESS THAN CREATION UNITS. Investors must accumulate enough Shares in the secondary market to constitute a Creation Unit in order to have such Shares redeemed by the Trust. 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. Investors should expect to incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of Shares to constitute a redeemable Creation Unit.
With respect to the Fund, the Custodian, through the NSCC, makes available immediately prior to the opening of business on the NASDAQ (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern Time) on each Business Day, the list of the names and Share quantities of the Fund’s portfolio securities that will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to redemption requests received in proper form (as defined below) on that day (“Fund Securities”). Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities.

Redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit are paid either in-kind or in cash, or combination thereof, as determined by the Trust. With respect to in-kind redemptions of the Fund, redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit will consist of Fund Securities -- as announced by the Custodian on the Business Day of the request for redemption received in proper form plus cash in an amount equal to the difference between the net asset value of the Shares 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 a fixed redemption transaction fee as set forth below. In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the net asset value of the Shares, a compensating cash payment equal to the differential is required to be made by or through an Authorized Participant by the redeeming shareholder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, at the Trust’s discretion, an Authorized Participant may receive the corresponding cash value of the securities in lieu of the in-kind securities value representing one or more Fund Securities.

REDEMPTION TRANSACTION FEE. A redemption transaction fee is imposed for the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the redemption of Creation Units, and investors will be required to pay a fixed redemption transaction fee regardless of the number of Creation Units created in the transaction, as set forth in the Fund’s Prospectus, as may be revised from time to time. The redemption transaction fee is the same no matter how many Creation Units are being redeemed pursuant to any one redemption request. The Fund may adjust the redemption transaction fee from time to time based upon actual experience. The standard fixed redemption transaction fee for the Fund will be $[  ]. In addition, a variable fee will be charged on all cash transactions or substitutes for Creation Units of up to a maximum of 2% as a percentage of the value of the Creation Units subject to the transaction. The variable charge may be imposed for cash redemptions, non-standard orders, or partial cash redemptions (when cash redemptions are available) incurred by the Fund, primarily designed to cover expenses related to broker commissions. Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary may be charged a fee for such services. Investors are responsible for the fixed costs of transferring the Fund Securities from the Trust to their account or on their order.

PROCEDURES FOR REDEMPTION OF CREATION UNITS. Orders to redeem Creation Units must be submitted in proper form to the Transfer Agent prior to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time. A redemption request is considered to be in “proper form” if (i) an Authorized Participant has transferred or caused to be transferred to the Trust’s Transfer Agent the Creation Unit(s) being redeemed through the book-entry system of DTC so as to be effective by the time as set forth in the Participant Agreement and (ii) a request in form satisfactory to the Trust is received by the Transfer Agent from the Authorized Participant on behalf of itself or another redeeming investor within the time periods specified in the Participant Agreement. If the Transfer Agent does not receive the investor’s Shares through DTC’s facilities by the times and pursuant to the other terms and conditions set forth in the Participant Agreement, the redemption request shall be rejected.

The Authorized Participant must transmit the request for redemption, in the form required by the Trust, to the Transfer Agent in accordance with procedures set forth in the Authorized Participant Agreement. Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not have executed an Authorized Participant Agreement, and that, therefore, requests to redeem Creation Units may have to be placed by the investor’s broker through an Authorized Participant who has executed an Authorized Participant Agreement. Investors making a redemption request should be aware that such request must be in the form specified by such Authorized Participant. Investors making a request to redeem Creation Units should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the request by an Authorized Participant and transfer of the Shares to the Trust’s Transfer Agent; such investors should allow for the additional time that may be required to effect redemptions through their banks, brokers or other financial intermediaries if such intermediaries are not Authorized Participants.

In connection with taking delivery of Shares of Fund Securities upon redemption of Creation Units, a redeeming shareholder or Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such Shareholder must maintain appropriate custody arrangements with a qualified broker-dealer, bank or other custody providers in each jurisdiction in which any of the Fund Securities are customarily traded, to which account such Fund Securities will be delivered. Deliveries of redemption proceeds generally will be made within three business days of the trade date.

ADDITIONAL REDEMPTION PROCEDURES. In connection with taking delivery of Shares of Fund Securities upon redemption of Creation Units, the Authorized Participant must maintain appropriate custody arrangements with a qualified broker-dealer, bank or other custody providers in each jurisdiction in which any of the Fund Securities are customarily traded, to which account such Fund Securities will be delivered. Deliveries of redemption proceeds generally will be made within three business days of the trade date. However, due to the schedule of holidays in certain countries, the different treatment among foreign and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and dividend ex-dates (that is the last date the holder of a security can sell the security and still receive dividends payable on the security sold), and in certain other circumstances, the delivery of in-kind redemption proceeds may take longer than three Business Days after the day on which the redemption request is received in proper form. Appendix A identifies the instances where more than seven days would be needed to deliver redemption proceeds. Pursuant to an order of the SEC, on behalf of the Fund, the Trust will make delivery of in-kind redemption proceeds within the number of days stated in Appendix A to be the maximum number of days necessary to deliver redemption proceeds. If neither the redeeming Shareholder nor the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such redeeming Shareholder has appropriate arrangements to take delivery of the Fund Securities in the applicable foreign jurisdiction and it is not possible to make other such arrangements, or if it is not possible to effect deliveries of the Fund Securities in such jurisdiction, the Trust may, in its discretion, exercise its option to redeem such Shares in cash, and the redeeming Shareholders will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash.
If it is not possible to make other such arrangements, or it is not possible to effect deliveries of the Fund Securities, the Trust may in its discretion exercise its option to redeem such Shares in cash, and the redeeming investor 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 NAV of its Shares based on the NAV of Shares of the Fund next determined after the redemption request is received in proper form (minus a redemption transaction fee and additional charge 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 a portfolio of securities that differs from the exact composition of the Fund Securities but does not differ in net asset value. The Fund may also, in its sole discretion, upon request of a shareholder, provide such redeemer a portfolio of securities that differs from the exact composition of the Fund Securities but does not differ in net asset value.
 
Redemptions of 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 Units 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 security included in the Fund Securities applicable to the redemption of Creation Units may be paid an equivalent amount of cash. The Authorized Participant may request the redeeming investor of the Shares to complete an order form or to enter into agreements with respect to such matters as compensating cash payment. Further, an Authorized Participant that is not a “qualified institutional buyer,” (“QIB”) as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the Securities Act, will not be able to receive Fund Securities that are restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A. An Authorized Participant may be required by the Trust to provide a written confirmation with respect to QIB status in order to receive Fund Securities.
 
Because the portfolio securities of the Fund may trade on other exchanges on days that the NASDAQ is closed or are otherwise not Business Days for such Fund, shareholders may not be able to redeem their Shares of the Fund, or to purchase or sell Shares of the Fund on the NASDAQ, on days when the NAV of the Fund could be significantly affecting by events in the relevant foreign markets.

