485BPOS 1 d555303d485bpos.htm 485BPOS 485BPOS

AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON JULY 31, 2018

No. 333-221046

No. 811-23304

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM N-1A

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

   THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933  
   Pre-Effective Amendment No.  
   Post-Effective Amendment No. 10  

and/or

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940

   Amendment No. 11  

(Check appropriate box or boxes)    

 

 

Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

 

 

3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515

(Address of Principal Executive Office)

Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code: (800) 983-0903

Anna Paglia, Esquire

3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

 

 

With Copies to:

 

Alan P. Goldberg

Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP

191 North Wacker Drive, Suite 1601

Chicago, Illinois 60606

 

Eric S. Purple

Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP

1250 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 500

Washington, DC 20036

 

 

APPROXIMATE DATE OF PROPOSED PUBLIC OFFERING:

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

 

immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b)
on (date) pursuant to paragraph (b)
60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)
on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)
75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)
on (date) 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.

 

 

 


LOGO   Prospectus   July 31, 2018
  Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust

 

  BSCS   Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF   NYSE Arca, Inc.
  BSJQ   Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF   NYSE Arca, Inc.

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


Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

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BSCS

   Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF

 

 

Summary Information

Investment Objective

The Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results (before fees and expenses) of the Nasdaq BulletShares® USD Corporate Bond 2028 Index (the “Underlying Index”).

Fund Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors may pay brokerage commissions on their purchases and sales of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or the example below.

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses  
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)      
Management Fees     0.10%  
Other Expenses(1)     0.00%  
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses     0.10%  

 

(1) “Other Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.

Example

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

This example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then 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. This example does not include the brokerage commissions that investors may pay to buy and sell Shares. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, your costs, based on these assumptions, would be:

 

1 Year   3 Years

$10

 

$32

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it purchases and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate will cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, may affect the Fund’s performance. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Fund has not yet commenced operations and portfolio turnover data therefore is not available.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund generally will invest at least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Underlying Index. Strictly in accordance with its guidelines and mandated procedures, Invesco Indexing LLC (the “Index Provider”) compiles and maintains the Underlying Index. The Index Provider is affiliated with Invesco Capital Management LLC, the Fund’s investment adviser (the “Adviser”), and Invesco Distributors, Inc., the Fund’s distributor (the “Distributor”).

The Underlying Index will typically include between 20-400 securities and is designed to represent the performance of a held-to-maturity portfolio of U.S. dollar-denominated investment grade corporate bonds with maturities or, in some cases, “effective maturities”

 

 

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in the year 2028 (collectively, “2028 Bonds”). Effective maturity is an assessment of a bond’s likely call date or maturity (if not called by the issuer). With respect to establishing the effective maturity of a bond, if no embedded issuer call option exists for a bond, then the Index Provider deems effective maturity to be the actual year of maturity. If a bond contains an embedded issuer call option, with the first call date within 13 months of maturity and a par call price, then the Index Provider also deems effective maturity to be the actual year of maturity. In other cases, the Index Provider deems effective maturity to be the actual year of maturity, unless the yield to next call date is less than the yield to maturity, in which case the bond’s effective maturity is deemed to be the year of the next call date.

In selecting components for inclusion in the Underlying Index, the Index Provider begins with an investment universe of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by companies domiciled in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe (as defined by the Index Provider) and Japan. To be eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index, bonds must (i) pay a fixed amount of taxable interest; (ii) be rated at least BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, a division of S&P Global Inc. (“S&P”) or Fitch Ratings Inc. (“Fitch”), or at least Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”); and (iii) have at least $500 million in face value outstanding (existing bonds in the eligible universe require $400 million face value outstanding to remain eligible).

Bond types specifically excluded from the eligible universe include: Securities not registered with the SEC (including securities issued under Rule 144A or Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), private placements, Eurodollar bonds and EuroMTN bonds), retail bonds, floating rate bonds, zero coupon bonds, convertible bonds, bonds cum or ex-warrant, bonds with one cash flow only, new bonds that have already been called, inflation or other index-linked bonds, corporate bonds guaranteed by an agency, national or supranational government, and perpetual securities.

2028 Bonds (as established semi-annually, as further described below) in the eligible universe are selected for inclusion in the Underlying Index and market value weighted, with a 5% limit on individual issuers applied at each monthly rebalance. Prior to the final year of maturity (i.e., 2028), the Underlying Index is rebalanced monthly, at which time: (i) new bonds that meet the eligibility and maturity (or effective maturity) criteria above are added to the Underlying Index; (ii) existing 2028 Bonds that no longer meet the eligibility requirements are removed; and (iii) weights of Underlying Index components are reset to reflect current market value. The Index Provider only reevaluates the effective maturity date of bonds in the investment universe semi-annually, as part of the June and December rebalances, at which time in addition to bonds being added or removed from the Underlying Index pursuant to the eligibility screening described in the previous sentence, bonds also may be added or removed from the Underlying Index due to any changes in actual or effective maturity (i.e., they no longer meet the definition of 2028 Bond). If a bond is removed from the Underlying Index during any rebalance due to changes in face value or credit rating, such bond will be excluded for the next three monthly rebalances (including the current rebalance) regardless of any further changes in face

value or credit rating. During the final year of maturity (i.e., 2028), the Underlying Index does not reevaluate effective maturities, but continues to rebalance its constituents (though no new bonds are added) through June.

Bonds held by the Fund generally will be held until they mature, are called or no longer meet the eligibility requirements of the Underlying Index and are removed from the Underlying Index.

The Fund primarily invests in 2028 Bonds and the Fund will terminate on or about December 31, 2028. In connection with the termination of the Fund, the Fund will make a cash distribution of its net assets to then-current shareholders after making appropriate provisions for any liabilities of the Fund. The Fund does not seek to distribute any predetermined amount of cash at maturity. In the last six months of operation, when the 2028 Bonds held by the Fund mature, the Fund’s portfolio will transition to cash and cash equivalents, including without limitation U.S. Treasury Bills and investment grade commercial paper. The Fund will terminate on or about December 31, 2028 without requiring additional approval by the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (the “Trust”) or Fund shareholders. The Board may change the termination date to an earlier or later date without shareholder approval. The Fund should not be confused with a target date fund, which has assets that are managed according to a particular glidepath that illustrates how its investment strategy becomes increasingly conservative over time.

The Fund does not purchase all of the securities in the Underlying Index; instead, the Fund utilizes a “sampling” methodology to seek to achieve its investment objective.

The Fund is “non-diversified” and therefore is not required to meet certain diversification requirements under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”).

Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., invest more than 25% of the value of its net assets) in securities of issuers in any one industry or group of industries only to the extent that the Underlying Index reflects a concentration in that industry or group of industries. The Fund will not otherwise concentrate its investments in securities of issuers in any one industry or group of industries. As of the date of this prospectus, a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by the financial sector and, accordingly, the Adviser anticipates that the Fund may concentrate its investments in that sector. The Fund’s portfolio holdings, and the extent to which it concentrates in any industry or group of industries, are likely to change over time.

Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund

The following summarizes the principal risks of the Fund.

The Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective.

Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only authorized participants (“APs”) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as APs, and such APs have no

 

 

 

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obligation to submit creation or redemption orders. Consequently, there is no assurance that those APs will establish or maintain an active trading market for the Shares. This risk may be heightened to the extent that securities underlying the Fund are traded outside a collateralized settlement system. In that case, APs may be required to post collateral on certain trades on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants), which only a limited number of APs may be able to do. In addition, to the extent that APs exit the business or are unable to proceed with processing creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other AP is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), this may result in a significantly diminished trading market for Shares, which may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and to face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be heightened for the Fund because it invests in non-U.S. securities, which may have lower trading volumes.

Call Risk. If interest rates fall, it is possible that issuers of callable securities with high interest coupons will “call” (or prepay) their bonds before their maturity date. If an issuer exercises such a call during a period of declining interest rates, the Fund may have to replace such called security with a lower yielding security. If that were to happen, the Fund’s net investment income could fall.

Cash Transaction Risk. Most ETFs generally make in-kind redemptions to avoid being taxed on gains on the distributed portfolio securities at the fund level. However, unlike most ETFs, the Fund currently intends to effect creations and redemptions principally for cash, rather than principally in-kind, due to the nature of the Fund’s investments. As such, the Fund may be required to sell portfolio securities to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. Therefore, the Fund may recognize a capital gain on these sales that might not have been incurred if the Fund had made a redemption in-kind. This may decrease the tax efficiency of the Fund compared to ETFs that utilize an in-kind redemption process and there may be a substantial difference in the after-tax rate of return between the Fund and conventional ETFs.

Changing Global Fixed-Income Market Conditions Risk. The current historically low interest rate environment was created in part by the Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) and certain foreign central banks keeping the federal funds and equivalent foreign rates at, near or below zero. The “tapering” in 2015 of the FRB’s quantitative easing program, combined with the FRB’s recent raising of the target range for the Federal Funds Rate (and continued possible fluctuations in equivalent foreign rates) may expose fixed-income markets to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity for certain fixed-income investments, particularly those with longer maturities, although it is difficult to predict the impact of this rate increase and any future rate increases on various markets. In addition, decreases in fixed-income dealer market-making capacity may also potentially lead to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity in the fixed-income markets. As a result, the value of the Fund’s investments and share price may decline. Changes in central bank policies could also result in higher than normal shareholder redemptions, which could potentially increase portfolio turnover rate and the Fund’s transaction costs.

Declining Yield Risk. During the final year of the Fund’s operations, as the bonds held by the Fund mature and the Fund’s portfolio transitions to cash and cash equivalents, the Fund’s yield will generally tend to move toward the yield of cash and cash equivalents and thus may be lower than the yields of the bonds previously held by the Fund and/or prevailing yields for bonds in the market.

Financial Sector Risk. The financial sector can be significantly affected by changes in interest rates, government regulation, the rate of defaults on corporate, consumer and government debt, the availability and cost of capital, and the impact of more stringent capital requirements. The Fund may be adversely affected by events or developments negatively impacting the financial sector or issuers within the financial sector.

Fixed-Income Securities Risk. Fixed-income securities are subject to interest rate risk and credit risk. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. When the general level of interest rates goes up, the prices of most fixed-income securities go down. When the general level of interest rates goes down, the prices of most fixed-income securities go up. Fixed-income securities with longer maturities typically are more sensitive to changes in interest rates, making them more volatile than securities with shorter maturities. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of a security will be unable and/or unwilling to make timely interest payments and/or repay the principal on its debt. Debt instruments are subject to varying degrees of credit risk, which may be reflected in credit ratings. There is a possibility that the credit rating of a fixed-income security may be downgraded after purchase, which may adversely affect the value of the security.

Fluctuation of Yield and Liquidation Amount Risk. The Fund, unlike a direct investment in a bond that has a level coupon payment and a fixed payment at maturity, will make distributions of income that vary over time. Unlike a direct investment in bonds, the breakdown of returns between Fund distributions and liquidation proceeds are not predictable at the time of your investment. For example, at times during the Fund’s existence, it may make distributions at a greater (or lesser) rate than the coupon payments received on the Fund’s portfolio, which will result in the Fund returning a lesser (or greater) amount on liquidation than would otherwise be the case. The rate of Fund distribution payments may adversely affect the tax characterization of your returns from an investment in the Fund relative to a direct investment in corporate bonds. If the amount you receive as liquidation proceeds upon the Fund’s termination is higher or lower than your cost basis, you may experience a gain or loss for tax purposes.

