497K 1 alphaarchitectaggregatebon.htm 497K Document

ALPHA ARCHITECT AGGREGATE BOND ETF
Ticker Symbol: BOXA
Listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
 July 3, 2025

  https://funds.alphaarchitect.com/
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), which contain more information about the Fund and its risks. The current Prospectus and SAI, each dated December 4, 2024, as supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. You can find the Fund’s Prospectus, reports to shareholders, and other information about the Fund, as well as recent information regarding the Fund, including its NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid/ask spreads, online at https://funds.alphaarchitect.com/boxa/. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (215) 882-9983.
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Alpha Architect Aggregate Bond ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, exceed the total return performance of an investment that tracks the U.S. Aggregate Bond Market.
FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or example.
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (EXPENSES THAT YOU PAY EACH YEAR AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT)
Management Fee1
0.19 %
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) FeesNone
Other Expenses2
0.00 %
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses1
0.19 %
1The Fund’s Management Fee and Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses are 0.1949%.
2    Other Expenses are estimated for the current fiscal year.
EXAMPLE
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that the Fund provides a return of 5% a year and that operating expenses remain the same. You may also pay brokerage commissions on the purchase and sale of Shares, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
One Year:Three Years:
$20$63
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund may pay transaction costs, including commissions when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund has not yet commenced operations, it does not have a portfolio turnover rate to provide.
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PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that seeks to generate a total return in excess of the Solactive US Aggregate Bond Index (the “Benchmark”).
To accomplish the Fund’s investment objective, the Fund invests in options on either ETFs or indexes which are expected to provide performance that approximates that of the Benchmark. The Fund may use call options or combinations of call and put options (either referred to as “Combos”) on ETFs or indexes such that the combination of these options contracts seeks to outperform the Benchmark. The Fund may invest in either standard exchange traded-listed options or FLexible EXchange® Options (“FLEX Options”) or a combination of both to gain such exposure. In addition, the Fund may invest directly in one or more ETFs that offer exposure to the Benchmark or offer exposure to another index that invests in substantially similar securities as the Benchmark.
As part of this strategy, Arin Risk Advisors, LLC (“Arin”) and Alpha Architect, LLC (“Alpha Architect,” collectively with Arin, the “Sub-Advisers”), will identify any ETFs or indexes that they believe provide exposure to the US Aggregate Bond Market (“Representative Investments”). The Sub-Advisers will vary the Fund’s targeted notional exposure (i.e., 80% to 120%) to these Representative Investments through options and Combos on these Representative Investments (exclusive of Box Spreads (defined below)).
The Sub-Advisers have developed proprietary tactical signals that help to inform the Sub-Advisers’ decisions regarding when to and to what extent to adjust the Fund’s targeted notional exposure to the Representative Investments. Examples of these tactical signals would be trend-following methods, such as a moving average rule (i.e., whether prices are above or below their moving average for a period of time), a time-series momentum rule (i.e., how prices have changed over a set period of time), and implied volatility levels relative to empirical volatility levels (i.e., the market’s expectations of future volatility relative to historical volatility). The Sub-Advisers will actively manage the Fund’s notional exposure to the Representative Investments depending, in part, on the results of these tactical signals as well as market conditions and other factors that the Sub-Advisers may consider relevant from time to time. For example, if price trends are positive, the Sub-Advisers may increase the notional exposure of the Fund to the higher end of the range, while if price trends are negative, the Sub-Advisers may decrease the notional exposure of the Fund to the lower end of the range. The Sub-Advisers will generally manage the Fund’s portfolio to the targeted exposures (i.e., 80% and 120%) but may vary from these targets if the Sub-Advisers believe it is in the best interest of shareholders. By actively managing the Fund’s notional exposure, the Sub-Advisers will attempt to produce returns in excess of the Benchmark.
Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in instruments with direct or indirect exposure to the U.S. Aggregate Bond Market. For purposes of determining compliance with the Fund’s 80% investment policy, derivatives generally will be valued based on their notional value. The foregoing policy is non-fundamental and may be changed without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders.