The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed with respect to the Fund (1) for any period during which the NASDAQ is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (2) for any period during which trading on the NASDAQ is suspended or restricted; (3) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the Shares of the Fund or determination of the NAV of the Shares is not reasonably practicable; or (4) in such other circumstance as is permitted by the SEC.

REQUIRED EARLY ACCEPTANCE OF ORDERS. Notwithstanding the foregoing, as described in the Participant Agreement and/or applicable order form, the Fund may require orders to be placed up to one or more business days prior to the trade date, as described in the Participant Agreement or the applicable order form, in order to receive the trade date’s net asset value. Orders to purchase Shares of the Fund that are submitted on the Business Day immediately preceding a holiday or a day (other than a weekend) that the equity markets in the relevant foreign market are closed will not be accepted. Authorized Participants may be notified that the cut-off time for an order may be earlier on a particular business day, as described in the Participant Agreement and the order form.
 
 
The Fund generally intends to effect deliveries of Creation Unit Aggregations and portfolio securities on a basis of T+3. The Fund may effect deliveries of Creation Unit Aggregations and portfolio securities on a basis other than T+3 in order to accommodate local holiday schedules or under certain other circumstances.
 
The following is only a summary of certain federal income tax considerations generally affecting the Fund and its shareholders that supplements the discussion in the Prospectus.  No attempt is made to present a comprehensive explanation of the federal, state, local or foreign tax treatment of the Fund or its shareholders, and the discussion here and in the Prospectus is not intended to be a substitute for careful tax planning.
The following general discussion of certain federal income tax consequences is based on provisions of the Code and the regulations issued thereunder as in effect on the date of this SAI.  New legislation, as well as administrative changes or court decisions, may significantly change the conclusions expressed herein, and may have a retroactive effect with respect to the transactions contemplated herein.
 
Shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisers regarding the application of the provisions of tax law described in this SAI in light of the particular tax situations of the shareholders and regarding specific questions as to federal, state, or local taxes.
 
Taxation of the Fund.  The Fund has elected and intends to qualify each year to be treated as a separate RIC under the Code.  As such, the Fund should not be subject to federal income taxes on its net investment income and capital gains, if any, to the extent that it timely distributes such income and capital gains to its shareholders.  To qualify for treatment as a RIC, the Fund must distribute annually to its shareholders at least the sum of 90% of its net investment income (generally including the excess of net short-term capital gains over net long-term capital losses) and 90% of its net tax-exempt interest income, if any (the “Distribution Requirement”) and also must meet several additional requirements.  Among these requirements are the following: (i) at least 90% of the Fund’s gross income each taxable year must be derived from dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, 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 foreign currencies, and net income derived from interests in qualified publicly traded partnerships (the “Qualifying Income Requirement”); and (ii)  at the end of each quarter of the Fund’s taxable year, the Fund’s assets must be diversified so that (a) at least 50% of the value of the Fund’s total assets is represented by cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs, and other securities, with such other securities limited, in respect to any one issuer, to an amount not greater in value than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets and to not more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (b) not more than 25% of the value of its total assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or securities of other RICs) of any one issuer, the securities (other than securities of other RICs) of  two or more issuers which the Fund controls and which are engaged in the same, similar, or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more qualified publicly traded partnerships (the “Diversification Requirement”).
 
To the extent the Fund makes investments that may generate income that is not qualifying income, including certain derivatives, the Fund will seek to restrict the resulting income from such investments so that the Fund’s non-qualifying income does not exceed 10% of its gross income.  However, the Fund might generate more non-qualifying income than anticipated, might not be able to generate qualifying income in a particular taxable year at levels sufficient to meet the qualifying income test, or might not be able to determine the percentage of qualifying income it derives for a taxable year until after year-end.
 
The Fund similarly intends to limit its investments in qualified publicly traded partnerships (“QPTPs”), such as MLPs, to no more than 25% of its assets to satisfy the Diversification Requirement.  Additionally, certain QPTPs hold investments the income from which is not qualifying income.  Although net income from QPTPs is qualifying income, if an entity intending to qualify as a QPTP fails to qualify as a QPTP, the income generated from the Fund’s investment in the entity may not be qualifying income.  There can be no guarantee that any entity will be successful in qualifying as a QPTP.  In addition, there is little regulatory guidance concerning the application of the rules governing qualification as a QPTP, and it is possible that future guidance may adversely affect the qualification of entities as QPTPs.
 
If the Fund fails to satisfy the Qualifying Income Requirement or the Diversification Requirement in any taxable year, the Fund may be eligible for relief provisions if the failures are due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect and if a penalty tax is paid with respect to each failure to satisfy the applicable requirements. Additionally, relief is provided for certain de minimis failures of the Diversification Requirement where the Fund corrects the failure within a specified period of time.  In order to be eligible for the relief provisions with respect to a failure to meet the Diversification Requirement, the Fund may be required to dispose of certain assets.  If these relief provisions were not available to the Fund and it were to fail to qualify for treatment as a RIC for a taxable year, all of its taxable income would be subject to tax at regular corporate rates without any deduction for distributions to shareholders, and its distributions (including capital gains distributions) generally would be taxable to the shareholders of the Fund as ordinary income dividends,  subject to the dividends received deduction for corporate shareholders and the lower tax rates on qualified dividend income received by noncorporate shareholders, subject to certain limitations.  To requalify for treatment as a RIC in a subsequent taxable year, the Fund would be required to satisfy the RIC qualification requirements for that year and to distribute any earnings and profits from any year in which the Fund failed to qualify for tax treatment as a RIC.  If the Fund failed to qualify as a RIC for a period greater than two taxable years, it would generally be required to pay a Fund-level tax on certain net built in gains recognized with respect to certain of its assets upon a disposition of such assets within ten years of qualifying as a RIC in a subsequent year.  The Board reserves the right not to maintain the qualification of the Fund for treatment as a RIC if it determines such course of action to be beneficial to shareholders. If the Fund determines that it will not qualify as a RIC the Fund will establish procedures to reflect the anticipated tax liability in the Fund’s NAV.
The Fund may elect to treat part or all of any “qualified late year loss” as if it had been incurred in the succeeding taxable year in determining the Fund’s taxable income, net capital gain, net short-term capital gain, and earnings and profits.  The effect of this election is to treat any such “qualified late year loss” as if it had been incurred in the succeeding taxable year in characterizing Fund distributions for any calendar year. A “qualified late year loss” generally includes net capital loss, net long-term capital loss, or net short-term capital loss incurred after October 31 of the current taxable year (commonly referred to as “post-October losses”) and certain other late-year losses.
 
Capital losses in excess of capital gains (“net capital losses”) are not permitted to be deducted against a RIC’s net investment income. Instead, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, potentially subject to certain limitations, the Fund may carry a net capital loss from any taxable year forward indefinitely to offset its capital gains, if any, in years following the year of the loss.  To the extent subsequent capital gains are offset by such losses, they will not result in U.S. federal income tax liability to the Fund and may not be distributed as capital gains to its shareholders.  Generally, the Fund may not carry forward any losses other than net capital losses.
 
