485APOS 1 fp0068048_485apos.htm

 

AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON AUGUST 23, 2021

 

REGISTRATION NOS. 333-191476
811-22894

 

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 

 

 

FORM N-1A 

 

 

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

[  ]

 

PRE-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO.

[  ]

 

POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 253

[X]

 

AND/OR

 

 

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940

[  ]

 

AMENDMENT NO. 256

[X]

 

 

 

INVESTMENT MANAGERS SERIES TRUST II
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

 

235 West Galena Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212

 

(Address of Principal Executive Offices, including Zip Code)
Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (626) 385-5777

 

Diane J. Drake
Mutual Fund Administration, LLC
2220 E. Route 66, Suite 226
Glendora, CA 91740

 

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

 

COPIES TO:

 

Laurie Anne Dee
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
600 Anton Boulevard, Suite 1800
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

 

 

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):

 

[  ] immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b) of Rule 485; or

[  ] on ______________ pursuant to paragraph (b) of Rule 485; or

[  ] 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of Rule 485;

[  ] on _______________ pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of Rule 485; or

[X] 75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485; or

[  ] on _______________ pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485; or

[  ] on _______________ pursuant to paragraph (a)(3) 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.

 

 

 

The information in this Prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This Prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

Ambassador Fund

 

(Ticker Symbol: ____)

 

PROSPECTUS

[        ], 2021

 

 

 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

 

 

 

Ambassador Fund

A series of Investment Managers Series Trust II (the “Trust”)

 

 

Table of Contents

 

SUMMARY SECTION 1
MORE ABOUT THE FUND’S INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE, PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND RISKS 10
MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND 18
YOUR ACCOUNT WITH THE FUND 20
DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS 27
FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES 27
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS 28
FOR MORE INFORMATION 30

 

This Prospectus sets forth basic information about the Fund that you should know before investing. It should be read and retained for future reference.

 

The date of this Prospectus is [_____], 2021.

 

 

 

SUMMARY SECTION

 

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Ambassador Fund (the “Fund”) is to seek current income.

 

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

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

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
   
Management fees [     ]%  
Other expenses1 [     ]%  
Total annual fund operating expenses [     ]%  
Fees waived and/or expenses reimbursed2 ([     ]%)  
Total annual fund operating expenses after waiving fees and/or reimbursing expenses1,2 [     ]%  
     

 

1“Other expenses” have been estimated for the current fiscal year. Actual expenses may differ from estimates.

 

2The Fund’s advisor has contractually agreed to waive its fees and/or pay for operating expenses of the Fund to ensure that total annual fund operating expenses (excluding any taxes, leverage interest, brokerage commissions, dividend and interest expenses on short sales, acquired fund fees and expenses (as determined in accordance with SEC Form N-1A), expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization, and extraordinary expenses such as litigation expenses) do not exceed [     ]% of the average daily net assets of the Fund. This agreement is in effect until [____________, 2022], and it may be terminated before that date only by the Trust’s Board of Trustees. The Fund’s advisor is permitted to seek reimbursement from the Fund, subject to certain limitations, of fees waived or payments made to the Fund for a period ending three full years after the date of the waiver or payment. This reimbursement may be requested from the Fund if the reimbursement will not cause the Fund’s annual expense ratio to exceed the lesser of (a) the expense limitation in effect at the time such fees were waived or payments made, or (b) the expense limitation in effect at the time of the reimbursement.

 

Example

This example is intended to help you compare the costs of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

 

The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The example reflects the Fund’s contractual fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement only for the term of the contractual fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement.

 

Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

One Year Three Years
$[ ] $[ ]

 

1 

 

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 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. The Fund is newly-created and, as a result, does not yet have a portfolio turnover rate.

 

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund pursues its investment objective by investing primarily in “catastrophe” or “cat” bonds (“Cat Bonds”). A Cat Bond is a type of event-linked bond and is a variable rate debt security for which the return of principal and payment of interest are contingent on the non-occurrence of a specified trigger event(s). The Fund may also seek to gain exposure to reinsurance contracts by investing in notes or preferred shares issued by a special purpose vehicle (“SPV”) the performance of which is tied to underlying reinsurance transaction(s). including shares or notes issued in connection with quota shares (“Quota Shares”), shares or notes issued in connection with excess-of loss, stop-loss, or other non-proportional reinsurance (“Excess of Loss Notes”), and shares or notes issued in connection with industry loss warranties (“ILWs”) (collectively, with Cat Bonds, “insurance-linked securities”). Quota Shares provide exposure to a form of proportional reinsurance in which an investor participates in the premiums and losses of a reinsurer’s portfolio according to a pre-defined percentage. Excess of Loss Notes provide exposure to a form of reinsurance pursuant to which one party (typically an insurer or reinsurer) purchases protection against losses over a specified threshold up to a set limit. ILWs provide exposure to a transaction through which one party (typically an insurance company or reinsurance company, or a reinsurance-related asset manager) purchases protection based on the total loss arising from a catastrophe event to the entire insurance industry rather than the losses of any particular insurer.

 

The Fund may invest in insurance-linked securities when initially offered or in the secondary, over-the-counter market. The Fund may invest in insurance-linked securities and other debt securities of any credit rating, including those rated below investment grade (often called “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”) or, if unrated, determined by the Fund’s sub-advisor to be of comparable quality. The Cat Bonds in which the Fund may invest are typically structured as floating rate securities. Since insurance-linked securities are typically unrated, a substantial portion of the Fund’s assets may be invested in unrated securities that are high risk or speculative. Many of the securities in which the Fund invests are issued by non-U.S. issuers, including those domiciled in emerging market countries. However, because a significant proportion of the Cat Bond market is U.S. dollar-denominated, the Fund’s foreign currency exposure is expected to be limited.

 

In constructing the Fund’s investment portfolio, the Fund’s sub-advisor, [ ] (the “Sub-Advisor”), identifies a universe of eligible securities with well-defined risk and return characteristics. The Sub-Advisor employs a research-driven process that evaluates the insurance-linked securities market, and for each security considered, assesses its respective loss distribution to calculate metrics such as expected loss. The Sub-Advisor analyzes a variety of factors such as sponsor reputation, the underlying insured property, trigger mechanisms, and collateral arrangements, using qualitative and quantitative tools. In selecting investments for the Fund, the Sub-Advisor employs catastrophe risk models to calculate a variety of probable loss scenarios and evaluate the merits of each potential investment. The Sub-Advisor may also consider risk models created by independent third parties, the sponsor of an insurance-linked security, or a broker. These risk models are created and updated based on historical data and averages as well as scientific research and probabilistic analysis, and they indicate the likelihood and potential impact of a wide variety of catastrophe events or other specified events that result in physical and/or economic loss. The Sub-Advisor uses risk models as one input in its risk analysis for Fund investments. The Sub-Advisor’s qualitative and quantitative analyses may also guide the Sub-Advisor in determining the desired allocation of insurance-linked securities by peril and geographic exposure.

 

The Fund may invest in insurance-linked securities across the yield spectrum. The Fund typically invests in Cat Bonds that have maturities of three to five years and in other insurance-linked securities that typically have a term of one year. Most of the Fund’s positions will be held until maturity. In addition, the Fund invests in Cat Bonds and other insurance-linked securities across a varied group of available perils and geographic regions. Further, within each region and peril, the Fund seeks to hold a balance of exposures to underlying insurance and reinsurance carriers, trigger types, and lines of business. Most of the securities in which the Fund invests have high quality collateral that includes U.S. government securities (e.g., U.S. Treasury bills, U.S. Treasury money market fund shares, or equivalents).

 

2 

 

The Fund is “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), which means that it may invest more of its assets in a smaller number of issuers than a “diversified” mutual fund.

 

The Sub-Advisor may sell all or a portion of a position of the Fund’s portfolio holdings when, in its opinion, one or more of the following occurs, among other reasons: (1) the Fund’s portfolio requires rebalancing; (2) the Sub-Advisor identifies a more attractive investment opportunity; or (3) the Fund requires cash to meet redemption requests.

 

Principal Risks of Investing

Risk is inherent in all investing and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund is not designed to be a complete investment program and the Fund is not suitable as a short-term investment. The Fund is intended for long-term investors. A summary description of certain principal risks of investing in the Fund is set forth below. Before you decide whether to invest in the Fund, carefully consider these risk factors associated with investing in the Fund, which may cause investors to lose money. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.

 

Insurance-Linked Securities Risk: The principal risk of an investment in an insurance-linked security is that a triggering event(s) (e.g., (i) natural events, such as a hurricane, earthquake, or a tornado of a particular severity that causes a threshold level of insured loss in a designated geographic area; or (ii) certain non-natural events) will occur and the Fund will lose all or a significant portion of the principal it has invested in the security and the right to additional interest payments with respect to the security. If multiple triggering events occur that impact a significant portion of the Fund’s portfolio, the Fund could suffer substantial losses and an investor may lose money. A majority of the Fund’s assets will typically be invested in insurance-linked securities tied to natural events and/or non-natural disasters and there is inherent uncertainty as to whether, when or where such events will occur. There is no way to accurately predict whether a triggering event will occur and, because of this uncertainty, insurance-linked securities carry a high degree of risk.

 

Cat Bonds. Cat Bonds, a type of event-linked bond, carry significant uncertainties and major risk exposures to adverse conditions. If a trigger event occurs, as defined within the terms of a Cat Bond, the Fund may lose a portion or all of its investment in such security, including accrued interest and/or principal invested in such security. Because Cat Bonds cover “catastrophe” events that, if they occur, will result in significant losses, they carry a high degree of risk of loss and are considered “high yield” or “junk bonds.” The rating of a Cat Bond, if any, primarily reflects the rating agency’s calculated probability that a pre-defined trigger event will occur. Thus, lower-rated bonds have a greater likelihood of a triggering event occurring, resulting in potential loss to the Fund.

 

Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs. The Fund may gain exposure to reinsurance contracts through Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs. Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes, and ILWs are generally considered illiquid securities by the Fund, and the Fund will not invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities.

 

Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes, and ILWs are subject to similar risks discussed above for Cat Bonds. In addition, because Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs represent an interest, either proportional or non-proportional, in one or more underlying reinsurance contracts, the Fund may have limited transparency into the individual underlying contract(s) and, therefore, must rely upon the risk assessment and sound underwriting practices of the ceding sponsor (i.e., the party seeking reinsurance). Accordingly, it may be more difficult for the Sub-Advisor to fully evaluate the underlying risk profile of the Fund’s investment in Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs, which will place the Fund’s assets at greater risk of loss than if the Sub-Advisor had more complete information. The lack of transparency may also make the valuation of Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs more difficult and potentially result in mispricing that could result in losses to the Fund.

 

Risk-Modeling Risk. In selecting investments for the Fund, the Sub-Advisor will consider its internal risk models or view of risk as well as risk models created by independent third parties, the sponsor of an insurance-linked security, or a broker. Risk models are designed to assist investors, governments, and businesses understand the potential impact of a wide variety of catastrophe events and allow such parties to analyze the probability of loss in regions with the highest exposure. The Sub-Advisor intends to use the output of the risk models before and after investment to assess the risk of a particular insurance-linked security or a group of such securities. Risk models are generally created using historical, scientific and other related data, and they generally use quantitative methods. Because such risk models are based in part upon historical data and averages, there is no guarantee that such information will accurately predict the future occurrence, location or severity of any particular catastrophe event and thus may fail to accurately calculate the probability of a trigger event and may underestimate the likelihood of a trigger event. Securities or other investments selected using quantitative methods may perform differently from the market as a whole or from their expected performance for many reasons, including factors used in building the quantitative analytical framework, the weights placed on each factor, and changing sources of market returns, among others. In addition, any errors or imperfections in a risk model (quantitative or otherwise), analyses, the data on which they are based or any technical issues with the construction of the models (including, for example, data problems and/or software or other implementation issues) could adversely affect the ability of the Sub-Advisor to use such analyses or models effectively, which in turn could adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

 

3 

 

Moral Hazard Risk. Insurance-linked securities are generally subject to one or more types of triggers, including so-called “indemnity-triggers.” An indemnity trigger is a trigger based on the actual losses of the ceding sponsor (i.e., the party seeking reinsurance). Insurance-linked securities subject to indemnity triggers are often regarded as being subject to potential moral hazard, since such insurance-linked securities are triggered by actual losses of the ceding sponsor and the ceding sponsor may have an incentive to take actions and/or risks that would have an adverse effect on the Fund. For example, a ceding sponsor might inflate its total claims paid above the Cat Bond trigger level, in order to share its losses with investors in the Cat Bond. Thus, bonds with indemnity triggers may be subject to moral hazard, because the trigger depends on the ceding sponsor to properly identify and calculate losses that do and do not apply in determining whether the trigger amount has been reached. In short, “moral hazard” refers to this potential for the sponsor to influence bond performance, as payouts are based on the individual policy claims against the sponsor and the way the sponsor settles those claims.

 

QIB Qualification Risk: The Cat Bonds and other insurance-linked securities in which the Fund seeks to invest substantially all of its assets are typically only available to “qualified institutional buyers” (or “QIBs”), as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”). To qualify as a QIB, the Fund must have at least $100 million in assets. Upon commencing operations, the Fund may not immediately reach the $100 million asset level requirement to qualify as a QIB. Additionally, once the Fund reaches the $100 million asset level sufficient to be deemed a QIB, investment losses or redemptions may cause the Fund’s assets to drop below $100 million. For any period during which the Fund does not qualify as a QIB, it will not be able to purchase Cat Bonds or other insurance-linked securities, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective.

 

Industry Risk: The performance of insurance-linked securities and the industry itself are tied to the occurrence of various triggering events, including natural disasters and non-natural disasters. If the likelihood and severity of natural and other large disasters increase, the risk of significant losses to the industry may increase. Similarly, to the extent the Fund invests in insurance-linked securities for which a triggering event occurs, losses associated with such event will result in losses to the Fund and a series of major triggering events affecting a large portion of the insurance-linked securities held by the Fund will result in substantial losses to the Fund. In addition, unexpected events such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks could lead to government intervention. Political, judicial and legal developments affecting the industry could also create new and expanded theories of liability or regulatory or other requirements; such changes could have a material adverse effect on the Fund.

 

Fixed Income Securities Risk: The prices of fixed income securities respond to economic developments, particularly interest rate changes, as well as to changes in an issuer’s credit rating or market perceptions about the creditworthiness of an issuer. Generally fixed income securities decrease in value if interest rates rise and increase in value if interest rates fall, and longer-term and lower rated securities are more volatile than shorter-term and higher rated securities..

 

4 

 

Below Investment Grade Securities and Unrated Securities Risk: The Fund may have exposure, without limitation, to insurance-linked securities that are rated below investment grade or that are unrated but are judged by the Sub-Advisor to be of comparable quality. Below investment grade debt securities, which are commonly called “junk bonds,” are rated below BBB- by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (“S&P”) or Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., (“Moody’s”), or have comparable ratings by another rating organization. Accordingly, certain of the Fund’s unrated investments could constitute a high risk and speculative investment, similar to an investment in “junk bonds.” The rating primarily reflects the rating agency’s calculated probability that a pre-defined trigger event will occur. Therefore, securities with a lower rating reflect the rating agency’s assessment of the substantial risk that a triggering event will occur and result in a loss. The rating also reflects the insurance-linked security’s credit risk and an assessment of the model used to calculate the probability of the trigger event. The rating system for insurance-linked securities is relatively new and significantly less developed than that of corporate bonds and continues to evolve as the market develops. There is no minimum rating on the instruments in which the Fund may invest.

 

Floating-Rate Investment Risk: A significant percentage of the insurance-linked securities in which the Fund invests are expected to be variable rate, or floating-rate, Cat Bonds. Floating-rate instruments and similar investments may be illiquid or less liquid than other investments. In addition, while the collateral securing most Cat Bonds in which the Fund currently intends to invest is typically invested in low-risk investments, certain SPVs in which the Fund invests may permit investment of collateral in higher risk, higher yielding investments. Thus, the value of collateral, if any, securing the Fund’s investments in Cat Bonds can decline or may be insufficient to meet the issuer’s obligations and the collateral, if repaid to the Fund, may be difficult to liquidate. Market quotations for these securities may be volatile and/or subject to large spreads between bid and ask prices.

 

Foreign Investment Risk: Because the majority of insurance-linked security issuers are domiciled outside the United States, the Fund will normally invest significant amounts of its assets in non-U.S. entities, including those in emerging market countries. Certain SPVs in which the Fund invests may be sponsored by non-U.S. insurers that are not subject to the same regulation as that to which U.S. insurers are subject. Such SPVs may pose a greater risk of loss, for example, due to less stringent underwriting and/or risk-retention requirements. The Fund’s investments will consist primarily of Cat Bonds, Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs that provide the Fund with contractual rights under the terms of the issuance. While the contractual rights of such instruments are similar whether they are issued by a U.S. issuer or a non-U.S. issuer, there may be certain additional risks associated with non-U.S. issuers. For example, foreign issuers could be affected by factors not present in the United States, including expropriation, confiscatory taxation, lack of uniform accounting and auditing standards, less publicly available financial and other information, potential difficulties in enforcing contractual obligations, and increased costs to enforce applicable contractual obligations outside the United States. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and exchange controls may adversely affect the market value of the Fund’s investments in foreign securities. Settlements of securities transactions in foreign countries are subject to risk of loss, may be delayed and are generally less frequent than in the United States, which could affect the liquidity of the Fund’s assets.

 

Emerging Markets Risk: Many of the risks with respect to foreign investments are more pronounced for investments in issuers in developing or emerging market countries. Emerging market countries tend to have more government exchange controls, more volatile interest and currency exchange rates, less market regulation, and less developed and less stable economic, political and legal systems than those of more developed countries. There may be less publicly available and reliable information about issuers in emerging markets than is available about issuers in more developed markets. In addition, emerging market countries may experience high levels of inflation and may have less liquid securities markets and less efficient trading and settlement systems.

 

Valuation Risk: From time to time, the Fund will need to fair-value portfolio securities at prices that differ from third party pricing inputs in order to more accurately reflect the sales price the Fund could receive in a reasonable period of time for any particular portfolio investment or groups of investments. Investors who purchase or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is pricing or holding fair-valued securities may pay a higher or lower price for the shares, or may receive more or less redemption proceeds than they would have received if certain of the Fund’s securities had not been fair-valued, or if a different valuation methodology had been used. Such pricing differences can be significant and can occur quickly during times of market volatility, particularly for securities that trade in thin or illiquid markets. In addition, pricing of insurance-linked securities is subject to the added uncertainty caused by the inability to generally predict whether, when or where a natural disaster or other triggering event may occur. Even after a natural disaster or other triggering event occurs, the pricing of insurance-linked securities is subject to uncertainty for a period of time until event parameters, ultimate loss amounts and other factors are finalized and communicated to the Fund. There is no assurance that the Fund could sell a portfolio security for the value established for it at any time and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio security is sold at a discount to its established value. If securities are mispriced, shareholders could lose money upon redemption or could pay too much for shares purchased.

 

5 

 

Illiquidity and Restricted Securities Risk: Illiquidity risk is the risk that the investments held by the Fund may be difficult or impossible to sell at the time that the Fund would prefer, or at the price that the Fund believes the security is currently worth. As a relatively new type of financial instrument, there is limited trading history for insurance-linked securities, even for those securities deemed to be liquid. There can be no assurance that a liquid market for the Fund’s investments will exist or be maintained. Illiquid securities are securities that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the securities. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in securities that are illiquid.

 

Certain of the securities in which the Fund may invest are subject to restrictions on resale by the federal securities laws or otherwise, such as securities offered privately pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act and securities issued pursuant to Rule 144A under the 1933 Act. While certain restricted securities may, notwithstanding their limitations on resale, be treated as liquid if the [Advisor/Sub-Advisor] determines, pursuant to the applicable procedures, that such categorization is accurate, there can be no guarantee that any such categorization will continue. Restricted securities previously determined to be liquid may subsequently become illiquid while held by the Fund. Even if such restricted securities are not deemed to be illiquid, they may nevertheless be difficult to value and the Fund may be required to hold restricted securities when it otherwise would sell such securities or may be forced to sell securities at a price lower than the price the Fund has valued such securities, and the Fund may incur additional expense when disposing of restricted securities, including costs to register the sale of the securities. This may result in losses to the Fund and investors.

 

Limited Availability and Reinvestment Risk: Investment opportunities in insurance-linked securities may be limited, which may limit the amount of assets the Fund may be able to invest in insurance-linked securities. The limited availability of insurance-linked securities may be due to a number of factors, including seasonality, limited selection that meets the Fund’s investment objective and lack of availability of insurance-linked securities in the secondary market. Primary issuance of Cat Bonds (in particular wind-related Cat Bonds) tend to be concentrated outside of summer and early fall months while Quota Share, ILW and Excess of Loss Note issuance tends to correspond with typical reinsurance renewal months (January, April, June, and July). Thereafter, the availability of insurance-linked securities is subject to natural fluctuations in the secondary market. Therefore, if insurance-linked securities held by the Fund mature or if the Fund must sell securities to meet redemption requests, the Fund may be required to hold more cash than normal until insurance-linked securities meeting the Fund’s investment objective become available. Despite higher issuance volume in the primary market and increased access to the secondary market for insurance-linked securities in recent years, the Fund may be forced to reinvest in securities that are lower yielding or less desirable than the securities the Fund sold.

 

Management and Strategy Risk: The evaluation and selection of the Fund’s investments depend on the judgment of the Sub-Advisor about the quality, relative yield, value or market trends affecting a particular security, issuer, sector or region, which may prove to be incorrect.

 

Credit Risk: The insurance-linked securities in which the Fund invests will be subject to credit risk. The principal invested in many insurance-linked securities is held by the SPV in a collateral account and invested in various permissible assets set forth under the terms of the SPV. In these cases, typically, the collateral account is invested in high quality U.S. government securities (i.e., U.S. Treasury bonds). However, in certain insurance-linked securities, the collateral account may be invested in higher yielding, higher risk securities. Collateral will generally be invested in accordance with the terms of the SPV and overseen by a collateral manager appointed by the SPV; therefore, the Fund is dependent upon the manager to invest the collateral account proceeds appropriately. A small portion of the insurance-linked securities in which the Fund invests may, in lieu of such collateral account arrangements, provide for the collateral to be held by the reinsurer. When a collateral account is invested in higher yielding, higher risk securities or when the collateral is held directly by the reinsurer, the Fund will be subject to the risk of non-payment of scheduled principal and interest on such collateral. Such non-payments and defaults may reduce the income to the Fund and negatively impact the value of Fund shares.

 

6 

 

Market Risk: The market price of a security or instrument may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular issuer, company, or asset class such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions throughout the world, changes in the general outlook for individual consumers and borrowers, credit markets and corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on a security or instrument. The market value of a security or instrument also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries.

 

Currency Risk: It is expected that a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments in insurance-linked securities will be U.S. dollar-denominated investments. To the extent the Fund invests in non-U.S. dollar-denominated instruments, a change in the value of a foreign currency against the U.S. dollar will result in a change in the U.S. dollar value of securities denominated in that foreign currency. The values of investments in securities denominated in foreign currencies increase or decrease as the rates of exchange between those currencies and the U.S. dollar change. Currency conversion costs and currency fluctuations could erase investment gains or add to investment losses. Currency exchange rates can be volatile and are affected by factors such as general economic conditions, the actions of the United States and foreign governments or central banks, the imposition of currency controls, and speculation.

 

Non-Diversification Risk: The Fund is classified as “non-diversified”, which means the Fund may invest a larger percentage of its assets in the securities of a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. Investment in securities of a limited number of issuers exposes the Fund to greater market risk and potential losses than if its assets were diversified among the securities of a greater number of issuers.

 

Recent Market Events: An outbreak of a respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (known as COVID-19) has resulted in a global pandemic and has caused major disruptions to economies and markets around the world, including the United States. Financial markets experienced and may continue to experience extreme volatility and severe losses, and trading in many instruments was and may continue to be disrupted as a result. Liquidity for many instruments was and may continue to be greatly reduced for extended periods of time. Some interest rates are very low and in some cases yields are negative. Governments and central banks, including the Federal Reserve in the United States, have taken extraordinary and unprecedented actions to support local and global economies and the financial markets. The impact of these measures, and whether they will be effective to mitigate the economic and market disruption, will not be known for some time. In addition, the outbreak of COVID-19, and measures taken to mitigate its effects, could result in disruptions to the services provided to the Fund by its service providers. Other market events like the COVID-19 outbreak may cause similar disruptions and effects.

 

New Advisor Risk: The Fund’s advisor is a newly organized investment advisor and has no operating history or performance track record.

 

No Operating History: The Fund is newly organized and has no operating history. As a result, prospective investors have no track record or history on which to base their investment decisions.

 

7 

 

LIBOR Risk: Many financial instruments, financings or other transactions to which the Fund may be a party use or may use a floating rate based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). In July 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority, the United Kingdom’s financial regulatory body, announced that after 2021 it will cease its active encouragement of banks to provide the quotations needed to sustain LIBOR. In March 2021, the administrator of LIBOR announced a delay in the phase out of the majority of the USD LIBOR publications until June 30, 2023, with the remainder of LIBOR publications to still end on December 31, 2021. The unavailability and/or discontinuation of LIBOR could have adverse impacts on newly issued financial instruments and existing financial instruments that reference LIBOR. While some instruments may contemplate a scenario in which LIBOR is no longer available by providing for an alternative rate setting methodology, not all instruments may have such provisions and there is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of any alternative methodology. In addition, the unavailability or replacement of LIBOR may affect the value, liquidity or return on certain Fund investments and may result in costs incurred in connection with closing out positions and entering into new trades. The potential effect of the transition away from LIBOR on the Fund or the financial instruments in which the Fund invests cannot yet be determined and may adversely affect the Fund’s performance or net asset value.

 

Cybersecurity Risk: Cybersecurity incidents may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or cause the Fund, the advisor, the Sub-Advisor, and/or other service providers (including custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality. In an extreme case, a shareholder’s ability to exchange or redeem Fund shares may be affected. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of those securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.

 

Performance

The Fund is new and does not have a full calendar year performance record to compare against other mutual funds or broad measures of securities market performance such as indices. Performance information will be available after the Fund has been in operation for one calendar year.

 

Investment Advisor and the Sub-Advisor

[     ] is the Fund’s investment advisor (the “Advisor”). [     ] is the Fund’s Sub-Advisor.

 

Portfolio Manager

[     ] is the portfolio manager primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. [     ] has managed the Fund since the Fund’s inception in [_____], 2021.

 

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Shares are available for investment only by: (i) clients of registered investment advisors; (ii) institutional investors, including professional firms in the investment business, registered investment advisors (RIAs), family offices, pensions, endowments and foundations; (iii) clients of institutional investors; (iv) tax-exempt retirement plans of the Advisor and its affiliates; (iv) current directors and employees of the Advisor and its affiliates, and Trustees of the Trust; (v) investment professionals or other financial intermediaries investing for their own accounts, and their immediate family members; and (vi) certain other eligible investors as approved from time to time by the Advisor. To purchase shares of the Fund, you must invest at least the minimum amount.

 

Minimum Investments To Open
Your Account
To Add to
Your Account
All Accounts $[] None

 

Fund shares are redeemable on any business day the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) is open for business by written request or by telephone.

 

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Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable, and will ordinarily be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Shareholders investing through such tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal of monies from those arrangements.

 

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

The Fund is not generally sold through financial intermediaries other than certain registered investment advisers, and no sales loads are charged to investors or paid to financial intermediaries. If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Advisor may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

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MORE ABOUT THE FUND’S INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE, PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND RISKS

 

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Fund is to seek current income. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.

 

The Fund’s investment objective is not fundamental and may be changed by the Board of Trustees without shareholder approval, upon at least 60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders. The Fund’s investment strategies and policies may be changed from time to time without shareholder approval or prior written notice, unless specifically stated otherwise in this Prospectus or the SAI.

 

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund pursues its investment objective by investing primarily in Cat Bonds. A Cat Bond is a type of event-linked bond and is a variable rate debt security for which the return of principal and payment of interest are contingent on the non-occurrence of a specified trigger event(s). The Fund may also seek to gain exposure to reinsurance contracts by investing in notes or preferred shares issued by an SPV the performance of which is tied to underlying reinsurance transaction(s), including Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs.

 

Quota Shares provide exposure to a form of proportional reinsurance in which an investor participates in the premiums and losses of a reinsurer’s portfolio according to a pre-defined percentage. For example, under a 5% Quota Share, an SPV would obtain 5% of all premiums of the subject portfolio while being responsible for 5% of all claims. In this example, the SPV would issue a note to a purchaser in exchange for a capital investment. The note would entitle the purchaser to its pro rata share of the premiums received by the SPV. Any claims paid by the SPV to the ceding sponsor would be deducted from the purchaser’s original capital investment, and therefore the maximum loss would be limited to the original upfront capital investment.

 

Excess of Loss Notes provide exposure to a form of reinsurance pursuant to which one party (typically an insurer or reinsurer) purchases protection against losses over a specified threshold up to a set limit. For example, a large insurance company may sponsor a $100 million Excess of Loss Note that covers 20% of losses from $1 billion to $1.5 billion, as a way to reduce its total risk from a large catastrophe. In this example the purchaser of the note would suffer losses to principal only if the ceding sponsor experiences insured losses in excess of $1 billion. If, for example, the ceding sponsor’s losses were $1.2 billion, the purchaser of the note will lose $40 million of its invested capital.

 

ILWs provide exposure to a transaction through which one party (typically an insurance company or reinsurance company, or a reinsurance-related asset manager) purchases protection based on the total loss arising from a catastrophe event to the entire insurance industry rather than the losses of any particular insurer. For example, a large insurance company may sponsor a $100 million ILW that triggers if there is a single earthquake event in the United States that causes industry losses of at least $50 billion. In the event there is an earthquake in the United States that causes more than $50 billion in industry losses, the purchaser of the ILW would lose its entire invested amount of $100 million.

 

The Fund may invest in insurance-linked securities when initially offered or in the secondary, over-the-counter market. The Fund may invest in insurance-linked securities and debt securities of any credit rating, including those rated below investment grade (often called “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”) or, if unrated, determined by the Sub-Advisor to be of comparable quality. The Cat Bonds in which the Fund may invest are typically structured as floating rate securities. Since insurance-linked securities are typically unrated, a substantial portion of the Fund’s assets may be invested in unrated securities that are high risk or speculative. Many of the securities in which the Fund invests are issued by non-U.S. issuers, including those domiciled in emerging market countries. However, because a significant proportion of the Cat Bond market is U.S. dollar-denominated, the Fund’s foreign currency exposure is expected to be limited.

 

In constructing the Fund’s investment portfolio, the Sub-Advisor identifies a universe of eligible securities with well-defined risk and return characteristics. The Sub-Advisor employs a research-driven process that evaluates the insurance-linked securities market, and for each security considered, assesses its respective loss distribution to calculate metrics such as expected loss. The Sub-Advisor analyzes a variety of factors such as sponsor reputation, the underlying insured property, trigger mechanisms, and collateral arrangements, using qualitative and quantitative tools. In selecting investments for the Fund, the Sub-Advisor employs catastrophe risk models to calculate a variety of probable loss scenarios and evaluate the merits of each potential investment. The Sub-Advisor may also consider risk models created by independent third parties, the sponsor of an insurance-linked security, or a broker. These risk models are created and updated based on historical data and averages as well as scientific research and probabilistic analysis, and they indicate the likelihood and potential impact of a wide variety of catastrophe events or other specified events that result in physical and/or economic loss. The Sub-Advisor uses risk models as one input in its risk analyses for Fund investments. The Sub-Advisor’s qualitative and quantitative analyses may also guide the Sub-Advisor in determining the desired allocation of insurance-linked securities by peril and geographic exposure.

 

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The Fund may invest in insurance-linked securities across the yield spectrum. The Fund typically invests in Cat Bonds that have maturities of three to five years and in other insurance-linked securities that typically have a term of one year. Most of the Fund’s positions will be held until maturity. In addition, the Fund invests in Cat Bonds and other insurance-linked securities across a varied group of available perils and geographic regions. Further, within each region and peril, the Fund seeks to hold a balance of exposures to underlying insurance and reinsurance carriers, trigger types, and lines of business. Most of the securities in which the Fund invests have high quality collateral that includes U.S. government securities (e.g., U.S. Treasury bills, U.S. Treasury money market fund shares, or equivalents).

 

Trigger events may include hurricanes, earthquakes and natural phenomena as well as certain non-natural catastrophes. Trigger event categories include “indemnity triggers,” which are tied to the losses of the ceding sponsor (for example, a single U.S. hurricane that causes more than $2 billion insured loss for a certain large insurance company); “parametric triggers,” which are tied to the occurrence of specific events with defined parameters (for example, an earthquake exceeding a certain magnitude as measured at a certain location); “industry loss triggers,” which are tied to industry-wide losses (for example, an earthquake in the United States that causes more than $25 billion of industry loss); and “modeled loss triggers,” which are tied to the hypothetical losses resulting from a modeled event and could be issuer-specific or industry-wide (for example, a Japanese earthquake with total modeled loss that exceeds $20 billion). Certain investments may have multiple triggers or a combination of the different types of triggers.

