485APOS 1 whiplightetf485a.htm 485APOS whiplightetf485a

Filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 15, 2025
1933 Act Registration File No. 333-197427
1940 Act File No. 811-22980

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM N-1A
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933[X]
Pre-Effective Amendment No.[]
Post-Effective Amendment No.56[X]
and
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940[X]
Amendment No.57[X]
(Check appropriate box or boxes.)

ANGEL OAK FUNDS TRUST
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)
3344 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1725
Atlanta, Georgia 30326
(Address of Principal Executive Offices, including Zip Code)
Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code: (404) 953-4900
Adam Langley, President
c/o Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC
3344 Peachtree Rd. NE, Suite 1725
Atlanta, GA 30326
(Name and Address of Agent for Service)
Copy to:
Douglas P. Dick
Stephen T. Cohen
Dechert LLP
1900 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

Approximate date of proposed public offering: As soon as practicable after the effective date of the Registration Statement.
It is proposed that this filing will become effective:
immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)
on __________ pursuant to paragraph (b)
60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
on __________ pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)
75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)
on __________ pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485.
If appropriate, check the following box:
[ ]    this post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.
Explanatory Note: This Post-Effective Amendment No. 56 to the Registration Statement of Angel Oak Funds Trust (the “Trust”) is being filed to add a new series to the Trust: Whiplight ETF.




    Preliminary Prospectus    Subject to completion    September 15, 2025

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




Prospectus

[DATE]



FundTickerExchange
Whiplight ETF[IFCW][ ]




The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or determined if this Prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. The Prospectus gives you important information about the Funds that you should know before you invest. Please read this Prospectus carefully before investing and use it for future reference.



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Back Cover




Whiplight ETF

Investment Objective

The investment objective of the Whiplight ETF (the “Fund”) is long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and 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
[ ]%
[Less Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement2]
[ ]%
[Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement]
[ ]%

1    Other Expenses are estimated for the current fiscal year. Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (the “Adviser”) is responsible for substantially all the expenses of the Fund (including expenses of the Trust relating to the Fund), except for the advisory fees, payments under the Fund’s 12b-1 plan (if any), interest expenses, dividend and interest expenses related to short sales, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses, brokers’ commissions and any other transaction related expenses and fees arising out of transactions effected on behalf of the Fund, litigation and potential litigation, and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business.

2    [The Adviser has contractually agreed to waive its fees and/or reimburse certain expenses (exclusive of interest expenses, dividend and interest expenses related to short sales, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses (other than fees for funds advised by the Adviser which are waived), brokers’ commissions and any other transaction related expenses and fees arising out of transactions effected on behalf of the Fund, and litigation and potential litigation and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business) to limit the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement to [ ]% of the Fund’s average daily net assets (the “Expense Limit”) through [ ]. The contractual arrangement may only be changed or eliminated by the Board of Trustees upon 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser. The Adviser may recoup from the Fund any waived amount or reimbursed expenses pursuant to this agreement if such recoupment does not cause the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses after such recoupment to exceed the lesser of (i) the Expense Limit in effect at the time of the waiver or reimbursement and (ii) the Expense Limit in effect at the time of recoupment and the recoupment is made within three years after the end of the month in which the Adviser incurred the expense.]

Expense 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 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then continue to hold or sell 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 does not take into account brokerage commissions that you may pay on your purchases and sales of Shares. The fee waiver and expense reimbursement discussed in the table above is reflected only for
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the first year. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

One YearThree Years
$[ ]$[ ]

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example above, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund is newly organized, portfolio turnover information is not yet available.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest primarily in equity securities of publicly traded companies listed in or traded through regulated markets in the United States. However, the Fund may invest in equity securities of companies that are listed in or traded through regulated markets outside of the United States, including in emerging markets. The Fund may invest in companies of any market capitalization. In addition to common stock, the Fund’s investments in equity securities may also include preferred securities, convertible securities, warrants and rights to buy common stock, and equity securities purchased in initial public offerings.

The Fund’s investment approach combines bottom-up fundamental analysis with top-down thematic research. It seeks to identify companies with strong growth potential, durable business models, and compelling valuations. For small- and mid-capitalization companies, the Fund emphasizes revenue acceleration, market leadership, and innovative business strategies. For large-cap companies, the Fund focuses on capital efficiency, margin resilience, and balance sheet strength.

Portfolio turnover is driven by valuation targets, competitive dynamics, or changes in underlying fundamentals.

Under normal market conditions, the Fund may hold a significant portion of its assets in cash or cash equivalents, particularly during periods of elevated volatility or when the Sub-Adviser believes market conditions favor opportunistic trading. This cash allocation enables the Fund to reduce risk and redeploy capital efficiently without being forced to exit core holdings prematurely.

The Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), open-end investment companies, which may operate as traditional mutual funds, closed-end investment companies, or business development companies (“BDCs”).

The Fund may invest in shares of investment trusts that invest substantially all of their assets in physical precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum.

In pursuing its investment objective or for hedging purposes, the Fund may utilize borrowing and various types of derivative instruments, including swaps, futures contracts, and options, although not all such derivatives will be used at all times. Such derivatives may trade over-the-counter or on an exchange and may principally be used for one or more of the following purposes: speculation, currency hedging, duration management, credit deterioration hedging, hedges against broad market movements, or to pursue the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund may borrow to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, which generally means that the Fund may borrow up to one third of its total assets. The Fund may also invest in repurchase agreements and borrow through reverse repurchase agreements.
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The Fund is classified as a non-diversified fund under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), meaning it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a single or limited number of issuers than a diversified fund.

The Fund is an actively managed ETF, which is a fund that trades like other publicly traded securities. The Fund is not an index fund and does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index.

Principal Risks

The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. You should carefully consider the Fund’s investment risks before deciding whether to invest in the Fund. There may be circumstances that could prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective and you may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit at a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

•    Equity Market Risk. The price of equity securities may rise or fall because of changes in the broad market or changes in a company’s financial condition, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, sectors or industries selected for the Fund’s portfolio or the securities market as a whole, such as changes in economic or political conditions. When the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities goes down, the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) will decrease.

•    General Market Risk. The capital markets may experience periods of disruption, instability and volatility. Political, geopolitical, natural and other events, including war, terrorism, trade disputes, tariffs and other trade barriers, government shutdowns, market closures, natural and environmental disasters, epidemics, pandemics and other public health crises and related events have led, and in the future may lead, to economic uncertainty, decreased economic activity, increased market volatility and other disruptive effects on U.S. and global economies and markets. Such conditions may materially and adversely affect the markets globally and in the jurisdictions in which the Fund invests, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. The Fund’s NAV and investment return will fluctuate based upon changes in the value of its portfolio securities.

•    Derivatives Risks. The Fund’s derivatives and other similar instruments (collectively referred to in this section as “derivatives” or “derivative instruments”) have risks, including the imperfect correlation between the value of such instruments and the underlying assets, rate or index; the loss of principal, including the potential loss of amounts greater than the initial amount invested in the derivative instrument; the possible default of the other party to the transaction; and illiquidity of the derivative investments. Changes in the value of a derivative may also create margin delivery or settlement payment obligations for the Fund. If a counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations under a derivative contract due to financial difficulties, the Fund may experience significant delays in obtaining any recovery under the derivative contract in a bankruptcy or other reorganization proceeding. Certain derivatives may give rise to a form of leverage. Leverage magnifies the potential for gain and the risk of loss. The use of derivatives is also subject to operational risk which refers to risk related to potential operational issues, including documentation issues, settlement issues, system failures, inadequate controls, and human error, as well as legal risk which refers to the risk of loss resulting from insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of counterparty, or legality or enforceability of a contract. Derivatives are also subject to market risk, which refers to the risk that markets could experience a change in volatility that adversely impacts fund returns and the fund’s obligations and exposures. Certain of the Fund’s transactions in derivatives could also affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to shareholders, which may result in the Fund realizing more short-term capital gain and ordinary income subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates than it would if it did not engage in such transactions, which may adversely
Whiplight ETF                                            3


impact the Fund’s after-tax returns. The derivative instruments and techniques that the Fund may principally use include:

o    Futures. A futures contract is a standardized agreement to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying instrument at a specific price at a specific future time. A decision as to whether, when and how to use futures involves the exercise of skill and judgment and even a well-conceived futures transaction may be unsuccessful because of market behavior or unexpected events. In addition to the derivatives risks discussed above, the prices of futures can be highly volatile, using futures can lower total return, and the potential loss from futures can exceed the Fund’s initial investment in such contracts.

o    Options. If the Fund buys an option, it buys a legal contract giving it the right to buy or sell a specific amount of the underlying instrument or futures contract on the underlying instrument at an agreed-upon price typically in exchange for a premium paid by the Fund. If the Fund sells an option, it sells to another person the right to buy from or sell to the Fund a specific amount of the underlying instrument or futures contract on the underlying instrument at an agreed-upon price typically in exchange for a premium received by the Fund. A decision as to whether, when and how to use options involves the exercise of skill and judgment and even a well-conceived option transaction may be unsuccessful because of market behavior or unexpected events. The prices of options can be highly volatile, and the use of options can lower total returns.

o    Swaps. A swap contract is an agreement between two parties pursuant to which the parties exchange payments at specified dates on the basis of a specified notional amount, with the payments calculated by reference to specified securities, indexes, reference rates, currencies or other instruments. Swap agreements are particularly subject to counterparty credit, liquidity, valuation, correlation, leverage, operational and legal risk. Swaps could result in losses if interest rate or foreign currency exchange rates or credit quality changes are not correctly anticipated by the Fund or if the reference index, security or investments do not perform as expected. The use of credit default swaps can result in losses if the Fund’s assumptions regarding the creditworthiness of the underlying obligation prove to be incorrect.

•    Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the 1940 Act. As a result, it can invest a greater portion of its assets in obligations of a single issuer than a “diversified” fund. The Fund may therefore be more susceptible than a diversified fund to being adversely affected by a single corporate, economic, political or regulatory occurrence.

•    Borrowing Risks and Leverage Risks. Borrowing for investment purposes creates leverage, which will exaggerate the effect of any change in the value of securities in the Fund’s portfolio on the Fund’s NAV and, therefore, may increase the volatility of the Fund. Money borrowed will be subject to interest and other costs (including commitment fees and/or the cost of maintaining minimum average balances). Unless the income and capital appreciation, if any, on securities acquired with borrowed funds exceed the cost of borrowing, the use of leverage will diminish the investment performance of the Fund.

•    Management Risk. The Fund may not meet its investment objective based on the Sub-Adviser’s success or failure to implement investment strategies for the Fund.

•    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.

•    Regulatory and Legal Risks. U.S. and non-U.S. government agencies and other regulators regularly adopt new regulations and legislatures enact new statutes that affect the investments held by the
Whiplight ETF                                            4


Fund, the strategies used by the Fund or the level of regulation or taxation that applies to the Fund. These statutes and regulations may impact the investment strategies, performance, costs and operations of the Fund or the taxation of its shareholders.

•    Large Shareholder Transactions Risk. Shares of the Fund are offered to certain other investment companies, large retirement plans and other large investors. In addition, a third-party investor, the Adviser or an affiliate of the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser or an affiliate of the Sub-Adviser, an AP, a market maker, or another entity may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time. As a result, the Fund is subject to the risk that those shareholders may purchase or redeem a large amount of shares of the Fund. To satisfy such large shareholder redemptions, the Fund may have to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. In addition, large purchases of Fund shares could adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund does not immediately invest cash it receives and therefore holds more cash than it ordinarily would. Large shareholder activity could also generate increased transaction costs and cause adverse tax consequences. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on the Exchange and may, therefore, have a material effect on the market price of the Shares.

•    Precious Metals Investment Trusts Risk. Prices of investment trusts that invest a significant portion of their assets in precious metals historically have been very volatile and may fluctuate sharply over short periods of time. The high volatility of precious metals prices may adversely affect the prices of investment trusts whose value is based on the price of underlying precious metals. The production and sale of precious metals by governments or central banks or other larger holders can be affected by various economic, financial, social and political factors, which may be unpredictable and may have a significant impact on the prices of investment trusts that invest a significant portion of their assets in precious metals.  

•    ETF Risks. The Fund is an ETF and may invest in other ETFs, and, as a result of this structure, is exposed directly or indirectly to the following risks:

o    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 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, which may also lead to a widening of bid/ask spreads quoted for Shares, 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. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for ETFs, such as the Fund, that invest in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.

o    Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, including brokerage commissions imposed by brokers and bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of Shares may significantly reduce investment results and an investment in Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.

o    Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all ETFs, Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of Shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of Shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount) due to supply and demand of Shares or during periods of market volatility. This risk is heightened in times of market volatility, periods of steep market declines, and periods when there is limited trading
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activity for Shares in the secondary market, in which case such premiums or discounts may be significant. Because securities held by the Fund may trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the Fund’s primary listing exchange is open, the Fund is likely to experience premiums or discounts greater than those of domestic ETFs. If a shareholder purchases 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.

o    Trading. Although Shares are listed for trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (the “Exchange”) and may be traded on U.S. exchanges other than the Exchange, there can be no assurance that Shares will trade with any volume, or at all, on any stock exchange. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Shares, and may lead to a widening of bid/ask spreads quoted for Shares.

o    Cash Transactions Risk. Unlike certain ETFs, the Fund may effect creations and redemptions in cash or partially in cash. Therefore, it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently recognize gains on such sales that the Fund might not have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. As such, investments in Shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that distributes portfolio securities entirely in-kind.

•    Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors.

•    Risks Relating to Fund’s RIC Status. To qualify and remain eligible for the special tax treatment accorded to a RIC and its shareholders under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the Fund must meet certain source-of-income, asset diversification and annual distribution requirements. If the Fund fails to qualify as a RIC for any reason and becomes subject to corporate tax, the resulting corporate taxes could substantially reduce its net assets, the amount of income available for distribution and the amount of its distributions.

•    Foreign Securities Risks. Investments in securities or other instruments of non-U.S. issuers involve certain risks not involved in domestic investments and may experience more rapid and extreme changes in value than investments in securities of U.S. companies. Financial markets in foreign countries often are not as developed, efficient or liquid as financial markets in the United States, and therefore, the prices of non-U.S. securities and instruments can be more volatile. In addition, the Fund will be subject to risks associated with adverse political and economic developments in foreign countries, which may include the imposition of economic sanctions or other similar measures. Generally, there is less readily available and reliable information about non-U.S. issuers due to less rigorous disclosure or accounting standards and regulatory practices.

•    Emerging Markets Risk. Emerging market countries may be more likely to experience political turmoil or rapid changes in market or economic conditions than more developed countries. Emerging market countries often have less uniformity in accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements and greater risk associated with the custody of securities. In addition, the financial stability of issuers in emerging market countries may be more precarious than in developed countries. As a result, there may be an increased risk of illiquidity and price volatility associated with the Fund’s investments in emerging market countries, which may be magnified by currency fluctuations relative to the U.S. dollar, and it may be difficult to value such investments.

•    Large Cash Positions Risk. Taking a large cash position may reduce the potential for appreciation of the portfolio and may affect performance. If the market advances during periods when the Fund is holding a large cash position, the Fund will likely miss out on gains or underperform the market as compared to if the Fund had been fully invested. The Fund may therefore not achieve its investment objective during such a period.
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Performance

Performance information for the Fund is not included because the Fund had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus. Performance information will be available once the Fund has at least one calendar year of performance. Updated performance information (when available) is available online at www.angeloakcapital.com.

Portfolio Management

Investment Adviser. Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC

Investment Sub-Adviser. IFC Whiplight, LLC

Portfolio Manager. The portfolio manager listed below is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.

Craig Thomas, Chief Financial Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer of the Sub-Adviser, has been a portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception in 2025.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund issues and redeems Shares at NAV only in large blocks known as “Creation Units,” which only APs (typically, broker-dealers) may purchase or redeem. The Fund generally issues and redeems Creation Units in exchange for a portfolio of securities and/or a designated amount of U.S. cash.

Shares are listed on the Exchange, and individual Shares may only be bought and sold in the secondary market through a broker or dealer at market prices, rather than NAV. Because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares (the “bid” price) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares (the “ask” price) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market. The difference in the bid and ask prices is referred to as the “bid-ask spread.”

Recent information regarding the Fund’s NAV, market price, how often Shares traded on the Exchange at a premium or discount, and bid-ask spreads can be found, when available, on the Fund’s website at www.angeloakcapital.com.

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable as ordinary income, qualified dividend income, or capital gains (or a combination), unless your investment is in an individual retirement account (“IRA”) or other tax-advantaged account. Distributions on investments made through tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal of assets from those accounts.

Financial Intermediary Compensation

If you purchase Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank) (an “Intermediary”), the Adviser or its affiliates may pay Intermediaries for certain activities related to the Fund, including participation in activities that are designed to make Intermediaries more knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including the Fund, or for other activities, such as marketing, educational training or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the Intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Any
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such arrangements do not result in increased Fund expenses. Ask your salesperson or visit the Intermediary’s website for more information.

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Additional Information about the Fund’s Objectives, Principal Investment Strategies, and Principal Investment Risks

The following information is in addition to, and should be read along with, the description of the Fund’s investment objectives, principal investment strategies and principal investment risks in the summary sections above.

The Fund is an ETF, which is a fund that trades like other publicly-traded securities. The Fund is not an index fund. The Fund is actively managed and does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index.

Investment Objective

The Fund’s investment objective is not fundamental and may be changed without shareholder approval. The Fund will provide 60 days’ advance notice of any change in its investment objective.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund will primarily invest in a select group of equity securities. The Fund will primarily focus on issuers listed in or traded through regulated markets in the United States but may also invest in companies from other countries, including emerging markets. The Fund may invest in companies of any market capitalization. In addition to common stock, the Fund’s investment in equity securities may also include preferred securities, convertible securities, warrants and rights to buy common stock, and equity securities purchased in initial public offerings.

The Fund’s investment approach combines bottom-up fundamental analysis with top-down thematic research. It seeks to identify companies with strong growth potential, durable business models, and compelling valuations. For small- and mid-capitalization companies, the Fund emphasizes growth characteristics such as revenue acceleration, market leadership, and innovative business strategies. For large-cap companies, the Fund applies a value-oriented lens, focusing on capital efficiency, margin resilience, and balance sheet strength.

Portfolio turnover is driven by valuation targets, competitive dynamics, or changes in underlying fundamentals.

Under normal market conditions, the Fund may hold a significant portion of its assets in cash or cash equivalents, particularly during periods of elevated volatility or when the Sub-Adviser believes market conditions favor opportunistic trading. This cash allocation enables the Fund to reduce risk and redeploy capital efficiently without being forced to exit core holdings prematurely.

The Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, open-end investment companies, which may operate as traditional mutual funds, closed-end investment companies, or business development companies (“BDCs”).

The Fund may invest in shares of investment trusts that invest substantially all of their assets in physical precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum.

In pursuing its investment objective or for hedging purposes, the Fund may utilize borrowing and various types of derivative instruments, including swaps, futures contracts, and options, although not all such derivatives will be used at all times. Such derivatives may trade over-the-counter or on an exchange and may principally be used for one or more of the following purposes: speculation, currency hedging, credit deterioration hedging, hedges against broad market movements, or to pursue the Fund’s investment objective. The Fund’s hedging strategies may include the use of derivatives with underlying instruments that are not specified in the Fund’s
9


principal investment strategies. The Fund may borrow to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. The Fund may also invest in repurchase agreements and borrow through reverse repurchase agreements.

The Fund’s use of borrowing, derivatives and reverse repurchase agreements may be deemed to create leverage, which can increase the Fund’s volatility and the effect, positive or negative, of the Fund’s investments on its NAV. The 1940 Act generally limits the extent to which the Fund may utilize bank borrowings to one-third of the Fund's total assets at the time utilized. The Fund’s use of derivatives and other similar instruments is subject to a value-at-risk leverage limit, certain derivatives risk management program, and reporting requirements under Rule 18f-4. In the future, the Fund could qualify as a “limited derivatives user” as defined in Rule 18f-4 (or its use of derivatives and other similar instruments could satisfy the conditions of certain exemptions from the rule), in which case the Fund would not be required to comply with such requirements.

The Fund is classified as a non-diversified fund under the 1940 Act, meaning it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a single or limited number of issuers than a diversified fund.

The Fund is an actively managed ETF, which is a fund that trades like other publicly-traded securities. The Fund is not an index fund and does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index.

Temporary Defensive Positions

From time to time, the Fund may take temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with its principal investment strategies, in attempting to respond to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions. In such instances, the Fund may hold up to 100% of its assets in cash; short-term U.S. government securities and government agency securities; investment grade money market instruments; investment grade fixed-income securities; repurchase agreements; commercial paper and cash equivalents. The Fund may invest in the securities described above at any time to maintain liquidity, pending selection of investments by the Sub-Adviser, or if the Sub-Adviser believes that sufficient investment opportunities that meet the Fund’s investment criteria are not available. By keeping cash on hand, the Fund may be able to meet shareholder redemptions without selling securities and realizing gains and losses. As a result of engaging in these temporary measures, the Fund may not achieve its investment objective.

Principal Risks

The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. You should carefully consider the Fund’s investment risks before deciding whether to invest in the Fund. There may be circumstances that could prevent the Fund from achieving its investment objective and you may lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit at a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

•    Borrowing Risks and Leverage Risks. Borrowing for investment purposes creates leverage, which will exaggerate the effect of any change in the value of securities in the Fund’s portfolio on the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and, therefore, may increase the volatility of the Fund. Money borrowed will be subject to interest and other costs (including commitment fees and/or the cost of maintaining minimum average balances). Unless the income and capital appreciation, if any, on securities acquired with borrowed funds exceed the cost of borrowing, the use of leverage will diminish the investment performance of the Fund. In addition, pursuant to an exemptive order from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the Fund may borrow from another Fund for temporary purposes, to the extent such participation is consistent with the Fund’s and the lending Fund’s investment objective and investment policies.

•    Depositary Receipt Risk. Foreign securities also include American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), which are U.S. dollar-denominated receipts representing shares of foreign-based corporations. ADRs are issued by U.S. banks or trust companies and entitle the holder to all dividends and capital gains
10


that are paid out on the underlying foreign shares. Investment in ADRs may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market.

•    Derivatives Risks. The Fund’s derivatives and other similar investments (referred to collectively in this section as “derivatives” or “derivative investments”) have risks similar to their underlying instruments and may have additional risks, including the imperfect correlation between the value of such instruments and the underlying instrument, rate or index, which creates the possibility that the loss on such instruments may be greater than the gain in the value of the underlying instrument, rate or index; the loss of principal; the possible default of the other party to the transaction; illiquidity of the derivative investments; risks arising from margin requirements and settlement payment obligations; and risks arising from mispricing or valuation complexity. The use of derivatives is also subject to operational risk which refers to risk related to potential operational issues, including documentation issues, settlement issues, system failures, inadequate controls, and human error, as well as legal risk which refers to the risk of loss resulting from insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of counterparty, or legality or enforceability of a contract. Derivatives are also subject to market risk, which refers to the risk that markets could experience a change in volatility that adversely impacts fund returns and the fund’s obligations and exposures. If a counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations under a derivative contract due to financial difficulties, the Fund may experience significant delays in obtaining any recovery under the derivative contract in a bankruptcy or other reorganization proceeding, or may not recover at all. In addition, in the event of the insolvency of a counterparty to a derivative transaction, the derivative contract would typically be terminated at its fair market value. If the Fund is owed this fair market value in the termination of the derivative contract and its claim is unsecured, the Fund will be treated as a general creditor of such counterparty, and will not have any claim with respect to the underlying instrument. Certain of the derivative investments in which the Fund may invest may, in certain circumstances, give rise to a form of financial leverage, which may magnify the risk of owning such instruments. The ability to successfully use derivative investments depends on the ability of the Sub-Adviser to predict pertinent market movements, which cannot be assured. In addition, amounts paid by the Fund as premiums and cash or other assets held in margin accounts with respect to the Fund’s derivative investments would not be available to the Fund for other investment purposes, which may result in lost opportunities for gain.

Regulation of the derivatives market presents additional risks to the Fund and may limit the ability of the Fund to use, and the availability or performance of, such instruments.

The derivative instruments and techniques that the Fund may principally use include:

o    Futures. A futures contract is a standardized agreement to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying instrument at a specific price at a specific future time. The value of a futures contract tends to increase and decrease in tandem with the value of the underlying instrument. Depending on the terms of the particular contract, futures contracts are settled through either physical delivery of the underlying instrument on the settlement date or by payment of a cash settlement amount on the settlement date. A decision as to whether, when and how to use futures involves the exercise of skill and judgment and even a well-conceived futures transaction may be unsuccessful because of market behavior or unexpected events. In addition to the derivatives risks discussed above, the prices of futures can be highly volatile, using futures can lower total return, and the potential loss from futures can exceed the Fund’s initial investment in such contracts.

o    Options. If the Fund buys an option, it buys a legal contract giving it the right to buy or sell a specific amount of the underlying instrument or futures contract on the underlying instrument at an agreed-upon price typically in exchange for a premium paid by the Fund. If the Fund sells an option, it sells to another person the right to buy from or sell to the Fund a specific amount of the underlying instrument or futures contract on the underlying instrument at an
11


agreed-upon price typically in exchange for a premium received by the Fund. A decision as to whether, when and how to use options involves the exercise of skill and judgment and even a well-conceived option transaction may be unsuccessful because of market behavior or unexpected events. The prices of options can be highly volatile, and the use of options can lower total returns.

o    Swaps. A swap contract is an agreement between two parties pursuant to which the parties exchange payments at specified dates on the basis of a specified notional amount, with the payments calculated by reference to specified securities, indexes, reference rates, currencies or other instruments. Most swap agreements provide that when the period payment dates for both parties are the same, the payments are made on a net basis (i.e., the two payment streams are netted out, with only the net amount paid by one party to the other). The Fund’s obligations or rights under a swap contract entered into on a net basis will generally be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement, based on the relative values of the positions held by each counterparty. Swap agreements are particularly subject to counterparty credit, liquidity, valuation, correlation, leverage, operational and legal risk. Certain standardized swaps are now subject to mandatory central clearing requirements and are required to be exchange-traded. While central clearing and exchange-trading are intended to reduce counterparty and liquidity risk, they do not make swap transactions risk-free. Swaps could result in losses if interest rate or foreign currency exchange rates or credit quality changes are not correctly anticipated by the Fund or if the reference index, security or investments do not perform as expected. The Fund’s use of swaps may include those based on the credit of an underlying investment, commonly referred to as “credit default swaps.” Where the Fund is the buyer of a credit default swap contract, it would be entitled to receive the par (or other agreed-upon) value of a referenced debt obligation from the counterparty to the contract only in the event of a default or similar event by a third party on the debt obligation. If no default occurs, the Fund would have paid to the counterparty a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract and received no benefit from the contract. When the Fund is the seller of a credit default swap contract, it receives the stream of payments but is obligated to pay an amount equal to the par (or other agreed-upon) value of a referenced debt obligation upon the default or similar event of that obligation. The use of credit default swaps can result in losses if the Fund’s assumptions regarding the creditworthiness of the underlying obligation prove to be incorrect. Periodically, the CFTC and exchanges change the position limits to which futures, options on futures and some swaps are subject. To the extent these contracts are traded, the Fund may be constrained by how many contracts it may trade. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission in October 2020 adopted amendments to its position limits rules that establish certain new and amended position limits for 25 specified physical commodity futures and related options contracts traded on exchanges, other futures contracts and related options directly or indirectly linked to such 25 specified contracts, and any over the counter transactions that are economically equivalent to the 25 specified contracts. The Sub-Adviser will need to consider whether the exposure created under these contracts might exceed the new and amended limits in anticipation of the applicable compliance dates, and the limits may constrain the ability of the Fund to use such contracts.

•    Emerging Markets Risk. The risks of foreign investments apply to, and may be heightened in connection with, securities of issuers that conduct their business in emerging markets. Emerging market countries may be more likely to experience political turmoil or rapid changes in market or economic conditions than more developed countries. Emerging market countries often have less uniformity in accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements and greater risk associated with the custody of securities. It is sometimes difficult to obtain and enforce court judgments in such countries. Material information about a company in an emerging market country may be unavailable or unreliable, and U.S. regulators may be unable to enforce a company’s regulatory obligations. There is often greater potential for nationalization, expropriation, confiscatory
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taxation, government regulation, social instability or diplomatic developments in emerging market countries, which could adversely affect the economies of, and investments in securities of issuers located in, such countries. In addition, emerging markets are substantially smaller than developed markets, and the financial stability of issuers in emerging market countries may be more precarious than in developed countries. As a result, there will tend to be an increased risk of illiquidity and price volatility associated with the Fund’s investments in emerging market countries which may be magnified by currency fluctuations relative to the U.S. dollar, and, at times, it may be difficult to value such investments.

•    Equity Market Risk. The price of equity securities may rise or fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably, because of changes in the broad market or changes in a company’s financial condition. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, sectors or industries selected for the Fund’s portfolio or the securities market as a whole such as changes in economic or political conditions. Equity securities are subject to “stock market risk” meaning that stock prices in general (or in particular, the prices of the types of securities in which the Fund invests) may decline over short or extended periods of time. When the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities goes down, the Fund’s NAV decreases in value.

•    ETF Risks. The Fund is an ETF and may invest in other ETFs, and, as a result of the structure, is exposed directly or indirectly to the following risks:

o    Authorized Participants, Market Makers, and Liquidity Providers Concentration Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as APs. 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, which may also lead to a widening of bid/ask spreads quoted for Shares, 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. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for ETFs, such as the Fund, that invest in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.

o    Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. 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. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price at which an investor is willing to buy Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, a relatively small investor base in the Fund, asset swings in the Fund and/or increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, including bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of Shares may significantly reduce investment results and an investment in Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.

o    Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all ETFs, Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of Shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of Shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount) due to supply and demand of Shares or during periods of market volatility. This risk is heightened in times of
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market volatility or periods of steep market declines and periods when there is limited trading activity for Shares in the secondary market, in which case such premiums or discounts may be significant. The market price of Shares during the trading day, like the price of any exchange-traded security, includes a “bid/ask” spread charged by the exchange specialist, market makers or other participants that trade Shares. In times of severe market disruption, the bid/ask spread can increase significantly. At those times, Shares are most likely to be traded at a discount to NAV, and the discount is likely to be greatest when the price of Shares is falling fastest, which may be the time that you most want to sell your Shares. The Sub-Adviser believes that, under normal market conditions, large market price discounts or premiums to NAV will not be sustained because of arbitrage opportunities.

o    Trading. Although Shares are listed for trading on the Exchange and may be listed or traded on U.S. and non-U.S. stock exchanges other than the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for such Shares will develop or be maintained. Trading in Shares may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to Exchange “circuit breaker” rules, which temporarily halt trading on the Exchange when a decline in the S&P 500 Index during a single day reaches certain thresholds (e.g., 7%, 13%, and 20%). Additional rules applicable to the Exchange may halt trading in Shares when extraordinary volatility causes sudden, significant swings in the market price of Shares. There can be no assurance that Shares will trade with any volume, or at all, on any stock exchange. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Shares, and may lead to a widening of bid/ask spreads quoted for Shares. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund’s Shares will continue to be met or will remain unchanged.

o    Cash Transactions. Unlike certain ETFs, the Fund may effect its creations and redemptions in cash or partially in cash. As a result, an investment in the Fund may be less tax-efficient than an investment in such ETFs. Other ETFs generally are able to make in-kind redemptions and avoid realizing gains in connection with transactions designed to raise cash to meet redemption requests. If the Fund effects a portion of redemptions for cash, it may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds, which may involve transaction costs. If the Fund recognizes gain on these sales, this generally will cause the Fund to recognize gain it might not otherwise have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind, or to recognize such gain sooner than would otherwise be required. The Fund generally intends to distribute these gains to shareholders to avoid being taxed on this gain at the Fund level and otherwise comply with applicable tax rules. This strategy may cause shareholders to be subject to tax on gains they would not otherwise be subject to, or at an earlier date than, if they had made an investment in a different ETF.

•    Foreign Securities Risks. Certain foreign countries may impose exchange control regulations, restrictions on repatriation of profit on investments or of capital invested, local taxes on investments, and restrictions on the ability of issuers of non-U.S. securities to make payments of principal and interest to investors located outside the country, whether from currency blockage or otherwise. In addition, the Fund will be subject to risks associated with adverse political and economic developments in foreign countries, including seizure or nationalization of foreign deposits, the imposition of economic or trade sanctions, different legal systems and laws relating to bankruptcy and creditors’ rights and the potential inability to enforce legal judgments, all of which could cause the Fund to lose money on its investments in non-U.S. securities. The type and severity of sanctions and other similar measures, including counter sanctions and other retaliatory actions, that may be imposed could vary broadly in scope, and their impact is difficult to ascertain. These types of
14


measures may include, but are not limited to, banning a sanctioned country or certain persons or entities associated with such country from global payment systems that facilitate cross-border payments, restricting the settlement of securities transactions by certain investors, and freezing the assets of particular countries, entities or persons. The imposition of sanctions and other similar measures could, among other things, result in a decline in the value and/or liquidity of securities issued by the sanctioned country or companies located in or economically tied to the sanctioned country, downgrades in the credit ratings of the sanctioned country's securities or those of companies located in or economically tied to the sanctioned country, currency devaluation or volatility, and increased market volatility and disruption in the sanctioned country and throughout the world. Sanctions and other similar measures could directly or indirectly limit or prevent the Fund from buying and selling securities (in the sanctioned country and other markets), significantly delay or prevent the settlement of securities transactions, and adversely impact the Fund's liquidity and performance. The cost of servicing external debt will also generally be adversely affected by rising international interest rates, as many external debt obligations bear interest at rates which are adjusted based upon international interest rates. Because non-U.S. securities may trade on days when the Fund’s shares are not priced, NAV may change at times when the Fund’s shares cannot be sold.

