XML 1014 R1.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.0.8
First Trust Global Tactical Commodity Strategy Fund

SUMMARY INFORMATION

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Fund seeks to provide total return by providing investors with commodity exposure while seeking a relatively stable risk profile.

FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND

The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. Investors purchasing and selling shares may be subject to costs (including customary brokerage commissions) charged by their broker, which are not reflected in the example below.

SHAREHOLDER FEES (FEES PAID DIRECTLY FROM YOUR INVESTMENT)

Shareholder Fees
First Trust Global Tactical Commodity Strategy Fund
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) none

Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses
First Trust Global Tactical Commodity Strategy Fund
Management Fees 0.95%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees [1] none
Total Other Expenses/Other Expenses of the Fund [2][3] none
Total Other Expenses/Expenses of the Subsidiary [2][3] none
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.95%
[1] Although the Fund has adopted a 12b-1 plan that permits it to pay up to 0.25% per annum, it will not pay 12b-1 fees at any time before _______, 201_.
[2] The Fund had not fully commenced operations as of the date of this prospectus. "Total Other Expenses" are estimates based on the expenses the Fund expects to incur for the current fiscal year.
[3] Pursuant to the Investment Management Agreement, First Trust will manage the investment of the Fund's assets and will be responsible for the Fund and the Subsidiary's expenses, including the cost of transfer agency, custody, fund administration, legal, audit and other services, but excluding fee payments under the Investment Management Agreement, interest, taxes, brokerage commissions and other expenses connected with the execution of portfolio transactions, distribution and service fees pursuant to a 12b-1 plan, if any, and extraordinary expenses.

EXAMPLE

The example below is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling shares of the Fund in the secondary market.

The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain at current levels until _______, 201_ and thereafter at 1.20% to represent the imposition of the 12b-1 fee of 0.25% per annum of the Fund's average daily net assets. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example (USD $)
1 Year
3 Years
First Trust Global Tactical Commodity Strategy Fund
97 356

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities, or through the Subsidiary, as defined below, when it buys and sells Commodities Instruments, as defined below (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund's performance.

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund ("ETF") that seeks to achieve attractive risk adjusted return by investing in commodity futures contracts and exchange-traded commodity linked instruments (collectively, "Commodities Instruments") through a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Fund organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (the "Subsidiary"). The Fund will not invest directly in Commodities Instruments. The Fund expects to gain exposure to these investments exclusively by investing in the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary is advised by First Trust Advisors L.P., the Fund's advisor.

The Fund's investment in the Subsidiary is intended to provide the Fund with exposure to commodity markets within the limits of current federal income tax laws applicable to investment companies such as the Fund, which limit the ability of investment companies to invest directly in Commodities Instruments. The Subsidiary has the same investment objective as the Fund, but unlike the Fund, it may invest without limitation in Commodities Instruments. Except as otherwise noted, for purposes of this prospectus, references to the Fund's investments include the Fund's indirect investments through the Subsidiary. The Fund will invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary.

The Subsidiary seeks to make investments generally in Commodities Instruments while managing volatility. Investment weightings of the underlying Commodities Instruments held by the Subsidiary are rebalanced in an attempt to stabilize risk levels. The dynamic weighting process is designed to result in a disciplined, systematic investment process, which is keyed off of the advisor's volatility forecasting process.

The Subsidiary's holdings in Commodities Instruments will consist, in part, of futures contracts, which are contractual agreements to buy or sell a particular commodity or financial instrument at a pre-determined price in the future. The Subsidiary may also invest in commodity-linked instruments, which include: (1) ETFs that provide exposure to commodities; and (2) pooled investment vehicles that invest primarily in commodities and commodity-related instruments. The Subsidiary may have both long and short positions in Commodities Instruments. However, for a given Commodity Instrument the First Trust Subsidiary will provide a net long exposure. Net long exposure means to hold or be exposed to a security or instrument with the expectation that its value will increase over time. The Subsidiary will initially consider the following futures contracts for investment: live cattle, cocoa, cotton, feeder cattle, coffee, soybeans, soybean meal, soybean oil, corn, wheat, sugar, lean hogs, crude oil, Brent crude oil, heating oil, gas oil, natural gas, gasoline, gold, silver, platinum, copper, aluminum, lead, nickel, tin and zinc. As U.S. and London exchanges list additional contracts, as currently listed contracts on those exchanges gain sufficient liquidity or as other exchanges list sufficiently liquid contracts, the Fund's advisor will include those contracts in the list of possible investments of the Subsidiary. The list of Commodities Instruments and commodities markets considered for investment can and will change over time.