Foreign Fixed-Income Investment Risk. Investments in fixed-income securities of non-U.S. issuers are subject to the same risks as other debt securities, notably credit risk, market risk, interest rate risk and liquidity risk, while also facing risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities. For example, foreign securities may have relatively low market liquidity, greater market volatility, decreased publicly available information, and less reliable financial information about issuers, and inconsistent and

 

 

 

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potentially less stringent accounting, auditing and financial reporting requirements and standards of practice comparable to those applicable to domestic issuers. Foreign securities also are subject to the risks of expropriation, nationalization, political instability or other adverse political or economic developments and the difficulty of enforcing obligations in other countries. Investments in foreign securities also may be subject to dividend withholding or confiscatory taxes, currency blockage and/or transfer restrictions and higher transactional costs.

Index Risk. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not utilize an investing strategy that seeks returns in excess of its Underlying Index. Therefore, it would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the Underlying Index, even if that security generally is underperforming.

Industry Concentration Risk. The Underlying Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in a single industry or sector. To the extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or sector, the Fund will also concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or sector, the Fund faces more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or sectors. Such industry-based risks, any of which may adversely affect the companies in which the Fund invests, may include, but are not limited to, the following: general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively affect supply and demand in a particular industry; competition for resources, adverse labor relations, political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased competition or new product introductions that may affect the profitability or viability of companies in an industry. In addition, at times, such industry or sector may be out of favor and underperform other industries or the market as a whole.

Issuer-Specific Changes Risk. The value of an individual security or particular type of security may be more volatile than the market as a whole and may perform differently from the value of the market as a whole.

Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk exists when a particular investment is difficult to purchase or sell. If the Fund invests in illiquid securities or current portfolio securities become illiquid, it may reduce the returns of the Fund because the Fund may be unable to sell the illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price.

Market Risk. Securities in the Underlying Index are subject to market fluctuations. You should anticipate that the value of the Shares will decline, more or less, in correlation with any decline in value of the securities in the Underlying Index.

Market Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for the Shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors may lead to the Shares trading at a premium or discount to the Fund’s NAV.

Non-Correlation Risk. The Fund’s return may not match the return of the Underlying Index for a number of reasons. For example, the

Fund incurs operating expenses not applicable to the Underlying Index, and incurs costs in buying and selling securities, especially when rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition of the Underlying Index. Because the Fund issues and redeems Creation Units principally for cash, it will incur higher costs in buying and selling securities than if it issued and redeemed Creation Units in-kind. Additionally, the Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach may cause the Fund not to be as well-correlated with the return of the Underlying Index as would be the case if the Fund purchased all of the securities in the Underlying Index in the proportions represented in the Underlying Index. In addition, the performance of the Fund and the Underlying Index may vary due to asset valuation differences and differences between the Fund’s portfolio and the Underlying Index resulting from legal restrictions, costs or liquidity constraints.

Non-Diversified Fund Risk. Because the Fund is non-diversified and can invest a greater portion of its assets in securities of individual issuers than a diversified fund, changes in the market value of a single investment could cause greater fluctuations in Share price than would occur in a diversified fund. This may increase the Fund’s volatility and cause the performance of a relatively small number of issuers to have a greater impact on the Fund’s performance.

Sampling Risk. The Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach will result in it holding a smaller number of securities than are in the Underlying Index. As a result, an adverse development to an issuer of securities that the Fund holds could result in a greater decline in NAV than would be the case if the Fund held all of the securities in the Underlying Index. To the extent the assets in the Fund are smaller, these risks will be greater.

Valuation Risk. Financial information related to securities of non-U.S. issuers may be less reliable than information related to securities of U.S. issuers, which may make it difficult to obtain a current price for a non-U.S. security held by the Fund. In certain circumstances, market quotations may not be readily available for some Fund securities, and those securities may be fair valued. The value established for a security through fair valuation may be different from what would be produced if the security had been valued using market quotations. Fund securities that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including “fair valued” securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their value from one day to the next than would be the case if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell a portfolio security for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a security is sold at a discount to its established value.

Valuation Time Risk. The Fund will invest in foreign bonds and, because foreign exchanges may be open on days when the Fund does not price its Shares, the value of the non-U.S. securities in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell your Shares. As a result, trading spreads and the resulting premium or discount on the Shares may widen, and, therefore, increase the difference between the market price of the Shares and the Fund’s NAV of such Shares.

 

 

 

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Performance

As of the date of this Prospectus, the Fund has not commenced operations and therefore does not have a performance history. Once available, the Fund’s performance information will be accessible on the Fund’s website at www.invesco.com/ETFs and will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund.

Management of the Fund

Investment Adviser. Invesco Capital Management LLC.

Portfolio Managers. The following individuals are responsible jointly and primarily for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio:

 

Name    Title with Adviser/Trust   

Date Began

Managing

the Fund

Peter Hubbard    Director of Portfolio Management of the Adviser and Vice President of the Trust    August 2018
Jeffrey W. Kernagis    Senior Portfolio Manager of the Adviser    August 2018
Philip Fang    Portfolio Manager of the Adviser    August 2018
Greg Meisenger    Portfolio Manager of the Adviser    August 2018
Jeremy Neisewander    Portfolio Manager of the Adviser    August 2018

Purchase and Sale of Shares

The Fund will issue and redeem Shares at NAV only with APs and only in large blocks of 150,000 Shares (each block of Shares is called a “Creation Unit”), or multiples thereof (“Creation Unit Aggregations”), generally in exchange for the deposit or delivery of cash. However, the Fund also reserves the right to permit or require Creation Units to be issued in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a basket of securities. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund.

Individual Shares may be purchased and sold only on a national securities exchange through brokers. Shares will be listed for trading on NYSE Arca, Inc. and because the Shares will trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at prices greater than NAV (at a premium), at NAV, or less than NAV (at a discount).

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions generally are taxed as ordinary income, capital gains or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from such account.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund’s distributor or its related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange-traded

products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson or financial adviser to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s web-site for more information.

 

 

 

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BSJQ

   Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

 

 

Summary Information

Investment Objective

The Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track the investment results (before fees and expenses) of the Nasdaq BulletShares® USD High Yield Corporate Bond 2026 Index (the “Underlying Index”).

Fund Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”). Investors may pay brokerage commissions on their purchases and sales of Shares, which are not reflected in the table or the example below.

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses  
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)      
Management Fees     0.42%  
Other Expenses(1)     0.00%  
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses     0.42%  

 

(1)

“Other Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.

Example

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

This example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then 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. This example does not include the brokerage commissions that investors may pay to buy and sell Shares. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, your costs, based on these assumptions, would be:

 

1 Year   3 Years

$43

 

$135

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it purchases and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate will cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, may affect the Fund’s performance. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Fund has not yet commenced operations and portfolio turnover data therefore is not available.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund generally will invest at least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Underlying Index. Strictly in accordance with its guidelines and mandated procedures, Invesco Indexing LLC (the “Index Provider”) compiles and maintains the Underlying Index. The Index Provider is affiliated with Invesco Capital Management LLC, the Fund’s investment adviser (the “Adviser”), and Invesco Distributors, Inc., the Fund’s distributor (the “Distributor”).

 

 

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The Underlying Index will typically include between 20-400 securities and is designed to represent the performance of a held-to-maturity portfolio of U.S. dollar-denominated high yield corporate bonds (commonly known as “junk bonds”) with maturities or, in some cases, “effective maturities” in the year 2026 (collectively, “2026 Bonds”). Effective maturity is an assessment of a bond’s likely call date or maturity (if not called by the issuer). With respect to establishing the effective maturity of a bond, if no embedded issuer call option exists for a bond, then the Index Provider deems effective maturity to be the actual year of maturity. If a bond contains an embedded issuer call option, with the first call date within 13 months of maturity and a par call price, then the Index Provider also deems effective maturity to be the actual year of maturity. In other cases, the Index Provider deems effective maturity to be the actual year of maturity, unless the yield to next call date is less than the yield to maturity, in which case the bond’s effective maturity is deemed to be the year of the next call date.

In selecting components for inclusion in the Underlying Index, the Index Provider begins with an investment universe of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by companies domiciled in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe (as defined by the Index Provider) and Japan. To be eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index, bonds must (i) pay a fixed amount of taxable interest; (ii) have a maximum rating of BB+ by S&P Global Ratings, a division of S&P Global Inc. (“S&P”) or Fitch Ratings Inc. (“Fitch”), or a maximum rating of Ba1 by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”); and (iii) have at least $200 million in face value outstanding (existing bonds in the eligible universe require $150 million face value outstanding to remain eligible). The eligible universe excludes bonds with a minimum average credit rating of CCC- from S&P, Fitch and Moody’s.

The eligible universe may include securities issued in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”). Additionally, bond types specifically excluded from the eligible universe include: Securities not registered with the SEC, other than Rule 144A securities (including Regulation S securities, private placements, Eurodollar bonds and EuroMTN bonds), retail bonds, floating rate bonds, zero coupon bonds, convertible bonds, bonds cum or ex-warrant, bonds with one cash flow only, new bonds that have already been called, inflation or other index-linked bonds, corporate bonds guaranteed by an agency, national or supranational government, perpetual securities and distressed bonds (defined as bonds whose yield to worst ranks among the top 1% by market value among bonds passing all other eligibility criteria and whose price, including interest that has accrued since the issue of the most recent coupon payment, is below $80).

2026 Bonds (as established semi-annually, as further described below) in the eligible universe are selected for inclusion in the Underlying Index and market value weighted, with a 5% limit on individual issuers applied at each monthly rebalance. Prior to the final year of maturity (i.e., 2026), the Underlying Index is rebalanced monthly, at which time: (i) new bonds that meet the eligibility and maturity (or effective maturity) criteria above are added to the Underlying Index; (ii) existing 2026 Bonds that no longer meet the eligibility requirements are removed; and (iii) weights of Underlying Index components are reset to reflect

current market value. The Index Provider only reevaluates the effective maturity date of bonds in the investment universe semi-annually, as part of the June and December rebalances, at which time in addition to bonds being added or removed from the Underlying Index pursuant to the eligibility screening described in the previous sentence, bonds also may be added or removed from the Underlying Index due to any changes in actual or effective maturity (i.e., they no longer meet the definition of 2026 Bond). If a bond is removed from the Underlying Index during any rebalance due to changes in price, face value or credit rating, such bond will be excluded for the next three monthly rebalances (including the current rebalance) regardless of any further changes in price, face value or credit rating. During the final year of maturity (i.e., 2026), the Underlying Index does not rebalance.

Bonds held by the Fund generally will be held until they mature, are called or no longer meet the eligibility requirements of the Underlying Index and are removed from the Underlying Index.

The Fund primarily invests in 2026 Bonds and the Fund will terminate on or about December 31, 2026. In connection with the termination of the Fund, the Fund will make a cash distribution of its net assets to then-current shareholders after making appropriate provisions for any liabilities of the Fund. The Fund does not seek to distribute any predetermined amount of cash at maturity. In the last twelve months of operation, when the 2026 Bonds held by the Fund mature, the Fund’s portfolio will transition to cash and cash equivalents, including without limitation U.S. Treasury Bills and investment grade commercial paper. The Fund will terminate on or about December 31, 2026 without requiring additional approval by the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (the “Trust”) or Fund shareholders. The Board may change the termination date to an earlier or later date without shareholder approval. The Fund should not be confused with a target date fund, which has assets that are managed according to a particular glidepath that illustrates how its investment strategy becomes increasingly conservative over time.

The Fund does not purchase all of the securities in the Underlying Index; instead, the Fund utilizes a “sampling” methodology to seek to achieve its investment objective.

The Fund is “non-diversified” and therefore is not required to meet certain diversification requirements under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”).