Foreign banks and securities depositories at which the Fund holds its foreign securities and cash may be recently organized or new to the foreign custody business and may be subject to only limited or no regulatory oversight. Additionally, many foreign governments do not supervise and regulate stock exchanges, brokers and the sale of securities to the same extent as does the United States and may not have laws to protect investors that are comparable to U.S. securities laws. Settlement and clearance procedures in certain foreign markets may result in delays in payment for or delivery of securities not typically associated with settlement and clearance of U.S. investments.

Less information may be publicly available with respect to foreign issuers than is available with respect to U.S. companies. Accounting standards in non-U.S. countries may differ from U.S. accounting standards. If the accounting standards in another country do not require as much detail as U.S. accounting standards, it may be more difficult to completely and accurately assess a company’s financial condition. The volume of transactions on foreign stock exchanges is generally lower than the volume of transactions on U.S. exchanges. Therefore, the market for securities that trade on foreign stock exchanges may be less liquid and their prices may be more volatile than securities that trade on U.S. securities.

In recent years, the European financial markets have experienced volatility and adverse trends due to concerns about economic downturns in, or rising government debt levels of, several European countries. These events may spread to other countries in Europe, including countries that do not use the Euro. These events may affect the value and liquidity of certain of the Fund’s investments.

•    General Market Risk. The capital markets may experience periods of disruption, instability and volatility due to, among other things, social, political, economic and other conditions and events such as natural disasters, terrorism, epidemics and pandemics. Such conditions may materially and adversely affect the markets globally and the issuers, industries, governments and jurisdictions in which the Fund invests, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. These impacts can be exacerbated by failures of governments and societies to adequately respond to an emerging event or threat.

The NAV of the Fund and investment return will fluctuate based upon changes in the value of its portfolio securities. The market value of securities in which the Fund invests is based upon the market’s perception of value and is not necessarily an objective measure of the securities’ value. Other general market risks include: (i) the market may not recognize what the Sub-Adviser believes to be the true value or growth potential of the securities held by the Fund; (ii) the earnings of the companies in which the Fund invests will not continue to grow at expected rates, thus causing the price of the underlying securities to decline; (iii) the smaller a company’s market capitalization, the greater the
15


potential for price fluctuations and volatility of its securities due to lower trading volume for the securities, less publicly available information about the company and less liquidity in the market for the security; (iv) the potential for price fluctuations in the security of a medium capitalization company may be greater than that of a large capitalization company; (v) the Sub-Adviser’s judgment as to the growth potential or value of a security may prove to be wrong; and (vi) a decline in investor demand for the securities held by the Fund also may adversely affect the value of the securities.

In addition, securities in the Fund’s portfolio may cause the Fund to lose value and/or underperform in comparison to securities in general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes due to a number of factors, including inflation (or expectations for inflation), deflation (or expectations for deflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or resources, market instability, debt crises and downgrades, embargoes, tariffs, sanctions and other trade barriers, regulatory events, other governmental trade or market control programs and related geopolitical events. In addition, the value of the Fund’s investments may be negatively affected by the occurrence of global events, such as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters or events, country instability, and infectious disease epidemics/pandemics. These events could reduce consumer demand or economic output, result in market closures, travel restrictions or quarantines, and significantly adversely impact the economy. Governmental and quasi-governmental authorities and regulators throughout the world have previously responded to serious economic disruptions with a variety of significant fiscal and monetary policy changes, including but not limited to, direct capital infusions into companies, new monetary programs and dramatically lower interest rates. An unexpected or sudden reversal of these policies, or the ineffectiveness of these policies, could increase volatility in securities markets, which could adversely affect the Fund’s investments. Any market disruptions could also prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner. Increasing interconnectivity between global economies and financial markets can lead to events or conditions in one country, region or financial market adversely impacting a different country, region or financial market. Thus, investors should closely monitor current market conditions to determine whether the Fund meets their individual financial needs and tolerance for risk.

•    Large Shareholder Transactions Risk. Shares of the Fund are offered to certain other investment companies, large retirement plans and other large investors. In addition, a third-party investor, the Adviser or an affiliate of the Adviser, Sub-Adviser or affiliate of the Sub-Adviser, an AP, a market maker, or another entity may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time. As a result, the Fund is subject to the risk that shareholders may purchase or redeem a large amount of shares of the Fund. To satisfy such large shareholder redemptions, the Fund may have to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. In addition, large purchases of Fund shares could adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund does not immediately invest cash it receives and therefore holds more cash than it ordinarily would. Large shareholder activity could also generate increased transaction costs and cause adverse tax consequences. For example, the sale of portfolio securities will accelerate the realization of taxable capital gains or losses for the Fund, which may increase taxable distributions to shareholders, and purchases or redemptions of a large number of Fund shares relative to the size of the Fund will have adverse tax consequences limiting the use of any capital loss carryforwards and certain other losses to offset any future realized capital gains. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on the Exchange and may, therefore, have a material effect on the market price of the Shares.

•    Precious Metals Investment Trusts Risk. Prices of investment trusts that invest a significant portion of their assets in precious metals historically have been very volatile and may fluctuate sharply over short periods of time. The high volatility of precious metals prices may adversely affect the prices of investment trusts whose value is based on the price of underlying precious metals. The production and sale of precious metals by governments or central banks or other larger holders can be affected by various economic, financial, social and political factors, which may be unpredictable and may have a
16


significant impact on the prices of investment trusts that invest a significant portion of their assets in precious metals.  

•    Management Risk. The Fund is actively managed and its performance may reflect the Sub-Adviser’s ability to make decisions which are suited to achieving the Fund’s investment objective. Due to its active management, the Fund could underperform other funds with a similar investment objective.

•    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. Moreover, investors will not be able to evaluate the Fund against one or more comparable funds on the basis of relative performance until the Fund has established a track record. In addition, until the Fund achieves a larger scale, the performance of certain of its investments may disproportionately impact the performance of the Fund, which may be subject to heightened volatility. As a new fund, the Fund also may be subject to a “ramp-up” period during which it may not be fully invested or able to meet its investment objective or investment policies. A new fund or a fund with fewer assets under management may be more significantly affected by purchases and redemptions of its Creation Units than a fund with relatively greater assets under management would be affected by purchases and redemptions of its shares. As compared to a larger fund, a new or smaller fund is more likely to sell a comparatively large portion of its portfolio to meet significant Creation Unit redemptions, or invest a comparatively large amount of cash to facilitate Creation Unit purchases, in each case when the fund otherwise would not seek to do so. Such transactions may cause funds to make investment decisions at inopportune times or prices or miss attractive investment opportunities. Such transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income if sales of securities resulted in gains and the fund redeems Creation Units for cash, or otherwise cause a fund to perform differently than intended. While such risks may apply to funds of any size, such risks are heightened in funds with fewer assets under management. In addition, new funds may not be able to fully implement their investment strategy immediately upon commencing investment operations, which could reduce investment performance.

•    Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the 1940 Act. A non-diversified fund is not limited by the 1940 Act with regard to the percentage of its assets that may be invested in the securities of a single issuer. Consequently, the securities of a particular issuer or a small number of issuers may constitute a significant portion of the Fund’s investment portfolio. This may adversely affect the Fund’s performance or subject the Fund’s shares to greater price volatility than that experienced by more diversified investment companies.

•    Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund’s annual portfolio turnover rate may vary greatly from year to year, as well as within a given year. The portfolio turnover rate is not considered a limiting factor in the execution of investment decisions for the Fund. High portfolio turnover may result in the realization of net short-term capital gains by the Fund which, when distributed to shareholders, will be taxable as ordinary income. A high portfolio turnover may increase the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits, resulting in a greater portion of the Fund’s distributions being treated as a dividend to the Fund’s shareholders. In addition, a higher portfolio turnover rate results in correspondingly greater brokerage and other transactional expenses that are borne by the Fund.

•    Regulatory and Legal Risks. U.S. and non-U.S. government agencies and other regulators regularly adopt new regulations and legislatures enact new statutes that affect the investments held by the Fund, the strategies used by the Fund or the level of regulation or taxation that applies to the Fund. These statutes and regulations and any future statutes and regulations may impact the investment strategies, performance, costs and operations of the Fund or the taxation of its shareholders. Changes in government legislation, regulation and/or intervention may change the way the Adviser, Sub-Adviser or the Fund is regulated, affect the expenses incurred directly by the Fund and the value of its investments and limit and/or preclude the Fund’s ability to implement, or increase the Fund’s costs associated with implementing, its investments strategies. Changes to tax laws and regulations may
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also result in certain tax consequences for the Fund and/or investors. Government regulation may change frequently and may have significant adverse consequences. Moreover, government regulation may have unpredictable and unintended effects. In addition to exposing the Fund to potential new costs and expenses, additional regulation or changes to existing regulation may also require changes to the Fund’s investment practices. The Adviser and Sub-Adviser cannot predict the effects of any new governmental regulation that may be implemented, and there can be no assurance that any new governmental regulation will not adversely affect the Fund’s ability to achieve its respective investment objective.

•    Risks Relating to the Fund’s RIC Status. To qualify and remain eligible for the special tax treatment accorded to a RIC and its shareholders under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), the Fund must meet certain source-of-income, asset diversification and annual distribution requirements. Very generally, to qualify as a RIC, the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income for each taxable year from dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies, net income from certain publicly traded partnerships or other income derived with respect to its business of investing in stock or other securities. The Fund must also meet certain asset diversification requirements at the end of each quarter of each of its taxable years. Failure to meet these diversification requirements on the last day of a quarter may result in the Fund having to dispose of certain investments quickly to prevent the loss of RIC status. Any such dispositions could be made at disadvantageous prices or times and may result in substantial losses to the Fund. In addition, to be eligible for the special tax treatment accorded RICs, the Fund must meet the annual distribution requirement, requiring it to distribute with respect to each taxable year an amount at least equal to 90% of the sum of its “investment company taxable income” (generally its taxable ordinary income and realized net short-term capital gains in excess of realized net long-term capital losses, if any, and determined without regard to any deduction for dividends paid) and its net tax-exempt income (if any), to its shareholders. If the Fund fails to qualify as a RIC for any reason and becomes subject to corporate tax, the resulting corporate taxes could substantially reduce its net assets, the amount of income available for distribution and the amount of its distributions. Such a failure would have a material adverse effect on the Fund and its shareholders. In addition, the Fund could be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest and make substantial distributions to re-qualify as a RIC.

•    Sector Risk. To the extent the Fund invests more heavily in particular sectors of the economy, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors.

•    Temporary Defensive Positions and Large Cash Positions Risk. In anticipation of, or in response to, adverse market or other conditions, the Fund may temporarily hold all or a significant portion of its assets in cash, cash equivalents, affiliated and unaffiliated money market funds, or high-quality debt instruments. Taking a defense or large cash position may reduce the potential for appreciation of the portfolio and may affect performance. Taking a large cash position may also inhibit the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective.

Portfolio Holdings Information

Information about the Fund’s daily portfolio holdings is available at www.angeloakcapital.com. A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio holdings is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

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Management

Adviser. Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (“the Adviser”), 3344 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1725, Atlanta, Georgia 30326, serves as investment adviser to the Fund. The Adviser has overall supervisory management responsibility for the general management and investment of the Fund’s portfolio. The Adviser was formed in 2009 and provides advisory services to registered investment companies, unregistered funds, institutions, and other investors. As of [January 31, 2025], the Adviser had assets under management of approximately $[9.27] billion. The Adviser is [93.3]% owned by Angel Oak Asset Management Holdings, LLC. On [ ], 2025, Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. acquired a majority of Angel Oak Companies, LP, the parent of Angel Oak Asset Management Holdings, LLC, itself the parent of the Adviser. A discussion of the factors that the Board of Trustees considered in approving the Fund’s advisory agreement will be available in the Fund’s first annual or semi-annual report on Form N-CSR.

The Fund is required to pay the Adviser a fee equal to [ ]% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. Under the advisory agreement, the Adviser is responsible for substantially all the expenses of the Fund (including expenses of the Trust relating to the Fund), except for the advisory fees, payments under the Fund’s 12b-1 plan (if any), interest expenses, dividend and interest expenses related to short sales, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses (other than fees for funds advised by the Adviser), and litigation and potential litigation and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business.

[The Adviser has contractually agreed to waive its fees and/or reimburse certain expenses (exclusive of interest expenses, dividend and interest expenses related to short sales, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses (other than fees for funds advised by the Adviser which are waived), brokers’ commissions and any other transaction related expenses and fees arising out of transactions effected on behalf of the Fund, and litigation and potential litigation and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business) to limit the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses after Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement to [ ]% of the Fund’s average daily net assets (the “Expense Limits”), through [ ]. The Expense Limits exclude certain expenses (e.g., interest on borrowings), and consequently, the Fund’s Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses after Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement may be higher than the Fund’s Expense Limit. The contractual waiver and expense reimbursement may be changed or eliminated at any time by the Board of Trustees, on behalf of the Fund, upon 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser. The contractual waiver and expense reimbursement may not be terminated by the Adviser without the consent of the Board of Trustees. The Adviser may recoup from the Fund any waived amount or reimbursed expenses with respect to the Fund pursuant to this agreement if such recoupment does not cause the Fund to exceed the current Expense Limit or the Expense Limit in place at the time of the waiver or reimbursement (whichever is lower) and the recoupment is made within three years after the end of the month in which the Adviser incurred the expense.]

In addition, the Adviser has contractually agreed through at least [ ] to waive the amount of the Fund’s management fee to the extent necessary to offset the proportionate share of the management fees incurred by the Fund through its investment in an underlying fund for which the Adviser also serves as investment adviser. This arrangement may only be changed or eliminated by the Board of Trustees upon 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser.

Management of any Sub-Adviser to the Fund. The Fund, the Trust and the Adviser have obtained an exemptive order with respect to the Fund that permits the Fund to operate in a “manager of managers” structure whereby the Adviser, subject to certain conditions, can hire new sub-advisers for the Fund, and materially amend the terms of sub-advisory agreements with sub-advisers, each subject to Board approval but without obtaining prior shareholder approval. Consequently, under the exemptive order, the Adviser has the ultimate responsibility (subject to oversight by the Board) to oversee the sub-advisers and recommend their hiring, termination, and replacement. Within 90 days of retaining a new sub-adviser, shareholders of the Fund will receive notification of the change. The manager of managers structure enables the Fund to operate with greater efficiency and without incurring the expense and delays associated with obtaining shareholder approval of sub-advisory agreements. The structure does not permit investment advisory fees paid by the Fund to be
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increased or change the Adviser’s obligations under its investment advisory agreement with the Trust. Furthermore, any sub-advisory agreements with affiliates of the Fund or the Adviser will require shareholder approval.

Sub-Adviser. The Adviser has retained IFC Whiplight, LLC (“IFC” or the “Sub-Adviser”), an investment adviser registered with the SEC under the Advisers Act, to provide sub-advisory services to the Fund. IFC is organized as an Delaware limited liability company with its principal offices located at 11601 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1725, Los Angeles, California 90025. IFC was founded in 2024. IFC has discretionary authority over all of the Fund’s investments, including security selection and transaction execution.

Pursuant to a sub-advisory agreement (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”), the Adviser pays IFC a fee, which is calculated daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate of [ ]% of the Fund’s daily net assets. The Sub-Advisory Agreement provides that it may be terminated at any time, without the payment of any penalty, by the Board or by a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund, on 60 days’ written notice to IFC, and by IFC upon 60 days’ written notice, and that it shall be automatically terminated if it is assigned.

A discussion of the factors that the Board of Trustees considered in approving the Fund’s advisory agreement and sub-advisory agreement will be available in the Fund’s first annual or semi-annual report on Form N-CSR.

Portfolio Manager

The Sub-Adviser’s investment team includes:

Craig Thomas is Chief Financial Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer of the Sub-Adviser and a Portfolio Manager of the Fund. Mr. Thomas is a professional investor with more than twenty-five years of investing experience. Prior to joining the Sub-Adviser's affiliate, IFC Advisors LLC, as Co-CIO, he was the Director of Research for the Cohen Account at S.A.C. Capital Advisors, Portfolio Manager at S.A.C. Capital Advisors, and Analyst at Goff Moore Strategic Partners and Rainwater, Inc. Prior to becoming a professional investor, Craig was a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Thomas earned an A.B. degree from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

The Fund’s SAI provides additional information about the portfolio manager, including their compensation structure, other accounts managed, and ownership of shares of the Fund.

Additional Payments to Dealers

In addition to dealer concessions and payments made by the Distributor for distribution and shareholder servicing, the Adviser or its affiliates, at their own expense and out of their own assets, may make additional payments (“Additional Payments”) to, or enter into arrangements with, financial intermediaries or other persons in consideration of services, arrangements, significant investments in Fund shares or other activities that the Adviser and its affiliates believe may, among other things, benefit the Fund’s business, facilitate investment in Fund shares or otherwise benefit the Fund’s shareholders. Additional Payments include payments to certain selling or shareholder servicing agents for the Fund, which includes broker-dealers. These Additional Payments are made in connection with the sale and distribution of shares of the Fund or for services to the Fund and their shareholders. These Additional Payments, which may be significant, are paid by the Adviser or its affiliates, out of their own resources, which may include profits derived from servicing the Fund. Such payments by such parties may create an incentive for these financial institutions to recommend that you purchase Fund shares. Payments of the type described above are sometimes referred to as revenue sharing payments.

In return for these Additional Payments, the Adviser expects to receive certain marketing or servicing advantages that are not generally available to funds that do not make such payments. Such advantages are
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expected to include, without limitation, significant investments in the Fund; placement of the Fund on a list of funds offered as investment options to the selling agent’s clients (sometimes referred to as “Shelf Space”); access to the selling agent’s registered representatives; and the ability to assist in training and educating the selling agent’s registered representatives.

The Additional Payments may create potential conflicts of interests between an investor and a selling agent who is recommending a particular fund over other funds. Before investing, you should consult with your financial consultant and review carefully any disclosure by the selling agent as to what monies they receive from fund advisers and distributors, as well as how your financial consultant is compensated.

How to Buy and Sell Shares

The Fund issues and redeems Shares at NAV only in Creation Units. Only APs may acquire Shares directly from the Fund, and only APs may tender their Shares for redemption directly to the Fund, at NAV. APs must be a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the SEC and must execute a Participant Agreement that has been agreed to by the Distributor (defined below), and that has been accepted by the Fund’s transfer agent, with respect to purchases and redemptions of Creation Units. Once created, Shares trade in the secondary market in quantities less than a Creation Unit.

Most investors buy and sell Shares in secondary market transactions through brokers. Shares are listed for trading on the secondary market on the Exchange and can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like other publicly traded securities.

When buying or selling Shares through a broker, you will incur customary brokerage commissions and charges, and you may pay some or all of the spread between the bid and the offer price in the secondary market on each leg of a round trip (purchase and sale) transaction. In addition, because secondary market transactions occur at market prices, you may pay more than NAV when you buy Shares and receive less than NAV when you sell those Shares.

In addition, certain affiliates of the Fund and the Adviser and Sub-Adviser may purchase and resell Shares of the Fund pursuant to this Prospectus.

Book Entry

Shares are held in book-entry form, which means that no stock certificates are issued. The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee is the record owner of all outstanding Shares.

Investors owning Shares are beneficial owners as shown on the records of DTC or its participants. DTC serves as the securities depository for all Shares. DTC’s participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and other institutions that directly or indirectly maintain a custodial relationship with DTC. As a beneficial owner of Shares, you are not entitled to receive physical delivery of stock certificates or to have Shares registered in your name, and you are not considered a registered owner of Shares. Therefore, to exercise any right as an owner of Shares, you must rely upon the procedures of DTC and its participants. These procedures are the same as those that apply to any other securities that you hold in book entry or “street name” through your brokerage account.
Frequent Purchases and Redemptions of Shares

The Fund imposes no restrictions on the frequency of purchases and redemptions of Shares. In determining not to approve a written, established policy, the Board evaluated the risks of market timing activities by Fund shareholders. Purchases and redemptions by APs, who are the only parties that may purchase or redeem Shares directly with the Fund, are an essential part of the ETF process and help keep Share trading prices in line with NAV. As such, the Fund accommodates frequent purchases and redemptions by APs. However, the
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Board has also determined that frequent purchases and redemptions for cash may increase tracking error and portfolio transaction costs and may lead to the realization of capital gains. To minimize these potential consequences of frequent purchases and redemptions, the Fund employs fair value pricing and may impose transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Creation Units to cover the custodial and other costs incurred by the Fund in effecting trades. In addition, the Fund and the Adviser reserve the right to reject any purchase order at any time.

Determination of NAV

The price you pay for your shares is based on the Fund’s NAV. The Fund’s NAV is calculated at the close of trading (normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on each day the NYSE is open for business (the NYSE is closed on weekends, most federal holidays and Good Friday). The Fund’s NAV is calculated by dividing the value of the Fund’s total assets (including interest and dividends accrued but not yet received) minus liabilities (including accrued expenses) by the total number of shares outstanding.

In the event the Fund holds portfolio securities that trade in foreign markets or that are primarily listed on foreign exchanges that trade on weekends or other days when the Fund does not price its shares, the NAV of the Fund’s shares may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Fund’s shares.

In calculating the Fund’s NAV, portfolio investments for which market quotations are readily available are valued at market value, which is ordinarily determined based on official closing prices or the last reported sale prices of an instrument. Where no such closing price or sale price is reported, market value is determined based on quotes obtained from market makers or prices supplied by one or more third-party pricing source (“Pricing Services”), which may include evaluated prices. The types of investments in which the Fund typically invests are generally valued on the basis of evaluated prices provided by Pricing Services. Such prices may be based on a number of factors, including, among other things, information obtained from market makers and estimates based on recent market prices for investments with similar characteristics. If market or evaluated prices are not readily available (including when they are not reliable), or if an event occurs after the close of the trading market but before the calculation of the applicable NAV that materially affects the values, assets may be valued at a fair value, pursuant to guidelines established by the Adviser as the Fund’s valuation designee. For example, the Fund may be obligated to fair value a foreign security because many foreign markets operate at times that do not coincide with those of the major U.S. markets. Events that could affect the values of foreign portfolio holdings may occur between the close of the foreign market and the time of determining the NAV, and would not otherwise be reflected in the NAV. When pricing securities using the fair value guidelines, the Adviser (with the assistance of the Fund’s Pricing Services and other service providers) seek to assign the value that represents the amount that the Fund might reasonably expect to receive upon a current sale of the securities. The fair value guidelines include the consideration of pricing information from one or more Pricing Service, which information is monitored by the Adviser daily. The Board of Trustees oversees the Adviser’s implementation of the fair value guidelines.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, given the subjectivity inherent in fair valuation and the fact that events could occur after NAV calculation, the actual market prices for a security may differ from the fair value of that security as determined by the Fund at the time of NAV calculation. Thus, discrepancies between fair values and actual market prices may occur on a regular and recurring basis. These discrepancies do not necessarily indicate that the fair value methodology is inappropriate. The Adviser will adjust the fair values assigned to securities in the Fund’s portfolios, to the extent necessary, as soon as market prices become available. The Adviser (and the Fund’s service providers) continually monitor and evaluate the appropriateness of their fair value methodologies through systematic comparisons of fair values to the actual next available market prices of securities contained in the Fund’s portfolios. To the extent the Fund invests in other mutual funds, the Fund’s NAV is calculated based, in part, upon the NAVs of such mutual funds; the prospectuses for those mutual funds in which the Fund will invest describe the circumstances under which those mutual funds will use fair value pricing, which, in turn, affects their NAVs.

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Because the Fund relies on various sources to calculate their NAVs, the Fund is subject to certain operational risks associated with reliance on the Pricing Services and other third-party service providers and data sources. The Fund’s NAV calculation may be impacted by operational risks arising from factors such as failures in systems and technology. Such failures may result in delays in the calculation of the Fund’s NAV and/or the inability to calculate NAV over extended time periods. The Fund may be unable to recover any losses associated with such failures.

Delivery of Shareholder Documents – Householding

Householding is an option available to certain investors of the Fund. Householding is a method of delivery, based on the preference of the individual investor, in which a single copy of certain shareholder documents can be delivered to investors who share the same address, even if their accounts are registered under different names. Householding for the Fund is available through certain broker-dealers. If you are interested in enrolling in householding and receiving a single copy of prospectuses and other shareholder documents, please contact your broker-dealer. If you are currently enrolled in householding and wish to change your householding status, please contact your broker-dealer.

Dividends, Distributions and Taxes

Dividends and Distributions

The Fund typically distributes to its shareholders net investment income, if any, on a monthly basis and distributes any net realized capital gains to its shareholders at least annually. The Fund will declare and pay net investment income and capital gain distributions in cash, if any. Distributions in cash may be reinvested automatically in additional whole Shares only if the broker through whom you purchased Shares makes such option available. Your broker is responsible for distributing the income and capital gain distributions to you.

Taxes

The following discussion is a summary of some important U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to investments in the Fund. Your investment in the Fund may have other tax implications. Please consult your tax advisor about the tax consequences of an investment in Shares, including the possible application of foreign, state, and local tax laws.

The Fund has elected or intends to elect and intends to qualify each year for treatment as a RIC. If the Fund meets certain minimum distribution requirements, a RIC is not subject to tax at the fund level on income and gains from investments that are timely distributed to shareholders. However, the Fund’s failure to qualify as a RIC or to meet minimum distribution requirements would result (if certain relief provisions were not available) in fund-level taxation and, consequently, a reduction in income available for distribution to shareholders.

Unless your investment in Shares is made through a tax-exempt entity or tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA plan, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when the Fund makes distributions, when you sell your Shares listed on the Exchange, and when you purchase or redeem Creation Units (APs only).

Taxes on Distributions

The Fund intends to distribute, at least annually, substantially all of its net investment income and net capital gains. For federal income tax purposes, distributions of investment income are generally taxable as ordinary income or qualified dividend income. Taxes on distributions of capital gains (if any) are determined by how long the Fund owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long a shareholder has owned his or her Shares. Sales of assets held by the Fund for more than one year generally result in long-term capital gains and losses, and sales of assets held by the Fund for one year or less generally result in short-term capital gains and losses. Distributions of the Fund’s net capital gain (the excess of net long-term capital gains over net
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short-term capital losses) that are reported by the Fund as capital gain dividends (“Capital Gain Dividends”) will be taxable as long-term capital gains, which for non-corporate shareholders are subject to tax at reduced rates of up to 20% (lower rates apply to individuals in lower tax brackets). Distributions of short-term capital gain will generally be taxable as ordinary income. Dividends and distributions are generally taxable to you whether you receive them in cash or reinvest them in additional Shares.

Distributions reported by the Fund as “qualified dividend income” are generally taxed to non-corporate shareholders at rates applicable to long-term capital gains, provided holding period and other requirements are met. “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 received 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. Dividends received by the Fund from an ETF or underlying fund taxable as a RIC may be treated as qualified dividend income generally only to the extent so reported by such ETF or underlying fund. Corporate shareholders may be entitled to a dividends received deduction for the portion of dividends they receive from the Fund that are attributable to dividends received by the Fund from U.S. corporations, subject to certain limitations. Given the investment strategies of the Fund, it is not anticipated that a significant portion of the Fund’s dividends will be eligible for the reduced rates applicable to qualified dividend income or for the corporate dividends-received deduction.

Shortly after the close of each calendar year, you will be informed of the amount and character of any distributions received from the Fund.

U.S. individuals with income exceeding specified thresholds are subject to a 3.8% tax on all or a portion of their “net investment income,” which includes interest, dividends, and certain capital gains (generally including capital gains distributions and capital gains realized on the sale of Shares). 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.

In general, your distributions are subject to federal income tax for the year in which they are paid. Certain distributions paid in January, however, may be treated as paid on December 31 of the prior year. Distributions are generally taxable even if they are paid from income or gains earned by the Fund before your investment (and thus were included in the Shares’ NAV when you purchased your Shares).

You may wish to avoid investing in the Fund shortly before a dividend or other distribution, because such a distribution will generally be taxable even though it may economically represent a return of a portion of your investment.

If the Fund’s distributions exceed its earnings and profits, all or a portion of the distributions made for a taxable year may be recharacterized as a return of capital to shareholders. A return of capital distribution will generally not be taxable, but will reduce each shareholder’s cost basis in Shares and result in a higher capital gain or lower capital loss when the Shares are sold. After a shareholder’s basis in Shares has been reduced to zero, distributions in excess of earnings and profits in respect of those Shares will be treated as gain from the sale of the Shares.

If you are neither a resident nor a citizen of the United States or if you are a foreign entity, distributions (other than Capital Gain Dividends) paid to you by the Fund will generally be subject to a U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30%, unless a lower treaty rate applies. Gains from the sale or other disposition of Shares by non-U.S. shareholders generally are not subject to U.S. taxation, unless you are a nonresident alien individual who is physically present in the U.S. for 183 days or more per year. The Fund may, under certain circumstances, report all or a portion of a dividend as an “interest-related dividend” or a “short-term capital gain dividend,” which would generally be exempt from this 30% U.S. withholding tax, provided certain other requirements are met. Different tax consequences may result if you are a foreign shareholder engaged in a trade or business within the United States or if a tax treaty applies.
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Under legislation generally known as “FATCA” (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act), the Fund is required to withhold 30% of certain ordinary dividends it pays to shareholders that are foreign entities and that fail to meet prescribed information reporting or certification requirements.

The Fund (or a financial intermediary, such as a broker, through which a shareholder owns Shares) generally is required to withhold and remit to the U.S. Treasury a percentage of the taxable distributions and sale or redemption proceeds paid to any shareholder who fails to properly furnish a correct taxpayer identification number, who has underreported dividend or interest income, or who fails to certify that the shareholder is not subject to such withholding.

Taxes When Shares are Sold on the Exchange

Any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Shares generally is treated as a long-term capital gain or loss if Shares have been held for more than one year and as a short-term capital gain or loss if Shares have been held for one year or less. However, any capital loss on a sale of Shares held for six months or less is treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of Capital Gain Dividends paid with respect to such Shares. Any loss realized on a sale will be disallowed to the extent Shares of the Fund are acquired, including through reinvestment of dividends, within a 61-day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the disposition of Shares. The ability to deduct capital losses may be limited.

The cost basis of Shares of the Fund acquired by purchase will generally be based on the amount paid for the Shares and then may be subsequently adjusted for other applicable transactions as required by the Code. The difference between the selling price and the cost basis of Shares generally determines the amount of the capital gain or loss realized on the sale or exchange of Shares. Federal law requires reporting of cost basis gain/loss, and holding period to you and the Internal Revenue Service on Form 1099-B. Contact the broker through whom you purchased your Shares to obtain information with respect to the available cost basis reporting methods and elections for your account.

Taxes on Purchases and Redemptions of Creation Units

An AP who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally recognizes a gain or a loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the value of the Creation Units at the time of the exchange and the exchanging AP’s aggregate basis in the securities delivered, plus the amount of any cash paid for the Creation Units. An AP who exchanges Creation Units for securities will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchanging AP’s basis in the Creation Units and the aggregate market value of the securities received, plus any cash received for such Creation Units. The Internal Revenue Service may assert, however, that a loss that is realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units may not be currently deducted under the rules governing “wash sales” (for an AP who does not mark-to-market its holdings), or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position. APs exchanging securities should consult their own tax advisor with respect to whether wash sale rules apply and when a loss might be deductible.

Any gain or loss realized upon a creation or redemption of Creation Units will be treated as capital or ordinary gain or loss, depending on the circumstances. Any capital gain or loss realized upon redemption of Creation Units is generally treated as long-term capital gain or loss if Shares have been held for more than one year and as a short-term capital gain or loss if Shares have been held for one year or less.

The Fund has the right to reject an order for Creation Units if the purchaser (or group of purchasers) would, upon obtaining the Shares so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding Shares of the Fund and if, pursuant to section 351 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Fund would have a basis in the deposit securities different from the market value of such securities on the date of deposit. The Fund also has the right to require information necessary to determine beneficial Share ownership for purposes of the 80% determination. If the Fund does issue Creation Units to a purchaser (or group of purchasers) that would, upon obtaining the Shares
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so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding Shares of the Fund, the purchaser (or group of purchasers) may not recognize gain or loss upon the exchange of securities for Creation Units.

The Fund may include a payment of cash in addition to, or in place of, the delivery of a basket of securities upon the redemption of Creation Units. The Fund may sell portfolio securities to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize investment income and/or capital gains or losses that it might not have recognized if it had completely satisfied the redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may be less tax efficient if it includes such a cash payment in the proceeds paid upon the redemption of Creation Units.

