497K 1 smidcoreetfsummary.htm SUMMARY PROSPECTUS FOR CERTAIN OPEN-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES FILED PURSUANT TO SECURITIES ACT RULE 497(K)

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Summary Prospectus
July 8, 2025

Allspring SMID Core ETF


Ticker: ASCE

Link to Prospectus

Link to SAI

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus, reports to shareholders and other information about the Fund online at allspringglobal.com/reports. You can also get information at no cost by calling 1-800-222-8222, or by sending an email request to AllspringFundsShareholders@allspringglobal.com. The current prospectus (“Prospectus”) and statement of additional information (“SAI”), dated June 30, 2025, as supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus. The Fund’s SAI may be obtained, free of charge, in the same manner as the Prospectus.

Investment Objective

The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses

This table is intended to help you understand the various costs and expenses you will pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. The table does not take into account brokerage commissions that you may pay on purchases and sales of shares of the Fund.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses1 (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Management Fees

0.38%

Distribution (12b-1) Fees

0.00%

Other Expenses2

0.00%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

0.38%

1. The investment management agreement between the Fund and Allspring Funds Management, LLC utilizes a unitary fee arrangement pursuant to which Allspring Funds Management, LLC has agreed to pay all expenses incurred by, and appropriately allocated to, the Fund, excluding only: the management fee payable to Allspring Funds Management, LLC; brokerage expenses and other expenses incurred in connection with the execution of portfolio transactions; interest charges on any borrowings, dividends and other expenses on securities sold short; taxes; payments under the Fund’s Rule 12b-1 plan (if any); proxy and shareholder meeting expenses; litigation expenses; extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses.
2. Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.

Example of Expenses

The example below is intended to help you compare the costs of investing in the Fund with the costs of investing in other funds. The example assumes a $10,000 initial investment, 5% annual total return, and that fees and expenses remain the same as in the tables above. The table does not take into account brokerage commissions that you may pay on purchases and sales of shares of the Fund. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

After:

1 Year

$39

3 Years

$122

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the

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example, affect the Fund’s performance. Since the Fund commenced operations on or around the date of this Prospectus, no history of the portfolio turnover rate is available.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, we invest:

 

at least 80% of the Fund’s net assets plus borrowing for investment purposes in equity securities of small- and medium-capitalization U.S. companies; and

 

up to 20% of the Fund’s total assets in equity securities of foreign issuers in developed markets including through American depositary receipts (ADRs) and similar investments.
 

The Fund invests principally in equity securities of small and mid-sized U.S. companies, which are defined as companies with market capitalizations within the range of the Russell 2500 Index® at the time of purchase. The market capitalization range of the Russell 2500® Index was approximately $1 million to $58.5 billion, as of May 31, 2025, and is expected to change frequently. We may also invest in equity securities of foreign issuers in developed markets including ADRs and similar investments. Generally, we avoid investments in issuers we deem to have significant alcohol, gaming or tobacco business. The Fund may also invest uninvested cash in futures contracts on equity indexes as a substitute for purchasing equity securities directly.

We utilize a combination of quantitative methods and qualitative analysis to select a core portfolio of small and mid-capitalization companies that we believe are relatively undervalued and exhibit the likelihood to meet or exceed future earnings expectations. Our quantitative analysis is based on a proprietary alpha model that considers valuation, quality, and momentum characteristics to rank securities. Stocks that are attractively ranked by the alpha model are candidates for purchase. Such candidates undergo further qualitative analysis, which may include an evaluation of a company’s management strength, products and/or services, competition and risk profile. This disciplined process leads to a focused target portfolio of approximately 50 securities that are diversified among major economic sectors. In general, a stock may be sold if it has declining earnings expectations or a significantly overvalued stock price, as indicated by lower rankings within the alpha model.

Principal Investment Risks

An investment in the Fund may lose money, is not a deposit of a bank or its affiliates, is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, and is primarily subject to the risks briefly summarized below.

Market Risk. The values of, and/or the income generated by, securities held by the Fund may decline due to general market conditions or other factors, including those directly involving the issuers of such securities. Securities markets are volatile and may decline significantly in response to adverse issuer, regulatory, political, or economic developments. Different sectors of the market and different security types may react differently to such developments.