The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
Cash Collateral Management
In managing the Fund to attempt to generate a total return above its Benchmark, the Fund may invest its excess cash and assets (“collateral”), if any, in a box spread (“Box Spread”). A Box Spread is a combination of exchange traded-listed options. The Fund may, at times, purchase the Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF (the “1-3 Month Box ETF”) for cash management purposes. The Sub-Advisers believe the 1-3 Month Box ETF may offer the Fund a better return than cash and cash equivalents type investments. The 1-3 Month Box ETF is an affiliated ETF and holds a series of Box Spreads. The 1-3 Month Box ETF may invest in either standard exchange traded-listed options or FLEX Options or a combination of both, to gain exposure to a Box Spread (as described below). A box spread is designed to remove most of the equity and volatility risk through its combination of option contracts. However, box spreads are not free from risk. Specifically, box spreads are exposed to interest rate and liquidity risks. Similar to bonds, as interest rates rise the value of a bond and box spread will fall and when interest rates fall the value of a bond and box spread will rise.
By way of background, a Box Spread is the combination of a synthetic long position coupled with an offsetting synthetic short position through a combination of options contracts on an equity security or an equity index at the
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same expiration date. The synthetic long consists of buying a call option and selling a put option on the same security or index where the call option and put option share the same strike and expiration date (a “Synthetic Long”). When purchasing a Box Spread, the Synthetic Long will have a strike price that is less than the strike price for the Synthetic Short. The difference between the strike prices of the Synthetic Long and the Synthetic Short will determine the expiration value (or value at maturity) of the Box Spread. The synthetic short consists of buying a put option and selling a call option on the same security or index with the same expiration date as the synthetic long but using a different strike price (a “Synthetic Short”). When purchasing a Box Spread, the Synthetic Long will have a strike price that is less than the strike price for the Synthetic Short. The difference between the strike prices of the Synthetic Long and the Synthetic Short will determine the expiration value (or value at maturity) of the Box Spread.
An important feature of the Box Spread construction process is the elimination of risk tied to underlying market movements associated with the underlying option’s security or equity index. The Fund anticipates buying, holding, and/or selling multiple Box Spreads, and consequently, the Fund’s anticipated return from Box Spreads will reflect all of its investment activity, as well as changes in market prices and expected interest rates, among other factors, and will vary over time. A box spread has a fixed payoff at expiration (similar to the par value of a bond), which is equal to the difference between the strike prices of the options involved. The present value of this payoff depends on the prevailing interest rates in the same way that interest rates affect the present value of a bond’s par value.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT RISKS
An investment in the Fund involves risk, including those described below. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investor may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. More complete risk descriptions are set forth below under the heading “Additional Information About the Fund’s Principal Investment Risks.
Options Risk.
Selling or Writing Options. Writing option contracts can result in losses that exceed the seller’s initial investment and may lead to additional turnover and higher tax liability. The risk involved in writing a call option is that there could be an increase in the market value of the underlying or reference asset. An underlying or reference asset may be an index, equity security, or ETF. If this occurs, the call option could be exercised and the underlying asset would then be sold at a lower price than its current market value. In the case of cash settled call options, the call seller would be required to purchase the call option at a price that is higher than the original sales price for such call option. Similarly, while writing call options can reduce the risk of owning the underlying asset, such a strategy limits the opportunity to profit from an increase in the market value of the underlying asset in exchange for up-front cash at the time of selling the call option. The risk involved in writing a put option is that there could be a decrease in the market value of the underlying asset. If this occurs, the put option could be exercised and the underlying asset would then be sold at a higher price than its current market value. In the case of cash settled put options, the put seller would be required to purchase the put option at a price that is higher than the original sales price for such put option.
Buying or Purchasing Options Risk. If a call or put option is not sold when it has remaining value and if the market price of the underlying asset, in the case of a call option, remains less than or equal to the exercise price, or, in the case of a put option, remains equal to or greater than the exercise price, the buyer will lose its entire investment in the call or put option. Since many factors influence the value of an option, including the price of the underlying asset, the exercise price, the time to expiration, the interest rate, and the dividend rate of the underlying asset, the buyer’s success in implementing an option buying strategy may depend on an ability to predict movements in the prices of individual assets, fluctuations in markets, and movements in interest rates. There is no assurance that a liquid market will exist when the buyer seeks to close out any option position. When an option is purchased to hedge against price movements in an underlying asset, the price of the option may move more or less than the price of the underlying asset.