Foreign Investments by the Fund

To the extent the Fund invests in foreign securities, it may be subject to foreign withholding taxes with respect to dividends or interest the Fund received from sources in foreign countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes in some cases.

The foregoing discussion summarizes some of the possible consequences under current federal tax law of an investment in the Fund. It is not a substitute for personal tax advice. You also may be subject to state and local tax on Fund distributions and sales of Shares. Consult your personal tax advisor about the potential tax consequences of an investment in Shares under all applicable tax laws. For more information, please see the section entitled “Federal Income Taxes” in the SAI.

Distribution

The Distributor, Quasar Distributors, LLC, is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC. The Distributor distributes Creation Units for the Fund on an agency basis and does not maintain a secondary market in Shares. The Distributor has no role in determining the policies of the Fund or the securities that are purchased or sold by the Fund. The Distributor’s principal address is Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100, Portland, Maine 04101.

The Board has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. In accordance with the Plan, the Fund is authorized to pay an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year for certain distribution-related activities and shareholder services.

No Rule 12b-1 fees are currently paid by the Fund, and there are no plans to impose these fees. However, in the event Rule 12b-1 fees are charged in the future, because the fees are paid out of Fund assets, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than certain other types of sales charges.

Premium/Discount Information

Information regarding how often Shares traded on the Exchange at a price above (i.e., at a premium) or below (i.e., at a discount) the NAV of the Fund (when available) is available on the Fund’s website at www.angeloakcapital.com.
Additional Notices

Shares are not sponsored, endorsed, or promoted by the Exchange. The Exchange is not responsible for, nor has it participated in the determination of, the timing, prices, or quantities of Shares to be issued, nor in the determination or calculation of the equation by which Shares are redeemable. The Exchange has no obligation or liability to owners of Shares in connection with the administration, marketing, or trading of Shares.

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Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall the Exchange have any liability for any lost profits or indirect, punitive, special, or consequential damages even if notified of the possibility thereof.

The Adviser and the Fund make no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of Shares or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Fund particularly.

The Trust

The Fund is a series of the Angel Oak Funds Trust (the “Trust”). The Trust’s Declaration of Trust (the “Declaration of Trust”) provides for indemnification and reimbursement of expenses out of the Fund’s assets for any shareholder held personally liable for obligations of the Fund or the Trust. The Declaration of Trust provides that the Trust shall, upon request, assume the defense of any claim made against any shareholder for any act or obligation of the Fund or the Trust and satisfy any judgment thereon. All such rights are limited to the assets of the Fund. The Declaration of Trust further provides that the Trust may 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 to cover possible tort and other liabilities. However, the activities of the Trust as an investment company would not likely give rise to liabilities in excess of the Trust’s total assets. Thus, the risk of a shareholder incurring financial loss on account of shareholder liability is limited to circumstances in which both inadequate insurance exists and the Fund is unable to meet its obligations. The Declaration of Trust also provides that shareholders of the Trust may not bring derivative actions, unless certain conditions are met, including, among other conditions: (i) shareholders make a pre-suit written demand upon the Board to bring the action, (ii) shareholders owning shares representing at least a majority of the outstanding applicable shares join the derivative action (except with respect to claims arising under the federal securities laws), and (iii) the Board is given a 30-day period to consider and investigate the request. In addition, if the Board determines that such an action is not in the best interest of the Trust or of a particular Fund or class, as applicable, then (except with respect to claims arising under the federal securities laws) the complaining shareholders may not bring the derivative action. In the event that the Board determines that the action should be brought, such action shall be brought directly by the Trust and not as a derivative action.

The Declaration of Trust also provides that the Trust shall not in any way be limited by any present or future law or custom in regard to investment by fiduciaries. However, nothing in the Declaration of Trust that modifies or restricts the duties or liabilities of the Trust’s trustees shall apply to, or in any way limit, their duties, including the state law fiduciary duties of loyalty and care, or liabilities with respect to matters arising under the federal securities laws.

Financial Highlights

Financial information is not available because the Fund had not commenced operations prior to the date of this Prospectus.




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FOR MORE INFORMATION
You can find additional information about the Fund in the following documents:
Annual and Semi-Annual Reports and Form N-CSR: While this Prospectus describes the Fund's potential investments, the Annual and Semi-Annual Reports (when available), and Form N-CSR detail the Fund's actual investments as of their report dates. In the annual report, you will find a discussion by Fund management of recent market conditions, economic trends, and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance. In Form N-CSR, you will find the Fund's annual and semi-annual financial statements.
Statement of Additional Information (SAI): The SAI supplements the Prospectus and contains detailed information about the Fund and its investment restrictions, risks, policies, and operations, including the Fund's policies and procedures relating to the disclosure of portfolio holdings by the Fund's affiliates. A current SAI for the Fund is on file with SEC and is incorporated into this Prospectus by reference, which means it is considered part of this Prospectus.
How to Obtain Copies of Other Fund Documents
You can obtain free copies of the current SAI and the Fund's Annual and Semi-Annual Reports (when available) and request other information about the Fund or make shareholder inquiries, in any of the following ways:
You can get free copies of the current Annual and Semi-Annual Reports (when available), as well as the SAI, by contacting the Fund at (800) 617-0004 or obtain a copy online at www.angeloakcapital.com. You may also request other information about the Fund and make shareholder inquiries. The requested documents will be sent within three business days of receipt of the request.
You may also obtain reports and other information about the Fund on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.
Investment Company Act No. 811-22980


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




Statement of
Additional Information

[DATE]



FundTickerExchange
Whiplight ETF[ ][ ]


This Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”) provides additional information to the Prospectus dated [ ], as it may be supplemented from time to time, with respect to the Whiplight ETF (the “Fund”). This SAI is not a prospectus and should only be read in conjunction with the Prospectus. You may obtain the Prospectus without charge by calling [ ] or by visiting the Fund's website at [ ].

Investors in the Fund will be informed of the Fund's progress through periodic reports. Financial statements certified by an independent registered public accounting firm will be submitted to shareholders at least annually. Once available, copies of the Annual Report to Shareholders may be obtained upon request, without charge, by contacting the Fund at the telephone number listed above.



TABLE OF CONTENTS











The Trust

Angel Oak Funds Trust (the “Trust”) is a Delaware statutory trust organized on June 20, 2014 and registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) as an open-end management investment company. The Trust’s Declaration of Trust (the “Declaration of Trust”) permits the Trust’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest, without par value, which may be issued in any number of series. The Board may from time to time issue other series, the assets and liabilities of which will be separate and distinct from any other series. This SAI relates to the Whiplight ETF (the “Fund”), a series of the Trust.

The Fund is a non-diversified series of the Trust. Please see the Prospectus for a discussion of the principal investment policies and risks of investing in the Fund.

The Declaration of Trust provides for indemnification and reimbursement of expenses out of the Fund’s assets for any shareholder held personally liable for obligations of the Fund or the Trust. The Declaration of Trust also provides that the Trust shall, upon request, assume the defense of any claim made against any shareholder for any act or obligation of the Fund or the Trust and satisfy any judgment thereon. All such rights are limited to the assets of the applicable Fund(s). The Declaration of Trust further provides that the Trust may 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 to cover possible tort and other liabilities. However, the activities of the Trust as an investment company would not likely give rise to liabilities in excess of the Trust’s total assets. Thus, the risk of a shareholder incurring financial loss on account of shareholder liability is limited to circumstances in which both inadequate insurance exists and the Fund is unable to meet its obligations. In addition, the Declaration of Trust provides that shareholders of the Trust may not bring derivative actions, unless certain conditions are met, including, among other conditions, that shareholders make a pre-suit demand upon the Board to bring the action and that the Board is given a 30-day period to consider and investigate the request.

The Declaration of Trust also provides that the Trust shall not in any way be limited by any present or future law or custom in regard to investment by fiduciaries. However, nothing in the Declaration of Trust that modifies or restricts the duties or liabilities of the Trust’s trustees shall apply to, or in any way limit, their duties or liabilities with respect to matters arising under the federal securities laws.

The Fund’s Prospectus and this SAI are a part of the Trust’s Registration Statement filed with the SEC. Copies of the Trust’s complete Registration Statement may be obtained from the SEC upon payment of the prescribed fee or may be accessed free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Non-Diversification

The Fund is classified as a non-diversified investment company under the 1940 Act. A “non-diversified” classification means that the Fund is not limited by the 1940 Act with regard to the percentage of its total assets that may be invested in the securities of a single issuer. This means that the Fund may invest a greater portion of its total assets in the securities of a single issuer or a small number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund. This may have an adverse effect on the Fund’s performance or subject Shares to greater price volatility than more diversified investment companies. Moreover, in pursuing its objective, the Fund may hold the securities of a single issuer in an amount exceeding 10% of the value of the outstanding securities of the issuer, subject to restrictions imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).
Although the Fund is non-diversified for purposes of the 1940 Act, the Fund intends to maintain the required level of diversification and otherwise conduct its operations so as to qualify as a “regulated investment company” (“RIC”) for purposes of the Code. Compliance with the diversification requirements of the Code may limit the investment flexibility of the Fund and may make it less likely that the Fund will meet its investment objectives. To qualify as a RIC under the Code, the Fund must meet the Diversification Requirement described in the section titled “Federal Income Taxes” in this SAI.

Investment Policies and Risks

The Fund’s principal investment strategies and the risks associated with the same are described in the “Fund Summary” and “Additional Information About the Fund’s Objectives, Principal Investment Strategies, and Principal Investment Risks” sections of the Prospectus. The following discussion provides additional information about those principal investment strategies and related risks, as well as information about investment strategies (and related risks) that the Fund may utilize, even though they are not considered to be “principal” investment strategies. Accordingly, an investment strategy (and related risk) that is
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described below, but which is not described in the Prospectus with respect to the Fund, should not be considered to be a principal strategy (or related risk) applicable to the Fund.
Equity Securities.
Common and Preferred 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 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 the recovery of investment should a company be liquidated, although preferred stock is usually junior to the debt securities of the issuer. Preferred stock typically does not possess voting rights and its market value may change based on changes in interest rates.
A risk of investing in common and preferred 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. Historically, common stocks have provided greater long-term returns and have entailed greater short-term risks than preferred stocks, fixed-income and money market investments. The market value of all securities, including common and preferred stocks, is based upon the market’s perception of value and not necessarily the book value of an issuer or other objective measures of a company’s worth. If you invest in the Fund, you should be willing to accept the risks of the stock market and should consider an investment in the Fund only as a part of your overall investment portfolio.
Convertible Securities. The Fund may invest in convertible securities. Convertible securities are typically preferred stocks or bonds that are exchangeable for a specific number of another form of security (usually the issuer’s common stock) at a specified price or ratio. A convertible security generally entitles the holder to receive interest paid or accrued on bonds or the dividend paid on preferred stock until the convertible security matures or is redeemed, converted or exchanged. A corporation may issue a convertible security that is subject to redemption after a specified date, and usually under certain circumstances. A holder of a convertible security that is called for redemption would be required to tender it for redemption to the issuer, convert it to the underlying common stock or sell it to a third party. The convertible structure allows the holder of the convertible bond to participate in share price movements in the company’s common stock. The actual return on a convertible bond may exceed its stated yield if the company’s common stock appreciates in value and the option to convert to common stocks becomes more valuable.
Warrants and Rights. The Fund may invest in warrants and rights. Warrants and rights are types of securities that entitle the holder to purchase a proportionate amount of common stock at a specified price for a specific period of time. Rights allow a shareholder to buy more shares directly from the company, usually at a price somewhat lower than the current market price of the outstanding shares. Warrants are usually issued with bonds and preferred stock. Rights and warrants can trade on the market separately from the company’s stock. The prices of rights and warrants do not necessarily move parallel to the prices of the underlying common stock. Rights usually expire within a few weeks of issuance, while warrants may not expire for several years. If a right or warrant is not exercised within the specified time period, it will become worthless and a fund will lose the purchase price it paid for the right or warrant and the right to purchase the underlying security.
Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). The Fund may purchase shares issued as part of, or a short period after, a company’s initial public offering (IPOs), and may at times dispose of those shares shortly after their acquisition. The Fund’s purchase of shares issued in IPOs exposes it to the risks associated with companies that have little operating history as public companies, as well as to the risks inherent in those sectors of the market where these new issuers operate. The market for IPO issuers has been volatile, and share prices of newly-public companies have fluctuated significantly over short periods of time.
Depositary Receipts. The Fund may invest in sponsored and unsponsored American Depositary Receipts (“ADR”), European Depositary Receipts (“EDRs”), Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”), Holding Company Depositary Receipts (“HOLDRs”), New York Registered Shares (“NYRs”) or American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”). ADRs typically are issued by a U.S. bank or trust company, evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign company, and are designed for use in U.S. securities markets. EDRs are issued by European financial institutions and typically trade in Europe and GDRs are issued by European financial institutions and typically trade in both Europe and the United States. HOLDRs trade on the American Stock Exchange and are fixed baskets of U.S. or foreign stocks that give an investor an ownership interest in each of the underlying stocks. NYRs, also known as Guilder Shares since most of the issuing companies are Dutch, are dollar-denominated certificates issued by foreign companies specifically for the U.S. market. ADSs are shares issued under a deposit agreement that represents an underlying security in the issuer’s home country. (An ADS is the actual share trading, while an ADR represents a bundle of ADSs.) The Fund invest in depositary receipts to obtain exposure to foreign securities markets. For purposes of the Fund’s investment policies, the Fund’s investments in an ADR will be considered an investment in the underlying securities of the applicable foreign company.
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Unsponsored depositary receipts may be created without the participation of the foreign issuer. Holders of these receipts generally bear all the costs of the depositary receipt facility, whereas foreign issuers typically bear certain costs of a sponsored depositary receipt. The bank or trust company depositary of an unsponsored depositary receipt may be under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications received from the foreign issuer or to pass through voting rights. Accordingly, available information concerning the issuer may not be current and the prices of unsponsored depositary receipts may be more volatile than the prices of sponsored depositary receipts.

Foreign Securities. The Fund may invest directly in foreign securities. Investing in securities of foreign companies and countries involves certain considerations and risks that are not typically associated with investing in U.S. government securities and securities of domestic companies. There may be less publicly available information about a foreign issuer than a domestic one, and foreign companies are not generally subject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial standards and requirements comparable to those applicable to U.S. companies. There may also be less government supervision and regulation of foreign securities exchanges, brokers and listed companies than exists in the United States. Interest and dividends paid by foreign issuers as well as gains or proceeds realized from the sale or other disposition of foreign securities may be subject to withholding and other foreign taxes, which may decrease the net return on such investments as compared to dividends and interest paid to the Fund by domestic companies or the U.S. government. There may be the possibility of expropriations, seizure or nationalization of foreign deposits, the imposition of economic sanctions and other similar measures, confiscatory taxation, political, economic or social instability or diplomatic developments that could affect assets of the Fund held in foreign countries. The type and severity of sanctions and other similar measures, including counter sanctions and other retaliatory actions, that may be imposed could vary broadly in scope, and their impact is difficult to ascertain. These types of measures may include, but are not limited to, banning a sanctioned country or certain persons or entities associated with such country from global payment systems that facilitate cross-border payments, restricting the settlement of securities transactions by certain investors, and freezing the assets of particular countries, entities or persons. The imposition of sanctions and other similar measures could, among other things, result in a decline in the value and/or liquidity of securities issued by the sanctioned country or companies located in or economically tied to the sanctioned country, downgrades in the credit ratings of the sanctioned country's securities or those of companies located in or economically tied to the sanctioned country, currency devaluation or volatility, and increased market volatility and disruption in the sanctioned country and throughout the world. Sanctions and other similar measures could directly or indirectly limit or prevent the Fund from buying and selling securities (in the sanctioned country and other markets), significantly delay or prevent the settlement of securities transactions, and adversely impact the Fund's liquidity and performance. In addition, investing in foreign securities will generally result in higher commissions than investing in similar domestic securities.

Decreases in the value of currencies of the foreign countries in which the Fund will invest relative to the U.S. dollar will result in a corresponding decrease in the U.S. dollar value of the Fund’s assets denominated in those currencies (and possibly a corresponding increase in the amount of securities required to be liquidated to meet distribution requirements). Conversely, increases in the value of currencies of the foreign countries in which the Fund invest relative to the U.S. dollar will result in a corresponding increase in the U.S. dollar value of the Fund’s assets (and possibly a corresponding decrease in the amount of securities to be liquidated).

Investing in emerging markets can have more risk than investing in developed foreign markets. The risks of investing in these markets may be exacerbated relative to investments in foreign markets. Governments of developing and emerging market countries may be more unstable as compared to more developed countries. Developing and emerging market countries may have less developed securities markets or exchanges, and legal and accounting systems. It may be more difficult to sell securities at acceptable prices and security prices may be more volatile than in countries with more mature markets. Currency values may fluctuate more in developing or emerging markets. Developing or emerging market countries may be more likely to impose government restrictions, including confiscatory taxation, expropriation or nationalization of a company’s assets, and restrictions on foreign ownership of local companies. In addition, emerging markets may impose restrictions on the Fund’s ability to repatriate investment income or capital and thus, may adversely affect the operations of the Fund. Certain emerging markets may impose constraints on currency exchange and some currencies in emerging markets may have been devalued significantly against the U.S. Dollar. For these and other reasons, the prices of securities in emerging markets can fluctuate more significantly than the prices of securities of companies in developed countries. The less developed the country, the greater effect these risks may have on the Fund.

International trade tensions may arise from time to time which could result in trade tariffs, embargos or other restrictions or limitations on trade. The imposition of any actions on trade could trigger a significant reduction in international trade, an oversupply of certain manufactured goods, substantial price reductions of goods and possible failure of individual companies or industries which could have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Events such as these are difficult to predict and may or may not occur in the future.

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European Securities. European countries can be significantly affected by the actions of their own individual governments as well as the actions of other European institutions, such as the European Union (“EU”), the European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU”) and the European Central Bank. The EU is an intergovernmental and supranational union consisting of 27 member states. One of the key responsibilities of the EU is to create and administer a unified trade policy. The member states created the EMU that established different stages and commitments that member states need to follow to achieve greater economic policy coordination and monetary cooperation. Member states relinquish their monetary control to the European Central Bank and use a single unified currency, the euro.

Investments in Europe are also subject to currency risks. Further, because many countries are dependent on foreign exports, any fluctuations in the euro exchange rate could have a negative effect on an issuer’s profitability and performance.

The EU has been extending its influence to the east as it has accepted several new Eastern European countries as members. Some of the new members remain burdened by the inherited inefficiencies of centrally planned economies. Additionally, these countries are dependent on Western Europe for trade and credit. Russia has attempted, and may attempt in the future, to assert its influence in Eastern Europe through economic or military measures. In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, which amplified existing geopolitical tensions. The current and future status of the EU continues to be the subject of political and regulatory controversy, with widely differing views both within and between member countries.

The European financial markets have experienced uncertainty over the past few years, largely because of concerns about rising government debt levels and increased budget deficits. Political and regulatory responses to address structural and policy issues have created even greater instability throughout the region. The high levels of public debt increases the likelihood that certain European issuers will either default or restructure their debt obligations, which would have a negative effect on asset values. The use of austerity measures in countries such as Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Ireland during times in which the Eurozone has high levels of unemployment has limited economic growth. European countries can be adversely affected by the tight fiscal and monetary controls that the EMU requires its members to comply with.

The United Kingdom (“UK”) officially withdrew from the EU on January 31, 2020. Though the ramifications of Brexit will not be fully known for some time, the uncertainty surrounding the UK's economy, and its legal, political, and economic relationship with the remaining member states of the EU, may cause considerable disruption in securities markets, including decreased liquidity and increased volatility, as well as currency fluctuations in the British pound's exchange rate against the U.S. dollar.

Market Disruptions Risk. The Fund is subject to investment and operational risks associated with financial, economic and other global market developments and disruptions, including those arising from, but not limited to, war; terrorism; market manipulation; government interventions, defaults and shutdowns; political changes or diplomatic developments; embargoes, tariffs, sanctions and other trade barriers; public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious diseases, pandemics and epidemics); and natural/environmental disasters. Any of these events could negatively impact the securities markets and cause the Fund to lose value. These events can also impair the technology and other operational systems upon which the Fund’s service providers, including Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (“Angel Oak” or the “Adviser”) as the Fund’s investment adviser, and IFC Whiplight, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”) as the Fund’s sub-adviser, rely, and could otherwise disrupt the Fund’s service providers’ ability to fulfill their obligations to the Fund.

Beginning in 2020, the global spread of an infectious respiratory illness caused by a novel strain of coronavirus (known as COVID-19) caused volatility, severe market dislocations and liquidity constraints in many markets. The transmission of COVID-19 and efforts to contain its spread resulted in travel restrictions and disruptions, closed international borders, enhanced health screenings at ports of entry and elsewhere, disruption of and delays in healthcare service preparation and delivery, quarantines, event and service cancellations or interruptions, disruptions to business operations (including staff reductions), supply chains and consumer activity, as well as general concern and uncertainty that negatively affected the economic environment. The long-term impact of COVID-19, and other infectious illness outbreaks, epidemics or pandemics that may arise in the future, could adversely affect the economies of many nations or the entire global economy, the financial performance of individual issuers, borrowers and sectors and the health of the markets generally in potentially significant and unforeseen ways.

In addition, U.S. and global markets recently have experienced increased volatility, including as a result of the recent failures of certain U.S. and non-U.S. banks, which could be harmful to the Fund and issuers in which it invests. For example, if a bank in which the Fund or an issuer has an account fails, any cash or other assets in bank accounts may be temporarily inaccessible or permanently lost by the Fund or issuer. If a bank that provides a subscription line credit facility, asset-based facility, other credit facility and/or other services to an issuer fails, the issuer could be unable to draw funds under its credit facilities or obtain replacement credit facilities or other services from other lending institutions with similar terms. Even if banks used by issuers in which the Fund invests remain solvent, continued volatility in the banking sector could cause or intensify an economic
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recession, increase the costs of banking services or result in the issuers being unable to obtain or refinance indebtedness at all or on as favorable terms as could otherwise have been obtained. Conditions in the banking sector are evolving, and the scope of any potential impacts to the Fund and issuers, both from market conditions and also potential legislative or regulatory responses, are uncertain.

The foregoing could lead to a significant economic downturn or recession, increased market volatility, a greater number of market closures, higher default rates and adverse effects on the values and liquidity of securities or other assets. Such impacts, which may vary across asset classes, may adversely affect the performance of the Fund. In certain cases, an exchange or market may close or issue trading halts on specific securities or even the entire market, which may result in the Fund being, among other things, unable to buy or sell certain securities or financial instruments or to accurately price their investments.

To satisfy any shareholder redemption requests during periods of extreme volatility, it is more likely the Fund may be required to dispose of portfolio investments at unfavorable prices compared to their intrinsic value.

Fixed Income Securities. The Fund may invest in fixed income securities. Even though interest-bearing securities are investments that promise a stable stream of income, the prices of such securities are affected by changes in interest rates. In general, fixed income security prices rise when interest rates fall and fall when interest rates rise. Securities with shorter maturities, while offering lower yields, generally provide greater price stability than longer term securities and are less affected by changes in interest rates. The values of fixed income securities also may be affected by changes in the credit rating or financial condition of the issuing entities. Once the rating of a portfolio security has been changed, the Fund will consider all circumstances deemed relevant in determining whether to continue to hold the security. A fund with a negative average portfolio duration may increase in value when interest rates rise, and generally incurs a loss when interest rates decline. If an issuer calls or redeems an instrument held by the Fund during a time of declining interest rates, the Fund might need to reinvest the proceeds in an investment offering a lower yield, and therefore may not benefit from any increase in value as a result of declining interest rates. A fund with a negative average portfolio duration may decline in value as interest rates decrease.

Fixed income investments bear certain risks, including credit risk, or the ability of an issuer to pay interest and principal as they become due. Generally, higher yielding bonds are subject to more credit risk than lower yielding bonds. Interest rate risk refers to the fluctuations in value of fixed income securities resulting from the inverse relationship between the market value of outstanding fixed income securities and changes in interest rates. An increase in interest rates will generally reduce the market value of fixed income investments and a decline in interest rates will tend to increase their value.

Call risk is the risk that an issuer will pay principal on an obligation earlier than scheduled or expected, which would accelerate cash flows from, and shorten the average life of, the security. Bonds are typically called when interest rates have declined. In the event of a bond being called, the Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities to the detriment of the Fund.

Extension risk is the risk that an issuer may pay principal on an obligation slower than expected, having the effect of extending the average life and duration of the obligation. This typically happens when interest rates have increased.

A number of factors, including changes in a central bank’s monetary policies or general improvements in the economy, may cause interest rates to rise. Fixed income securities with longer durations are more sensitive to interest rate changes than securities with shorter durations, making them more volatile. This means their prices are more likely to experience a considerable reduction in response to a rise in interest rates.

U.S. Government Obligations. U.S. government securities include direct obligations issued by the United States Treasury, such as U.S. Treasury bills (maturities of one year or less), U.S. Treasury notes (maturities of one to ten years) and U.S. Treasury bonds (generally maturities of greater than ten years). They also include U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities that issue or guarantee securities, such as the Federal Home Loan Banks, Federal National Mortgage Association and the Student Loan Marketing Association. Except for U.S. Treasury securities, obligations of U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities may or may not be supported by the full faith and credit of the United States. Some, such as those of the Federal Home Loan Banks, are backed by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury, others by discretionary authority of the U.S. government to purchase the agencies’ obligations, while still others, such as the Student Loan Marketing Association, are supported only by the credit of the instrumentality. In the case of securities not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, the investor must look principally to the agency issuing or guaranteeing the obligation for ultimate repayment and may not be able to assess a claim against the United States itself in the event the agency or instrumentality does not meet its commitment.

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The total public debt of the United States as a percentage of gross domestic product has grown rapidly since the beginning of the 2008–2009 financial downturn. Although high debt levels do not necessarily indicate or cause economic problems, they may create certain systemic risks if sound debt management practices are not implemented. A high national debt can raise concerns that the U.S. government will not be able to make principal or interest payments when they are due. This increase has also necessitated the need for the U.S. Congress to negotiate adjustments to the statutory debt limit to increase the cap on the amount the U.S. government is permitted to borrow to meet its existing obligations and finance current budget deficits. In August 2011, S&P lowered its long term sovereign credit rating of the U.S. government. In explaining the downgrade at that time, S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) cited, among other reasons, controversy over raising the statutory debt limit and growth in public spending. More recently, in August 2023 and again in May 2025, the long term sovereign credit rating of the U.S. government was downgraded by Fitch and Moody's, respectively, due to a combination of expected fiscal deterioration, a high and growing government debt burden, rising interest costs, and an erosion of governance relative to peers. Further downgrades in the future could increase volatility in domestic and foreign financial markets, result in higher interest rates, lower prices of U.S. Treasury securities and increase the costs of different kinds of debt. Any controversy or ongoing uncertainty regarding the statutory debt limit negotiations may impact the U.S. long term sovereign credit rating and may cause market uncertainty. As a result, market prices and yields of securities supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government may be adversely affected.

Investment Company Securities. The Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, closed-end funds and open-end (mutual) funds (also called “underlying funds”). The Fund may invest in inverse ETFs, including leveraged ETFs. Inverse ETFs seek to provide investment results that match a certain percentage of the inverse of the results of a specific index on a daily or monthly basis.

To the extent such underlying funds are index-based, these underlying funds will generally attempt to replicate the performance of a particular index. An underlying fund may not always hold all of the same securities as the index it attempts to track. An underlying fund may use statistical sampling techniques to attempt to replicate the returns of an index. Statistical sampling techniques attempt to match the investment characteristics of the index and the fund by taking into account such factors as capitalization, industry exposures, dividend yield, price/earnings (“P/E”) ratio, price/book (“P/B”) ratio, and earnings growth. An underlying fund may not track the index perfectly because differences between the index and the fund’s portfolio can cause differences in performance. In addition, expenses and transaction costs, the size and frequency of cash flow into and out of the fund, and differences between how and when the fund and the index are valued can cause differences in performance.

When the Fund invests in underlying funds it will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any fees and expenses payable directly by the underlying fund. In connection with its investments in other investment companies, the Fund will incur higher expenses, many of which may be duplicative. Furthermore, because the Fund invests in shares of ETFs and underlying funds their performances are directly related to the ability of the ETFs and underlying funds to meet their respective investment objectives, as well as the allocation of the Fund’s assets among the ETFs and underlying funds by the Adviser and Sub-Adviser. Accordingly, the Fund’s investment performance will be influenced by the investment strategies of and risks associated with the ETFs and underlying funds in direct proportion to the amount of assets the Fund allocates to the ETFs and underlying funds utilizing such strategies.

Investments in ETFs involve certain inherent risks generally associated with investments in a broadly-based portfolio of stocks, including risks that: (1) the general level of stock prices may decline, thereby adversely affecting the value of each unit of the ETF or other instrument; (2) an ETF, to the extent such ETF is index-based, may not fully replicate the performance of its benchmark index because of the temporary unavailability of certain index securities in the secondary market or discrepancies between the ETF and the index with respect to the weightings of securities or number of stocks held; (3) an ETF may also be adversely affected by the performance of the specific index, market sector or group of industries on which it is based; and (4) an ETF, to the extent such ETF is index-based, may not track an index as well as a traditional index mutual fund because ETFs are valued by the market and, therefore, there may be a difference between the market value and the ETF’s net asset value (“NAV”). Additionally, investments in fixed income ETFs involve certain inherent risks generally associated with investments in fixed income securities, including the risk of fluctuation in market value based on interest rates rising or declining and risks of a decrease in liquidity, such that no assurances can be made that an active trading market for underlying ETFs will be maintained.

There is also a risk that the underlying funds or ETFs may terminate due to extraordinary events. For example, any of the service providers to the underlying fund or ETF, such as the trustee or sponsor, may close or otherwise fail to perform their obligations to the underlying fund or ETF, and the underlying fund or ETF may not be able to find a substitute service provider. Also, the underlying fund or ETF may be dependent upon licenses to use the various indices as a basis for determining their compositions and/or otherwise to use certain trade names. If these licenses are terminated, the respective underlying fund or ETF may also terminate. In addition, an underlying fund or ETF may terminate if its net assets fall below a certain amount. Although the Fund believes that in the event of the termination of an underlying fund or ETF, the applicable Fund will be able to invest instead in
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shares of an alternate underlying fund or ETF tracking the same market index or another index covering the same general market, there can be no assurance that shares of an alternate underlying fund or ETF would be available for investment at that time.

Inverse and leveraged ETFs are subject to additional risks not generally associated with traditional ETFs. To the extent that the Fund invests in inverse ETFs, the value of the Fund’s investments will decrease when the index underlying the ETF’s benchmark rises, a result that is the opposite from traditional equity or bond funds. The NAV and market price of leveraged or inverse ETFs are usually more volatile than the value of the tracked index or of other ETFs that do not use leverage. This is because inverse and leveraged ETFs use investment techniques and financial instruments that may be considered aggressive, including the use of derivative transactions and short selling techniques. The use of these techniques may cause the inverse or leveraged ETFs to lose more money in market environments that are adverse to their investment strategies than other funds that do not use such techniques.

Generally, under the 1940 Act, the Fund may not acquire shares of another investment company (including ETFs) if, immediately after such acquisition, (i) such fund would hold more than 3% of the other investment company’s total outstanding shares, (ii) if such fund’s investment in securities of the other investment company would be more than 5% of the value of the total assets of the fund, or (iii) if more than 10% of such fund’s total assets would be invested in investment companies. In accordance with Section 12(d)(1)(F) of the 1940 Act, the Fund may invest in underlying funds in excess of the 5% and 10% limits described above as long as the Fund (and all of their affiliated persons, including the Adviser and Sub-Adviser) does not acquire more than 3% of the total outstanding stock of such underlying fund. If the Fund seeks to redeem shares of an underlying fund purchased in reliance on Section 12(d)(1)(F), the underlying fund is not obligated to redeem an amount exceeding 1% of the underlying fund’s outstanding shares during a period of less than 30 days.

In addition, Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act allows a fund to acquire shares of an underlying fund in excess of the limits described above. Fund of funds arrangements relying on Rule 12d1-4 are subject to several conditions, certain of which are specific to a fund’s position in the arrangement (i.e., as an acquiring or acquired fund). Notable conditions include those relating to: (i) control and voting that prohibit an acquiring fund, its investment adviser (or a sub-adviser) and their respective affiliates from beneficially owning more than 25% of the outstanding voting securities of an unaffiliated acquired fund; (ii) certain required findings relating to complexity, fees and undue influence (among other things); (iii) fund of funds investment agreements; and (iv) general limitations on an acquired fund’s investments in other investment companies and private funds to no more than 10% of the acquired fund’s assets, except in certain circumstances. To the extent the Fund is an acquired fund in reliance on Rule 12d1-4, the limitations placed on acquired funds under Rule 12d1-4 may limit or restrict the Fund’s ability to acquire certain investments.