Concentration Policy. The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., invest more than 25% of the value of its net assets) in securities of issuers in any one industry or group of industries only to the extent that the Underlying Index reflects a concentration in that industry or group of industries. The Fund will not otherwise concentrate its investments in securities of issuers in any one industry or group of industries. As of the date of this prospectus, a significant portion of the Underlying Index is represented by the consumer discretionary sector and, accordingly, the Adviser anticipates that the Fund may concentrate its investments in that sector. The Fund’s portfolio holdings, and the extent to which it concentrates in any industry or group of industries, are likely to change over time.

 

 

 

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Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund

The following summarizes the principal risks of the Fund.

The Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective.

Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only authorized participants (“APs”) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as APs, and such APs have no obligation to submit creation or redemption orders. Consequently, there is no assurance that those APs will establish or maintain an active trading market for the Shares. This risk may be heightened to the extent that securities underlying the Fund are traded outside a collateralized settlement system. In that case, APs may be required to post collateral on certain trades on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants), which only a limited number of APs may be able to do. In addition, to the extent that APs exit the business or are unable to proceed with processing creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other AP is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), this may result in a significantly diminished trading market for Shares, which may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and to face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be heightened for the Fund because it invests in non-U.S. securities, which may have lower trading volumes.

Call Risk. If interest rates fall, it is possible that issuers of callable securities with high interest coupons will “call” (or prepay) their bonds before their maturity date. If an issuer exercises such a call during a period of declining interest rates, the Fund may have to replace such called security with a lower yielding security. If that were to happen, the Fund’s net investment income could fall.

Cash Transaction Risk. Most ETFs generally make in-kind redemptions to avoid being taxed on gains on the distributed portfolio securities at the fund level. However, unlike most ETFs, the Fund currently intends to effect creations and redemptions principally for cash, rather than principally in-kind, due to the nature of the Fund’s investments. As such, the Fund may be required to sell portfolio securities to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. Therefore, the Fund may recognize a capital gain on these sales that might not have been incurred if the Fund had made a redemption in-kind. This may decrease the tax efficiency of the Fund compared to ETFs that utilize an in-kind redemption process and there may be a substantial difference in the after-tax rate of return between the Fund and conventional ETFs.

Changing Global Fixed-Income Market Conditions Risk. The current historically low interest rate environment was created in part by the Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) and certain foreign central banks keeping the federal funds and equivalent foreign rates at, near or below zero. The “tapering” in 2015 of the FRB’s quantitative easing program, combined with the FRB’s recent raising of the target range for the Federal Funds Rate (and continued possible fluctuations in equivalent foreign rates) may expose fixed-income markets to heightened volatility and reduced

liquidity for certain fixed-income investments, particularly those with longer maturities, although it is difficult to predict the impact of this rate increase and any future rate increases on various markets. In addition, decreases in fixed-income dealer market-making capacity may also potentially lead to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity in the fixed-income markets. As a result, the value of the Fund’s investments and share price may decline. Changes in central bank policies could also result in higher than normal shareholder redemptions, which could potentially increase portfolio turnover rate and the Fund’s transaction costs.

Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk. Companies engaged in the consumer discretionary (or “cyclicals”) sector are affected by fluctuations in supply and demand and changes in consumer preferences. Changes in discretionary consumer spending as a result of world events, political and economic conditions, commodity price volatility, changes in exchange rates, imposition of import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources and labor relations also may adversely affect these companies.

Declining Yield Risk. During the final year of the Fund’s operations, as the bonds held by the Fund mature and the Fund’s portfolio transitions to cash and cash equivalents, the Fund’s yield will generally tend to move toward the yield of cash and cash equivalents and thus may be lower than the yields of the bonds previously held by the Fund and/or prevailing yields for bonds in the market.

Fixed-Income Securities Risk. Fixed-income securities are subject to interest rate risk and credit risk. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. When the general level of interest rates goes up, the prices of most fixed-income securities go down. When the general level of interest rates goes down, the prices of most fixed-income securities go up. Fixed-income securities with longer maturities typically are more sensitive to changes in interest rates, making them more volatile than securities with shorter maturities. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of a security will be unable and/or unwilling to make timely interest payments and/or repay the principal on its debt. Debt instruments are subject to varying degrees of credit risk, which may be reflected in credit ratings. There is a possibility that the credit rating of a fixed-income security may be downgraded after purchase, which may adversely affect the value of the security.

Fluctuation of Yield and Liquidation Amount Risk. The Fund, unlike a direct investment in a bond that has a level coupon payment and a fixed payment at maturity, will make distributions of income that vary over time. Unlike a direct investment in bonds, the breakdown of returns between Fund distributions and liquidation proceeds are not predictable at the time of your investment. For example, at times during the Fund’s existence, it may make distributions at a greater (or lesser) rate than the coupon payments received on the Fund’s portfolio, which will result in the Fund returning a lesser (or greater) amount on liquidation than would otherwise be the case. The rate of Fund distribution payments may adversely affect the tax characterization of your returns from an investment in the Fund relative to a direct investment in corporate bonds. If the amount you receive as

 

 

 

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liquidation proceeds upon the Fund’s termination is higher or lower than your cost basis, you may experience a gain or loss for tax purposes.

Foreign Fixed-Income Investment Risk. Investments in fixed-income securities of non-U.S. issuers are subject to the same risks as other debt securities, notably credit risk, market risk, interest rate risk and liquidity risk, while also facing risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities. For example, foreign securities may have relatively low market liquidity, greater market volatility, decreased publicly available information, and less reliable financial information about issuers, and inconsistent and potentially less stringent accounting, auditing and financial reporting requirements and standards of practice comparable to those applicable to domestic issuers. Foreign securities also are subject to the risks of expropriation, nationalization, political instability or other adverse political or economic developments and the difficulty of enforcing obligations in other countries. Investments in foreign securities also may be subject to dividend withholding or confiscatory taxes, currency blockage and/or transfer restrictions and higher transactional costs.

Index Risk. Unlike many investment companies, the Fund does not utilize an investing strategy that seeks returns in excess of its Underlying Index. Therefore, it would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the Underlying Index, even if that security generally is underperforming.

Industry Concentration Risk. The Underlying Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in a single industry or sector. To the extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or sector, the Fund will also concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or sector, the Fund faces more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or sectors. Such industry-based risks, any of which may adversely affect the companies in which the Fund invests, may include, but are not limited to, the following: general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively affect supply and demand in a particular industry; competition for resources, adverse labor relations, political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased competition or new product introductions that may affect the profitability or viability of companies in an industry. In addition, at times, such industry or sector may be out of favor and underperform other industries or the market as a whole.

Issuer-Specific Changes Risk. The value of an individual security or particular type of security may be more volatile than the market as a whole and may perform differently from the value of the market as a whole.

Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk exists when a particular investment is difficult to purchase or sell. If the Fund invests in illiquid securities or current portfolio securities become illiquid, it may reduce the returns of the Fund because the Fund may be unable to sell the illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price.

Market Risk. Securities in the Underlying Index are subject to market fluctuations. You should anticipate that the value of the Shares will decline, more or less, in correlation with any decline in value of the securities in the Underlying Index.

Market Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for the Shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors may lead to the Shares trading at a premium or discount to the Fund’s NAV.

Non-Correlation Risk. The Fund’s return may not match the return of the Underlying Index for a number of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs operating expenses not applicable to the Underlying Index, and incurs costs in buying and selling securities, especially when rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition of the Underlying Index. Because the Fund issues and redeems Creation Units principally for cash, it will incur higher costs in buying and selling securities than if it issued and redeemed Creation Units in-kind. Additionally, the Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach may cause the Fund not to be as well-correlated with the return of the Underlying Index as would be the case if the Fund purchased all of the securities in the Underlying Index in the proportions represented in the Underlying Index. In addition, the performance of the Fund and the Underlying Index may vary due to asset valuation differences and differences between the Fund’s portfolio and the Underlying Index resulting from legal restrictions, costs or liquidity constraints.

Non-Diversified Fund Risk. Because the Fund is non-diversified and can invest a greater portion of its assets in securities of individual issuers than a diversified fund, changes in the market value of a single investment could cause greater fluctuations in Share price than would occur in a diversified fund. This may increase the Fund’s volatility and cause the performance of a relatively small number of issuers to have a greater impact on the Fund’s performance.

Non-Investment Grade Securities Risk. Non-investment grade securities are considered speculative and unrated securities of comparable credit quality are subject to the increased risk of an issuer’s inability to meet principal and interest payment obligations. These securities may be subject to greater price volatility due to such factors as specific corporate developments, interest rate sensitivity, negative perceptions of the non-investment grade securities markets generally, real or perceived adverse economic and competitive industry conditions and less secondary market liquidity. If the issuer of non-investment grade securities defaults, the Fund may incur additional expenses to seek recovery.

Rule 144A Securities Risk. Rule 144A securities are restricted securities that can be purchased only by “qualified institutional buyers,” as defined under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The market for Rule 144A securities typically is less active than the market for publicly-traded securities. As such, investing in Rule 144A securities may reduce the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, and the Fund may be unable to sell the security at the desired time or price, if at all. The purchase price

 

 

 

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and subsequent valuation of Rule 144A securities normally reflect a discount, which may be significant, from the market price of comparable unrestricted securities for which a liquid trading market exists. A restricted security that was liquid at the time of purchase may subsequently become illiquid and its value may decline as a result. In addition, transaction costs may be higher for restricted securities than for more liquid securities. The Fund may also have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration.

Sampling Risk. The Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach will result in it holding a smaller number of securities than are in the Underlying Index. As a result, an adverse development to an issuer of securities that the Fund holds could result in a greater decline in NAV than would be the case if the Fund held all of the securities in the Underlying Index. To the extent the assets in the Fund are smaller, these risks will be greater.

Valuation Risk. Financial information related to securities of non-U.S. issuers may be less reliable than information related to securities of U.S. issuers, which may make it difficult to obtain a current price for a non-U.S. security held by the Fund. In certain circumstances, market quotations may not be readily available for some Fund securities, and those securities may be fair valued. The value established for a security through fair valuation may be different from what would be produced if the security had been valued using market quotations. Fund securities that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including “fair valued” securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their value from one day to the next than would be the case if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell a portfolio security for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a security is sold at a discount to its established value.

Valuation Time Risk. The Fund will invest in foreign bonds and, because foreign exchanges may be open on days when the Fund does not price its Shares, the value of the non-U.S. securities in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell your Shares. As a result, trading spreads and the resulting premium or discount on the Shares may widen, and, therefore, increase the difference between the market price of the Shares and the Fund’s NAV of such Shares.

Performance

As of the date of this Prospectus, the Fund has not commenced operations and therefore does not have a performance history. Once available, the Fund’s performance information will be accessible on the Fund’s website at www.invesco.com/ETFs and will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund.

Management of the Fund

Investment Adviser. Invesco Capital Management LLC.

Portfolio Managers. The following individuals are responsible jointly and primarily for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio:

 

Name    Title with Adviser/Trust   

Date Began

Managing

the Fund

Peter Hubbard    Director of Portfolio Management of the Adviser and Vice President of the Trust    August 2018
Jeffrey W. Kernagis    Senior Portfolio Manager of the Adviser    August 2018
Philip Fang    Portfolio Manager of the Adviser    August 2018
Greg Meisenger    Portfolio Manager of the Adviser    August 2018
Jeremy Neisewander    Portfolio Manager of the Adviser    August 2018

Purchase and Sale of Shares

The Fund will issue and redeem Shares at NAV only with APs and only in large blocks of 100,000 Shares (each block of Shares is called a “Creation Unit”), or multiples thereof (“Creation Unit Aggregations”), generally in exchange for the deposit or delivery of cash. However, the Fund also reserves the right to permit or require Creation Units to be issued in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a basket of securities. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Shares are not redeemable securities of the Fund.