The Fund will be subject to a nondeductible 4% federal excise tax on certain undistributed income if it does not distribute to its shareholders in each calendar year an amount at least equal to 98% of its ordinary income for the calendar year plus 98.2% of its capital gain net income for the one-year period ending on October 31 of that year, subject to an increase for any shortfall in the prior year’s distribution.  The Fund intends to declare and distribute dividends and distributions in the amounts and at the times necessary to avoid the application of the excise tax, but can make no assurances that all such tax liability will be eliminated.
 
The Fund intends to distribute substantially all its net investment income quarterly and its capital gains to shareholders for each taxable year. If the Fund meets the Distribution Requirement but retains some or all of its income or gains, it will be subject to federal income tax to the extent any such income or gains are not distributed.  The Fund may designate certain amounts retained as undistributed net capital gain in a notice to its shareholders, who (i) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gain, their proportionate shares of the undistributed amount so designated, (ii) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the income tax paid by the Fund on that undistributed amount against their federal income tax liabilities and to claim refunds to the extent such credits exceed their liabilities, and (iii) will be entitled to increase their tax basis, for federal income tax purposes, in their shares in the Fund by an amount equal to the excess of the amount of undistributed net capital gain included in their respective income over their respective income tax credits.
 
Taxation of Shareholders—Distributions.  The Fund intends to distribute annually to its shareholders substantially all of its investment company taxable income (computed without regard to the deduction for dividends paid), its net tax-exempt income, if any, and any net capital gain (net recognized long-term capital gains in excess of net recognized short-term capital losses, taking into account any capital loss carryforwards).  The distribution of investment company taxable income and net realized capital gains will be taxable to Fund shareholders regardless of whether the shareholder elects to receive these distributions in cash or in additional Shares.
 
The Fund will report to shareholders annually the amounts of dividends paid from ordinary income, the amount of distributions of net capital gain, the portion of dividends which may qualify for the dividends received deduction, and the portion of dividends which may qualify for treatment as qualified dividend income, which is taxable to noncorporate shareholders at reduced rates.  Qualified dividend income includes, in general, subject to certain holding period requirements and other requirements, dividend income from taxable domestic corporations and certain foreign corporations.  Subject to certain limitations, eligible foreign corporations include those incorporated in possessions of the United States, those incorporated in certain countries with comprehensive tax treaties with the United States, and other foreign corporations if the stock with respect to which the dividends are paid is readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States.  Dividends received by the Fund from a Real Estate Investment Trust (“REIT”) or another RIC may be treated as qualified dividend income generally only to the extent the dividend distributions are attributable to qualified dividend income received by such REIT or RIC.  It is expected that dividends received by the Fund from a REIT and distributed by the Fund to a shareholder generally will be taxable to the shareholder as ordinary income. If 95% or more of the Fund’s gross income (calculated without taking into account net capital gain derived from sales or other dispositions of stock or securities) consists of qualified dividend income, the Fund may report all distributions of such income as qualified dividend income.
 
Dividends reported by the Fund will not be treated as qualified dividend income if the Fund does not meet holding period and other requirements with respect to dividend paying stocks in its portfolio, and the shareholder does not meet holding period and other requirements with respect to the Fund Shares on which the dividends were paid.  Distributions from the Fund’s net capital gain shall be taxable to shareholders at long-term capital gains rates, regardless of how long shareholders have held their Shares.  Distributions may be subject to state and local taxes.
Although dividends generally will be treated as distributed when paid, any dividend declared by the Fund in October, November or December and payable to shareholders of record in such a month that is paid during the following January will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as received by shareholders on December 31 of the calendar year in which it was declared.
 
U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000 ($250,000 if married and filing jointly) are subject to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on all or a portion of their “net investment income,” which includes taxable interest, dividends, and certain capital gains (including capital gains realized on the sale of Shares of the Fund).  This 3.8% tax also applies to all or a portion of the undistributed net investment income of certain shareholders that are estates and trusts.
 
Shareholders who have not held Fund Shares for a full year should be aware that the Fund may report and distribute, as ordinary dividends or capital gain dividends, a percentage of income that is not equal to the percentage of the Fund’s ordinary income or net capital gain, respectively, actually earned during the applicable shareholder’s period of investment in the Fund.
 
If a Fund’s distributions exceed its earnings and profits, all or a portion of the distributions made in the same taxable year may be recharacterized as a return of capital to shareholders. A return of capital distribution will generally not be taxable, but will reduce each shareholder’s cost basis in the Fund and result in a higher reported capital gain or lower reported capital loss when the shares on which the distribution was received are sold.  After a shareholder’s basis in the shares has been reduced to zero, distributions in excess of earnings and profits will be treated as gain from the sale of the shareholder’s shares.
 
Distributions declared in December but paid in January are taxable as if they were paid in December. Following year-end, a portion of the dividends paid by REITs may be re-characterized for tax purposes as capital gains and/or return of capital. To the extent this occurs, distributions paid by the Fund during the year may also be reclassified to reflect these REIT re-characterizations. To appropriately re-characterize the distributions paid by REITs and report accurate tax information to shareholders, the Fund must gather year-end tax information issued by each REIT owned by the Fund during the calendar year. Therefore, the Fund may file a 30 day extension with the Internal Revenue Service that extends the deadline for the Fund to issue Form 1099-DIV to shareholders.
 
Taxation of Shareholders—Sale of Shares.  A sale or exchange of Shares of the Fund may give rise to a gain or loss.  In general, any gain or loss realized upon a taxable disposition of Shares will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for more than 12 months. Otherwise, the gain or loss on the taxable disposition of Shares will generally be treated as short-term capital gain or loss.  Any loss realized upon a taxable disposition of Shares held for six months or less will be treated as long-term capital loss, rather than short-term capital loss, to the extent of any amounts treated as distributions to the shareholder of long-term capital gain (including any amounts credited to the shareholder as undistributed capital gains).  All or a portion of any loss realized upon a taxable disposition of shares may be disallowed if substantially identical Shares of the Fund are acquired (through the reinvestment of dividends or otherwise) within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition. In such a case, the basis of the newly acquired Shares will be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss.
 
An Authorized Participant who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will 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 sum of the exchanger’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered plus the amount of cash paid for such Creation Units. A person who redeems Creation Units will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanger’s basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate market value of any securities received plus the amount of any cash received for such Creation Units. The Internal Revenue Service, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing “wash sales,” or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position.
 
Any capital gain or loss realized upon the creation of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the securities exchanged for such Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon the redemption of Creation Units will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Shares comprising the Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Otherwise, such capital gains or losses will generally be treated as short-term capital gains or losses.  Any loss upon a redemption of Creation Units held for six months or less will be treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as distributions to the applicable Authorized Participant of long-term capital gain with respect to the Creation Units (including any amounts credited to the Authorized Participant as undistributed capital gains).
 