Money Market Funds. The Fund may invest in underlying money market funds that either seek to maintain a stable $1 NAV (“stable NAV money market funds”) or that have a share price that fluctuates (“variable NAV money market funds”). Although an underlying stable NAV money market fund seeks to maintain a stable $1 NAV, it is possible for the Fund to lose money by investing in such a money market fund. Because the share price of an underlying variable NAV money market fund will fluctuate, when the Fund sells the shares it owns they may be worth more or less than what the Fund originally paid for them. In addition, neither type of money market fund is designed to offer capital appreciation. Certain underlying money market funds may impose a fee upon the sale of shares.

Illiquid Investments. The Fund may invest in illiquid investments (i.e., investments that are not readily marketable). Illiquid investments may include, but are not limited to, certain restricted investments (investments the disposition of which is restricted under the federal securities laws), investments that may only be resold pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”); and repurchase agreements with maturities in excess of seven days. However, the Fund will not acquire illiquid investments if, as a result, such investments would comprise more than 15% of the value of the Fund’s net assets. The Fund has implemented a written liquidity risk management program and related procedures in accordance with SEC requirements (the “Liquidity Program”) that is reasonably designed to assess and manage the Fund’s “liquidity risk” (defined by the SEC as the risk that the Fund could not meet requests to redeem shares issued by the Fund without significant dilution of remaining investors’ interest in the Fund). Liquidity classifications will be made after reasonable inquiry and taking into account, among other things, market, trading and investment-specific considerations deemed to be relevant to the liquidity classification of the Fund’s investments in accordance with the Liquidity Program.

An institutional market has developed for certain restricted investments. Accordingly, contractual or legal restrictions on the resale of a security may not be indicative of the liquidity classification of the security.

Restricted investments may be sold only in privately negotiated transactions or in a public offering with respect to which a registration statement is in effect under the Securities Act. Where registration is required, the applicable Fund may be obligated
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to pay all or part of the registration expenses and a considerable period may elapse between the time of the decision to sell and the time the Fund may be permitted to sell a security under an effective registration statement. If, during such a period, adverse market conditions were to develop, the Fund might obtain a less favorable price than that which prevailed when it decided to sell.

Illiquid investments will be priced at fair value as determined in good faith under procedures approved by the Board of Trustees. If, through the appreciation of illiquid investments or the depreciation of liquid investments, the Fund should be in a position where more than 15% of the value of its net assets are invested in illiquid investments, the Fund will take appropriate steps to bring its illiquid investments to or below 15% of its net assets within a reasonable period of time.

Borrowing. The Fund may borrow for investment purposes and for other purposes permitted by the 1940 Act. Under current law as interpreted by the SEC and its staff, the Fund may borrow money in the amount of up to one-third of the Fund’s total assets for any purpose and up to 5% of the Fund’s total assets from banks or other lenders for temporary purposes. The Fund’s total assets include the amounts being borrowed. Under the 1940 Act, the Fund is required to maintain continuous asset coverage of 300% with respect to permitted borrowings. Borrowing subjects the Fund to costs in the form of interest, which the Fund may not recover through investment earnings. The Fund may also be required to maintain minimum average balances in connection with a borrowing or to pay a commitment or other fee to maintain a line of credit. These types of requirements would increase the cost of borrowing to the Fund over the stated interest rate.

Pursuant to an exemptive order issued by the SEC on April 25, 2017, the Fund may engage in interfund lending transactions, to the extent such participation is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and investment policies. As part of the interfund lending program, the Fund will have the ability to lend to each other, as detailed in the exemptive relief (the “InterFund Lending Program”). Any loan made through the InterFund Lending Program always would be more beneficial to a borrowing Fund (i.e., at a lower interest rate) than borrowing from a bank and more beneficial to a lending Fund (i.e., at a higher rate of return) than an alternative short-term investment. The term of an interfund loan is limited to the time required to receive payment for securities sold, but in no event more than seven days. In addition, an interfund loan is callable with one business day’s notice. All loans are for temporary cash management purposes and the interest rates to be charged will be the average of the overnight repurchase agreement rate and the bank loan rate.

The limitations detailed above and the other conditions of the SEC exemptive order permitting interfund lending are designed to minimize the risks associated with interfund lending for both the lending Fund and the borrowing Fund. No Fund may borrow more than the amount permitted by its investment limitations and all loans are subject to numerous conditions designed to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all participating funds. The interfund lending facility is subject to the oversight and periodic review of the Board.

No borrowing or lending activity is without risk. When the Fund borrows money from another Fund, there is a risk that the interfund loan could be called on one business day’s notice or not renewed, in which case the Fund may have to borrow from a bank at higher rates if an interfund loan is not available. If a borrowing Fund is unable to repay the loan when due, a delay in repayment to the lending Fund could result in a lost investment opportunity for the lending Fund.

Repurchase Agreements. The Fund may engage in repurchase agreement transactions involving the type of securities in which it is permitted to invest. Repurchase agreements are transactions by which the Fund purchases a security and simultaneously commits to resell that security to the seller (a bank or securities dealer) at an agreed upon price on an agreed upon date (usually within seven days of purchase). The resale price reflects the purchase price plus an agreed upon market rate of interest which is unrelated to the coupon rate or date of maturity of the purchased security. Repurchase agreements involve certain risks not associated with direct investments in the underlying securities. In the event of a default or bankruptcy by the seller, the applicable Fund will seek to liquidate such collateral. The exercise of the Fund’s right to liquidate such collateral could involve certain costs or delays and, to the extent that proceeds from any sale upon a default of the obligation to repurchase were less than the repurchase price, the Fund could suffer a loss. Repurchase agreements are considered to be loans by an investment company under the 1940 Act. The Fund will not invest more than 33 1/3% of its net assets in repurchase agreements.

The use of repurchase agreements involves certain risks. For example, if the seller of the agreements defaults on its obligation to repurchase the underlying securities at a time when the value of these securities has declined, the applicable Fund may incur a loss upon disposition of them. If the seller of the agreement becomes insolvent and subject to liquidation or reorganization under the Bankruptcy Code or other laws, a bankruptcy court may determine that the underlying securities are collateral not within the control of the Fund and therefore subject to sale by the trustee in bankruptcy. Finally, it is possible that the Fund may not be able to substantiate their interest in the underlying securities. While the management of the Trust acknowledges these risks, it is expected that they can be controlled through stringent security selection criteria and careful monitoring procedures.

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Reverse Repurchase Agreements. The Fund may engage in reverse repurchase agreements. Reverse repurchase agreements are agreements that involve the sale of securities held by the Fund to financial institutions such as banks and broker-dealers, with an agreement that the Fund will repurchase the securities at an agreed upon price and date. During the reverse repurchase agreement period, the applicable Fund continues to receive interest and principal payments on the securities sold. The Fund may employ reverse repurchase agreements (i) for temporary emergency purposes or to meet repurchase requests so as to avoid liquidating other portfolio securities during unfavorable market conditions; (ii) to cover short-term cash requirements resulting from the timing of trade settlements; or (iii) to take advantage of market situations where the interest income to be earned from the investment of the proceeds of the transaction is greater than the interest expense of the transaction.

Reverse repurchase agreements involve the risk that the market value of securities to be purchased by the Fund may decline below the price at which the Fund is obligated to repurchase the securities, or that the other party may default on its obligation, so that the Fund is delayed or prevented from completing the transaction. In the event the buyer of securities under a reverse repurchase agreement files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, the Fund’s use of the proceeds from the sale of the securities may be restricted pending a determination by the other party, or its trustee or receiver, whether to enforce the Fund’s obligations to repurchase the securities.

Derivative Instruments. The Fund’s derivatives and other similar instruments (collectively referred to in this section as “derivatives” or “derivative investments”) have risks, including the leverage, market, counterparty, liquidity, operational, and legal risks. They also involve the risk of imperfect correlation between the value of such instruments and the underlying assets of the applicable Fund, which creates the possibility that the loss on such instruments may be greater than the gain in the value of the underlying assets in the Fund’s portfolio; the loss of principal; the possible default of the other party to the transaction; and illiquidity of the derivative investments. If a counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations under a derivative contract due to financial difficulties, the applicable Fund may experience significant delays in obtaining any recovery under the derivative contract in a bankruptcy or other reorganization proceeding. Counterparty risk also includes the risks of having concentrated exposure to a counterparty. In addition, in the event of the insolvency of a counterparty to a derivative transaction, the derivative contract would typically be terminated at its fair market value. If the Fund is owed this fair market value in the termination of the derivative contract and its claim is unsecured, the Fund will be treated as a general creditor of such counterparty, and will not have any claim with respect to the underlying security. Using derivatives is also subject to operational and legal risks. Operational risk generally refers to risk related to potential operational issues, including documentation issues, settlement issues, systems failures, inadequate controls, and human error. Legal risk generally refers to insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of counterparty, or legality or enforceability of a contract.

The counterparty risk for cleared derivative transactions is generally lower than for uncleared over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives because generally a clearing organization becomes substituted for each counterparty to a cleared derivative contract and, in effect, guarantees the parties’ performance under the contract as each party to a trade looks only to the clearing house for performance of financial obligations. However, there can be no assurance that the clearing house, or its members, will satisfy its obligations to the Fund.

Certain of the derivative investments in which the Fund may invest may, in certain circumstances, give rise to a form of financial leverage, which may magnify the Fund’s gains or losses and the risk of owning such instruments. Like most other investments, derivatives are subject to the risk that the market value of the instrument will change in a way detrimental to the Fund’s interest. The ability to successfully use derivative investments depends on the ability of the Sub-Adviser to predict pertinent market movements, which cannot be assured. In addition, amounts paid by the Fund as premiums and cash or other assets held in margin accounts with respect to the Fund’s derivative investments would not be available to the Fund for other investment purposes, which may result in lost opportunities for gain.

The use of derivatives may also subject the Fund to liquidity risk which generally refers to risk involving the liquidity demands that derivatives can create to make payments of margin, collateral, or settlement payments to counterparties. Liquidity risk also refers to the risk that the Fund may be required to hold additional cash or sell other investments in order to obtain cash to close out derivatives or meet the liquidity demands noted above. The Fund may have to sell a security at a disadvantageous time or price to meet such obligations. OTC derivatives may be more difficult to purchase, sell or value than other investments. Although both OTC and exchange-traded derivatives markets may experience a lack of liquidity, OTC non-standardized derivative transactions are generally less liquid than exchange-traded instruments. The illiquidity of the derivatives markets may be due to various factors, including congestion, disorderly markets, limitations on deliverable supplies, the participation of speculators, government regulation and intervention, and technical and operational or system failures. In addition, the liquidity of a secondary market in an exchange-traded derivative contract may be adversely affected by “daily price fluctuation limits” established by the exchanges which limit the amount of fluctuation in an exchange-traded contract price during a single trading day. Once the daily limit has been reached in the contract, no trades may be entered into at a price beyond the limit, thus preventing the liquidation of open positions. Prices have in the past moved beyond the daily limit on a number of consecutive
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trading days. If it is not possible to close an open derivative position entered into by the Fund, the Fund would continue to be required to make cash payments of variation (or mark-to-market) margin in the event of adverse price movements. In such a situation, if the Fund has insufficient cash, it may have to sell portfolio securities to meet variation margin requirements at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. The absence of liquidity may also make it more difficult for the Fund to ascertain a market value for such instruments. The inability to close derivatives transactions positions also could have an adverse impact on the Fund’s ability to effectively hedge its portfolio. OTC derivatives that are not cleared are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the other party to the contract will not fulfill its contractual obligation to complete the transaction with the Fund. If a counterparty were to default on its obligations, the Fund’s contractual remedies against such counterparty may be subject to bankruptcy and insolvency laws, which could affect the Fund’s rights as a creditor (e.g., the Fund may not receive the net amount of payments that it is contractually entitled to receive). In addition, the use of certain derivatives may cause the Fund to realize higher amounts of income or short-term capital gains (generally taxed at ordinary income tax rates).

The Adviser, with respect to the Fund, has filed a notice of eligibility with the National Futures Association (“NFA”) claiming an exclusion from the definition of the term Commodity Pool Operator (“CPO”) pursuant to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Regulation 4.5, as promulgated under the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended (“CEA”), with respect to the Fund’s operations. Therefore, neither the Fund nor the Adviser or Sub-Adviser (with respect to the Fund) is subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool or CPO under the CEA. If the Adviser, Sub-Adviser or the Fund becomes subject to these requirements, as well as related NFA rules, the Fund may incur additional compliance and other expenses.

The derivatives markets have become subject to comprehensive statutes, regulations and margin requirements. In particular, in the United States the Dodd-Frank Act regulates the OTC derivatives market by, among other things, requiring many derivative transactions to be cleared and traded on an exchange, expanding entity registration requirements, imposing business conduct requirements on dealers and requiring banks to move some derivatives trading units to a non-guaranteed affiliate separate from the deposit-taking bank or divest them altogether. Rulemaking proposed or implemented under the Dodd-Frank Act could potentially limit or completely restrict the ability of the Fund to use these instruments as a part of their investment strategies, increase the costs of using these instruments or make them less effective. Limits or restrictions applicable to the counterparties with which the Fund engages in derivative transactions could also prevent the Fund from using these instruments or affect the pricing or other factors relating to these instruments, or may change availability of certain investments.

Regulation of the derivatives market presents additional risks to the Fund and may limit the ability of the Fund to use, and the availability or performance of such instruments. Pursuant to Rule 18f-4 under the 1940 Act, a fund’s derivatives exposure is limited through a value-at-risk (“VaR”) test and requires the adoption and implementation of a derivatives risk management program for certain derivatives users. However, subject to certain conditions, funds that do not invest heavily in derivatives may be deemed limited derivatives users (as defined in Rule 18f-4) and would not be subject to the full requirements of Rule 18f-4. When the Fund trades reverse repurchase agreements or similar financing transactions, including certain tender option bonds, it needs to aggregate the amount of indebtedness associated with the reverse repurchase agreements or similar financing transactions with the aggregate amount of any other senior securities representing indebtedness (e.g., bank borrowings, if applicable) when calculating the Fund’s asset coverage ratio or treat all such transactions as derivatives transactions. Reverse repurchase agreements or similar financing transactions aggregated with other indebtedness do not need to be included in the calculation of whether a fund satisfies the limited derivatives users exception, but for funds subject to the VaR testing requirement, reverse repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions must be included for purposes of such testing whether treated as derivatives transactions or not. In addition, Rule 18f-4 could limit the Fund’s ability to engage in certain derivatives and other transactions.

The Fund’s investments in regulated derivatives instruments, such as swaps, futures and options, will be subject to maximum position limits established by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) and U.S. and foreign futures exchanges. Under the exchange rules all accounts owned or managed by advisers, such as Angel Oak, their principals and affiliates would be combined for position limit purposes. To comply with the position limits established by the CFTC and the relevant exchanges, the Adviser or Sub-Adviser may in the future reduce the size of positions that would otherwise be taken for the Fund or not trade in certain markets on behalf of the Fund to avoid exceeding such limits. A violation of position limits by the Adviser or Sub-Adviser could lead to regulatory action resulting in mandatory liquidation of certain positions held by the Sub-Adviser on behalf of the Fund. There can be no assurance that the Adviser or Sub-Adviser will liquidate positions held on behalf of all the Adviser’s or Sub-Adviser’s accounts in a proportionate manner or at favorable prices, which may result in substantial losses to the Fund. Such policies could affect the nature and extent of derivatives use by the Fund.
Swaps. The Fund may invest in credit default swaps, total return swaps, interest rate swaps, equity swaps, currency swaps and other types of swaps. Such transactions are subject to market risk, liquidity risk, risk of default by the other party to the transaction, known as “counterparty risk,” regulatory risk and risk of imperfect correlation between the value of such instruments and the underlying assets and may involve commissions or other costs.
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A credit default swap agreement may reference one or more debt securities or obligations that are not currently held by the Fund. The Fund is permitted to enter into a credit default swap as either the protection buyer or seller in the discretion of the Sub-Adviser. When buying protection under a credit default swap, the Fund is generally obligated to pay the protection seller an upfront or periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract until a credit event occurs, such as a default of the reference obligation. If no credit event occurs, the Fund may recover nothing if the swap is held through the termination date. However, if a credit event does occur, the Fund may receive the full notional value of the swap in exchange for the face amount of the obligations underlying the swap, the value of which may have significantly decreased. When selling protection under a credit default swap, the Fund receives an upfront or periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract provided that a credit event does not occur. However, as the seller of protection, the Fund effectively adds leverage to its portfolio because it gains exposure to the notional amount of the swap. Entering into a credit default swap may subject the Fund to greater risk than if the Fund had invested in the reference obligation directly. In addition to general market risks, credit default swaps also involve illiquidity risk, counter-party risk (for OTC swaps) and credit risk.

Swap agreements are primarily entered into by institutional investors and the value of such agreements may be extremely volatile. Certain swap agreements are traded OTC between two parties, while other more standardized swaps must be transacted through a Futures Commission Merchant and centrally cleared and exchange-traded. While central clearing and exchange-trading are intended to reduce counterparty credit and liquidity risk, they do not make a swap transaction risk-free. The current regulatory environment regarding swap agreements is subject to change. The Sub-Adviser will continue to monitor these developments, particularly to the extent regulatory changes affect the Fund’s ability to enter into swap agreements.

The swap market has matured in recent years with a large number of banks and investment banking firms acting both as principals and as agents utilizing standardized swap documentation. As a result, the swap market has become relatively liquid; however there is no guarantee that the swap market will continue to provide liquidity and may be subject to liquidity risk, which exists when a particular swap is difficult to purchase or sell. The absence of liquidity may also make it more difficult for the Fund to ascertain a market value for such instruments. The inability to close derivative positions also could have an adverse impact on the Fund’s ability to effectively hedge its portfolio. If the Sub-Adviser is incorrect in its forecasts of market values, interest rates or currency exchange rates, the investment performance of the applicable Fund would be less favorable than it would have been if these investment techniques were not used. In a total return swap, the Fund pays the counterparty a floating short-term interest rate and receive in exchange the total return of underlying loans or debt securities. The Fund bears the risk of default on the underlying loans or debt securities, based on the notional amount of the swap and, therefore, incurs a form of leverage. The Fund would typically have to post collateral to cover this potential obligation.

Options and Futures Risk. The Fund may utilize options and futures contracts and so-called “synthetic” options or other derivatives written by broker-dealers or other permissible financial intermediaries. Options transactions may be effected on securities exchanges or in the OTC market. When options are purchased OTC, the applicable Fund’s portfolio bears the risk that the counterparty that wrote the option will be unable or unwilling to perform its obligations under the option contract. Options may also be illiquid and, in such cases, the Fund may have difficulty closing out its position. OTC options also may include options on baskets of specific securities.

The Fund may purchase call and put options on specific securities in pursuing its investment objectives. A put option gives the purchaser of the option the right to sell, and obligates the writer to buy, the underlying security at a stated exercise price, typically at any time prior to the expiration of the option for American options or only at expiration for European options. A call option gives the purchaser of the option the right to buy, and obligates the writer to sell, the underlying security at a stated exercise price, typically at any time prior to the expiration of the option.

The Fund may close out a position when writing options by purchasing an option on the same underlying security with the same exercise price and expiration date as the option that it has previously written on the security. In such a case, the applicable Fund will realize a profit or loss if the amount paid to purchase an option is less or more than the amount received from the sale of the option.

Engaging in transactions in futures contracts and options involves risk of loss to the Fund. No assurance can be given that a liquid market will exist for any particular futures contract or option at any particular time. Many futures exchanges and boards of trade limit the amount of fluctuation permitted in futures contract prices during a single trading day. Once the daily limit has been reached in a particular contract, no trades may be made that day at a price beyond that limit or trading may be suspended for specified periods during the trading day. Futures contract prices
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could move to the limit for several consecutive trading days with little or no trading, preventing prompt liquidation of futures positions and potentially subjecting the applicable Fund to substantial losses.

A market could become unavailable if one or more exchanges were to stop trading options or it could become unavailable with respect to options on a particular underlying security if the exchanges stopped trading options on that security. In addition, a market could become temporarily unavailable if unusual events (e.g., volume exceeds clearing capability) were to interrupt normal exchange operations. If an options market were to become illiquid or otherwise unavailable, an option holder would be able to realize profits or limit losses only by exercising and an options seller or writer would remain obligated until it is assigned an exercise or until the option expires.

If trading is interrupted in an underlying security, the trading of options on that security is usually halted as well. Holders and writers of options will then be unable to close out their positions until options trading resumes, and they may be faced with considerable losses if the security reopens at a substantially different price. Even if options trading is halted, holders of options will generally be able to exercise them. However, if trading has also been halted in the underlying security, option holders face the risk of exercising options without knowing the security’s current market value. If exercises do occur when trading of the underlying security is halted, the party required to deliver the underlying security may be unable to obtain it, which may necessitate a postponed settlement and/or the fixing of cash settlement prices.

Structured Notes. Structured notes are derivative debt securities, the interest rate and/or principal of which is determined by an unrelated indicator. The value of the principal of and/or interest on structured notes is determined by reference to changes in the return, interest rate or value at maturity of a specific asset, reference rate or index (the “reference instrument”) or the relative change in two or more reference instruments. The interest rate or the principal amount payable upon maturity or redemption may be increased or decreased, depending upon changes in the applicable reference instruments. Structured notes may be positively or negatively indexed, so that an increase in value of the reference instrument may produce an increase or a decrease in the interest rate or value of the structured note at maturity. In addition, changes in the interest rate or the value of the structured note at maturity may be calculated as a specified multiple of the change in the value of the reference; therefore, the value of such note may be very volatile. Structured notes may entail a greater degree of market risk than other types of debt securities because the investor bears the risk of the reference instrument. Structured notes may also be more volatile, less liquid and more difficult to accurately price than less complex securities or more traditional debt securities.

Cash Investments. When the Sub-Adviser believes market, economic or political conditions are unfavorable for investors, the Sub-Adviser may invest up to 100% of the Fund’s net assets in cash, cash equivalents or other short-term investments. Unfavorable market or economic conditions may include excessive volatility or a prolonged general decline in the securities markets, or the U.S. economy. The Sub-Adviser also may invest in these types of securities or hold cash while looking for suitable investment opportunities or to maintain liquidity.

Restricted Securities. Within its limitation on investment in illiquid investments, the Fund may purchase restricted securities that generally can be sold in privately negotiated transactions, pursuant to an exemption from registration under the federal securities laws, or in a registered public offering. Where registration is required, the Fund may be obligated to pay all or part of the registration expense and a considerable period may elapse between the time it decides to seek registration and the time the Fund may be permitted to sell a security under an effective registration statement. If during such a period adverse market conditions were to develop, the Fund might obtain a less favorable price than prevailed when it decided to seek registration of the security. Restricted securities that can be offered and sold to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A of the Securities Act (“144A Securities”) and are determined to be liquid are not subject to the limitations on illiquid investments.

Securities Lending. The Fund may lend portfolio securities in an amount up to one-third of its total assets to brokers, dealers and other financial institutions. In a portfolio securities lending transaction, the Fund receives from the borrower an amount equal to the interest paid or the dividends declared on the loaned securities during the term of the loan as well as the interest on the collateral securities, less any fees (such as finders or administrative fees) the Fund pays in arranging the loan. The terms of the Fund’s loans permit the Fund to reacquire loaned securities upon demand within a customary settlement period. Loans are subject to termination at the option of the applicable Fund or borrower at any time, and the borrowed securities must be returned when the loan is terminated. The Fund may pay fees to arrange for securities loans.

The SEC currently requires that the following conditions must be met whenever the Fund’s portfolio securities are loaned: (1) the Fund must receive at least 100% collateral from the borrower; (2) the borrower must increase such collateral whenever the market value of the securities rises above the level of such collateral; (3) the Fund must be able to terminate the loan at any time; (4) the Fund must receive reasonable interest on the loan, as well as any dividends, interest or other distributions on the
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loaned securities, and any increase in market value; (5) the Fund may pay only reasonable custodian fees approved by the Board in connection with the loan; and (6) while voting rights on the loaned securities may pass to the borrower, the Board must terminate the loan and regain the right to vote the securities if a material event adversely affecting the investment occurs. These conditions may be subject to future modification. Such loans will be terminable at any time upon specified notice. The Fund might experience the risk of loss if the institution with which it has engaged in a portfolio loan transaction breaches its agreement with the Fund. In addition, the Fund will not enter into any portfolio security lending arrangement having a duration of longer than one year. The principal risk of portfolio lending is potential default or insolvency of the borrower. In either of these cases, the Fund could experience delays in recovering securities or collateral or could lose all or part of the value of the loaned securities. As part of participating in a lending program, the applicable Fund may be required to invest in securities that bear the risk of loss of principal. In addition, all investments made with the collateral received are subject to the risks associated with such investments. If such investments lose value, the Fund will have to cover the loss when repaying the collateral.

Any loans of portfolio securities are fully collateralized based on values that are marked-to-market daily. Any securities that the Fund may receive as collateral will not become part of the Fund’s investment portfolio at the time of the loan and, in the event of a default by the borrower, the Fund will, if permitted by law, dispose of such collateral except for such part thereof that is a security in which the Fund is permitted to invest. During the time securities are on loan, the borrower will pay the Fund any accrued income on those securities, and the Fund may invest the cash collateral and earn income or receive an agreed-upon fee from a borrower that has delivered cash-equivalent collateral.

When-Issued Securities and Forward Commitments. The Fund may purchase securities offered on a “when-issued” and “forward commitment” basis (including a delayed delivery basis). Securities purchased on a “when-issued” or “forward commitment basis” are securities not available for immediate delivery despite the fact that a market exists for those securities. A purchase is made on a “delayed delivery” basis when the transaction is structured to occur sometime in the future.

When these transactions are negotiated, the price, which is generally expressed in yield terms, is fixed at the time the commitment is made, but delivery and payment for the securities take place at a later date. Normally, the settlement date occurs within two months after the transaction, but delayed settlements beyond two months may be negotiated. During the period between a commitment and settlement, no payment is made for the securities purchased by the purchaser and, thus, no interest accrues to the purchaser from the transaction. At the time the Fund makes the commitment to purchase securities on a when-issued basis or forward commitment, the Fund will record the transaction as a purchase and thereafter reflect the value each day of such securities in determining its NAV.

General Risk. The value of the Fund’s portfolio securities may fluctuate with changes in the financial condition of an issuer or counterparty, changes in specific economic or political conditions that affect a particular security or issuer and changes in general economic or political conditions. An investor in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods of time.

There can be no guarantee that a liquid market for the securities held by the Fund will be maintained. The existence of a liquid trading market for certain securities may depend on whether dealers will make a market in such securities. There can be no assurance that a market will be made or maintained or that any such market will be or remain liquid. The price at which securities may be sold and the value of Shares will be adversely affected if trading markets for the Fund’s portfolio securities are limited or absent, or if bid/ask spreads are wide.

Operational and Reputational Risk. An investment in the Fund involves operational risk arising from factors such as processing errors, human errors, inadequate or failed internal or external processes, failures in systems and technology, changes in personnel and errors caused by third-party service providers. Any of these errors, failures or breaches could result in a loss of information, regulatory scrutiny, reputational damage or other events, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on the Fund. While the Fund seeks to minimize such events through controls and oversight, there is no guarantee that the Fund will not suffer losses due to operational risk.

The Fund may be adversely affected if the reputation of the Adviser and Sub-Adviser and their affiliates, or counterparties with whom the Fund associates is harmed. Reputational harm could result from, among other things: real or perceived legal or regulatory violations; failure in performance, risk management, governance, technology, or operations; or claims related to employee misconduct, allegations of employee wrongful termination, conflict of interests, ethical issues, or failure to protect private information. Similarly, market rumors and actual or perceived association with counterparties whose own reputations may become under question could ultimately harm the Fund as well. These harms could include, for example, large redemptions of shares of the Fund, a negative effect on the Fund’s ability to conduct business with counterparties, or hindering of the Adviser’s and Sub-Adviser’s abilities to attract and/or retain personnel, including key personnel.

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Cyber Security Risk. As technology becomes more integrated into the Fund’s operations, the Fund will face greater operational risks through breaches in cyber security. A breach in cyber security refers to both intentional and unintentional events that may cause the Fund to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption, or lose operational capacity. This in turn could cause the Fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures, and/or financial loss. Cyber security threats may result from unauthorized access to the Fund’s digital information systems (e.g., through “hacking” or malicious software coding), but may also result from outside attacks such as denial-of-service attacks (i.e., efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users). In addition, because the Fund works closely with third-party service providers (e.g., administrators, transfer agents, and custodians), cyber security breaches at such third-party service providers may subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct cyber security breaches. The same is true for cyber security breaches at any of the issuers in which the Fund may invest. While the Fund has established risk management systems designed to reduce the risks associated with cyber security, there can be no assurance that such measures will succeed.

Banks and Diversified Financials Risk. Companies in the group of industries related to banks and diversified financials are often subject to extensive governmental regulation and intervention, which may adversely affect the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. Governmental regulation may change frequently and may have significant adverse consequences for companies in the group of industries related to banks and diversified financials, including effects not intended by such regulation. The impact of recent or future regulation in various countries on any individual financial company or on the industries as a whole cannot be predicted.

Certain risks may impact the value of investments in the group of industries related to banks and diversified financials more severely than those of investments outside these industries, including the risks associated with companies that operate with substantial financial leverage. Companies in the group of industries related to banks and diversified financials may also be adversely affected by increases in interest rates and loan losses, decreases in the availability of money or asset valuations, credit rating downgrades and adverse conditions in other related markets.

Insurance companies, in particular, may be subject to severe price competition and/or rate regulation, which may have an adverse impact on their profitability. Insurance companies are subject to extensive government regulation in some countries and can be significantly affected by changes in interest rates, general economic conditions, price and marketing competition, the imposition of premium rate caps, or other changes in government regulation or tax law. Different segments of the insurance industry can be significantly affected by mortality and morbidity rates, environmental clean-up costs and catastrophic events such as earthquakes, hurricanes and terrorist acts.

During the financial crisis that began in 2007, the deterioration of the credit markets impacted a broad range of mortgage, asset-backed, auction rate, sovereign debt and other markets, including U.S. and non-U.S. credit and interbank money markets, thereby affecting a wide range of financial institutions and markets. A number of large financial institutions failed during that time, merged with stronger institutions or had significant government infusions of capital. Instability in the financial markets caused certain financial companies to incur large losses. Some financial companies experienced declines in the valuations of their assets, took actions to raise capital (such as the issuance of debt or equity securities), or even ceased operations. Some financial companies borrowed significant amounts of capital from government sources and may face future government-imposed restrictions on their businesses or increased government intervention. Those actions caused the securities of many financial companies to decline in value.

The group of industries related to banks and diversified financials is also a target for cyber attacks and may experience technology malfunctions and disruptions. In recent years, cyber attacks and technology failures have become increasingly frequent and have caused significant losses.

Risks specific to the bank and diversified financial group of industries also may include:

Asset Quality and Credit Risk. When financial institutions loan money, commit to loan money or enter into a letter of credit or other contract with a counterparty, they incur credit risk, or the risk of losses if their borrowers do not repay their loans or their counterparties fail to perform according to the terms of their contract. The financial companies in which the Fund will invest offer a number of products which expose them to credit risk, including loans, leases and lending commitments, derivatives, trading account assets and assets held-for-sale. Financial institutions allow for and create loss reserves against credit risks based on an assessment of credit losses inherent in their credit exposure (including unfunded credit commitments). This process, which is critical to their financial results and condition, requires difficult, subjective and complex judgments, including forecasts of economic conditions and how these economic predictions might impair the ability of their borrowers to repay their loans. As is the case with any such assessments, there is always the chance that the financial institutions in which the Fund invests will fail to identify the proper factors or that they will fail to accurately estimate the impacts of factors that they identify. Failure to identify
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credit risk factors or the impact of credit factors may result in increased non-performing assets, which will result in increased loss reserve provisioning and reduction in earnings. Poor asset quality can also affect earnings through reduced interest income which can impair a bank’s ability to service debt obligations or to generate sufficient income for equity holders. Bank failure may result due to inadequate loss reserves, inadequate capital to sustain credit losses or reduced earnings due to non-performing assets. The Fund will not have control over the asset quality of the financial institutions in which the Fund will invest, and these institutions may experience substantial increases in the level of their non-performing assets which may have a material adverse impact on the Fund’s investments.

Capital Risk. A bank’s capital position is extremely important to its overall financial condition and serves as a cushion against losses. U.S. banking regulators have established specific capital requirements for regulated banks. Federal banking regulators proposed amended regulatory capital regulations in response to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and the international capital and liquidity requirements set forth by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (“Basel III”) protocols which would impose even more stringent capital requirements. In the event that a regulated bank falls below certain capital adequacy standards, it may become subject to regulatory intervention including, but not limited to, being placed into a FDIC-administered receivership or conservatorship. The regulatory provisions under which the regulatory authorities act are intended to protect depositors. The deposit insurance fund and the banking system are not intended to protect stockholders or other investors in other securities issued by a bank or its holding company. The effect of inadequate capital can have a potentially adverse consequence on the institution’s financial condition, its ability to operate as a going concern and its ability to operate as a regulated financial institution and may have a material adverse impact on the Fund’s investments.