Box Spread Risk. A Box Spread is the combination of a Synthetic Long positi
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on coupled with an offsetting Synthetic Short position through a combination of options contracts on an underlying or reference asset such as index, equity security or ETF with the same expiration date. A Box Spread typically consists of four option positions two of which represent the Synthetic Long and two representing the Synthetic Short. If one or more of these individual option positions are modified or closed separately prior to the option contract’s expiration, then the Box Spread may no longer effectively eliminate risk tied to underlying asset’s movement. Furthermore, the Box Spread’s value is derived in the market and is in part, based on the time until the options comprising the Box Spread expire and the prevailing market interest rates. If the Fund sells a Box Spread prior to its expiration, then the Fund may incur a loss. The Fund’s ability to profit from Box Spreads is dependent on the availability and willingness of other market participants to sell Box Spreads to the Fund at competitive prices.
FLEX Options Risk. FLEX Options are exchange-traded options contracts with uniquely customizable terms like exercise price, style, and expiration date. Due to their customization and potentially unique terms, FLEX Options may be less liquid than other securities, such as standard exchange listed options. In less liquid markets for the FLEX Options, the Fund may have difficulty closing out certain FLEX Options positions at desired times and prices. The value of FLEX Options will be affected by, among others, changes in the underlying share or equity index price, changes in actual and implied interest rates, changes in the actual and implied volatility of the underlying shares or equity index and the remaining time to until the FLEX Options expire. The value of the FLEX Options will be determined based upon market quotations or using other recognized pricing methods. During periods of reduced market liquidity or in the absence of readily available market quotations for the holdings of the Fund, the ability of the Fund to value the FLEX Options becomes more difficult and the judgment of the Fund’s Sub-Adviser (employing the fair value procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Trust) may play a greater role in the valuation of the Fund’s holdings due to reduced availability of reliable objective pricing data.
Combo Risk. A combo represents a combination of call and put options to produce a synthetic long or synthetic short position. A combined transaction will usually contain elements of risk that are present in each of its component transactions (See Options Risk). Although combined transactions are normally entered into based on the Sub-Advisers’ judgment that the combined strategies will more effectively achieve the desired portfolio management goal, it is possible that the combination will instead increase such risks or hinder achievement of the portfolio management objective. The Fund’s ability to utilize Combos effectively is dependent on the availability and willingness of other market participants to purchase or sell Combos from the Fund at competitive prices.
Counterparty Risk. Counterparty risk is the risk that a counterparty to a financial instrument held by the Fund or by a special purpose or structured vehicle invested in by the Fund may become insolvent or otherwise fail to perform its obligations, and the Fund may obtain no or limited recovery of its investment, and any recovery may be significantly delayed. Exchange listed options, including FLEX Options, are issued and guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation (“OCC”). The Fund’s investments are at risk that the OCC will be unable or unwilling to perform its obligations under the option contract terms. In the unlikely event that the OCC becomes insolvent or is otherwise unable to meet its settlement obligations, the Fund could suffer significant losses.
Investment Risk. When you sell your Shares of the Fund, they could be worth less than what you paid for them. The Fund could lose money due to short-term interest rate market movements and over longer periods during continued interest rate market movements. Therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Management Risk. The Fund is actively managed and may not meet its investment objective based on the Sub-Adviser’s success or failure to implement investment strategies for the Fund. In addition, there is the risk that the investment process, techniques and analyses used by the Sub-Adviser will not produce the desired investment results and the Fund may lose value as a result.
Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Shares and greater risk of loss.
Market Risk. The Fund’s investments are subject to changes in general economic conditions, general market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investment in interest rate sensitive markets. Interest rate markets can be volatile and prices of investments can change substantially due to various factors including, but not limited to, economic growth or recession, the investment’s average time to maturity, changes in interest rates, changes in the
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actual or perceived creditworthiness of issuers, and general market liquidity. The Fund is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. 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 the Fund and its investments.