The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has the right to reject an order for Creation Units if the purchaser (or group of purchasers) would, upon obtaining the Creation Units so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund and if, pursuant to Section 351 of the Code, the Fund would have a basis in the deposit securities different from the market value of such securities on the date of deposit. The Trust also has the right to require information necessary to determine beneficial Share ownership for purposes of the 80% determination.  If the Fund does issue Creation Units to a purchaser (or group of purchasers) that would, upon obtaining the Creation Units so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding Shares of the Fund, the purchaser (or group of purchasers) may not recognize gain or loss upon the exchange of securities for Creation Units.
Persons purchasing or redeeming Creation Units should consult their own tax advisors with respect to the tax treatment of any creation or redemption transaction.
 
Taxation of Fund Investments.  Certain of the Fund’s investments may be subject to complex provisions of the Code (including provisions relating to hedging transactions, straddles, integrated transactions, foreign currency contracts, forward foreign currency contracts, and notional principal contracts) that, among other things, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the Fund (e.g., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital), accelerate recognition of income to the Fund and defer losses. These rules could therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions also may require the Fund to mark to market certain types of positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out) which may cause the Fund to recognize income without the Fund receiving cash with which to make distributions in amounts sufficient to enable the Fund to satisfy the RIC distribution requirements for avoiding income and excise taxes. The Fund intends to monitor its transactions, intends to make appropriate tax elections, and intends to make appropriate entries in its books and records in order to mitigate the effect of these rules and preserve the Fund’s qualification for treatment as a RIC.
 
The Fund is required for federal income tax purposes to mark to market and recognize as income for each taxable year its net unrealized gains and losses on certain futures and options contracts as of the end of the year as well as those actually realized during the year. Gain or loss from futures and options contracts on broad-based indexes required to be marked to market will be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss. Application of this rule may alter the timing and character of distributions to shareholders. The Fund may be required to defer the recognition of losses on futures contracts, options contracts and swaps to the extent of any unrecognized gains on offsetting positions held by the Fund. It is anticipated that certain net gain realized from the closing out of futures or options contracts will be considered gain from the sale of securities and therefore will be qualifying income for purposes of the Qualifying Income Requirement.
 
If a call option written by the Fund expires, the amount of the premium received by the Fund for the option will be short-term capital gain to the Fund.  If such an option is closed by the Fund, any gain or loss realized by the Fund as a result of the closing purchase transaction will be short-term capital gain or loss. If the holder of a call option exercises the holder’s right under the option, any gain or loss realized by the Fund upon the sale of the underlying security or underlying futures contract pursuant to such exercise will be short-term or long-term capital gain or loss to the Fund depending on the Fund’s holding period for the underlying security or underlying futures contract.
 
With respect to call options purchased by the Fund, the Fund will realize short-term or long-term capital gain or loss if such option is sold and will realize short-term or long-term capital loss if the option is allowed to expire depending on the Fund’s holding period for the call option.  If such a call option is exercised, the amount paid by the Fund for the option will be added to the basis of the stock or futures contract so acquired.
 
Foreign Investments. Income received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries (including, for example, dividends or interest on stock or securities of non-U.S. issuers) may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by such countries. Tax treaties between certain countries and the U.S. may reduce or eliminate such taxes.  The Fund does not expect to satisfy the requirements for passing through to its shareholders any share of foreign taxes paid by the Fund, with the result that shareholders will not include such taxes in their gross incomes and will not be entitled to a tax deduction or credit for such taxes on their own tax returns.
 
Foreign Currency Transactions. Under the Code, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates which occur between the time a fund accrues income or other receivables or accrues expenses or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time a fund actually collects such receivables or pays such liabilities generally are treated as ordinary income or loss. Similarly, on the disposition of debt securities denominated in a foreign currency and on the disposition of certain other instruments, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in the value of the foreign currency between the date of acquisition of the security or contract and the date of disposition are also treated as ordinary gain or loss. The gains and losses may increase or decrease the amount of a fund’s investment company taxable income to be distributed to its shareholders as ordinary income.
 
Backup Withholding.  The Fund will be required in certain cases to withhold (as “backup withholding”) on amounts payable to any shareholder who (1) fails to provide a correct taxpayer identification number certified under penalty of perjury; (2) is subject to backup withholding by the Internal Revenue Service for failure to properly report all payments of interest or dividends; (3) fails to provide a certified statement that he or she is not subject to “backup withholding;” or (4) fails to provide a certified statement that he or she is a U.S. person (including a U.S. resident alien). The backup withholding rate is currently 28%.  Backup withholding is not an additional tax and any amounts withheld may be credited against the shareholder’s ultimate U.S. tax liability.  Backup withholding will not be applied to payments that have been subject to the 30% withholding tax on shareholders who are neither citizens nor permanent residents of the U.S.
Foreign Shareholders.  Foreign shareholders (i.e., nonresident alien individuals and foreign corporations, partnerships, trusts and estates) are generally subject to U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30% (or a lower tax treaty rate) on distributions derived from net investment income and short-term capital gains unless such income is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business carried on through a permanent establishment in the United States.  Gains from the sale or other disposition of Shares of the Fund generally are not subject to U.S. taxation, unless the recipient is an individual who either (1) meets the Code’s definition of “resident alien” or (2) is physically present in the U.S. for 183 days or more per year.
 
Non-U.S. persons are subject to U.S. tax on disposition of a ”United States real property interest” (a “USRPI”).  Such gain is sometimes referred to as “FIRPTA gain”. The Internal Revenue Code provides a look-through rule for distributions of “FIRPTA gain” by a RIC if certain requirements are met. If the look-through rule applies, certain distributions attributable to income received by the Fund from REITs may be treated as gain from the disposition of a USRPI, causing the distributions to be subject to U.S. withholding tax at a rate of 35%, and requiring non-U.S. investors to file nonresident U.S. income tax returns.  Also, such gain may be subject to a 30% branch profits tax in the hands of a non-U.S. shareholder that is treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes.  Under certain circumstances, the Fund may itself qualify as a USRPI, which would result in similar consequences to certain non-U.S. investors.
 
Unless certain non-U.S. entities that hold Fund Shares comply with Internal Revenue Service requirements that will generally require them to report information regarding U.S. persons investing in, or holding accounts with, such entities, a 30% withholding tax may apply to Fund distributions payable to such entities after June 30, 2014 (or, in certain cases, after later dates) and redemptions and certain capital gain dividends payable to such entities after December 31, 2016. A non-U.S. shareholder may be exempt from the withholding described in this paragraph under an applicable intergovernmental agreement between the U.S. and a foreign government, provided that the shareholder and the applicable foreign government comply with the terms of such agreement.
 