 

Certain of the securities in which the Fund may invest, including most Cat Bonds, Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes, and ILWs, are restricted securities in that their disposition is restricted by the federal securities laws or otherwise, such as securities offered privately pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act and securities issued pursuant to Rule 144A under the 1933 Act. Notwithstanding these limitations on resale, certain restricted securities may be treated as liquid if the Advisor determines pursuant to the applicable procedures that such categorization is accurate. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in securities that are illiquid.

 

The Fund is “non-diversified” under the 1940 Act, which means that it may invest more of its assets in a smaller number of issuers than “diversified” mutual funds.

 

The Sub-Advisor may sell all or a portion of a position of the Fund’s portfolio holdings when, in its opinion, one or more of the following occurs, among other reasons: (1) the Fund’s portfolio requires rebalancing; (2) the Sub-Advisor identifies a more attractive investment opportunity; or (3) the Fund requires cash to meet redemption requests.

 

When the Sub-Advisor believes that current market, economic, political or other conditions are unsuitable and would impair the pursuit of the Fund’s investment objective, the Fund may temporarily invest some or all of its assets in cash or cash equivalents, including but not limited to obligations of the U.S. government, money market fund shares, commercial paper, certificates of deposit and/or bankers acceptances, as well as other interest bearing or discount obligations or debt instruments that carry an investment grade rating by a national rating agency. When the Fund takes a temporary defensive position, the Fund may not achieve its investment objective.

 

Principal Risks of Investing

The Fund’s principal risks are set forth below. Before you decide whether to invest in the Fund, carefully consider these risk factors and special considerations associated with investing in the Fund, which may cause you to lose money.

 

Insurance-Linked Securities Risk: The principal risk of an investment in an insurance-linked security is that a triggering event(s) (e.g., (i) natural events, such as a hurricane, earthquake, or a tornado of a particular severity that causes a threshold level of insured loss in a designated geographic area; or (ii) certain non-natural events) will occur and the Fund will lose all or a significant portion of the principal it has invested in the security and the right to additional interest payments with respect to the security. If multiple triggering events occur that impact a significant portion of the Fund’s portfolio, the Fund could suffer substantial losses and an investor may lose money. A majority of the Fund’s assets will typically be invested in insurance-linked securities tied to natural events and/or non-natural disasters and there is inherent uncertainty as to whether, when or where such events will occur. There is no way to accurately predict whether a triggering event will occur and, because of this uncertainty, insurance-linked securities carry a high degree of risk.

 

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Cat Bonds. Cat Bonds, a type of event-linked bond, carry significant uncertainties and major risk exposures to adverse conditions. If a trigger event occurs, as defined within the terms of a Cat Bond, the Fund may lose a portion or all of its investment in such security, including accrued interest and/or principal invested in such security. Because Cat Bonds cover “catastrophe” events that, if they occur, will result in significant losses, they carry a high degree of risk of loss and are considered “high yield” or “junk bonds.” The rating of a Cat Bond, if any, primarily reflects the rating agency’s calculated probability that a pre-defined trigger event will occur. Thus, lower-rated bonds have a greater likelihood of a triggering event occurring, resulting in potential loss to the Fund.

 

Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs. The Fund may gain exposure to reinsurance contracts through Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs. Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes, and ILWs are generally considered illiquid securities by the Fund, and the Fund will not invest more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities.

 

Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes, and ILWs are subject to similar risks discussed herein for Cat Bonds. In addition, because Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs represent an interest, either proportional or non-proportional, in one or more underlying reinsurance contracts, the Fund may have limited transparency into the individual underlying contract(s) and, therefore, must rely upon the risk assessment and sound underwriting practices of the ceding sponsor (i.e., the party seeking reinsurance). Accordingly, it may be more difficult for the Sub-Advisor to fully evaluate the underlying risk profile of the Fund’s investment in Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs, which will place the Fund’s assets at greater risk of loss than if the Sub-Advisor had more complete information. The lack of transparency may also make the valuation of Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs more difficult and potentially result in mispricing that could result in losses to the Fund.

 

Risk-Modeling Risk. In selecting investments for the Fund, the Sub-Advisor will consider its internal risk models or view of risk as well as risk models created by independent third parties, the sponsor of an insurance-linked security, or a broker. Risk models are designed to assist investors, governments, and businesses understand the potential impact of a wide variety of catastrophe events and allow such parties to analyze the probability of loss in regions with the highest exposure. The Sub-Advisor intends to use the output of the risk models before and after investment to assess the risk of a particular insurance-linked security or a group of such securities. Risk models are generally created using historical, scientific and other related data, and they generally use quantitative methods. Because such risk models are based in part upon historical data and averages, there is no guarantee that such information will accurately predict the future occurrence, location or severity of any particular catastrophe event and thus may fail to accurately calculate the probability of a trigger event and may underestimate the likelihood of a trigger event. Some risk models do, however, attempt to mitigate this risk by routinely considering the latest scientific research and factors. For example, some risk models include the ability to adjust for the impact of sea surface temperature in Hurricane modeling. Securities or other investments selected using quantitative methods may perform differently from the market as a whole or from their expected performance for many reasons, including factors used in building the quantitative analytical framework, the weights placed on each factor, and changing sources of market returns, among others. In addition, any errors or imperfections in a risk model (quantitative or otherwise), analyses, the data on which they are based or any technical issues with the construction of the models (including, for example, data problems and/or software or other implementation issues) could adversely affect the ability of the Sub-Advisor to use such analyses or models effectively, which in turn could adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

 

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Moral Hazard Risk. Insurance-linked securities are generally subject to one or more types of triggers, including so-called “indemnity-triggers.” An indemnity trigger is a trigger based on the actual losses of the ceding sponsor (i.e., the party seeking reinsurance). Insurance-linked securities subject to indemnity triggers are often regarded as being subject to potential moral hazard, since such insurance-linked securities are triggered by actual losses of the ceding sponsor and the ceding sponsor may have an incentive to take actions and/or risks that would have an adverse effect on the Fund. For example, a ceding sponsor might inflate its total claims paid above the Cat Bond trigger level, in order to share its losses with investors in the Cat Bond. Thus, bonds with indemnity triggers may be subject to moral hazard, because the trigger depends on the ceding sponsor to properly identify and calculate losses that do and do not apply in determining whether the trigger amount has been reached. In short, “moral hazard” refers to this potential for the sponsor to influence bond performance, as payouts are based on the individual policy claims against the sponsor and the way the sponsor settles those claims.

 

QIB Qualification Risk: The Cat Bonds and other insurance-linked securities in which the Fund seeks to invest substantially all of its assets are typically only available to “qualified institutional buyers,” or “QIBs”, as defined in Rule 144A under the 1933 Act. To qualify as a QIB, the Fund must have at least $100 million in assets. Upon commencing operations, the Fund may not immediately reach the $100 million asset level requirement to qualify as a QIB. Additionally, once the Fund reaches the $100 million asset level sufficient to be deemed a QIB, investment losses or redemptions may cause the Fund’s assets to drop below $100 million. For any period during which the Fund does not qualify as a QIB, it will not be able to purchase Cat Bonds or other insurance-linked securities, which may prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective.

 

Industry Risk: The performance of insurance-linked securities and the industry itself are tied to the occurrence of various triggering events, including natural disasters and non-natural disasters. If the likelihood and severity of natural and other large disasters increase, the risk of significant losses to the industry may increase. Similarly, to the extent the Fund invests in insurance-linked securities for which a triggering event occurs, losses associated with such event will result in losses to the Fund and a series of major triggering events affecting a large portion of the insurance-linked securities held by the Fund will result in substantial losses to the Fund. In addition, unexpected events such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks could lead to government intervention. Political, judicial and legal developments affecting the industry could also create new and expanded theories of liability or regulatory or other requirements; such changes could have a material adverse effect on the Fund.

 

Fixed Income Securities Risk: The prices of fixed income securities respond to economic developments, particularly interest rate changes, as well as to changes in an issuer’s credit rating or market perceptions about the creditworthiness of an issuer. Generally fixed income securities decrease in value if interest rates rise and increase in value if interest rates fall, and longer-term and lower rated securities are more volatile than shorter-term and higher rated securities.

 

Below Investment Grade Securities and Unrated Securities Risk: The Fund may have exposure, without limitation, to insurance-linked securities that are rated below investment grade or that are unrated but are judged by the Sub-Advisor to be of comparable quality. Below investment grade debt securities, which are commonly called “junk bonds,” are rated below BBB- by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (“S&P”) or Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., (“Moody’s”), or have comparable ratings by another rating organization. Accordingly, certain of the Fund’s unrated investments could constitute a high risk and speculative investment, similar to an investment in “junk bonds.” The rating primarily reflects the rating agency’s calculated probability that a pre-defined trigger event will occur. Therefore, securities with a lower rating reflect the rating agency’s assessment of the substantial risk that a triggering event will occur and result in a loss. The rating also reflects the insurance-linked security’s credit risk and an assessment of the model used to calculate the probability of the trigger event. The rating system for insurance-linked securities is relatively new and significantly less developed than that of corporate bonds and continues to evolve as the market develops. There is no minimum rating on the instruments in which the Fund may invest.

 

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Floating-Rate Investment Risk: A significant percentage of the insurance-linked securities in which the Fund invests are expected to be variable rate, or floating-rate, Cat Bonds. Floating-rate instruments and similar investments may be illiquid or less liquid than other investments. In addition, while the collateral securing most Cat Bonds in which the Fund currently intends to invest is typically invested in low-risk investments, certain SPVs in which the Fund invests may permit investment of collateral in higher risk, higher yielding investments. Thus, the value of collateral, if any, securing the Fund’s investments in Cat Bonds can decline or may be insufficient to meet the issuer’s obligations and the collateral, if repaid to the Fund, may be difficult to liquidate. Market quotations for these securities may be volatile and/or subject to large spreads between bid and ask prices.

 

Foreign Investment Risk: Because the majority of insurance-linked security issuers are domiciled outside the United States, the Fund will normally invest significant amounts of its assets in non-U.S. entities, including those in emerging market countries. Certain SPVs in which the Fund invests may be sponsored by non-U.S. insurers that are not subject to the same regulation as that to which U.S. insurers are subject. Such SPVs may pose a greater risk of loss, for example, due to less stringent underwriting and/or risk-retention requirements. The Fund’s investments will consist primarily of Cat Bonds, Quota Shares, Excess of Loss Notes and ILWs that provide the Fund with contractual rights under the terms of the issuance. While the contractual rights of such instruments are similar whether they are issued by a U.S. issuer or a non-U.S. issuer, there may be certain additional risks associated with non-U.S. issuers. For example, foreign issuers could be affected by factors not present in the United States, including expropriation, confiscatory taxation, lack of uniform accounting and auditing standards, less publicly available financial and other information, potential difficulties in enforcing contractual obligations, and increased costs to enforce applicable contractual obligations outside the United States. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and exchange controls may adversely affect the market value of the Fund’s investments in foreign securities. Settlements of securities transactions in foreign countries are subject to risk of loss, may be delayed and are generally less frequent than in the United States, which could affect the liquidity of the Fund’s assets.

 

Emerging Markets Risk: Many of the risks with respect to foreign investments are more pronounced for investments in issuers in developing or emerging market countries. Emerging market countries tend to have more government exchange controls, more volatile interest and currency exchange rates, less market regulation, and less developed and less stable economic, political and legal systems than those of more developed countries. There may be less publicly available and reliable information about issuers in emerging markets than is available about issuers in more developed capital markets, and such issuers may not be subject to regulatory, accounting, auditing, and financial reporting and recordkeeping standards comparable to those to which U.S. companies are subject. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”), which regulates auditors of U.S. public companies, for example, is unable to inspect audit work and practices in certain countries, such as China. In addition, emerging market countries may experience high levels of inflation and may have less liquid securities markets and less efficient trading and settlement systems. Their economies also depend heavily upon international trade and may be adversely affected by protective trade barriers and the economic conditions of their trading partners. Emerging market countries may have fixed or managed currencies that are not free-floating against the U.S. dollar and may not be traded internationally. Some countries with emerging securities markets have experienced high rates of inflation for many years. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had and may continue to have negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain countries. Emerging markets typically have substantially less volume than U.S. markets, securities in these markets are less liquid, and their prices often are more volatile than those of comparable U.S. companies. Securities markets in emerging markets may also be susceptible to manipulation or other fraudulent trade practices, which could disrupt the functioning of these markets or adversely affect the value of investments traded in these markets, including investments of the Fund. The Fund’s rights with respect to its investments in emerging markets, if any, will generally be governed by local law, which may make it difficult or impossible for the Fund to pursue legal remedies or to obtain and enforce judgments in local courts. Delays may occur in settling securities transactions in emerging market countries, which could adversely affect the Fund’s ability to make or liquidate investments in those markets in a timely fashion. In addition, it may not be possible for the Fund to find satisfactory custodial services in an emerging market country, which could increase the Fund’s costs and cause delays in the transportation and custody of its investments. In addition, there may be restrictions on investments in companies in emerging market countries. For example, the President of the United States recently signed an Executive Order prohibiting U.S. persons from purchasing or investing in publicly-traded securities of companies identified by the U.S. Government as “Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies.” The list of such companies can change from time to time, and as a result of forced selling or an inability to participate in an investment the Advisor or Sub-Advisor otherwise believes is attractive, the Fund may incur losses. Any of these factors may adversely affect the Fund’s performance or the Fund’s ability to pursue its investment objective.

 

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Valuation Risk: From time to time, the Fund will need to fair-value portfolio securities at prices that differ from third party pricing inputs in order to more accurately reflect the sales price the Fund could receive in a reasonable period of time for any particular portfolio investment or groups of investments. Investors who purchase or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is pricing or holding fair-valued securities may pay a higher or lower price for the shares, or may receive more or less redemption proceeds than they would have received if certain of the Fund’s securities had not been fair-valued, or if a different valuation methodology had been used. Such pricing differences can be significant and can occur quickly during times of market volatility, particularly for securities that trade in thin or illiquid markets. In addition, pricing of insurance-linked securities is subject to the added uncertainty caused by the inability to generally predict whether, when or where a natural disaster or other triggering event may occur. Even after a natural disaster or other triggering event occurs, the pricing of insurance-linked securities is subject to uncertainty for a period of time until event parameters, ultimate loss amounts and other factors are finalized and communicated to the Fund.

 

Illiquidity and Restricted Securities Risk: Illiquidity risk is the risk that the investments held by the Fund may be difficult or impossible to sell at the time that the Fund would prefer, or at the price that the Fund believes the security is currently worth. As a relatively new type of financial instrument, there is limited trading history for insurance-linked securities, even for those securities deemed to be liquid. There can be no assurance that a liquid market for the Fund’s investments will exist or be maintained. Illiquid securities are securities that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the securities. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in securities that are illiquid. The Fund’s ability to realize full value in the event of the need to liquidate certain assets may be impaired and/or result in losses to the Fund. The Fund may be unable to sell its investments, even under circumstances when the Sub-Advisor believes it would be in the best interests of the Fund to do so. Illiquid investments may also be difficult to value and their pricing may be more volatile than more liquid investments, which could adversely affect the price at which the Fund is able to sell such investments. Illiquid investments may involve greater risk than liquid investments. Illiquidity risk also may be greater in times of financial stress. The risks associated with illiquid investments may be particularly acute in situations in which the Fund’s operations require cash (such as in connection with redemptions) and could result in the Fund borrowing to meet its short-term needs or incurring losses on the sale of illiquid investments.

 

Certain of the securities in which the Fund may invest are subject to restrictions on resale by the federal securities laws or otherwise, such as securities offered privately pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act and securities issued pursuant to Rule 144A under the 1933 Act. While certain restricted securities may, notwithstanding their limitations on resale, be treated as liquid if the Advisor determines, pursuant to the applicable procedures, that such categorization is accurate, there can be no guarantee that any such categorization will continue. Restricted securities previously determined to be liquid may subsequently become illiquid while held by the Fund. Even if such restricted securities are not deemed to be illiquid, they may nevertheless be difficult to value and the Fund may be required to hold restricted securities when it otherwise would sell such securities or may be forced to sell securities at a price lower than the price the Fund has valued such securities. This may result in losses to the Fund and investors.

 

Limited Availability and Reinvestment Risk: Investment opportunities in insurance-linked securities may be limited, which may limit the amount of assets the Fund may be able to invest in insurance-linked securities. The limited availability of insurance-linked securities may be due to a number of factors, including seasonality, limited selection that meets the Fund’s investment objective and lack of availability of insurance-linked securities in the secondary market. Primary issuance of Cat Bonds (in particular wind-related Cat Bonds) tends to be concentrated outside of summer and early fall months while Quota Share, ILW and Excess of Loss Note issuance tends to correspond with typical reinsurance renewal months (January, April, June, and July). Thereafter, the availability of insurance-linked securities is subject to natural fluctuations in the secondary market. Therefore, if insurance-linked securities held by the Fund mature or if the Fund must sell securities to meet redemption requests, the Fund may be required to hold more cash than normal until insurance-linked securities meeting the Fund’s investment objective become available. Despite higher issuance volume in the primary market and increased access to the secondary market for insurance-linked securities in recent years, the Fund may be forced to reinvest in securities that are lower yielding or less desirable than the securities the Fund sold.

 

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Management and Strategy Risk: The value of your investment depends on the judgment of the Sub-Advisor about the quality, relative yield, value or market trends affecting a particular security, industry, sector or region, which may prove to be incorrect. Investment strategies employed by the Sub-Advisor in selecting investments for the Fund may not result in an increase in the value of your investment or in overall performance equal to other investments.

 

Credit Risk: The insurance-linked securities in which the Fund invests will be subject to credit risk. The principal invested in many insurance-linked securities is held by the SPV in a collateral account and invested in various permissible assets set forth under the terms of the SPV. In these cases, typically, the collateral account is invested in high quality U.S. government securities (i.e., U.S. Treasury bonds). However, in certain insurance-linked securities, the collateral account may be invested in high yielding, higher risk securities. Collateral will generally be invested in accordance with the terms of the SPV and overseen by a collateral manager appointed by the SPV; therefore, the Fund is dependent upon the manager to invest the collateral account proceeds appropriately. A small portion of the insurance-linked securities in which the Fund invests may, in lieu of such collateral account arrangements, provide for the collateral to be held by the reinsurer. When a collateral account is invested in higher yielding, higher risk securities or when the collateral is held directly by the reinsurer, the Fund will be subject to the risk of non-payment of scheduled principal and interest on such collateral. Such non-payments and defaults may reduce the income to the Fund and negatively impact the value of Fund shares.

 

Market Risk: The market price of a security or instrument may decline, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular issuer, company or asset class, such as real or perceived adverse economic or political conditions throughout the world, changes in the general outlook for individual consumers and borrowers, credit markets and corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, or adverse investor sentiment generally. The market value of a security or instrument also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on a security or instrument. For example, the financial crisis that began in 2007 caused a significant decline in the value and liquidity of many securities; in particular, the values of some sovereign debt and of securities of issuers that invest in sovereign debt and related investments fell, credit became more scarce worldwide and there was significant uncertainty in the markets. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the worldwide economy, as well as the economies of individual countries, the financial health of individual companies and the market in general in significant and unforeseen ways. Such environments could make identifying investment risks and opportunities especially difficult for the Advisor. In response to the crises, the United States and other governments have taken steps to support financial markets. The withdrawal of this support or failure of efforts in response to a crisis could negatively affect financial markets generally as well as the value and liquidity of certain securities. In addition, policy and legislative changes in the United States and in other countries are changing many aspects of financial regulation. The impact of these changes on the markets, and the practical implications for market participants, may not be fully known for some time.

 

Currency Risk: It is expected that a substantial portion of the Fund’s investments in insurance-linked securities will be U.S. dollar-denominated investments. To the extent the Fund invests in non-U.S. dollar-denominated instruments, a change in the value of a foreign currency against the U.S. dollar will result in a change in the U.S. dollar value of securities denominated in that foreign currency. The values of investments in securities denominated in foreign currencies increase or decrease as the rates of exchange between those currencies and the U.S. dollar change. Currency conversion costs and currency fluctuations could erase investment gains or add to investment losses. Currency exchange rates can be volatile and are affected by factors such as general economic conditions, the actions of the United States and foreign governments or central banks, the imposition of currency controls, and speculation.

 

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Non-Diversification Risk: The Fund is classified as “non-diversified”, which means the Fund may invest a larger percentage of its assets in the securities of a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. Investment in securities of a limited number of issuers exposes the Fund to greater market risk and potential losses than if its assets were diversified among the securities of a greater number of issuers.

 

Recent Market Events: An outbreak of a respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (known as COVID-19) has resulted in a global pandemic and has caused major disruptions to economies and markets around the world, including the United States. Financial markets experienced and may continue to experience extreme volatility and severe losses, and trading in many instruments was and may continue to be disrupted as a result. Liquidity for many instruments was and may continue to be greatly reduced for extended periods of time. Some interest rates are very low and in some cases yields are negative. Some sectors of the economy and individual issuers have experienced and may continue to experience particularly large losses. The pandemic has reduced liquidity of particular investments and asset classes; resulted in significant disruptions to business operations, including business closures; strained healthcare systems; disrupted supply chains, consumer demand and employee availability; and restricted travel. These conditions may continue for an extended period of time, or worsen. The pandemic may result in a sustained domestic or global economic downturn or recession. Developing or emerging market countries may be more adversely impacted. The ultimate economic fallout from the pandemic, and the long-term impact on economies, markets, industries and individual issuers, are not known. Governments and central banks, including the Federal Reserve in the United States, have taken extraordinary and unprecedented actions to support local and global economies and the financial markets. These actions have resulted in significant expansion of public debt, including in the United States. The long-term consequences of this level of public debt are not known. In addition, certain interest rates have been reduced to very low levels. The impact of these measures, and whether they will be effective to mitigate the economic and market disruption, will not be known for some time. The COVID-19 pandemic could continue to adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments, impair the Fund’s ability to satisfy redemption requests, and negatively impact the Fund’s performance. In addition, the outbreak of COVID-19, and measures taken to mitigate its effects, could result in disruptions to the services provided to a Fund by its service providers. Other market events like the COVID-19 outbreak may cause similar disruptions and effects.

 

New Advisor Risk: The Fund’s advisor is a newly organized investment advisor and has no operating history or performance track record.

 

No Operating History: The Fund is newly organized and has no operating history. As a result, prospective investors have no track record or history on which to base their investment decisions. Among other things, this means that investors will not be able to evaluate the Fund against one or more comparable mutual funds on the basis of relative performance until the Fund has established a track record.

 

LIBOR Risk: Many financial instruments, financings or other transactions to which the Fund may be a party use or may use a floating rate based on the London Interbank Offered Rate. LIBOR is the offered rate at which major international banks can obtain wholesale, unsecured funding, and LIBOR may be available for different durations (e.g., 1 month or 3 months) and for different currencies. LIBOR may be a significant factor in determining the Fund’s payment obligations under a derivative investment, the cost of financing to the Fund or an investment’s value or return to the Fund, and may be used in other ways that affect the Fund’s investment performance. In July 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority, the United Kingdom’s financial regulatory body, announced that after 2021 it will cease its active encouragement of banks to provide the quotations needed to sustain LIBOR. In March 2021, the administrator of LIBOR announced a delay in the phase out of the majority of the USD LIBOR publications until June 30, 2023, with the remainder of LIBOR publications to still end on December 31, 2021. Various financial industry groups have begun planning for the transition, but there are obstacles to converting certain securities and transactions to a new benchmark. Transition planning is ongoing, and the effect of the transition process and its ultimate success cannot yet be determined. The transition process may lead to increased volatility and illiquidity in markets for instruments the terms of which are based on LIBOR. It could also lead to a reduction in the value of some LIBOR-based investments and reduce the effectiveness of new hedges placed against existing LIBOR-based investments. While some LIBOR-based instruments may contemplate a scenario in which LIBOR is no longer available by providing for an alternative rate-setting methodology and/or increased costs for certain LIBOR-related instruments or financing transactions, not all may have such provisions and there may be significant uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of any such alternative methodologies, resulting in prolonged adverse market conditions for the Fund. Since the usefulness of LIBOR as a benchmark could deteriorate during the transition period, these effects could occur prior to the completion of the applicable phase out. The willingness and ability of issuers to include enhanced provisions in new and existing contracts or instruments also remains uncertain. Any of these factors may adversely affect the Fund’s performance or NAV.

 

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Cybersecurity Risk: Cybersecurity incidents may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, or cause the Fund, the advisor, the Sub-Advisor, and/or other service providers (including custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality. In an extreme case, a shareholder’s ability to exchange or redeem Fund shares may be affected. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of those securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.

 

Portfolio Holdings Information

A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”). Currently, disclosure of the Fund’s holdings is required to be made quarterly within 60 days of the end of each fiscal quarter in the Fund’s Annual Report and Semi-Annual Report to Fund shareholders, and in its monthly holdings report on Form N-PORT.

 

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

 

The Advisor and Sub-Advisor

[     ], a Delaware limited partnership which maintains its principal office at [     ], acts as the investment advisor to the Fund pursuant to an investment advisory agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”). The Advisor is an investment advisor registered with the SEC. As the Fund’s investment advisor, [     ] provides investment advisory services to the Fund, including: (i) designing the Fund’s initial investment policies and developing evolutionary changes to such policies as appropriate for presentation to the Board; (ii) providing overall supervision for the general investment management operations of the Fund; (iii) monitoring and supervising the activities of the Sub-Advisor; and (iv) providing related administrative services.

 

Pursuant to the Advisory Agreement, the Fund pays the Advisor an annual advisory fee of [     ]% of the Fund’s average daily net assets for the services and facilities it provides, payable on a monthly basis. Pursuant to a sub-advisory agreement, the Advisor pays a portion of its advisory fee to the Sub-Advisor. The Fund’s SAI provides additional information about the fees paid to the Advisor and the Sub-Advisor.

 

[        ], located at [       ], serves as the Fund’s Sub-Advisor pursuant to an investment sub-advisory agreement (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”). [     ] is registered as an investment advisor with the SEC, and is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio, selection of the Fund’s portfolio investments and supervision of its portfolio transactions subject to the general oversight of the Board and the Advisor.

 

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement will be available in the Fund’s [Annual/Semi-Annual Report to shareholders dated as of __________].

 

[Advisor and Sub-Advisor information to be provided by amendment].

 

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Portfolio Manager

[     ] is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio. [Portfolio manager information to be provided by amendment].

 

The SAI provides additional information about the portfolio manager’s method of compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers and the portfolio managers’ ownership of Fund securities.

 

Fund Expenses

The Fund is responsible for its own operating expenses (all of which will be borne directly or indirectly by the Fund’s shareholders), including among others, legal fees and expenses of counsel to the Fund and the Fund’s independent trustees; insurance (including trustees’ and officers’ errors and omissions insurance); auditing and accounting expenses; taxes and governmental fees; listing fees; fees and expenses of the Fund’s custodians, administrators, transfer agents, registrars and other service providers; expenses for portfolio pricing services by a pricing agent, if any; expenses in connection with the issuance and offering of shares; brokerage commissions and other costs of acquiring or disposing of any portfolio holding of the Fund; and any litigation expenses.

 

The Advisor has contractually agreed to waive its fees and/or pay for operating expenses of the Fund to ensure that the total annual fund operating expenses (excluding any taxes, leverage interest, brokerage commissions, dividend and interest expenses on short sales, acquired fund fees and expenses (as determined in accordance with Form N-1A), expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization, and extraordinary expenses such as litigation expenses) do not exceed [     ]% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. This agreement is in effect until [______], 2022, and it may be terminated before that date only by the Trust’s Board of Trustees.

 

Any reduction in advisory fees or payment of the Fund’s expenses made by the Advisor in a fiscal year may be reimbursed by the Fund for a period ending three full fiscal years after the date of reduction or payment if the Advisor so requests. This reimbursement may be requested from the Fund if the reimbursement will not cause the Fund’s annual expense ratio to exceed the lesser of (a) the expense limitation in effect at the time such fees were waived or payments made, or (b) the expense limitation in effect at the time of the reimbursement. However, the reimbursement amount may not exceed the total amount of fees waived and/or Fund expenses paid by the Advisor and will not include any amounts previously reimbursed to the Advisor by the Fund. Any such reimbursement is contingent upon the Board’s subsequent review of the reimbursed amounts. The Fund must pay current ordinary operating expenses before the Advisor is entitled to any reimbursement of fees and/or Fund expenses.

 

Manager of Managers Structure

The Advisor and the Trust intend to apply for an exemptive order from the SEC for the Fund pursuant to which the Advisor would operate the Fund under a “manager of managers” structure (the “Order”). If granted by the SEC, the Order would permit the Advisor, subject to the approval of the Board, to hire or replace sub-advisors and modify any existing or future agreement with such sub-advisors without obtaining shareholder approval. There can be no guarantee that the SEC will grant the Order.

 

If the Order is granted, the Advisor, with the approval of the Board, would have the discretion to terminate any sub-advisor, including [     ], and allocate and reallocate the Fund’s assets among the Advisor and any other sub-advisor. The Advisor has the ultimate responsibility, subject to the oversight and supervision by the Board, to oversee any sub-advisor for the Fund and to recommend, for approval by the Board, the hiring, termination and replacement of sub-advisors for the Fund. In evaluating a prospective sub-advisor, the Advisor would consider, among other things, the proposed sub-advisor’s experience, investment philosophy and historical performance. The Advisor would remain ultimately responsible for supervising, monitoring and evaluating the performance of any sub-advisor retained to manage the Fund. Within 90 days after hiring any new sub-advisor, the Fund’s shareholders will receive information about any new sub-advisory relationships. The initial shareholder of the Fund will have approved the operation of the Fund under any “manager of managers” structure, and Fund shareholders, including in their ultimate capacities as shareholders of the Fund, will not be asked to vote on this matter.

 

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Use of the “manager of managers” structure would not diminish the Advisor’s responsibilities to the Fund under its Advisory Agreement. The Advisor would have overall responsibility, subject to oversight by the Board, to oversee the sub-advisors and recommend their hiring, termination and replacement. Specifically, the Advisor would, subject to the review and approval of the Board: (a) set the Fund’s overall investment strategy; (b) evaluate, select and recommend sub-advisors to manage all or a portion of the Fund’s assets; and (c) implement procedures reasonably designed to ensure that the sub-advisor complies with the Fund’s investment goal, policies and restrictions. Subject to the review by the Board, the Advisor would: (a) when appropriate, allocate and reallocate the Fund’s assets among multiple sub-advisors; and (b) monitor and evaluate the performance of the sub-advisors. Replacement of the Advisor or the imposition of material changes to the Advisory Agreement would continue to require prior shareholder approval.

 

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

The Advisor may pay service fees to intermediaries such as banks, broker-dealers, financial advisors or other financial institutions, some of which may be affiliates, for sub-administration, sub-transfer agency and other shareholder services associated with shareholders whose shares are held of record in omnibus accounts, other group accounts or accounts traded through registered securities clearing agents.

 

The Advisor, out of its own resources, and without additional cost to the Fund or its shareholders, may provide additional cash payments or non-cash compensation to broker-dealers or intermediaries that sell or custody shares of the Fund. These additional cash payments are generally made to intermediaries that provide shareholder servicing, marketing support and/or access to sales meetings, sales representatives and management representatives of the intermediary. The Advisor may pay cash compensation for inclusion of the Fund on a sales list, including a preferred or select sales list, or in other sales programs, or may pay an expense reimbursement in cases where the intermediary provides shareholder services to the Fund’s shareholders. The Advisor may also pay cash compensation in the form of finder’s fees that vary depending on the dollar amount of the shares sold.

 

YOUR ACCOUNT WITH THE FUND

 

Share Price

The offering price of the Fund’s shares is the net asset value per share (“NAV”). The Fund’s NAV is calculated as of 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the normal close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), on each day the NYSE is open for trading. If for example, the NYSE closes at 1:00 p.m. New York time, the Fund’s NAV would still be determined as of 4:00 p.m. New York time. In this example, portfolio securities traded on the NYSE would be valued at their closing prices unless the Trust’s Valuation Committee determines that a “fair value” adjustment is appropriate due to subsequent events. The Fund’s NAV is determined by dividing the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities, cash and other assets (including accrued interest) allocable to such class, less all liabilities (including accrued expenses) allocable to such class, by the total number of outstanding shares of such class. The Fund’s NAV may be calculated earlier if permitted by the SEC. The NYSE is closed on weekends and most U.S. national holidays. However, foreign securities listed primarily on non-U.S. markets may trade on weekends or other days on which the Fund does not value its shares, which may significantly affect the Fund’s NAV on days when you are not able to buy or sell Fund shares.