Risk of Investing in the United States. Certain changes in the U.S. economy, such as when the U.S. economy weakens or when its financial markets decline, may have an adverse effect on the securities to which the Fund has exposure.
Tax Risk. The Fund may enter into various transactions, including transactions involving options contracts, for which there is a lack of clear guidance under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), which may affect the taxation of the Fund. The use of certain derivatives may cause the Fund to realize higher amounts of ordinary income or short-term capital gain, to suspend or eliminate holding periods of positions, and/or to defer realized losses, potentially increasing the need to make taxable distributions, including those that will be taxed at the rates applicable to ordinary income. For example, exchange-traded options on certain indexes are currently taxed under Code Section 1256 pursuant to which profit and loss with respect to such options are subject to tax as 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss regardless of the Fund’s holding period. In addition, certain derivatives are subject to mark-to-market, constructive sale, and straddle provisions of the Code. If such provisions are applicable, there could be an increase (or decrease) in the amount of taxable distributions that will need to be made by the Fund.
The Fund intends to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under the Code, which requires the Fund to distribute a certain portion of its income and gains each year, among other requirements. Similar to other ETFs, when the Fund disposes of appreciated property by distributing such appreciated property in-kind pursuant to redemption requests of its shareholders under Code Section 852(b)(6), the Fund does not recognize any built-in gain in such appreciated property. If the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or a court disagrees with the Fund’s position as to the applicability of this nonrecognition rule to the Fund’s dispositions, the Fund may not have distributed sufficient income or gains to qualify as a RIC. If, in any year, the Fund fails to qualify as a RIC, the Fund itself generally would be subject to regular corporate U.S. federal income tax, and distributions received by its shareholders would be subject to further U.S. federal income tax. Alternatively, the Fund may be required to pay a deficiency dividend (without having received additional cash) and applicable interest, and such dividend would be paid to the then current shareholders of the Fund. Failure to comply with the requirements for qualification as a RIC would have significant negative economic consequences to the Fund’s shareholders. In addition, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a derivative may not be as favorable as a direct investment in the underlying asset and may adversely affect the timing, character, and amount of income the Fund realizes from its investments.
Additionally, Code Section 1258 requires that certain capital gain from an investment be recharacterized as ordinary income if substantially all of the expected return is attributable to the time value of holding the investment and such investment falls into certain defined categories (a “conversion transaction”). If any of the Fund’s transactions or holding of Shares are deemed to be conversion transactions, certain gains from such transactions or Shares would be treated as ordinary income, which could result respectively in the Fund having not distributed enough income to qualify as a RIC (with the same tax consequences described above) or gain on the disposition of Shares being treated as ordinary income. No assurance can be given that the IRS or a court will not treat any such transactions by the Fund or the holding of Shares as conversion transactions.
Investment Company Risk. An investment in other registered investment companies (including other ETFs, affiliated and non-affiliated) is subject to the risks associated with those investment companies, which include, but are not limited to, the risk that such fund’s investment strategy may not produce the intended results; the risk that securities in such fund may underperform in comparison to the general securities markets or other asset classes; and the risk that the fund will be concentrated in a particular issuer, market, industry or sector, and therefore will be especially susceptible to loss due to adverse occurrences affecting that issuer, market, industry or sector. Moreover, the Fund will incur duplicative expenses from such investments, bearing its share of that fund’s expenses while also paying its own advisory fees and trading costs. Investments in ETFs are also subject to the “ETF Risks” described below.
Underlying Alpha Architect ETFs Risk. The Fund may invest a portion of its in the 1-3 Month Box ETF, so the Fund’s investment performance is likely to be directly impacted by the performance of the 1-3 Month Box ETF. The
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Fund’s NAV will change with changes in the value of the 1-3 Month Box ETFs and other instruments in which a Fund invests based on their market valuations.
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk. The Fund may have exposure to U.S. Treasury obligations. U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics and may provide relatively lower returns than those of other securities. Similar to other issuers, changes to the financial condition or credit rating of the U.S. government may cause the value of the Fund’s U.S. Treasury obligations to decline.