Earnings Risk. Earnings are the primary means for financial institutions to generate capital to support asset growth, to provide for loan losses and to support their ability to pay dividends to stockholders. The quantity as well as the quality of earnings can be affected by excessive or inadequately managed credit risk that may result in losses and require additions to loss reserves, or by high levels of market risk that may unduly expose an institution’s earnings to volatility in interest rates. The quality of earnings may also be diminished by undue reliance on extraordinary gains, nonrecurring events, or favorable tax effects. Future earnings may be adversely affected by an inability to forecast or control funding and operating expenses, net interest margin compression improperly executed or ill-advised business strategies, or poorly managed or uncontrolled exposure to other risks. Deficient earnings can result in inadequate capital resources to support asset growth or insufficient cash flow to meet the financial institution’s near term obligations. Under certain circumstances, this may result in the financial institution being required to suspend operations or the imposition of a cease-and-desist order by regulators which could potentially impair the Fund’s investments.


Management Risk. The ability of management to identify, measure, monitor and control the risks of an institution’s activities and to ensure a financial institution’s safe, sound and efficient operation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations are critical. Depending on the nature and scope of an institution’s activities, management practices may need to address some or all of the following risks: credit, market, operating, reputation, strategic, compliance, legal, liquidity and other risks. The Fund will not have direct or indirect control over the management of the financial institutions in which the Fund will invest and, given the Fund’s long-term investment strategies, it is likely that the management teams and their policies may change. The inability of management to operate their financial institution in a safe, sound and efficient manner in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, or changes in management of financial institutions in which the Fund invests, may have an adverse impact on the Fund’s investment.

Litigation Risk. Financial institutions face significant legal risks in their businesses, and the volume of claims and amount of damages and penalties claimed in litigation and regulatory proceedings against financial institutions remain high. Substantial legal liability or significant regulatory action against the companies in which the Fund invests could have material adverse financial effects or cause significant reputational harm to these companies, which in turn could seriously harm their business prospects. Legal liability or regulatory action against the companies in which the Fund invests could have material adverse financial effects on the Fund and adversely affect the Fund’s earnings and book value.

Market Risk. The financial institutions in which the Fund may invest are directly and indirectly affected by changes in market conditions. Market risk generally represents the risk that values of assets and liabilities or revenues will be adversely affected by changes in market conditions. Market risk is inherent in the financial instruments associated with the operations and activities including loans, deposits, securities, short-term borrowings, long-term debt, trading account assets and liabilities, and derivatives of the financial institutions in which the Fund may invest. Market risk
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includes, but is not limited to, fluctuations in interest rates, equity and futures prices, changes in the implied volatility of interest rates, equity and futures prices and price deterioration or changes in value due to changes in market perception or actual credit quality of the issuer. Accordingly, depending on the instruments or activities impacted, market risks can have wide ranging, complex adverse effects on the operations and overall financial condition of the financial institutions in which the Fund may invest as well as adverse effects on the Fund’s results from operations and overall financial condition.

Monetary Policy Risk. Monetary policies have had, and will continue to have, significant effects on the operations and results of financial institutions. There can be no assurance that a particular financial institution will not experience a material adverse effect on its net interest income in a changing interest rate environment. Factors such as the liquidity of the global financial markets, and the availability and cost of credit may significantly affect the activity levels of customers with respect to the size, number and timing of transactions. Fluctuation in interest rates, which affect the value of assets and the cost of funding liabilities, are not predictable or controllable, may vary and may impact economic activity in various regions.

Competition. The group of industries related to banks and diversified financials, including the banking sector, is extremely competitive, and it is expected that the competitive pressures will increase. Merger activity in the financial services industry has resulted in, and is expected to continue to result in, larger institutions with greater financial and other resources that are capable of offering a wider array of financial products and services. The group of industries related to banks and diversified financials has become considerably more concentrated as numerous financial institutions have been acquired by or merged into other institutions. The majority of financial institutions in which the Fund may invest will be relatively small with significantly fewer resources and capabilities than larger institutions; this size differential puts them at a competitive disadvantage in terms of product offering and access to capital. Technological advances and the growth of e-commerce have made it possible for non-financial institutions and non-bank financial institutions to offer products and services that have traditionally been offered by banking and other financial institutions. It is expected that the cross-industry competition and inter-industry competition will continue to intensify and may be adverse to the financial institutions in which the Fund may invest.

Regulatory Risk. Financial institutions are subject to various state and federal banking regulations that impact how they conduct business, including but not limited to how they obtain funding, their ability to operate, and the value of the Fund’s investments. Changes to these regulations could have an adverse effect on their operations and operating results and the Fund’s investments. The Fund expects to make long-term investments in financial institutions that are subject to various state and federal regulations and oversight. Congress, state legislatures and the various bank regulatory agencies frequently introduce proposals to change the laws and regulations governing the banking industry in response to the Dodd-Frank Act, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) rulemaking or otherwise. The likelihood and timing of any proposals or legislation and the impact they might have on the Fund’s investments in financial institutions affected by such changes cannot be determined and any such changes may be adverse to the Fund’s investments. Ownership of the stock of certain types of regulated banking institutions may subject the Fund to additional regulations. Investments in banking institutions and transactions related to the Fund’s investments may require approval from one or more regulatory authorities. If the Fund were deemed to be a bank holding company or thrift holding company, bank holding companies or thrift holding companies that invest in the Fund would be subject to certain restrictions and regulations.
Exchange Listing and Trading

Shares are listed for trading and trade throughout the day on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (the “Exchange”).

There can be no assurance that the Fund will continue to meet the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of Shares. The Exchange will consider the suspension of trading in, and will initiate delisting proceedings of, the Shares under any of the following circumstances: (i) if any of the requirements set forth in the Exchange rules are not continuously maintained, including compliance with Rule 6c-11(c) under the 1940 Act; (ii) if, following the initial 12-month period beginning at the commencement of trading of the Fund, there are fewer than 50 beneficial owners of the Shares of such Fund; or (iii) the Fund no longer complies with certain listing exchange rules; or (iv) if such other event shall occur or condition shall exist that, in the opinion of the Exchange, makes further dealings on the Exchange inadvisable. The Exchange will remove the Shares of the Fund from listing and trading upon termination of such Fund.

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The Trust reserves the right to adjust the price levels of Shares in the future to help maintain convenient trading ranges for investors. Any adjustments would be accomplished through stock splits or reverse stock splits, which would have no effect on the net assets of the applicable Fund.

Portfolio Turnover

The frequency of portfolio transactions of the Fund (the portfolio turnover rate) will vary from year to year depending on many factors. From time to time, the Fund may engage in active short-term trading to take advantage of price movements affecting individual issues, groups of issues or markets. An annual portfolio turnover rate of 100% would occur if all the securities in the Fund were replaced once in a period of one year. Higher portfolio turnover rates (more than 100%) may result in increased brokerage costs to the applicable Fund and a possible increase in short-term capital gains or losses.

No portfolio turnover rates are provided for the Fund because the Fund has not completed its first fiscal year as of the date of this SAI.

Investment Policies

Fundamental. The investment policies described below have been adopted by the Trust with respect to the Fund and are fundamental (i.e., they may not be changed without the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of the applicable Fund). As used in the Prospectus and this SAI, the term “majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund” means the lesser of: (1) 67% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund present at a meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund are present or represented at such meeting; or (2) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the Fund. Except for those investment policies specifically identified as fundamental in the Prospectus and this SAI, the Fund’s investment objective as described in the Prospectus and all other investment policies and practices described in the Prospectus and this SAI are non-fundamental and may be changed by the Board without the approval of shareholders.

The fundamental policies adopted with respect to the Fund are as follows:

1.    Borrowing Money. The Fund will not borrow money, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, as such may be interpreted or modified by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction, from time to time.

2.    Senior Securities. The Fund will not issue senior securities, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, as such may be interpreted or modified by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction, from time to time.

3.    Underwriting. The Fund will not act as an underwriter of securities within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, as such may be interpreted or modified by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction, from time to time.

4.    Real Estate. The Fund will not purchase or sell real estate, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, as such may be interpreted or modified by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction, from time to time.

5.    Commodities. The Fund will not purchase or sell commodities, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, as such may be interpreted or modified by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction, from time to time.

6.    Loans. The Fund will not make loans to other persons, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, as such may be interpreted or modified by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction, from time to time.

7.    Concentration. The Fund will not “concentrate” its investments in an industry or group of industries, except to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, as such may be interpreted or modified by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction, from time to time.

The following are interpretations of the fundamental investment policies of the Fund and may be revised without shareholder approval, consistent with current laws and regulations as such may be interpreted or modified by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction, from time to time:

Borrowing Money. Under current law as interpreted by the SEC and its staff, the Fund may borrow from: (a) a bank, provided that immediately after such borrowing there is an asset coverage of 300% for all borrowings of the Fund; or (b) a bank or other
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persons for temporary purposes only, provided that such temporary borrowings are in an amount not exceeding 5% of the Fund’s total assets at the time when the borrowing is made. This limitation does not preclude the Fund from entering into reverse repurchase transactions, provided that the Fund has an asset coverage of 300% for all borrowings and repurchase commitments of the Fund pursuant to reverse repurchase transactions.

Senior Securities. Senior securities may include any obligation or instrument issued by an investment company evidencing indebtedness. The Fund’s limitation with respect to issuing senior securities is not applicable to activities that may be deemed to involve the issuance or sale of a senior security by the Fund, provided that the Fund’s engagement in such activities is consistent with or permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder or interpretations of the SEC or its staff.

Underwriting. Under the 1940 Act, underwriting securities generally involves an investment company purchasing securities directly from an issuer for the purpose of selling (distributing) them or participating in any such activity either directly or indirectly. The Fund’s limitation with respect to underwriting securities is not applicable to the extent that, in connection with the disposition of portfolio securities (including restricted securities), the Fund may be deemed an underwriter under certain federal securities laws.

Real Estate. The 1940 Act does not directly restrict an investment company’s ability to invest in real estate, but does require that every investment company have a fundamental investment policy governing such investments. The Fund’s limitation with respect to investing in real estate is not applicable to investments in securities or mortgages or loans that are secured by or represent interests in real estate. This limitation does not preclude the Fund from purchasing or selling mortgage-related securities or securities of companies engaged in the real estate business or that have a significant portion of their assets in real estate (including real estate investment trusts). In addition, this limitation does not preclude the Fund from holding or selling real estate acquired as a result of ownership through securities or other instruments.

Commodities. The 1940 Act does not directly restrict an investment company’s ability to invest in commodities, but does require that every investment company have a fundamental investment policy governing such investments. The Fund may hold commodities acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other investments. This limitation does not preclude the Fund from purchasing or selling options or futures contracts, from investing in securities or other instruments backed by commodities or from investing in companies that are engaged in a commodities business or have a significant portion of their assets in commodities.

Loans. Under current law as interpreted by the SEC and its staff, the Fund may not lend any security or make any other loan if, as a result, more than 33 1/3% of its total assets would be lent to other parties (this restriction does not apply to purchases of debt securities or repurchase agreements). Subject to this limitation, the Fund may make loans, for example: (a) by loaning portfolio securities; (b) by engaging in repurchase agreements; (c) by making loans secured by real estate; (d) by making loans to affiliated funds as permitted by the SEC; or (e) by purchasing non-publicly offered debt securities. For purposes of this limitation, the term “loans” shall not include the purchase of a portion of an issue of publicly distributed bonds, debentures or other securities.

Concentration. Under current SEC and SEC staff interpretation, the Fund would “concentrate” its investments if more than 25% of the Fund’s total assets would be invested in securities of issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry or group of industries. For purposes of this limitation, there is no limit on: (1) investments in U.S. government securities, in repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities, or in tax-exempt securities issued by the states, territories, or possessions of the United States (“municipal securities”), excluding private activity municipal securities whose principal and interest payments are derived principally from the assets and revenues of a non-governmental entity; or (2) investments in issuers domiciled in a single jurisdiction (other than investments in a single foreign-government issuer) provided that the Fund does not invest greater than 25% in a particular industry or group of industries. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act, the Fund may invest in one or more investment companies; provided that, except to the extent the Fund invests in other investment companies pursuant to Section 12(d)(1)(A) or (F) of the 1940 Act, the Fund treats the assets of the investment companies in which it invests as its own for purposes of this policy.

With respect to the percentages adopted by the Trust as maximum limitations on its investment policies and limitations, an excess above the fixed percentage will not be a violation of the policy or limitation unless the excess results immediately and directly from the acquisition of any security or the action taken. This paragraph does not apply to fundamental policy 1 for the Fund set forth above.

Notwithstanding any of the foregoing policies, any investment company, whether organized as a trust, association or corporation, or a personal holding company, may be merged or consolidated with or acquired by the Trust, provided that if such
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merger, consolidation or acquisition results in an investment in the securities of any issuer prohibited by said paragraphs, the Trust shall, within 90 days after the consummation of such merger, consolidation or acquisition, dispose of all of the securities of such issuer so acquired or such portion thereof as shall bring the total investment therein within the limitations imposed by said paragraphs above as of the date of consummation.

Management

Trustees and Officers

The Board is responsible for the overall management of the Trust, including general supervision and review of the investment activities of the Fund. The Board, in turn, elects the officers of the Trust, who are responsible for administering the day-to-day operations of the Trust and the Fund. Unless otherwise indicated in the table below, the address of each Trustee and officer of the Trust is c/o Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC, 3344 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1725, Atlanta, Georgia 30326. Additional information about the Trustees and officers of the Trust is provided in the following table.

Name and Year of BirthPosition with the TrustTerm of Office and Length of Time ServedPrincipal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex 1 Overseen by Trustee
Other Directorships Held During the Past 5 Years

Independent Trustees 2
Ira P. Cohen
1959
Independent
Trustee, Chair
Trustee since 2014, Chair since 2017; indefinite termsExecutive Vice President, Recognos Financial (2015–2021); Independent financial services consultant (since 2005).11Trustee, Valued Advisers Trust (since 2010); Trustee, Apollo Diversified Real Estate Fund (formerly, Griffin Institutional Access Real Estate Fund) (since 2014); Trustee, Angel Oak Strategic Credit Fund (since 2017); Trustee, Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (since 2018); Trustee and Chair, U.S. Fixed Income Trust (Trustee since 2019, Chair since 2025); Trustee, Angel Oak Credit Opportunities Term Trust (since 2021); Trustee, CRM Mutual Fund Trust (since 2025); Trustee, Angel Oak Dynamic Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (2019-2022); Trustee, Apollo Credit Fund (formerly, Griffin Institutional Access Credit Fund) (2017-2022).
Alvin R. Albe, Jr.
1953
Independent TrusteeSince 2014; indefinite termRetired.11Trustee, Angel Oak Strategic Credit Fund (since 2017); Trustee, Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (since 2018); Trustee, Angel Oak Credit Opportunities Term Trust (since 2021); Trustee, Angel Oak Dynamic Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (2019-2022).
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Name and Year of BirthPosition with the TrustTerm of Office and Length of Time ServedPrincipal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex 1 Overseen by Trustee
Other Directorships Held During the Past 5 Years
Keith M. Schappert
1951
Independent TrusteeSince 2014; indefinite termPresident, Schappert Consulting LLC (since 2008); Retired, President and CEO of JP Morgan Investment Management.11Trustee, Angel Oak Strategic Credit Fund (since 2017); Trustee, Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (since 2018); Trustee, Angel Oak Credit Opportunities Term Trust (since 2021); Trustee, Angel Oak Dynamic Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (2019-2022); Director, Commonfund Capital, Inc. (2015-2022); Trustee, Mirae Asset Discovery Funds (2010-2023).
Andrea N. Mullins
1967
Independent TrusteeSince 2019; indefinite termPrivate Investor; Independent Contractor, SWM Advisors (since 2014).11Trustee and Audit Committee Chair, Valued Advisers Trust (since 2013, Chair since 2017); Trustee, Angel Oak Strategic Credit Fund (since 2019); Trustee, Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (since 2019); Trustee, Angel Oak Credit Opportunities Term Trust (since 2021); Trustee and Audit Committee Chair, NXG Cushing Midstream Energy Fund (formerly, Cushing MLP & Infrastructure Fund)(since 2021); Trustee and Audit Committee Chair, NXG NextGen Infrastructure Income Fund (formerly, Cushing NextGen Infrastructure Income Fund) (since 2021); Trustee and Chair, CRM Mutual Fund Trust (since 2025); Trustee, Angel Oak Dynamic Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (2019-2022); Trustee and Audit Committee Chair, Cushing Mutual Funds Trust (2021-2023).

Interested Trustees
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Name and Year of BirthPosition with the TrustTerm of Office and Length of Time ServedPrincipal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years
Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex 1 Overseen by Trustee
Other Directorships Held During the Past 5 Years
Cheryl M. Pate
1976
Interested TrusteeSince 2022; indefinite termSenior Portfolio Manager, Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (since 2017).11Trustee, Angel Oak Strategic Credit Fund (since 2022); Trustee, Angel Oak Credit Opportunities Term Trust (since 2022); Trustee, Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (since 2023); Trustee, Angel Oak Dynamic Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (2022-2022).
Clayton Triick 3
1986
Interested TrusteeSince 2024, indefinite termHead of Portfolio Management, Public Strategies, Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (since 2024); Senior Portfolio Manager, Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (since 2011).11Trustee, Angel Oak Strategic Credit Fund (since 2024); Trustee, Angel Oak Credit Opportunities Term Trust (since 2024).

1    The Fund Complex includes each series of the Trust, and Angel Oak Strategic Credit Fund, Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust, and Angel Oak Credit Opportunities Term Trust, affiliated registrants not discussed in this SAI.
2    The Trustees of the Trust who are not “interested persons” of the Trust as defined in the 1940 Act (“Independent Trustees”).
3    Mr. Triick was appointed Interested Trustee on May 30, 2024.

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Name and Year of BirthPosition with the TrustTerm of Office and Length of Time ServedPrincipal Occupation(s) During the Past 5 Years

Officers
Adam Langley
1967
PresidentSince 2022; indefinite term (other offices held 2015-2022)Chief Operating Officer, Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (since 2021); Chief Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (2015-2022); Chief Compliance Officer of Falcons I, LLC (2018-2022); Chief Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Strategic Credit Fund (2017-2022); Chief Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (2018-2022); Chief Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Dynamic Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (2019-2022); Chief Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Credit Opportunities Term Trust (2021-2022); Chief Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Commercial Real Estate Solutions (2021-2022); Chief Compliance Officer, Buckhead One Financial Opportunities, LLC (2015-2022); Chief Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Capital Partners II, LLC (2016-2022); Chief Compliance Officer, Hawks I, LLC (2018-2022).
Michael Colombo
1984
SecretarySince 2023; indefinite termChief Risk Officer, Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (since 2023); Director of Valuation, Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (2022-2023); Director of Trade Operations, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (2022); Manager of Trade Operations, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (2019-2022).
Nilesh Likhite
1984
TreasurerSince 2025; indefinite termFund Controller, Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (since 2025); Fund Controller, Warren Equity Partners (2023-2025); Senior Manager, Ernst & Young LLP (2019-2023).
Chase Eldredge
1989
Chief Compliance OfficerSince 2022; indefinite termChief Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (since 2022); Chief Compliance Officer of Falcons I, LLC (since 2022); Chief Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Strategic Credit Fund (since 2022); Chief Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust (since 2022); Chief Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Credit Opportunities Term Trust (since 2022); Senior Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (2020-2022); Compliance Officer, Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (2017-2020).

Additional Information Concerning the Board of Trustees

The Role of the Board

The Board oversees the management and operations of the Trust. Like most registered investment companies, the day-to-day management and operation of the Trust is the responsibility of the various service providers to the Trust, such as the Adviser, Sub-Adviser, the distributor, administrator, the custodian and the transfer agent, each of whom are discussed in greater detail in this SAI. The Board has appointed various senior employees of the Adviser as officers of the Trust, with responsibility to monitor and report to the Board on the Trust’s operations. In conducting this oversight, the Board receives regular reports from these officers and the service providers. For example, the Treasurer reports as to financial reporting matters. In addition, the Adviser and Sub-Adviser provide regular reports on the investment strategy and performance of the Fund. The Board has appointed a Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) who administers the Trust’s compliance program and regularly reports to the Board as to compliance matters. These reports are provided as part of the Board’s regular Board Meetings, which are typically held quarterly, and involve the Board’s review of recent operations. While Angel Oak compensates the CCO for his services to the Trust, the Fund reimburses Angel Oak for a portion of the CCO’s salary.

Board Structure, Leadership

The Board has structured itself in a manner that it believes allows it to perform its oversight function effectively. It has established four standing committees—an Audit, Financial and Administrative Oversight Committee, a Nominating and Governance Committee, a Compliance Oversight Committee and a Valuation and Risk Management Oversight Committee—that are discussed in greater detail below under “Board Committees.” At least a majority of the Board is comprised of Independent
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Trustees who are not affiliated with the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the principal underwriter, or their affiliates. The Committees are each comprised entirely of Independent Trustees.

The Board has an Independent Chair. Except for any duties specified herein or pursuant to the Trust’s Declaration of Trust and By-Laws, the designation of Chair does not impose on Mr. Cohen any duties, obligations or liability that are greater than the duties, obligations or liability imposed on such person as a member of the Board. As Chair, Mr. Cohen acts as a spokesperson for the Trustees in between meetings of the Board, serves as a liaison for the Trustees with the Trust’s service providers, officers, and legal counsel to discuss ideas informally, and participates in setting the agenda for meetings of the Board and separate meetings or executive sessions of the Independent Trustees. As noted, the majority of the Board is comprised of Independent Trustees, and the Board believes that maintaining a Board that has a majority of Independent Trustees allows the Board to operate in a manner that provides for an appropriate level of independent oversight and action. In accordance with applicable regulations regarding the governance of the Trust, the Independent Trustees have an opportunity to meet in a separate quarterly executive session in conjunction with each quarterly meeting of the Board during which they may review matters relating to their independent oversight of the Trust.

The Board reviews annually the structure and operation of the Board and its committees. The Board has determined that the composition of the Board and the function and composition of its various committees provide the appropriate means and communication channels to address any potential conflicts of interest that may arise.

Board Oversight of Risk Management

As part of its oversight function, the Board receives and reviews various risk management reports and discusses these matters with appropriate management and other personnel. Because risk management is a broad concept comprised of many elements (e.g., investment risk, issuer and counterparty risk, compliance risk, operational risks, business continuity risks), the oversight of different types of risks is handled in different ways. For example, the Audit, Financial and Administrative Oversight Committee meets with the Treasurer and the Trust’s independent registered public accounting firm to discuss, among other things, the internal control structure of the Trust’s financial reporting function. The Board meets regularly with the Chief Compliance Officer and the Chief Operating Officer to discuss compliance and operational risks and how they are managed. The Board also receives reports from the Adviser and its Chief Risk Officer as to investment and other risks of the Fund.

With respect to liquidity, the Trust has implemented a liquidity risk management program on behalf of the Fund (the “Liquidity Program”) that is designed to assess and manage the Fund’s liquidity risk. The Board has designated the Adviser to administer the Liquidity Program. Under the Liquidity Program the Board will review periodic reports concerning Fund liquidity and review, no less frequently than annually, a written report prepared by the Adviser that addresses the operation of the Liquidity Program and assesses its adequacy and effectiveness.

Information about Each Trustee’s Qualification, Experience, Attributes or Skills

The Board believes that each of the Trustees has the qualifications, experience, attributes and skills (“Trustee Attributes”) appropriate to their continued service as Trustees of the Trust in light of the Trust’s business and structure. In addition to a demonstrated record of business and/or professional accomplishment, each of the Trustees has demonstrated a commitment to discharging their oversight duties as trustees in the interests of shareholders. The Board annually conducts a “self-assessment” wherein the effectiveness of the Board is reviewed.

In addition to the information provided in the table above, certain additional information concerning each particular Trustee and his or her Trustee Attributes is provided below.

Mr. Cohen’s Trustee Attributes

Mr. Cohen has over 43 years of experience in the financial services industry. He served as Executive Vice President of Recognos Financial, a premier provider of semantic data analysis for the financial services industry, from 2015 to 2021 and he has been an independent financial services consultant since 2005. Mr. Cohen has served a variety of management roles for various financial and investment companies throughout his career. Additionally, Mr. Cohen serves as an independent trustee of the trust in which the Adviser’s first mutual fund was launched. The Board believes that Mr. Cohen’s experience, qualifications, attributes and skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees lead to the conclusion that he possesses the requisite skills and attributes as a Trustee to carry out oversight responsibilities with respect to the Trust.

Mr. Albe’s Trustee Attributes

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Mr. Albe has over 34 years of experience in the investment management industry, including having served as executive management for a large asset management firm and its affiliated investment companies. Mr. Albe is a Certified Public Accountant (non-practicing) and has past experience as a member of the board and audit committee of a publicly held company. Mr. Albe is an audit committee financial expert of the Trust. The Board believes that Mr. Albe’s experience, qualifications, attributes and skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees lead to the conclusion that he possesses the requisite skills and attributes as a Trustee to carry out oversight responsibilities with respect to the Trust.

Mr. Schappert’s Trustee Attributes

Mr. Schappert has over 49 years of experience in the investment management industry. He has been an independent financial services consultant for his own consulting business, Schappert Consulting, LLC, since 2008 and has served a variety of management roles for various financial and investment companies throughout his career. The Board believes that Mr. Schappert’s experience, qualifications, attributes and skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees lead to the conclusion that he possesses the requisite skills and attributes as a Trustee to carry out oversight responsibilities with respect to the Trust.

Ms. Mullins’ Trustee Attributes

Ms. Mullins worked in the Asset Management and Mutual Funds industry at Raymond James from 1990-2010 and her experience includes accounting, compliance, and operations. Ms. Mullins retired as Chief Financial Officer of Eagle Family of Funds (now Carillon Family of Funds) in 2010. From 2014-2022, Ms. Mullins was an independent contractor and CCO with SWM Advisors. She remains an independent contractor with SWM Advisors. In addition to this experience, Ms. Mullins also has experience serving as a Trustee for Valued Advisers Trust since 2013 and as its Chairperson since 2017. Ms. Mullins is also an independent trustee for The Cushing Family of Funds. The Board believes that Ms. Mullins’ experience, qualifications, attributes and skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees lead to the conclusion that she possesses the requisite skills and attributes as a Trustee to carry out oversight responsibilities with respect to the Trust.

Ms. Pate’s Trustee Attributes

Ms. Pate has over 17 years of experience in the financial services industry. Ms. Pate has served in various portfolio management capacities for Angel Oak since 2017, including serving as portfolio manager for certain Angel Oak funds and managing separately managed accounts. Prior to joining Angel Oak, she spent 10 years with Morgan Stanley, where she worked in equity research focusing on the financial sector, and led the Consumer & Specialty Finance research team as an Executive Director and Senior Lead Analyst. The Board believes that Ms. Pate’s experience, qualifications, attributes and skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees lead to the conclusion that she possesses the requisite skills and attributes as a Trustee to carry out oversight responsibilities with respect to the Trust.

Mr. Triick’s Trustee Attributes

Mr. Triick has served in various portfolio management capacities for Angel Oak since 2011. In addition to serving as portfolio manager for Angel Oak Funds, Mr. Triick is responsible of managing Angel Oak’s separately managed account clients, including depository institutions. Prior to joining Angel Oak, he worked for YieldQuest Advisors, where he was a member of the investment committee focusing on the interest rate risk, currency risk, and commodity exposures of the portfolios alongside directly managing the closed-end fund allocations within the portfolios and individual accounts. The Board believes that Mr. Triick’s experience, qualifications, attributes and skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Trustees lead to the conclusion that he possesses the requisite skills and attributes as a Trustee to carry out oversight responsibilities with respect to the Trust.

Board Committees

The Board has four standing committees: the Audit, Financial, and Administrative Oversight Committee; the Nominating and Governance Committee; the Compliance Oversight Committee; and the Valuation and Risk Management Oversight Committee.

The Audit, Financial and Administrative Oversight Committee is comprised of all of the Independent Trustees. The function of the Committee is to review the scope and results of the annual audit of the Fund and any matters bearing on the audit or the Fund’s financial statements and to ensure the integrity of the Fund’s financial reporting. The Committee also recommends to the Board of Trustees the annual selection of the independent registered public accounting firm for the Fund and it reviews and pre-approves audit and certain non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm. The Committee also assists the Board in overseeing the review of financial and administrative reports and discussing with the
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Trust’s management financial and administrative matters relating to the Fund. For the fiscal year ended January 31, 2025, the Audit, Financial and Administrative Oversight Committee met four times.

The Nominating and Governance Committee, comprised of all the Independent Trustees, is responsible for seeking and reviewing candidates for consideration as nominees for Trustees. The Committee has a policy in place for considering Trustee candidates recommended by shareholders. Nomination submissions must be accompanied by all information relating to the recommended nominee that is required to be disclosed in solicitations or proxy statements for the election of Trustees, as well as information sufficient to evaluate the individual’s qualifications. Nomination submissions must be accompanied by a written consent of the individual to stand for election if nominated by the Board and to serve if elected by the shareholders. In addition, a nominee must provide such additional information as reasonably requested by the Committee. The Committee will consider recommendations by shareholders for up to one year from receipt. Nomination submissions should be sent to:

Secretary, Angel Oak Funds Trust
c/o Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC
3344 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1725
Atlanta, GA 30326

The Committee meets at least annually. For the fiscal year ended January 31, 2025, the Committee met four times.

The Compliance Oversight Committee, comprised of all the Independent Trustees, assists the full Board in connection with matters relating to the compliance of the Trust and its service providers with applicable laws. The Committee coordinates the Board’s oversight of the implementation and administration of the Fund’s compliance program through the periodic review of reports and discussions with appropriate management of the Adviser, including the CCO, and other service providers. The Committee reviews and makes recommendations to the Board regarding the Fund’s compliance matters such as compliance with and any proposed changes to the Fund’s compliance program and the Codes of Ethics of the Fund and Adviser. The Committee meets at least annually. For the fiscal year ended January 31, 2025, the Compliance Oversight Committee met four times.

The Valuation and Risk Management Oversight Committee, comprised of all the Independent Trustees, oversees valuation matters of the Trust delegated to the Adviser’s Valuation Committee, including the fair valuation determinations and methodologies proposed and utilized by the Adviser’s Valuation Committee, reviews the Trust’s valuation procedures and their application by the Adviser’s Valuation Committee, reviews pricing errors and procedures for calculation of NAV of each series of the Trust and responds to other matters deemed appropriate by the Board.

The Committee also oversees the policies, procedures, practices and systems relating to identifying and managing the various risks that are or may be applicable to the Trust. The Committee does not assume any day-to-day risk management functions or activities. The Adviser and other service providers are responsible for the day-to-day implementation, maintenance, and administration of policies, procedures, systems and practices designed to identify, monitor and control risks to which the Trust is or may be exposed. The Chief Risk Officer of the Adviser oversees the execution of its risk management responsibilities. The actions of the Committee are reviewed and ratified by the Board. The Committee meets at least annually. For the fiscal year ended January 31, 2025, the Valuation and Risk Management Oversight Committee met four times.
Trustee Ownership of Fund Shares and Other Interests

The table below shows, for each Trustee, the amount of the Fund’s equity securities beneficially owned by each Trustee, and the aggregate value of all investments in equity securities of the Trust, as of December 31, 2024 and stated as one of the following ranges: A = None; B = $1-$10,000; C = $10,001-$50,000; D = $50,001-$100,000; and E = over $100,000.

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Name of TrusteeDollar Range of Equity Securities in the FundAggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in all Registered Investment Companies Overseen by the Trustees in Family of Investment Companies
Independent Trustees
Ira P. CohenAA
Alvin R. Albe, Jr.AE
Keith M. SchappertAE
Andrea N. MullinsAE
Interested Trustees
Cheryl M. PateAD
Clayton TriickAE

Furthermore, neither the Independent Trustees nor members of their immediate family own securities beneficially or of record in the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Fund’s principal underwriter, or any of their affiliates. Accordingly, during the two most recently completed calendar years, neither the Independent Trustees nor members of their immediate family, have had a direct or indirect interest, the value of which exceeds $120,000, in the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, the Trust’s principal underwriter or any of its affiliates.

Compensation

Each Trustee who is not an “interested person” (i.e., an “Independent Trustee”) of the Fund Complex (which includes affiliated registrants not disclosed in this report) receives an annual retainer of $75,000 ($65,000 prior to November 1, 2024) (pro-rated for any periods less than one year) paid quarterly as well as $12,000 for attending each regularly scheduled meeting in connection with his or her service on the Board of the Fund Complex. In addition, each Committee Chair receives additional annual compensation of $12,000 (pro-rated for any periods less than one year), and the Chair of the Board receives an additional $17,000 ($12,000 prior to November 1, 2024). Independent Trustees are eligible for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with attendance at meetings.