Tax-Exempt Shareholders. Certain tax-exempt shareholders, including qualified pension plans, individual retirement accounts, salary deferral arrangements, 401(k) plans, and other tax-exempt entities, generally are exempt from federal income taxation except with respect to their unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”).  Under current law, the Fund generally serves to block UBTI from being realized by its tax-exempt shareholders.  However, notwithstanding the foregoing, tax-exempt shareholders could realize UBTI by virtue of their investment in the Fund where, for example, (i) the Fund invests in REITs that hold residual interests in real estate mortgage investment conduits (“REMICs”) or (ii) Shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of the tax-exempt shareholders within the meaning of section 514(b) of the Code.  Charitable remainder trusts are subject to special rules and should consult their tax advisors.  There are no restrictions preventing the Fund from holding investments in REITs that hold residual interests in REMICs, and the Fund may do so.  The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance with respect to these issues and prospective shareholders, especially charitable remainder trusts, are strongly encouraged to consult with their tax advisors regarding these issues.
 
Certain Potential Tax Reporting Requirements. Under U.S. Treasury regulations, if a shareholder recognizes a loss on disposition of the Fund’s Shares of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder (or certain greater amounts over a combination of years), the shareholder must file with the Internal Revenue Service a disclosure statement on IRS Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a RIC are not excepted. Significant penalties may be imposed for the failure to comply with the reporting requirements.  The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.
 
Other Issues.  The Fund may be subject to tax or taxes in certain states where the Fund does business.  The Fund may also be subject to tax in certain states as a result of certain investments, such as MLPs.  Furthermore, in those states which have income tax laws, the tax treatment of the Fund and of Fund shareholders with respect to distributions by the Fund may differ from federal tax treatment.
 
Net asset value per Share for the Fund is computed by dividing the value of the net assets of the Fund (i.e., the value of its total assets less total liabilities) by the total number of Shares outstanding, rounded to the nearest cent. Expenses and fees, including the management fees, are accrued daily and taken into account for purposes of determining net asset value. The net asset value of the Fund is calculated by the Custodian and determined at the close of the regular trading session on the NASDAQ (ordinarily 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time) on each day that such exchange is open, provided that fixed-income assets may be valued as of the announced closing time for trading in fixed-income instruments on any day that the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”) announces an early closing time.
 
In calculating the Fund’s net asset value per Share, the Fund’s investments are generally valued using market valuations. A market valuation generally means a valuation (i) obtained from an exchange, a pricing service, or a major market maker (or dealer), (ii) based on a price quotation or other equivalent indication of value supplied by an exchange, a pricing service, or a major market maker (or dealer) or (iii) based on amortized cost. In the case of shares of other funds that are not traded on an exchange, a market valuation means such fund’s published net asset value per share. The Sub-Adviser may use various pricing services, or discontinue the use of any pricing service, as approved by the Board from time to time. A price obtained from a pricing service based on such pricing service’s valuation matrix may be considered a market valuation. Any assets or liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are converted into U.S. dollars at the current market rates on the date of valuation as quoted by one or more sources.
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, if any, are declared and paid quarterly by the Trust. 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 for the Fund to improve index tracking or to comply with the distribution requirements of the Code, in all events in a manner consistent with the provisions of the 1940 Act.
 
Dividends and other distributions on 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 Trust.
 
The Trust makes additional distributions to the extent necessary (i) to distribute the entire annual taxable income of the Trust, plus any net capital gains and (ii) to avoid imposition of the excise tax imposed by Section 4982 of the Code. Management of the Trust reserves the right to declare special dividends if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to preserve the status of the Trust as a regulated investment company ("RIC") or to avoid imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income.
 
Dividend Reinvestment Service. The Trust will not make the DTC book-entry dividend reinvestment service available for use by Beneficial Owners for reinvestment of their cash proceeds, but certain individual broker-dealers may make available the DTC book-entry Dividend Reinvestment Service for use by Beneficial Owners of the Fund through DTC Participants for reinvestment of their dividend distributions. Investors should contact their brokers to ascertain the availability and description of these services. Beneficial Owners should be aware that each broker may require investors to adhere to specific procedures and timetables in order to participate in the dividend reinvestment service and investors should ascertain from their brokers such necessary details. If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and realized gains will be automatically reinvested in additional whole Shares issued by the Trust of the Fund at NAV per Share. Distributions reinvested in additional Shares of the Fund will nevertheless be taxable to Beneficial Owners acquiring such additional Shares to the same extent as if such distributions had been received in cash.
 
 
Financial Statements and Annual Reports will be available after the Fund has completed a fiscal year of operations. When available, you may request a copy of the Fund’s Annual Report at no charge by calling 1-800-617-0004 or through the Fund’s website at www.videntfinancialsolutions.com.
 
 
Counsel.  Bingham McCutchen LLP serves as legal counsel to the Trust.
 
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. [  ], serves as the independent registered public accounting firm to the Trust.
The Fund generally intends to effect deliveries of Creation Units and portfolio securities on a basis of “T plus three” business days. 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 or under certain other circumstances. The securities delivery cycles currently practicable for transferring portfolio securities to redeeming investors, coupled with foreign market holiday schedules, will require a delivery process longer than seven calendar days in certain circumstances.
 
The holidays applicable to the Fund during such periods are listed below, as are instances where more than seven days will be needed to deliver redemption proceeds. Although certain holidays may occur on different dates in subsequent years, the number of days required to deliver redemption proceeds in any given year is not expected to exceed the maximum number of days listed below for the Fund. 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 in calendar year 2014 and 2015 are:

New Year’s Day
January 1, 2014
January 1, 2015
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 20, 2014
January 19, 2015
Washington’s Birthday (Presidents’ Day)
February 17, 2014
February 16, 2015
Good Friday
April 18, 2014
April 18, 2015
Memorial Day
May 26, 2014
May 25, 2015
Independence Day*
July 4, 2014*
July 3, 2015[*]
Labor Day
September 1, 2014
September 7, 2015
Columbus Day
October 13, 2014
October 12, 2015
Veterans Day
November 11, 2014
November 11, 2015
Thanksgiving Day*
November 27, 2014*
November 26, 2015*
Christmas Day*
December 25, 2014*
December 25, 2015*
* The NYSE, NYSE AMEX and NASDAQ will close trading early (at 1:00 PM ET) on Thursday, July 3, 2014, Friday, November 28, 2014 (the day after Thanksgiving) and Wednesday, December 24, 2014. The NYSE, NYSE AMEX and NASDAQ will close trading early (at 1:00 PM ET) on [Thursday, July 2, 2015], Friday, November 27, 2015 (the day after Thanksgiving) and Thursday, December 24, 2015.
 
EXCHANGE TRADED CONCEPTS, LLC

PROXY VOTING POLICY AND PROCEDURES

Exchange Traded Concepts (“Exchange Traded Concepts”) recognizes its obligation to vote proxies for investments held by clients over which it exercises discretionary voting authority in the clients’ best interest. Accordingly, Exchange Traded Concepts will vote all proxies and act on all other corporate actions in a timely manner in accordance with these proxy voting policies and procedures (the “Proxy Voting Policies”).

Exchange Traded Concepts acts as fiduciary in relation to the portfolios of ETF Series Solutions (each, a “Fund” and together, the “Funds”) and any other clients that it may manage in the future and the assets entrusted by such clients to Exchange Traded Concepts for their management. Except where the client has expressly, in writing, reserved to itself or another party the duty to vote proxies, or where a sub-adviser votes proxies on behalf of a Fund, it is Exchange Traded Concepts’ duty as a fiduciary to vote all proxies relating to such shares.