Equity Securities Risk. The values of equity securities may experience periods of substantial price volatility and may decline significantly over short time periods. In general, the values of equity securities are more volatile than those of debt securities. Equity securities fluctuate in value and price in response to factors specific to the issuer of the security, such as management performance, financial condition, and market demand for the issuer’s products or services, as well as factors unrelated to the fundamental condition of the issuer, including general market, economic and political conditions. Different parts of a market, industry and sector may react differently to adverse issuer, market, regulatory, political, and economic developments.

Smaller Company Securities Risk. Securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations tend to be more volatile and less liquid than those of larger companies.

Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an Authorized Participant (as described in the “Creation Unit Transactions” section of the Prospectus) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund, and Authorized Participants are not obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable or unwilling to proceed with creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is willing or able to step forward to create or redeem, Fund shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), that invest in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.

Derivatives Risk. The use of derivatives, such as futures, options and swap agreements, can lead to losses, including those magnified by leverage, particularly when derivatives are used to enhance return rather than mitigate risk. Certain derivative instruments may be difficult to sell when the portfolio manager believes it would be appropriate to do so, or the other party to a derivative contract may be unwilling or unable to fulfill its contractual obligations.

Foreign Investment Risk. Foreign investments may be subject to lower liquidity, greater price volatility and risks related

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to adverse political, regulatory, market or economic developments. Foreign investments may involve exposure to changes in foreign currency exchange rates and may be subject to higher withholding and other taxes.

Futures Contracts Risk. A Fund that uses futures contracts, which are a type of derivative, is subject to the risk of loss caused by unanticipated market movements. In addition, there may at times be an imperfect correlation between the movement in the prices of futures contracts and the value of their underlying instruments or indexes, and there may at times not be a liquid secondary market for certain futures contracts.

Growth/Value Investing Risk. Securities that exhibit growth or value characteristics tend to perform differently and shift into and out of favor with investors depending on changes in market and economic sentiment and conditions.

Management Risk. Investment decisions, techniques, analyses or models implemented by a Fund’s manager or sub-adviser in seeking to achieve the Fund’s investment objective may not produce expected returns, may cause the Fund’s shares to lose value or may cause the Fund to underperform other funds with similar investment objectives.

Market Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares or the Fund’s underlying portfolio securities, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruptions in the creation/redemption process. These factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”). Accordingly, if a shareholder purchases Fund shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV, or sells shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses.

New Fund Risk. The Fund is a new fund, with a limited or no operating history and a small asset base. There can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain a viable size. At lower asset levels, certain of the Fund’s expenses and its portfolio transaction costs may be higher than those of a fund with a larger asset base. To the extent that the Fund does not grow to or maintain a viable size, it may be liquidated, and the expenses, timing and tax consequences of such liquidation may not be favorable to some shareholders.

Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, Authorized Participants, market makers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and computer, technology or systems failures.

Valuation Risk. The price the Fund could receive upon the sale of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology as a result of trade suspensions or for other reasons. In addition, to the extent that these securities or other assets held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges or in foreign markets that may be closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund’s shares trade is open, there are likely to be deviations between the current price of such security or other asset and the last quoted price for the security or other asset (i.e., the Fund’s quote from the closed foreign market).

Performance

Because the Fund does not have annual returns for at least one calendar year, there is no performance to report.

Fund Management

Manager

Sub-Adviser

Portfolio Managers, Title/Managed Since

Allspring Funds Management, LLC

Allspring Global Investments, LLC

John R. Campbell, CFA, Portfolio Manager / 2025
Vince Fioramonti, CFA, Portfolio Manager / 2025

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. Individual shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through brokers or financial intermediaries at market price. When you buy or sell shares of the Fund, you may be required to pay a brokerage commission, and you may experience tax consequences including gains or losses, in connection with the transactions. Shares of the Fund are anticipated to be approved for listing and trading on the NYSE Arca, Inc., subject to notice of issuance. Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV; therefore, shares of the Fund may trade at a price greater than or less than NAV (i.e., at a premium or 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 of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”).

Recent information, including information about the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is included on the Fund’s website at www.allspringglobal.com.

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Tax Information

Any distributions you receive from the Fund may be taxable as ordinary income or capital gains, except when your investment is in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. However, subsequent withdrawals from such a tax-advantaged investment plan may be subject to federal income tax. You should consult your tax adviser about your specific tax situation.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of a Fund through an intermediary, the Manager and its affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services, including for marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the intermediary and your financial professional to recommend the Fund over another investment. Consult your financial professional or visit your intermediary’s website for more information.

Link to Prospectus

Link to SAI

 

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©2025 Allspring Global Investments Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved.
SUMASCE 07-25

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