Individual Shares may be purchased and sold only on a national securities exchange through brokers. Shares will be listed for trading on NYSE Arca, Inc. and because the Shares will trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares may trade at prices greater than NAV (at a premium), at NAV, or less than NAV (at a discount).

Tax Information

The Fund’s distributions generally are taxed as ordinary income, capital gains or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from such account.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund’s distributor or its related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson or financial adviser to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s web-site for more information.

 

 

 

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Additional Information About the Funds’ Strategies and Risks

Principal Investment Strategies

Each Fund generally will invest at least 80% of its total assets in components of its respective Underlying Index. Each Fund operates as an index fund and will not be actively managed. Each Fund uses an “indexing” investment approach to attempt to correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of its Underlying Index. The Adviser seeks correlation over time of 0.95 or better between a Fund’s performance and the performance of its Underlying Index; a figure of 1.00 would represent perfect correlation. Another means of evaluating the relationship between the returns of a Fund and its Underlying Index is to assess the “tracking error” between the two. Tracking error means the variation between each Fund’s annual return and the return of its Underlying Index, expressed in terms of standard deviation. Each Fund seeks to have a tracking error of less than 5%, measured on a monthly basis over a one-year period by taking the standard deviation of the difference in the Fund’s returns versus its Underlying Index’s returns. Because each Fund uses an indexing approach to try to achieve its investment objective, each Fund does not take temporary defensive positions during periods of adverse market, economic or other conditions.

Each Fund, because of the practical difficulties and expense of purchasing all of the securities in each Fund’s respective Underlying Index, does not purchase all of the securities in its Underlying Index; instead, the Funds utilize a “sampling” methodology to seek to achieve their respective investment objectives. A “sampling” methodology means that the Adviser uses quantitative analysis to select securities from the Underlying Index universe to obtain a representative sample of securities that have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics similar to an Underlying Index in terms of key risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics. These include maturity, credit quality, sector, duration and other financial characteristics of securities. When employing a sampling methodology, the Adviser bases the quantity of holdings in a Fund on a number of factors, including asset size of the Fund, and generally expects the Fund to hold less than the total number of securities in its Underlying Index. However, the Adviser reserves the right to invest a Fund in as many securities as it believes necessary to achieve the Fund’s investment objective.

There also may be instances in which the Adviser may choose to (i) overweight a component of an Underlying Index, (ii) purchase securities not contained in the Underlying Index that the Adviser believes are appropriate to substitute for certain components of an Underlying Index, or (iii) utilize various combinations of other available investment techniques in seeking to track an Underlying Index. The Fund may sell securities included in an Underlying Index in anticipation of their removal from the Underlying Index, or purchase securities not included in an Underlying Index in anticipation of their addition to the Underlying Index.

Additional information about the construction of each Fund’s Underlying Index is set forth below.

Nasdaq BulletShares® USD Corporate Bond 2028 Index (Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF)

The Underlying Index for the Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF will typically include between 20-400 securities and is designed to represent the performance of a held-to-maturity portfolio of U.S. dollar-denominated investment grade corporate bonds with maturities or, in some cases, “effective maturities” in the year 2028 (collectively, “2028 Bonds”). Effective maturity is an assessment of a bond’s likely call date or maturity (if not called by the issuer). With respect to establishing the effective maturity of a bond, if no embedded issuer call option exists for a bond, then the Index Provider deems effective maturity to be the actual year of maturity. If a bond contains an embedded issuer call option, with the first call date within 13 months of maturity and a par call price, then the Index Provider also deems effective maturity to be the actual year of maturity. In other cases, the Index Provider deems effective maturity to be the actual year of maturity, unless the yield to next call date is less than the yield to maturity, in which case the bond’s effective maturity is deemed to be the year of the next call date.

The Index Provider compiles and maintains the Underlying Index. In selecting components for inclusion in the Underlying Index, the Index Provider begins with an investment universe of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by companies domiciled in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe and Japan. The Index Provider defines “Western Europe” to include: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

To be eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index, bonds must (i) pay a fixed amount of taxable interest; (ii) be rated at least BBB- by S&P Global Ratings, a division of S&P Global Inc. (“S&P”) or Fitch Ratings Inc. (“Fitch”), or at least Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”); and (iii) have at least $500 million in face value outstanding (existing bonds in the eligible universe require $400 million face value outstanding to remain eligible).

Bond types specifically excluded from the eligible universe include: Securities not registered with the SEC (including securities issued under Rule 144A or Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), private placements, Eurodollar bonds and EuroMTN bonds), retail bonds, floating rate bonds, zero coupon bonds, convertible bonds, bonds cum or ex-warrant, bonds with one cash flow only, new bonds that have already been called, inflation or other index-linked bonds, corporate bonds guaranteed by an agency, national or supranational government, and perpetual securities.

2028 Bonds (as established semi-annually, as further described below) in the eligible universe are selected for inclusion in the Underlying Index and market value weighted, with a 5% limit on individual issuers applied at each monthly rebalance. Prior to the final year of maturity (i.e., 2028), the Underlying Index is rebalanced monthly, at which time: (i) new bonds that meet the eligibility and maturity (or effective maturity) criteria above are added to the Underlying Index; (ii) existing 2028 Bonds that no longer meet the eligibility requirements are removed; and (iii)

 

 

 

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weights of the Underlying Index components are reset to reflect current market value. The Index Provider only reevaluates the effective maturity date of bonds in the investment universe semi-annually, as part of the June and December rebalances, at which time in addition to bonds being added or removed from the Underlying Index pursuant to the eligibility screening described in the previous sentence, bonds also may be added or removed from the Underlying Index due to any changes in actual or effective maturity (i.e., they no longer meet the definition of 2028 Bond). If a bond is removed from the Underlying Index during any rebalance due to changes in face value or credit rating, such bond will be excluded for the next three monthly rebalances (including the current rebalance) regardless of any further changes in face value or credit rating. During the final year of maturity (i.e., 2028), the Underlying Index does not reevaluate effective maturities, but continues to rebalance its constituents (though no new bonds are added) through June.

The Underlying Index treats market values of coupon payments, matured and called proceeds (including any accrued interest paid in connection with the redemption of the applicable bond) as received on the payment date and invested in 13-week U.S. Treasury Bills until the next Underlying Index rebalance, at which time they are reinvested in the bond components of the Underlying Index and weighted accordingly. Beginning on July 1, 2028 (the final year of maturity), such 13-week U.S. Treasury Bill holdings are not reinvested in the Underlying Index’s other components.

The Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF’s portfolio is rebalanced in accordance with its Underlying Index.

Nasdaq BulletShares® USD High Yield Corporate Bond 2026 Index (Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF)

The Underlying Index for the Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF will typically include between 20-400 securities and is designed to represent the performance of a held-to-maturity portfolio of U.S. dollar-denominated high yield corporate bonds (commonly known as “junk bonds”) with maturities or, in some cases, “effective maturities” in the year 2026 (collectively, “2026 Bonds”). Effective maturity is an assessment of a bond’s likely call date or maturity (if not called by the issuer). With respect to establishing the effective maturity of a bond, if no embedded issuer call option exists for a bond, then the Index Provider deems effective maturity to be the actual year of maturity. If a bond contains an embedded issuer call option, with the first call date within 13 months of maturity and a par call price, then the Index Provider also deems effective maturity to be the actual year of maturity. In other cases, the Index Provider deems effective maturity to be the actual year of maturity, unless the yield to next call date is less than the yield to maturity, in which case the bond’s effective maturity is deemed to be the year of the next call date.

The Index Provider compiles and maintains the Underlying Index. In selecting components for inclusion in the Underlying Index, the Index Provider begins with an investment universe of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by companies domiciled in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe and Japan. The Index Provider defines

“Western Europe” to include: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

To be eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index, bonds must (i) pay a fixed amount of taxable interest; (ii) have a maximum credit rating of BB+ from S&P or Fitch, or a maximum rating of Ba1 by Moody’s; and (iii) have at least $200 million in face value outstanding (existing bonds in the eligible universe require $150 million face value outstanding to remain eligible). The eligible universe excludes bonds with a minimum average credit rating (computed by calculating the simple average of a bond’s rating published by S&P, Fitch and Moody’s and then rounding down to the nearest rating step) of CCC- from S&P, Fitch and Moody’s.

The eligible universe may include securities issued in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act. Additionally, bond types specifically excluded from the eligible universe include: Securities not registered with the SEC, other than Rule 144A securities (including Regulation S securities, private placements, Eurodollar bonds and EuroMTN bonds), retail bonds, floating rate bonds, zero coupon bonds, convertible bonds, bonds cum or ex-warrant, bonds with one cash flow only, new bonds that have already been called, inflation or other index-linked bonds, corporate bonds guaranteed by an agency, national or supranational government, perpetual securities and distressed bonds (defined as bonds whose yield to worst ranks among the top 1% by market value among bonds passing all other eligibility criteria and whose price, including interest that has accrued since the issue of the most recent coupon payment, is below $80).

2026 Bonds (as established semi-annually, as further described below) in the eligible universe are selected for inclusion in the Underlying Index and market value weighted, with a 5% limit on individual issuers applied at each monthly rebalance. Prior to the final year of maturity (i.e., 2026), the Underlying Index is rebalanced monthly, at which time: (i) new bonds that meet the eligibility and maturity (or effective maturity) criteria above are added to the Underlying Index; (ii) existing 2026 Bonds that no longer meet the eligibility requirements are removed; and (iii) weights of the Underlying Index components are reset to reflect current market value. If a bond is removed from the Underlying Index during any rebalance due to changes in price, face value or credit rating, such bond will be excluded for the next three monthly rebalances (including the current rebalance) regardless of any further changes in price, face value or credit rating.

The Index Provider only reevaluates the effective maturity date of bonds in the investment universe semi-annually, as part of the June and December rebalances, at which time in addition to bonds being added or removed from the Underlying Index pursuant to the eligibility screening described above, eligible bonds with an actual or effective maturity of 2026 (i.e., bonds that meet the definition of 2026 Bonds) are added to the Underlying Index and bonds with effective maturities in other years are removed, subject to the Index Provider capping the amount of bonds being added or deleted due to changing effective maturities to 20% of

 

 

 

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the Underlying Index’s total market value following the process below:

 

 

For existing bonds in the eligible universe, those whose effective maturities have changed are grouped;

 

 

Within that group, the bonds are ranked by the percentage difference between yield to next call date (“YTNC”) and yield to maturity (“YTM”) in descending order;

 

 

Starting from the bond with the largest percentage difference between YTNC and YTM, add (or remove) the bonds with newly-designated effective maturities of 2026 (or no longer 2026), while recording the market value of bonds moved out and into the Underlying Index; and

 

 

If the Underlying Index already has added (or removed) bonds representing 20% of the Underlying Index’s market value, no further additions (or removals) of bonds with changing effective dates are made.

During the final year of maturity (i.e., 2026), the Underlying Index does not rebalance, although bonds whose effective maturities have passed without being called may be removed from the Underlying Index monthly.

The Underlying Index treats market values of coupon payments, matured and called proceeds (including any accrued interest paid in connection with the redemption of the applicable bond) as received on the payment date and invested in 13-week U.S. Treasury Bills until the next Underlying Index rebalance, at which time they are reinvested in the bond components of the Underlying Index and weighted accordingly. During the final year of maturity (i.e., 2026), such 13-week U.S. Treasury Bill holdings are not reinvested in the Underlying Index’s other components.

The Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF’s portfolio is rebalanced in accordance with its Underlying Index.

Principal Risks of Investing in the Funds

The following provides additional information regarding certain of the principal risks identified under “Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund” in each Fund’s “Summary Information” section.

Authorized Participant Concentration Risk

Only APs may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with a Fund. Each Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as APs, and such APs have no obligation to submit creation or redemption orders. Consequently, there is no assurance that those APs will establish or maintain an active trading market for the Shares. This risk may be heightened to the extent that securities underlying a Fund are traded outside a collateralized settlement system. In that case, APs may be required to post collateral on certain trades on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants), which only a limited number of APs may be able to do. In addition, to the extent that APs exit the business or are unable to proceed with processing creation and/or redemption orders with respect to a Fund and no other AP is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), this may result in a significantly diminished trading market for Shares, which may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to a Fund’s NAV and to face

trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be heightened for each Fund because they invest in non-U.S. securities, which may have lower trading volumes.

Call Risk

If interest rates fall, it is possible that issuers of callable securities with high interest coupons will “call” (or prepay) their bonds before their maturity date. If an issuer exercises such a call during a period of declining interest rates, a Fund may have to replace such called security with a lower yielding security. If that were to happen, a Fund’s net investment income could fall.

Cash Transaction Risk

Unlike most ETFs, the Funds effect creations and redemptions principally for cash, rather than principally in-kind because of the nature of each Fund’s investments. ETFs generally are able to make in-kind redemptions and avoid being taxed on gain on the distributed portfolio securities at the Fund level. Because these Funds currently intend to effect redemptions principally for cash, rather than principally for in-kind securities, they may be required to sell portfolio securities in order to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. A Fund may recognize a capital gain on these sales that might not have been incurred if the Fund had made a redemption in-kind, and this may decrease the tax efficiency of the Fund compared to ETFs that utilize an in-kind redemption process, and there may be a substantial difference in the after-tax rate of return between the Fund and conventional ETFs.

Changing Global Fixed-Income Market Conditions Risk

The current historically low interest rate environment was created in part by the FRB and certain foreign central banks keeping the federal funds and equivalent foreign rates at, near or below zero. The “tapering” in 2015 of the FRB’s quantitative easing program, combined with the FRB’s recent raising of the target range for the Federal Funds Rate (and continued possible fluctuations in equivalent foreign rates) may expose fixed-income markets to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity for certain fixed-income investments, particularly those with longer maturities, although it is difficult to predict the impact of this rate increase and any future rate increases on various markets. In addition, decreases in fixed-income dealer market-making capacity may also potentially lead to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity in the fixed-income markets. As a result, the value of a Fund’s investments and share price may decline. Changes in central bank policies could also result in higher than normal shareholder redemptions, which could potentially increase portfolio turnover rate and a Fund’s transaction costs.

Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk

Companies engaged in the consumer discretionary sector are affected by fluctuations in supply and demand and changes in consumer demographics and preferences. The success of consumer product manufacturers and retailers is tied closely to the performance of domestic and international economies. Moreover, changes in consumer spending as a result of world events, political and economic conditions, commodity price volatility, changes in interest and exchange rates, imposition of import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources and

 

 

 

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labor relations also may adversely affect these companies. Companies in the consumer discretionary sector depend heavily on disposable household income and consumer spending, and may be strongly affected by social trends and marketing campaigns. These companies may be subject to severe competition, which may have an adverse impact on their profitability.

Declining Yield Risk

During the final year of a Fund’s operations, as the bonds held by the Fund mature and the Fund’s portfolio transitions to cash and cash equivalents, the Fund’s yield will generally tend to move toward the yield of cash and cash equivalents and thus may be lower than the yields of the bonds previously held by the Fund and/or prevailing yields for bonds in the market.

Financial Sector Risk

The risks of investing in the financial services sector include the following: financial services companies are subject to extensive government regulation and, as a result, their profitability may be affected by new regulations or regulatory interpretations, unstable interest rates can have a disproportionate effect on the financial services sector; financial services companies whose securities a Fund may purchase may themselves have concentrated portfolios, which makes them vulnerable to economic conditions that affect that sector; and financial services companies have been affected by increased competition, which could adversely affect the profitability or viability of such companies. In addition, the financial services sector is undergoing numerous changes, including continuing consolidations, development of new products and structures and changes to its regulatory framework. Increased government involvement in financial institutions, including measures such as taking ownership positions in such institutions, could result in a dilution in the value of the shares held by shareholders in such institutions.

Moreover, global economies and financial markets are becoming increasingly interconnected, which increases the possibilities that conditions in one country or region may adversely affect issuers in another country or region, which may adversely affect securities held by a Fund. These circumstances have also decreased liquidity in some markets and may continue to do so. Liquidity in some markets has decreased and credit has become scarcer worldwide. The recent deterioration of the credit markets has caused an adverse impact on a broad range of financial markets, thereby causing certain financial services companies to incur large losses. Certain financial services companies have experienced decline in the valuation of their assets and even ceased operations.

Financial services companies also are subject to extensive government regulation and, as a result, their profitability may be affected by new regulations or regulatory interpretations. Recent regulatory changes, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and the introduction of new international capital and liquidity requirements under the Basel III Accords (“Basel III”), may cause lending activity within the financial services sector to be constrained for several years as Basel III rules phase in and rules and regulations are promulgated and interpreted under the Dodd-Frank Act. These

market conditions may continue or deteriorate further and may add significantly to the risk of short-term volatility in a Fund.

Fixed-Income Securities Risk

Each Fund invests in fixed-income securities, which are subject to interest rate risk and credit risk. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a fixed-income security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. When the general level of interest rates goes up, the prices of most fixed-income securities go down. When the general level of interest rates goes down, the prices of most fixed-income securities go up. Fixed-income securities with longer maturities typically are more sensitive to changes in interest rates, making them more volatile than securities with shorter maturities. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of a security will be unable and/or unwilling to make timely interest payments and/or repay the principal on its debt. Debt instruments are subject to varying degrees of credit risk, which may be reflected in credit ratings. There is a possibility that the credit rating of a fixed-income security may be downgraded after purchase, which may adversely affect the value of the security. Securities issued by the U.S. Government are subject to limited credit risk; however, securities issued by U.S. Government agencies are not necessarily backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. Due to recent events in the fixed-income markets, including the potential impact of the Federal Reserve Board tapering its quantitative easing program, the Funds may be subject to heightened interest rate risk as a result of a rise in interest rates. In addition, the Funds are subject to the risk that interest rates may exhibit increased volatility, which could cause a Fund’s NAV to fluctuate more. A decrease in fixed-income market maker capacity may act to decrease liquidity in the fixed-income markets and act to further increase volatility, affecting the Funds’ returns.

Fluctuation of Yield and Liquidation Amount Risk

Each Fund, unlike a direct investment in a bond that has a level coupon payment and a fixed payment at maturity, will make distributions of income that vary over time. Unlike a direct investment in bonds, the breakdown of returns between Fund distributions and liquidation proceeds are not predictable at the time of your investment. For example, at times during a Fund’s existence, it may make distributions at a greater (or lesser) rate than the coupon payments received on the Fund’s portfolio, which will result in the Fund returning a lesser (or greater) amount on liquidation than would otherwise be the case. The rate of Fund distribution payments may adversely affect the tax characterization of your returns from an investment in the Fund relative to a direct investment in corporate bonds. If the amount you receive as liquidation proceeds upon a Fund’s termination is higher or lower than your cost basis, you may experience a gain or loss for tax purposes.

Foreign Fixed-Income Investment Risk

Investments in fixed-income securities of non-U.S. issuers are subject to the same risks as other debt securities, notably credit risk, market risk, interest rate risk and liquidity risk, while also facing risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities including, among others, greater market volatility, the availability of less reliable financial information, higher

 

 

 

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transactional costs, taxation by foreign governments, decreased market liquidity and political instability. Foreign issuers are often subject to less stringent requirements regarding accounting, auditing, financial reporting and record keeping than are U.S. securities, and therefore, not all material information regarding these issuers will be available. Securities exchanges or foreign governments may adopt rules or regulations that may negatively impact the Funds’ ability to invest in foreign securities or may prevent the Funds from repatriating its investments. In addition, the Funds may not receive shareholder communications or be permitted to vote the securities that it holds, as the issuers may be under no legal obligation to distribute them. In addition, the underlying issuers of certain depositary receipts, particularly unsponsored or unregistered depositary receipts, are under no obligation to distribute shareholder communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any voting rights with respect to the deposited securities.

Index Risk

Unlike many investment companies that are “actively managed,” the Funds are “passive” investors and therefore do not utilize investing strategies that seek returns in excess of their respective Underlying Index. Therefore, the Funds would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from its respective Underlying Index, even if that security generally is underperforming. If a specific security is removed from an Underlying Index, a Fund may be forced to sell shares of the security at an inopportune time or for a price lower than the security’s current market value. An Underlying Index may not contain the appropriate mix of securities for any particular economic cycle. Unlike with an actively managed fund, the Adviser does not use techniques or defensive strategies designed to lessen the impact of periods of market volatility or market decline. This means that, based on certain market and economic conditions, certain Funds’ performance could be lower than other types of mutual funds that actively manage their portfolio assets to take advantage of market opportunities.

Industry Concentration Risk

In following its methodology, a Fund’s Underlying Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in a single industry or sector. To the extent that an Underlying Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or sector, a Fund will also concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or sector, a Fund faces more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or sectors. Such industry-based risks, any of which may adversely affect the companies in which a Fund invests, may include, but are not limited to, the following: general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively affect supply and demand in a particular industry or sector; competition for resources, adverse labor relations, political or world events; obsolescence of technologies; and increased competition or new product introductions that may affect the profitability or viability of companies in an industry or sector. In addition, at times, such industry or sector may be out of favor and underperform other industries or sectors or the market as a whole. Information about the Funds’ exposure to a particular industry or sector will be

available in the Funds’ Annual and Semi-Annual Reports to Shareholders, as well as on their Forms N-Q as filed with the SEC.

Issuer-Specific Changes Risk

The performance of a Fund depends on the performance of individual securities to which the Fund has exposure. The value of an individual security or particular type of security may be more volatile than the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market as a whole, causing the value of its securities to decline. Poor performance may be caused by poor management decisions, competitive pressures, changes in technology, expiration of patent protection, disruptions in supply, labor problems or shortages, corporate restructurings, fraudulent disclosures or other factors. Issuers may, in times of distress or at their own discretion, decide to reduce or eliminate dividends, which may also cause their stock prices to decline.

Liquidity Risk

Liquidity risk exists when a particular investment is difficult to purchase or sell. If a Fund invests in illiquid securities or current portfolio securities become illiquid, it may reduce the returns of the Fund because the Fund may be unable to sell the illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. In the event that a Fund voluntarily or involuntarily liquidates portfolio assets during periods of infrequent trading, it may not receive full value for those assets.

Market Risk

Securities in each Underlying Index are subject to market fluctuations, and a Fund could lose money due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during market downturns. You should anticipate that the value of the Shares will decline, more or less, in correlation with any decline in value of the securities in the respective Underlying Index. The value of a security may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends or events that are not specifically related to the issuer of the security or due to factors that affect a particular industry or group of industries. During a general downturn in the securities markets, multiple asset classes may be negatively affected.

Market Trading Risk

Each Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Although the Shares of each Fund are listed for trading on a securities exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Shares will develop or be maintained by market makers or APs, that the Shares will continue to trade on any such exchange or that the Shares will continue to meet the requirements for listing on an exchange. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Shares trading at a premium or discount to a Fund’s NAV. As a result, an investor could lose money over short or long periods. Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for a Fund’s portfolio holdings, which may cause a variance in the market price of the Shares and their underlying value.