The Trust does not have any pension or retirement plans. For the fiscal year ending January 31, 2026, the following compensation is estimated to be paid to the Trustees:

Name of Trustee
Aggregate Compensation from the Fund 1
Total Compensation from the Fund and Fund Complex 2
Independent Trustees
Ira P. Cohen$[ ][$ ]
Alvin R. Albe, Jr.$[ ][$ ]
Keith M. Schappert$[ ][$ ]
Andrea N. Mullins$[ ][$ ]
Interested Trustees 3
Cheryl M. Pate$0$0
Clayton Triick $0$0

1    Because Trustee compensation is covered by the unitary fee paid by the Fund, the Adviser, and not the Fund, is responsible for compensating the Trustees with respect to the Fund.
2    The Fund Complex consists of Angel Oak Funds Trust and Angel Oak Strategic Credit Fund, Angel Oak Financial Strategies Income Term Trust, and Angel Oak Credit Opportunities Term Trust, affiliated registrants not discussed in this SAI.
3    As Interested Trustees, Ms. Pate and Mr. Triick do not receive compensation from the Fund Complex.

Investment Adviser

The Fund’s Adviser is Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC, 3344 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1725, Atlanta, Georgia 30326. Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC was formed in 2009 by the Managing Partners of the Adviser, Michael A. Fierman, and Sreeniwas (Sreeni)
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V. Prabhu. Angel Oak Capital Advisors is [93.3]% owned by Angel Oak Asset Management Holdings, LLC. On [ ], 2025, Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. acquired a majority of Angel Oak Companies, LP, the parent of Angel Oak Asset Management Holdings, LLC.

Under the terms of the investment advisory agreement (the “Agreement”), the Adviser oversees the management of the Fund’s investments by the Sub-Adviser subject to oversight by the Board of Trustees. As compensation for its management services, the Fund is obligated to pay the Adviser a fee computed and accrued daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of [ ]% of the average daily net assets of the Fund.

Under the advisory agreement, the Adviser is responsible for substantially all the expenses of the Fund (including expenses of the Trust relating to the Fund), except for the advisory fees, payments under the Fund’s 12b-1 plan (if any), interest expenses, dividend and interest expenses related to short sales, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses (other than fees for funds advised by the Adviser), and litigation and potential litigation and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business.

The Adviser has contractually agreed to waive its fees and/or reimburse certain expenses (exclusive of any interest expenses, dividend and interest expenses related to short sales, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses (other than fees for funds advised by the Adviser which are waived), brokers’ commissions and any other transaction related expenses and fees arising out of transactions effected on behalf of the Fund, and litigation and potential litigation and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund’s business) to limit the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses after Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement to [ ]% of the Fund’s average daily net assets (the “Expense Limit”), through [ ]. The Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses after Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement may be higher than the Expense Limit as a result of any acquired fund fees and expenses or other expenses that are excluded from the calculation. The contractual waivers and expense reimbursements may be changed or eliminated at any time by the Board of Trustees, on behalf of the Fund, upon 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser. The contractual waivers and expense reimbursements may not be terminated by the Adviser without the consent of the Board of Trustees. The Adviser may recoup from the Fund any waived amount or reimbursed expenses with respect to the Fund pursuant to this agreement if such recoupment does not cause the Fund to exceed the current Expense Limit or the Expense Limit in place at the time of the waiver or reimbursement (whichever is lower) and the recoupment is made within three years after the end of month in which the Adviser incurred the expense.

The Fund is new and, therefore, has not paid any management fees to the Adviser as of the date of this SAI.

The Adviser retains the right to use the name “Angel Oak” in connection with another investment company or business enterprise with which the Adviser is or may become associated. The Trust’s right to use the name “Angel Oak” automatically ceases 90 days after termination of the Agreement and may be withdrawn by the Adviser on 90 days’ written notice.

The Adviser or Sub-Adviser may make payments to banks or other financial institutions that provide shareholder services and administer shareholder accounts. If a bank or other financial institution were prohibited from continuing to perform all or a part of such services, management of the Fund believes that there would be no material impact on the Fund or shareholders. Banks and other financial institutions may charge their customers fees for offering these services to the extent permitted by applicable regulatory authorities, and the overall return to those shareholders availing themselves of the bank services will be lower than to those shareholders who do not. The Fund may from time to time purchase securities issued by banks and other financial institutions that provide such services; however, in selecting investments for the Fund, no preference will be shown for such securities.

Investment Sub-Adviser

[The Fund’s sub-adviser is IFC Whiplight, LLC, 11601 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1725, Los Angeles, California 90025. IFC Whiplight, LLC was formed in 2025. The Sub-Adviser is controlled by Marc Ackerman, Craig Thomas, and Edward Hays.]

The Adviser has entered into a subadvisory agreement (the “Subadvisory Agreement”) with the Sub-Adviser pursuant to which the Sub-Adviser is compensated out of the investment advisory fees that the Adviser receives from the Fund at a rate of [ ]%.

The Fund is new and, therefore, the Adviser has not paid any fees to the Sub-Adviser as of the date of this SAI.

About the Portfolio Manager

Craig Thomas has the primary responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Fund.

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As of [ ], the Portfolio Manager was responsible for managing the following types of accounts for the Sub-Adviser, other than the Fund for which they serve as a portfolio manager:


Number and Assets of Other AccountsNumber and Assets of Other Accounts for which Advisory Fee is Performance Based
Registered Investment CompaniesOther Pooled Investment VehiclesOther AccountsRegistered Investment CompaniesOther Pooled Investment VehiclesOther Accounts
Craig Thomas
[ ]
$[ ]
[ ]
$[ ]
[ ]
$[ ]
[ ]
$[ ]
[ ]
$[ ]
[ ]
$[ ]

Compensation. The Portfolio Manager receives an annual base salary from the Sub-Adviser. The Portfolio Manager is eligible to receive a discretionary bonus, which is based on: profitability of the Sub-Adviser; assets under management; investment performance of managed accounts; compliance with the Sub-Adviser’s policies and procedures; contribution to the Sub-Adviser’s goals and objectives; anticipated compensation levels of competitor firms; effective research; role and responsibilities; client satisfaction; asset retention; teamwork; leadership; and risk management. The Portfolio Manager has an ownership interest in the Sub-Adviser’s parent company in addition to their salary, bonus, and benefits package. These units participate in firm-wide profits and also convey capital value in the event of certain scenarios.

Potential 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. More specifically, portfolio managers who manage multiple funds and/or other accounts may experience the following potential conflicts: The management of multiple accounts may result in a portfolio manager devoting unequal time and attention to the management of each account. Investment decisions for client accounts are also made consistent with a client’s individual investment objective and needs. Accordingly, there may be circumstances when purchases or sales of securities for one or more client accounts will have an adverse effect on other clients. The Sub-Adviser may seek to manage such competing interests by: (1) having a portfolio manager focus on a particular investment discipline; (2) utilizing a quantitative model in managing accounts; and/or (3) reviewing performance differences between similarly managed accounts on a periodic basis to ensure that any such differences are attributable by differences in investment guidelines and timing of cash flows. The Adviser and Sub-Adviser also each maintain a Code of Ethics to establish standards and procedures for the detection and prevention of activities by which persons having knowledge of the investments and investment intentions of the Fund may abuse their fiduciary duties to the Fund.

If a portfolio manager identifies a limited investment opportunity that may be suitable for more than one client, the Fund may not be able to take full advantage of that opportunity due to an allocation of filled purchase or sale orders across all eligible accounts. To deal with these situations, the Sub-Adviser has adopted procedures for allocating portfolio transactions across multiple accounts.

With respect to securities transactions for clients, the Sub-Adviser determines which broker to use to execute each order. However, the Sub-Adviser may direct securities transactions to a particular broker/dealer for various reasons including receipt of research or participation interests in initial public offerings that may or may not benefit the Fund. To deal with these situations, the Sub-Adviser has adopted procedures to help ensure best execution of all client transactions.

From time to time, the Sub-Adviser may make investments at different levels of an issuer’s or borrower’s capital structure (including but not limited to investments in debt versus equity). In managing such investments, the Sub-Adviser will consider the interests of the Fund’s shareholders in deciding what actions to take with respect to a given issuer or borrower. These potential conflicts of interests may become more pronounced in situations in which an issuer or borrower experiences financial or operational challenges, or as a result of the Fund’s use of certain investment strategies, including small capitalization, emerging market, distressed or less liquid strategies.

Finally, the appearance of a conflict of interest may arise where the Sub-Adviser has an incentive, such as a performance-based management fee, which relates to the management of one but not all accounts for which a portfolio manager has day-to-day management responsibilities.

Potential Restrictions and Issues Related to Material Non-Public Information. The Adviser or Sub-Adviser and their respective affiliates may acquire confidential or material non-public information, and as a result, the Adviser or Sub-Adviser may be
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restricted from trading in certain securities and instruments. The Adviser or Sub-Adviser will not be free to divulge, or to act upon, any such confidential or material non-public information and, due to these restrictions, the Adviser or Sub-Adviser may be unable to initiate a transaction for the Fund’s account that it otherwise might have initiated. As a result, the Fund may be frozen in an investment position that it otherwise might have liquidated or closed out or may not be able to acquire a position that it might otherwise have acquired.

The Fund is required to show the dollar amount ranges of the portfolio manager’s beneficial ownership of shares of the Fund as of the fiscal year ended January 31, 2025. Because the Fund is new, the Portfolio Manager did not own Shares.

Control Persons and Principal Holders of Securities

A “principal shareholder” is any person who owns of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund. A “control person” is one who owns beneficially or through controlled companies more than 25% of the voting securities of the Fund or acknowledges the existence of control.

As a controlling shareholder, each of these persons could control the outcome of any proposal submitted to the shareholders for approval, including changes to the Fund’s fundamental policies or the terms of the management agreement with the Adviser.

As of the date of this SAI, there were no outstanding Shares.

Proxy Voting Policy

The Board has adopted Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures (the “Policies”) on behalf of the Trust which delegate the responsibility for voting proxies to the Adviser, subject to the Board’s continuing oversight. The Policies require that the Adviser vote proxies received in a manner consistent with the best interests of the applicable Fund and its shareholders. The Policies also require the Adviser to present to the Board, at least annually, the Adviser’s Proxy Policies (as defined below) and a record of each proxy voted by the Adviser on behalf of the Fund, including a report on the resolution of all proxies identified by the Adviser as involving a conflict of interest. The Adviser has also adopted the following Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures (“Adviser’s Proxy Policies”).

In its role as investment adviser to the Fund, the Adviser has adopted those proxy voting policies adopted by the Trust. To the extent that the Trust’s policies do not cover potential voting issues with respect to proxies received by the Fund, the Fund has delegated to the Adviser the authority to act on its behalf to promote the Fund’s investment objective, subject to the provisions of the Trust’s policies regarding resolution of a conflict of interest with respect to the Adviser.

The Adviser will vote proxies in the best interests of the applicable Fund. The Adviser will generally vote in favor of routine corporate housekeeping proposals such as the election of directors and the selection of auditors, absent conflicts of interest (e.g., an auditor’s provision of non-audit services). The Adviser will generally vote against proposals that cause board members to become entrenched or cause unequal voting rights. In reviewing proposals, the Adviser may also consider the opinion of management, the effect on management, the effect on shareholder value and the issuer’s business practices.

The Adviser recognizes that under certain circumstances it may have a conflict of interest in voting proxies on behalf of the Fund. A “conflict of interest,” means any circumstance when the Adviser (including officers, directors, agents and employees) knowingly does business with, receives compensation from, or sits on the board of, a particular issuer or closely affiliated entity, and, therefore, may appear to have a conflict of interest between its own interests and the interests of fund shareholders in how proxies of that issuer are voted. The Adviser has adopted the Trust’s procedures as they relate to the resolution of conflicts of interest with respect to voting shares of the Fund.

The Trust will file a Form N-PX, with the Fund’s complete proxy voting record for the 12 months ended June 30, no later than August 31st of each year. Form N‑PX for the Fund will be available without charge, upon request, by calling toll-free (800) 617-0004 and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

The Board has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of information about the Fund’s security holdings. The Fund’s entire portfolio holdings are publicly disseminated each day the Fund is open for business and may be available through financial reporting and news services, including publicly available internet web sites. In addition, the composition of the Deposit
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Securities is publicly disseminated daily prior to the opening of the Exchange via the facilities of the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”).

Description of Shares

The Declaration of Trust authorizes the issuance of an unlimited number of funds and shares. Each share represents an equal proportionate interest in the applicable Fund with each other share. Shares are entitled upon liquidation to a pro rata share in the net assets of the applicable Fund. Shareholders have no preemptive rights. The Declaration of Trust provides that the Trustees may create additional series or classes of shares. All consideration received by the Trust for shares of any additional funds and all assets in which such consideration is invested would belong to that fund and would be subject to the liabilities related thereto. Share certificates representing Shares will not be issued. Shares, when issued, are fully paid and non-assessable.

Each Share has one vote with respect to matters upon which a shareholder vote is required, consistent with the requirements of the 1940 Act and the rules promulgated thereunder. Shares of all funds in the Trust vote together as a single class, except that if the matter being voted on affects only a particular fund it will be voted on only by that fund and if a matter affects a particular fund differently from other funds, that fund will vote separately on such matter. As a Delaware statutory trust, the Trust is not required, and does not intend, to hold annual meetings of shareholders. Approval of shareholders will be sought, however, for certain changes in the operation of the Trust and for the election of Trustees under certain circumstances. Upon the written request of shareholders owning at least 10% of the Trust’s shares, the Trust will call for a meeting of shareholders to consider the removal of one or more Trustees and other certain matters. In the event that such a meeting is requested, the Trust will provide appropriate assistance and information to the shareholders requesting the meeting.

Under the Declaration of Trust, the Trustees have the power to liquidate the Fund without shareholder approval. While the Trustees have no present intention of exercising this power, they may do so if the Fund fails to reach a viable size within a reasonable amount of time or for such other reasons as may be determined by the Board.

Portfolio Transactions

How Securities are Purchased and Sold

Purchases and sales of portfolio securities that are equity securities (for instance common stock and preferred stock) are generally effected: (1) if the security is traded on an exchange, through brokers who charge commissions; and (2) if the security is traded in the “over-the-counter” markets, in a principal transaction directly from a market maker. In transactions on stock exchanges, commissions are negotiated. When transactions are executed in an over-the-counter market, the Sub-Adviser will seek to deal with the primary market makers; but when necessary to obtain best execution, the Sub-Adviser will utilize the services of others.

Purchases and sales of portfolio securities that are fixed income securities (for instance, money market instruments and bonds, notes and bills) usually are principal transactions. In a principal transaction, the party from whom the Fund purchases or to whom the Fund sells is acting on their own behalf (and not as the agent of some other party such as its customers). These securities normally are purchased directly from the issuer or from an underwriter or market maker for the securities. There usually are no brokerage commissions paid for these securities.


The price of securities purchased from underwriters includes a disclosed fixed commission or concession paid by the issuer to the underwriter, and prices of securities purchased from dealers serving as market makers reflects the spread between the bid and asked price.

In the case of fixed income and equity securities traded in the over-the-counter markets, there is generally no stated commission, but the price usually includes an undisclosed commission or markup.

Commissions Paid

The Fund is new and, as such, have not paid any brokerage commissions as of the date of this SAI.

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Sub-Adviser Responsibility for Purchases and Sales

The Sub-Adviser places orders for the purchase and sale of securities with broker-dealers selected by and in the discretion of the Sub-Adviser. The Fund does not have any obligation to deal with a specific broker or dealer in the execution of portfolio transactions. Allocations of transactions to brokers and dealers and the frequency of transactions are determined by the Sub-Adviser in its best judgment and in a manner deemed to be in the best interest of the applicable Fund rather than by any formula.

The Sub-Adviser seeks “best execution” for all portfolio transactions. This means that the Sub-Adviser seeks the most favorable price and execution available. The Sub-Adviser’s primary consideration in executing transactions for the Fund is prompt execution of orders in an effective manner and at the most favorable price available.

Choosing Broker-Dealers

The Fund may not always pay the lowest commission or spread available. Rather, in determining the amount of commissions (including certain dealer spreads) paid in connection with securities transactions, the Sub-Adviser takes into account factors such as size of the order, difficulty of execution, efficiency of the executing broker’s facilities (including the research services described below) and any risk assumed by the executing broker.

Consistent with applicable rules and the Sub-Adviser’s duties, the Sub-Adviser may consider payments made by brokers effecting transactions for the Fund. These payments may be made to the Fund or to other persons on behalf of the Fund for services provided to the Fund for which those other persons would be obligated to pay.

The Sub-Adviser may also utilize a broker and pay a slightly higher commission if, for example, the broker has specific expertise in a particular type of transaction (due to factors such as size or difficulty), or it is efficient in trade execution.

Subject to the foregoing policies, brokers or dealers selected to execute the Fund’s portfolio transactions may include such Fund’s Authorized Participants (as discussed in “Procedures for Purchase of Creation Units” below) or their affiliates. An Authorized Participant or its affiliates may be selected to execute the Fund’s portfolio transactions in conjunction with an all-cash creation unit order or an order including “cash-in-lieu” (as described below under “Purchase and Redemption of Shares in Creation Units”), so long as such selection is in keeping with the foregoing policies. As described below under “Purchase and Redemption of Shares in Creation Units— Creation Transaction Fee” and “—Redemption Transaction Fee”, the Fund may determine to not charge a variable fee on certain orders when the Adviser has determined that doing so is in the best interests of Fund shareholders, e.g., for creation orders that facilitate the rebalance of the applicable Fund’s portfolio in a more tax efficient manner than could be achieved without such order, even if the decision to not charge a variable fee could be viewed as benefiting the Authorized Participant or its affiliate selected to execute the Fund’s portfolio transactions in connection with such orders.

Portfolio Trading by Authorized Participants

When creation or redemption transactions consist of cash, the transactions may require the Fund to contemporaneously transact with broker-dealers for purchases or sales of portfolio securities, as applicable. Depending on the timing of the transactions and certain other factors, such transactions may be placed with the purchasing or redeeming Authorized Participant in its capacity as a broker-dealer or with its affiliated broker-dealer and conditioned upon an agreement with the Authorized Participant or its affiliated broker-dealer to transact at guaranteed prices in order to reduce transaction costs incurred as a consequence of settling creations or redemptions in cash rather than in-kind.

Specifically, following the Fund’s receipt of a creation or redemption order, to the extent such purchases or redemptions consist of a cash portion, the Fund may enter an order with the Authorized Participant or its affiliated broker-dealer to purchase or sell the portfolio securities, as applicable. Such Authorized Participant or its affiliated broker-dealer will be required to guarantee that the Fund will achieve execution of its order at a price at least as favorable to the Fund as the Fund’s valuation of the portfolio securities used for purposes of calculating the NAV applied to the creation or redemption transaction giving rise to the order. Whether the execution of the order is at a price at least as favorable to the Fund will depend on the results achieved by the executing firm and will vary depending on market activity, timing and a variety of other factors.

An Authorized Participant is required to deposit an amount with the Fund in order to ensure that the execution of the order on the terms noted above will be honored on orders arising from creation transactions executed by an Authorized Participant or its affiliate as broker-dealer. If the broker-dealer executing the order achieves executions in market transactions at a price equal to or more favorable than the Fund’s valuation of the portfolio securities, the Fund receives the benefit of the favorable executions
34


and the deposit is returned to the Authorized Participant. If, however, the broker-dealer executing the order is unable to achieve a price at least equal to the Fund’s valuation of the securities, the Fund retains the portion of the deposit equal to the full amount of the execution shortfall (including any taxes, brokerage commissions or other costs) and may require the Authorized Participant to deposit any additional amount required to cover the full amount of the actual execution transaction.

An Authorized Participant agrees to pay the shortfall amount in order to ensure that a guarantee on execution will be honored for brokerage orders arising from redemption transactions executed by an Authorized Participant or its affiliate as broker-dealer. If the broker-dealer executing the order achieves executions in market transactions at a price equal to or more favorable than the Fund’s valuation of the portfolio securities, the Fund receives the benefit of the favorable executions. If, however, the broker-dealer is unable to achieve executions in market transactions at a price at least equal to the Fund’s valuation of the securities, the Fund will be entitled to the portion of the offset equal to the full amount of the execution shortfall (including any taxes, brokerage commissions or other costs).

Securities of Regular Broker-Dealers

From time to time, the Fund may acquire and hold securities issued by its “regular brokers and dealers” or the parents of those brokers and dealers. For this purpose, regular brokers and dealers are the 10 brokers or dealers that: (1) received the greatest amount of brokerage commissions during the Fund’s last fiscal year; (2) engaged in the largest amount of principal transactions for portfolio transactions of the Fund during the Fund’s last fiscal year; or (3) sold the largest amount of the Fund’s shares during the Fund’s last fiscal year.

The Fund is new and, as such, did not own any securities of their regular brokers or dealers as of the date of this SAI.

Obtaining Research from Brokers

The Sub-Adviser has full brokerage discretion. The Sub-Adviser evaluates the range and quality of a broker’s services in placing trades such as securing best price, confidentiality, clearance and settlement capabilities, promptness of execution and the financial stability of the broker-dealer. The Sub-Adviser may give consideration to research services furnished by brokers to the Sub-Adviser for its use and may cause the Fund to pay these brokers a higher amount of commission than may be charged by other brokers. This research is designed to augment the Sub-Adviser’s own internal research and investment strategy capabilities. This research may include reports that are common in the industry such as industry research reports and periodicals, quotation systems, software for portfolio management and formal databases. Typically, the research will be used to service all of the Sub-Adviser accounts, although a particular client may not benefit from all the research received on each occasion. The Sub-Adviser fees are not reduced by reason of receipt of research services. Most of the brokerage commissions for research are for investment research on specific companies or industries. And, because the Sub-Adviser will follow a limited number of securities most of the commission dollars spent on research will directly benefit clients and the Fund’s investors.

Counterparty Risk

The Adviser monitors the creditworthiness of counterparties to the Fund’s transactions and intends to enter into a transaction only when it believes that the counterparty presents minimal and appropriate credit risks.

Transactions through Affiliates

The Sub-Adviser may effect brokerage transactions through affiliates of the Adviser or Sub-Adviser (or affiliates of those persons) pursuant to procedures adopted by the Trust.

Other Accounts of the Sub-Adviser

Investment decisions for the Fund are made independently from those for any other account or investment company that is or may in the future become advised by the Adviser, Sub-Adviser or their respective affiliates. Investment decisions are the product of many factors, including basic suitability for the particular client involved. Likewise, a particular security may be bought or sold for certain clients even though it could have been bought or sold for other clients at the same time. Likewise, a particular security may be bought for one or more clients when one or more clients are selling the security. In some instances, one client may sell a particular security to another client. In addition, two or more clients may simultaneously purchase or sell the same security, in which event, each day’s transactions in such security are, insofar as is possible, averaged as to price and allocated between such clients in a manner which, in the Sub-Adviser’s opinion, is in the best interest of the affected accounts and is equitable to each and in accordance with the amount being purchased or sold by each. There may be circumstances when purchases or sales of a portfolio security for one client could have an adverse effect on another client that has a position in that
35


security. In addition, when purchases or sales of the same security for the Fund and other client accounts managed by the Sub-Adviser occurs contemporaneously, the purchase or sale orders may be aggregated to obtain any price advantages available to large denomination purchases or sales.

Book Entry Only System

The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) acts as securities depositary for Shares. Shares are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC. Except in limited circumstances set forth below, certificates will not be issued for Shares.

DTC is a limited-purpose trust company that was created to hold securities of its participants (the “DTC Participants”) and to facilitate the clearance and settlement of securities transactions among the DTC Participants in such securities through electronic book-entry changes in accounts of the DTC Participants, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of securities certificates. DTC Participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and certain other organizations, some of whom (and/or their representatives) own DTC. More specifically, DTC is owned by a number of its DTC Participants and by the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) and FINRA. Access to the DTC system is also available to others such as banks, brokers, dealers, and trust companies that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a DTC Participant, either directly or indirectly (the “Indirect Participants”).

Beneficial ownership of Shares is limited to DTC Participants, Indirect Participants, and persons holding interests through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants. Ownership of beneficial interests in Shares (owners of such beneficial interests are referred to in this SAI as “Beneficial Owners”) is shown on, and the transfer of ownership is effected only through, records maintained by DTC (with respect to DTC Participants) and on the records of DTC Participants (with respect to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners that are not DTC Participants). Beneficial Owners will receive from or through the DTC Participant a written confirmation relating to their purchase of Shares. The Trust recognizes DTC or its nominee as the record owner of all Shares for all purposes. Beneficial Owners of Shares are not entitled to have Shares registered in their names, and will not receive or be entitled to physical delivery of Share certificates. Each Beneficial Owner must rely on the procedures of DTC and any DTC Participant and/or Indirect Participant through which such Beneficial Owner holds its interests, to exercise any rights of a holder of Shares.

Conveyance of all notices, statements, and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. DTC will make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee a listing of Shares held by each DTC Participant. The Trust shall obtain from each such DTC Participant the number of Beneficial Owners holding Shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust shall provide each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement, or other communication, in such form, number and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement or communication may be transmitted by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participant a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Share distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., as the registered holder of all Shares. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall credit immediately DTC Participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in the Fund as shown on the records of DTC or its nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners of Shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a “street name,” and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants.

The Trust has no responsibility or liability for any aspect of the records relating to or notices to Beneficial Owners, or payments made on account of beneficial ownership interests in Shares, or for maintaining, supervising, or reviewing any records relating to such beneficial ownership interests, or for any other aspect of the relationship between DTC and the DTC Participants or the relationship between such DTC Participants and the Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners owning through such DTC Participants.

DTC may determine to discontinue providing its service with respect to the Fund at any time by giving reasonable notice to the Fund and discharging its responsibilities with respect thereto under applicable law. Under such circumstances, the applicable Fund shall act either to find a replacement for DTC to perform its functions at a comparable cost or, if such replacement is unavailable, to issue and deliver printed certificates representing ownership of Shares, unless the Trust makes other arrangements with respect thereto satisfactory to the Exchange.

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Dividends and other distributions on Shares are distributed on a pro rata basis to Beneficial Owners of such Shares. Dividend payments are made through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants to Beneficial Owners then of record with proceeds received from the Trust.

The Fund makes additional distributions to the extent necessary (i) to distribute the entire annual taxable income of the applicable Fund, plus any net capital gains and (ii) to avoid imposition of the excise tax imposed by Section 4982 of the Code. Management of the Trust reserves the right to declare special dividends if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to preserve the Fund’s eligibility for treatment as a RIC or to avoid imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income.

Dividend Reinvestment Service. The Trust will not make the DTC book-entry dividend reinvestment service available for use by Beneficial Owners for reinvestment of their cash proceeds, but certain individual broker-dealers may make available the DTC book-entry Dividend Reinvestment Service for use by Beneficial Owners of the Fund through DTC Participants for reinvestment of their dividend distributions. Investors should contact their brokers to ascertain the availability and description of these services. Beneficial Owners should be aware that each broker may require investors to adhere to specific procedures and timetables to participate in the dividend reinvestment service and investors should ascertain from their brokers such necessary details. If this service is available and used, dividend distributions of both income and realized gains will be automatically reinvested in additional whole Shares issued by the Trust of the applicable Fund at NAV per Share. Distributions reinvested in additional Shares will nevertheless be taxable to Beneficial Owners acquiring such additional Shares to the same extent as if such distributions had been received in cash.

Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units

The Fund issues and redeems its shares on a continuous basis, at NAV, only in a large specified number of shares called a “Creation Unit,” either principally in-kind for securities and/or in cash for the value of such securities. The NAV of the Fund’s shares is determined once each Business Day, as described below under “Determination of Net Asset Value.” The Creation Unit size may change. Authorized Participants will be notified of such change.

Purchase (Creation). The Trust issues and sells Shares only in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Distributor, without a sales load (but subject to transaction fees, if applicable), at their NAV per share next determined after receipt, on any Business Day, of an order in proper form. The NAV of Shares is calculated each Business Day as of the scheduled close of regular trading on the NYSE, generally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time. The Fund will not issue fractional Creation Units. A “Business Day” is any day on which the NYSE is open for business. As of the date of this SAI, the NYSE observes the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President’s Day (Washington’s Birthday), Good Friday, Memorial Day (observed), Juneteenth Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Fund Deposit. The Fund has adopted policies and procedures governing the process of constructing baskets of Deposit Securities (defined below), Fund Securities (defined below) and/or cash, and acceptance of the same (the “Basket Procedures”). The consideration for purchase of a Creation Unit of the Fund generally consists of either: (i) the in-kind deposit of a designated portfolio of securities (the “Deposit Securities”) per each Creation Unit, constituting a substantial replication, or a portfolio sampling representation, of the securities included in the Fund’s portfolio and the Cash Component (defined below), computed as described below, or (ii) the cash value of the Deposit Securities (“Deposit Cash”) and the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security. When accepting purchases of Creation Units for cash, the Fund may incur additional costs associated with the acquisition of Deposit Securities that would otherwise be provided by an in-kind purchaser. These additional costs may be recoverable from the purchaser of Creation Units.

Together, the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of the Fund. The “Cash Component” is an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of Shares (per Creation Unit) and the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable. If the Cash Component is a positive number (i.e., the NAV per Creation Unit exceeds the value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable), the Cash Component shall be such positive amount. If the Cash Component is a negative number (i.e., the NAV per Creation Unit is less than the value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable), the Cash Component shall be such negative amount and the creator will be entitled to receive cash in an amount equal to the Cash Component. The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the NAV per Creation Unit and the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable. Computation of the Cash Component excludes any stamp duty or other similar fees and expenses payable upon transfer of beneficial ownership of the Deposit Securities, if applicable, which shall be the sole responsibility of the Authorized Participant (as defined below).

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The Fund, through NSCC, makes available on each Business Day, prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern time), the list of the names and the required number of Shares of each Deposit Security or the required amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, to be included in the current Fund Deposit (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for the Fund. Such Fund Deposit is subject to any applicable adjustments as described below, in order to effect purchases of Creation Units of the Fund until such time as the next-announced composition of the Deposit Securities or the required amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, is made available.

The identity and number of Shares of the Deposit Securities or the amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, required for the Fund Deposit for the Fund may be changed from time to time by the Sub-Adviser, in accordance with the Basket Procedures, with a view to the investment objective of such Fund. Information regarding the Fund Deposit necessary for the purchase of a Creation Unit is made available to Authorized Participants and other market participants seeking to transact in Creation Unit aggregations. The composition of the Deposit Securities may also change in response to portfolio adjustments, interest payments and corporate action events.

The Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of Deposit Cash to replace any Deposit Security, which shall be added to the Cash Component, including, without limitation, in situations where the Deposit Security: (i) may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery; (ii) may not be eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC for corporate securities and municipal securities; (iii) may not be eligible for trading by an Authorized Participant or the investor for which it is acting; (iv) would be restricted under the securities laws or where the delivery of the Deposit Security to the Authorized Participant would result in the disposition of the Deposit Security by the Authorized Participant becoming restricted under the securities laws; or (v) in certain other situations (collectively, “custom orders”). The Trust also reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of Deposit Securities in lieu of Deposit Cash.

Cash Purchase. The Trust may at its discretion permit full or partial cash purchases of Creation Units of the Fund. When full or partial cash purchases of Creation Units are available or specified for the Fund, they will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind purchases thereof. In the case of a full or partial cash purchase, the Authorized Participant must pay the cash equivalent of the Deposit Securities it would otherwise be required to provide through an in-kind purchase, plus the same Cash Component required to be paid by an in-kind purchaser together with a creation transaction fee and non-standard charges, as may be applicable.

Procedures for Purchase of Creation Units. To be eligible to place orders with the Distributor to purchase a Creation Unit of the Fund, an entity must be (i) a “Participating Party” (i.e., a broker-dealer or other participant in the clearing process through the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC (the “Clearing Process”)), a clearing agency that is registered with the SEC; or (ii) a DTC Participant (see “Book Entry Only System”). In addition, each Participating Party or DTC Participant (each, an “Authorized Participant”) must execute a Participant Agreement that has been agreed to by the Distributor, and that has been accepted by the Transfer Agent, with respect to purchases and redemptions of Creation Units. Each Authorized Participant will agree, pursuant to the terms of a Participant Agreement, on behalf of itself or any investor on whose behalf it will act, to certain conditions, including that it will pay to the Trust, an amount of cash sufficient to pay the Cash Component together with the creation transaction fee (described below), if applicable, and any other applicable fees and taxes.

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

An Authorized Participant may require an investor to make certain representations or enter into agreements with respect to the order (e.g., to provide for payments of cash, when required). Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not have executed a Participant Agreement and that, therefore, orders to purchase Shares directly from the Fund in Creation Units have to be placed by the investor’s broker through an Authorized Participant that has executed a Participant Agreement. In such cases there may be additional charges to such investor. At any given time, there may be only a limited number of broker-dealers that have executed a Participant Agreement and only a small number of such Authorized Participants may have international capabilities.

On days when the Exchange closes earlier than normal, the Fund may require orders to create Creation Units to be placed earlier in the day. In addition, if a market or markets on which the Fund’s investments are primarily traded is closed, such Fund will also generally not accept orders on such day(s). Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant by telephone or other transmission method acceptable to the Transfer Agent pursuant to procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement and in accordance with the applicable order form. On behalf of the Fund, the Transfer Agent will notify the Custodian of such order. The
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Custodian will then provide such information to the appropriate local sub-custodian(s). Those placing orders through an Authorized Participant should allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the purchase order to the Transfer Agent by the cut-off time on such Business Day. Economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure may impede the ability to reach the Transfer Agent or an Authorized Participant.