U.S. Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk. The Fund may have exposure to MBS issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or one of its agencies or sponsored entities, some of which may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. MBS represent interests in “pools” of mortgages and are subject to interest rate, prepayment, and extension risk. MBS react differently to changes in interest rates than other bonds, and the prices of MBS may reflect adverse economic and market conditions. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain MBS. MBS are also subject to the risk of default on the underlying mortgage loans, particularly during periods of economic downturn.
Extension Risk. During periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations may be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income and potentially in the value of the Fund’s investments.
Prepayment Risk. During periods of falling interest rates, issuers of certain debt obligations may repay principal prior to the security’s maturity, which may cause the Fund to have to reinvest in securities with lower yields or higher risk of default, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income or return potential.
Fixed Income Risk. The market value of fixed income securities will change in response to interest rate changes and other factors, such as changes in the effective maturities and credit ratings of fixed income investments. During periods of falling interest rates, the values of outstanding fixed income securities and related financial instruments generally rise. Conversely, during periods of rising interest rates, the values of such securities and related financial instruments generally decline. Fixed income investments are also subject to credit risk. The longer the effective maturity and duration of the Fund’s portfolio, the more the Fund’s share price is likely to react to changes in interest rates. (Duration is a weighted measure of the length of time required to receive the present value of future payments, both interest and principal, from a fixed income security.)
Interest Rate Risk. Interest rates rise and fall over time. As with any investment whose yield reflects current interest rates, the fund’s yield will change over time. During periods when interest rates are low, the Fund’s yield (and total return) also may be low. Changes in interest rates also may affect the Fund’s share price: a rise in interest rates generally causes the Fund’s share price to fall. The longer the Fund’s portfolio duration, the more sensitive to interest rate movements its share price is likely to be. Also, a change in a central bank’s monetary policy or economic conditions, among other things, may result in a change in interest rates, which could have sudden and unpredictable effects on the markets and significantly impact the value of fixed-income securities in which the Fund invests. A sudden or unpredictable rise in interest rates may cause volatility and the value of fixed-income securities to decline.
Credit Risk. A decline in the credit quality of an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a portfolio investment or a counterparty could cause the fund to lose money or underperform. The Fund could lose money if, due to a decline in credit quality, the issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider of a portfolio investment or a counterparty fails to make, or is perceived as being unable or unwilling to make, timely principal or interest payments or otherwise honor its obligations.
Valuation Risk. Some portfolio holdings (e.g., FLEX options), potentially a large portion of the Fund’s investment portfolio, may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur more often in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. See “FLEX Options Risk” above for more information regarding potential factors impacting the valuation of FLEX options.
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Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including “fair valued” securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time.
ETF Risks.
Authorized Participants, Market Makers and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as Authorized Participants (“APs”). In particular, the Fund will have a limited pool of APs that are able to transact in standard exchange-listed options as well as FLEX Options, therefore the pool of competitive markets for the Fund will be small. This can result in increased costs to the Fund. In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services, or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.
Premium-Discount Risk. The Shares may trade above or below their net asset value (“NAV”). The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV as well as the relative supply of, and demand for, Shares on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the “Exchange”) or other securities exchanges. The trading price of Shares may deviate significantly from NAV during periods of market volatility or limited trading activity in Shares. In addition, you may incur the cost of the “spread,” that is, any difference between the bid price and the ask price of the Shares.
Cost of Trading Risk. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by that broker. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares.
Trading Risk. Although the Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for them will develop or be maintained. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of its underlying portfolio holdings, which can be less liquid than Shares, potentially causing the market price of Shares to deviate from its NAV. The spread varies over time for Shares of the Fund based on the Fund’s trading volume and market liquidity and is generally lower if the Fund has high trading volume and market liquidity, and higher if the Fund has little trading volume and market liquidity (which is often the case for funds that are newly launched or small in size).