 

 

 

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Non-Correlation Risk

A Fund’s returns may not match the return of its Underlying Index (that is, it may experience tracking error) for a number of reasons. For example, a Fund incurs operating expenses not applicable to its Underlying Index and also incurs costs in buying and selling securities, especially when rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition of its Underlying Index. If a Fund has recently commenced operations or otherwise has a relatively small amount of assets, such transaction costs could have a proportionally greater impact on the Fund. Additionally, a Fund’s use of a sampling approach may result in returns that are not as well-correlated with the returns of its Underlying Index as would be the case if the Fund purchased all of the components of its Underlying Index in the proportions represented in the Underlying Index.

The performance of each Fund and its Underlying Index may vary due to asset valuation differences and differences between the Fund’s portfolio and its Underlying Index resulting from legal restrictions, cost or liquidity constraints. Additionally, because the Funds issue and redeem Creation Units principally for cash, they will incur higher costs in buying or selling securities than if they issued and redeemed Creation Units principally in-kind. A Fund may fair value certain of the securities it holds. To the extent a Fund calculates its NAV based on fair value prices, the Fund’s ability to track its Underlying Index may be adversely affected. Since an Underlying Index is not subject to the tax diversification requirements to which the Funds must adhere, a Fund may be required to deviate its investments from the securities contained in, and relative weightings of, its Underlying Index. A Fund may not invest in certain components of its Underlying Index due to liquidity constraints. Liquidity constraints also may delay a Fund’s purchase or sale of securities included in its Underlying Index. For tax efficiency purposes, a Fund may sell certain securities to realize losses, causing it to deviate from its respective Underlying Index.

The investment activities of one or more of the Adviser’s affiliates, including other subsidiaries of the Adviser’s parent company, Invesco Ltd., for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts also may adversely impact a Fund’s ability to track its Underlying Index. For example, in regulated industries or, certain emerging or international markets and under corporate and regulatory ownership definitions, there may be limits on the aggregate amount of investment by affiliated investors that may not be exceeded, or that may not be exceeded without the grant of a license or other regulatory or corporate consent, or, if exceeded, may cause the Adviser, the Fund or other client accounts to suffer disadvantages or business restrictions. As a result, a Fund may be restricted in its ability to acquire particular securities due to positions held by the Adviser’s affiliates.

The Adviser may not fully invest a Fund at times, either as a result of cash flows into the Fund or the need to reserve cash the Fund holds to meet redemptions and expenses, or because of low assets (particularly when a Fund is new and has operated for only a short period).

Non-Diversified Fund Risk

Because each Fund is non-diversified and can invest a greater portion of assets in securities of individual issuers than a diversified fund, changes in the market value of a single investment could cause greater fluctuations in Share price than would occur in a diversified fund. This may increase a Fund’s volatility and cause the performance of a relatively small number of issuers to have a greater impact on the Fund’s performance.

Non-Investment Grade Securities Risk

Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF invests in non-investment grade securities. The risk of investing in non-investment grade securities is a form of credit risk. Securities that are rated non-investment grade, commonly known as “junk bonds,” are regarded as having predominantly speculative characteristics with respect to the capacity to pay interest and repay principal. Non-investment grade securities may be more susceptible to real or perceived adverse economic and competitive industry conditions than higher grade securities. The prices of non-investment grade securities have been found to be less sensitive to interest rate changes than more highly rated investments, but more sensitive to adverse economic downturns or individual corporate developments. Yields on non-investment grade securities will fluctuate. If the issuer of non-investment grade securities defaults, a Fund may incur additional expenses to seek recovery. The secondary markets in which non-investment grade securities are traded may be less liquid than the market for higher grade securities. Less liquidity in the secondary trading markets could adversely affect the price at which the Funds could sell a particular non-investment grade security when necessary to meet liquidity needs or in response to a specific economic event, such as a deterioration in the creditworthiness of the issuer, and could adversely affect and cause large fluctuations in the NAV of a Funds’ Shares. Adverse publicity and investor perceptions may decrease the values and liquidity of non-investment grade securities.

Rule 144A Securities Risk

Rule 144A securities are restricted securities that can be purchased only by “qualified institutional buyers,” as defined under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The market for Rule 144A securities typically is less active than the market for publicly-traded securities. As such, investing in Rule 144A securities may reduce the liquidity of the Fund’s investments, and the Fund may be unable to sell the security at the desired time or price, if at all. The purchase price and subsequent valuation of Rule 144A securities normally reflect a discount, which may be significant, from the market price of comparable unrestricted securities for which a liquid trading market exists. A restricted security that was liquid at the time of purchase may subsequently become illiquid and its value may decline as a result. In addition, transaction costs may be higher for restricted securities than for more liquid securities. The Fund may also have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration.

Sampling Risk

Each Fund may use a representative sampling approach. A Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach could result in the

 

 

 

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Fund holding a smaller number of securities than are in its Underlying Index. As a result, an adverse development to an issuer of securities that a Fund holds could result in a greater decline in a Fund’s NAV than would be the case if the Fund held all of the securities in its Underlying Index. To the extent the assets in a Fund are smaller, these risks will be greater. In addition, by sampling the securities in an Underlying Index, a Fund faces the risk that the securities selected for the Fund, in the aggregate, will not provide investment performance matching that of the Fund’s Underlying Index, thereby increasing tracking error.

Valuation Risk

Financial information related to securities of non-U.S. issuers may be less reliable than information related to securities of U.S. issuers, which may make it difficult to obtain a current price for a non-U.S. security held by the Fund. In certain circumstances, market quotations may not be readily available for some securities, and those securities may be fair valued. The value established for a security through fair valuation may be different from what would be produced if the security had been valued using market quotations. Fund securities that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including “fair valued” securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their value from one day to the next than would be the case if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that a Fund could sell a portfolio security for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that a Fund would incur a loss because a security is sold at a discount to its established value.

Valuation Time Risk

The Funds may invest in securities of foreign issuers and, because foreign exchanges may be open on days when the Funds do not price their Shares, the value of the non-U.S. securities in each Fund’s portfolio may change on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell your Shares. As a result, trading spreads and the resulting premium or discount on the Shares may widen, and, therefore, increase the difference between the market price of the Shares and the NAV of such Shares.

Non-Principal Investment Strategies

Each Fund, after investing at least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise its respective Underlying Index, may invest its remaining assets in securities (including other funds) not included in its Underlying Index, and in money market instruments, including repurchase agreements or other funds that invest exclusively in money market instruments (subject to applicable limitations under the 1940 Act or exemptions therefrom). The Adviser anticipates that it may take approximately two business days (a business day is any day that the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) is open) for the Adviser to fully reflect the additions to, and deletions from, each Fund’s Underlying Index in the portfolio composition of that Fund.

In accordance with 1940 Act rules, each Fund has adopted a policy to invest at least 80% of the value of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in certain types of securities (e.g., corporate bonds or high yield fixed-income securities) suggested by its name (for each Fund, an “80% investment policy”). Each Fund considers the securities suggested by its name to be those securities that comprise its

respective Underlying Index. Therefore, each Fund anticipates meeting its 80% investment policy because it already is required to invest at least 80% of the value of its total assets in securities that comprise its respective Underlying Index, in accordance with the terms of the Trust’s exemptive relief.

Each Fund’s investment objective and the 80% investment policy each constitutes a non-fundamental policy that the Board of the Trust may change at any time without shareholder approval upon 60 days written notice to shareholders. The complete list of fundamental and non-fundamental policies of the Funds is set forth in the Trust’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) under the section “Investment Restrictions.”

Borrowing Money

Each Fund may borrow money to the extent permitted by (i) the 1940 Act, (ii) the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC under the 1940 Act, or (iii) an exemption or other relief applicable to the Fund from the provisions of the 1940 Act.

Additional Risks of Investing in the Funds

The following provides additional risk information regarding investing in the Funds.

Affiliated Index Provider Risk

The Index Provider of the Underlying Indexes is an affiliated person of the Adviser, which poses the appearance of a conflict of interest. For example, a potential conflict could arise between an affiliated person of the Index Provider or the Adviser and the Fund if that entity attempted to use information regarding changes and composition of an Underlying Index to the detriment of a Fund. Additionally, potential conflicts could arise with respect to the personal trading activity of personnel of the affiliated person who may have access to, or knowledge of, pending changes to an Underlying Index’s composition methodology or the constituent securities in an Underlying Index prior to the time that information is publicly disseminated. If shared, such knowledge could facilitate “front-running” (which describes an instance in which other persons trade ahead of a Fund). Although the Adviser and the Index Provider have taken steps designed to ensure that these potential conflicts are mitigated (e.g., via the adoption of policies and procedures that are designed to minimize potential conflicts of interest and the implementation of informational barriers designed to minimize the potential for the misuse of information about an Underlying Index), there can be no assurance that such measures will be successful.

Cybersecurity Risk

The Funds, like all companies, may be susceptible to operational and information security risks. Cybersecurity failures or breaches of the Funds or their service providers or the issuers of securities in which the Funds invest, have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, the inability of Fund shareholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, and/or additional compliance costs. The Funds and their shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result.

 

 

 

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Index Provider Risk

Each Fund seeks to track the investment results, before fees and expenses, of its Underlying Index, as published by the Index Provider. There is no assurance that the Index Provider will compile an Underlying Index accurately, or that an Underlying Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While the Index Provider gives descriptions of what an Underlying Index is designed to achieve, the Index Provider generally does not provide any warranty or accept any liability in relation to the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in such indexes, and it generally does not guarantee that an Underlying Index will be in line with its methodology. Errors made by the Index Provider with respect to the quality, accuracy and completeness of the data within an Underlying Index may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index Provider for a period of time, if at all. The potential risk of continuing error may be particularly heightened because each Underlying Index generally is not used as a benchmark by other funds or managers. Additionally, because each Underlying Index is a new index and the Index Provider also is new to the business of creating indexes, there may be a greater risk that errors will not be detected as quickly as they might be in the case of an index that has been maintained over time by a different index provider. Therefore, gains, losses or costs associated with the Index Provider’s errors will generally be borne by a Fund and its shareholders.

Index Rebalancing Risk

Pursuant to the methodology that the Index Provider uses to calculate and maintain each Underlying Index, a security may be removed from an Underlying Index in the event that it does not comply with the eligibility requirements of the Underlying Index. As a result, a Fund may be forced to sell securities at inopportune times or for prices other than at current market values or may elect not to sell such securities on the day that they are removed from its Underlying Index, due to market conditions or otherwise. Due to these factors, the variation between a Fund’s annual return and the return of its Underlying Index may increase significantly.

Apart from scheduled rebalances, the Index Provider may carry out additional ad hoc rebalances to an Underlying Index, for example, to correct an error in the selection of constituents. When a Fund in turn rebalances its portfolio, any transaction costs and market exposure arising from such portfolio rebalancing will be borne by the Fund and its shareholders. Unscheduled rebalances also expose a Fund to additional tracking error risk. Therefore, errors and additional ad hoc rebalances carried out by the Index Provider may increase a Fund’s costs and market exposure.