In order to carry out its responsibilities in regard to voting proxies, Exchange Traded Concepts must track all shareholder meetings convened by companies whose shares are held in Exchange Traded Concepts’ client accounts, including the Funds, identify all issues presented to shareholders at such meetings, formulate a principled position on each such issue and ensure that proxies pertaining to all shares owned in client accounts are voted in accordance with such determinations.

Pursuant to Rule 206(4)-6 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”), Exchange Traded Concepts: (a) has adopted and implemented these Proxy Voting Policies that are reasonably designed to ensure that Exchange Traded Concepts votes client securities in the best interests of its clients (which includes how Exchange Traded Concepts addresses material conflicts of interests); (b) will disclose to clients how they may obtain information on how Exchange Traded concepts voted their proxies; (c) will describe to clients its Proxy Voting Policies and, upon their request, furnish a copy to its clients; and (d) will maintain certain records relating to the proxy voting activities when the adviser does have proxy voting authority.

Exchange Traded Concepts shall utilize the formal proxy guidelines (set forth below) to appropriately assess each proxy issue. Generally, Exchange Traded Concepts seeks to vote proxies in the best interests of its clients, including the Funds. In the ordinary course, this entails voting proxies in a way which Exchange Traded Concepts believes will maximize the monetary value of each portfolio’s holdings. Exchange Traded Concepts’ Management Committee, which oversees proxy voting, will address any unusual or undefined voting issues that may arise during the year.
 
In addition, Exchange Traded Concepts may engage the services of an independent third party (“Proxy Firm”) to cast proxy votes according to Exchange Traded Concepts’ established guidelines. When Exchange Traded Concepts deems it in the best interest of clients, they may permit a sub-adviser to a Fund the authority to cast proxy votes either in accordance with Exchange Traded Concepts’ established guidelines or in accordance with the proxy voting policies submitted by that firm to and approved by the Board of Trustees of ETF Series Solutions. The Proxy Firm or sub-adviser will promptly notify Exchange Traded Concepts of any proxy issues that do not fall under the guidelines set forth below. Exchange Traded Concepts does not believe that conflicts of interest will generally arise in connection with its proxy voting policies.

Generally, Exchange Traded Concepts views that proxy proposals can be grouped into six broad categories as follows:

I.
Election of Board of Directors
 
 
·
Exchange Traded Concepts will generally vote in support of management’s nominees for the board of directors; however, Exchange Traded Concepts may choose not to support management’s proposed board if circumstances warrant such consideration.

II.
Appointment of Independent Auditors
 
 
·
Exchange Traded Concepts will support the recommendation of the respective corporation’s board of directors.
III.
Issues of Corporate Structure and Shareholder Rights
 
 
·
Proposals may originate from either management or shareholders, and among other things, may request revisions to the corporate bylaws that will affect shareholder ownership rights. Exchange Traded Concepts does not generally support obstacles erected by corporations to prevent mergers or takeovers with the view that such actions may depress the corporation’s marketplace value.

 
·
Exchange Traded Concepts supports the following types of corporate structure and shareholder rights proposals:
 
 
o
Management proposals for approval of stock repurchase programs, stock splits (including reverse splits)
 
o
Authorization to increase shares outstanding

 
o
The ability of shareholders to vote on shareholder rights plans (poison pills)
 
o
Shareholder rights to eliminate or remove supermajority provisions

 
o
Shareholder rights to call special meetings and to act by written consent

 
·
Exchange Traded Concepts votes against management on the following items which have potentially substantial financial or best interest impact:
 
 
o
Capitalization changes that add “blank check” classes of stock or classes that dilute the voting interests of existing shareholders which are contrary to the best interest of existing shareholders, anti-takeover and related provisions that serve to prevent the majority of shareholders from exercising their rights or effectively deter appropriate tender offers and other offers
 
o
Amendments to bylaws which would require super-majority shareholder votes to pass or repeal certain provisions

 
o
Elimination of shareholders’ right to call special meetings
 
o
Establishment of classified boards of directors

 
o
Reincorporation in a state which has more stringent anti-takeover and related provisions
 
o
Shareholder rights plans that allow the board of directors to block appropriate offers to shareholders or which trigger provisions preventing legitimate offers from proceeding

 
o
Excessive compensation
 
o
Change-in-control provisions in non-salary compensation plans, employment contracts, and severance agreements which benefit management and would be costly to shareholders if triggered
 
o
Adjournment of meeting to solicit additional votes

 
o
“Other business as properly comes before the meeting” proposals which extend “blank check” powers to those acting as proxy
 
o
Proposals requesting re-election of insiders or affiliated directors who serve on audit, compensation, and nominating committees

IV.
Mergers and Acquisitions

Exchange Traded Concepts evaluates mergers and acquisitions on a case-by-case basis. Exchange Traded Concepts uses its discretion in order to maximize shareholder value. Exchange Traded Concepts generally votes:
 
 
·
Against offers with potentially damaging consequences for minority shareholders because of illiquid stock, especially in some non-US markets
 
 
·
For offers that concur with index calculators’ treatment and the ability to meet the clients’ return objectives for passive funds
 
 
·
For proposals to restructure or liquidate closed end investment funds in which the secondary market price is substantially lower than the net asset value
 
V.
Executive and Director Equity-Based Compensation
 
 
·
Exchange Traded Concepts is generally in favor of properly constructed equity-based compensation arrangements. Exchange Traded Concepts will support proposals that provide management with the ability to implement compensation arrangements that are both fair and competitive.
 
 
 
However, Exchange Traded Concepts may oppose management proposals that could potentially significantly dilute shareholders’ ownership interests in the corporation.

VI.
Corporate Social and Policy Issues
 
 
·
Proposals usually originate from shareholders and may require a revision of certain business practices and policies.

Exchange Traded Concepts is of the view that typical business matters that directly or indirectly affect corporate profitability are primarily the responsibility of management. Exchange Traded Concepts believes it is inappropriate to use client assets to address socio-political issues. Therefore, social and policy issues reflected in shareholder proposals should be subject to the approval of the corporation’s board of directors.

Conflicts

From time to time, Exchange Traded Concepts will review a proxy which presents a potential material conflict. As a fiduciary to its clients, Exchange Traded Concepts takes these potential conflicts very seriously. Exchange Traded Concepts’ duty is to ensure that proxy votes are cast in the clients’, including the Funds,’ best interests and are not affected by Exchange Traded Concepts’ potential conflict. If a potential conflict of interest exists, and the matter falls clearly within one of the proposals enumerated above, Exchange Traded Concepts will vote proxies in accordance with the pre-determined guidelines set forth in these Proxy Voting Policies.

In other cases, where the matter presents a potential material conflict and is not clearly within one of the enumerated proposals, or is of such a nature that Exchange Traded Concepts believes more active involvement is necessary, Exchange Traded Concepts may employ the services of a Proxy Firm, wholly independent of Exchange Traded Concepts, to determine the appropriate vote.