The remainder of the Fund's assets will primarily be invested in: (1) short-term investment grade fixed income securities that include U.S. government and agency securities, sovereign debt obligations of non-U.S. countries, and repurchase agreements; (2) money market instruments; (3) ETFs and other investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"); and (4) cash and other cash equivalents. The Fund uses such instruments as investments and to collateralize the Subsidiary's Commodities Instruments exposure on a day-to-day basis. The Fund may also invest directly in ETFs and other investment companies, including closed-end funds, that provide exposure to Commodities Instruments, equity securities and fixed income securities to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act.

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 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.

PRINCIPAL RISKS

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. There can be no assurance that the Fund's investment objective will be achieved. The risks of the Fund will result from both the Fund's direct investments and its indirect investments made through the Subsidiary. Accordingly, the risks that result from the Subsidiary's activities will be described herein as the Fund's risks.

CASH TRANSACTION RISK. Unlike most ETFs, the Fund currently intends to effect most creations and redemptions, in whole or in part, for cash, rather than in-kind, because of the nature of the Fund's underlying investments. As a result, an investment in the Fund may be less tax efficient than an investment in a more conventional ETF.

CLEARING BROKER RISK. The failure or bankruptcy of the Fund's and the Subsidiary's clearing broker could result in a substantial loss of Fund assets. Under current Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") regulations, a clearing broker maintains customers' assets in a bulk segregated account. If a clearing broker fails to do so, or is unable to satisfy a substantial deficit in a customer account, its other customers may be subject to risk of loss of their funds in the event of that clearing broker's bankruptcy. In that event, the clearing broker's customers, such as the Fund and the Subsidiary, are entitled to recover, even in respect of property specifically traceable to them, only a proportional share of all property available for distribution to all of that clearing broker's customers.

COMMODITY RISK. The value of Commodities Instruments typically is based upon the price movements of a physical commodity or an economic variable linked to such price movements. The prices of Commodities Instruments may fluctuate quickly and dramatically and may not correlate to price movements in other asset classes. An active trading market may not exist for certain commodities. Each of these factors and events could have a significant negative impact on the Fund.

COUNTERPARTY RISK. The Fund bears the risk that the counterparty to a commodity, derivative or other contract with a third party may default on its obligations or otherwise fail to honor its obligations. If a counterparty defaults on its payment obligations the Fund will lose money and the value of an investment in Fund shares may decrease. In addition, the Fund may engage in such investment transactions with a limited number of counterparties.

CREDIT RISK. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer of a security will be unable or unwilling to make dividend, interest and/or principal payments when due and the related risk that the value of a security may decline because of concerns about the issuer's ability to make such payments.

CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE RISK. The Fund holds investments that are denominated in non-U.S. currencies, or in securities that provide exposure to such currencies, currency exchange rates or interest rates denominated in such currencies. Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of non-U.S. currencies will affect the value of the Fund's investment and the value of your Fund shares. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the value of an investment in the Fund may change quickly and without warning and you may lose money.

ETF RISK. An ETF trades like common stock and represents a portfolio of securities. The risks of owning an ETF generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying securities, although lack of liquidity in an ETF could result in it being more volatile and ETFs have management fees that increase their costs.

FOREIGN COMMODITY MARKETS RISK. The Fund, through the Subsidiary, will engage in trading on commodity markets outside the United States on behalf of the Fund. Trading on such markets is not regulated by any United States government agency and may involve certain risks not applicable to trading on United States exchanges. The Fund may not have the same access to certain trades as do various other participants in foreign markets. Furthermore, as the Fund will determine its net assets in United States dollars, with respect to trading in foreign markets the Fund will be subject to the risk of fluctuations in the exchange rate between the local currency and dollars as well as the possibility of exchange controls. Certain futures contracts traded on foreign exchanges are treated differently for federal income tax purposes than are domestic contracts.