Licensing, Custody and Settlement Risk

Approval of governmental authorities may be required prior to investing in the securities of companies based in certain foreign countries. Delays in obtaining such an approval would delay investments in the particular country, and, as a consequence, the Funds may not be able to invest in all of the securities included in its Underlying Index while an approval is pending. Rules adopted under the 1940 Act permit a Fund to maintain its foreign securities and cash in the custody of certain eligible non-U.S. banks and securities depositories. Certain banks in foreign countries that are eligible foreign sub-custodians may be recently

organized or otherwise lack extensive operating experience. In addition, in certain countries there may be legal restrictions or limitations on the ability of a Fund to recover assets held in custody by a foreign sub-custodian in the event of the bankruptcy of the sub-custodian. Settlement systems in emerging markets may be less organized than in developed markets. Thus, there may be a risk that settlement may be delayed and that cash or securities of the Funds may be in jeopardy because of failures of or defects in the systems. Under the laws of certain countries in which the Funds invest, the Funds may be required to release local shares before receiving cash payment or may be required to make cash payment prior to receiving local shares.

Money Market Funds Risk

Money market funds are subject to management fees and other expenses, and a Fund’s investments in money market funds will cause it to bear proportionately the costs incurred by the money market funds’ operations while simultaneously paying its own management fees and expenses. An investment in a money market fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency; it is possible to lose money by investing in a money market fund. To the extent that a Fund invests in money market funds, the Fund will be subject to the same risks that investors experience when investing in money market funds. These risks may include the impact of significant fluctuations in assets as a result of the cash sweep program or purchase and redemption activity in those funds.

Money market funds are open-end registered investment companies that historically have traded at a stable $1.00 per share price. However, under recent amendments to money market fund regulations under the 1940 Act, money market funds that do not meet the definition of a “retail money market fund” or “government money market fund” are required to transact at a floating NAV per share (i.e., in a manner similar to how all other non-money market mutual funds transact), instead of at a $1.00 stable share price. Those rule amendments also permit money market funds to impose liquidity fees and redemption gates for use in times of market stress. If a Fund invested in a money market fund with a floating NAV, the impact on the trading and value of the money market instrument as a result of the rule amendments may negatively affect the Fund’s return potential.

Repurchase Agreement Risk

A repurchase agreement is an instrument under which the purchaser (i.e., a Fund) acquires a security and the seller agrees, at the time of the sale, to repurchase the security at a mutually agreed upon time and price. Repurchase agreements may be construed to be collateralized loans by the purchaser to the seller secured by the securities transferred to the purchaser. If a repurchase agreement is construed to be a collateralized loan, the underlying securities will not be considered to be owned by a Fund, but only to constitute collateral for the seller’s obligation to pay the repurchase price. If the seller defaults on its obligation under the agreement, a Fund may suffer delays and incur costs or lose money in exercising its rights under the agreement. If the seller fails to repurchase the security and the market value of the security declines, a Fund may lose money.

 

 

 

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Shares May Trade at Prices Different than NAV

The NAV of the Shares generally will fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Funds’ holdings. The market prices of Shares generally will fluctuate in accordance with changes in NAV, as well as the relative supply of and demand for Shares on the exchange on which a Fund trades. The Adviser cannot predict whether the Shares will trade below, at or above a Fund’s NAV. Price differences may be due largely to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for the Shares will be related, but not identical, to the same forces influencing the prices of the securities of each Fund’s Underlying Index trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. In addition, disruptions to creations and redemptions or the existence of extreme market volatility may result in trading prices that differ significantly from NAV. If a shareholder purchases at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV or sells at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses.

Short-Term and Intermediate-Term Bond Risk

The Funds may invest in bonds with a short term (i.e., three years or less) or intermediate term (i.e., five years or less) until maturity. The amount of time until a fixed-income security matures can lead to various risks, including changes in interest rates over the life of a bond. Short- and intermediate-term fixed-income securities generally provide lower returns than longer-term fixed-income securities. The average maturity of the Funds’ investments will affect the volatility of the Funds’ share price.

Trading Issues Risk

Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market may pay brokerage commissions or other charges, which may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. Moreover, trading in Shares on the NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange”) 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 the Exchange’s “circuit breaker” rules. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of each Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. Foreign exchanges may be open on days when Shares are not priced, and therefore, the value of the securities in a Fund’s portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell Shares.

U.S. Government Obligation Risk

The Funds may invest in U.S. government obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies and instrumentalities, including bills, notes and bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury. U.S. Government securities include securities that are issued or guaranteed by the United States Treasury, by various agencies of the U.S. Government, or by various instrumentalities which have been established or sponsored by the U.S. Government. U.S. Treasury securities are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the United States. Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies and U.S. Government-sponsored

instrumentalities may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. In the case of those U.S. Government securities not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, the investor must look principally to the agency or instrumentality issuing or guaranteeing the security for ultimate repayment, and may not be able to assert a claim against the United States itself in the event that the agency or instrumentality does not meet its commitment. The U.S. Government, its agencies and instrumentalities do not guarantee the market value of their securities, and consequently, the value of such securities may fluctuate.

 

 

Tax-Advantaged Structure of ETFs

Unlike interests in conventional mutual funds, which typically are bought and sold only at their closing NAVs, the Shares are traded throughout the day in the secondary market on a national securities exchange, and are created and redeemed principally for cash in Creation Units at each day’s next calculated NAV. To the extent that a Fund permits transactions in-kind, such in-kind arrangements are designed to protect shareholders from the adverse effects on a Fund’s portfolio that could arise from frequent cash creation and redemption transactions. In a conventional mutual fund, redemptions can have an adverse tax impact on taxable shareholders because the mutual funds may need to sell portfolio securities to obtain cash to meet redemptions. These sales may generate taxable gains that must be distributed to the shareholders of the mutual fund, whereas an in-kind redemption mechanism generally will not lead to a tax event for a Fund (to the extent it uses in-kind redemptions) or its shareholders. However, because each Fund intends to effect creations and redemptions principally for cash, investments in a Fund’s Shares may be less tax-efficient than investments in shares of conventional ETFs that utilize an in-kind redemption process.

Each Fund may recognize gains as a result of rebalancing its securities holdings to reflect changes in the securities included in its Underlying Index. The Funds also may be required to distribute any such gains to their shareholders to avoid adverse federal income tax consequences. For information concerning the tax consequences of distributions, see the section entitled “Dividends, Other Distributions and Taxes” in this Prospectus.

 

 

Portfolio Holdings

A description of the Trust’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Funds’ portfolio holdings is available in the Funds’ SAI, which is available at www.invesco.com/ETFs.

 

 

Management of the Funds

Invesco Capital Management LLC is a registered investment adviser with its offices at 3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515. The Adviser serves as the investment adviser to the Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded

 

 

 

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Fund Trust, and Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust, a family of ETFs with combined assets under management of approximately $74.6 billion as of May 31, 2018.

As the Funds’ investment adviser, the Adviser has overall responsibility for selecting and continuously monitoring the Funds’ investments, managing the Funds’ business affairs and providing certain clerical, bookkeeping and other administrative services for the Trust.

Portfolio Managers

The Adviser uses a team of portfolio managers, investment strategists and other investment specialists in managing the Funds. This team approach brings together many disciplines and leverages the Adviser’s extensive resources.

Peter Hubbard, Vice President of the Trust, oversees all research, portfolio management and trading operations of the Fund. In this capacity, Mr. Hubbard oversees a team of portfolio managers (collectively, with Mr. Hubbard, the “Portfolio Managers”) who are responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. In managing the Fund, Mr. Hubbard receives management assistance from Jeffrey W. Kernagis, Philip Fang, Greg Meisenger and Jeremy Neisewander. Each Portfolio Manager is responsible for various functions related to portfolio management, including investing cash flows, coordinating with other team members to focus on certain asset classes, implementing investment strategy and researching and reviewing investment strategy. Each Portfolio Manager has limitations on his authority for risk management and compliance purposes that the Adviser believes to be appropriate.

Peter Hubbard, Director of Portfolio Management of the Adviser, has been one of the Portfolio Managers primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund since its inception in August 2018. Mr. Hubbard has been a Portfolio Manager of the Adviser since June 2007 and has been associated with the Adviser since 2005.

Jeffrey W. Kernagis, Senior Portfolio Manager of the Adviser, has been has been one of the Portfolio Managers primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of each Fund since its inception in August 2018. Mr. Kernagis has been associated with the Adviser since 2007.

Philip Fang, Portfolio Manager of the Adviser, has been one of the Portfolio Managers primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of each Fund since its inception in August 2018. Mr. Fang has been a Portfolio Manager of the Adviser since July 2010 and has been associated with the Adviser since 2007.

Greg Meisenger, Portfolio Manager of the Adviser, has been one of the Portfolio Managers primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of each Fund since its inception in August 2018. Mr. Meisenger has been associated with the Adviser since March 2018. Prior to joining the Adviser, Mr. Meisenger was a Portfolio Manager with Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC since 2015. Prior to that Mr. Meisenger was a Portfolio Manager with Thrivent Asset Management, LLC from 2005 to 2015.

Jeremy Neisewander, Portfolio Manager of the Adviser, has been one of the Portfolio Managers primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of each Fund since its inception in August 2018. Mr. Neisewander has been associated with the Adviser since April 2018. Prior to joining the Adviser, Mr. Neisewander was a Vice President and Portfolio Manager of Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC and joined Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC in May 2014. Mr. Neisewander was a member of the ETF Portfolio Management team. Prior to joining Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC, Mr. Neisewander held Analyst and Portfolio Management roles within the multi-asset team at UBS Asset Management (Americas) Inc. from 2005 to 2014.

The Funds’ SAI provides additional information about the Portfolio Managers’ compensation structure, other accounts that the Portfolio Managers manage and the Portfolio Managers’ ownership of Shares.

Advisory Fees

Pursuant to an investment advisory agreement between the Adviser and the Trust (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”), each Fund pays the Adviser an annual unitary management fee equal to a percentage of its average daily net assets set forth in the chart below:

 

Fund   Management Fee
Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF   0.10%
Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF   0.42%

Out of each Fund’s unitary management fee, the Adviser pays substantially all expenses of the Fund, including the cost of transfer agency, custody, fund administration, legal, audit and other services, except for advisory fees, distribution fees, if any, brokerage expenses, taxes, interest, litigation expenses, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, and other extraordinary expenses (as set forth in the Investment Advisory Agreement).

The Funds may invest in money market funds that are managed by affiliates of the Adviser. The indirect portion of the management fee that a Fund incurs through such investments is in addition to the Adviser’s unitary management fee. Therefore, the Adviser has contractually agreed to waive the management fees that it receives in an amount equal to the indirect management fees that a Fund incurs through its investments in affiliated money market funds through August 31, 2020. There is no guarantee that the Adviser will extend the waiver of these fees past that date.

A discussion regarding the Board’s basis for approving the Investment Advisory Agreement with respect to each Fund will be available in the Funds’ Annual Report to shareholders for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2018.

 

 

How to Buy and Sell Shares

Each Fund issues or redeems its Shares at NAV per Share only in Creation Units or Creation Unit Aggregations.

 

 

 

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Most investors will buy and sell Shares of each Fund in secondary market transactions through brokers. Shares of each Fund are listed for trading on the secondary market on the Exchange. Shares can be bought and sold throughout the trading day like other publicly traded shares. There is no minimum investment. Although Shares generally are purchased and sold in “round lots” of 100 Shares, brokerage firms typically permit investors to purchase or sell Shares in smaller “odd lots,” at no per share price differential. 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 offered price in the secondary market on each leg of a round trip (purchase and sale) transaction. The Shares of the Funds trade on the Exchange under the following symbols:

 

Funds   Symbol
Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF   BSCS
Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF   BSJQ

Share prices are reported in dollars and cents per Share.

APs may acquire Shares directly from each Fund, and APs may tender their Shares for redemption directly to each Fund, at NAV per Share only in Creation Units or Creation Unit Aggregations, and in accordance with the procedures described in the SAI.