 

The Fund’s securities generally are valued at market price. Securities are valued at fair value when market quotations are not readily available. The Board has adopted procedures to be followed when the Fund must utilize fair value pricing, including when reliable market quotations are not readily available, when the Fund’s pricing service does not provide a valuation (or provides a valuation that, in the judgment of the Advisor, does not represent the security’s fair value), or when, in the judgment of the Advisor, events have rendered the market value unreliable (see, for example, the discussion of fair value pricing of foreign securities in the paragraph below). Valuing securities at fair value involves reliance on the judgment of the Advisor and the Board (or a committee thereof), and may result in a different price being used in the calculation of the Fund’s NAV from quoted or published prices for the same securities. Fair value determinations are made in good faith in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board. There can be no assurance that the Fund will obtain the fair value assigned to a security if it sells the security.

 

In certain circumstances, the Fund employs fair value pricing to ensure greater accuracy in determining daily NAV and to prevent dilution by frequent traders or market timers who seek to exploit temporary market anomalies. Fair value pricing may be applied to foreign securities held by the Fund upon the occurrence of an event after the close of trading on non-U.S. markets but before the close of trading on the NYSE when the Fund’s NAV is determined. If the event may result in a material adjustment to the price of the Fund’s foreign securities once non-U.S. markets open on the following business day (such as, for example, a significant surge or decline in the U.S. market), the Fund may value such foreign securities at fair value, taking into account the effect of such event, in order to calculate the Fund’s NAV.

 

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Other types of portfolio securities that the Fund may fair value include, but are not limited to: (1) investments that are illiquid or traded infrequently, including “restricted” securities and private placements for which there is no public market; (2) investments for which, in the judgment of the Advisor, the market price is stale; (3) securities of an issuer that has entered into a restructuring; (4) securities for which trading has been halted or suspended; and (5) fixed income securities for which there is no current market value quotation.

 

Pricing services generally value debt securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but such securities may be held or transactions may be conducted in such securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots often trade at lower prices than institutional round lots.

 

Purchase of Shares

This Prospectus offers one class of shares of the Fund. Shares of the Fund are not subject to any sales loads or distribution fees or shareholder service fees.

 

The minimum investment is $[     ]. There is no minimum investment amount to add to your account.

 

Shares are available for investment only by: (i) clients of registered investment advisers; (ii) institutional investors, including professional firms in the investment business, registered investment advisers (RIAs), family offices, pensions, endowments and foundations; (iii) clients of institutional investors; (iv) tax-exempt retirement plans of the Advisor and its affiliates; (iv) current directors and employees of the Advisor and its affiliates, and Trustees of the Trust; (v) investment professionals or other financial intermediaries investing for their own accounts, and their immediate family members; and (vi) certain other eligible investors as approved from time to time by the Advisor.

 

The Advisor has the discretion to further modify or waive the eligibility requirements and to waive the investment minimum. Shares of the Fund generally may be sold only to U.S. citizens, U.S. residents, and U.S. domestic corporations, partnerships, trusts or estates. The Fund reserves the right to refuse any request to purchase Shares.

 

Shareholders who invest in the Fund through a financial intermediary should contact their financial intermediary regarding purchase procedures. Financial intermediaries may provide varying arrangements for their clients to purchase and redeem shares, additional fees and different investment minimums. In addition, from time to time, a financial intermediary may modify or waive the initial and subsequent investment minimums.

 

To the extent allowed by applicable law, the Fund reserves the right to discontinue offering shares at any time or to cease operating entirely.

 

Customer Identification Information

To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. When you open an account, you will be asked for your name, date of birth (for a natural person), your residential address or principal place of business, and mailing address, if different, as well as your Social Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number. Additional information is required for corporations, partnerships and other entities, including the name, residential address, date of birth and Social Security Number of the underlying beneficial owners and authorized control persons of entity owners. Applications without such information will not be considered in good order. The Fund reserves the right to deny any application if the application is not in good order.

 

This Prospectus should not be considered a solicitation to purchase or as an offer to sell shares of the Fund in any jurisdiction where it would be unlawful to do so under the laws of that jurisdiction. Please note that the value of your account may be transferred to the appropriate state if no activity occurs in the account within the time period specified by state law.

 

21 

 

Timing and Nature of Requests

The purchase price you will pay for the Fund’s shares will be the next NAV (plus any sales charge, as applicable) calculated after the Transfer Agent or your authorized financial intermediary receives your request in good order. “Good order” means that your purchase request includes: (1) the name of the Fund, (2) the dollar amount of shares to be purchased, (3) your purchase application, and (4) a wire or check payable to Ambassador Fund. All requests received in good order before 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on any business day will be processed on that same day. Requests received at or after 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) will be transacted at the next business day’s NAV. All purchases must be made in U.S. dollars and drawn on U.S. financial institutions.

 

Methods of Buying

 

Through a broker-
dealer or other
financial
intermediary
The Fund is offered through certain approved financial intermediaries (and their agents). The Fund is also offered directly. A purchase order placed with a financial intermediary or its authorized agent is treated as if such order were placed directly with the Fund, and will be deemed to have been received by the Fund when the financial intermediary or its authorized agent receives the order and executed at the next NAV (plus any sales charge, as applicable) calculated by the Fund. Your financial intermediary will hold your shares in a pooled account in its (or its agent’s) name. The Fund may pay your financial intermediary (or its agent) to maintain your individual ownership information, maintain required records, and provide other shareholder services. A financial intermediary which offers shares may charge its individual clients transaction fees which may be in addition to those described in this Prospectus. If you invest through your financial intermediary, its policies and fees may be different than those described in this Prospectus. For example, the financial intermediary may charge transaction fees or set different minimum investments. Your financial intermediary is responsible for processing your order correctly and promptly, keeping you advised of the status of your account, confirming your transactions and ensuring that you receive copies of the Fund’s Prospectus. Please contact your financial intermediary to determine whether it is an approved financial intermediary of the Fund or for additional information.
By mail The Fund will not accept payment in cash, including cashier’s checks. Also, to prevent check fraud, the Fund will not accept third party checks, Treasury checks, credit card checks, traveler’s checks, money orders or starter checks for the purchase of shares. All checks must be made in U.S. dollars and drawn on U.S. financial institutions.

To buy shares directly from the Fund by mail, complete an account application and send it together with your check for the amount you wish to invest to the Fund at the address indicated below. To make additional investments once you have opened your account, write your account number on the check and send it to the Fund together with the most recent confirmation statement received from the Transfer Agent. If your check is returned for insufficient funds, your purchase will be canceled and a $25 fee will be assessed against your account by the Transfer Agent.
  Regular Mail
Ambassador Fund
P.O. Box 2175
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201
Overnight Delivery
Ambassador Fund
235 West Galena Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212
  The Fund does not consider the U.S. Postal Service or other independent delivery services to be its agents.

 

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By wire

To open an account by wire, a completed account application form must be received by the Fund before your wire can be accepted. You may mail or send by overnight delivery your account application form to the Transfer Agent. Upon receipt of your completed account application form, an account will be established for you. The account number assigned to you will be required as part of the wiring instruction that should be provided to your bank to send the wire. Your bank must include the name of the Fund, the account number, and your name so that monies can be correctly applied. Your bank should transmit monies by wire to:

UMB Bank, n.a.
ABA Number 101000695

For credit to Ambassador Fund
A/C # [_____________]
For further credit to:
Your account number
Fund Name
Name(s) of investor(s)
Social Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number

Before sending your wire, please contact the Transfer Agent at 1-888-[     ] to notify it of your intention to wire funds. This will ensure prompt and accurate credit upon receipt of your wire. Your bank may charge a fee for its wiring service.

Wired funds must be received prior to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on a business day to be eligible for same day pricing. The Fund and UMB Bank, n.a. are not responsible for the consequences of delays resulting from the banking or Federal Reserve wire system, or from incomplete wiring instructions.

 

Selling (Redeeming) Fund Shares

Through a broker-
dealer or other
financial
intermediary
If you purchased your shares through an approved financial intermediary, your redemption order must be placed through the same financial intermediary. The Fund will be deemed to have received a redemption order when a financial intermediary (or its authorized agent) receives the order. The financial intermediary must receive your redemption order prior to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on a business day for the redemption to be processed at the current day’s NAV. Orders received at or after 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on a business day or on a day when the Fund does not value its shares will be transacted at the next business day’s NAV. Please keep in mind that your financial intermediary may charge additional fees for its services. In the event your approved financial intermediary is no longer available or in operation, you may place your redemption order directly with the Fund as described below.

 

23 

 

By mail You may redeem shares purchased directly from the Fund by mail. Send your written redemption request to Ambassador Fund at the address indicated below. Your request must be in good order and contain the Fund name, the name(s) on the account, your account number and the dollar amount or the number of shares to be redeemed. The redemption request must be signed by all shareholders listed on the account. Additional documents are required for certain types of shareholders, such as corporations, partnerships, executors, trustees, administrators, or guardians (i.e., corporate resolutions dated within 60 days, or trust documents indicating proper authorization).
  Regular Mail
Ambassador Fund
P.O. Box 2175
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201
Overnight Delivery
Ambassador Fund
235 West Galena Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212
  A Medallion signature guarantee must be included if any of the following situations apply:
  You wish to redeem more than $50,000 worth of shares;
  When redemption proceeds are sent to any person, address or bank account not on record;
  If a change of address was received by the Transfer Agent within the last 15 days;
  If ownership is changed on your account; or
  When establishing or modifying certain services on your account.

 

Medallion Signature Guarantee

In addition to the situations described above, the Fund reserves the right to require a Medallion signature guarantee in other instances based on the circumstances relative to the particular situation.

 

Shareholders redeeming more than $50,000 worth of shares by mail should submit written instructions with a Medallion signature guarantee from an eligible institution acceptable to the Transfer Agent, such as a domestic bank or trust company, broker, dealer, clearing agency or savings association, or from any participant in a Medallion program recognized by the Securities Transfer Association. The three currently recognized Medallion programs are Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program, Stock Exchanges Medallion Program and New York Stock Exchange, Inc. Medallion Signature Program. Signature guarantees that are not part of these programs will not be accepted. Participants in Medallion programs are subject to dollar limitations which must be considered when requesting their guarantee. The Transfer Agent may reject any signature guarantee if it believes the transaction would otherwise be improper. A notary public cannot provide a signature guarantee.

 

Payment of Redemption Proceeds

You may redeem shares of the Fund at a price equal to the NAV next determined after the Transfer Agent and/or authorized agent receives your redemption request in good order. Generally your redemption request cannot be processed on days the NYSE is closed. Redemption proceeds for requests received in good order by the Transfer Agent and/or authorized agent before the close of the regular trading session of the NYSE (generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) will usually be sent to the address of record or the bank you indicate, or wired using the wire instructions on record, on the following business day. Payment of redemption proceeds may take longer than typically expected, but will be sent within seven calendar days after the Fund receives your redemption request, except as specified below.

 

If you purchase shares using a check and request a redemption before the check has cleared, the Fund may postpone payment of your redemption proceeds up to 15 calendar days while the Fund waits for the check to clear. Furthermore, the Fund may suspend the right to redeem shares or postpone the date of payment upon redemption for more than seven calendar days: (1) for any period during which the NYSE is closed (other than customary weekend or holiday closings) or trading on the NYSE is restricted; (2) for any period during which an emergency exists affecting the sale of the Fund’s securities or making such sale or the fair determination of the value of the Fund’s net assets not reasonably practicable; or (3) for such other periods as the SEC may permit for the protection of the Fund’s shareholders.

 

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Other Redemption Information

IRA and retirement plan redemptions from accounts for which UMB Bank, n.a. is the custodian must be completed on an IRA Distribution Form or other acceptable form approved by UMB Bank, n.a. Shareholders who hold shares of the Fund through an IRA or other retirement plan must indicate on their redemption requests whether to withhold federal income tax. Such redemption requests will generally be subject to a 10% federal income tax withholding unless a shareholder elects not to have taxes withheld. An IRA owner with a foreign residential address may not elect to forgo the 10% withholding. In addition, if you are a resident of certain states, state income tax also applies to non-Roth IRA distributions when federal withholding applies. Please consult with your tax professional.

 

The Fund generally pays sale (redemption) proceeds in cash. The Fund typically expects to satisfy redemption requests by selling portfolio assets or by using holdings of cash or cash equivalents. On a less regular basis, the Fund may also satisfy redemption requests by utilizing a temporary overdraft facility offered through its custodian, UMB Bank, n.a., in order to assist the Fund in meeting redemption requests. The Fund uses these methods during both normal and stressed market conditions. During conditions that make the payment of cash unwise and/or in order to protect the interests of the Fund’s remaining shareholders, the Fund may pay all or part of a shareholder’s redemption proceeds in portfolio securities with a market value equal to the redemption price (redemption-in-kind) in lieu of cash. The Fund may redeem shares in kind during both normal and stressed market conditions. Generally, in-kind redemptions will be effected through a pro rata distribution of the Fund’s portfolio securities. If the Fund redeems your shares in kind, you will bear any market risks associated with investment in these securities, and you will be responsible for the costs (including brokerage charges) of converting the securities to cash.

 

The Fund may redeem all of the shares held in your account if your balance falls below the Fund’s minimum initial investment amount due to your redemption activity. In these circumstances, the Fund will notify you in writing and request that you increase your balance above the minimum initial investment amount within 60 days of the date of the notice. If, within 60 days of the Fund’s written request, you have not increased your account balance, your shares will be automatically redeemed at the current NAV. The Fund will not require that your shares be redeemed if the value of your account drops below the investment minimum due to fluctuations of the Fund’s NAV.

 

In-Kind Purchases and Redemptions

The Fund reserves the right to accept payment for shares in the form of securities that are permissible investments for the Fund. The Fund also reserves the right to pay redemptions by an “in-kind” distribution of portfolio securities (instead of cash) from the Fund. In-kind purchases and redemptions are generally taxable events and may result in the recognition of gain or loss for federal income tax purposes. See the SAI for further information about the terms of these purchases and redemptions.

 

Cost Basis Information

Federal tax law requires that regulated investment companies, such as the Fund, report their shareholders' cost basis, gain/loss, and holding period to the IRS on the shareholders’ Consolidated Form 1099s when “covered” shares of the regulated investment companies are sold. Covered shares are any shares acquired (including pursuant to a dividend reinvestment plan) on or after January 1, 2012.

 

The Fund has chosen “first-in, first-out” (“FIFO”) as its standing (default) tax lot identification method for all shareholders, which means this is the method the Fund will use to determine which specific shares are deemed to be sold when there are multiple purchases on different dates at differing net asset values and the entire position is not sold at one time. The Fund’s standing tax lot identification method is the method it will use to report the sale of covered shares on your Consolidated Form 1099 if you do not select a specific tax lot identification method. Redemptions are taxable and you may realize a gain or a loss upon the sale of your shares. Certain shareholders may be subject to backup withholding.

 

25 

 

Subject to certain limitations, you may choose a method other than the Fund’s standing method at the time of your purchase or upon the sale of covered shares. Please refer to the appropriate Treasury regulations or consult your tax advisor with regard to your personal circumstances.

 

Tools to Combat Frequent Transactions

The Trust’s Board of Trustees has adopted policies and procedures with respect to frequent purchases and redemptions of Fund shares by Fund shareholders. The Trust discourages excessive, short-term trading and other abusive trading practices that may disrupt portfolio management strategies and harm the Fund’s performance. The Trust takes steps to reduce the frequency and effect of these activities on the Fund. These steps may include monitoring trading activity and using fair value pricing. In addition, the Trust may take action, which may include using its best efforts to restrict a shareholder from making additional purchases in the Fund, if that shareholder has engaged in four or more “round trips” in the Fund during a 12-month period. Although these efforts (which are described in more detail below) are designed to discourage abusive trading practices, these tools cannot eliminate the possibility that such activity may occur. Further, while the Trust makes efforts to identify and restrict frequent trading, the Trust receives purchase and sale orders through financial intermediaries and cannot always know or detect frequent trading that may be facilitated by the use of intermediaries or the use of group or omnibus accounts by those intermediaries. The Trust seeks to exercise its judgment in implementing these tools to the best of its ability in a manner that the Trust believes is consistent with the interests of Fund shareholders.

 

Monitoring Trading
Practices
The Trust may monitor trades in Fund shares in an effort to detect short-term trading activities. If, as a result of this monitoring, the Trust believes that a shareholder of the Fund has engaged in excessive short-term trading, it may, in its discretion, ask the shareholder to stop such activities or refuse to process purchases in the shareholder’s accounts. In making such judgments, the Trust seeks to act in a manner that it believes is consistent with the best interest of Fund shareholders. Due to the complexity and subjectivity involved in identifying abusive trading activity, there can be no assurance that the Trust’s efforts will identify all trades or trading practices that may be considered abusive.

 

General Transaction Policies

Some of the following policies are mentioned above. In general, the Fund reserves the right to:

 

vary or waive any minimum investment requirement;
refuse, change, discontinue, or temporarily suspend account services, including purchase privileges for any reason;
reject any purchase request for any reason (generally the Fund does this if the purchase is disruptive to the efficient management of the Fund due to the timing of the investment or an investor’s history of excessive trading);
delay paying redemption proceeds for up to seven calendar days after receiving a request, if an earlier payment could adversely affect the Fund;
reject any purchase or redemption request that does not contain all required documentation; and
subject to applicable law and with prior notice, adopt other policies from time to time requiring mandatory redemption of shares in certain circumstances.

 

Your broker or other financial intermediary may establish policies that differ from those of the Fund. For example, the organization may charge transaction fees, set higher minimum investments, or impose certain limitations on buying or selling shares in addition to those identified in this Prospectus. Contact your broker or other financial intermediary for details.

 

Please note that the value of your account may be transferred to the appropriate state if no activity occurs in the account within the time period specified by state law.

 

26 

 

Availability of Information

The Prospectus and SAI are available on the Fund’s website at www.[      ].

 

Prospectus and Shareholder Report Mailings

In order to reduce the amount of mail you receive and to help reduce expenses, we generally send a single copy of any shareholder report and Prospectus to each household. If you do not want the mailing of these documents to be combined with those of other members of your household, please contact your authorized dealer or the Transfer Agent.

 

Additional Information

The Fund enters into contractual arrangements with various parties, including among others the Advisor and Sub-Advisor, who provide services to the Fund. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended (or “third party”) beneficiaries of, those contractual arrangements.

 

The Prospectus and the SAI provide information concerning the Fund that you should consider in determining whether to purchase shares of the Fund. The Fund may make changes to this information from time to time. Neither this prospectus nor the SAI is intended to give rise to any contract rights or other rights in any shareholder, other than any rights conferred by federal or state securities laws that may not be waived.

 

DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

 

The Fund will make distributions of net investment income and net capital gains, if any, at least annually, typically in December. The Fund may make additional payments of dividends or distributions if it deems it desirable at any other time during the year. Fund Investors will have the option to reinvest dividends and distributions in Fund shares.

 

FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

 

The following discussion is very general and does not address investors subject to special rules, such as investors who hold Fund shares through an IRA, 401(k) plan or other tax-advantaged account. The SAI contains further information about taxes. Because each shareholder’s circumstances are different and special tax rules may apply, you should consult your tax advisor about your investment in the Fund.

 

You will generally have to pay federal income taxes, as well as any state or local taxes, on distributions received from the Fund, whether paid in cash or reinvested in additional shares. If you sell Fund shares, it is generally considered a taxable event. If you exchange shares of the Fund for shares of another fund, the exchange will be treated as a sale of the Fund’s shares and any gain on the transaction may be subject to federal income tax.

 

Distributions of net investment income, other than “qualified dividend income,” and distributions of net short-term capital gains, are taxable for federal income tax purposes at ordinary income tax rates. Distributions from the Fund’s net capital gain (i.e., the excess of its net long-term capital gain over its net short-term capital loss) are taxable for federal income tax purposes as long-term capital gain, regardless of how long the shareholder has held Fund shares.

 

Dividends paid by the Fund (but none of the Fund’s capital gain distributions) may qualify in part for the dividends-received deduction available to corporate shareholders, provided certain holding period and other requirements are satisfied. Dividends received by the Fund from REITs generally are not expected to qualify for treatment as qualified dividend income or for the dividends-received deduction. Distributions of investment income that the Fund reports as “qualified dividend income” may be eligible to be taxed to non-corporate shareholders at the reduced rates applicable to long-term capital gain if derived from the Fund’s qualified dividend income and if certain other requirements are satisfied. “Qualified dividend income” generally is income derived from dividends paid by U.S. corporations or certain foreign corporations that are either incorporated in a U.S. possession or eligible for tax benefits under certain U.S. income tax treaties. In addition, dividends that the Fund receives in respect of stock of certain foreign corporations may be qualified dividend income if that stock is readily tradable on an established U.S. securities market.

 

27 

 

You may want to avoid buying shares of the Fund just before it declares a distribution (on or before the record date), because such a distribution will be taxable to you even though it may effectively be a return of a portion of your investment.

 

Although distributions are generally taxable when received, dividends declared in October, November or December to shareholders of record as of a date in such month and paid during the following January are treated as if received on December 31 of the calendar year when the dividends were declared.

 

Information on the federal income tax status of dividends and distributions is provided annually.

 

Dividends and distributions from the Fund and net gain from redemptions of Fund shares will generally be taken into account in determining a shareholder’s “net investment income” for purposes of the Medicare contribution tax applicable to certain individuals, estates and trusts.

 

If you do not provide your Fund with your correct taxpayer identification number and any required certifications, you will be subject to backup withholding on your redemption proceeds, dividends and other distributions. The backup withholding rate is currently 24%.

 

Dividends and certain other payments made by the Fund to a non-U.S. shareholder are subject to withholding of federal income tax at the rate of 30% (or such lower rate as may be determined in accordance with any applicable treaty). Dividends that are reported by the Fund as “interest-related dividends” or “short-term capital gain dividends” are generally exempt from such withholding. In general, the Fund may report interest-related dividends to the extent of its net income derived from U.S.-source interest and the Fund may report short-term capital gain dividends to the extent its net short-term capital gain for the taxable year exceeds its net long-term capital loss. Backup withholding will not be applied to payments that have been subject to the 30% withholding tax described in this paragraph.

 

Under legislation commonly referred to as “FATCA,” unless certain non-U.S. entities that hold shares comply with IRS 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 dividends payable to such entities. A non-U.S. shareholder may be exempt from the withholding described in this paragraph under an applicable intergovernmental agreement between the United States and a foreign government, provided that the shareholder and the applicable foreign government comply with the terms of the agreement.

 

Some of the Fund’s investment income may be subject to foreign income taxes that are withheld at the country of origin. Tax treaties between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes, but there can be no assurance that the Fund will qualify for treaty benefits.

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

 

Because the Fund has not commenced operations as of the date of this Prospectus, no financial information is available.

 

28 

 

Investment Advisor

[      ]

 

Sub-Advisor

[      ]

 

Fund Co-Administrator

Mutual Fund Administration, LLC

2220 E. Route 66, Suite 226

Glendora, California 91740

 

Fund Co-Administrator, Transfer Agent and Fund Accountant

UMB Fund Services, Inc.

235 West Galena Street

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212

 

Custodian

UMB Bank, N.A.

928 Grand Boulevard, 5th Floor

Kansas City, Missouri 64106

 

Distributor

IMST Distributors, LLC

Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100

Portland, Maine 04101

www.foreside.com

 

Counsel to the Trust

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

600 Anton Boulevard, Suite 1800

Costa Mesa, California 92626

 

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

[         ]

 

29 

 

Ambassador Fund

A series of Investment Managers Series Trust II

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION

 

Statement of Additional Information (SAI)

The SAI provides additional details about the investments and techniques of the Fund and certain other additional information. A current SAI is on file with the SEC and is incorporated into this Prospectus by reference. This means that the SAI is legally considered a part of this Prospectus even though it is not physically within this Prospectus.

 

Shareholder Reports

Additional information about the Fund’s investments will be available in the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In the Fund’s annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its most recent fiscal year.

 

The Fund’s SAI and annual and semi-annual reports will be available free of charge on the Fund’s website at www.[     ]. You can obtain a free copy of the Fund’s SAI or annual and semi-annual reports, request other information, or inquire about the Fund by contacting a broker that sells shares of the Fund or by calling the Fund (toll-free) at [_______] or by writing to:

 

Ambassador Fund

P.O. Box 2175

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201

 

Reports and other information about the Fund are also available:

 

Free of charge, on the SEC’s EDGAR database on the SEC’s Internet website at http://www.sec.gov; or

 

For a duplication fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.

 

 

(Investment Company Act file number 811- 21719.)

 

30 

 

The information in this Statement of Additional Information is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This Statement of Additional Information is not an offer to sell these securities.

 

Statement of Additional Information
[November __, 2021]

 

Ambassador Fund
 (Ticker Symbol: ____)
a series of Investment Managers Series Trust II

 

This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus, and it should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus dated [November ___, 2021], as may be amended from time to time, of the Ambassador Fund (the “Fund”), a series of Investment Managers Series Trust II (the “Trust”). [        ] (the “Advisor”) is the investment advisor to the Fund. [        ] (the “Sub-Advisor”) is the sub-advisor to the Fund. A copy of the Fund’s Prospectus may be obtained by contacting the Fund at the address or telephone number specified below.

 

Ambassador Fund
P.O. Box 2175
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201
1-___-___-____

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

The Trust and The Fund B-2
Investment Strategies, Policies and Risks B-2
Management of the Fund B-24
Portfolio Transactions and Brokerage B-35
Portfolio Turnover B-36
Proxy Voting Policy B-37
Anti-Money Laundering Program B-37
Portfolio Holdings Information B-37
Determination of Net Asset Value B-39
Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares B-40
Federal Income Tax Matters B-41
Dividends and Distributions B-48
General Information B-48
Financial Statements B-50
Appendix A - Description of Securities Ratings B-51
Appendix B - Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures B-56

 

 

 

The Trust and The Fund

 

The Trust is an open-end management investment company organized as a Delaware statutory trust under the laws of the State of Delaware on August 20, 2013. The Trust currently consists of several other series of shares of beneficial interest. This SAI relates only to the Fund and not to the other series of the Trust.

 

The Trust is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as an open-end management investment company. Such a registration does not involve supervision of the management or policies of the Fund. The Prospectus of the Fund and this SAI omit certain of the information contained in the Registration Statement filed with the SEC. Copies of such information may be obtained from the SEC upon payment of the prescribed fee.

 

The Fund is a non-diversified fund, which means it is not subject to the diversification requirements under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). Under the 1940 Act, a diversified fund may not, with respect to 75% of its total assets, invest more than 5% of its total assets in the securities of one issuer (and in not more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of an issuer), excluding cash, Government securities, and securities of other investment companies. Although the Fund is not required to comply with the above requirement, the Fund intends to diversify its assets to the extent necessary to qualify for tax treatment as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

 

Investment Strategies, Policies and Risks

 

The discussion below supplements information contained in the Fund’s Prospectus pertaining to the investment policies of the Fund.

 

Principal Investment Strategies, Policies and Risks

 

Market Conditions

 

Events in certain sectors historically have resulted, and may in the future result, in an unusually high degree of volatility in the financial markets, both domestic and foreign. These events have included, but are not limited to: bankruptcies, corporate restructurings, and other events related to the sub-prime mortgage crisis in 2008; governmental efforts to limit short selling and high frequency trading; measures to address U.S. federal and state budget deficits; social, political, and economic instability in Europe; economic stimulus by the Japanese central bank; steep declines in oil prices; dramatic changes in currency exchange rates; and China’s economic slowdown. Interconnected global economies and financial markets increase the possibility that conditions in one country or region might adversely impact issuers in a different country or region. Such events may cause significant declines in the values and liquidity of many securities and other instruments. It is impossible to predict whether such conditions will recur. Because such situations may be widespread, it may be difficult to identify both risks and opportunities using past models of the interplay of market forces, or to predict the duration of such events. The underlying portfolio, however, will be composed mostly of securities whose principal is at risk to insurance-based events (e.g., natural catastrophe), so macro market conditions should be less impactful than typical fixed income strategies with exposure to credit markets

 

An outbreak of infectious respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 was first detected in China in December 2019 and has now been detected globally. This coronavirus has resulted in certain travel restrictions, closed international borders, enhanced health screenings at ports of entry and elsewhere, disruption of and delays in healthcare service preparation and delivery, prolonged quarantines, cancellations, supply chain disruptions, and lower consumer demand, as well as general concern and uncertainty. The impact of COVID-19, and other infectious illness outbreaks that may arise in the future, could adversely affect the economies of many nations or the entire global economy, individual issuers and capital markets in ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen. In addition, the impact of infectious illnesses in emerging market countries may be greater due to generally less established healthcare systems. Public health crises caused by the COVID-19 outbreak may exacerbate other pre-existing political, social and economic risks in certain countries or globally. The duration of the COVID-19 outbreak and its effects cannot be determined with certainty.

 

B-2 

 

Investments in Insurance-linked securities

 

Event-linked bonds, or catastrophe bonds (“Cat Bonds”)are a type of insurance-linked security. The Fund may invest in Cat Bonds in one or more of three ways: the Fund may purchase Cat Bonds when initially offered; the Fund may purchase Cat Bonds in the secondary, over-the-counter market; or the Fund may gain indirect exposure to Cat Bonds using derivatives. As the market for Cat Bonds evolves, the Fund expects to participate in that market and to include new types of Cat Bond offerings in its portfolio.

 

Trigger events may include hurricanes, earthquakes and natural phenomena as well as certain non-natural catastrophes. Trigger event categories include “indemnity triggers,” which are tied to the losses of the ceding sponsor (for example, a single US hurricane that causes more than $2 billion insured loss for a certain large insurance company); “parametric triggers,” which are tied to the occurrence of specific events with defined parameters (for example, an earthquake exceeding magnitude 7.0 as measured at certain USGS seismographs in San Francisco, CA); “industry loss triggers,” which are tied to industry-wide losses (for example, a US earthquake that causes more than $30 billion of industry loss, as reported by PCS); and “modeled loss triggers,” which are tied to the hypothetical losses resulting from a modeled event and could be issuer-specific or industry-wide (for example, a Japanese earthquake with total modeled loss that exceeds $20 billion). Certain investments may have multiple triggers or a combination of the different types of triggers.

 

Indemnity Triggers. Indemnity triggers are based on losses paid and reserved for by an identified insurance company. Generally the identified company sponsored the special purpose vehicle issuing the Cat Bonds. The trigger event would be considered to have occurred only if that company’s losses on catastrophic insurance claims exceeded a certain threshold of insured claims. If the company’s losses (paid and reserved for) were less than the pre-determined aggregate amount, then the trigger event would not be considered to have occurred and the Fund would be entitled to recover its principal plus accrued but unpaid interest. Indemnity triggers require investors and rating agencies to understand the risks of the insurance and reinsurance policies underwritten by the company, which may be difficult to obtain and ascertain, particularly in the case of complex commercial insurance and reinsurance policies. In addition, Cat Bond investors are dependent upon the company’s ability to estimate and settle catastrophe claims in a manner that would not be disadvantageous to investors’ interests.

 

Index Triggers. Index triggers are based on pre-defined formulas, which eliminate the risks relating to a company’s insurance claims-handling practices and potential information barriers. However, investors are dependent upon the accuracy of the models and other information received from reporting services used to calculate the loss or metric. Index triggers follow one of the three broad approaches: modeled-loss, industry-loss and parametric.

 

 

Modeled-Loss. Modeled-loss triggers are based upon a catastrophe-modeling firm’s database estimate of a hypothetical company’s losses based on a model policy portfolio.

 

 

Industry Loss. Industry loss triggers are based upon the estimated loss for the insurance industry as a whole from a particular catastrophe. Estimates are derived from a reporting service, such as Property Claim Services.

 

 

Parametric. Parametric triggers are based upon the occurrence of a catastrophic event with certain defined physical parameters (e.g., wind speed of a hurricane, as measured from a pre-determined location, or magnitude of an earthquake, as measured from a pre-determined location).

 

B-3 

 

Hybrid Triggers. Hybrid triggers involve more than one metric of physical or economic loss in a single Cat Bond transaction. For example, after the occurrence of a qualifying U.S. earthquake, a modeled-loss index is used to establish a company’s overall market share, and then applied to the industry-loss index associated with the qualifying event to determine any principal reduction. Hybrid triggers may be more complicated and difficult to understand for investors, and involve the applicable risks associated with the types of triggers described above.

 

Debt Securities

 

The Fund may invest in debt securities. Debt securities are used by issuers to borrow money. Generally, issuers pay investors periodic interest and repay the amount borrowed either periodically during the life of the security and/or at maturity. Some debt securities, such as zero coupon bonds, do not pay current interest, but are purchased at a discount from their face values and accrue interest at the applicable coupon rate over a specified time period. Some debt securities pay a periodic coupon that is not fixed; instead payments “float” relative to a reference rate, such as SOFR. This “floating rate” debt may pay interest at levels above or below the previous interest payment. The market prices of debt securities fluctuate depending on such factors as interest rates, credit quality and maturity. In general, market prices of debt securities decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall.

 

Lower rated debt securities, those rated Ba or below by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) and/or BB or below by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group (“S&P”) or unrated but determined by the Advisor to be of comparable quality, are described by the rating agencies as speculative and involve greater risk of default or price changes than higher rated debt securities due to changes in the issuer’s creditworthiness or the fact that the issuer may already be in default. The market prices of these securities may fluctuate more than higher quality securities and may decline significantly in periods of general economic difficulty. It may be more difficult to sell or to determine the value of lower rated debt securities.