FUTURES RISK. The Fund invests in futures through the Subsidiary. All futures and futures-related products are highly volatile. Price movements are influenced by, among other things, changing supply and demand relationships; climate; government agricultural, trade, fiscal, monetary and exchange control programs and policies; national and international political and economic events; crop diseases; the purchasing and marketing programs of different nations; and changes in interest rates. In addition, governments from time to time intervene, directly and by regulation, in certain markets, particularly those in currencies.

GAP RISK. The Fund is subject to the risk that a commodity price will change from one level to another with no trading in between. Usually such movements occur when there are adverse news announcements, which can cause a commodity price to drop substantially from the previous day's closing price.

INCOME RISK. Income from the Fund's fixed income investments could decline during periods of falling interest rates.

INTEREST RATE RISK. Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the securities in the Fund will decline because of rising market interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally lower for shorter term investments and higher for longer term investments.

INVESTMENT COMPANIES RISK. The Fund may invest in securities of other investment companies, including ETFs. As a shareholder in other investment companies, the Fund will bear its ratable share of that investment company's expenses, and would remain subject to payment of the Fund's advisory and administrative fees with respect to assets so invested. In addition, the Fund will incur brokerage costs when purchasing and selling shares of ETFs or other exchange-traded investment companies.

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.

LIQUIDITY RISK. The Fund invests in Commodities Instruments, which may be less liquid than other types of investments. The illiquidity of Commodities Instruments could have a negative effect on the Fund's ability to achieve its investment objective and may result in losses to Fund shareholders.

MANAGEMENT RISK. The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed portfolio. The Advisor will apply investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, but there can be no guarantee that the Fund will meet its investment objective.

MARKET RISK. The trading prices of commodities futures, fixed income securities and other instruments fluctuate in response to a variety of factors. The Fund's net asset value and market price may fluctuate significantly in response to these factors. As a result, an investor could lose money over short or long periods of time.

NEW FUND RISK. The Fund currently has fewer assets than larger funds, and like other relatively new funds, large inflows and outflows may impact the Fund's market exposure for limited periods of time. This impact may be positive or negative, depending on the direction of market movement during the period affected.

NON-DIVERSIFICATION RISK. The Fund is classified as "non-diversified" under the 1940 Act. As a result, the Fund is only limited as to the percentage of its assets that may be invested in the securities of any one issuer by the diversification requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). The Fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to a single adverse economic or regulatory occurrence affecting one or more of these issuers, experience increased volatility and be highly concentrated in certain issuers.

NON-U.S. INVESTMENT RISK. The Fund may invest in commodity futures contracts traded on non-U.S. exchanges or enter into OTC derivative contracts with non-U.S. counterparties. Transactions on non-U.S. exchanges or with non-U.S. counterparties present risks because they may not subject to the same degree of regulation as their U.S. counterparts.

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER RISK. The Fund's strategy may frequently involve buying and selling portfolio securities to rebalance the Fund's exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and generating greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund's performance to be less than you expect.

REGULATORY RISK. The CFTC has adopted amendments to CFTC Rule 4.5, which subject the Fund and the Subsidiary to regulation by the CFTC and may impose additional disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping rules on the Fund and the Subsidiary. Compliance with these additional rules may increase Fund expenses. In addition, certain exchanges may limit the maximum net long or net short speculative positions that a party may hold or control in any particular futures or options contracts, and it is possible that other regulatory authorities may adopt similar limits. Position limits are currently the subject of disputes being resolved in the U.S. court system. The Fund's investment decisions may need to be modified, and commodity contract positions held by the Fund may have to be liquidated at disadvantageous times or prices, to avoid exceeding any applicable position limits, potentially subjecting the Fund to substantial losses. The regulation of commodity transactions in the United States is a rapidly changing area of law and is subject to ongoing modification by government, self-regulatory and judicial action. The effect of any future regulatory change on the Fund is impossible to predict, but could be substantial and adverse to the Fund.