Cash Creation Unit Risk. Unlike most other ETFs, the Fund expects to effect a substantial portion of its creations for cash, rather than in-kind securities. As a result, an investment in the Fund may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that effects its creations and redemptions only in-kind. ETFs are able to make in-kind redemptions and avoid being taxed on gains on the distributed portfolio securities at the fund level. A Fund that effects redemptions for cash may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. Any recognized gain on these sales by the Fund will generally cause the Fund to recognize a gain it might not otherwise have recognized, or to recognize such gain sooner than would otherwise be required if it were to distribute portfolio securities only in-kind. The Fund intends to distribute these gains to shareholders to avoid being taxed on this gain at the fund level. The use of cash creations may also cause the Fund’s shares to trade in the market at greater bid-ask spreads or greater premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV. As a practical matter, only institutions and large investors, such as market makers or other large broker dealers, create or redeem shares directly through the Fund. Most investors will buy and sell shares of the Fund on an exchange through a broker-dealer. Furthermore, cash creation transactions may result in certain brokerage, tax, execution, price movement and other costs and expenses related to the execution of trades resulting from such transactions. To the extent that the maximum additional charge for creation transactions is insufficient to cover these costs and expenses, the Fund’s performance could be negatively impacted.
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Large Shareholder Risk. Certain large shareholders, including other funds advised by the Sub-Adviser, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s Shares. Any such investment may be held for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder will not redeem its investment. Dispositions of a large number of Shares by such shareholders, which may occur rapidly or unexpectedly, may adversely affect the Fund’s liquidity and net assets to the extent such transactions are executed directly with the Fund in the form of redemptions through an authorized participant, rather than executed in the secondary market. To the extent effected in cash, these redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and increase the Fund’s brokerage costs. Such cash redemptions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders. Similarly, large Fund share purchases through an authorized participant may adversely affect the performance of the Fund to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash or otherwise maintains a larger cash position than it ordinarily would. If these large shareholders transact in Shares on the secondary market, such transactions may account for a large percentage of the Fund’s trading volume and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the Shares.
Cash and Cash Equivalents Risk. Holding cash or cash equivalents rather than securities or other instruments in which the Fund primarily invests, even strategically, may cause the Fund to risk losing opportunities to earn increased returns, and may cause the Fund to experience potentially lower returns than the Fund’s benchmark or other funds that remain fully invested.
Frequent Trading Risk. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities to achieve its investment objective. This frequent trading of portfolio securities may increase the amount of commissions that the Fund pays when it buys and sells such portfolio securities, which may detract from the Fund’s performance. Derivative instruments and instruments with a maturity of one year or less at the time of acquisition are excluded from the calculation of the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.
New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized investment company with no operating history. As a result, prospective investors have no track record or history on which to base their investment decision. There can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size.
PERFORMANCE
Performance information is not provided below because the Fund has not yet been in operation for one full calendar year. When provided, the information will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns compare with a broad measure of market performance. Past performance does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information will be available at www.funds.alphaarchitect.com or by calling the Fund at (215) 882-9983.
INVESTMENT ADVISER & INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISERS
Investment Adviser:Empowered Funds, LLC dba EA Advisers (“Adviser”)
Investment Sub-Advisers:Alpha Architect, LLC
Arin Risk Advisors, LLC
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
The Fund’s portfolio is managed on a day-to-day basis by Lawrence Lempert, Joseph DeSipio, and Ryan Bailey of Arin Risk Advisors, LLC, and Wesley Gray and John Vogel of Alpha Architect, LLC. Each of the Portfolio Managers has managed the Fund since its inception.
PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
Individual Shares are listed on a national securities exchange and may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market through a broker-dealer at a market price. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (at a “premium”) or less than NAV (at a “discount”). An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares (ask) when buying and selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid/ask spread”).
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TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s distributions generally are taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gain, or some combination of both, unless your investment is made through an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”). However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged account may be subject to U.S. federal income tax. In the event that a shareholder purchases Shares shortly before a distribution by the Fund, the entire distribution may be taxable to the shareholder even though a portion of the distribution effectively represents a return of the purchase price. You should consult your own tax advisor about your specific tax situation.
PURCHASES THROUGH BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary, the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend Shares over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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