In certain situations, Exchange Traded Concepts’ Management Committee may determine that the employment of a Proxy Firm is unfeasible, impractical or unnecessary. In such situations, the Management Committee shall decide how to vote the proxy. The basis for the voting decision, including the basis for the determination that the decision is in the best interests of Exchange Traded Concepts’ clients, shall be formalized in writing. Which action is appropriate in any given scenario would be the decision of the Management Committee in carrying out its duty to ensure that the proxies are voted in the clients’ best interests.
 
 
 
PART C:  OTHER INFORMATION

Item 28.  Exhibits

(a)
(i)
 
Certificate of Trust dated February 9, 2012 of ETF Series Solutions (the “Trust” or the “Registrant”) is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (a)(i) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on February 17, 2012.
 
(ii)
 
Registrant’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust dated February 17, 2012 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (a)(ii) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on February 17, 2012.
(b)
   
Registrant’s Bylaws dated February 17, 2012 are incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (b) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on February 17, 2012.
(c)
   
Not applicable.
(d)
(i)
(A)
Investment Advisory Agreement between the Trust and Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC dated May 23, 2012 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (d)(i) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 31, 2012.
 
(i)
(B)
Amended Schedule A to Investment Advisory Agreement between the Trust and Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(ii)
(A)
Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC and Index Management Solutions, LLC dated May 23, 2012 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (d)(ii) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
 
(ii)
(B)
Amended Schedule A to Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC and Index Management Solutions, LLC – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(iii)
 
Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement between Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC and Vident Investment Advisors, LLC – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
(e)
(i)
 
Distribution Agreement between the Trust and Quasar Distributors, LLC (AlphaClone Alternative Alpha ETF) dated May 16, 2012 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (e)(i) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
 
(ii)
(A)
Distribution Agreement between the Trust and Quasar Distributors, LLC (Vident Funds) dated August 22, 2013 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (e)(ii) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on September 5, 2013.
 
(ii)
(B)
First Amendment to Distribution Agreement between the Trust and Quasar Distributors, LLC (Vident Funds), dated November 5, 2013 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (e)(ii)(B) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on December 4, 2013.
 
(ii)
(C)
Second Amendment to Distribution Agreement between the Trust and Quasar Distributors, LLC (Vident Funds) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(iii)
 
Distribution Agreement between the Trust and Quasar Distributors, LLC (Deep Value ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(iv)
 
Distribution Agreement between the Trust and Quasar Distributors, LLC (Falah Russell-IdealRatings U.S. Large Cap ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(v)
 
Form of Authorized Participant Agreement is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (e)(iii) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
(f)
   
Not applicable.
(g)
(i)
(A)
Custody Agreement between the Trust and U.S. Bank National Association dated May 16, 2012 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (g) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
 
(i)
(B)
Amended Exhibit E to Custody Agreement (Vident Funds) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(i)
(C)
Exhibit F to Custody Agreement (Deep Value ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(i)
(D)
Exhibit G to Custody Agreement (Falah Russell-IdealRatings U.S. Large Cap ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
(h)
(i)
(A)
Fund Administration Servicing Agreement between the Trust and U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC dated May 16, 2012 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (h)(i) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
 
(i)
(B)
Amended Exhibit D to Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (Vident Funds) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
 
C-1

 
 
 
(i)
(C)
Exhibit E to Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (Deep Value ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(i)
(D)
Exhibit F to Fund Administration Servicing Agreement (Falah Russell-IdealRatings U.S. Large Cap ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(ii)
(A)
Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement between the Trust and U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC dated May 16, 2012 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (h)(ii) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
 
(ii)
(B)
Amended Exhibit C to Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (Vident Funds) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(ii)
(C)
Exhibit D to Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (Deep Value ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(ii)
(D)
Exhibit E to Fund Accounting Servicing Agreement (Falah Russell-IdealRatings U.S. Large Cap ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(iii)
(A)
Transfer Agent Agreement between the Trust and U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC dated May 16, 2012 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (d)(ii) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
 
(iii)
(B)
Amended Exhibit C to Transfer Agent Agreement (Vident Funds) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(iii)
(C)
Exhibit D to Transfer Agent Agreement (Deep Value ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(iii)
(D)
Exhibit E to Transfer Agent Agreement (Falah Russell-IdealRatings U.S. Large Cap ETF) – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
 
(iv)
 
Powers of Attorney dated May 21, 2014 are incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (h)(iv) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on June 9, 2014.
 
(v)
(A)
Compliance Services Agreement between the Trust and U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC dated May 13, 2013 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (h)(v) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on July 26, 2013.
 
(v)
(B)
Amended Exhibit A to Compliance Services Agreement – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
(i)
   
Opinion and Consent of Counsel, Bingham McCutchen LLP – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
(j)
   
Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
(k)
   
Not applicable.
(l)
(i)
 
Initial Capital Agreement between the Trust and U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC dated April 23, 2012 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (l)(i) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
 
(ii)
 
Letter of Representations between the Trust and Depository Trust Company dated May 21, 2012 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (l)(ii) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
(m)
(i)
(A)
Rule 12b-1 Plan is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (m) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
 
(i)
(B)
Amended Schedule A to Rule 12b-1 Plan – to be filed by subsequent amendment.
(n)
   
Not applicable.
(o)
   
Reserved.
(p)
(i)
 
Code of Ethics for the Trust is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (p)(i) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
 
(ii)
 
Code of Ethics for Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC dated January 31, 2012 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (p)(ii) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
 
(iii)
 
Code of Ethics for Index Management Solutions, LLC as amended February 5, 2008 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (p)(iii) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2012.
 
(iv)
 
Code of Ethics for Mellon Capital Management Corporation – dated March 12, 2013 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (p)(iv) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on September 5, 2013.
 
(v)
 
Code of Ethics for Quasar Distributors, LLC is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (p)(iv) to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, as filed on May 23, 2014.
 
(vi)
 
Code of Ethics for Vident Investment Advisors, LLC – to be filed by subsequent amendment.

 
 
C-2

 
 
Item 29.  Persons Controlled by or Under Common Control with Registrant

No person is directly or indirectly controlled by or under common control with the Registrant.

Item 30.  Indemnification

The Trustees shall not be responsible or liable in any event for any neglect or wrongdoing of any officer, agent, employee, adviser or principal underwriter of the Trust, nor shall any Trustee be responsible for the act or omission of any other Trustee, and, subject to the provisions of the By-Laws, the Trust out of its assets may indemnify and hold harmless each and every Trustee and officer of the Trust from and against any and all claims, demands, costs, losses, expenses, and damages whatsoever arising out of or related to such Trustee’s or officer’s performance of his or her duties as a Trustee or officer of the Trust; provided that nothing herein contained shall indemnify, hold harmless or protect any Trustee or officer from or against any liability to the Trust or any Shareholder to which he or she would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office.