Fund Deposits must be delivered by an Authorized Participant through the Federal Reserve System (for cash) or through DTC (for corporate securities), through a subcustody agent (for foreign securities) and/or through such other arrangements allowed by the Trust or its agents. With respect to foreign Deposit Securities, the Custodian shall cause the subcustodian of the applicable Fund to maintain an account into which the Authorized Participant shall deliver, on behalf of itself or the party on whose behalf it is acting, such Deposit Securities (or Deposit Cash for all or a part of such securities, as permitted or required), with any appropriate adjustments as advised by the Trust. Foreign Deposit Securities must be delivered to an account maintained at the applicable local subcustodian. A Fund Deposit transfer must be ordered by the Authorized Participant in a timely fashion to ensure the delivery of the requisite number of Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, to the account of the applicable Fund or its agents by no later than 12:00 p.m. Eastern time (or such other time as specified by the Trust) on the Settlement Date. If the Fund or its agents do not receive all of the Deposit Securities, or the required Deposit Cash in lieu thereof, by such time, then the order may be deemed rejected and the Authorized Participant shall be liable to such Fund for losses, if any, resulting therefrom. The “Settlement Date” for the Fund is generally the Business Day after the Order Placement Date. All questions as to the number of Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash to be delivered, as applicable, and the validity, form and eligibility (including time of receipt) for the deposit of any tendered securities or cash, as applicable, will be determined by the Trust, whose determination shall be final and binding. The amount of cash represented by the Cash Component must be transferred directly to the Custodian through the Federal Reserve Bank wire transfer system in a timely manner to be received by the Custodian no later than the Settlement Date. If the Cash Component and the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, are not received by the Custodian in a timely manner by the Settlement Date, the creation order may be cancelled. Upon written notice to the Transfer Agent, such canceled order may be resubmitted the following Business Day using the Fund Deposit as newly constituted to reflect the then current NAV of the applicable Fund.

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

Issuance of a Creation Unit. Except as provided in this SAI, Creation Units will not be issued until the transfer of good title to the Trust of the Deposit Securities or payment of Deposit Cash, as applicable, and the payment of the Cash Component have been completed. When the subcustodian has confirmed to the Custodian that the required Deposit Securities (or the cash value thereof) have been delivered to the account of the relevant subcustodian or subcustodians, the Distributor and the Adviser shall be notified of such delivery, and the Trust will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation Units. The delivery of Creation Units so created generally will occur no later than the second Business Day following the day on which the purchase order is deemed received by the Transfer Agent. The Authorized Participant shall be liable to the applicable Fund for losses, if any, resulting from unsettled orders.

In instances where the Trust accepts Deposit Securities for the purchase of a Creation Unit, the Creation Units may be purchased in advance of receipt by the Trust of all or a portion of the applicable Deposit Securities as described below. In these circumstances, the initial deposit will have a value greater than the NAV of Shares on the date the order is placed in proper form since, in addition to available Deposit Securities, cash must be deposited in an amount equal to the sum of (i) the Cash Component, plus (ii) an additional amount of cash equal to a percentage of the value as set forth in the Participant Agreement, of the undelivered Deposit Securities (the “Additional Cash Deposit”), which shall be maintained in a separate non-interest bearing collateral account. The Authorized Participant must deposit with the Custodian the Additional Cash Deposit, as applicable, by 12:00 p.m. Eastern time (or such other time as specified by the Trust) on the Settlement Date. If the Fund or its agents do not receive the Additional Cash Deposit in the appropriate amount, by such time, then the order may be deemed rejected and the Authorized Participant shall be liable to the applicable Fund for losses, if any, resulting therefrom. An additional amount of cash shall be required to be deposited with the Trust, pending delivery of the missing Deposit Securities to the extent necessary to maintain the Additional Cash Deposit with the Trust in an amount at least equal to the applicable percentage, as set forth in the Participant Agreement, of the daily market value of the missing Deposit Securities. The Participant Agreement will permit the Trust to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time. Authorized Participants will be liable to the Trust for the costs incurred by the Trust in connection with any such purchases. These costs will be deemed to include the amount by which the actual purchase price of the Deposit Securities exceeds the value of such Deposit Securities on the day the purchase order was deemed received by the Transfer Agent plus the brokerage and related transaction costs
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associated with such purchases. The Trust will return any unused portion of the Additional Cash Deposit once all of the missing Deposit Securities have been properly received by the Custodian or purchased by the Trust and deposited into the Trust. In addition, a transaction fee, as described below under “Creation Transaction Fee,” may be charged. The delivery of Creation Units so created generally will occur no later than the Settlement Date.

Acceptance of Orders of Creation Units. The Trust reserves the right to reject an order for Creation Units transmitted in respect of the Fund at its discretion, including, without limitation, if (a) the order is not in proper form; (b) the investor(s), upon obtaining the Shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding Shares of the Fund; (c) the acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; or (d) in the event that circumstances outside the control of the Trust, the Custodian, the Transfer Agent and/or the Adviser make it for all practical purposes not feasible to process orders for Creation Units, provided that such actions do not result in a suspension of sales of Creation Units in contravention of Rule 6c-11 and the SEC’s positions thereunder. Examples of such circumstances include acts of God or public service or utility problems such as fires, floods, extreme weather conditions and power outages resulting in telephone, telecopy and computer failures; market conditions or activities causing trading halts; systems failures involving computer or other information systems affecting the Trust, the Distributor, the Custodian, the Transfer Agent, DTC, NSCC, Federal Reserve System, or any other participant in the creation process, and other extraordinary events. The Trust or its agents shall communicate to the Authorized Participant its rejection of an order. The Trust, the Transfer Agent, the Custodian and the Distributor are under no duty, however, to give notification of any defects or irregularities in the delivery of Fund Deposits nor shall either of them incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification. The Trust, the Transfer Agent, the Custodian and the Distributor shall not be liable for the rejection of any purchase order for Creation Units provided that such actions do not result in a suspension of sales of Creation Units in contravention of Rule 6c-11 and the SEC’s positions thereunder.

All questions as to the number of shares of each security in the Deposit Securities and the validity form, eligibility and acceptance for deposit of any securities to be delivered shall be determined by the Trust, and the Trust’s determination shall be final and binding.

Creation Unit Transaction Fee. A fixed purchase (i.e., creation) transaction fee, payable to the Fund’s custodian, may be imposed for the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the purchase of Creation Units (“Creation Order Costs”). The standard fixed creation unit transaction fee for the Fund, regardless of the number of Creation Units created in the transaction, can be found in the table below. The Fund may adjust the standard fixed creation unit transaction fee from time to time. The fixed creation unit transaction fee may be waived on certain orders if the applicable Fund’s custodian has determined to waive some or all of the Creation Order Costs associated with the order or another party, such as the Adviser, has agreed to pay such fee.

In addition, a variable fee, payable to the Fund, of up to the maximum percentage listed in the table below of the value of the Creation Units subject to the transaction may be imposed for cash purchases, non-standard orders, or partial cash purchases of Creation Units. The variable charge is primarily designed to cover additional costs (e.g., brokerage, taxes) involved with buying the securities with cash. The Fund may determine to not charge a variable fee on certain orders when the Adviser has determined that doing so is in the best interests of Fund shareholders, e.g., for creation orders that facilitate the rebalance of the applicable Fund’s portfolio in a more tax efficient manner than could be achieved without such order.

Name of FundFixed Creation Unit Transaction FeeMaximum Variable Transaction
Whiplight ETF$[•][•]%

Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary may be charged a fee for such services. Investors are responsible for the fixed costs of transferring the Fund Securities from the Trust to their account or on their order.

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

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

Redemption. Shares may be redeemed only in Creation Units at their NAV next determined after receipt of a redemption request in proper form by the Fund through the Transfer Agent and only on a Business Day. EXCEPT UPON LIQUIDATION OF THE FUND, THE TRUST WILL NOT REDEEM SHARES IN AMOUNTS LESS THAN CREATION UNITS. Investors must accumulate enough Shares in the secondary market to constitute a Creation Unit in order to have such Shares redeemed by the Trust. There can be no assurance, however, that there will be sufficient liquidity in the public trading market at any time to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. Investors should expect to incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of Shares to constitute a redeemable Creation Unit.

With respect to the Fund, the Custodian, through the NSCC, makes available prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern time) on each Business Day, the list of the names and Share quantities of the Fund’s portfolio securities that will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to redemption requests received in proper form (as defined below) on that day (“Fund Securities”). Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities.

Redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit are paid either in-kind and/or in cash, or a combination thereof, as determined by the Trust in accordance with the Basket Procedures. With respect to in-kind redemptions of the Fund, redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit will consist of Fund Securities—as announced by the Custodian on the Business Day of the request for redemption received in proper form plus cash in an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of Shares being redeemed, as next determined after a receipt of a request in proper form, and the value of the Fund Securities (the “Cash Redemption Amount”), less a fixed redemption transaction fee, as applicable, as set forth below. In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the NAV of Shares, a compensating cash payment equal to the differential is required to be made by or through an Authorized Participant by the redeeming shareholder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, at the Trust’s discretion, an Authorized Participant may receive the corresponding cash value of the securities in lieu of the in-kind securities value representing one or more Fund Securities.

Cash Redemption. Full or partial cash redemptions of Creation Units will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind redemptions thereof. In the case of full or partial cash redemptions, the Authorized Participant receives the cash equivalent of the Fund Securities it would otherwise receive through an in-kind redemption, plus the same Cash Redemption Amount to be paid to an in-kind redeemer.

Redemption Transaction Fee. A fixed redemption transaction fee, payable to the Fund; custodian, may be imposed for the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the redemption of Creation Units (“Redemption Order Costs”). The standard fixed redemption transaction fee for the Fund, regardless of the number of Creation Units redeemed in the transaction, can be found in the table below. The Fund may adjust the redemption transaction fee from time to time. The fixed redemption fee may be waived on certain orders if the applicable Fund’s custodian has determined to waive some or all of the Redemption Order Costs associated with the order or another party, such as the Adviser, has agreed to pay such fee.

In addition, a variable fee, payable to the Fund, of up to the maximum percentage listed in the table below of the value of the Creation Units subject to the transaction may be imposed for cash redemptions, non-standard orders, or partial cash redemptions (when cash redemptions are available) of Creation Units. The variable charge is primarily designed to cover additional costs (e.g., brokerage, taxes) involved with selling portfolio securities to satisfy a cash redemption. The Fund may determine to not charge a variable fee on certain orders when the Adviser has determined that doing so is in the best interests of Fund shareholders, e.g., for redemption orders that facilitate the rebalance of the Fund’s portfolio in a more tax efficient manner than could be achieved without such order.

Name of FundFixed Redemption Transaction FeeMaximum Variable Transaction
Whiplight ETF$[•][•]%

Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary may be charged a fee for such services. Investors are responsible for the fixed costs of transferring the Fund Securities from the Trust to their account or on their order.

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

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

An Authorized Participant submitting a redemption request is deemed to represent to the Trust that it (or its client) (i) owns outright or has full legal authority and legal beneficial right to tender for redemption the requisite number of Shares to be redeemed and can receive the entire proceeds of the redemption, and (ii) the Shares to be redeemed have not been loaned or pledged to another party nor are they the subject of a repurchase agreement, securities lending agreement or such other arrangement which would preclude the delivery of such Shares to the Trust. The Trust reserves the right to verify these representations at its discretion, but will typically require verification with respect to a redemption request from the Fund in connection with higher levels of redemption activity and/or short interest in the Fund. If the Authorized Participant, upon receipt of a verification request, does not provide sufficient verification of its representations as determined by the Trust, the redemption request will not be considered to have been received in proper form and may be rejected by the Trust.

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

The Trust may, in its discretion and in accordance with the Basket Procedures, exercise its option to redeem such Shares in cash, and the redeeming investor will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash. In addition, an investor may request a redemption in cash that the Fund may, in its sole discretion, permit. In either case, the investor will receive a cash payment equal to the NAV of its Shares based on the NAV of Shares of the applicable Fund next determined after the redemption request is received in proper form (minus a redemption transaction fee, if applicable, and additional charge for requested cash redemptions specified above, to offset the Trust’s brokerage and other transaction costs associated with the disposition of Fund Securities). The Fund may also, in its sole discretion, and in accordance with the Basket Procedures, upon request of a shareholder, provide such redeemer a portfolio of securities that differs from the exact composition of the Fund Securities but does not differ in NAV.

Redemptions of Shares for Fund Securities will be subject to compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws and the Fund (whether or not it otherwise permits cash redemptions) reserves the right to redeem Creation Units for cash to the extent that the Trust could not lawfully deliver specific Fund Securities upon redemptions or could not do so without first registering the Fund Securities under such laws. An Authorized Participant or an investor for which it is acting subject to a legal restriction with respect to a particular security included in the Fund Securities applicable to the redemption of Creation Units may be paid an equivalent amount of cash. The Authorized Participant may request the redeeming investor of the Shares to complete an order form or to enter into agreements with respect to such matters as compensating cash payment. Further, an Authorized Participant that is not a “qualified institutional buyer,” (“QIB”) as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the Securities Act, will not be able to receive Fund Securities that are restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A. An Authorized Participant may be required by the Trust to provide a written confirmation with respect to QIB status to receive Fund Securities.

Because the portfolio securities of the Fund may trade on other exchanges on days that the Exchange is closed or are otherwise not Business Days for such Fund, shareholders may not be able to redeem their Shares, or to purchase or sell Shares on the Exchange, on days when the NAV of the applicable Fund could be significantly affecting by events in the relevant foreign markets.
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The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed for more than seven days with respect to the Fund (1) for any period during which the Exchange is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (2) for any period during which trading on the Exchange is suspended or restricted; (3) for any period during which the SEC has declared a market emergency; or (4) in such other circumstance as is permitted by the SEC.

Determination of Net Asset Value

NAV per Share for the Fund is computed by dividing the value of the net assets of the applicable Fund (i.e., the value of its total assets less total liabilities) by the total number of Shares outstanding, rounded to the nearest cent. Expenses and fees, including the management fees, are accrued daily and taken into account for purposes of determining NAV. The NAV of the Fund is calculated by Fund Services and determined at the scheduled close of the regular trading session on the NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time) on each day that the NYSE is open, provided that fixed-income assets may be valued as of the announced closing time for trading in fixed-income instruments on any day that the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”) announces an early closing time.

In calculating the Fund’s NAV per Share, the Fund’s investments are generally valued using market valuations. A market valuation generally means a valuation (i) obtained from an exchange, a pricing service, or a major market maker (or dealer), (ii) based on a price quotation or other equivalent indication of value supplied by an exchange, a pricing service, or a major market maker (or dealer) or (iii) based on amortized cost. In the case of shares of other funds that are not traded on an exchange, a market valuation means such fund’s published NAV per share. The Fund may use various pricing services, or discontinue the use of any pricing service, as approved by the Board from time to time. A price obtained from a pricing service based on such pricing service’s valuation matrix may be considered a market valuation. Any assets or liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are converted into U.S. dollars at the current market rates on the date of valuation as quoted by one or more sources.

Taxation

The tax information set forth in the Prospectus and the information in this section relates solely to Federal income tax law and assumes that the Fund qualifies as a regulated investment company (as discussed below). Such information is only a summary of certain key Federal income tax considerations affecting the Fund and its shareholders and is in addition to the information provided in the Prospectus. No attempt has been made to present a complete explanation of the Federal tax treatment of the Fund or the tax implications to shareholders. The discussions here and in the Prospectus are not intended as substitutes for careful tax planning.

This “Taxation” section is based on the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) and applicable regulations in effect on the date of the Prospectus. Future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions may significantly change the tax rules applicable to the Fund and its shareholders. Any of these changes or court decisions may have a retroactive effect.

All investors should consult their own tax advisors as to the Federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences of an investment in the Fund.

Qualification as a Regulated Investment Company

The Fund intends, for each tax year, to qualify as a “regulated investment company” under the Code.

Federal Income Tax Consequences of Qualification

As a regulated investment company, the Fund will not be subject to Federal income tax on the portion of its investment company taxable income (that is, taxable interest, dividends, net short-term capital gains and other taxable ordinary income, net of expenses) and net capital gain (that is, the excess of net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses) that it distributes to shareholders. To be subject to tax as a regulated investment company, generally the Fund must satisfy the following requirements:

•    The Fund must distribute an amount at least equal to the sum of 90% of its investment company taxable income, determined without regard to any deduction for dividends paid, and 90% of its net tax-exempt interest, if any, each tax year (certain distributions made by the Fund after the close of its tax year are considered distributions attributable to the previous tax year for purposes of satisfying this requirement (“Distribution Requirement”)).
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•    The Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income each tax year from dividends, interest, payments with respect to securities loans, and gains from the sale or other disposition of securities, or other income (including gains from options and futures contracts) derived from its business of investing in securities and net income derived from interests in qualified publicly traded partnerships.


•    The Fund must satisfy the following asset diversification test at the close of each quarter of the Fund’s tax year: (1) at least 50% of the value of the Fund’s assets must consist of cash, cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other regulated investment companies, and securities of other issuers (as to which the Fund has not invested more than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets in securities of an issuer and as to which the Fund does not hold more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of the issuer); and (2) no more than 25% of the value of the Fund’s total assets may be invested in the securities of any one issuer (other than U.S. government securities and securities of other regulated investment companies), or in two or more issuers which the Fund controls and which are engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses or in the securities of one or more qualified publicly traded partnerships.

While the Fund presently intends to make cash distributions (including distributions reinvested in Fund shares) for each tax year in an aggregate amount sufficient to satisfy the Distribution Requirement and eliminate Federal income tax, the Fund may use “equalization accounting” (in lieu of making some or all cash distributions) for those purposes. To the extent that the Fund uses equalization accounting it will allocate a portion of its undistributed investment company taxable income and net capital gain to redemptions of Fund shares and will correspondingly reduce the amount of such income and gain that it distributes in cash. If the IRS determines that the Fund’s allocation is improper and that the Fund has under-distributed its income and gain for any tax year, the Fund may be liable for Federal income and/or excise tax, and, if the Distribution Requirement has not been met, may also be unable to continue to qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company (see discussion below on what happens if the Fund fails to qualify for that treatment).

If the Fund retains any net capital gains for reinvestment, it may elect to treat such capital gains as having been distributed to shareholders. If the Fund makes such an election, each shareholder will be required to report its share of such undistributed net capital gains attributed to the Fund as long-term capital gain and will be entitled to claim its share of the U.S. federal income taxes paid by the Fund on such undistributed net capital gains as a credit against its own U.S. federal income tax liability, if any, and to claim a refund on a properly-filed U.S. federal income tax return to the extent that the credit exceeds such liability. In addition, each shareholder will be entitled to increase the adjusted tax basis of its Shares by the difference between its share of such undistributed net capital gain and the related credit. There can be no assurance that the Fund will make this election if it retains all or a portion of its net capital gain for a tax year.

The Fund is permitted to carry forward a net capital loss to offset its capital gain indefinitely. The excess of the Fund’s net short-term capital loss over its net long-term capital gain is treated as a short-term capital loss arising on the first day of the Fund’s next taxable year and the excess of the Fund’s net long-term capital loss over its net short-term capital gain is treated as a long-term capital loss arising on the first day of the Fund’s next taxable year. If future capital gain is offset by carried-forward capital losses, such future capital gain is not subject to fund-level U.S. federal income tax, regardless of whether it is distributed to shareholders. Accordingly, the Fund does not expect to distribute any such offsetting capital gain. In the event that the Fund were to experience an ownership change as defined under the Code, the capital loss carryforwards and other favorable tax attributes of the Fund, if any, may be subject to limitation. The Fund cannot carry back or carry forward any net operating losses.

The Fund is new and, as such, did not have any capital loss carry-forwards as of the date of this SAI.

Failure to Qualify

If for any tax year the Fund does not qualify as a regulated investment company, all of its taxable income (including its net capital gain) will be subject to tax at regular corporate rates without any deduction for dividends paid to shareholders, and the dividends will generally be taxable to the shareholders as ordinary income to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. In addition, the Fund could be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay taxes and make distributions (any of which could be subject to interest charges) before re-qualifying for taxation as a regulated investment company. If the Fund fails to satisfy either the income test or asset diversification test described above, in certain cases, however, the Fund may be able to avoid losing its status as a regulated investment company by timely providing notice of such failure to the IRS, curing such failure and possibly paying an additional tax or penalty.

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Failure to qualify as a regulated investment company would thus have a negative impact on the applicable Fund’s income and performance. It is possible that any Fund will not qualify as a regulated investment company in any given tax year.

Fund Distributions

The Fund anticipates distributing substantially all of its investment company taxable income and net tax-exempt interest (if any) for each tax year. Distributions paid to you out of such income generally would be characterized as ordinary income. A portion of these distributions may qualify for the dividends-received deduction when paid to certain corporate shareholders.

A portion of the Fund’s distributions paid to individuals may be treated as “qualified dividend income,” and may be subject to a maximum Federal income tax rate of either 15% or 20% (depending on whether the individual’s income exceeds certain threshold amounts). A distribution is treated as qualified dividend income to the extent that the applicable Fund receives dividend income from taxable domestic corporations and certain qualified foreign corporations, provided that holding period and other requirements are met by the Fund and the shareholder. To the extent the Fund’s distributions are attributable to other sources, such as interest or capital gains, such distributions are not treated as qualified dividend income.

Given the Fund’s investment strategies, it is not expected that a significant portion of any Fund’s dividends will be eligible to be reported as qualified dividend income or as eligible for the dividends-received deduction.

Individuals (and certain other non-corporate entities) are generally eligible for a 20% deduction with respect to taxable ordinary dividends from real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) through 2025. IRS regulations allow a regulated investment company to pass through to its shareholders such taxable ordinary REIT dividends. Accordingly, individual (and certain other non-corporate) shareholders of the Fund that has received taxable ordinary REIT dividends may be able to take advantage of this 20% deduction with respect to any such amounts passed through.

Certain distributions reported by the Fund as Section 163(j) interest dividends may be treated as interest income by shareholders for purposes of the tax rules applicable to interest expense limitations under Section 163(j) of the Code. Such treatment by the shareholder is generally subject to holding period requirements and other potential limitations, although the holding period requirements are generally not applicable to dividends declared by money market funds and certain other funds that declare dividends daily and pay such dividends on a monthly or more frequent basis. The amount that the Fund is eligible to report as a Section 163(j) dividend for a tax year is generally limited to the excess of the Fund’s business interest income over the sum of the Fund’s (i) business interest expense and (ii) other deductions properly allocable to the Fund’s business interest income.

An additional 3.8% Medicare tax is imposed on certain net investment income (including ordinary dividends and capital gain distributions received from the Fund and net gains from redemptions or other taxable dispositions of Fund shares) of U.S. individuals, estates and trusts to the extent that such person’s “modified adjusted gross income” (in the case of an individual) or “adjusted gross income” (in the case of an estate or trust) exceeds certain threshold amounts.

The Fund anticipates distributing substantially all of its net capital gain for each tax year. These distributions generally are made only once a year, usually in November or December, but the Fund may make additional distributions of net capital gain at any time during the year. These distributions to you generally would be characterized as long-term capital gain, regardless of how long you have held shares. These distributions do not qualify for the dividends-received deduction.

The Fund intends to operate, each year, using a fiscal and taxable year ending January 31.

Distributions by the Fund that exceed its earnings and profits will be treated as a return of capital. Return of capital distributions reduce your tax basis in the shares and are treated as gain from the sale of the shares to the extent your basis would be reduced below zero.

All distributions by the Fund will be treated in the manner described above regardless of whether the distribution is paid in cash or reinvested in additional shares of the Fund (or of another fund). If you receive distributions in the form of additional shares, you will be treated as receiving a distribution in an amount equal to the amount of cash that could have been received instead of shares.

You may purchase shares with a NAV at the time of purchase that reflects undistributed net investment income or recognized capital gain, or unrealized appreciation in the value of the assets of the applicable Fund. Distributions of these amounts are taxable to you in the manner described above, although the distribution economically constitutes a return of capital to you.

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Ordinarily, you are required to take distributions by the Fund into account in the year in which they are made. A distribution declared in October, November or December of any calendar year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in those months, however, is deemed to be paid by the Fund and received by you on December 31 of that calendar year if the distribution is actually paid in January of the following year.

The Fund will send you information annually as to the Federal income tax consequences of distributions made (or deemed made) during the year.

Certain Tax Rules Applicable to Fund Transactions

For Federal income tax purposes, when put and call options purchased by the Fund expire unexercised, the premiums paid by the Fund give rise to short- or long-term capital losses at the time of expiration (depending on the length of the respective exercise periods for the options). When put and call options written by the Fund expire unexercised, the premiums received by the Fund give rise to short-term capital gains at the time of expiration. When the Fund exercises a call, the purchase price of the underlying security is increased by the amount of the premium paid by the Fund. When the Fund exercises a put, the proceeds from the sale of the underlying security are decreased by the premium paid. When a put or call written by the Fund is exercised, the purchase price (selling price in the case of a call) of the underlying security is decreased (increased in the case of a call) for tax purposes by the premium received.

Some of the debt securities that may be acquired by the Fund may be treated as debt securities that are issued with original issue discount (“OID”). Generally, the amount of the OID is treated as interest income and is included in income over the term of the debt security, even though payment of that amount is not received until a later time, usually when the debt security matures. Additionally, some of the debt securities that may be acquired by the Fund in the secondary market may be treated as having market discount. Generally, any gain recognized on the disposition of, and any partial payment of principal on, a debt security having market discount is treated as ordinary income to the extent the gain, or principal payment, does not exceed the “accrued market discount” on such debt security. The Fund may make one or more of the elections applicable to debt securities having market discount, which could affect the character and timing of recognition of income. The Fund generally will be required to distribute dividends to shareholders representing discount on debt securities that is currently includable in income, even though cash representing such income may not have been received by the Fund. Cash to pay such dividends may be obtained from sales proceeds of securities held by the Fund.

The Fund may invest a portion of its net assets in below investment grade instruments. Investments in these types of instruments may present special tax issues for the Fund. U.S. federal income tax rules are not entirely clear about issues such as when the Fund may cease accruing interest, OID or market discount, when and to what extent deductions may be taken for bad debts or worthless instruments, how payments received on obligations in default should be allocated between principal and income and whether exchanges of debt obligations in a bankruptcy or workout context are taxable. These and other issues will be addressed by the Fund to the extent necessary to seek to ensure that it distributes sufficient income that it does not become subject to U.S. federal income or excise tax.

Certain listed options, regulated futures contracts and forward currency contracts are considered “Section 1256 contracts” for Federal income tax purposes. Section 1256 contracts held by the Fund at the end of each tax year are “marked to market” and treated for Federal income tax purposes as though sold for fair market value on the last business day of the tax year. Gains or losses realized by the Fund on Section 1256 contracts generally are considered 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gains or losses. The Fund can elect to exempt its Section 1256 contracts that are part of a “mixed straddle” (as described below) from the application of Section 1256 of the Code.

Any option, futures contract or other position entered into or held by the Fund in conjunction with any other position held by the Fund may constitute a “straddle” for Federal income tax purposes. A straddle of which at least one, but not all, the positions are Section 1256 contracts, may constitute a “mixed straddle.” In general, straddles are subject to certain rules that may affect the character and timing of the Fund’s gains and losses with respect to straddle positions by requiring, among other things, that: (1) the loss realized on disposition of one position of a straddle may not be recognized to the extent that the Fund has unrealized gains with respect to the other position in such straddle; (2) the Fund’s holding period in straddle positions being suspended while the straddle exists (possibly resulting in a gain being treated as short-term capital gain rather than long-term capital gain); (3) the losses recognized with respect to certain straddle positions which are part of a mixed straddle and which are non-Section 1256 contracts being treated as 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital loss; (4) losses recognized with respect to certain straddle positions which would otherwise constitute short-term capital losses be treated as long-term capital losses; and (5) the deduction of interest and carrying charges attributable to certain straddle positions may be deferred. Various elections are available to the Fund, which may mitigate the effects of the straddle rules, particularly with respect to mixed straddles. In
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general, the straddle rules described above do not apply to any straddles held by the Fund if all of the offsetting positions consist of Section 1256 contracts.

Under the Code, gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates which occur between the time the Fund accrues interest or other receivables or accrues expenses or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time the Fund actually collects such receivables or pays such liabilities are treated as ordinary income or ordinary loss. Similarly, gains or losses from the disposition of foreign currencies, from the disposition of debt securities denominated in a foreign currency, or from the disposition of a forward contract, futures contract or similar financial instrument denominated in a foreign currency which are attributable to fluctuations in the value of the foreign currency between the date of acquisition of the asset and the date of disposition also are treated as ordinary income or loss. These gains or losses, referred to under the Code as “Section 988” gains or losses, increase or decrease the amount of the applicable Fund’s investment company taxable income available to be distributed to its shareholders as ordinary income, rather than increasing or decreasing the amount of the Fund’s net capital gain.

The Fund may invest in shares of foreign corporations (including equity interests in certain CLOs) which may be treated as passive foreign investment companies (“PFICs”) under the Code. In general, a foreign corporation is treated as a PFIC if at least one-half of its assets constitute investment-type assets or 75% or more of its gross income is investment-type income. If the Fund receives a so-called “excess distribution” with respect to PFIC stock, the Fund itself may be subject to a tax on a portion of the excess distribution, whether or not the corresponding income is distributed by the Fund to shareholders. In general, under the PFIC rules, an excess distribution is treated as having been realized ratably over the period during which the Fund held the PFIC shares. The Fund itself will be subject to tax on the portion, if any, of an excess distribution that is so allocated to prior Fund tax years and an interest factor will be added to the tax, as if the tax had been payable in such prior tax years. Certain distributions from a PFIC as well as gain from the sale of PFIC shares are treated as excess distributions. Excess distributions are characterized as ordinary income even though, absent application of the PFIC rules, certain excess distributions might have been characterized as capital gain.

The Fund may be eligible to elect alternative tax treatment with respect to PFIC shares. Under an election that currently is available in some circumstances (a qualified electing fund, or “QEF”, election), the Fund generally would be required to include in its gross income its share of the earnings of a PFIC on a current basis, regardless of whether distributions are received from the PFIC in a given tax year. If this election were made, the special rules, discussed above, relating to the taxation of excess distributions, would not apply.

Alternatively, the Fund may elect to mark-to-market its PFIC shares at the end of each taxable year, with the result that unrealized gains would be treated as though they were realized and reported as ordinary income. Any mark-to-market losses would be deductible as ordinary losses to the extent of any net mark-to-market gains included in income in prior tax years.

Because the application of the PFIC rules may affect, among other things, the character of gains, the amount of gain or loss and the timing of the recognition of income with respect to PFIC shares, as well as subject the Fund itself to tax on certain income from PFIC shares, the amount that must be distributed to shareholders, and which will be taxed to shareholders as ordinary income or long-term capital gain, may be increased or decreased substantially as compared to a fund that did not invest in PFIC shares. The Fund’s income inclusion with respect to a PFIC with respect to which the Fund has made a qualified electing fund, or “QEF”, election, is generally treated as qualifying income for purposes of determining the Fund’s ability to be subject to tax as a regulated investment company if (A) there is a current distribution out of the earnings and profits of the PFIC that are attributable to such income inclusion or (B) such inclusion is derived with respect to the Fund’s business of investing in stock, securities, or currencies.

If the Fund holds more than 10% of the interests treated as equity for U.S. federal income tax purposes in a foreign corporation that is treated as a controlled foreign corporation (“CFC”) (including equity tranche investments and certain debt tranche investments in a CLO treated as CFC), the Fund may be treated as receiving a deemed distribution (taxable as ordinary income) each tax year from such foreign corporation in an amount equal to the Fund’s pro rata share of the corporation’s income for the tax year (including both ordinary earnings and capital gains), whether or not the corporation makes an actual distribution during such year. In general, a foreign corporation will be classified as a CFC if more than 50% of the shares of the corporation, measured by reference to combined voting power or value, is owned (directly, indirectly or by attribution) by U.S. Shareholders. A “U.S. Shareholder,” for this purpose, is any U.S. person that possesses (actually or constructively) 10% or more of the combined value or voting power of all classes of shares of a corporation. If the Fund is treated as receiving a deemed distribution from a CFC, the Fund will be required to include such distribution in the Fund’s investment company taxable income regardless of whether the Fund receives any actual distributions from such CFC, and the Fund must distribute such income to satisfy the distribution requirements applicable to regulated investment companies. The Fund’s income inclusion with respect to a CFC is generally treated as qualifying income for purposes of determining the Fund’s ability to be subject to tax as a
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regulated investment company either if (A) there is a current distribution out of the earnings and profits of the CFC that are attributable to such income inclusion or (B) such inclusion is derived with respect to the Fund’s business of investing in stock, securities, or currencies.

The Fund might invest directly or indirectly in residual interests in real estate mortgage investment conduits (“REMICs”) or equity interests in taxable mortgage pools (“TMPs”). Under a notice issued by the IRS in October 2006 and Treasury regulations that have not yet been issued (but may apply with retroactive effect) a portion of the Fund’s income from a REIT that is attributable to the REIT’s residual interest in a REMIC or a TMP (referred to in the Code as an “excess inclusion”) will be subject to Federal income tax in all events. This notice also provides, and the regulations are expected to provide, that excess inclusion income of a regulated investment company, such as the Fund, will generally be allocated to shareholders of the regulated investment company in proportion to the dividends received by such shareholders, with the same consequences as if the shareholders held the related REMIC or TMP residual interest directly.