 

Certain additional risk factors related to debt securities are discussed below:

 

Sensitivity to interest rate and economic changes. Debt securities may be sensitive to economic changes, political and corporate developments, and interest rate changes. In addition, during an economic downturn or periods of rising interest rates, issuers that are highly leveraged may experience increased financial stress that could adversely affect their ability to meet projected business goals, obtain additional financing, and service their principal and interest payment obligations. Furthermore, periods of economic change and uncertainty can be expected to result in increased volatility of market prices and yields of certain debt securities. For example, prices of these securities can be affected by financial contracts held by the issuer or third parties (such as derivatives) related to the security or other assets or indices.

 

Payment expectations. Debt securities may contain redemption or call provisions. If an issuer exercises these provisions in a lower interest rate environment, the Fund would have to replace the security with a lower yielding security, resulting in decreased income to investors. If the issuer of a debt security defaults on its obligations to pay interest or principal or is the subject of bankruptcy proceedings, the Fund may incur losses or expenses in seeking recovery of amounts owed to it.

 

Liquidity. Liquidity risk may result from the lack of an active market, or reduced number and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in fixed income securities, and may be magnified in a rising interest rate environment or other circumstances where investor redemptions from fixed income mutual funds may be higher than normal, causing increased supply in the market due to selling activity. In such cases, the Fund, due to limitations on investments in illiquid securities and the difficulty in purchasing and selling such securities or instruments, may be unable to achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain sector. To the extent that the Fund’s principal investment strategies involve investments in securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations, foreign non-U.S. securities, Rule 144A securities, illiquid sectors of fixed income securities, derivatives or securities with substantial market and/or credit risk, the Fund will tend to have the greatest exposure to liquidity risk. Further, fixed income securities with longer durations until maturity face heightened levels of liquidity risk as compared to fixed income securities with shorter durations until maturity. Finally, liquidity risk also refers to the risk of unusually high redemption requests or other unusual market conditions that may make it difficult for the Fund to fully honor redemption requests within the allowable time period. Meeting such redemption requests could require the Fund to sell securities at reduced prices or under unfavorable conditions, which would reduce the value of the Fund. It may also be the case that other market participants may be attempting to liquidate fixed income holdings at the same time as the Fund, causing increased supply in the market and contributing to liquidity risk and downward pricing pressure. 

 

 

B-4 

 

The Sub-Advisor attempts to reduce the risks described above through diversification of the Fund’s portfolio, credit analysis of each issuer, and by monitoring broad economic trends as well as corporate and legislative developments, but there can be no assurance that it will be successful in doing so. Credit ratings of debt securities provided by rating agencies indicate a measure of the safety of principal and interest payments, not market value risk. The rating of an issuer is a rating agency’s view of past and future potential developments related to the issuer and may not necessarily reflect actual outcomes. There can be a lag between corporate developments and the time a rating is assigned and updated.

 

Changing Fixed Income Market Conditions. Following the financial crisis that began in 2007, the U.S. government and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”), as well as certain foreign governments and central banks, took steps to support financial markets, including by keeping interest rates at historically low levels and by purchasing large quantities of securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities on the open market (“Quantitative Easing”). Similar steps were taken again in 2020 in an effort to support the economy during the coronavirus pandemic. This and other government interventions may not work as intended, particularly if the efforts are perceived by investors as being unlikely to achieve the desired results. In addition, when the Federal Reserve determines to “taper” or reduce Quantitative Easing and/or raise the federal funds rate, there is a risk that interest rates across the U.S. financial system will rise. Such policy changes may expose fixed-income and related markets to heightened volatility and may reduce liquidity for certain Fund investments, which could cause the value of the Fund’s investments and share price to decline. If the Fund invests in derivatives tied to fixed income markets it may be more substantially exposed to these risks than a fund that does not invest in derivatives.

 

Bond markets have consistently grown over the past three decades while the capacity for traditional dealer counterparties to engage in fixed income trading has not kept pace and in some cases has decreased. As a result, dealer inventories of corporate bonds, which provide a core indication of the ability of financial intermediaries to “make markets,” are at or near historic lows in relation to market size. Because market makers provide stability to a market through their intermediary services, the significant reduction in dealer inventories could potentially lead to decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the fixed income markets. Such issues may be exacerbated during periods of economic uncertainty.

 

Bond Ratings. Bond rating agencies may assign modifiers (such as +/–) to ratings categories to signify the relative position of a credit within the rating category. Investment policies that are based on ratings categories should be read to include any security within that category, without considering the modifier. Please refer to Appendix A for more information about credit ratings.

 

B-5 

 

Lower-Rated Debt Securities

 

The Fund may invest in lower-rated fixed-income securities (commonly known as “junk bonds”). The lower ratings reflect a greater possibility that adverse changes in the financial condition of the issuer or in general economic conditions, or both, or an unanticipated rise in interest rates, may impair the ability of the issuer to make payments of interest and principal. The inability (or perceived inability) of issuers to make timely payment of interest and principal would likely make the values of securities held by the Fund more volatile and could limit the Fund’s ability to sell its securities at prices approximating the values the Fund had placed on such securities. In the absence of a liquid trading market for securities held by it, the Fund at times may be unable to establish the fair value of such securities. Securities ratings are based largely on the issuer’s historical financial condition and the rating agencies’ analysis at the time of rating. Consequently, the rating assigned to any particular security is not necessarily a reflection of the issuer’s current financial condition, which may be better or worse than the rating would indicate. In addition, the rating assigned to a security by Moody’s or S&P (or by any other nationally recognized securities rating agency) does not reflect an assessment of the volatility of the security’s market value or the liquidity of an investment in the security.

 

Like those of other fixed-income securities, the values of lower-rated securities fluctuate in response to changes in interest rates. A decrease in interest rates will generally result in an increase in the value of the Fund’s fixed-income assets. Conversely, during periods of rising interest rates, the value of the Fund’s fixed-income assets will generally decline. The values of lower-rated securities may often be affected to a greater extent by changes in general economic conditions and business conditions affecting the issuers of such securities and their industries. Negative publicity or investor perceptions may also adversely affect the values of lower-rated securities. Changes by nationally recognized securities rating agencies in their ratings of any fixed-income security and changes in the ability of an issuer to make payments of interest and principal may also affect the value of these investments. Changes in the value of portfolio securities generally will not affect income derived from these securities, but will affect the Fund’s net asset value. The Fund will not necessarily dispose of a security when its rating is reduced below its rating at the time of purchase. However, the Advisor will monitor the investment to determine whether its retention will assist in meeting the Fund’s investment objective. Issuers of lower-rated securities are often highly leveraged, so that their ability to service their debt obligations during an economic downturn or during sustained periods of rising interest rates may be impaired. Such issuers may not have more traditional methods of financing available to them and may be unable to repay outstanding obligations at maturity by refinancing.

 

The risk of loss due to default in payment of interest or repayment of principal by such issuers is significantly greater because such securities frequently are unsecured and subordinated to the prior payment of senior indebtedness. It is possible that, under adverse market or economic conditions or in the event of adverse changes in the financial condition of the issuer, the Fund could find it more difficult to sell these securities when the Advisor believes it advisable to do so or may be able to sell the securities only at prices lower than if they were more widely held. Under these circumstances, it may also be more difficult to determine the fair value of such securities for purposes of computing the Fund’s net asset value. In order to enforce its rights in the event of a default, the Fund may be required to participate in various legal proceedings or take possession of and manage assets securing the issuer’s obligations on such securities. This could increase the Fund’s operating expenses and adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value. The ability of a holder of a tax-exempt security to enforce the terms of that security in a bankruptcy proceeding may be more limited than would be the case with respect to securities of private issuers. In addition, the Fund’s intention to qualify as a “regulated investment company” under the the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) may limit the extent to which the Fund may exercise its rights by taking possession of such assets. To the extent the Fund invests in securities in the lower rating categories, the achievement of the Fund’s investment objective is more dependent on the Advisor’s investment analysis than would be the case if the Fund were investing in securities in the higher rating categories.

 

B-6 

 

Over-the-Counter Transactions – Fixed Income Securities

 

The Fund may enter into over-the-counter (“OTC”) transactions involving fixed income securities. Over-the-counter (“OTC”) transactions differ from exchange-traded transactions in several respects. OTC transactions are transacted directly with dealers and not with a clearing corporation. Without the availability of a clearing corporation, OTC transaction pricing is normally done by reference to information from market makers, which information is carefully monitored by the Advisor and verified in appropriate cases. As OTC transactions are transacted directly with dealers, there is a risk of nonperformance by the dealer as a result of the insolvency of such dealer or otherwise. T he Fund intends to enter into OTC transactions only with dealers which agree to, and which are expected to be capable of, entering into closing transactions with the Fund. There is also no assurance that the Fund will be able to liquidate an OTC transaction at any time prior to expiration.

 

Floating Rate, Inverse Floating Rate and Index Obligations

 

The Fund may invest in debt securities with interest payments or maturity values that are not fixed, but float in conjunction with (or inversely to) an underlying index or price. These securities may be backed by sovereign or corporate issuers, or by collateral such as mortgages. The indices and prices upon which such securities can be based include interest rates, currency rates and commodities prices. Floating rate securities pay interest according to a coupon which is reset periodically. The reset mechanism may be formula based, or reflect the passing through of floating interest payments on an underlying collateral pool. Inverse floating rate securities are similar to floating rate securities except that their coupon payments vary inversely with an underlying index by use of a formula. Inverse floating rate securities tend to exhibit greater price volatility than other floating rate securities. Interest rate risk and price volatility on inverse floating rate obligations can be high, especially if leverage is used in the formula. Index securities pay a fixed rate of interest, but have a maturity value that varies by formula, so that when the obligation matures a gain or loss may be realized. The risk of index obligations depends on the volatility of the underlying index, the coupon payment and the maturity of the obligation.

 

Illiquid and Restricted Securities

 

The Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities. Illiquid securities are securities that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the securities. Illiquid securities may be difficult to value, and a Fund may have difficulty or be unable to dispose of such securities promptly or at reasonable prices.

 

The Fund may invest in restricted securities. Restricted securities are securities that may not be sold freely to the public absent registration under the 1933 Act, or an exemption from registration. While restricted securities are generally presumed to be illiquid, it may be determined that a particular restricted security is liquid. Rule 144A under the 1933 Act establishes a safe harbor from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act for resales of certain securities to qualified institutional buyers. Institutional markets for restricted securities sold pursuant to Rule 144A in many cases provide both readily ascertainable values for restricted securities and the ability to liquidate an investment to satisfy share redemption orders. Such markets might include automated systems for the trading, clearance and settlement of unregistered securities of domestic and foreign issuers, such as the PORTAL System sponsored by NASDAQ. An insufficient number of qualified buyers interested in purchasing Rule 144A eligible restricted securities, however, could adversely affect the marketability of such portfolio securities and result in the Fund’s inability to dispose of such securities promptly or at favorable prices.

 

The Fund may purchase commercial paper issued pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the 1933 Act. 4(a)(2) commercial paper typically has the same price and liquidity characteristics as commercial paper generally, except that the resale of 4(a)(2) commercial paper is limited to the institutional investor marketplace. Such a restriction on resale makes 4(a)(2) commercial paper technically a restricted security under the 1933 Act. In practice, however, 4(a)(2) commercial paper can be resold as easily as any other unrestricted security held by the Fund.

 

B-7 

 

Rule 22e-4 under the 1940 Act requires, among other things, that the Fund establish a liquidity risk management program (“LRMP”) that is reasonably designed to assess and manage liquidity risk. Rule 22e-4 defines “liquidity risk” as the risk that a fund could not meet requests to redeem shares issued by the fund without significant dilution of the remaining investors’ interests in the fund. The Fund has implemented a LRMP to meet the relevant requirements. Additionally, the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, approved the designation of the Advisor as the Fund’s LRMP administrator to administer such program, and will review no less frequently than annually a written report prepared by the Advisor that addresses the operation of the LRMP and assesses its adequacy and effectiveness of implementation. Among other things, the LRMP provides for the classification of each Fund investment as a “highly liquid investment,” “moderately liquid investment,” “less liquid investment” or “illiquid investment.” The liquidity risk classifications of the Fund’s investments are determined after reasonable inquiry and taking into account relevant market, trading and investment-specific considerations. To the extent that a Fund investment is deemed to be an “illiquid investment” or a “less liquid investment,” the Fund can expect to be exposed to greater liquidity risk. There is no guarantee the LRMP will be effective in its operations, and complying with Rule 22e-4, including bearing related costs, could impact the Fund’s performance and its ability to seek its investment objective.

 

The Fund will not purchase illiquid securities if, as a result of the purchase, more than 15% of the Fund’s net assets are invested in such securities. If at any time a portfolio manager and/or the Advisor determines that the value of illiquid securities held by the Fund exceeds 15% of the Fund’s net assets, the Fund’s portfolio managers and the Advisor will take such steps as they consider appropriate to reduce the percentage as soon as reasonably practicable

 

Foreign Investments

 

The Fund may make foreign investments. Investments in the securities of foreign issuers and other non-U.S. investments may involve risks in addition to those normally associated with investments in the securities of U.S. issuers or other U.S. investments. All foreign investments are subject to risks of foreign political and economic instability, adverse movements in foreign exchange rates, and the imposition or tightening of exchange controls and limitations on the repatriation of foreign capital. Other risks stem from potential changes in governmental attitude or policy toward private investment, which in turn raises the risk of nationalization, increased taxation or confiscation of foreign investors’ assets. Additionally, the imposition of sanctions, trade restrictions (including tariffs) and other government restrictions by the United States and/or other governments may adversely affect the values of a Fund’s foreign investments.

 

The financial problems in global economies over the past several years, including the European sovereign debt crisis, may continue to cause high volatility in global financial markets. In addition, global economies are increasingly interconnected, which increases the possibilities that conditions in one country or region might adversely impact a different country or region. The severity or duration of these conditions may also be affected if one or more countries leave the Euro currency or by other policy changes made by governments or quasi-governmental organizations.

 

Additional non-U.S. taxes and expenses may also adversely affect the Fund’s performance, including foreign withholding taxes on foreign securities’ dividends. Brokerage commissions and other transaction costs on foreign securities exchanges are generally higher than in the United States. Foreign companies may be subject to different accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards. To the extent foreign securities held by the Fund are not registered with the SEC or with any other U.S. regulator, the issuers thereof will not be subject to the reporting requirements of the SEC or any other U.S. regulator. Accordingly, less information may be available about foreign companies and other investments than is generally available on issuers of comparable securities and other investments in the United States. Foreign securities and other investments may also trade less frequently and with lower volume and may exhibit greater price volatility than U.S. securities and other investments.

 

B-8 

 

Changes in foreign exchange rates will affect the value in U.S. Dollars of any foreign currency-denominated securities and other investments held by the Fund. Exchange rates are influenced generally by the forces of supply and demand in the foreign currency markets and by numerous other political and economic events occurring outside the United States, many of which may be difficult, if not impossible, to predict.

 

Income from any foreign securities and other investments will be received and realized in foreign currencies, and the Fund is required to compute and distribute income in U.S. Dollars. Accordingly, a decline in the value of a particular foreign currency against the U.S. Dollar occurring after the Fund’s income has been earned and computed in U.S. Dollars may require the Fund to liquidate portfolio securities or other investments to acquire sufficient U.S. Dollars to make a distribution. Similarly, if the exchange rate declines between the time the Fund incurs expenses in U.S. Dollars and the time such expenses are paid, the Fund may be required to liquidate additional portfolio securities or other investments to purchase the U.S. Dollars required to meet such expenses. The Sub-advisor may try to reduce foreign currency exposure by hedging cashflows of underlying foreign currency-denominated securities and may use a combination of swaps, spot trades, forwards, or futures to do so. However, given the significant proportion of cat bond market that is U.S. Dollar-denominated, it is entirely possible the Fund will have very little, or no exposure at all, to foreign securities.

 

The Fund may purchase foreign bank obligations. In addition to the risks described above that are generally applicable to foreign investments, the investments that the Fund makes in obligations of foreign banks, branches or subsidiaries may involve further risks, including differences between foreign banks and U.S. banks in applicable accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, and the possible establishment of exchange controls or other foreign government laws or restrictions applicable to the payment of certificates of deposit or time deposits that may affect adversely the payment of principal and interest on the securities and other investments held by the Fund.

 

Foreign Currency Transactions

 

The Fund may conduct foreign currency exchange transactions either on a spot, i.e., cash, basis, or using foreign currency derivatives such as futures and forwards, at the prevailing rate in the foreign exchange market. Foreign currency transactions are generally used to obtain foreign currencies to settle securities transactions or to exchange one currency for another. They can also be used as a hedge to protect assets against adverse changes in foreign currency exchange rates or regulations. When a Fund uses foreign currency exchanges as a hedge, it may also limit potential gain that could result from an increase in the value of such currencies. Currency exchange rates may be volatile and the Fund may be affected either favorably or unfavorably by fluctuations in the relative rates of exchange between the currencies of different nations, market or economic downswings, or other relevant factors, such as the actions of governments or central banks, the imposition of currency controls, and speculation. Foreign currency hedging transactions are used to protect against foreign currency exchange rate risks.

 

There is no systematic reporting of last sale information for foreign currencies, and there is no regulatory requirement that quotations available through dealers or other market sources be firm or revised on a timely basis. Quotation information available is generally representative of very large transactions in the interbank market. The interbank market in foreign currencies is a global around-the-clock market. Since foreign currency transactions occurring in the interbank market involve substantially larger amounts than those that may be involved in the use of foreign currency options, the Fund may be disadvantaged by having to deal in an odd lot market (generally consisting of transactions of less than $1 million) for the underlying foreign currencies at prices that are less favorable than for round lots.

 

Developments in the China Region

 

After nearly 30 years of unprecedented growth, the People’s Republic of China now faces a slowing economy. The real estate market, which many observers believed to be inflated, has begun to decline. Local governments, which had borrowed heavily to bolster growth, face high debt burdens and limited revenue sources. As a result, demand for Chinese exports by the United States and countries in Europe, and demands for Chinese imports from such countries, may weaken due to the effects of more limited economic growth. Additionally, Chinese actions to lay claim to disputed islands have caused relations with China’s regional trading partners to suffer, and could cause further disruption to regional and international trade. From time to time and as recently as January 2020, China has experienced outbreaks of infectious illnesses, and the country may be subject to other public health threats, infectious illnesses, diseases or similar issues in the future. Any spread of an infectious illness, public health threat or similar issue could reduce consumer demand or economic output, result in market closures, travel restrictions or quarantines, and generally have a significant impact on the Chinese economy. In the long run, China’s ability to develop and sustain a credible legal, regulatory, monetary, and socioeconomic system could influence the course of outside investment.

 

B-9 

 

Europe – Recent Events

 

A number of countries in Europe have experienced severe economic and financial difficulties. Many non-governmental issuers, and even certain governments, have defaulted on, or been forced to restructure, their debts; many other issuers have faced difficulties obtaining credit or refinancing existing obligations; financial institutions have in many cases required government or central bank support, have needed to raise capital, and/or have been impaired in their ability to extend credit; and financial markets in Europe and elsewhere have experienced extreme volatility and declines in asset values and liquidity. These difficulties may continue, worsen or spread within or outside Europe. Responses to the financial problems by European governments, central banks and others, including austerity measures and reforms, may not work, may result in social unrest and may limit future growth and economic recovery or have other unintended consequences. Further defaults or restructurings by governments and others of their debt could have additional adverse effects on economies, financial markets and asset valuations around the world.

 

The European Union (the “EU”) currently faces major issues involving its membership, structure, procedures and policies, including the successful political, economic and social integration of new member states, the EU’s resettlement and distribution of refugees, and resolution of the EU’s problematic fiscal and democratic accountability. In addition, one or more countries may abandon the Euro, the common currency of the EU, and/or withdraw from the EU. The impact of these actions, especially if they occur in a disorderly fashion, is not clear but could be significant and far-reaching.

 

United Kingdom Exit from the EU. On January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom (the “UK”) formally withdrew from the EU (commonly referred to as “Brexit”) and entered an 11-month transition period during which the UK remained part of the EU single market and customs union, the laws of which governed the economic, trade, and security relations between the UK and EU. The transition period concluded on December 31, 2020, and the UK left the EU single market and customs union under the terms of a new trade agreement. The agreement governs the new relationship between the UK and EU with respect to trading goods and services, but critical aspects of the relationship remain unresolved and subject to further negotiation and agreement. The political, regulatory, and economic consequences of Brexit are uncertain, and the ultimate ramifications may not be known for some time. The effects of Brexit on the UK and EU economies and the broader global economy could be significant, resulting in negative impacts, such as business and trade disruptions, increased volatility and illiquidity, and potentially lower economic growth of markets in the UK, EU, and globally, which could negatively impact the value of the Fund’s investments. Brexit could also lead to legal uncertainty and politically divergent national laws and regulations while the new relationship between the UK and EU is further defined and the UK determines which EU laws to replace or replicate. Additionally, depreciation of the British pound sterling and/or the euro in relation to the U.S. dollar following Brexit could adversely affect Fund investments denominated in the British pound sterling and/or the euro, regardless of the performance of the investment.

 

Whether or not the Fund invests in securities of issuers located in Europe or with significant exposure to European issuers or countries, these events could negatively affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments due to the interconnected nature of the global economy and capital markets. The Fund may also be susceptible to these events to the extent that the Fund invests in municipal obligations with credit support by non-U.S. financial institutions.

 

 

B-10 

 

LIBOR Risk

 

Many financial instruments, financings or other transactions to which the Fund may be a party use or may use a floating rate based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). LIBOR is the offered rate at which major international banks can obtain wholesale, unsecured funding, and LIBOR may be available for different durations (e.g., 1 month or 3 months) and for different currencies. LIBOR may be a significant factor in determining the Fund’s payment obligations under a derivative investment, the cost of financing to the Fund or an investment’s value or return to the Fund, and may be used in other ways that affect the Fund’s investment performance. In July 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority, the United Kingdom’s financial regulatory body, announced that after 2021 it will cease its active encouragement of banks to provide the quotations needed to sustain LIBOR. In March 2021, the administrator of LIBOR announced a delay in the phase out of the majority of the USD LIBOR publications until June 30, 2023, with the remainder of LIBOR publications to still end on December 31, 2021. Various financial industry groups have begun planning for the transition, but there are obstacles to converting certain securities and transactions to a new benchmark. Transition planning is ongoing, and the effect of the transition process and its ultimate success cannot yet be determined. The transition process may lead to increased volatility and illiquidity in markets for instruments the terms of which are based on LIBOR. It could also lead to a reduction in the value of some LIBOR-based investments and reduce the effectiveness of new hedges placed against existing LIBOR-based investments. While some LIBOR-based instruments may contemplate a scenario in which LIBOR is no longer available by providing for an alternative rate-setting methodology and/or increased costs for certain LIBOR-related instruments or financing transactions, not all may have such provisions and there may be significant uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of any such alternative methodologies, resulting in prolonged adverse market conditions for the Fund. Since the usefulness of LIBOR as a benchmark could deteriorate during the transition period, these effects could occur prior to the completion of the applicable phase out. The willingness and ability of issuers to include enhanced provisions in new and existing contracts or instruments also remains uncertain. Any of these factors may adversely affect the Fund’s performance or NAV.

 

Other Investment Strategies, Policies and Risks

 

Equity Securities

 

Common Stock

 

The Fund may invest in common stock. Common stock represents an equity (ownership) interest in a company, and usually possesses voting rights and earns dividends. Dividends on common stock are not fixed but are declared at the discretion of the issuer. Common stock generally represents the riskiest investment in a company. In addition, common stock generally has the greatest appreciation and depreciation potential because increases and decreases in earnings are usually reflected in a company’s stock price.

 

The fundamental risk of investing in common stock is that the value of the stock might decrease. Stock values fluctuate in response to the activities of an individual company or in response to general market and/or economic conditions. While common stocks have historically provided greater long-term returns than preferred stocks, fixed-income and money market investments, common stocks have also experienced significantly more volatility than the returns from those other investments.

 

Preferred Stock

 

The Fund may invest in preferred stock. Preferred stock is a class of stock having a preference over common stock as to the payment of dividends and a share of the proceeds resulting from the issuer’s liquidation although preferred stock is usually subordinate to the debt securities of the issuer. Some preferred stocks also entitle their holders to receive additional liquidation proceeds on the same basis as the holders of the issuer’s common stock. Preferred stock typically does not possess voting rights and its market value may change based on changes in interest rates. If interest rates rise, the fixed dividend on preferred stocks may be less attractive, causing the price of preferred stocks to decline. Preferred stock may have mandatory sinking fund provisions, as well as call/redemption provisions prior to maturity, a negative feature when interest rates decline. In addition, the Fund may receive stocks or warrants as a result of an exchange or tender of fixed income securities. Preference stock, which is more common in emerging markets than in developed markets, is a special type of common stock that shares in the earnings of an issuer, has limited voting rights, may have a dividend preference, and may also have a liquidation preference. Depending on the features of the particular security, holders of preferred and preference stock may bear the risks regarding common stock or fixed income securities.

 

 

B-11 

 

Warrants and Rights

 

The Fund may invest in warrants or rights (including those acquired in units or attached to other securities) that entitle (but do not obligate) the holder to buy equity securities at a specific price for a specific period of time but will do so only if such equity securities are deemed appropriate by the Advisor. Rights are similar to warrants but typically have a shorter duration and are issued by a company to existing stockholders to provide those holders the right to purchase additional shares of stock at a later date. Warrants and rights do not have voting rights, do not earn dividends, and do not entitle the holder to any rights with respect to the assets of the company that has issued them. They do not represent ownership of the underlying companies but only the right to purchase shares of those companies at a specified price on or before a specified exercise date. Warrants and rights tend to be more volatile than the underlying stock, and if at a warrant’s expiration date the stock is trading at a price below the price set in the warrant, the warrant will expire worthless. Conversely, if at the expiration date the stock is trading at a price higher than the price set in the warrant or right, the Fund can acquire the stock at a price below its market value. The prices of warrants and rights do not necessarily parallel the prices of the underlying securities. An investment in warrants or rights may be considered speculative.

 

Convertible Securities

 

The Fund may invest in convertible securities. A convertible security is a preferred stock, warrant or other security that may be converted or exchanged for a prescribed amount of common stock or other security of the same or a different issuer or into cash within a particular period of time at a specified price or formula. A convertible security generally entitles the holder to receive the dividend or interest until the convertible security matures or is redeemed, converted or exchanged. Before conversion, convertible securities generally have characteristics similar to both fixed income and equity securities. Although to a lesser extent than with fixed income securities generally, the market value of convertible securities tends to decline as interest rates increase and, conversely, tends to increase as interest rates decline. In addition, because of the conversion feature, the market value of convertible securities tends to vary with fluctuations in the market value of the underlying common stocks and, therefore, also will react to variations in the general market for equity securities. A significant feature of convertible securities is that as the market price of the underlying common stock declines, convertible securities tend to trade increasingly on a yield basis, and so they may not experience market value declines to the same extent as the underlying common stock. When the market price of the underlying common stock increases, the prices of the convertible securities tend to rise as a reflection of the value of the underlying common stock. While no securities investments are without risk, investments in convertible securities generally entail less risk than investments in common stock of the same issuer.

 

Debt Securities

 

Zero Coupon, Step Coupon, and Pay-In-Kind Securities

 

The Fund may invest in zero coupon, pay-in-kind, and step coupon securities. Zero coupon bonds are securities that make no fixed interest payments but instead are issued and traded at a discount from their face value. They do not entitle the holder to any periodic payment of interest prior to maturity. Step coupon bonds trade at a discount from their face value and pay coupon interest. The coupon rate is low for an initial period and then increases to a higher coupon rate thereafter. The discount from the face amount or par value depends on the time remaining until cash payments begin, prevailing interest rates, liquidity of the security, and the perceived credit quality of the issuer. Pay-in-kind bonds normally give the issuer an option to pay cash at a coupon payment date or give the holder of the security a similar bond with the same coupon rate and a face value equal to the amount of the coupon payment that would have been made.

 

Generally, the market prices of zero coupon, step coupon, and pay-in-kind securities are more volatile than the prices of securities that pay interest periodically and in cash and are likely to respond to changes in interest rates to a greater degree than other types of debt securities having similar maturities and credit quality.

 

B-12 

 

Foreign Investments

 

Emerging Markets

 

The Fund may invest in companies organized or doing substantial business in emerging market countries or developing countries as defined by the World Bank, International Financial Corporation, or the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) emerging market indices or other comparable indices. Investing in emerging markets involves additional risks and special considerations not typically associated with investing in other more established economies or markets. Such risks may include (i) increased risk of nationalization or expropriation of assets or confiscatory taxation; (ii) greater social, economic and political uncertainty, including war; (iii) higher dependence on exports and the corresponding importance of international trade; (iv) greater volatility, less liquidity and smaller capitalization of markets; (v) greater volatility in currency exchange rates; (vi) greater risk of inflation; (vii) greater controls on foreign investment and limitations on realization of investments, repatriation of invested capital and on the ability to exchange local currencies for U.S. dollars; (viii) increased likelihood of governmental involvement in and control over the economy; (ix) governmental decisions to cease support of economic reform programs or to impose centrally planned economies; (x) differences in regulatory, accounting, auditing, and financial reporting and recordkeeping standards, which may result in the unavailability of material information about issuers; (xi) less extensive regulation of the markets; (xii) longer settlement periods for transactions and less reliable clearance and custody arrangements; (xiii) less developed corporate laws regarding fiduciary duties of officers and directors and the protection of investors; (xiv) certain considerations regarding the maintenance of the Fund’s securities with local brokers and securities depositories and (xv) the imposition of withholding or other taxes on dividends, interest, capital gains, other income or gross sale or disposition proceeds.

 

Repatriation of investment income, assets and the proceeds of sales by foreign investors may require governmental registration and/or approval in some emerging market countries. The Fund could be adversely affected by delays in or a refusal to grant any required governmental registration or approval for such repatriation, or by withholding taxes imposed by emerging market countries on interest or dividends paid on securities held by the Fund or gains from the disposition of such securities.

 

In emerging markets, there is often less government supervision and regulation of business and industry practices, stock exchanges, over-the-counter markets, brokers, dealers, counterparties and issuers than in other more established markets. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which regulates auditors of U.S. public companies, for example, is unable to inspect audit work and practices in certain countries, such as China. Any regulatory supervision that is in place may be subject to manipulation or control. Some emerging market countries do not have mature legal systems comparable to those of more developed countries. Moreover, the process of legal and regulatory reform may not be proceeding at the same pace as market developments, which could result in investment risk. Legislation to safeguard the rights of private ownership may not yet be in place in certain areas, and there may be the risk of conflict among local, regional and national requirements. In certain cases, the laws and regulations governing investments in securities may not exist or may be subject to inconsistent or arbitrary appreciation or interpretation. Both the independence of judicial systems and their immunity from economic, political or nationalistic influences remain largely untested in many countries. It may also be difficult or impossible for the Fund to pursue legal remedies or to obtain and enforce judgments in local courts.

 

In addition, there may be restrictions on investments in Chinese companies. For example, on November 12, 2020, the President of the United States of America signed an Executive Order prohibiting U.S. persons from purchasing or investing in publicly-traded securities of companies identified by the U.S. Government as “Communist Chinese military companies.” The list of such companies can change from time to time, and as a result of forced selling or an inability to participate in an investment the Advisor otherwise believes is attractive, the Fund may incur losses.

 

 

B-13 

 

Derivatives

 

The Fund may invest in swaps. The regulation of derivatives markets in the United States is a rapidly changing area of law and is subject to modification by government and judicial action. In particular, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), signed into law in 2010, granted significant authority to the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) to impose comprehensive regulations on the over-the-counter and cleared derivatives markets. These regulations include, but are not limited to, mandatory clearing of certain derivatives and requirements relating to disclosure, margin and trade reporting. New regulations could adversely affect the value, availability and performance of certain derivative instruments, may make them more costly, and may limit or restrict their use by the Fund.

 

On October 28, 2020, the SEC adopted Rule 18f-4 under the 1940 Act (the “Derivatives Rule”) which, following an implementation period, will replace existing SEC and staff guidance with an updated, comprehensive framework for registered investment companies’ use of derivatives. Among other changes, the Derivatives Rule will require an investment company to trade derivatives and certain other instruments that create future payment or delivery obligations subject to a value-at-risk (“VaR”) leverage limit, develop and implement a derivatives risk management program and new testing requirements, and comply with new requirements related to board and SEC reporting. These new requirements will apply unless the Fund qualifies as a “limited derivatives user,” which the Derivatives Rule defines as a fund that limits its derivatives exposure to 10% of its net assets. Complying with the Derivatives Rule may increase the cost of the Fund’s investments and cost of doing business, which could adversely affect investors. Other potentially adverse regulatory obligations can develop suddenly and without notice.