REPURCHASE AGREEMENT RISK. The Fund's investment in repurchase agreements may be subject to market and credit risk with respect to the collateral securing the repurchase agreements. Investments in repurchase agreements also may be subject to the risk that the market value of the underlying obligations may decline prior to the expiration of the repurchase agreement term.

SHORT SALES RISK. The Fund may engage in "short sale" transactions. The Fund will lose value if the security or instrument that is the subject of a short sale increases in value. The Fund also may enter into a short derivative position through a futures contract. If the price of the security or derivative that is the subject of a short sale increases, then the Fund will incur a loss equal to the increase in price from the time that the short sale was entered into plus any premiums and interest paid to a third party in connection with the short sale. Therefore, short sales involve the risk that losses may be exaggerated, potentially losing more money than the actual cost of the investment. Also, there is the risk that the third party to the short sale may fail to honor its contract terms, causing a loss to the Fund.

SUBSIDIARY INVESTMENT RISK. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and the Subsidiary are organized, respectively, could result in the inability of the Fund to operate as intended and could negatively affect the Fund and its shareholders. The Subsidiary is not registered under the 1940 Act and is not subject to all the investor protections of the 1940 Act. Thus, the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies.

TAX RISK. The Fund intends to treat any income it may derive from Commodities Instruments (other than derivatives described in Revenue Rulings 2006-1 and 2006-31) received by the Subsidiary as "qualifying income" under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, applicable to "regulated investment companies" ("RICs"), based on a tax opinion received from special counsel which was based, in part, on numerous private letter rulings ("PLRs") provided to third parties not associated with the Fund or its affiliates (which only those parties may rely on as precedent). Shareholders and potential investors should be aware, however, that, in July 2011, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") suspended the issuance of such PLRs pending its re-examination of the policies underlying them, which was still ongoing at the date of this prospectus. If, at the end of that re-examination, the IRS changes its position with respect to the conclusions reached in those PLRs, then the Fund may be required to restructure its investments to satisfy the qualifying income requirement or might cease to qualify as a RIC.

If the Fund did not qualify as a RIC for any taxable year and certain relief provisions were not available, the Fund's taxable income would be subject to tax at the Fund level and to a further tax at the shareholder level when such income is distributed. In such event, in order to re-qualify for taxation as a RIC, the Fund might be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest and make certain distributions. This would cause investors to incur higher tax liabilities than they otherwise would have incurred and would have a negative impact on Fund returns. In such event, the Fund's Board of Trustees may determine to reorganize or close the Fund or materially change the Fund's investment objective and strategies.

In the event that the Fund fails to qualify as a RIC, the Fund will promptly notify shareholders of the implications of that failure.

The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in equity repurchase agreements. Recent changes in the law have the potential of changing the character and source of such instruments potentially subjecting them to unexpected U.S. taxation. Depending upon the terms of the contracts, the Fund may be required to indemnify the counterparty for such increased tax.

U.S. GOVERNMENT AND AGENCY SECURITIES RISK. The Fund may invest in U.S. government obligations. U.S. government obligations include U.S. Treasury obligations and securities issued or guaranteed by various agencies of the U.S. government or by various instrumentalities which have been established or sponsored by the U.S. government. U.S. Treasury obligations are backed by the "full faith and credit" of the U.S. government. Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies and U.S. government sponsored instrumentalities may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

VOLATILITY RISK. Frequent or significant short-term price movements could adversely impact the performance of the Fund. In addition, the net asset value of the Fund over short-term periods may be more volatile than other investments options because of the Fund's significant use of financial instruments that have a leveraging effect. For example, because of the low margin deposits required, futures trading involves an extremely high degree of leverage and as a result, a relatively small price movement in a Commodities Instrument may result in immediate and substantial losses to the Fund.

WHIPSAW MARKETS RISK. The Fund may be subject to the forces of the "whipsaw" markets (as opposed to choppy or stable markets), in which significant price movements develop but then repeatedly reverse, could cause substantial losses to the Fund.

PERFORMANCE

The Fund has not yet commenced operations and, therefore, does not have a performance history. Once available, the Fund's performance information will be available on the Fund's website at www.ftportfolios.com.