In general, excess inclusion income allocated to shareholders (i) cannot be offset by net operating losses (subject to a limited exception for certain thrift institutions) and (ii) will constitute unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) to entities (including a qualified pension plan, an individual retirement account, a 401(k) plan, a Keogh plan or other tax-exempt entity) subject to tax on UBTI, thereby potentially requiring such an entity that is allocated excess inclusion income, and otherwise might not be required to file a tax return, to file a tax return and pay tax on such income. In addition, because the Code provides that excess inclusion income is ineligible for treaty benefits, a regulated investment company must withhold tax on excess inclusions attributable to its foreign shareholders at a 30% rate of withholding, regardless of any treaty benefits for which a shareholder is otherwise eligible.

Any investment in residual interests of a Collateralized Mortgage Obligation that has elected to be treated as a REMIC can create complex tax problems, especially if the Fund has state or local governments or other tax-exempt organizations as shareholders. Under current law, the Fund serves to block UBTI from being realized by its tax-exempt shareholders. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a tax-exempt shareholder will recognize UBTI by virtue of its investment in the Fund if shares in the Fund constitute debt-financed property in the hands of the tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of Section 514(b) of the Code. Furthermore, a tax-exempt shareholder may recognize UBTI if the Fund recognizes “excess inclusion income” derived from direct or indirect investments in REMIC residual interests or TMPs if the amount of such income recognized by the Fund exceeds the Fund’s investment company taxable income (after taking into account deductions for dividends paid by the Fund).

In addition, special tax consequences apply to charitable remainder trusts (“CRTs”) that invest in regulated investment companies that invest directly or indirectly in residual interests in REMICs or in TMPs. Under legislation enacted in December 2006, a CRT, as defined in Section 664 of the Code, that realizes UBTI for a tax year is subject to an excise tax annually of an amount equal to such UBTI. Under IRS guidance issued in October 2006, a CRT will not recognize UBTI solely as a result of investing in the Fund that recognizes “excess inclusion income.” Rather, if at any time during any tax year a CRT (or one of certain other tax-exempt shareholders, such as the U.S., a state or political subdivision, or an agency or instrumentality thereof, and certain energy cooperatives) is a record holder of a share in the Fund that recognizes “excess inclusion income,” then the Fund will be subject to a tax on that portion of its “excess inclusion income” for the tax year that is allocable to such shareholders at the highest federal corporate income tax rate. The extent to which this IRS guidance remains applicable in light of the December 2006 legislation is unclear. To the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, the Fund may elect to specially allocate any such tax to the applicable CRT, or other shareholder, and thus reduce such shareholder’s distributions for the tax year by the amount of the tax that relates to such shareholder’s interest in the Fund. The Fund has not yet determined whether such an election will be made. CRTs are urged to consult their tax advisors concerning the consequences of investing in the Fund.

Federal Excise Tax

A 4% nondeductible excise tax is imposed on a regulated investment company that fails to distribute in each calendar year an amount at least equal to the sum of: (1) 98% of its ordinary taxable income (taking into account certain deferrals and elections) for the calendar year; (2) 98.2% of its capital gain net income (adjusted for certain ordinary losses) for the one-year period ended on October 31 of the calendar year; and (3) all ordinary taxable income and capital gains for previous years that were not distributed or taxed during such years and on which the regulated investment company did not incur any Federal income tax. The balance of the Fund’s income must be distributed during the next calendar year. The Fund will be treated as having distributed any amount on which it is subject to income tax for any tax year ending in the calendar year.

For purposes of calculating the excise tax, the Fund is generally required to: (1) reduce its capital gain net income (but not below its net capital gain) by the amount of any net ordinary loss for the calendar year; and (2) exclude foreign currency gains and losses (and certain other ordinary gains and losses) incurred after October 31 of any tax year in determining the amount of
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ordinary taxable income for the current calendar year. The Fund will include such gains and losses incurred after October 31 in determining ordinary taxable income for the succeeding calendar year.

The Fund intends to make sufficient distributions of its ordinary taxable income and capital gain net income prior to the end of each calendar year to avoid liability for the excise tax. Investors should note, however, that the Fund might in certain circumstances be required to liquidate portfolio investments to make sufficient distributions to avoid the imposition of any excise tax liability.

Sale or Redemption of Shares

In general, you will recognize gain or loss on the sale or redemption of Fund shares in an amount equal to the difference between the proceeds of the sale or redemption and your adjusted tax basis in the shares. All or a portion of any loss so recognized may be disallowed if you purchase (for example, by reinvesting dividends) shares of the same Fund within 30 days before or after the sale or redemption (a “wash sale”). If disallowed, the loss will be reflected in an upward adjustment to the basis of the shares purchased. In general, any gain or loss arising from the sale or redemption of Fund shares will be considered capital gain or loss and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the shares were held for longer than one year. Any capital loss arising from the sale or redemption of shares held for six months or less, however, will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of the amount of distributions of net capital gain received on such shares. In determining the holding period of such shares for this purpose, any period during which your risk of loss is offset by means of options, short sales or similar transactions is not counted. Capital losses in any tax year are deductible only to the extent of capital gains plus, in the case of a non-corporate taxpayer, $3,000 of ordinary income.

The Fund (or its administrative agent) is required to report to the IRS and furnish to shareholders the cost basis information for sale transactions of shares. Shareholders may elect to have one of several cost basis methods applied to their account when calculating the cost basis of shares sold, including average cost, FIFO (“first-in, first-out”) or some other specific identification method. Unless you instruct otherwise, the Fund will use average cost as its default cost basis method. The cost basis method a shareholder elects may not be changed with respect to a redemption of shares after the settlement date of the redemption. Shareholders should consult with their tax advisors to determine the best cost basis method for their tax situation. Shareholders that hold their shares through a financial intermediary should contact such financial intermediary with respect to reporting of cost basis and available elections for their accounts.

Backup Withholding

The Fund will be required in certain cases to withhold and remit to the U.S. Treasury at a rate under current law of 24% of taxable distributions and the proceeds of redemptions of shares paid to you if you: (1) have failed to provide your correct taxpayer identification number; (2) are otherwise subject to backup withholding by the IRS for failure to report the receipt of interest or dividend income properly; or (3) have failed to certify to the Fund that you are not subject to backup withholding or that you are a C corporation or other “exempt recipient.” Backup withholding is not an additional tax; rather any amounts so withheld may be credited against your Federal income tax liability or refunded if proper documentation is provided.

Creation Units

As a result of U.S. federal income tax requirements, the Trust on behalf of the Fund, has the right to reject an order for a creation of shares if the creator (or group of creators) would, upon obtaining the shares so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund and if, pursuant to Section 351 of the Code, the Fund would have a basis in the Deposit Securities different from the market value of such securities on the date of deposit. The Trust also has the right to require information necessary to determine beneficial share ownership for purposes of the 80% determination. If the Fund does issue Creation Units to a purchaser (or group of purchasers) that would, upon obtaining the Shares so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding Shares of the Fund, the purchaser (or group of purchasers) may not recognize gain or loss upon the exchange of securities for Creation Units. See “Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units.”

State and Local Taxes

The tax rules of the various states of the U.S. and their local jurisdictions with respect to an investment in the Fund can differ from the Federal income taxation rules described above. These state and local rules are not discussed herein. You are urged to consult your tax advisor as to the consequences of state and local tax rules with respect to an investment in the Fund.

49


Foreign Income Tax

Investment income received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries as well as gains or the proceeds from the sale or other disposition of foreign securities may be subject to foreign income taxes withheld at the source. The United States has entered into tax treaties with many foreign countries that may entitle the Fund to a reduced rate of such taxes or exemption from taxes on such income. It is impossible to know the effective rate of foreign tax in advance since the amount of the Fund’s assets to be invested within various countries cannot be determined. If more than 50% of the value of the Fund’s total assets at the close of its tax year consists of stocks or securities of foreign corporations, the Fund will be eligible and intends to file an election with the IRS to pass through to its shareholders the amount of foreign taxes paid by the Fund subject to certain exceptions. However, there can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to do so. Pursuant to this election, you will be required to: (1) include in gross income (in addition to taxable dividends actually received) your pro rata share of foreign taxes paid by the Fund; (2) treat your pro rata share of such foreign taxes as having been paid by you and (3) either deduct such pro rata share of foreign taxes in computing your taxable income or treat such foreign taxes as a credit against Federal income taxes. You may be subject to rules which limit or reduce your ability to fully deduct, or claim a credit for, your pro rata share of the foreign taxes paid by the Fund.

Foreign Shareholders

The foregoing discussion relates only to U.S. Federal income tax law as applicable to U.S. persons (i.e., U.S. citizens and residents and U.S. domestic corporations, partnerships, trusts and estates). Shareholders who are not U.S. persons (“foreign shareholders”) should consult their tax advisers regarding U.S. and foreign tax consequences of ownership of shares of the Fund including the likelihood that taxable distributions to them would be subject to withholding of U.S. tax at a rate of 30% (or a lower treaty rate for eligible investors). An investment in the Fund may also be included in determining a foreign shareholder’s U.S. estate tax liability.
Properly reported dividends received by a foreign shareholder from a regulated investment company are generally exempt from U.S. Federal withholding tax when they (i) are paid in respect of the regulated investment company’s “qualified net interest income” (generally, the regulated investment company’s U.S. source interest income, reduced by expenses that are allocable to such income), or (ii) are paid in connection with the regulated investment company’s “qualified short-term capital gains” (generally, the excess of the regulated investment company’s net short-term capital gain over the regulated investment company’s long-term capital loss for such taxable year). The Fund may report all, some or none of the Fund’s potentially eligible dividends as derived from such qualified net interest income or as qualified short-term capital gains, and a portion of the Fund’s distributions (e.g. interest from non-U.S. sources or any foreign currency gains) would be ineligible for this potential exemption from withholding. Furthermore, in the case of Fund shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may have withheld U.S. Federal income tax, even if the Fund reported all or a portion of such potentially eligible dividends as having been derived from qualified net interest or income or from qualified short-term capital gains.

The Fund is required to withhold U.S. tax (at a 30% rate) on payments of taxable dividends and made to certain non-U.S. entities that fail to comply (or be deemed compliant) with extensive reporting and withholding requirements designed to inform the U.S. Department of the Treasury of U.S.-owned foreign investment accounts. The information required to be reported includes the identity and taxpayer identification number of each account holder and transaction activity within the holder’s account. Shareholders may be requested to provide additional information to the Fund to enable the Fund to determine whether withholding is required.

Other Fund Service Providers

Administrator and Transfer Agent

U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC, doing business as, U.S. Bank Global Fund Services (“Fund Services”), 615 East Michigan Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202, acts as administrator, fund accountant and transfer agent to the Fund pursuant to respective agreements. Fund Services provides 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; preparation for signature by an officer of the Trust of all documents required to be filed for compliance by the Trust and the Fund with applicable laws and regulations excluding those of the securities laws of various states; arranging for the computation of performance data, including NAV and yield; responding to shareholder inquiries; and arranging for the maintenance of books and records of the Fund, and providing, at its own expense, office facilities, equipment and personnel necessary to carry out its duties. In this capacity, Fund Services does not have any
50


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.

Pursuant to the Fund’s administration agreement with Fund Services, the administrator will receive a portion of fees from the Fund as part of a bundled-fees agreement for services performed as administrator, transfer agent and fund accountant. The administrator expects to receive a fee based on the average daily net assets of the Fund, subject to an annual minimum amount.

The Fund is new and, as such, the Adviser has not paid Fund Services any fees for administrative services to the Fund as of the date of this SAI.

Custodian

U.S. Bank National Association (the “Custodian”) is the Custodian for the Fund and safeguards and controls the Fund’s cash and securities, determines income and collects interest on Fund investments. The Custodian’s address is 1555 North River Center Drive, Suite 302, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212. The Custodian does not participate in decisions relating to the purchase and sale of securities by the Fund. Fund Services and the Custodian, are affiliated entities under the common control of U.S. Bancorp. The Custodian and its affiliates may participate in revenue sharing arrangements with the service providers of mutual funds in which the Fund may invest.

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

[ ] (the “Auditor”), [ ], serves as the independent registered public accounting firm for the Fund. Its services include auditing the Fund’s financial statements. [ ], an affiliate of [ ], provides tax services as requested.

Legal Counsel

Dechert LLP, located at 1900 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006, serves as legal counsel to the Trust.

Distributor

The Trust and Quasar Distributors, LLC (the “Distributor”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Foreside Financial Group, LLC (dba ACA group), are parties to a distribution agreement (“Distribution Agreement”), whereby the Distributor acts as principal underwriter for the Trust and distributes Shares. Shares are continuously offered for sale by the Distributor only in Creation Units. The Distributor will not distribute Shares in amounts less than a Creation Unit and does not maintain a secondary market in Shares. The principal business address of the Distributor is Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100, Portland, Maine 04101.

Under the Distribution Agreement, the Distributor, as agent for the Trust, will receive orders for the purchase and redemption of Creation Units, provided that any subscriptions and orders will not be binding on the Trust until accepted by the Trust. The Distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and a member of FINRA.
The Distributor may also enter into agreements with securities dealers (“Soliciting Dealers”) who will solicit purchases of Creation Units of Shares. Such Soliciting Dealers may also be Authorized Participants (as discussed in “Procedures for Purchase of Creation Units” below) or DTC participants (as defined below).

The Distribution Agreement will continue for two years from its effective date and is renewable annually thereafter. The continuance of the Distribution Agreement must be specifically approved at least annually (i) by the vote of the Trustees or by a vote of the shareholders of the Fund and (ii) by the vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operations of the Distribution Agreement or any related agreement, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. The Distribution Agreement is terminable without penalty by the Trust on 60 days’ written notice when authorized either by majority vote of its outstanding voting Shares or by a vote of a majority of its Board (including a majority of the Independent Trustees), or by the Distributor on 60 days’ written notice, and will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment. The Distribution Agreement provides that in the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of the Distributor, or reckless disregard by it of its obligations thereunder, the Distributor shall not be liable for any action or failure to act in accordance with its duties thereunder.

Intermediary Compensation. The Adviser, Sub-Adviser or their affiliates, out of their own resources and not out of Fund assets (i.e., without additional cost to the Fund or its shareholders), may pay certain broker dealers, banks and other financial intermediaries (“Intermediaries”) for certain activities related to the Fund, including participation in activities that are
51


designed to make Intermediaries more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, including the Fund, or for other activities, such as marketing and educational training or support. These arrangements are not financed by the Fund and, thus, do not result in increased Fund expenses. They are not reflected in the fees and expenses listed in the fees and expenses sections of the Fund’s Prospectus and they do not change the price paid by investors for the purchase of Shares or the amount received by a shareholder as proceeds from the redemption of Shares.

Intermediary information is current only as of the date of this SAI. Please contact your adviser, broker, or other investment professional for more information regarding any payments his or her Intermediary firm may receive. Any payments made by the Adviser, Sub-Adviser or their affiliates to an Intermediary may create the incentive for an Intermediary to encourage customers to buy Shares. If you have any additional questions, please call (855) 751-4324.

Distribution Plan

The Fund has adopted a distribution plan (the “Plan”) pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act with respect to the Fund. The Plan was approved by a majority of the Board of Trustees of the Trust, including a majority of the Trustees who are not interested persons of the Trust or the Fund, and who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or in any other Rule 12b-1 agreement.

The Plan provides that the Fund is authorized to pay the Distributor and/or any registered securities dealer, financial institution or any other person (the “Recipient”) a shareholder servicing fee of up to 0.25% of the average daily net assets of the applicable Fund in connection with the promotion and distribution of such Fund’s shares or the provision of personal services to such Fund’s shareholders, including, but not necessarily limited to, advertising, compensation to underwriters, dealers and selling personnel, the printing and mailing of prospectuses to other than current Fund shareholders, the printing and mailing of sales literature and servicing such Fund’s shareholder accounts (“12b-1 Expenses”). The applicable Fund or the Adviser may pay all or a portion of these fees to any Recipient who renders assistance in distributing or promoting the sale of such Fund’s shares, or who provides certain shareholder services, pursuant to a written agreement.

The Plan is a compensation plan, which means that compensation is provided regardless of 12b-1 Expenses actually incurred. It is anticipated that the Plan will benefit the Fund’s shareholders because an effective sales program typically is necessary for the Fund to reach and maintain a sufficient size to achieve efficiently their investment objectives and to realize economies of scale.

No Rule 12b-1 fees are currently paid by the Fund, and there are no plans to impose these fees.
Other Matters

Code of Ethics

The Trust, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser, and the Distributor have each adopted a code of ethics under Rule 17j-1 of the 1940 Act, which are designed to eliminate conflicts of interest between the Fund and personnel of the Trust, the Adviser and the Distributor. The codes permit such personnel to invest in securities, including securities that may be purchased or held by the Fund, subject to certain limitations.

Registration Statement

This SAI and the Prospectus do not contain all the information included in the Trust’s registration statement filed with the SEC under the Securities Act with respect to the securities offered hereby. The registration statement, including the exhibits filed therewith, are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or may be examined at the office of the SEC in Washington, D.C.
Statements contained herein and in the Prospectus as to the contents of any contract or other documents are not necessarily complete, and, in each instance, are qualified by, reference to the copy of such contract or other documents filed as exhibits to the registration statement.

Financial Statements

Financial statements and an annual report will be available after the Fund has completed a fiscal year of operations. When available, you may request a copy of the Fund’s Annual Report at no charge by calling (800) 617-0004, or through the Fund’s website at www.angeloakcapital.com.

52


ANGEL OAK FUNDS TRUST
PART C
OTHER INFORMATION
Item 28. Exhibits.
(a)(1)
(2)
(b)
(c)
Instruments Defining Rights of Security Holders—See relevant portions of Certificate of Trust, Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust and By-Laws.
(d)(1)(i)
(ii)
(2)(i)
(ii)
(iii)Amended Investment Advisory Agreement with respect to the Angel Oak Total Return ETF – to be filed by amendment.
(iv)Amended Investment Advisory Agreement with respect to the Whiplight ETF – to be filed by amendment.
(e)(1)(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(2)(i)
(ii)
(iii)Amendment to ETF Distribution Agreement with respect to the Angel Oak Total Return ETF – to be filed by amendment.
(iv)Amendment to ETF Distribution Agreement with respect to the Whiplight ETF – to be filed by amendment.
(3)
(f)Bonus, profit sharing contracts—None.
(g)(1)(i)
(ii)
(iii)
C-1


(iv)Fourth Amendment to Amended and Restated Custody Agreement with respect to the Angel Oak Total Return ETF – to be filed by amendment.
(v)Amendment to Amended and Restated Custody Agreement with respect to the Whiplight ETF – to be filed by amendment.
(h)(1)(i)
(ii)
(iii)Amendment to the Master Servicing Agreement with respect to the Angel Oak Total Return ETF – to be filed by amendment.
(iv)Amendment to the Master Servicing Agreement with respect to the Whiplight ETF – to be filed by amendment.
(2)
(3)
(4)
(i)Opinion and Consent of Counsel – to be filed by amendment.
(j)
Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm – to be filed by amendment.
(k)Financial statements omitted from prospectus—None.
(l)
(m)(1)
(2)(i)
(ii)
(iii)Amendment to the Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 with respect to the Angel Oak Total Return ETF – to be filed by amendment.
(iv)Amendment to the Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 with respect to the Whiplight ETF – to be filed by amendment.
(n)
(o)Reserved.
(p)(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
C-2


Item 29. Persons Controlled by or Under Common Control with Registrant
None.
Item 30. Indemnification
Reference is made to Article VII, Section III of the Registrant’s Declaration of Trust (incorporated herein by reference), with respect to the Registrant. The general effect of this provision is to indemnify the Trustees, officers, employees and other agents of the Trust who are parties pursuant to any proceeding by reason of their actions performed in their scope of service on behalf of the Trust.

Pursuant to Rule 484 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), the Registrant furnishes the following undertaking: “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 Securities 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 Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.”
Item 31. Business and Other Connections of Investment Adviser
Incorporated by reference to the Statement of Additional Information pursuant to Rule 411 under the Securities Act.
Item 32. Principal Underwriter.
(a)    Quasar Distributors, LLC, the Registrant’s principal underwriter, acts as principal underwriter for the following investment companies:
1.Abacus FCF ETF Trust
2.Advisor Managed Portfolios
3.Antares Private Credit Fund
4.Capital Advisors Growth Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
5.Chase Growth Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
6.Davidson Multi Cap Equity Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
7.Edgar Lomax Value Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
8.First Sentier American Listed Infrastructure Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
9.First Sentier Global Listed Infrastructure Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
10.Huber Large Cap Value Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
11.Huber Mid Cap Value Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
12.Huber Select Large Cap Value Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
13.Huber Small Cap Value Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
14.Logan Capital Broad Innovative Growth ETF, Series of Advisors Series Trust
15.Medalist Partners MBS Total Return Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
16.Medalist Partners Short Duration Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
17.O'Shaughnessy Market Leaders Value Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
18.PIA BBB Bond Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
19.PIA High Yield (MACS) Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
20.PIA High Yield Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
21.PIA MBS Bond Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
22.PIA Short-Term Securities Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
23.Poplar Forest Cornerstone Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
24.Poplar Forest Partners Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
25.Pzena Emerging Markets Value Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
26.Pzena International Small Cap Value Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
27.Pzena International Value Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
28.Pzena Mid Cap Value Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
29.Pzena Small Cap Value Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
30.Reverb ETF, Series of Advisors Series Trust
31.Scharf Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
32.Scharf Global Opportunity Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
33.Scharf Multi-Asset Opportunity Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
34.Shenkman Capital Floating Rate High Income Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
35.Shenkman Capital Short Duration High Income Fund, Series of Advisors Series Trust
36.The Aegis Funds
37.Allied Asset Advisors Funds
C-3


38.Angel Oak Funds Trust
39.Angel Oak Strategic Credit Fund
40.Brookfield Infrastructure Income Fund Inc.
41.Brookfield Investment Funds
42.Buffalo Funds
43.DoubleLine Funds Trust
44.EA Series Trust (f/k/a Alpha Architect ETF Trust)
45.AAM Bahl & Gaynor Small/Mid Cap Income Growth ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
46.AAM Brentview Dividend Growth ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
47.AAM Low Duration Preferred and Income Securities ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
48.AAM S&P 500 High Dividend Value ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
49.AAM Sawgrass U.S. Large Cap Quality Growth ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
50.AAM Sawgrass U.S. Small Cap Quality Growth ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
51.AAM SLC Low Duration Income ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
52.AAM Transformers ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
53.Acquirers Deep Value ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
54.Aptus Collared Investment Opportunity ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
55.Aptus Deferred Income ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
56.Aptus Defined Risk ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
57.Aptus Drawdown Managed Equity ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
58.Aptus Enhanced Yield ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
59.Aptus International Enhanced Yield ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
60.Aptus Large Cap Enhanced Yield ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
61.Aptus Large Cap Upside ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
62.Bahl & Gaynor Dividend ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
63.Bahl & Gaynor Income Growth ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
64.Bahl & Gaynor Small Cap Dividend ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
65.BTD Capital Fund, Series of ETF Series Solutions
66.Carbon Strategy ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
67.ClearShares OCIO ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
68.ClearShares Piton Intermediate Fixed Income Fund, Series of ETF Series Solutions
69.ClearShares Ultra-Short Maturity ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
70.Distillate International Fundamental Stability & Value ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
71.Distillate Small/Mid Cash Flow ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
72.Distillate U.S. Fundamental Stability & Value ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
73.ETFB Green SRI REITs ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
74.Hoya Capital High Dividend Yield ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
75.Hoya Capital Housing ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
76.LHA Market State Tactical Beta ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
77.LHA Market State Tactical Q ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
78.LHA Risk-Managed Income ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
79.McElhenny Sheffield Managed Risk ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
80.NETLease Corporate Real Estate ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
81.Opus Small Cap Value ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
82.The Acquirers Fund, Series of ETF Series Solutions
83.The Brinsmere Fund - Conservative ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
84.The Brinsmere Fund - Growth ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
85.U.S. Global GO GOLD and Precious Metal Miners ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
86.U.S. Global JETS ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
87.U.S. Global Sea to Sky Cargo ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
88.U.S. Global Technology and Aerospace & Defense ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
89.US Vegan Climate ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
90.Vest 10 Year Interest Rate Hedge ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
91.Vest 2 Year Interest Rate Hedge ETF, Series of ETF Series Solutions
92.First American Funds Trust
93.FundX Investment Trust
94.The Glenmede Fund, Inc.
95.The GoodHaven Funds Trust
96.Harding, Loevner Funds, Inc.
97.Hennessy Funds Trust
98.Horizon Funds
99.Hotchkis & Wiley Funds
100.Intrepid Capital Management Funds Trust
101.Jacob Funds Inc.
C-4


102.The Jensen Quality Growth Fund Inc.
103.Kirr, Marbach Partners Funds, Inc.
104.Core Alternative ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust
105.Wahed Dow Jones Islamic World ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust
106.Wahed FTSE USA Shariah ETF, Series of Listed Funds Trust
107.LKCM Funds
108.LoCorr Investment Trust
109.MainGate Trust
110.ATAC Rotation Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
111.Coho Relative Value Equity Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
112.Coho Relative Value ESG Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
113.Cove Street Capital Small Cap Value Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
114.Jackson Square Large-Cap Growth Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
115.Jackson Square SMID-Cap Growth Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
116.Kensington Active Advantage Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
117.Kensington Defender Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
118.Kensington Dynamic Allocation Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
119.Kensington Hedged Premium Income ETF, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
120.Kensington Managed Income Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
121.LK Balanced Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
122.Leuthold Core ETF, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
123.Leuthold Core Investment Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
124.Leuthold Global Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
125.Leuthold Grizzly Short Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
126.Leuthold Select Industries ETF, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
127.Muhlenkamp Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
128.Nuance Concentrated Value Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
129.Nuance Mid Cap Value Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
130.Olstein All Cap Value Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
131.Olstein Strategic Opportunities Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
132.Port Street Quality Growth Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
133.Principal Street High Income Municipal Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
134.Principal Street Short Term Municipal Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
135.Reinhart Genesis PMV Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
136.Reinhart International PMV Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
137.Reinhart Mid Cap PMV Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
138.Tortoise Global Water ESG Fund, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
139.Tremblant Global ETF, Series of Managed Portfolio Series
140.Greenspring Income Opportunities Fund, Series of Manager Directed Portfolios
141.Hood River International Opportunity Fund, Series of Manager Directed Portfolios
142.Hood River New Opportunities Fund, Series of Manager Directed Portfolios
143.Hood River Small-Cap Growth Fund, Series of Manager Directed Portfolios
144.SanJac Alpha Core Plus Bond ETF, Series of Manager Directed Portfolios
145.SanJac Alpha Low Duration ETF, Series of Manager Directed Portfolios
146.SWP Growth & Income ETF, Series of Manager Directed Portfolios
147.Vert Global Sustainable Real Estate ETF, Series of Manager Directed Portfolios
148.Mason Capital Fund Trust
149.Matrix Advisors Funds Trust
150.Monetta Trust
151.Nicholas Equity Income Fund, Inc.
152.Nicholas Fund, Inc.
153.Nicholas II, Inc.
154.Nicholas Limited Edition, Inc.
155.Oaktree Diversified Income Fund Inc.
156.Permanent Portfolio Family of Funds
157.Perritt Funds, Inc.
158.Procure ETF Trust II
159.Professionally Managed Portfolios
160.Prospector Funds, Inc.
161.Provident Mutual Funds, Inc.
162.Abbey Capital Futures Strategy Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
163.Abbey Capital Multi-Asset Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
164.Adara Smaller Companies Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
165.Aquarius International Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
C-5


166.Boston Partners All Cap Value Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
167.Boston Partners Emerging Markets Dynamic Equity Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
168.Boston Partners Global Equity Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
169.Boston Partners Global Sustainability Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
170.Boston Partners Long/Short Equity Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
171.Boston Partners Long/Short Research Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
172.Boston Partners Small Cap Value Fund II, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
173.Campbell Systematic Macro Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
174.F/m 10-Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
175.F/m 2-Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
176.F/m 3-Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
177.F/m Emerald Life Sciences Innovation ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
178.F/m High Yield 100 ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
179.F/m Investments Large Cap Focused Fund Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
180.F/m Opportunistic Income ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
181.F/m Ultrashort Treasury Inflation-Protected Security (TIPS) ETF Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
182.Motley Fool 100 Index ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
183.Motley Fool Capital Efficiency 100 Index ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
184.Motley Fool Global Opportunities ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
185.Motley Fool Mid-Cap Growth ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
186.Motley Fool Next Index ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
187.Motley Fool Small-Cap Growth ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
188.Optima Strategic Credit Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
189.SEG Partners Long/Short Equity Fund
190.SGI Dynamic Tactical ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
191.SGI Enhanced Core ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
192.SGI Enhanced Global Income ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
193.SGI Enhanced Market Leaders ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
194.SGI Global Equity Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
195.SGI Peak Growth Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
196.SGI Prudent Growth Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
197.SGI Small Cap Core Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
198.SGI U.S. Large Cap Core ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
199.SGI U.S. Large Cap Equity Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
200.SGI U.S. Small Cap Equity Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
201.US Treasury 10 Year Note ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
202.US Treasury 12 Month Bill ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
203.US Treasury 2 Year Note ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
204.US Treasury 20 Year Bond ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
205.US Treasury 3 Month Bill ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
206.US Treasury 3 Year Note ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
207.US Treasury 30 Year Bond ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
208.US Treasury 5 Year Note ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
209.US Treasury 6 Month Bill ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
210.US Treasury 7 Year Note ETF, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
211.WPG Partners Select Hedged Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
212.WPG Partners Select Small Cap Value Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
213.WPG Partners Small Cap Value Diversified Fund, Series of The RBB Fund, Inc.
214.The RBB Fund Trust
215.RBC Funds Trust
216.Rockefeller Municipal Opportunities Fund
217.Series Portfolios Trust
218.Tax-Exempt Private Credit Fund, Inc.
219.Thompson IM Funds, Inc.
220.Tortoise Capital Series Trust
221.Bright Rock Mid Cap Growth Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers
222.Bright Rock Quality Large Cap Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers
223.CrossingBridge Low Duration High Income Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers
224.CrossingBridge Nordic High Income Bond Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers
225.CrossingBridge Responsible Credit Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers
226.CrossingBridge Ultra-Short Duration Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers
227.RiverPark Strategic Income Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers
228.Dearborn Partners Rising Dividend Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers
229.Jensen Global Quality Growth Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers
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230.Jensen Quality MidCap Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers
231.Rockefeller Climate Solutions Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers
232.Rockefeller US Small Cap Core Fund, Series of Trust for Professional Managers
233.USQ Core Real Estate Fund
234.Wall Street EWM Funds Trust
235.Wisconsin Capital Funds, Inc.
(b)    To the best of Registrant’s knowledge, the directors and executive officers of Quasar Distributors, LLC are as follows:
NameAddress Position with Quasar
Teresa Cowan190 Middle Street, Suite 301, Portland, Maine 04101President/Manager
Chris Lanza190 Middle Street, Suite 301, Portland, Maine 04101Vice President
Kate Macchia190 Middle Street, Suite 301, Portland, Maine 04101Vice President
Susan L. LaFond190 Middle Street, Suite 301, Portland, Maine 04101Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer and Treasurer
Kelly B. Whetstone190 Middle Street, Suite 301, Portland, Maine 04101Secretary
Weston Sommers190 Middle Street, Suite 301, Portland, Maine 04101Financial and Operations Principal and Chief Financial Officer
(c)    Not applicable.

Item 33. Location of Accounts and Records
The books, accounts and other documents required by Section 31(a) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules promulgated thereunder will be maintained at the offices of:
Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC, 3344 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1725, Atlanta, Georgia 30326 (records relating to its function as investment adviser to the series of the Trust).
U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC, d/b/a U.S. Bank Global Fund Services, 615 East Michigan Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 (records relating to its function as administrator, transfer agent and dividend disbursing agent).
U.S. Bank National Association, 1555 North River Center Drive, Suite 302, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53212 (records relating to its function as custodian).
Item 34. Management Services
Not applicable.
Item 35. Undertakings
None.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Registrant has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed below on its behalf by the undersigned, duly authorized, in the City of Atlanta and the State of Georgia on September 15, 2025.

Angel Oak Funds Trust

By:    /s/ Adam Langley    
    Adam Langley
    President


Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this registration statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities indicated as of September 15, 2025.

SignatureTitle
Alvin R. Albe, Jr.* Trustee
Alvin R. Albe, Jr.
Ira P. Cohen* Trustee
Ira P. Cohen
Keith M. Schappert* Trustee
Keith M. Schappert
Andrea N. Mullins* Trustee
Andrea N. Mullins
Cheryl M. Pate* Trustee
Cheryl M. Pate
Clayton Triick*Trustee
Clayton Triick
/s/ Adam Langley President and Principal Executive Officer
Adam Langley
/s/ Nilesh LikhiteTreasurer, Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer
Nilesh Likhite
*By: /s/ Adam Langley    
Adam Langley
Attorney-in-Fact pursuant to
Powers of Attorney


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