 

Certain additional risk factors related to derivatives are discussed below:

 

Derivatives Risk. Under recently adopted rules by the CFTC, transactions in some types of interest rate swaps and index credit default swaps on North American and European indices will be required to be cleared. In a cleared derivatives transaction, the Fund’s counterparty is a clearing house (such as CME Clearing, ICE Clearing or LCH.Clearnet), rather than a bank or broker. Since the Fund is not a member of clearing houses and only members of a clearing house can participate directly in the clearing house, the Fund will hold cleared derivatives through accounts at clearing members, who are futures commission merchants that are members of the clearing houses and who have the appropriate regulatory approvals to engage in swap transactions. The Fund will make and receive payments owed under cleared derivatives transactions (including margin payments) through its accounts at clearing members. Clearing members guarantee performance of their clients’ obligations to the clearing house. In contrast to bilateral derivatives transactions, following a period of advance notice to the Fund, clearing members generally can require termination of existing cleared derivatives transactions at any time and increases in margin above the margin that it required at the beginning of a transaction. Clearing houses also have broad rights to increase margin requirements for existing transactions and to terminate transactions. Any such increase or termination could interfere with the ability of the Fund to pursue its investment strategy. Also, the Fund is subject to execution risk if it enters into a derivatives transaction that is required to be cleared (or that the Advisor expects to be cleared), and no clearing member is willing or able to clear the transaction on the Fund’s behalf. While the documentation in place between the Fund and its clearing members generally provides that the clearing members will accept for clearing all transactions submitted for clearing that are within credit limits specified by the clearing members in advance, the Fund could be subject to this execution risk if the Fund submits for clearing transactions that exceed such credit limits, if the clearing house does not accept the transactions for clearing, or if the clearing members do not comply with their agreement to clear such transactions. In that case, the transaction might have to be terminated, and the Fund could lose some or all of the benefit of any increase in the value of the transaction after the time of the transaction. In addition, new regulations could, among other things, restrict the Fund’s ability to engage in, or increase the cost to the Fund of, derivatives transactions, for example, by making some types of derivatives no longer available to the Fund or increasing margin or capital requirements. If the Fund is not able to enter into a particular derivatives transaction, the Fund’s investment performance and risk profile could be adversely affected as a result.

 

 

B-14 

 

Counterparty Risk. Counterparty risk with respect to OTC derivatives may be affected by new regulations promulgated by the CFTC and SEC affecting the derivatives market. As described under “Derivatives Risk” above, some derivatives transactions will be required to be cleared, and a party to a cleared derivatives transaction is subject to the credit risk of the clearing house and the clearing member through which it holds its cleared position, rather than the credit risk of its original counterparty to the derivative transaction. Clearing members are required to segregate all funds received from customers with respect to cleared derivatives transactions from the clearing member’s proprietary assets. However, all funds and other property received by a clearing broker from its customers are generally held by the clearing broker on a commingled basis in an omnibus account, which may also invest those funds in certain instruments permitted under the applicable regulations. The assets of the Fund might not be fully protected in the event of the bankruptcy of the Fund’s clearing member because the Fund would be limited to recovering only a pro rata share of all available funds segregated on behalf of the clearing broker’s customers for a relevant account class. Also, the clearing member transfers to the clearing house the amount of margin required by the clearing house for cleared derivatives transactions, which amounts are generally held in an omnibus account at the clearing house for all customers of the clearing member. For commodities futures positions, the clearing house may use all of the collateral held in the clearing member’s omnibus account to meet a loss in that account, without regard to which customer in fact supplied that collateral. Accordingly, in addition to bearing the credit risk of its clearing member, each customer to a futures transaction also bears “fellow customer” risk from other customers of the clearing member. However, with respect to cleared swaps positions, recent regulations promulgated by the CFTC require that the clearing member notify the clearing house of the amount of initial margin provided by the clearing member to the clearing house that is attributable to each customer. Because margin in respect of cleared swaps must be earmarked for specific clearing member customers, the clearing house may not use the collateral of one customer to cover the obligations of another customer. However, if the clearing member does not provide accurate reporting, the Fund is subject to the risk that a clearing house will use the Fund’s assets held in an omnibus account at the clearing house to satisfy payment obligations of a defaulting customer of the clearing member to the clearing house. In addition, a clearing member may generally choose to provide to the clearing house the net amount of variation margin required for cleared swaps for all of the clearing member’s customers in the aggregate, rather than the gross amount of each customer. The Fund is therefore subject to the risk that a clearing house will not make variation margin payments owed to the Fund if another customer of the clearing member has suffered a loss and is in default.

 

Swap Transactions

 

The Fund may enter into interest rate, currency and index swaps and the purchase or sale of related caps, floors and collars. The Fund may enter into these transactions to preserve a return or spread on a particular investment or portion of its portfolio, to protect against currency fluctuations or to protect against any increase in the price of securities it anticipates purchasing at a later date. Swaps may be used in conjunction with other instruments to offset interest rate, currency or other underlying risks. For example, interest rate swaps may be offset with “caps,” “floors” or “collars”. A “cap” is essentially a call option which places a limit on the amount of floating rate interest that must be paid on a certain principal amount. A “floor” is essentially a put option which places a limit on the minimum amount that would be paid on a certain principal amount. A “collar” is essentially a combination of a long cap and a short floor where the limits are set at different levels.

 

The Fund will usually enter into swaps on a net basis; that is, the two payment streams will be netted out in a cash settlement on the payment date or dates specified in the instrument, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments. To the extent obligations created thereby may be deemed to constitute senior securities, the Fund will maintain required collateral in a segregated account consisting of U.S. government securities or cash or cash equivalents.

 

 

B-15 

 

Total Return Swaps. The Fund may enter into total return swap contracts for investment purposes. Total return swaps are contracts in which one party agrees to make periodic payments based on the change in market value of the underlying assets, which may include a specified security, basket of securities or security indexes during the specified period, in return for periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate of the total return from other underlying assets. Total return swaps may be used to obtain exposure to a security or market without owning or taking physical custody of such security or market, including in cases in which there may be disadvantages associated with direct ownership of a particular security. In a typical total return equity swap, payments made by the Fund or the counterparty are based on the total return of a particular reference asset or assets (such as an equity security, a combination of such securities, or an index). That is, one party agrees to pay another party the return on a stock, basket of stocks, or stock index in return for a specified interest rate. By entering into an equity index swap, for example, the index receiver can gain exposure to stocks making up the index of securities without actually purchasing those stocks. Total return swaps involve not only the risk associated with the investment in the underlying securities, but also the risk of the counterparty not fulfilling its obligations under the agreement.

 

Credit Default Swaps. The Fund may enter into credit default swap transactions for investment purposes. A credit default swap may have as reference obligations one or more securities that are not currently held by the Fund. The Fund may be either the buyer or seller in the transaction. Credit default swaps may also be structured based on the debt of a basket of issuers, rather than a single issuer, and may be customized with respect to the default event that triggers purchase or other factors. As a seller, the Fund would generally receive an upfront payment or a fixed rate of income throughout the term of the swap, which typically is between six months and three years, provided that there is no credit event. If a credit event occurs, generally the seller must pay the buyer the full face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference obligations that may have little or no value. The notional value of the credit default swap will be used to segregate liquid assets for selling protection on credit default swaps. If the Fund were a buyer and no credit event occurs, the Fund would recover nothing if the swap is held through its termination date. However, if a credit event occurs, the buyer may elect to receive the full notional value of the swap in exchange for an equal face amount of deliverable obligations of the reference obligation that may have little or no value. When the Fund buys credit default swaps it will segregate an amount at least equal to the amount of any accrued premium payment obligations including amounts for early terminations. The use of swap transactions by the Fund entails certain risks, which may be different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in the securities and other investments that are the referenced asset for the swap transaction. Swaps are highly specialized instruments that require investment techniques, risk analyses, and tax planning different from those associated with stocks, bonds, and other traditional investments. The use of a swap requires an understanding not only of the referenced asset, reference rate, or index, but also of the swap itself, without the benefit of observing the performance of the swap under all the possible market conditions. Because some swap transactions have a leverage component, adverse changes in the value or level of the underlying asset, reference rate, or index can result in a loss substantially greater than the amount invested in the swap itself. Certain swaps have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment.

 

The Fund may also purchase credit default swap contracts in order to hedge against the risk of default of the debt of a particular issuer or basket of issuers, in which case the Fund would function as the counterparty referenced in the preceding paragraph. This would involve the risk that the investment may expire worthless and would only generate income in the event of an actual default by the issuer(s) of the underlying obligation(s) (or, as applicable, a credit downgrade or other indication of financial instability). It would also involve the risk that the seller may fail to satisfy its payment obligations to the Fund in the event of a default. The purchase of credit default swaps involves costs, which will reduce the Fund’s return.

 

Currency Swaps. The Fund may enter into currency swap transactions for investment purposes. Currency swaps are similar to interest rate swaps, except that they involve multiple currencies. The Fund may enter into a currency swap when it has exposure to one currency and desires exposure to a different currency. Typically the interest rates that determine the currency swap payments are fixed, although occasionally one or both parties may pay a floating rate of interest. Unlike an interest rate swap, however, the principal amounts are exchanged at the beginning of the contract and returned at the end of the contract. In addition to paying and receiving amounts at the beginning and termination of the agreements, both sides will also have to pay in full periodically based upon the currency they have borrowed. Change in foreign exchange rates and changes in interest rates, as described above, may negatively affect currency swaps.

 

 

B-16 

 

Interest Rate Swaps. The Fund may enter into an interest rate swap in an effort to protect against declines in the value of fixed income securities held by the Fund. In such an instance, the Fund may agree to pay a fixed rate (multiplied by a notional amount) while a counterparty agrees to pay a floating rate (multiplied by the same notional amount). If interest rates rise, resulting in a diminution in the value of the Fund’s portfolio, the fund would receive payments under the swap that would offset, in whole or in part, such diminution in value.

 

Options on Swaps. The Fund may enter into options on swap agreements. An option on a swap agreement, or a “swaption,” is a contract that gives a counterparty the right (but not the obligation) to enter into a new swap agreement or to shorten, extend, cancel or otherwise modify an existing swap agreement, at some designated future time on specified terms. In return, the purchaser pays a “premium” to the seller of the contract. The seller of the contract receives the premium and bears the risk of unfavorable changes on the underlying swap. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions. The Fund may also enter into swaptions on either an asset-based or liability-based basis, depending on whether the Fund is hedging its assets or its liabilities. The Fund may write (sell) and purchase put and call swaptions to the same extent it may make use of standard options on securities or other instruments. The Fund may enter into these transactions primarily to preserve a return or spread on a particular investment or portion of its holdings, as a duration management technique, to protect against an increase in the price of securities the Fund anticipates purchasing at a later date, or for any other purposes, such as for speculation to increase returns. Swaptions are generally subject to the same risks involved in the Fund’s use of options.

 

Depending on the terms of the particular option agreement, the Fund will generally incur a greater degree of risk when it writes a swaption than it will incur when it purchases a swaption. When the Fund purchases a swaption, it risks losing only the amount of the premium it has paid should it decide to let the option expire unexercised. However, when the Fund writes a swaption, upon exercise of the option the Fund will become obligated according to the terms of the underlying agreement.

 

Under CFTC Regulation 4.5, if the Fund uses swaps other than for bona fide hedging purposes (as defined by the CFTC), the aggregate initial margin and premiums on these positions (after taking into account unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such positions and excluding the amount by which options are “in-the-money” at the time of purchase of a new position) may not exceed 5% of the Fund’s liquidation value, or alternatively, the aggregate net notional value of those positions at the time may not exceed 100% of the Fund’s liquidation value (after taking into account unrealized profits and unrealized losses on any such positions). The Advisor, on behalf of the Fund, has filed a notice of eligibility for exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” in accordance with CFTC Regulation 4.5. As of the date of this SAI, the Fund is not deemed to be a “commodity pool” or “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”), and it is not subject to registration or regulation as such under the CEA. In addition, as of the date of this SAI, the Advisor is not deemed to be a “commodity pool operator” or “commodity trading adviser” with respect to the advisory services it provides to the Fund. In the future, if the Fund’s use of swaps requires the Advisor to register as a commodity pool operator with the CFTC with respect to the Fund, the Advisor will do so at that time.

 

OTC Derivatives Transactions

 

The Fund may enter into OTC derivatives transactions. The Dodd-Frank Act established a new statutory framework that comprehensively regulated the OTC derivatives markets for the first time. Key Dodd-Frank Act provisions relating to OTC derivatives require rulemaking by the SEC and the CFTC, not all of which has been proposed or finalized as at the date of this SAI. Prior to the Dodd-Frank Act, the OTC derivatives markets were traditionally traded on a bilateral basis (so-called “bilateral OTC transactions”). Now certain OTC derivatives contracts are required to be centrally cleared and traded on exchanges or electronic trading platforms called swap execution facilities (“SEFs”).

 

 

B-17 

 

Bilateral OTC transactions differ from exchange-traded or cleared derivatives transactions in several respects. Bilateral OTC transactions are transacted directly with dealers and not with a clearing corporation. Without the availability of a clearing corporation, bilateral OTC transaction pricing is normally done by reference to information from market makers, which information is carefully monitored by the Advisor and verified in appropriate cases. As bilateral OTC transactions are entered into directly with a dealer, there is a risk of nonperformance by the dealer as a result of its insolvency or otherwise. Under recently-adopted CFTC regulations, counterparties of registered swap dealers and major swap participants have the right to elect segregation of initial margin in respect of uncleared swaps. If a counterparty makes such an election, any initial margin that is posted to the swap dealer or major swap participant must be segregated in individual customer accounts held at an independent third-party custodian. In addition, the collateral may only be invested in certain categories of instruments identified in the CFTC’s regulations. Agreements covering these segregation arrangements must generally provide for consent by both the counterparty and the swap dealer or major swap participant to withdraw margin from the segregated account. Given these limitations on the use of uncleared swaps collateral, there is some likelihood that the electing counterparty will experience an increase in the costs associated with trading swaps with the relevant swap dealer or major swap participant. Certain other protections apply to a counterparty to uncleared swaps under the CFTC’s regulations even if the counterparty does not elect segregation of its initial margin. These regulations are newly adopted, and it remains unclear whether they will be effective in protecting initial margin in the manner intended in the event of significant market stress or the insolvency of a swap dealer or major swap participant.

 

Furthermore, a bilateral OTC transaction may only be terminated voluntarily by entering into a closing transaction with the dealer with which the Fund originally dealt. Any such cancellation may require the Fund to pay a premium to that dealer. In those cases in which the Fund has entered into a covered transaction and cannot voluntarily terminate the transaction, the Fund will not be able to sell the underlying security until the transaction expires or is exercised or different cover is substituted. The Fund will seek to enter into OTC transactions only with dealers which agree to, and which are expected to be capable of, entering into closing transactions with the Fund. There is also no assurance that the Fund will be able to liquidate an OTC transaction at any time prior to expiration.

 

The requirement to execute certain OTC derivatives contracts on SEFs may offer certain advantages over traditional bilateral OTC trading, such as ease of execution, price transparency, increased liquidity and/or favorable pricing. However, SEF trading may make it more difficult and costly for the Fund to enter into highly tailored or customized transactions and may result in additional costs and risks. Market participants such as the Fund that execute derivatives contracts through a SEF, whether directly or through a broker intermediary, are required to submit to the jurisdiction of the SEF and comply with SEF and CFTC rules and regulations which impose, among other things disclosure and recordkeeping obligations. In addition, the Fund will generally incur SEF or broker intermediary fees when it trades on a SEF. The Fund may also be required to indemnify the SEF or broker intermediary for any losses or costs that may result from the Fund’s transactions on the SEF.

 

 

B-18 

 

Repurchase Agreements

 

The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements with respect to its portfolio securities. Pursuant to such agreements, the Fund acquires securities from financial institutions such as banks and broker-dealers deemed to be creditworthy by the Advisor or the Sub-Advisor, subject to the seller’s agreement to repurchase and the Fund’s agreement to resell such securities at a mutually agreed upon date and price. The repurchase price generally equals the price paid by the Fund plus interest negotiated on the basis of current short-term rates (which may be more or less than the rate on the underlying portfolio security). Securities subject to repurchase agreements will be held by the custodian or in the Federal Reserve/Treasury Book-Entry System or an equivalent foreign system. The seller under a repurchase agreement will be required to maintain the value of the underlying securities at not less than 102% of the repurchase price under the agreement. If the seller defaults on its repurchase obligation, the Fund will suffer a loss to the extent that the proceeds from a sale of the underlying securities are less than the repurchase price under the agreement. Bankruptcy or insolvency of such a defaulting seller may cause the Fund’s rights with respect to such securities to be delayed or limited. Repurchase agreements are considered to be loans under the 1940 Act.

 

Reverse Repurchase Agreements

 

The Fund may enter into “reverse” repurchase agreements to avoid selling securities during unfavorable market conditions to meet redemptions. The Fund may invest a maximum of 10% of total assets in reverse repurchase agreements. Pursuant to a reverse repurchase agreement, the Fund will sell portfolio securities and agree to repurchase them from the buyer at a particular date and price. Whenever the Fund enters into a reverse repurchase agreement, it will establish a segregated account in which it will maintain liquid assets in an amount at least equal to the repurchase price marked to market daily (including accrued interest), and will subsequently monitor the account to ensure that such equivalent value is maintained. The Fund pays interest on amounts obtained pursuant to reverse repurchase agreements. Reverse repurchase agreements are considered to be borrowings by the Fund.

 

Investment Company Securities

 

The Fund may invest in shares of other investment companies (each, an “Underlying Fund”), including open-end funds, closed-end funds, unit investment trusts (“UITs”) and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), to the extent permitted by applicable law and subject to certain restrictions set forth in this SAI.

 

Under Section 12(d)(1)(A) of the 1940 Act, the Fund may acquire securities of an Underlying Fund in amounts which, as determined immediately after the acquisition is made, do not exceed (i) 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of such Underlying Fund, (ii) 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets, and (iii) 10% of the value of the Fund’s total assets when combined with all other Underlying Fund securities held by the Fund. The Fund may exceed these statutory limits when permitted by SEC order or other applicable law or regulatory guidance, such as is the case with many ETFs. The SEC recently adopted certain regulatory changes and took other actions related to the ability of an investment company to invest in the securities of another investment company. These changes include, among other things, the rescission of certain SEC exemptive orders permitting investments in excess of the statutory limits and the withdrawal of certain related SEC staff no-action letters, and the adoption of Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act. Rule 12d1-4, which was effective on January 19, 2021, permits the Fund to invest in other investment companies beyond the statutory limits, subject to certain conditions. The rescission of the applicable exemptive orders and the withdrawal of the applicable no-action letters is effective on January 19, 2022. After such time, an investment company will no longer be able to rely on the aforementioned exemptive orders and no-action letters, and will be subject instead to Rule 12d1-4 and other applicable rules under Section 12(d)(1).

 

 

B-19 

 

Generally, under Sections 12(d)(1)(F) and 12(d)(1)(G) of the 1940 Act and SEC rules adopted pursuant to the 1940 Act, the Fund may acquire the securities of affiliated and unaffiliated Underlying Funds subject to the following guidelines and restrictions:

 

 

The Fund may own an unlimited amount of the securities of any registered open-end fund or registered unit investment trust that is affiliated with the Fund, so long as any such Underlying Fund has a policy that prohibits it from acquiring any securities of registered open-end funds or registered UITs in reliance on certain sections of the 1940 Act.

 

 

The Fund and its “affiliated persons” may own up to 3% of the outstanding stock of any fund, subject to the following restrictions:

 

 

i.

the Fund and each Underlying Fund, in the aggregate, may not charge a sales load greater than the limits set forth in Rule 2830(d)(3) of the Conduct Rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) applicable to funds of funds;

 

 

ii.

each Underlying Fund is not obligated to redeem more than 1% of its total outstanding securities during any period less than 30 days; and

 

 

iii.

the Fund is obligated either to (i) seek instructions from its shareholders with regard to the voting of all proxies with respect to the Underlying Fund and to vote in accordance with such instructions, or (ii) to vote the shares of the Underlying Fund held by the Fund in the same proportion as the vote of all other shareholders of the Underlying Fund.

 

Underlying Funds typically incur fees that are separate from those fees incurred directly by the Fund. The Fund’s purchase of such investment company securities results in the layering of expenses as Fund shareholders would indirectly bear a proportionate share of the operating expenses of such investment companies, including advisory fees, in addition to paying Fund expenses. In addition, the securities of other investment companies may also be leveraged and will therefore be subject to certain leverage risks. The net asset value and market value of leveraged securities will be more volatile and the yield to shareholders will tend to fluctuate more than the yield generated by unleveraged securities. Investment companies may have investment policies that differ from those of the Fund.

 

Under certain circumstances an open-end investment company in which the Fund invests may determine to make payment of a redemption by the Fund wholly or in part by a distribution in kind of securities from its portfolio, instead of in cash. As a result, the Fund may hold such securities until the Advisor determines it is appropriate to dispose of them. Such disposition will impose additional costs on the Fund.

 

Investment decisions by the investment advisors to the registered investment companies in which the Fund invests are made independently of the Fund. At any particular time, one Underlying Fund may be purchasing shares of an issuer whose shares are being sold by another Underlying Fund. As a result, under these circumstances the Fund indirectly would incur certain transactional costs without accomplishing any investment purpose.

 

Temporary Investments

 

The Fund may take temporary defensive measures that are inconsistent with the Fund’s normal fundamental or non-fundamental investment policies and strategies in response to adverse market, economic, political, or other conditions as determined by the Advisor. Such measures could include, but are not limited to, investments in (1) highly liquid short-term fixed income securities issued by or on behalf of municipal or corporate issuers, obligations of the U.S. government and its agencies, commercial paper, and bank certificates of deposit; (2) repurchase agreements involving any such securities; and (3) other money market instruments. The Fund also may invest in shares of money market mutual funds to the extent permitted under applicable law. Money market mutual funds are investment companies, and the investments in those companies by the Fund are in some cases subject to certain fundamental investment restrictions. As a shareholder in a mutual fund, the Fund will bear its ratable share of its expenses, including management fees, and will remain subject to payment of the fees to the Advisor, with respect to assets so invested. The Fund may not achieve its investment objectives during temporary defensive periods.

 

B-20 

 

Short-Term Investments

 

The Fund may invest in any of the following securities and instruments:

 

Bank Certificates of Deposit, Bankers’ Acceptances and Time Deposits

 

The Fund may acquire certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances and time deposits in U.S. Dollar or foreign currencies. Certificates of deposit are negotiable certificates issued against monies deposited in a commercial bank for a definite period of time and earning a specified return. Bankers’ acceptances are negotiable drafts or bills of exchange, normally drawn by an importer or exporter to pay for specific merchandise, which are “accepted” by a bank, meaning in effect that the bank unconditionally agrees to pay the face value of the instrument on maturity. The commercial banks issuing these short-term instruments which the Fund may acquire must, at the time of purchase, have capital, surplus and undivided profits in excess of $100 million (including assets of both domestic and foreign branches), based on latest published reports, or less than $100 million if the principal amount of such bank obligations are fully insured by the U.S. government. If the Fund holds instruments of foreign banks or financial institutions, it may be subject to additional investment risks that are different in some respects from those incurred if the Fund invests only in debt obligations of U.S. domestic issuers. See “Foreign Investments” above. Such risks include future political and economic developments, the possible imposition of withholding taxes by the particular country in which the issuer is located, the possible confiscation or nationalization of foreign deposits, the possible establishment of exchange controls, or the adoption of other foreign governmental restrictions which may adversely affect the payment of principal and interest on these securities.

 

Domestic banks and foreign banks are subject to different governmental regulations with respect to the amount and types of loans that may be made and interest rates that may be charged. In addition, the profitability of the banking industry depends largely upon the availability and cost of funds and the interest income generated from lending operations. General economic conditions and the quality of loan portfolios affect the banking industry.

 

As a result of federal and state laws and regulations, domestic banks are required to maintain specified levels of reserves, limited in the amount that they can loan to a single borrower, and are subject to regulations designed to promote financial soundness. However, such laws and regulations may not necessarily apply to foreign banks, thereby affecting the risk involved in bank obligations that the Fund may acquire.

 

In addition to purchasing certificates of deposit and bankers’ acceptances, to the extent permitted under its investment strategies and policies stated above and in the Prospectus, the Fund may invest in interest-bearing time deposits or other interest-bearing deposits in commercial or savings banks. Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained at a banking institution for a specified period of time at a specified interest rate.

 

Savings Association Obligations

 

The Fund may invest in certificates of deposit (interest-bearing time deposits) issued by savings banks or savings and loan associations that have capital, surplus and undivided profits in excess of $100 million, based on latest published reports, or less than $100 million if the principal amount of such obligations is fully insured by the U.S. government. 

 

 

B-21 

 

Commercial Paper, Short-Term Notes and Other Corporate Obligations

 

The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in commercial paper and short-term notes. Commercial paper consists of unsecured promissory notes issued by corporations. Issues of commercial paper and short-term notes will normally have maturities of less than nine months and fixed rates of return, although such instruments may have maturities of up to one year.

 

The Fund’s investment in commercial paper and short-term notes will consist of issues rated at the time of purchase “A-2” or higher by S&P, “Prime-1” or “Prime-2” by Moody’s, or similarly rated by another nationally recognized statistical rating organization or, if unrated, will be determined by the Advisor or the Sub-Advisor to be of comparable quality. These rating symbols are described in Appendix A.

 

Corporate debt obligations are subject to the risk of an issuer’s inability to meet principal and interest payments on the obligations, i.e., credit risk. The Advisor or the Sub-Advisor may actively expose the Fund to credit risk. However, there can be no guarantee that the Advisor or the Sub-Advisor will be successful in making the right selections and thus fully mitigate the impact of credit risk changes on the Fund.

 

Government Obligations

 

The Fund may invest in U.S. government obligations. Such obligations include Treasury bills, certificates of indebtedness, notes and bonds. U.S. government obligations include securities issued or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities. Treasury bills, the most frequently issued marketable government securities, have a maturity of up to one year and are issued on a discount basis. U.S. government obligations include securities issued or guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises.

 

Payment of principal and interest on U.S. government obligations may be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States or may be backed solely by the issuing or guaranteeing agency or instrumentality itself. In the latter case, the investor must look principally to the agency or instrumentality issuing or guaranteeing the obligation for ultimate repayment, which agency or instrumentality may be privately owned. There can be no assurance that the U.S. government would provide financial support to its agencies or instrumentalities, including government-sponsored enterprises, where it is not obligated to do so. In addition, U.S. government obligations are subject to fluctuations in market value due to fluctuations in market interest rates. As a general matter, the value of debt instruments, including U.S. government obligations, declines when market interest rates increase and rises when market interest rates decrease. Certain types of U.S. government obligations are subject to fluctuations in yield or value due to their structure or contract terms.

 

Borrowing

 

The Fund may engage in limited borrowing activities. Borrowing creates an opportunity for increased return, but, at the same time, creates special risks. Furthermore, if the Fund were to engage in borrowing, an increase in interest rates could reduce the value of the Fund’s shares by increasing the Fund’s interest expense. Subject to the limitations described under “Investment Limitations” below, the Fund may be permitted to borrow for temporary purposes and/or for investment purposes. Such a practice will result in leveraging of the Fund’s assets and may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it would not be advantageous to do so. This borrowing may be secured or unsecured. Provisions of the 1940 Act require the Fund to maintain continuous asset coverage (that is, total assets including borrowings, less liabilities exclusive of borrowings) of 300% of the amount borrowed, with an exception for borrowings not in excess of 5% of the Fund’s total assets made for temporary administrative purposes. Any borrowings for temporary administrative purposes in excess of 5% of the Fund’s total assets will count against this asset coverage requirement. If the 300% asset coverage should decline as a result of market fluctuations or other reasons, the Fund may be required to sell some of its portfolio holdings within three days to reduce the debt and restore the 300% asset coverage, even though it may be disadvantageous from an investment standpoint if the Fund sells securities at that time. Borrowing will tend to exaggerate the effect on net asset value of any increase or decrease in the market value of the Fund’s portfolio. Money borrowed will be subject to interest charges which may or may not be recovered by appreciation of the securities purchased, if any. The Fund also may be required to maintain minimum average balances in connection with such borrowings or to pay a commitment or other fee to maintain a line of credit; either of these requirements would increase the cost of borrowing over the stated interest rate.

 

B-22 

 

Large Shareholder Redemption Risk

 

Certain account holders may from time to time own (beneficially or of record) or control a significant percentage of the Fund’s shares. Redemptions by these account holders of their shares in the Fund may impact the Fund’s liquidity and net asset value. Such redemptions may also force the Fund to sell securities at a time when it would not otherwise do so, which may increase the Fund’s broker costs and impact shareholder taxes.

 

Cybersecurity Risk

 

Investment companies, such as the Fund, and its service providers may be subject to operational and information security risks resulting from cyber attacks. Cyber attacks include, among other behaviors, stealing or corrupting data maintained online or digitally, denial of service attacks on websites, the unauthorized release of confidential information or various other forms of cybersecurity breaches. Cyber attacks affecting the Fund or the Advisor, the Sub-Advisor, the Fund’s custodian or transfer agent, or intermediaries or other third-party service providers may adversely impact the Fund. For instance, cyber attacks may interfere with the processing of shareholder transactions, impact the Fund’s ability to calculate its net asset value, cause the release of private shareholder information or confidential company information, impede trading, subject the Fund to regulatory fines or financial losses, and cause reputational damage. The Fund may also incur additional costs for cybersecurity risk management purposes. While the Fund and its service providers have established business continuity plans and risk management systems designed to prevent or reduce the impact of cybersecurity attacks, such plans and systems have inherent limitations due in part to the ever-changing nature of technology and cybersecurity attack tactics, and there is a possibility that certain risks have not been adequately identified or prepared for. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control any cybersecurity plans or systems implemented by its service providers.

 

Similar types of cybersecurity risks are also present for issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, which could result in material adverse consequences for such issuers, and may cause the Fund’s investment in such portfolio companies to lose value.

 

Investment Restrictions

 

The Fund has adopted the following restrictions as fundamental policies, which may not be changed without the favorable “vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities” of the Fund, as defined in the 1940 Act. Under the 1940 Act, the “vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities” of the Fund means the vote of the holders of the lesser of (i) 67% of the shares of the Fund represented at a meeting at which the holders of more than 50% of its outstanding shares are represented or (ii) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund. The Fund’s investment objective is a non-fundamental policy and may be changed without shareholder approval.

 

The Fund may not:

 

1.

Issue senior securities, borrow money or pledge its assets, except that (i) the Fund may borrow from banks in amounts not exceeding one-third of its net assets (including the amount borrowed); and (ii) this restriction shall not prohibit the Fund from engaging in options transactions or short sales or investing in financial futures, swaps, when-issued or delayed delivery securities, or reverse repurchase agreements;

 

B-23 

 

2.

Act as underwriter, except to the extent the Fund may be deemed to be an underwriter in connection with the sale of securities in its investment portfolio;

 

3.

Purchase or sell real estate or interests in real estate or real estate limited partnerships (although the Fund may purchase and sell securities which are secured by real estate and securities of companies which invest or deal in real estate, such as real estate investment trusts (REITs));

 

4.

Make loans of money, except (a) for purchases of debt securities consistent with the investment policies of the Fund, (b) by engaging in repurchase agreements or, (c) through the loan of portfolio securities in an amount up to 33 1/3% of the Fund’s net assets; or

 

5.

Purchase or sell physical commodities, unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments. This limitation shall not prevent the Fund from purchasing, selling or entering into future contracts, or acquiring securities or other instruments and options thereon backed by, or related to, physical commodities.

 

The Fund observes the following restriction as a matter of operating but not fundamental policy, pursuant to positions taken by federal regulatory authorities:

 

The Fund may not invest, in the aggregate, more than 15% of its net assets in securities that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the securities.

 

Except with respect to borrowing, if a percentage or rating restriction on investment or use of assets set forth herein or in the Prospectus is adhered to at the time a transaction is effected, later changes in percentage resulting from any cause other than actions by the Fund will not be considered a violation.

 

Management of the Fund

 

Trustees and Officers

 

The overall management of the business and affairs of the Trust is vested with its Board of Trustees. The Board approves all significant agreements between the Trust and persons or companies furnishing services to it, including the agreements with the Advisor, Sub-Advisor, co-administrators, distributor, custodian and transfer agent. The day-to-day operations of the Trust are delegated to its officers, except that the Advisor and Sub-Advisor are responsible for making day-to-day investment decisions in accordance with the Fund’s investment objective, strategies, and policies, all of which are subject to general supervision by the Board.

 

The Trustees and officers of the Trust, their years of birth and positions with the Trust, term of office with the Trust and length of time served, their business addresses and principal occupations during the past five years and other directorships held during the past five years are listed in the table below. Unless noted otherwise, each person has held the position listed for a minimum of five years. Thomas Knipper, Kathleen K. Shkuda, Larry D. Tashjian and John P. Zader are all of the Trustees who are not “interested persons” of the Trust, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act (collectively, the “Independent Trustees”).