Every note, bond, contract, instrument, certificate or undertaking and every other act or thing whatsoever issued, executed or done by or on behalf of the Trust or the Trustees or any of them in connection with the Trust shall be conclusively deemed to have been issued, executed or done only in or with respect to their or his or her capacity as Trustees or Trustee, and such Trustees or Trustee shall not be personally liable thereon.

Insofar as indemnification for liability arising under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) may be permitted to Trustees, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such Trustee, officer, or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

Item 31.  Business and Other Connections of Investment Adviser

With respect to Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (the “Adviser”), Index Management Solutions, LLC (“IMS”), Mellon Capital Management Corporation (“MCM”), and Vident Investment Advisors, LLC (“Vident”), the response to this Item incorporates by reference the Adviser’s, IMS’, MCM’s, and Vident’s Uniform Applications for Investment Adviser Registration (“Form ADV”) on file with the SEC (File Nos. 801-70485, 801-70930, 801-19785 and 801-79911, respectively).  Each Form ADV may be obtained, free of charge, at the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.

Additional information as to any other business, profession, vocation or employment of a substantial nature engaged in by each such officer and director is included in the Trust’s Statement of Additional Information.
 
 
C-3

 

Item 32.  Principal Underwriter

Quasar Distributors, LLC acts as the Principal Underwriter for the Trust.

(a)     
Quasar Distributors, LLC acts as principal underwriter for the following investment companies:
 
Academy Funds Trust
IronBridge Funds, Inc.
Advisors Series Trust
Jacob Funds, Inc.
Aegis Funds
Jensen Portfolio, Inc.
Aegis Value Fund, Inc.
Kirr Marbach Partners Funds, Inc.
Allied Asset Advisors Funds
Litman Gregory Funds Trust
Alpine Equity Trust
LKCM Funds
Alpine Income Trust
LoCorr Investment Trust
Alpine Series Trust
Loeb King Trust
Appleton Funds
Lord Asset Management Trust
Barrett Opportunity Fund, Inc.
MainGate Trust
Brandes Investment Trust
Managed Portfolio Series
Bridge Builder Trust
Matrix Advisors Value Fund, Inc.
Bridges Investment Fund, Inc.
Merger Fund
Brookfield Investment Funds
Monetta Trust
Brown Advisory Funds
Nicholas Family of Funds, Inc.
Buffalo Funds
Permanent Portfolio Family of Funds, Inc.
Capital Guardian Funds Trust
Perritt Funds, Inc.
Compass EMP Funds Trust
PRIMECAP Odyssey Funds
Cushing Funds Trust
Professionally Managed Portfolios
DoubleLine Equity Funds
Prospector Funds, Inc.
DoubleLine Funds Trust
Provident Mutual Funds, Inc.
ETF Series Solutions
Purisima Funds
Evermore Funds Trust
Rainier Investment Management Mutual Funds
FactorShares Trust
RBC Funds Trust
First American Funds, Inc.
SCS Financial Funds
First American Investment Funds, Inc.
Stone Ridge Trust
First American Strategy Funds, Inc.
Thompson IM Funds, Inc.
Glenmede Fund, Inc.
TIFF Investment Program, Inc.
Glenmede Portfolios
Trust for Professional Managers
Greenspring Fund, Inc.
Trust for Advised Portfolios
Guinness Atkinson Funds
USA Mutuals
Harding Loevner Funds, Inc.
USFS Funds Trust
Hennessy Funds Trust
Wall Street Fund, Inc.
Hennessy Funds, Inc.
Westchester Capital Funds
Hennessy Mutual Funds, Inc.
Wexford Trust/PA
Hennessy SPARX Funds Trust
Wisconsin Capital Funds, Inc.
Hotchkis & Wiley Funds
WY Funds
Intrepid Capital Management Funds Trust
YCG Funds
 
(b)     
To the best of Registrant’s knowledge, the directors and executive officers of Quasar Distributors, LLC are as follows:

Name and Principal
Business Address
Position and Offices with Quasar
Distributors, LLC
Positions and Offices
with Registrant
James R. Schoenike(1)
President, Board Member
None
Andrew M. Strnad(2)
Vice President, Secretary
None
Joe D. Redwine(1)
Board Member
None
Robert Kern(1)
Board Member
None
Susan LaFond(1)
Vice President, Treasurer
None
Joseph Bree(1)
Chief Financial Officer
None
Teresa Cowan(1)
Senior Vice President, Assistant Secretary
None
John Kinsella(3)
Assistant Treasurer
None
Brett Scribner(3)
Assistant Treasurer
None
 
(1) This individual is located at 615 East Michigan Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53202.
(2) This individual is located at 6602 East 75th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46250.
(3) This individual is located at 800 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55402.

(c)     
Not applicable.
 
 
C-4

 

Item 33.  Location of Accounts and Records

The books and records required to be maintained by Section 31(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 are maintained at the following locations:
 
Records Relating to:
Are located at:
Registrant’s Fund Administrator, Fund Accountant and
Transfer Agent
U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC
615 East Michigan Street, 3rd Floor
Milwaukee, Wisconsin  53202
Registrant’s Custodian
U.S. Bank, National Association
1555 N. River Center Drive, Suite 302
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212
Registrant’s Principal Underwriter
Quasar Distributors, LLC
615 East Michigan Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin  53202
Registrant’s Investment Adviser
Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC
2545 S. Kelly Avenue, Suite C
Edmond, Oklahoma 73013
Registrant’s Sub-Advisers
Index Management Solutions, LLC
2005 Market Street
One Commerce Square, Suite 2020
Philadelphia, PA 19103
 
Mellon Capital Management Corporation
50 Fremont Street
San Francisco, California 94105
 
Vident Investment Advisors, LLC
300 Colonial Center Parkway, Suite 330
Roswell, GA 30076

Item 34.  Management Services
Not applicable.

Item 35.  Undertakings
Not applicable.
 
 
 
C-5

 
 
SIGNATURES
 
    Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Registrant has duly caused this Post-Effective Amendment to its Registration Statement on Form N-1A to be signed below on its behalf by the undersigned, duly authorized, in the City of Milwaukee, State of Wisconsin, on July 15, 2014.

 
ETF Series Solutions

By:  /s/ Michael D. Barolsky                           
Michael D. Barolsky, Esq.
Secretary

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Post-Effective Amendment to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities indicated on July 15, 2014.

Signature
Title
   
*/s/ J. Garrett Stevens                                 
Trustee
J. Garrett Stevens
 
   
*/s/ Ronald T. Beckman                              
Trustee
Ronald T. Beckman
 
   
*/s/ David A. Massart                                 
Trustee
David A. Massart
 
   
*/s/ Leonard M. Rush                                 
Trustee
Leonard M. Rush
 
   
*/s/ Michael A. Castino                              
President and Principal Executive Officer
Michael A. Castino
 
   
*/s/ Paul R. Fearday                                     
Treasurer and Principal Financial Officer
Paul R. Fearday
 
   
*By:        /s/ Michael D. Barolsky                                   
Michael D. Barolsky, Attorney-in-Fact
pursuant to Powers of Attorney