 

B-24 

 

Name,

Address, Year of Birth and Position(s) held with Trust

Term of Officec and Length of Time Served

Principal Occupation During the Past Five Years and Other Affiliations

Number of
Portfolios in the
Fund Complex

Overseen by
Trusteed

Other Directorships Held by Trustee During the Past Five Yearse

“Independent” Trustees:      

Thomas Knipper, CPA a

(Born 1957)

Trustee

Since September 2013

Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer, Ameritas Investment Partners, a registered investment advisor (1995 – present).

19 None.

Kathleen K. Shkuda a

(born 1951)

Trustee

Since September 2013 Zigzag Consulting, a financial services consulting firm (2008 – present); Director, Managed Accounts, Merrill Lynch (2007-2008). 19 None.

Larry D. Tashjian a

(born 1953)

Trustee and Chairman of the Board

Since September 2013

Principal, CAM Capital Advisors, a family office (2001 – present).

19 General Finance Corporation.

John P. Zader a

(born 1961)

Trustee

Since September 2013

Retired (June 2014 – present); CEO, UMB Fund Services, Inc., a mutual fund and hedge fund service provider, and the transfer agent, fund accountant, and co-administrator for the Fund (December 2006 – June 2014); President, Investment Managers Series Trust (December 2007 – June 2014).

19 Investment Managers Series Trust, a registered investment company (includes 54 portfolios). 361 Social Infrastructure Fund, a closed-end investment company.
Interested Trustees:      

Eric M. Banhazl b†

(born 1957)

Trustee

Since September 2013

Chairman, Foothill Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment advisor (2018 – present); Chairman (2016 – present), and President (2006 – 2015), Mutual Fund Administration, LLC, co-administrator for the Fund. 19 Investment Managers Series Trust, a registered investment company (includes 54 portfolios); 361 Social Infrastructure Fund, a closed-end investment company.

Terrance P. Gallagher a*

(born 1958)

Trustee and President

Since July 2019

President, Investment Managers Series Trust II (September 2013 – present); Executive Vice President, UMB Fund Services, Inc. (2007 – present); Director of Compliance, Unified Fund Services Inc. (now Huntington Fund Services), a mutual fund service provider (2004 – 2007).

19 Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund, Agility Multi-Asset Income Fund, Corbin Multi-Strategy Fund, Aspiriant Risk-Managed Real Asset Fund, Aspiriant Risk-Managed Capital Appreciation Fund, Infinity Core Alternative Fund, Infinity Long/Short Equity Fund, LLC, Keystone Private Income Fund, Relative Value Fund, and Variant Alternative Income Fund, each a closed-end investment company.;

 

B-25 

 

Name,

Address, Year
of Birth and
Position(s) held with Trust

Term of
Officec and
Length of
Time Served
Principal Occupation During the Past
Five Years and Other Affiliations

Number of
Portfolios in
the Fund
Complex

Overseen by
Trusteed

Other
Directorships
Held by
Trustee
During the
Past Five
Yearse
Officers of the Trust:

Rita Dam b

(born 1966)

Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

Since September 2013 Co-President, Foothill Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment advisor (2018 – present); Co-Chief Executive Officer (2016 – present), and Vice President (2006 – 2015), Mutual Fund Administration, LLC. N/A N/A

Joy Ausili b

(born 1966)

Vice President and Assistant Secretary

Since January 2016 Co-President, Foothill Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment advisor (2018 – present); Co-Chief Executive Officer (2016 – present), and Vice President (2006 – 2015), Mutual Fund Administration, LLC; Secretary and Assistant Treasurer, Investment Managers Series Trust (September 2013 – January 2016). N/A N/A

Diane Drake b

(born 1967)

Secretary

Since January 2016 Senior Counsel, Mutual Fund Administration, LLC (October 2015 – present); Chief Compliance Officer, Foothill Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment advisor (2018 – 2019). N/A N/A

 

B-26 

 

Name,

Address, Year
of Birth and
Position(s) held with Trust

Term of
Officec and
Length of
Time Served

Principal Occupation During the Past
Five Years and Other Affiliations

Number of
Portfolios in
the Fund
Complex

Overseen by
Trusteed

Other
Directorships
Held by
Trustee
During the
Past Five
Yearse

Martin Dziura b

(born 1959)

Chief Compliance Officer

Since September 2013

Principal, Dziura Compliance Consulting, LLC (October 2014 – present); Managing Director, Cipperman Compliance Services (2010 – September 2014); Chief Compliance Officer, Hanlon Investment Management

(2009 – 2010); Vice President − Compliance, Morgan Stanley Investment Management (2000 − 2009).

N/A N/A

 

aAddress for certain Trustees and certain officers: 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212.

bAddress for Mr. Banhazl, Ms. Ausili, Ms. Dam and Ms. Drake: 2220 E. Route 66, Suite 226, Glendora, California 91740.

 Address for Mr. Dziura: 309 Woodridge Lane, Media, Pennsylvania 19063.

cTrustees and officers serve until their successors have been duly elected.

dThe Trust is comprised of 19 series managed by unaffiliated investment advisors. Each Trustee serves as Trustee of each series of the Trust. The term “Fund Complex” applies only to the series managed by the same investment advisor. The Fund does not hold itself out as related to any other series within the Trust, for purposes of investment and investor services, nor does it share the same investment advisor with any other series

e“Other Directorships Held” includes only directorships of companies required to register or file reports with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (that is, “public companies”), or other investment companies registered under the 1940 Act.

Mr. Banhazl is an “interested person” of the Trust by virtue of his position with Mutual Fund Administration, LLC and Foothill Capital Management, LLC.

*

Mr. Gallagher is an “interested person” of the Trust by virtue of his position with UMB Fund Services, Inc.

 

Compensation

 

Each Independent Trustee receives from the Trust a quarterly retainer of $14,500, $4,000 for each special in-person meeting attended and $1,500 for each special telephonic meeting attended. The Trust has no pension or retirement plan. No other entity affiliated with the Trust pays any compensation to the Trustees.

 

The Trustees may elect to defer payment of their compensation from the Fund(s) pursuant to the Trust’s non-qualified Deferred Compensation Plan for Trustees which permits the Trustees to defer receipt of all or part of their compensation from the Trust. Amounts deferred are deemed invested in shares of one or more series of the Trust, as selected by the Trustee from time to time. A Trustee’s deferred compensation account will be paid in cash at such times as elected by the Trustee, subject to certain mandatory payment provisions in the Deferred Compensation Plan. Deferral and payment elections under the Deferred Compensation Plan are subject to strict requirements for modification.

 

B-27 

 

 

 

Name of Person/Position

Aggregate
Compensation
From the Fund
($)1

Pension or
Retirement Benefits
 Accrued as Part of
Fund’s Expenses ($)

Estimated
Annual Benefits
 Upon
Retirement ($)

Total
Compensation
from Fund and
 Fund Complex
 Paid to Trustees
 ($)1,2

Thomas Knipper,
Independent Trustee and
Audit Committee Chair

$1,500

None

None

$1,500

Kathleen K. Shkuda,
Independent Trustee and
Valuation Committee Chair

$1,500

None

None

$1,500

Larry D. Tashjian,
Independent Trustee and
Chairman

$1,500

None

None

$1,500

John Zader, Independent
Trustee and Nominating,
Governance and Regulatory
Review Committee Chair

$1,500

None

None

$1,500

 

1

Estimated annual compensation for the first year.

2

There are currently numerous portfolios comprising the Trust. The term “Fund Complex” applies only to the series managed by the same investment advisor. The Fund does not hold itself out as related to any other series within the Trust, for purposes of investment and investor services, nor does it share the same investment advisor with any other series.

 

Messers. Banhazl and Gallagher are not compensated for their service as Trustees because of their affiliation with the Trust. Officers of the Trust are not compensated by the Fund for their services.

 

Additional Information Concerning the Board and the Trustees

 

The current Trustees were selected in September 2013 (July 2019 for Mr. Gallagher) with a view towards establishing a Board that would have the broad experience needed to oversee a registered investment company comprised of multiple series employing a variety of different investment strategies. As a group, the Board has extensive experience in many different aspects of the financial services and asset management industries.

 

The Trustees were selected to join the Board based upon the following factors, among others: character and integrity; willingness to serve and willingness and ability to commit the time necessary to perform the duties of a Trustee; as to each Trustee other than Mr. Banhazl, Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Zader (at that time), satisfying the criteria for not being classified as an “interested person” of the Trust as defined in the 1940 Act; and, as to Mr. Banhazl and Mr. Gallagher, their positions with Mutual Fund Administration, LLC and UMB Fund Services, Inc., respectively, the Trust’s co-administrators. In addition, the Trustees have the following specific experience, qualifications, attributes and/or skills relevant to the operations of the Trust:

 

 

Mr. Knipper has substantial experience with respect to the operation, administration and compliance programs of mutual funds and as a senior executive with a registered investment advisor.

 

 

Ms. Shkuda has substantial experience in the investment management industry, including as a consultant with respect to operations and marketing of investment managers and distribution of mutual funds and other investment products.

 

B-28 

 

 

Mr. Tashjian has extensive leadership experience in the investment management industry, including as a principal and a chief executive officer of a registered investment advisor.

 

 

Mr. Banhazl has significant experience serving in senior executive and board positions for mutual funds and with respect to the organization and operation of mutual funds and multiple series trusts similar to the Trust.

 

 

Mr. Zader has substantial experience serving in senior executive positions at mutual fund administrative service providers.

 

 

Mr. Gallagher has substantial experience serving in senior executive positions at mutual fund administrative service providers.

 

In its periodic self-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 Fund. The summaries set forth above as to the qualifications, attributes and skills of the Trustees are required by the registration form adopted by the SEC, do not constitute holding out the Board or any Trustee as having any special expertise or experience, and do not impose any greater responsibility or liability on any such person or on the Board as a whole than would otherwise be the case.

 

The Board of Trustees has three standing committees: the Audit Committee, the Nominating, Governance and Regulatory Review Committee (the “Nominating Committee”), and the Valuation Committee.

 

 

The function of the Audit Committee, with respect to each series of the Trust, is to review the scope and results of the series’ annual audit and any matters bearing on the audit or the series’ financial statements and to assist the Board’s oversight of the integrity of the series’ pricing and financial reporting. The Audit Committee is comprised of all of the Independent Trustees and is chaired by Mr. Knipper. It does not include any Interested Trustees. The Audit Committee is expected to meet at least twice a year with respect to each series of the Trust.

 

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 Nominating Committee is responsible for reviewing matters pertaining to composition, committees, and operations of the Board, as well as assisting the Board in overseeing matters related to certain regulatory issues. The Nominating Committee meets from time to time as needed. The Nominating Committee will consider trustee nominees properly recommended by the Trust’s shareholders. Shareholders who wish to recommend a nominee should send nominations that include, among other things, biographical data and the qualifications of the proposed nominee to the Trust’s Secretary. The Independent Trustees comprise the Nominating Committee, and the Committee is chaired by Mr. Zader.

 

 

The function of the Valuation Committee is to recommend to the Board for its approval methodologies for valuing securities held by any series of the Trust for which current and reliable market quotations are not readily available; monitor prices determined by officers of the Trust pursuant to such methodologies; and approve fair valued security prices that are not determined pursuant to an approved methodology. The actions of the Valuation Committee are subsequently reviewed by the Board. The Valuation Committee is comprised of all the Trustees and is chaired by Ms. Shkuda, but action may be taken by any one of the Trustees. The Valuation Committee meets as needed.

 

B-29 

 

Independent Trustees comprise 67% of the Board and Larry Tashjian, an Independent Trustee, serves as Chairperson of the Board. The Chairperson serves as a key point person for dealings between the Trust’s management and the other Independent Trustees. As noted above, through the committees of the Board the Independent Trustees consider and address important matters involving each series of the Trust, including those presenting conflicts or potential conflicts of interest. The Independent Trustees also regularly meet outside the presence of management and are advised by independent legal counsel. The Board has determined that its organization and leadership structure are appropriate in light of its fiduciary and oversight obligations, the special obligations of the Independent Trustees, and the relationship between the Interested Trustees and the Trust’s co-administrators. The Board also believes that its structure facilitates the orderly and efficient flow of information to the Independent Trustees from management.

 

Consistent with its responsibility for oversight of the Fund in the interests of shareholders, the Board among other things oversees risk management of the Fund’s investment programs and business affairs directly and through the Audit Committee. The Board has emphasized to the Advisor the importance of maintaining vigorous risk management programs and procedures.

 

The Fund faces a number of risks, such as investment risk, valuation risk, reputational risk, risk of operational failure or lack of business continuity, and legal, compliance and regulatory risk. 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. Under the overall supervision of the Board, the Advisor, Sub-Advisor and other service providers to the Fund 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. Different processes, procedures and controls are employed with respect to different types of risks. Various personnel, including the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer (the “CCO”), the Advisor’s management, and other service providers (such as the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm) make periodic reports to the Board or to the Audit Committee with respect to various aspects of risk management. The Board recognizes that not all risks that may affect the Fund can be identified, 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 investment objective, and that the processes, procedures and controls employed to address certain risks may be limited in their effectiveness. Moreover, reports received by the Trustees as to risk management matters are typically summaries of the relevant information. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, the Board’s risk management oversight is subject to substantial limitations.

 

Fund Shares Beneficially Owned by Trustees

 

Certain information regarding ownership by the Trustees of the Fund and other series of the Trust, as of the date of this SAI is set forth in the following table.

 

B-30 

 

Name of Trustee

Dollar Range of Equity
Securities in the Fund ($)

Aggregate Dollar Range of
Equity Securities in all
Registered Investment
Companies Overseen by
 Trustee in Family of
Investment Companies ($)

Larry Tashjian, Independent Trustee

None

None

Kathy Shkuda, Independent Trustee

None

None

Thomas Knipper, Independent Trustee

None

None

John P. Zader, Independent Trustee

None

$50,001 $100,000

Eric M. Banhazl, Interested Trustee

None

Over $100,000

Terrance P. Gallagher, Interested Trustee

None

None

 

Control Persons, Principal Shareholders, and Management Ownership

 

[As of the date of this SAI, the Fund is under the control of the Advisor, which had voting authority with respect to 100% of the outstanding shares in the Fund on such date. However, once the Fund commences investment operations and its shares are sold to the public, this control will be diluted. As of the date of this SAI, The Trustees and officers of the Trust as a group did not own more than 1% of the outstanding shares of the Fund. Furthermore, neither the Independent Trustees, nor members of their immediate families, own securities beneficially or of record in the Advisor, the Sub-Advisor, the Fund’s distributor, IMST Distributors, LLC (the “Distributor”), or any of their respective affiliates.]

 

The Advisor

 

[          ] located at [          ], acts as investment advisor to the Fund pursuant to an Investment Advisory Agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”). The Advisor is controlled by [          ].

 

Pursuant to the terms of the Advisory Agreement, the Advisor provides the Fund with investment advice, makes recommendations with respect to the selection and continued employment of Sub-Advisors to manage the Fund’s assets, performs diligence on and monitors any such Sub-Advisors, investment performance and adherence to compliance procedures, and oversees the investments made by the sub-advisors. The Advisor also continuously monitors the Sub-Advisor’s compliance with the Fund’s investment objective, policies and restrictions. Subject to such policies as the Board of Trustees may determine, the Advisor is ultimately responsible for investment decisions for the Fund.

 

The Advisory Agreement will remain in effect for an initial two-year period. After the initial two-year period, the Advisory Agreement will continue in effect with respect to the Fund from year to year only if such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by the Board or by vote of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities and by a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to the Advisory Agreement or interested persons of any such party, at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on the Advisory Agreement. The Advisory Agreement is terminable without penalty by the Trust on behalf of the Fund, upon giving the Advisor 60 days’ notice when authorized either by a majority vote of the Fund’s shareholders or by a vote of a majority of the Board, or by the Advisor on 60 days’ written notice, and will automatically terminate in the event of its “assignment” (as defined in the 1940 Act). The Advisory Agreement provides that the Advisor shall not be liable for any error of judgment or for any loss suffered by the Trust in connection with the Advisory Agreement, except for a loss resulting from a breach of fiduciary duty, or for a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties, or from reckless disregard by the Advisor of its duties under the Advisory Agreement.

 

B-31 

 

In consideration of the services to be provided by the Advisor pursuant to the Advisory Agreement, the Advisor is entitled to receive from the Fund an investment advisory fee computed daily and paid monthly based on an annual rate equal to a percentage of the Fund’s average daily net assets specified in the Prospectus.

 

Sub-Advisor

 

The Advisor has entered into a sub-advisory agreement with the Sub-Advisor with respect to the Fund (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”). The Sub-Advisor is 100% employee-owned.

 

The Advisor compensates the Sub-Advisor out of the investment advisory fees the Advisor receives from the Fund. The Sub-Advisor makes investment decisions for the assets it has been allocated to manage, subject to the overall supervision of the Advisor.

 

The Sub-Advisory Agreement will remain in effect for an initial two-year period. After the initial two-year period, the Sub-Advisory Agreement will continue in effect from year to year only as long as such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by (i) the Board of Trustees of the Trust or by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting shares of the Fund, and (ii) by the vote of a majority of the Trustees of the Trust who are not parties to the Sub-Advisory Agreement or interested persons of the Advisor or the Sub-Advisor or the Trust. The Sub-Advisory Agreement may be terminated at any time without the payment of any penalty by the Board of Trustees of the Trust or by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting shares of the Fund, or by the Sub-Advisor or the Advisor, upon 60 days’ written notice to the other party. Additionally, the Sub-Advisory Agreement automatically terminates in the event of its assignment. The Sub-Advisory Agreement provides that the Sub-Advisor shall not be liable for any error of judgment or for any loss suffered by the Trust in connection with the Sub-Advisory Agreement, except for a loss resulting from a breach of fiduciary duty, or for a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties, or from reckless disregard by the Sub-Advisor of its duties under the Sub-Advisory Agreement.

 

Fund Expenses

 

The Fund is responsible for its own operating expenses (all of which will be borne directly or indirectly by the Fund’s shareholders), including among others, legal fees and expenses of counsel to the Fund and the Fund’s independent trustees; insurance (including trustees’ and officers’ errors and omissions insurance); auditing and accounting expenses; taxes and governmental fees; listing fees; dues and expenses incurred in connection with membership in investment company organizations; fees and expenses of the Fund’s custodians, administrators, transfer agents, registrars and other service providers; expenses for portfolio pricing services by a pricing agent, if any; expenses in connection with the issuance and offering of shares; expenses relating to investor and public relations; expenses of registering or qualifying securities of the Fund for public sale; brokerage commissions and other costs of acquiring or disposing of any portfolio holding of the Fund; expenses of preparation and distribution of reports, notices and dividends to shareholders; expenses of the dividend reinvestment plan; compensation and expenses of trustees; any litigation expenses; and costs of shareholders’ and other meetings.

 

The Advisor has contractually agreed to waive its fees and/or pay for operating expenses of the Fund to ensure that the total annual fund operating expenses (excluding any taxes, leverage interest, brokerage commissions, dividend and interest expenses on short sales, acquired fund fees and expenses (as determined in accordance with Form N-1A), expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization, and extraordinary expenses such as litigation expenses) do not exceed []% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. This agreement is in effect until [______], 2022, and it may be terminated before that date only by the Trust’s Board of Trustees.

 

Any reduction in advisory fees or payment of the Fund’s expenses made by the Advisor in a fiscal year may be reimbursed by the Fund for a period ending three full years after the date of reduction or payment if the Advisor so requests. This reimbursement may be requested from the Fund if the reimbursement will not cause the Fund’s annual expense ratio to exceed the lesser of (a) the expense limitation in effect at the time such fees were waived or payments made, or (b) the expense limitation in effect at the time of the reimbursement. However, the reimbursement amount may not exceed the total amount of fees waived and/or Fund expenses paid by the Advisor and will not include any amounts previously reimbursed to the Advisor by the Fund. Any such reimbursement is contingent upon the Board’s subsequent review of the reimbursed amounts. The Fund must pay current ordinary operating expenses before the Advisor is entitled to any reimbursement of fees and/or Fund expenses.

 

 

B-32 

 

Portfolio Manager

 

Other Accounts Managed by the Portfolio Manager. As of the date of this SAI, information on other accounts managed by the Fund’s portfolio manager is as follows.

 

[            ]

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Advisory Fee based on
performance

Type of Accounts

Number of
Accounts

Total
Assets ($)

Number of
Accounts

Total
Assets ($)

Registered Investment Companies

0

0

0

0

Other Pooled Investments

0

0

0

0

Other Accounts

0

0

0

0

 

Material Conflicts of Interest. Actual or apparent conflicts of interest may arise when a portfolio manager has day-to-day management responsibilities with respect to more than one fund or other account. Where conflicts of interest arise between the Fund and other accounts managed by the portfolio manager, the Sub-Advisor will proceed in a manner that ensures that the Fund will not be treated less favorably. There may be instances where similar portfolio transactions may be executed for the same security for numerous accounts managed by the portfolio manager. In such instances, securities will be allocated in accordance with the Sub-Advisor’s trade allocation policy.

 

Compensation. [   ] is paid a salary that is based on the Fund’s assets under management and is calculated on a monthly basis. In addition, [   ] may receive a bonus based on a variety of factors including after-tax performance of the Fund, value of assets and other discretionary criteria. Once determined, incentives and bonuses are awarded annually.

 

Ownership of the Fund by the Portfolio Manager. As of the date of this SAI, the portfolio manager did not own any shares of the Fund.

 

Service Providers

 

Pursuant to a Co-Administration Agreement (the “Co-Administration Agreement”), UMB Fund Services, Inc. (“UMBFS”), 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212, and Mutual Fund Administration, LLC (“MFAC”), 2220 E. Route 66, Suite 226, Glendora, California 91740 (collectively the “Co-Administrators”), act as co-administrators for the Fund. The Co-Administrators provide certain administrative services to the Fund, including, among other responsibilities, coordinating the negotiation of contracts and fees with, and the monitoring of performance and billing of, the Fund’s independent contractors and agents; preparing for signature by an officer of the Trust of all documents required to be filed for compliance with applicable laws and regulations including those of the securities laws of various states; arranging for the computation of performance data, including net asset value and yield; arranging for the maintenance of books and records of the Fund; and providing, at their own expense, office facilities, equipment and personnel necessary to carry out their duties. In this capacity, the Co-Administrators do 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. The Co-Administration Agreement provides that neither Co-Administrator shall be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Trust or its series, except for losses resulting from a Co-Administrator’s willful misfeasance, bad faith or negligence in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard by it of its obligations and duties under the Agreement.

 

B-33 

 

Pursuant to the Co-Administration Agreement, the Fund pays the Co-Administrators a fee for administration services. The fee is payable monthly based on the Fund’s average daily net assets. Because the Fund is a newly formed fund and has yet to commence operations, the Fund has not paid any fees to the Co-Administrators as of the date of this SAI.

 

UMBFS also acts as the Trust’s fund accountant, transfer agent and dividend disbursing agent pursuant to separate agreements.

 

UMB Bank, n.a. (the “Custodian”), an affiliate of UMBFS, is the custodian of the assets of the Fund pursuant to a custody agreement between the Custodian and the Trust, whereby the Custodian provides services for fees on a transactional basis plus out-of-pocket expenses. The Custodian’s address is 928 Grand Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri 64106. The Custodian does not participate in decisions pertaining to the purchase and sale of securities by the Fund.

 

[     ] is the independent registered public accounting firm for the Fund. Its services include auditing the Fund’s financial statements and the performance of related tax services.

 

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (“Morgan Lewis”) 600 Anton Boulevard, Suite 1800, Costa Mesa, California 92626, serves as legal counsel to the Trust and the Independent Trustees.

 

Distributor and the Distribution Agreement

 

IMST Distributors, LLC is the distributor (also known as the principal underwriter) of the shares of the Fund and is located at Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100, Portland, Maine 04101. The Distributor is a registered broker-dealer and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). The Distributor is not affiliated with the Trust, the Advisor, the Sub-Advisor or any other service provider for the Fund.

 

Under a Distribution Agreement with the Trust dated January 1, 2013 (the “Distribution Agreement”), the Distributor acts as the agent of the Trust in connection with the continuous offering of shares of the Fund. The Distributor continually distributes shares of the Fund on a best efforts basis. The Distributor has no obligation to sell any specific quantity of Fund shares. The Distributor and its officers have no role in determining the investment policies or which securities are to be purchased or sold by the Trust.

 

The Distributor may enter into agreements with selected broker-dealers, banks or other financial intermediaries for distribution of shares of the Fund. With respect to certain financial intermediaries and related fund “supermarket” platform arrangements, the Fund and/or the Advisor, rather than the Distributor, typically enter into such agreements. These financial intermediaries may charge a fee for their services and may receive shareholder service or other fees from parties other than the Distributor. These financial intermediaries may otherwise act as processing agents and are responsible for promptly transmitting purchase, redemption and other requests to the Fund.

 

Investors who purchase shares through financial intermediaries will be subject to the procedures of those intermediaries through which they purchase shares, which may include charges, investment minimums, cutoff times and other restrictions in addition to, or different from, those listed herein. Information concerning any charges or services will be provided to customers by the financial intermediary through which they purchase shares. Investors purchasing shares of the Fund through financial intermediaries should acquaint themselves with their financial intermediary’s procedures and should read the Prospectus in conjunction with any materials and information provided by their financial intermediary. The financial intermediary, and not its customers, will be the shareholder of record, although customers may have the right to vote shares depending upon their arrangement with the financial intermediary. The Distributor does not receive compensation from the Fund for its distribution services except the distribution/service fees with respect to the shares of those classes for which a Rule 12b-1 distribution plan is effective. The Advisor pays the Distributor a fee for certain distribution-related services.

 

 

B-34 

 

The Distribution Agreement has an initial term of up to two years and will continue in effect only if such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by the Board or by vote of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities in accordance with the 1940 Act. The Distribution Agreement is terminable without penalty by the Trust on behalf of the Fund on no less than 60 days’ written notice when authorized either by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund or by vote of a majority of the members of the Board who are not “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Distribution Agreement, or by the Distributor, and will automatically terminate in the event of its “assignment” (as defined in the 1940 Act). The Distribution Agreement provides that the Distributor shall not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Trust in connection with the performance of the Distributor’s obligations and duties under the Distribution Agreement, except a loss resulting from the Distributor’s willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of such duties and obligations, or by reason of its reckless disregard thereof. The following table shows the aggregate amount of brokerage commissions paid and amounts received by the Distributor:

 

Marketing and Support Payments

 

The Advisor, out of its own resources and without additional cost to the Fund or its shareholders, may provide cash payments or other compensation to certain financial intermediaries who sell shares of the Fund. These payments are in addition to other fees described in the Fund’s Prospectus and this SAI, and are generally provided for shareholder services or marketing support. Payments for marketing support are typically for inclusion of the Fund on sales lists, including electronic sales platforms. Investors may wish to take these payments into account when considering and evaluating recommendations to purchase shares of the Fund.

 

Portfolio Transactions and Brokerage

 

Pursuant to the Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement, the Advisor determines and Sub-Advisor determines which securities are to be purchased and sold by the Fund and which broker-dealers are eligible to execute the Fund’s portfolio transactions. The purchases and sales of securities in the over-the-counter market will generally be executed by using a broker for the transaction.

 

Purchases of portfolio securities for the Fund also may be made directly from issuers or from underwriters. Where possible, purchase and sale transactions will be effected through dealers (including banks) that specialize in the types of securities which the Fund will be holding unless better executions are available elsewhere. Dealers and underwriters usually act as principals for their own accounts. Purchases from underwriters will include a concession paid by the issuer to the underwriter and purchases from dealers will include the spread between the bid and the asked price. If the execution and price offered by more than one dealer or underwriter are comparable, the order may be allocated to a dealer or underwriter that has provided research or other services as discussed below.

 

In placing portfolio transactions, the Advisor and Sub-Advisor will use reasonable efforts to choose broker-dealers capable of providing the services necessary to obtain the most favorable price and execution available. The full range and quality of services available will be considered in making these determinations, such as the size of the order, the difficulty of execution, the operational facilities of the broker-dealer involved, the risk in positioning the block of securities, and other factors. In those instances where it is reasonably determined that more than one broker-dealer can offer the services needed to obtain the most favorable price and execution available, consideration may be given to those broker-dealers which furnish or supply research and statistical information to the Advisor and Sub-Advisor that they may lawfully and appropriately use in their investment advisory capacities, as well as provide other services in addition to execution services. Each of the Advisor and the Sub-Advisor considers such information, which is in addition to and not in lieu of the services required to be performed by it under its Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement with the Fund, to be useful in varying degrees, but of indeterminable value.

 

 

B-35 

 

While it is the Fund’s general policy to seek to obtain the most favorable price and execution available in selecting a broker-dealer to execute portfolio transactions for the Fund, weight is also given to the ability of a broker-dealer to furnish brokerage and research services as defined in Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, to the Fund or to the Advisor, even if the specific services are not directly useful to the Fund and may be useful to the Advisor in advising other clients. In negotiating commissions with a broker or evaluating the spread to be paid to a dealer, the Fund may therefore pay a higher commission or spread than would be the case if no weight were given to the furnishing of these supplemental services, provided that the amount of such commission or spread has been determined in good faith by the Advisor and Sub-Advisor to be reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage and/or research services provided by such broker-dealer. The standard of reasonableness is to be measured in light of the Advisor’s or Sub-Advisor’s overall responsibilities to the Fund.

 

Investment decisions for the Fund are made independently from those of other client accounts that may be managed or advised by the Advisor or Sub-Advisor. Nevertheless, it is possible that at times, identical securities will be acceptable for both the Fund and one or more of such client accounts. In such event, the position of the Fund and such client accounts in the same issuer may vary and the holding period may likewise vary. However, to the extent any of these client accounts seek to acquire the same security as the Fund at the same time, the Fund may not be able to acquire as large a position in such security as it desires, or it may have to pay a higher price or obtain a lower yield for such security. Similarly, the Fund may not be able to obtain as high a price for, or as large an execution of, an order to sell any particular security at the same time as the Advisor’s or Sub-Advisor’s other client accounts.

 

The Fund does not effect securities transactions through brokers in accordance with any formula, nor does it effect securities transactions through brokers for selling shares of the Fund. However, broker-dealers who execute brokerage transactions may effect purchase of shares of the Fund for their customers. The brokers may also supply the Fund with research, statistical and other services.

 

Holdings of Securities of the Fund’s Regular Brokers or Dealers

 

From time to time, the Fund may acquire and hold securities issued by its “regular brokers or dealers” or the parents of those brokers or dealers. “Regular brokers or dealers” (as such term is defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund are the ten brokers or dealers that, during the most recent fiscal year, (i) received the greatest dollar amounts of brokerage commissions from the Fund’s portfolio transactions, (ii) engaged as principal in the largest dollar amounts of the portfolio transactions of the Fund, or (iii) sold the largest dollar amounts of the Fund’s shares. Any securities of any “regular brokers or dealers” held by the Fund during a fiscal year will be disclosed by the Fund after the end of such fiscal year.

 

Portfolio Turnover

 

Although the Fund generally will not invest for short-term trading purposes, portfolio securities may be sold without regard to the length of time they have been held when, in the opinion of the Advisor, investment considerations warrant such action. Portfolio turnover rate is calculated by dividing (1) the lesser of purchases or sales of portfolio securities for the fiscal year by (2) the monthly average of the value of portfolio securities owned during the fiscal year. A 100% turnover rate would occur if all the securities in the Fund’s portfolio, with the exception of securities whose maturities at the time of acquisition were one year or less, were sold and either repurchased or replaced within one year. A high rate of portfolio turnover (100% or more) generally leads to higher transaction costs and may result in a greater number of taxable transactions. To the extent net short-term capital gains are realized, any distributions resulting from such gains will generally be taxed at ordinary income tax rates for federal income tax purposes.

 

 

B-36 

 

The Fund is newly-created and, as a result, does not yet have a portfolio turnover rate.

 

Proxy Voting Policy

 

The Board has adopted Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures (the “Trust Policies”) on behalf of the Trust, which delegates the responsibility for voting the Fund’s proxies to the Advisor and Sub-Advisor, as applicable, subject to the Board’s continuing oversight. The Trust Policies require that the Advisor and Sub-Advisor vote proxies received in a manner consistent with the best interests of the Fund. The Trust Policies also require the Advisor and Sub-Advisor to present to the Board, at least annually, the Advisor’s and Sub-Advisor’s Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures (the “Advisor Policies”) and a record of each proxy voted by the Advisor or Sub-Advisor on behalf of the Fund, including a report on the resolution of all proxies identified by the Advisor and Sub-Advisor as involving a conflict of interest. See Appendix B for the Trust Policies and Advisor Policies. The Trust Policies and the Advisor Policies are intended to serve as guidelines and to further the economic value of each security held by the Fund. The Trust’s CCO will review the Trust Policies and Advisor Policies annually. Each proxy will be considered individually, taking into account the relevant circumstances at the time of each vote.

 

If a proxy proposal raises a material conflict between the Advisor’s or Sub-Advisor’s interests and the Fund’s interests, the Advisor or Sub-Advisor will resolve the conflict by following the Advisor’s or Sub-Advisor’s policy guidelines or the recommendation of an independent third party.

 

The Fund is required to annually file Form N-PX, which lists the Fund’s complete proxy voting record for the 12-month period ended June 30 of each year. Once filed, the Fund’s proxy voting record will be available without charge, upon request, by calling toll-free 1-___-______-____ and on the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov.

 

Anti-Money Laundering Program

 

The Trust has established an Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program (the “Program”) as required by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (“USA PATRIOT Act”). In order to ensure compliance with this law, the Program provides for the development and implementation of internal practices, procedures and controls, designation of anti-money laundering compliance officers, an ongoing training program and an independent audit function to determine the effectiveness of the Program.

 

Procedures to implement the Program include, but are not limited to, determining that the Distributor and the Fund’s Transfer Agent have established proper anti-money laundering procedures, reporting suspicious and/or fraudulent activity, checking shareholder names against designated government lists, including Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), and a complete and thorough review of all new opening account applications. The Trust will not transact business with any person or entity whose identity cannot be adequately verified under the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.

 

Portfolio Holdings Information

 

The Trust has adopted policies and procedures regarding disclosure of portfolio holdings information (the “Disclosure Policy”). The Board of Trustees determined that the adoption of the Disclosure Policy, including the disclosure permitted therein, was in the best interests of the Trust. The Disclosure Policy applies to the Fund, Advisor, Sub-Advisor and other internal parties involved in the administration, operation or custody of the Fund, including, but not limited to UMBFS, MFAC, the Board of Trustees, counsel to the Trust and Independent Trustees, Morgan Lewis, the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm, [_________], and [ICE Data Services], which assists the Fund with classifying its holdings pursuant to its liquidity risk management program (collectively, the “Service Providers”). Pursuant to the Disclosure Policy, non-public information concerning the Fund’s portfolio holdings may be disclosed to its Service Providers only if such disclosure is consistent with the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and the fiduciary duties owed by the Fund and the Advisor to the Fund’s shareholders. The Fund and its Service Providers may not receive compensation or any other consideration (which includes any agreement to maintain assets in the Fund or in other investment companies or accounts managed by the Advisor, Sub-Advisor or any affiliated person of the Advisor or Sub-Advisor) in connection with the disclosure of portfolio holdings information of the Fund. The Fund’s Disclosure Policy is implemented and overseen by the CCO of the Trust, subject to the oversight of the Board of Trustees. Periodic reports regarding these procedures will be provided to the Trust’s Board.

 

 

B-37 

 

Portfolio holdings information will be deemed public when it has been (1) posted to the Fund’s public website (www._________.com) or (2) disclosed in periodic regulatory filings on the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov). Management of the Fund may make publicly available its portfolio holdings [as of the most recent calendar quarter/on a monthly basis] on the Fund’s public website no earlier than five days after the date of such information (e.g., information as of January 31 may be made available no earlier than February 5).

 

Non-Public Portfolio Holdings Information Policy. All portfolio holdings information that has not been disseminated in a manner making it available to investors generally as described above is considered non-public portfolio holdings information for the purposes of the Disclosure Policy. Pursuant to the Disclosure Policy, the Fund or its Service Providers may disclose non-public portfolio holdings information to certain third parties who fall within pre-authorized categories on a daily basis, with no lag time unless otherwise specified below. These third parties include: (i) the Fund’s Service Providers and others who need access to such information in the performance of their contractual or other duties and responsibilities to the Fund (e.g., custodians, accountants, the Advisor, the Sub-Advisor, administrators, attorneys, officers and Trustees) and who are subject to duties of confidentiality imposed by law or contract, (ii) brokers who execute trades for the Fund, (iii) evaluation service providers (as described below) and (iv) shareholders receiving in-kind redemptions (as described below).

 

Evaluation Service Providers. These third parties include mutual fund evaluation services, such as Morningstar, Inc. and Lipper, Inc., if the Fund has a legitimate business purpose for disclosing the information, provided that the third party expressly agrees to maintain the non-public portfolio holdings information in confidence and not to trade portfolio securities based on the non-public portfolio holdings information. Subject to the terms and conditions of any agreement between the Fund or its authorized service providers and the third party, if these conditions for disclosure are satisfied, there shall be no restriction on the frequency with which the Fund’s non-public portfolio holdings information is released, and no lag period shall apply. In addition, persons who owe a duty of trust or confidence to the Fund or its Service Providers (such as legal counsel) may receive non-public portfolio holdings information without entering into a non-disclosure agreement.

 

Shareholder In-Kind Distributions. The Fund may, in certain circumstances, pay redemption proceeds to a shareholder by an in-kind distribution of portfolio securities (instead of cash). In such circumstances, pursuant to the Disclosure Policy, Fund shareholders may receive a complete listing of the portfolio holdings of the Fund up to seven (7) calendar days prior to making the redemption request provided that they represent orally or in writing that they agree to maintain the confidentiality of the portfolio holdings information and not to trade portfolio securities based on the non-public holdings information.

 

Other Entities. Pursuant to the Disclosure Policy, the Fund or the Advisor may disclose non-public portfolio holdings information to a third party who does not fall within the pre-approved categories, and who are not executing broker-dealers; however, prior to the receipt of any non-public portfolio holdings information by such third party, the recipient must have entered into a non-disclosure agreement and the disclosure arrangement must have been approved by the CCO of the Trust. The CCO will report to the Board of Trustees on a quarterly basis regarding any recipients of non-public portfolio holdings information approved pursuant to this paragraph. There are no other ongoing arrangements as of the date of this SAI.

 

 

B-38 

 

The Advisor and its affiliates may provide investment advice to clients other than the Fund that have investment objectives that may be substantially similar to those of the Fund. These clients also may have portfolios consisting of holdings substantially similar to those of the Fund and generally have access to current portfolio holdings information for their accounts. These clients do not owe the Advisor or the Fund a duty of confidentiality with respect to disclosure of their portfolio holdings.

 

Current Arrangements Regarding Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings. As of the date of this SAI, the Trust or the Fund has ongoing business arrangements with the following entities which involve making portfolio holdings information available to such entities as an incidental part of the services they provide to the Trust: (i) the Advisor, the Sub-Advisor, MFAC and UMB (the Co-Administrators) and UMB Bank, N.A. (the Custodian) pursuant to investment management, administration and custody agreements, respectively, under which the Trust’s portfolio holdings information is provided daily on a real-time basis (i.e. with no time lag); (ii) [    ] (independent registered public accounting firm), Morgan Lewis (attorneys) to which the Trust provides portfolio holdings information on a regular basis with varying lag times after the date of the information, and [(iii) _________ pursuant to a proxy voting agreement under which the Fund’s portfolio holdings information is provided daily, subject to a one-day lag;] (iv) Practical Computer Application to which MFAC provides the Trust’s portfolio holdings information on a daily basis for programming and database hosting services in connection with MFAC’s administrative services to the Trust; (v) Donnelley Financial Solutions to which the Trust provides portfolio holdings information on a monthly basis in connection with filings of Form N-PORT; (vi) [ ], which assists the Fund with classifying its holdings pursuant to its liquidity risk management program, to which the Trust provides portfolio holdings information on a monthly basis with a one- to ten-day time lag; (vii) Morningstar, Inc., Lipper Inc., Refinitiv, Thomson Financial, Vickers Stock Research Corporation, and Bloomberg L.P., to which the Fund’s portfolio holdings information is provided quarterly after the end of the previous fiscal quarter, with a 60-day time lag and no earlier than the date such information is filed on the SEC’s EDGAR system on Form N-PORT (for the first and third fiscal quarters) or the Annual or Semi-Annual Report is mailed to shareholders (for the second and fourth fiscal quarters), as applicable; and (viii) Gainskeeper, Inc. and its affiliates, pursuant to an administrative agency agreement under which the Trust provides the Fund’s portfolio tax lot holdings and transaction level data information on a daily basis.

 

Determination of Net Asset Value

 

The net asset value per share (the “NAV”) of the Fund’s shares will fluctuate and is determined as of 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the normal close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) on each day the NYSE is open for trading. The NAV may be calculated earlier if permitted by the SEC. The NYSE annually announces the days on which it will not be open for trading. The most recent announcement indicates that the NYSE will not be open for the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. However, the NYSE may close on days not included in that announcement.

 

The NAV is computed by dividing (a) the difference between the value of the Fund’s securities, cash and other assets and the amount of the Fund’s expenses and liabilities by (b) the number of shares outstanding. The NAV takes into account all of the expenses and fees of the Fund, including management fees and administration fees, which are accrued daily.

 

Net Assets

=

NAV

Shares Outstanding

 

Generally, the Fund’s investments are valued at market value or, in the absence of a market value, at fair value as determined in good faith by the Advisor and the Trust’s Valuation Committee pursuant to procedures approved by or under the direction of the Board. Pursuant to those procedures, the Board considers, among other things: 1) the last sale price on the securities exchange, if any, on which a security is primarily traded; 2) the mean between the bid and ask prices; 3) price quotations from an approved pricing service (which use information provided by market makers or estimates of market value based on similar securities), and 4) other factors as necessary to determine a fair value under certain circumstances.

 

 

B-39 

 

The Fund’s securities which are traded on securities exchanges are valued at the last sale price on the exchange on which such securities are traded, as of the close of business on the day the securities are being valued or, lacking any reported sales, at the mean between the last available bid and ask prices.

 

Pricing services generally value debt securities assuming orderly transactions of an institutional round lot size, but such securities may be held or transactions may be conducted in such securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots often trade at lower prices than institutional round lots.

 

Securities that are traded on more than one exchange are valued on the exchange determined by the Advisor to be the primary market. Securities primarily traded in the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (“NASDAQ”), National Market System for which market quotations are readily available shall be valued using the NASDAQ Official Closing Price (“NOCP”). If the NOCP is not available, such securities shall be valued at the last sale price on the day of valuation, or if there has not been any sale on such day, at the mean between the bid and ask prices. Over-the-counter (“OTC”) securities which are not traded in the NASDAQ National Market System are valued at the most recent trade price.

 

Stocks that are “thinly traded” or events occurring when a foreign market is closed but the NYSE is open (for example, the value of a security held by the Fund has been materially affected by events occurring after the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded) may create a situation where a market quote would not be readily available. When a market quote is not readily available, the security’s value is based on “fair value” as determined by procedures adopted by the Board. The Board will periodically review the reliability of the Fund’s fair value methodology. The Fund may hold portfolio securities, such as those traded on foreign securities exchanges that trade on weekends or other days when the Fund’s shares are not priced. Therefore, the value of the Fund’s shares may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or redeem shares.

 

Short-term debt obligations with remaining maturities in excess of 60 days are valued at current market prices, as discussed above. Short-term securities with 60 days or less remaining to maturity are, unless conditions indicate otherwise, amortized to maturity based on their cost to the Fund if acquired within 60 days of maturity or, if already held by the Fund on the 60th day, based on the value determined on the 61st day.

 

All other assets of the Fund are valued in such manner as the Board in good faith deems appropriate to reflect as their fair value.

 

Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares

 

Detailed information on the purchase and redemption of shares is included in the Fund’s Prospectus. Shares of the Fund are sold at the next offering price calculated after receipt of an order for purchase. In order to purchase shares of the Fund, you must invest the initial minimum investment for the relevant class of shares. However, the Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to waive the minimum initial investment amount for certain investors, or to waive or reduce the minimum initial investment for 401(k) plans or other tax-deferred retirement plans. You may purchase shares on any day that the NYSE is open for business by placing orders with the Fund.

 

The Fund reserves the right to refuse any purchase requests, particularly those that would not be in the best interests of the Fund or its shareholders and could adversely affect the Fund or its operations. This includes those from any individual or group who, in the Fund’s view, is likely to engage in or has a history of excessive trading (usually defined as more than four round-trip transactions out of the Fund within a calendar year). Furthermore, the Fund may suspend the right to redeem its shares or postpone the date of payment upon redemption for more than seven calendar days (i) for any period during which the NYSE is closed (other than customary weekend or holiday closings) or trading on the NYSE is restricted; (ii) for any period during which an emergency exists affecting the sale of the Fund’s securities or making such sale or the fair determination of the value of the Fund’s net assets not reasonably practicable; or (iii) for such other periods as the SEC may permit for the protection of the Fund’s shareholders. In addition, if shares are purchased using a check and a redemption is requested before the check has cleared, the Fund may postpone payment of the redemption proceeds up to 15 days while the Fund waits for the check to clear.

 

 

B-40 

 

Redemptions In Kind. The Trust has filed an election under SEC Rule 18f-1 committing to pay in cash all redemptions by a shareholder of record up to amounts specified by the rule (the lesser of (i) $250,000 or (ii) 1% of the Fund’s assets). The Fund has reserved the right to pay the redemption price of its shares in excess of the amounts specified by the rule, either totally or partially, by an in-kind distribution of portfolio securities (instead of cash). The securities so distributed would be valued at the same amounts as those assigned to them in calculating the NAV for the Fund shares being redeemed. If a shareholder receives an in-kind distribution, the shareholder could incur brokerage or other charges in converting the securities to cash.

 

The Fund does not intend to hold more that 15% of its portfolio in illiquid securities, although the Fund, like virtually all mutual funds, may from time to time hold a small percentage of securities that are illiquid. In the unlikely event the Fund were to elect to make an in-kind redemption, the Fund expects that it would follow the normal protocol of making such distribution by way of a pro rata distribution based on its entire portfolio. If the Fund held illiquid securities, such distribution may contain a pro rata portion of such illiquid securities or the Fund may determine, based on a materiality assessment, not to include illiquid securities in the in-kind redemption. The Fund does not anticipate that it would ever selectively distribute a greater than pro rata portion of any illiquid securities to satisfy a redemption request. If such securities are included in the distribution, shareholders may not be able to liquidate such securities and may be required to hold such securities indefinitely. Shareholders’ ability to liquidate such securities distributed in-kind may be restricted by resale limitations or substantial restrictions on transfer imposed by the issuers of the securities or by law. Shareholders may only be able to liquidate such securities distributed in-kind at a substantial discount from their value, and there may be higher brokerage costs associated with any subsequent disposition of these securities by the recipient.

 

Federal Income Tax Matters

 

The following is a summary of certain material U.S. federal (and, where noted, state and local) income tax considerations affecting the Fund and its shareholders. The discussion is very general. Current and prospective shareholders are therefore urged to consult their own tax advisers with respect to the specific federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences of investing in the Fund. The summary is based on the laws in effect on the date of this SAI and existing judicial and administrative interpretations thereof, all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect.

 

The Fund is treated as a separate entity from other series of the Trust for federal income tax purposes. The Fund has elected (or intends to elect) to be, and intends to qualify each year for treatment as, a “regulated investment company” under Subchapter M of the Code by complying with all applicable requirements of the Code, including, among other things, requirements as to the sources of the Fund’s income, diversification of the Fund’s assets and timing of Fund distributions. To so qualify, the Fund must, among other things: (a) derive at least 90% of its gross income in each taxable year from dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, and gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or securities or foreign currencies, or other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, and net income derived from interests in “qualified publicly traded partnerships” (i.e., partnerships that are traded on an established securities market or tradable on a secondary market, other than partnerships that derive 90% of their income from interest, dividends, capital gains, and other traditionally permitted mutual fund income); (b) diversify its holdings so that, at the end of each quarter of the Fund’s taxable year, (i) at least 50% of the market value of the Fund’s assets is represented by cash, securities of other regulated investment companies, U.S. government securities and other securities, with such other securities limited, in respect of any one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the Fund’s assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of its assets is invested, including through corporations in which the Fund owns a 20% or more voting stock interest, in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or securities of other regulated investment companies) of any one issuer, in the securities (other than the securities of other regulated investment companies) of any two or more issuers that the Fund controls and that are determined to be engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses or related trades or businesses, or in the securities of one or more “qualified publicly traded partnerships;” and (c) distribute an amount equal to the sum of at least 90% of its investment company taxable income (computed without regard to the dividends-paid deduction) and 90% of its net tax-exempt income, if any, for the tax year (including, for purposes of satisfying this distribution requirement, certain distributions made by the Fund after the close of its taxable year that are treated as made during such taxable year).

 

 

B-41 

 

As a regulated investment company, the Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its taxable investment income and capital gains that it distributes to its shareholders provided that it satisfies a minimum distribution requirement. In order to also avoid liability for a non-deductible federal excise tax, the Fund must distribute (or be deemed to have distributed) by December 31 of each calendar year at least the sum of (i) 98% of its ordinary income for such year, (ii) 98.2% of the excess of its realized capital gains over its realized capital losses for the 12-month period generally ending on October 31 during such year and (iii) any amounts from the prior calendar year that were not distributed and on which the Fund paid no federal income tax. The Fund will be subject to income tax at the regular corporate tax rate on any taxable income or gains that it does not distribute to its shareholders. The Fund’s policy is to distribute to its shareholders all investment company taxable income (determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid) and any net capital gain (the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss) for each fiscal year in a manner that complies with the distribution requirements of the Code, so that the Fund will not be subject to any federal income or excise taxes.

 

If, for any taxable year, the Fund were to fail to qualify as a regulated investment company or were to fail to meet certain minimum distribution requirements under the Code, it would be taxed in the same manner as an ordinary corporation and distributions to its shareholders would not be deductible by the Fund in computing its taxable income. In addition, in the event of a failure to qualify, the Fund’s distributions, to the extent derived from the Fund’s current or accumulated earnings and profits, including any distributions of net capital gain, would be taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividend income for federal income tax purposes. However, such dividends would be eligible, subject to any generally applicable limitations, (i) to be treated as qualified dividend income in the case of shareholders taxed as individuals, and (ii) for the dividends-received deduction in the case of corporate shareholders. Moreover, if the Fund were to fail to qualify as a regulated investment company in any year, it would be required to pay out its earnings and profits accumulated in that year in order to qualify again as a regulated investment company. Under certain circumstances, the Fund may be able to cure a failure to qualify as a regulated investment company, but in order to do so the Fund might incur significant Fund-level taxes and might be forced to dispose of certain assets. If the Fund failed to qualify as a regulated investment company for a period greater than two taxable years, the Fund would generally be required to recognize any net built-in gains with respect to certain of its assets upon a disposition of such assets within five years of qualifying as a regulated investment company in a subsequent year.

 

Shareholders generally will be subject to federal income taxes on distributions made by the Fund whether paid in cash or additional shares. Distributions of net investment income (including interest, dividend income and net short-term capital gain in excess of any net long-term capital loss, less certain expenses), other than qualified dividend income, will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income. Distributions of qualified dividend income generally will be taxed to non-corporate shareholders at the federal income tax rates applicable to net capital gain, provided the Fund reports the amount distributed as qualified dividend income.

 

 

B-42 

 

In general, dividends may be reported by the Fund as qualified dividend income if they are attributable to qualified dividend income received by the Fund. Qualified dividend income generally means dividend income received from the Fund’s investments in common and preferred stock of U.S. companies and stock of certain qualified foreign corporations, provided that certain holding period and other requirements are met by both the Fund and its shareholders. 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.

 

A foreign corporation is treated as a qualified foreign corporation for this purpose if it is incorporated in a possession of the United States or it is eligible for the benefits of certain income tax treaties with the United States and meets certain additional requirements. Certain foreign corporations that are not otherwise qualified foreign corporations will be treated as qualified foreign corporations with respect to dividends paid by them if the stock with respect to which the dividends are paid is readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States. Passive foreign investment companies are not qualified foreign corporations for this purpose.

 

Dividends paid by the Fund may qualify in part for the dividends-received deduction available to corporate shareholders, provided the Fund reports the amount distributed as a qualifying dividend and certain holding period and other requirements under the Code are satisfied. The reported amount, however, cannot exceed the aggregate amount of qualifying dividends received by the Fund for its taxable year. Eligibility for qualified dividend income treatment and the dividends-received deduction may be reduced or eliminated if, among other things, (i) the shareholder is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property or (ii) certain holding period requirements are not satisfied at both the Fund and shareholder levels. In addition, qualified dividend income treatment is not available if a shareholder elects to have the dividend income treated as investment income for purposes of the limitation on deductibility of investment interest.

 

Distributions of net capital gain, if any, that the Fund reports as capital gain dividends will be taxable to non-corporate shareholders as long-term capital gain without regard to how long a shareholder has held shares of the Fund. The Fund may retain certain amounts of capital gains and designate them 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 amounts so designated, (ii) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the income tax paid by the Fund on those undistributed amounts 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 federal income tax basis in their shares by an amount equal to the excess of the amounts of undistributed net capital gain included in their respective income over their respective income tax credits.

 

For U.S. federal income tax purposes, the Fund is permitted to carry forward indefinitely a net capital loss from any taxable year 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 shareholders. Generally, the Fund may not carry forward any losses other than net capital losses. Under certain circumstances, the Fund may elect to treat certain losses as though they were incurred on the first day of the taxable year immediately following the taxable year in which they were actually incurred.

 

Distributions in excess of earnings and profits will, as to each shareholder, be treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of the shareholder’s basis in his or her Fund shares. A distribution treated as a return of capital will reduce the shareholder’s basis in his or her shares, which will result in an increase in the amount of gain (or a decrease in the amount of loss) that will be recognized by the shareholder for tax purposes on a later sale of such shares. After the shareholder’s basis is reduced to zero, any distributions in excess of earnings and profits will be treated as a capital gain, assuming the shareholder holds his or her shares as capital assets.

 

 

B-43 

 

A 3.8% Medicare contribution tax generally applies to all or a portion of the net investment income of a shareholder who is an individual and not a nonresident alien for federal income tax purposes and who has adjusted gross income (subject to certain adjustments) that exceeds a threshold amount ($250,000 if married filing jointly or if considered a “surviving spouse” for federal income tax purposes, $125,000 if married filing separately, and $200,000 in other cases). 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. For these purposes, interest, dividends and certain capital gains (among other categories of income) are generally taken into account in computing a shareholder’s net investment income.

 

Certain tax-exempt educational institutions are subject to a 1.4% tax on net investment income. For these purposes, certain dividends and capital gain distributions, and certain gains from the disposition of Fund shares (among other categories of income), are generally taken into account in computing a shareholder’s net investment income.

 

Distributions are generally taxable when received. However, distributions declared in October, November or December to shareholders of record on a date in such a month and paid the following January are taxable for federal income tax purposes as if received on December 31 of the calendar year in which declared. Distributions are includable in alternative minimum taxable income in computing a shareholder’s liability for the federal alternative minimum tax, which is imposed on individual taxpayers under the Code. In addition, certain distributions made after the close of a taxable year of the Fund may be “spilled back” and treated for certain purposes as paid by the Fund during such taxable year. In such case, shareholders generally will be treated as having received such dividends in the taxable year in which the distributions were actually made. For purposes of calculating the amount of a regulated investment company’s undistributed income and gain subject to the 4% excise tax described above, such “spilled back” dividends are treated as paid by the regulated investment company when they are actually paid.

 

A redemption of Fund shares may result in recognition of a taxable gain or loss. The gain or loss will generally be treated as a long-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for more than one year, and as a short-term capital gain or loss if the shares are held for one year or less. Any loss realized upon a redemption or exchange of shares held for six months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as distributions of long-term capital gains during such six-month period. Any loss realized upon a redemption may be disallowed under certain wash sale rules to the extent shares of the Fund or substantially identical stock or securities are purchased (through reinvestment of distributions or otherwise) within 30 days before or after the redemption.

 

If a shareholder recognizes a loss with respect to 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 (the “IRS”) a disclosure statement on IRS Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases exempted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a regulated investment company are not exempted. The fact that a loss is so reportable does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper.

 

The Fund’s transactions in options and other similar transactions, such as futures, may be subject to special provisions of the Code that, among other things, affect the character of any income realized by the Fund from such investments, accelerate recognition of income to the Fund, defer Fund losses, affect the holding period of the Fund’s securities, affect whether distributions will be eligible for the dividends-received deduction or be treated as qualified dividend income and affect the determination of whether capital gain and loss is characterized as long-term or short-term capital gain or loss. These rules could therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These provisions may also require the Fund to “mark-to-market” certain types of the positions in its portfolio (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out), which may cause the Fund to recognize income without receiving cash with which to make distributions in amounts necessary to satisfy the distribution requirements for avoiding U.S. federal income and excise taxes. The Fund will monitor these transactions and will make the appropriate entries in its books and records, and if the Fund deems it advisable, will make appropriate elections if available in order to mitigate the effect of these rules, prevent disqualification of the Fund as a regulated investment company and minimize the imposition of U.S. federal income and excise taxes.

 

 

B-44 

 

The Fund’s transactions in broad based equity index futures contracts, exchange-traded options on such indices and certain other futures contracts are generally considered “Section 1256 contracts” for federal income tax purposes. Any unrealized gains or losses on such Section 1256 contracts are treated as though they were realized at the end of each taxable year. The resulting gain or loss is treated as 60% long-term capital gain or loss and 40% short-term capital gain or loss. Gain or loss recognized on actual sales of Section 1256 contracts is treated in the same manner. As noted above, distributions of net short-term capital gain are taxable to shareholders as ordinary income while distributions of net long-term capital gain are taxable to shareholders as long-term capital gain, regardless of how long the shareholder has held shares of the Fund.

 

The Fund’s entry into a short sale transaction, an option or certain other contracts, such as futures, could be treated as the constructive sale of an appreciated financial position, causing the Fund to realize gain, but not loss, on the position.

 

If the Fund invests in certain pay-in-kind securities, zero coupon securities, deferred interest securities or, in general, any other securities with original issue discount (or with market discount if the Fund elects to include market discount in income currently), the Fund must accrue income on such investments for each taxable year, which generally will be prior to the receipt of the corresponding cash payments. However, the Fund must distribute, at least annually, all or substantially all of its investment company taxable income (determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid), including such accrued income to shareholders to avoid federal income and excise taxes. Therefore, the Fund may have to sell portfolio securities (potentially under disadvantageous circumstances) to generate cash, or may have to undertake leverage by borrowing cash, to satisfy these distribution requirements. Dispositions of portfolio securities may result in additional gains and additional distribution requirements.

 

If the Fund invests in a market discount bond, it will be required to treat any gain recognized on the disposition of such market discount bond as ordinary income (instead of capital gain) to the extent of the accrued market discount, unless the Fund elects to include the market discount in income as it accrues as discussed above. A market discount bond is a security acquired in the secondary market at a price below its redemption value (or its adjusted issue price if it is also an original issue discount bond).

 

The Fund may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by foreign countries, including taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains with respect to its investments in those countries, which would, if imposed, reduce the yield on or return from those investments. Tax treaties between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes in some cases. So long as the Fund qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company and incurs “qualified foreign taxes,” if more than 50% of its net assets at the close of its taxable year consist of stock or securities of foreign corporations, which for this purpose may include obligations of foreign governmental issuers, the Fund may elect to “pass through” to its shareholders the amount of such foreign taxes paid. If this election is made, information with respect to the amount of the foreign income taxes that are allocated to the Fund’s shareholders will be provided to them and any shareholder subject to tax on dividends will be required (i) to include in ordinary gross income (in addition to the amount of the taxable dividends actually received) his/her proportionate share of the foreign taxes paid that are attributable to such dividends; and (ii) either to deduct his/her proportionate share of such foreign taxes in computing his/her taxable income or to claim that amount as a foreign tax credit (subject to applicable limitations) against U.S. income taxes.

 

Shareholders who do not itemize deductions for U.S. federal income tax purposes will not be able to deduct their pro rata portion of qualified foreign taxes paid by the Fund, although such shareholders will be required to include their shares of such taxes in gross income if the Fund makes the election described above. Qualified foreign taxes generally include taxes that would be treated as income taxes under U.S. tax regulations but do not include most other taxes, such as stamp taxes, securities transaction taxes, and similar taxes. No deduction for such taxes will be permitted to individuals in computing their alternative minimum tax liability.

 

 

B-45 

 

If the Fund makes the election to pass through qualified foreign taxes and a shareholder chooses to take a credit for the foreign taxes deemed paid by such shareholder, the amount of the credit that may be claimed in any year may not exceed the same proportion of the U.S. tax against which such credit is taken that the shareholder’s taxable income from foreign sources (but not in excess of the shareholder’s entire taxable income) bears to his entire taxable income. For this purpose, long-term and short-term capital gains the Fund realizes and distributes to shareholders will generally not be treated as income from foreign sources in their hands, nor will distributions of certain foreign currency gains subject to Section 988 of the Code or of any other income realized by the Fund that is deemed, under the Code, to be U.S.-source income in the hands of the Fund. This foreign tax credit limitation may also be applied separately to certain specific categories of foreign-source income and the related foreign taxes. As a result of these rules, which may have different effects depending upon each shareholder’s particular tax situation, certain shareholders may not be able to claim a credit for the full amount of their proportionate share of the foreign taxes paid by the Fund. Shareholders who are not liable for U.S. federal income taxes, including tax-exempt shareholders, will ordinarily not benefit from this election. If the Fund does make the election, it will provide required tax information to shareholders. The Fund generally may deduct any foreign taxes that are not passed through to its shareholders in computing its income available for distribution to shareholders to satisfy applicable tax distribution requirements. Under certain circumstances, if the Fund receives a refund of foreign taxes paid in respect of a prior year, the value of the Fund’s shares could be affected, or any foreign tax credits or deductions passed through to shareholders in respect of the Fund’s foreign taxes for the current year could be reduced.

 

Foreign exchange gains or losses realized by the Fund in connection with certain transactions involving foreign currency-denominated debt securities, certain options and futures contracts relating to foreign currency, foreign currency forward contracts, foreign currencies, or payables or receivables denominated in a foreign currency are subject to Section 988 of the Code, which generally causes such gains or losses to be treated as ordinary gain or loss and may affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders.

 

The Fund may purchase the securities of certain foreign companies treated as passive foreign investment companies for federal income tax purposes (“PFICs”). PFICs may be the only or primary means by which the Fund may invest in some countries. If the Fund invests in equity securities of PFICs, it may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a portion of any “excess distribution” or gain from the disposition of such securities even if such income is distributed as a taxable dividend to shareholders. Additional charges in the nature of interest may be imposed on the Fund with respect to deferred taxes arising from such distributions or gains. Capital gains on the sale of such holdings will be deemed to be ordinary income regardless of how long such PFICs are held. A “qualified electing fund” election or a “mark to market” election may generally be available that would ameliorate these adverse tax consequences, but such elections could require the Fund to recognize taxable income or gain (subject to the distribution requirements applicable to regulated investment companies, as described above) without the concurrent receipt of cash. In order to satisfy the distribution requirements and avoid a tax on the Fund, the Fund may be required to liquidate portfolio securities that it might otherwise have continued to hold, potentially resulting in additional taxable gain or loss to the fund. In order for the Fund to make a qualified electing fund election with respect to a PFIC, the PFIC would have to agree to provide certain tax information to the Fund on an annual basis, which it might not agree to do. The Fund may limit and/or manage its holdings in PFICs to limit its tax liability or maximize its return from these investments.

 

If a sufficient percentage of the interests in a foreign issuer are held by the Fund, independently or together with certain other U.S. persons, that issuer may be treated as a “controlled foreign corporation” (a “CFC”) with respect to the Fund, in which case the Fund will be required to take into account each year, as ordinary income, its share of certain portions of that issuer’s income, whether or not such amounts are distributed. The Fund may have to dispose of its portfolio securities (potentially resulting in the recognition of taxable gain or loss, and potentially under disadvantageous circumstances) to generate cash, or may have to borrow the cash, to meet its distribution requirements and avoid Fund-level taxes. In addition, some Fund gains on the disposition of interests in such an issuer may be treated as ordinary income. The Fund may limit and/or manage its holdings in issuers that could be treated as CFCs in order to limit its tax liability or maximize its after-tax return from these investments.

 

 

B-46 

 

The Fund is required to withhold (as “backup withholding”) a portion of reportable payments, including dividends, capital gain distributions and the proceeds of redemptions and exchanges or repurchases of Fund shares, paid to shareholders who have not complied with certain IRS regulations. The backup withholding rate is currently 24%. In order to avoid this withholding requirement, shareholders, other than certain exempt entities, must certify on IRS Forms W-9 or on certain other documents, that the Social Security Numbers or other Taxpayer Identification Numbers they provide are their correct numbers and that they are not currently subject to backup withholding, or that they are exempt from backup withholding. The Fund may nevertheless be required to backup withhold if it receives notice from the IRS or a broker that a number provided is incorrect or that backup withholding is applicable as a result of previous underreporting of interest or dividend income.

 

Ordinary dividends and certain other payments made by the Fund to non-U.S. shareholders are generally subject to withholding tax at a 30% rate (or a lower rate as may be determined in accordance with any applicable treaty). In order to obtain a reduced rate of withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will be required to provide an IRS Form W-8BEN or similar form certifying its entitlement to benefits under a treaty. The withholding tax does not apply to regular dividends paid to a non-U.S. shareholder who provides an IRS Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the non-U.S. shareholder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States. Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax as if the non-U.S. shareholder were a U.S. shareholder. A non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or a lower treaty rate).

 

The 30% withholding tax described in the preceding paragraph generally will not apply to distributions of net capital gain, to redemption proceeds, or to dividends that the Fund reports as (a) interest-related dividends, to the extent such dividends are derived from the Fund’s “qualified net interest income,” or (b) short-term capital gain dividends, to the extent such dividends are derived from the Fund’s “qualified short-term gain.” “Qualified net interest income” is the Fund’s net income derived from U.S.-source interest and original issue discount, subject to certain exceptions and limitations. “Qualified short-term gain” generally means the excess of the net short-term capital gain of the Fund for the taxable year over its net long-term capital loss, if any. In order to qualify for an exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder will need to comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN or other applicable form). Backup withholding will not be applied to payments that are subject to this 30% withholding tax.

 

Unless certain non-U.S. entities that hold Fund shares comply with IRS 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 the Fund’s dividends payable to such entities. A non-U.S. shareholder may be exempt from the withholding described in this paragraph under an applicable intergovernmental agreement between the United States and a foreign government, provided that the shareholder and the applicable foreign government comply with the terms of such agreement.

 

This discussion and the related discussion in the Prospectus have been prepared by management of the Fund, and counsel to the Trust has expressed no opinion in respect thereof.

 

Shareholders and prospective shareholders of the Fund should consult their own tax advisors concerning the effect of owning shares of the Fund in light of their particular tax situations.

 

 

B-47 

 

Dividends and Distributions

 

The Fund will receive income in the form of dividends and interest earned on its investments in securities. This income, less the expenses incurred in its operations, is the Fund’s net investment income, substantially all of which will be declared as dividends to the Fund’s shareholders.

 

The amount of income dividend payments by the Fund is dependent upon the amount of net investment income received by the Fund from its portfolio holdings, is not guaranteed and is subject to the discretion of the Board. The Fund does not pay “interest” or guarantee any fixed rate of return on an investment in its shares.

 

The Fund also may derive capital gains or losses in connection with sales or other dispositions of its portfolio securities. Any net gain the Fund may realize from transactions involving investments held for less than the period required for long-term capital gain or loss recognition or otherwise producing short-term capital gains and losses (taking into account any available carryover of capital losses), although a distribution from capital gains, will be distributed to shareholders with and as a part of the income dividends paid by the Fund and will generally be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income for federal income tax purposes. If during any year the Fund realizes a net gain on transactions involving investments held for more than the period required for long-term capital gain or loss recognition or otherwise producing long-term capital gains and losses, the Fund will have a net long-term capital gain. After deduction of the amount of any net short-term capital loss, the balance (to the extent not offset by any capital losses available to be carried over) generally will be distributed and treated as long-term capital gains in the hands of the shareholders regardless of the length of time the Fund’s shares may have been held by the shareholders. For more information concerning applicable capital gains tax rates, see your tax advisor.

 

Any dividend or distribution paid by the Fund reduces the Fund’s NAV on the date paid by the amount of the dividend or distribution per share. Accordingly, a dividend or distribution paid shortly after a purchase of shares by a shareholder will generally be taxable, even if it effectively represents a partial return of the shareholder’s capital.

 

Dividends and other distributions will be made in the form of additional shares of the Fund unless the shareholder has otherwise indicated. Investors have the right to change their elections with respect to the reinvestment of dividends and distributions by notifying the Transfer Agent in writing, but any such change will be effective only as to dividends and other distributions for which the record date is seven or more business days after the Transfer Agent has received the written request.

 

The Fund’s investments in partnerships, if any, including in qualified publicly traded partnerships, may result in that Fund being subject to state, local or foreign income, franchise or withholding tax liabilities.

 

General Information

 

Investment Managers Series Trust II is an open-end management investment company organized as a Delaware statutory trust under the laws of the State of Delaware on August 20, 2013. The Trust has a number of outstanding series of shares of beneficial interest, each of which represents interests in a separate portfolio of securities.

 

The Trust’s Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to create additional series of shares, to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest of each series, including the Fund, and to divide or combine the shares of any series into a greater or lesser number of shares without thereby changing the proportionate beneficial interest in the series. The assets belonging to a series are charged with the liabilities in respect of that series and all expenses, costs, charges and reserves attributable to that series only. Therefore, any creditor of any series may look only to the assets belonging to that series to satisfy the creditor’s debt. Any general liabilities, expenses, costs, charges or reserves of the Trust which are not readily identifiable as pertaining to any particular series are allocated and charged by the Trustees to and among the existing series in the sole discretion of the Trustees. Each share of the Fund represents an interest in the Fund proportionately equal to the interest of each other share. Upon the Fund’s liquidation, all shareholders would share pro rata in the net assets of the Fund available for distribution to shareholders.

 

 

B-48 

 

The Trust may offer more than one class of shares of any series. Each share of a series or class represents an equal proportionate interest in that series or class with each other share of that series or class.

 

The shares of each series or class participate equally in the earnings, dividends and assets of the particular series or class. Expenses of the Trust, which are not attributable to a specific series or class, are allocated among all the series in a manner believed by management of the Trust to be fair and equitable. Shares issued do not have pre-emptive or conversion rights. Shares when issued are fully paid and non-assessable, except as set forth below. Shareholders are entitled to one vote for each share held. Shares of each series or class generally vote together, except when required under federal securities laws to vote separately on matters that only affect a particular series or class, such as the approval of distribution plans for a particular class.

 

The Trust is not required to hold annual meetings of shareholders but will hold special meetings of shareholders of a series or class when, in the judgment of the Board, it is necessary or desirable to submit matters for a shareholder vote. Shareholders have, under certain circumstances, the right to communicate with other shareholders in connection with requesting a meeting of shareholders for the purpose of removing one or more trustees. Shareholders also have, in certain circumstances, the right to remove one or more trustees without a meeting. No material amendment may be made to the Trust’s Declaration of Trust without the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of each portfolio affected by the amendment.

 

The Trust’s Declaration of Trust provides that, at any meeting of shareholders of the Trust or of any series or class, a shareholder servicing agent may vote any shares as to which such shareholder servicing agent is the agent of record for shareholders who are not represented in person or by proxy at the meeting, proportionately in accordance with the votes cast by holders of all shares of that portfolio otherwise represented at the meeting in person or by proxy as to which such shareholder servicing agent is the agent of record. Any shares so voted by a shareholder servicing agent will be deemed represented at the meeting for purposes of quorum requirements. Any series or class may be terminated (i) upon the merger or consolidation with, or the sale or disposition of all or substantially all of its assets to, another entity, if approved by the vote of the holders of two-thirds of its outstanding shares, except that if the Board recommends such merger, consolidation or sale or disposition of assets, the approval by vote of the holders of a majority of the series’ or class’ outstanding shares will be sufficient, or (ii) by the vote of the holders of a majority of its outstanding shares, or (iii) by the Board by written notice to the series’ or class’ shareholders. Unless each series and class is so terminated, the Trust will continue indefinitely.

 

Shareholders may send communications to the Board. Shareholders should send communications intended for the Board by addressing the communications to the Board, in care of the Secretary of the Trust and sending the communication to 2220 E. Route 66, Suite 226, Glendora, California 91740. A shareholder communication must (i) be in writing and be signed by the shareholder, (ii) provide contact information for the shareholder, (iii) identify the Fund to which it relates, and (iv) identify the class and number of shares held by the shareholder. The Secretary of the Trust may, in good faith, determine that a shareholder communication should not be provided to the Board because it does not reasonably relate to the Trust or its operations, management, activities, policies, service providers, Board, officers, shareholders or other matters relating to an investment in the Fund or is otherwise immaterial in nature. Other shareholder communications received by the Funds not directly addressed and sent to the Board will be reviewed and generally responded to by management, and will be forwarded to the Board only at management’s discretion based on the matters contained therein.

 

 

B-49 

 

The Declaration of Trust provides that no Trustee or officer of the Trust shall be subject to any personal liability in connection with the assets or affairs of the Trust or any of its series except for losses in connection with his or her willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of his or her duties. The Trust has also entered into an indemnification agreement with each Trustee which provides that the Trust shall advance expenses and indemnify and hold harmless the Trustee in certain circumstances against any expenses incurred by the Trustee in any proceeding arising out of or in connection with the Trustee’s service to the Trust, to the maximum extent permitted by the Delaware Statutory Trust Act, the 1933 Act and the 1940 Act, and which provides for certain procedures in connection with such advancement of expenses and indemnification.

 

The Trust’s Declaration of Trust also provides that the Trust shall maintain appropriate insurance (for example, fidelity bonding and errors and omissions insurance) for the protection of the Trust, its shareholders, trustees, officers, employees and agents covering possible tort and other liabilities.

 

The Declaration of Trust does not require the issuance of stock certificates. If stock certificates are issued, they must be returned by the registered owners prior to the transfer or redemption of shares represented by such certificates.

 

Rule 18f-2 under the 1940 Act provides that as to any investment company which has two or more series outstanding and as to any matter required to be submitted to shareholder vote, such matter is not deemed to have been effectively acted upon unless approved by the holders of a “majority” (as defined in the rule) of the voting securities of each series affected by the matter. Such separate voting requirements do not apply to the election of Trustees or the ratification of the selection of accountants. The Rule contains special provisions for cases in which an advisory contract is approved by one or more, but not all, series. A change in investment policy may go into effect as to one or more series whose holders so approve the change even though the required vote is not obtained as to the holders of other affected series.

 

The Trust, the Advisor, and the Sub-Advisor have adopted Codes of Ethics under Rule 17j-1 of the 1940 Act. These codes of ethics permit, subject to certain conditions, personnel of each of those entities to invest in securities that may be purchased or held by the Fund.

 

Financial Statements

 

[As the Fund has recently commenced operations, there are no financial statements available at this time. Shareholders of the Fund will be informed of the Fund’s progress through periodic reports when those reports become available. Financial statements certified by the independent registered public accounting firm will be submitted to shareholders at least annually.]

 

B-50 

 

Appendix A
Description of Securities Ratings

 

Corporate Bonds (Including Convertible Bonds)

 

Moody’s

 

Aaa         Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, with minimal credit risk.

 

Aa           Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.

 

A             Obligations rated A are considered upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.

 

Baa         Obligations rated Baa are subject to moderate credit risk. They are considered medium-grade and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics.

 

Ba           Obligations rated Ba are judged to have speculative elements and are subject to substantial credit risk.

 

B             Obligations rated B are considered speculative and are subject to high credit risk.

 

Caa         Obligations rated Caa are judged to be of poor standing and are subject to very high credit risk.

 

Ca           Obligations rated Ca are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near, default, with some prospect of recovery.

 

C             Obligations rated C are the lowest rated class of bonds and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.

 

Note      Moody’s applies numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 in each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category.

 

S&P

 

AAA       An obligation rated AAA has the highest rating assigned by Standard & Poor’s. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong.

 

AA         An obligation rated AA differs from the highest-rated obligations only in small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is very strong.

 

A            An obligation rated A is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher-rated categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is still strong.

 

BBB       An obligation rated BBB exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

 

Note       Obligations rated BB, B, CCC, CC, and C are regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. BB indicates the least degree of speculation and C the highest. While such obligations will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these may be outweighed by large uncertainties or major exposures to adverse conditions.

 

B-51 

 

BB          An obligation rated BB is less vulnerable to nonpayment than other speculative issues. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial or economic conditions, which could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

 

B             An obligation rated B is more vulnerable to nonpayment than obligations rated BB, but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor’s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

 

CCC       An obligation rated CCC is currently vulnerable to nonpayment, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation. In the event of adverse business, financial, or economic conditions, the obligor is not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

 

CC          An obligation rated CC is currently highly vulnerable to nonpayment.

 

C             The C rating may be used to cover a situation where a bankruptcy petition has been filed or similar action has been taken, but payments on this obligation are being continued.

 

D             An obligation rated D is in payment default. The D rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due even if the applicable grace period has not expired, unless Standard & Poor’s believes that such payments will be made during such grace period. The D rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action if payments on an obligation are jeopardized.

 

Note      Plus (+) or minus (-). The ratings from AA to CCC may be modified by the addition of a plus or minus sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories. The “r” symbol is attached to the ratings of instruments with significant noncredit risks. It highlights risks to principal or volatility of expected returns, which are not addressed in the credit rating. Examples include: obligations linked or indexed to equities, currencies, or commodities; obligations exposed to severe prepayment risk-such as interest-only or principal-only mortgage securities; and obligations with unusually risky interest terms, such as inverse floaters.

 

Preferred Stock

 

Moody’s

 

Aaa         An issue that is rated “Aaa” is considered to be a top-quality preferred stock. This rating indicates good asset protection and the least risk of dividend impairment within the universe of preferred stocks.

 

Aa           An issue that is rated “Aa” is considered a high-grade preferred stock. This rating indicates that there is a reasonable assurance the earnings and asset protection will remain relatively well maintained in the foreseeable future.

 

A            An issue that is rated “A” is considered to be an upper-medium grade preferred stock. While risks are judged to be somewhat greater than in the “Aaa” and “Aa” classification, earnings and asset protection are, nevertheless, expected to be maintained at adequate levels.

 

Baa         An issue that is rated “Baa” is considered to be a medium-grade preferred stock, neither highly protected nor poorly secured. Earnings and asset protection appear adequate at present but may be questionable over any great length of time.

 

B-52 

 

Ba           An issue that is rated “Ba” is considered to have speculative elements and its future cannot be considered well assured. Earnings and asset protection may be very moderate and not well safeguarded during adverse periods. Uncertainty of position characterizes preferred stocks in this class.

 

B             An issue that is rated “B” generally lacks the characteristics of a desirable investment. Assurance of dividend payments and maintenance of other terms of the issue over any long period of time may be small.

 

Caa         An issue that is rated “Caa” is likely to be in arrears on dividend payments. This rating designation does not purport to indicate the future status of payments.

 

Ca           An issue that is rated “Ca” is speculative in a high degree and is likely to be in arrears on dividends with little likelihood of eventual payments.

 

C             This is the lowest rated class of preferred or preference stock. Issues so rated can thus be regarded as having extremely poor prospects of ever attaining any real investment standing.

 

Note        Moody’s applies numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 in each rating classification: the modifier 1 indicates that the security ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking and the modifier 3 indicates that the issue ranks in the lower end of its generic rating category.

 

S&P

 

AAA       This is the highest rating that may be assigned by Standard & Poor’s to a preferred stock issue and indicates an extremely strong capacity to pay the preferred stock obligations.

 

AA          A preferred stock issue rated AA also qualifies as a high-quality, fixed-income security. The capacity to pay preferred stock obligations is very strong, although not as overwhelming as for issues rated AAA.

 

A             An issue rated A is backed by a sound capacity to pay the preferred stock obligations, although it is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions.

 

BBB       An issue rated BBB is regarded as backed by an adequate capacity to pay the preferred stock obligations. Whereas it normally exhibits adequate protection parameters, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity to make payments for a preferred stock in this category than for issues in the A category.

 

BB, B, CCC          Preferred stock rated BB, B, and CCC is regarded, on balance, as predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay preferred stock obligations. BB indicates the lowest degree of speculation and CCC the highest. While such issues will likely have some quality and protective characteristics, these are outweighed by large uncertainties or major risk exposures to adverse conditions.

 

CC          The rating CC is reserved for a preferred stock issue that is in arrears on dividends or sinking fund payments, but that is currently paying.

 

C             A preferred stock rated C is a nonpaying issue.

 

D             A preferred stock rated D is a nonpaying issue with the issuer in default on debt instruments.

 

N.R.        This indicates that no rating has been requested, that there is insufficient information on which to base a rating, or that Standard & Poor’s does not rate a particular type of obligation as a matter of policy.

 

B-53 

 

Note      Plus (+) or minus (-). To provide more detailed indications of preferred stock quality, ratings from AA to CCC may be modified by the addition of a plus or minus sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories.

 

Short Term Ratings

 

Moody’s

 

Moody’s employs the following three designations, all judged to be investment grade, to indicate the relative repayment ability of rated issuers:

 

Prime-1         Issuers rated Prime-1 (or supporting institutions) have a superior ability for repayment of senior short-term debt obligations. Prime-1 repayment ability will often be evidenced by many of the following characteristics:

 

 

Leading market positions in well-established industries.

 

 

High rates of return on funds employed.

 

 

Conservative capitalization structure with moderate reliance on debt and ample asset protection.

 

 

Broad margins in earnings coverage of fixed financial charges and high internal cash generation.

 

 

Well-established access to a range of financial markets and assured sources of alternate liquidity.

 

Prime-2                 Issuers rated Prime-2 (or supporting institutions) have a strong ability for repayment of senior short-term debt obligations. This will normally be evidenced by many of the characteristics cited above but to a lesser degree. Earnings trends and coverage ratios, while sound, may be more subject to variation. Capitalization characteristics, while still appropriate, may be more affected by external conditions. Ample alternate liquidity is maintained.

 

Prime-3                 Issuers rated Prime-3 (or supporting institutions) have an acceptable ability for repayment of senior short-term obligations. The effect of industry characteristics and market compositions may be more pronounced. Variability in earnings and profitability may result in changes in the level of debt protection measurements and may require relatively high financial leverage. Adequate alternate liquidity is maintained.

 

Not Prime      Issuers rated Not Prime do not fall within any of the Prime rating categories.

 

S&P

 

A-1          A short-term obligation rated A-1 is rated in the highest category by Standard & Poor’s. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is strong. Within this category, certain obligations are designated with a plus sign (+). This indicates that the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on these obligations is extremely strong.

 

A-2         A short-term obligation rated A-2 is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligations in higher rating categories. However, the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is satisfactory.

 

B-54 

 

A-3         A short-term obligation rated A-3 exhibits adequate protection parameters. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

 

B            A short-term obligation rated B is regarded as having significant speculative characteristics. The obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation; however, it faces major ongoing uncertainties, which could lead to the obligor’s inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

 

C            A short-term obligation rated C is currently vulnerable to nonpayment and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation.

 

D            A short-term obligation rated D is in payment default. The D rating category is used when payments on an obligation are not made on the date due even if the applicable grace period has not expired, unless Standard & Poor’s believes that such payments will be made during such grace period. The D rating also will be used upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition or the taking of a similar action if payments on an obligation are jeopardized.

 

B-55 

 

Appendix B

 

INVESTMENT MANAGERS SERIES TRUST II

PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

 

Investment Managers Series Trust II (the “Trust”) is registered as an open-end investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”). The Trust offers multiple series (each a “Fund” and, collectively, the “Funds”). Consistent with its fiduciary duties and pursuant to Rule 30b1-4 under the 1940 Act (the “Proxy Rule”), the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”) has adopted this proxy voting policy on behalf of the Trust (the “Policy”) to reflect its commitment to ensure that proxies are voted in a manner consistent with the best interests of the Funds’ shareholders.

 

Delegation of Proxy Voting Authority to Fund Advisors 

The Board believes that the investment advisor of each Fund (each an “Advisor” and, collectively, the “Advisors”), as the entity that selects the individual securities that comprise its Fund’s portfolio, is the most knowledgeable and best-suited to make decisions on how to vote proxies of portfolio companies held by that Fund. The Trust will therefore defer to, and rely on, the Advisor of each Fund to make decisions on how to cast proxy votes on behalf of such Fund. An Advisor may delegate this responsibility to a Fund’s Sub-Advisor(s).

 

The Trust hereby designates the Advisor of each Fund as the entity responsible for exercising proxy voting authority with regard to securities held in the Fund’s investment portfolio. Consistent with its duties under this Policy, each Advisor shall monitor and review corporate transactions of corporations in which the Fund has invested, obtain all information sufficient to allow an informed vote on all proxy solicitations, ensure that all proxy votes are cast in a timely fashion, and maintain all records required to be maintained by the Fund under the Proxy Rule and the 1940 Act. Each Advisor will perform these duties in accordance with the Advisor’s proxy voting policy, a copy of which will be presented to the Board for its review. Each Advisor will promptly provide to the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) updates to its proxy voting policy as they are adopted and implemented, and the Trust’s CCO will then report such updates to the Board.

 

Availability of Proxy Voting Policy and Records Available to Fund Shareholders

If a Fund or an Advisor has a website, a copy of the Advisor’s proxy voting policy and this Policy may be posted on such website. A copy of such policies and of each Fund’s proxy voting record shall also be made available, without charge, upon request of any shareholder of the Fund, by calling the applicable Fund’s toll-free telephone number as printed in the Fund’s prospectus. The Trust’s transfer agent will notify the Advisor of any such request of proxy voting procedures. The Advisor shall reply to any Fund shareholder request within three (3) business days of receipt of the request, by first-class mail or other means designed to ensure equally prompt delivery.

 

Each Advisor will provide a complete annual voting record, as required by the Proxy Rule, for each series of the Trust for which it acts as advisor, to the Trust’s co-administrator no later than July 31st of each year. The Trust’s co-administrator, MFAC, will file a report based on such record on Form N-PX on an annual basis with the Securities and Exchange Commission no later than August 31st of each year.

 

Each Advisor is responsible for providing its current proxy voting policies and procedures and any subsequent amendments to the Trust’s CCO. SEC Form N-PX is filed with respect to each Fund by MFAC (acting as filing agent), by no later than August 31st of each year. Each such filing details all proxies voted on behalf of the Fund for the prior twelve months ended June 30th. In connection with each filing on behalf of the Fund, the Advisor’s CCO must sign and return to MFAC no later than July 30th a Form N-PX Certification stating that the Advisor has adopted proxy voting policies and procedures in compliance with the SEC’s Proxy Voting Rule.

 

 

B-56 

 

ADVISOR Proxy Policies And Guidelines

 

[to be filed by amendment]

 

B-57 

 

SUB-ADVISOR Proxy Policies And Guidelines

 

[to be filed by amendment]

 

 

B-58 

 

PART C: OTHER INFORMATION

 

ITEM 28. EXHIBITS

 

(a) (1) Agreement and Declaration of Trust of Registrant dated September 16, 2013 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (a)(1) to Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A filed with the Commission on September 30, 2013.
     
    (i) Amendment to the Agreement and Declaration of Trust of Registrant dated October 20, 2020 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (a)(1)(i) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 227 filed with the Commission on October 28, 2020.
       
  (2) Certificate of Trust dated August 13, 2013 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (a)(2) to Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A filed with the Commission on September 30, 2013.
     
  (3)

Certificate of Designation – to be filed by amendment.

 

(b)   Amended By-Laws of Registrant is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (b) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 92 filed with the Commission on August 12, 2016.
     
(c)   Instruments Defining Rights of Security Holders is incorporated by reference to Registrant’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust and Bylaws.
     
(d) (1)  Investment Advisory Agreement – to be filed by amendment.
     
  (2) Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement – to be filed by amendment.
     
(e) (1) Distribution Agreement is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (e) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 212 filed with the Commission on April 29, 2020.
     
  (2) Distribution Agreement dated May 31, 2017 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (e)(1) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 153 filed with the Commission on August 15, 2018.
     
(f)   Bonus or Profit Sharing Contracts is not applicable.
     
(g)   Custody Agreement is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (g) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 212 filed with the Commission on April 29, 2020.
     
(h)   Other Material Contracts:
     
  (1) Transfer Agency Agreement dated October 16, 2013 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (h)(1) of Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 filed with the Commission on November 18, 2013.
     
  (2) Fund Accounting Agreement dated October 16, 2013 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (h)(2) of Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 filed with the Commission on November 18, 2013.

 

  (3) Co-Administration Agreement dated October 16, 2013 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (h)(3) of Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 filed with the Commission on November 18, 2013.
     
  (4) Operating Expense Limitation Agreement – to be filed by amendment.
     

 

 

 

 

(i)   Opinion and Consent of Legal Counsel – to be filed by amendment.
     
(j)   Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm – to be filed by amendment.
     
(k)   Not applicable.
     
(l)   Form of Initial Subscription Agreement – to be filed by amendment.
     
(m)   Rule 12b-1 Plan – Not applicable.
     
(n)   Rule 18f-3 Plan – Not applicable.
     
(o)   Powers of Attorney for Larry D. Tashjian, Thomas Knipper, Kathleen K. Shkuda, John P. Zader, Eric M. Banhazl and Terrance Gallagher is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (o) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 197 filed with the Commission on October 18, 2019.
     
(p)   Code of Ethics:
     
  (1) Code of Ethics of the Trust is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit (p)(1) of Post-Effective Amendment No. 173 filed with the Commission on February 22, 2019.
     
  (2)

Code of Ethics of the Advisor – to be filed by amendment.

 

  (3)

Code of Ethics of the Sub-Advisor – to be filed by amendment.

 

ITEM 29. PERSONS CONTROLLED BY OR UNDER COMMON CONTROL WITH THE FUND

 

See the Statement of Additional Information.

 

ITEM 30. INDEMNIFICATION

 

Pursuant to Del. Code Ann. Title 12 Section 3817, a Delaware statutory trust may provide in its governing instrument for the indemnification of its officers and Trustees from and against any and all claims and demands whatsoever.

 

Reference is made to Article 8, Section 8.4 of the Registrant’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust, which provides:

 

Subject to the limitations, if applicable, hereinafter set forth in this Section 8.4, the Trust shall indemnify (from the assets of the Series or Series to which the conduct in question relates) each of its Trustees, officers, employees and agents (including Persons who serve at the Trust’s request as directors, officers or trustees of another organization in which the Trust has any interest as a shareholder, creditor or otherwise (hereinafter, together with such Person’s heirs, executors, administrators or personal representative, referred to as a “Covered Person”)) against all liabilities, including but not limited to amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise or as fines and penalties, and expenses, including reasonable accountants’ and counsel fees, incurred by any Covered Person in connection with the defense or disposition of any action, suit or other proceeding, whether civil or criminal, before any court or administrative or legislative body, in which such Covered Person may be or may have been involved as a party or otherwise or with which such Covered Person may be or may have been threatened, while in office or thereafter, by reason of being or having been such a Trustee or officer, director or trustee, except with respect to any matter as to which it has been determined that such Covered Person (i) did not act in good faith in the reasonable belief that such Covered Person’s action was in or not opposed to the best interests of the Trust; (ii) had acted with willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such Covered Person’s office (iii) for a criminal proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful (the conduct described in (i), (ii) and (iii) being referred to hereafter as “Disabling Conduct”). A determination that the Covered Person is entitled to indemnification may be made by (i) a final decision on the merits by a court or other body before whom the proceeding was brought that the Covered Person to be indemnified was not liable by reason of Disabling Conduct, (ii) dismissal of a court action or an administrative proceeding against a Covered Person for insufficiency of evidence of Disabling Conduct, or (iii) a reasonable determination, based upon a review of the facts, that the indemnity was not liable by reason of Disabling Conduct by (a) a vote of a majority of a quorum of Trustees who are neither “interested persons” of the Trust as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the 1940 Act nor parties to the proceeding (the “Disinterested Trustees”), or (b) an independent legal counsel in a written opinion. Expenses, including accountants’ and counsel fees so incurred by any such Covered Person (but excluding amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise or as fines or penalties), may be paid from time to time by one or more Series to which the conduct in question related in advance of the final disposition of any such action, suit or proceeding; provided that the Covered Person shall have undertaken to repay the amounts so paid to such Series if it is ultimately determined that indemnification of such expenses is not authorized under this Article 8 and (i) the Covered Person shall have provided security for such undertaking, (ii) the Trust shall be insured against losses arising by reason of any lawful advances, or (iii) a majority of a quorum of the disinterested Trustees, or an independent legal counsel in a written opinion, shall have determined, based on a review of readily available facts (as opposed to a full trial type inquiry), that there is reason to believe that the Covered Person ultimately will be found entitled to indemnification.

 

 

 

 

Insofar as indemnification for liability arising under the Securities Act of 1933 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 Securities and Exchange Commission 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 trustee, 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.

 

The Registrant has also entered into Indemnification Agreements with each of its trustees which provide that the Registrant shall advance expenses and indemnify and hold harmless each trustee in certain circumstances against any expenses incurred by a trustee in any proceeding arising out of or in connection with the trustee’s service to the Registrant, to the maximum extent permitted by the Delaware Statutory Trust Act, the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, and which provide for certain procedures in connection with such advancement of expenses and indemnification.

 

Pursuant to the Distribution Agreement between the Trust and IMST Distributors, LLC (the “Distributor”), the Trust has agreed to indemnify, defend and hold the Distributor, and each of its present or former directors, members, officers, employees, representatives and any person who controls or previously controlled the Distributor within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act (“Distributor Indemnitees”), free and harmless (a) from and against any and all losses, claims, demands, liabilities, damages, charges, payments, costs and expenses (including the costs of investigating or defending any alleged losses, claims, demands, liabilities, damages, charges, payments, costs or expenses and any counsel fees incurred in connection therewith) of any and every nature (“Losses”) which Distributor and/or each of the Distributor Indemnitees may incur under the 1933 Act, the 1934 Act, any other statute (including Blue Sky laws) or any rule or regulation thereunder, or under common law or otherwise, arising out of or based upon any untrue statement, or alleged untrue statement, of a material fact contained in the registration statement or any prospectus, an annual or interim report to shareholders or sales literature, or any amendments or supplements thereto, or arising out of or based upon any omission, or alleged omission, to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided, however, that the Trust’s obligation to indemnify Distributor and any of the Distributor Indemnitees shall not be deemed to cover any Losses arising out of any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made therein in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to the Distributor and furnished to the Trust or its counsel by Distributor in writing for the purpose of, and used in, the preparation thereof; (b) from and against any and all Losses which Distributor and/or each of the Distributor Indemnitees may incur in connection with this Agreement or the Distributor’s performance hereunder, except to the extent the Losses result from the Distributor’s willful misfeasance, bad faith or negligence in the performance of its duties, or by reason of its reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under this Agreement, (c) from and against any and all Losses which Distributor and/or each of the Distributor Indemnitees may incur resulting from the actions or inactions of any prior service provider to the Trust or any Funds in existence prior to, and added to Schedule A after, the date of this Agreement, or (d) from and against any and all Losses which Distributor and/or each of the Distributor Indemnitees may incur when acting in accordance with instructions from the Trust or its representatives; and provided further that to the extent this agreement of indemnity may require indemnity of any Distributor Indemnitee who is also a trustee or officer of the Trust, no such indemnity shall inure to the benefit of such trustee or officer if to do so would be against public policy as expressed in the 1933 Act or the 1940 Act.

 

 

 

 

ITEM 31. BUSINESS AND OTHER CONNECTIONS OF THE INVESTMENT ADVISER

 

With respect to the Advisor, the response to this Item will be incorporated by reference to the Advisor’s Uniform Application for Investment Adviser Registration (Form ADV) on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The Advisor’s Form ADV may be obtained, free of charge, at the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.

 

Item 32.IMST Distributors, LLC

 

Item 32(a)IMST Distributors, LLC (the “Distributor”) serves as principal underwriter for the following investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended:

 

1.Investment Managers Series Trust
2.Investment Managers Series Trust II

 

 

 

 

 

Item 32(b)The following are the Officers and Manager of the Distributor. The Distributor’s main business address is Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100, Portland, Maine 04101.

 

Name Address Position with Underwriter Position with Registrant
Richard J. Berthy Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100, Portland, ME  04101 President, Treasurer and Manager None
Mark A. Fairbanks Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100, Portland, ME  04101 Vice President None
Teresa Cowan 111 E. Kilbourn Avenue, Suite 2200, Milwaukee, WI 53202 Vice President None
Jennifer K. DiValerio 899 Cassatt Road, 400 Berwyn Park, Suite 110, Berwyn, PA 19312 Vice President None
Susan K. Moscaritolo Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100, Portland, ME 04101 Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer None
Jennifer E. Hoopes Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100, Portland, ME  04101 Secretary None

 

Item 32(c)Not applicable.

 

 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 Transfer Agent, Fund Accountant and Co-Administrator UMB Fund Services, Inc.
235 West Galena Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212
Registrant’s Co-Administrator Mutual Fund Administration, LLC
2220 E. Route 66, Suite 226
Glendora, California 91740
Registrant’s Custodian UMB Bank, n.a.
928 Grand Boulevard, 5th Floor
Kansas City, Missouri, 64106
Registrant’s Advisor [to be filed by amendment]
Registrant’s Sub-Advisor [to be filed by amendment]
Registrant’s Distributor IMST Distributors, LLC
Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100
Portland, Maine 04101

 

 

 

 

ITEM 34. MANAGEMENT SERVICES

 

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 35. UNDERTAKINGS

 

Not applicable.

 

 

 

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, duly authorized, in the City of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, on the 23rd day of August, 2021.

 

  INVESTMENT MANAGERS SERIES TRUST II  
       
  By: /s/ Terrance Gallagher  
    Terrance Gallagher, President and Principal Executive Officer  

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed on the 23rd day of August, 2021, by the following persons in the capacities set forth below.

 

Signature   Title
     
   
Thomas Knipper   Trustee
     
   
Kathleen K. Shkuda   Trustee
     
   
Larry D. Tashjian   Trustee
     
   
John P. Zader   Trustee
     
   
Eric M. Banhazl   Trustee
     
/s/ Terrance P. Gallagher    
Terrence P. Gallagher   Trustee, President and Principal Executive Officer
     
/s/ Rita Dam    
Rita Dam   Treasurer and Principal Financial Officer

 

By /s/ Rita Dam  
Attorney-in-fact, pursuant to power of attorney previously with Post-Effective Amendment No. 197 filed on October 18, 2019.