Under normal circumstances, a Fund will pay out redemption proceeds to a redeeming AP within two days after the AP’s redemption request is received, in accordance with the process set forth in the Funds’ SAI and in the agreement between the AP and the Funds’ distributor. However, each Fund reserves the right, including under stressed market conditions, to take up to seven days after the receipt of a redemption request (as discussed above) to pay an AP, all as permitted by the 1940 Act. Each Fund anticipates regularly meeting redemption requests primarily in cash. However, each Fund reserves the right to pay redemption proceeds to an AP through in-kind redemptions, consistent with the Trust’s exemptive relief. In addition, if an AP is not a “qualified institutional buyer,” as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the Securities Act, the AP will not be able to receive Rule 144A securities. Cash used for redemptions will be raised from the sale of portfolio assets or may come from existing holdings of cash or cash equivalents.

Each Fund may liquidate and terminate at any time without shareholder approval.

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 and is recognized as the owner of all Shares for all purposes.

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. Participants in DTC 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” form.

Share Trading Prices

The trading prices of Shares of each Fund on the Exchange may differ from the Fund’s daily NAV. Market forces of supply and demand, economic conditions and other factors may affect the trading prices of Shares.

The approximate value of Shares of each Fund, an amount representing on a per share basis the sum of the current market price of the cash (“Deposit Cash”) or, during times when a Fund permits in-kind transactions, securities (“Deposit Securities”) and any estimated cash component, as applicable, accepted by the Fund in exchange for Shares of the Fund will be disseminated every 15 seconds throughout the trading day through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association. With respect to Fund investments in securities of foreign issuers traded on foreign exchanges, as the respective international local markets close, the market value of the Deposit Cash or Deposit Securities, as applicable, will continue to be updated for foreign exchange rates for the remainder of the U.S. trading day at the prescribed 15 second intervals. This approximate value should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of the NAV per Share of a Fund because the approximate value will not be calculated in the same manner as the NAV, which is computed once a day, generally at the end of the business day. The Funds are not involved in, or responsible for, the calculation or dissemination of the approximate value of the Shares, and the Funds do not make any warranty as to the accuracy of the approximate value.

 

 

Frequent Purchases and Redemptions of Shares

Shares of the Funds may be purchased and redeemed directly from the Funds only in Creation Units by APs. The vast majority of trading in Shares of the Funds occurs on the secondary market and does not involve a Fund directly. In-kind purchases and redemptions of Creation Units by APs and cash trades on the secondary market are unlikely to cause many of the harmful effects of frequent purchases and/or redemptions of Shares of a Fund. Cash purchases or redemptions of Creation Units, however, can result in increased tracking error, disruption of portfolio management, dilution to a Fund and increased transaction costs, which could negatively impact a Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective, and may lead to the realization of capital gains. These consequences may increase as the frequency of cash purchases and redemptions of Creation Units by APs increases. However, direct trading by APs is critical to ensuring that Shares trade at or close to NAV.

To minimize these potential consequences of frequent purchases and redemptions of Shares, each Fund imposes transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Creation Units to cover the custodial and other costs the Funds incur in effecting trades. In

 

 

 

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addition, the Adviser monitors trades by APs for patterns of abusive trading and the Funds reserve the right to not accept orders from APs that the Adviser has determined may be disruptive to the management of the Funds or otherwise are not in the best interests of the Funds. In recognition of the nature of each Fund’s investments and that Shares of the Funds are purchased and redeemed in Creation Units principally for cash, the Board has adopted policies and procedures with respect to frequent purchases and redemptions of Shares of the Funds, which incorporate the practices described above, as well as additional trade monitoring for market timing activities.

 

 

Dividends, Other Distributions and Taxes

Dividends and Other Distributions

Ordinarily, dividends from net investment income, if any, are declared and paid monthly by each Fund. Each Fund also intends to distribute its net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders annually. Dividends and other distributions may be declared and paid more frequently to comply with the distribution requirements of Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and to avoid a federal excise tax imposed on regulated investment companies.

Distributions in cash may be reinvested automatically in additional whole Shares only if the broker through whom you purchased Shares makes such option available.

Taxes

Each Fund intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment company (RIC) and, as such, is not subject to entity-level tax on the income and gain it distributes. If you are a taxable investor, dividends and distributions you receive generally are taxable to you whether you reinvest distributions in additional Shares or take them in cash. Every year, you will be sent information showing the amount of dividends and distributions you received during the prior calendar year. In addition, investors in taxable accounts should be aware of the following basic tax points as supplemented below where relevant:

Fund Tax Basics

 

 

A Fund earns income generally in the form of dividends or interest on its investments. This income, less expenses incurred in the operation of a Fund, constitutes the Fund’s net investment income from which dividends may be paid to shareholders. If you are a taxable investor, distributions of net investment income generally are taxable to you as ordinary income.

 

 

Distributions of net short-term capital gains are taxable to you as ordinary income. A Fund with a high portfolio turnover rate (a measure of how frequently assets within a Fund are bought and sold) is more likely to generate short-term capital gains than a Fund with a low portfolio turnover rate.

 

 

Distributions of net long-term capital gains are taxable to you as long-term capital gains no matter how long you have owned your Shares.

 

A portion of income dividends paid by a Fund may be reported as qualified dividend income eligible for taxation by individual shareholders at long-term capital gain rates, provided certain holding period requirements are met. These reduced rates generally are available for dividends derived from a Fund’s investment in stocks of domestic corporations and qualified foreign corporations. In the case of a Fund that invests primarily in debt securities, either none or only a nominal portion of the dividends paid by the Fund will be eligible for taxation at these reduced rates.

 

 

The use of derivatives by a Fund may cause the Fund to realize higher amounts of ordinary income or short-term capital gain, distributions from which are taxable to individual shareholders at ordinary income tax rates rather than at the more favorable tax rates for long-term capital gain.

 

 

Distributions declared to shareholders with a record date in December—if paid to you by the end of January—are taxable for federal income tax purposes as if received in December.

 

 

Any long-term or short-term capital gains realized on the sale of your Shares will be subject to federal income tax.

 

 

A shareholder’s cost basis information will be provided on the sale of any of the shareholder’s Shares, subject to certain exceptions for exempt recipients. Please contact the broker (or other nominee) that holds your Shares with respect to reporting of cost basis and available elections for your account.

 

 

At the time you purchase your Shares, a Fund’s NAV may reflect undistributed income or undistributed capital gains. A subsequent distribution to you of such amounts, although constituting a return of your investment, would be taxable. Buying Shares in a Fund just before it declares an income dividend or capital gains distribution is sometimes known as “buying a dividend.” In addition, a Fund’s NAV may, at any time, reflect net unrealized appreciation, which may result in future taxable distributions to you.

 

 

By law, if you do not provide a Fund with your proper taxpayer identification number and certain required certifications, you may be subject to backup withholding on any distributions of income, capital gains, or proceeds from the sale of your Shares. A Fund also must withhold if the IRS instructs it to do so. When withholding is required, the amount will be 24% of any distributions or proceeds paid.

 

 

An additional 3.8% Medicare tax is imposed on certain net investment income (including ordinary dividends and capital gain distributions received from a Fund and net gains from redemptions or other taxable dispositions of 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 a threshold amount. This Medicare tax, if applicable, is reported by you on, and paid with, your federal income tax return.

 

 

You will not be required to include the portion of dividends paid by a Fund derived from interest on U.S. government obligations in your gross income for purposes of personal and, in some cases, corporate income taxes in many state

 

 

 

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and local tax jurisdictions. The percentage of dividends that constitutes dividends derived from interest on federal obligations will be determined annually. This percentage may differ from the actual percentage of interest received by the Fund on federal obligations for the particular days on which you hold shares.

 

 

Fund distributions and gains from sale of Shares generally are subject to state and local income taxes.

 

 

If a Fund qualifies to pass through the tax benefits from foreign taxes it pays on its investments, and elects to do so, then any foreign taxes it pays on these investments may be passed through to you as a foreign tax credit. You will then be required to include your pro-rata share of these taxes in gross income, even though not actually received by you, and will be entitled either to deduct your share of these taxes in computing your taxable income, or to claim a foreign tax credit for these taxes against your U.S. federal income tax.

 

 

Foreign investors should be aware that U.S. withholding, special certification requirements to avoid U.S. backup withholding and claim any treaty benefits, and estate taxes may apply to an investment in a Fund.

 

 

Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), a Fund will be required to withhold a 30% tax on the following payments or distributions made by the Fund to certain foreign entities, referred to as foreign financial institutions or non-financial foreign 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: (a) income dividends and (b) after December 31, 2018, certain capital gain distributions, return of capital distributions and the proceeds arising from the sale of Shares. A Fund may disclose the information that it receives from its shareholders to the IRS, non-U.S. taxing authorities or other parties as necessary to comply with FATCA or similar laws. Withholding also may be required if a foreign entity that is a shareholder of a Fund fails to provide the Fund with appropriate certifications or other documentation concerning its status under FATCA.

 

 

If a Fund invests in an underlying fund taxed as a RIC, please see any relevant section below for more information regarding the Fund’s investment in such underlying fund.

Taxes on Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units

To the extent that a Fund permits in-kind transactions, an AP that exchanges securities for a Creation Unit generally will recognize a capital gain or loss equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time of exchange (plus any cash received by the AP as part of the issue) and the sum of the AP’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered plus any cash component paid. Similarly, an AP that redeems a Creation Unit in exchange for securities generally will recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the AP’s basis in the Creation Units (plus any cash paid by the AP as part of the redemption) and the aggregate market value of the securities received (plus any cash received by the AP as part of the redemption). The IRS, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of

securities for a Creation Unit, or of a Creation Unit for securities, cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing “wash sales” or on the ground that there has been no significant change in the AP’s economic position. An AP exchanging securities should consult their own tax advisors with respect to whether wash sale rules apply and when a loss otherwise might not be deductible. Any capital gain or loss realized on a redemption of a Creation Unit generally is treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for more than one year and as short-term capital gain or loss if they have been held for one year or less. If you purchase or redeem one or more Creation Units, you will be sent a confirmation statement showing how many Shares you purchased or sold and at what price.

The foregoing discussion summarizes some of the more important possible consequences under current federal, state and local tax law of an investment in the Funds. It is not a substitute for personal tax advice. You also may be subject to state, local and/or foreign tax on a Fund’s distributions and sales and/or redemptions of Shares. Consult your personal tax advisor(s) about the potential tax consequences of an investment in the Shares under all applicable tax laws.

 

 

Distributor

Invesco Distributors, Inc. serves as the distributor of Creation Units for each Fund on an agency basis. The Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in Shares. The Distributor is an affiliate of the Adviser and the Index Provider.

 

 

Net Asset Value

The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) calculates each Fund’s NAV at the close of regular trading (normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) every day the NYSE is open. U.S. 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 announces an early closing time. The NAV for each Fund will be calculated and disseminated daily on each day that the NYSE is open. NAV is calculated by deducting all of a Fund’s liabilities from the total value of its assets and dividing the result by the number of Shares outstanding, rounding to the nearest cent. Generally, the portfolio securities are recorded in the NAV no later than trade date plus one day. All valuations are subject to review by the Trust’s Board or its delegate.

In determining NAV, expenses are accrued and applied daily and securities and other assets for which market quotations are readily available are valued at market value. Securities listed or traded on an exchange generally are valued at the last sales price or official closing price that day as of the close of the exchange where the security is primarily traded. Investment companies are valued using such company’s NAV per share, unless the shares are exchange-traded, in which case they will be valued at the last sale or official closing price on the exchanges on which they primarily trade. Deposits, other obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. banks and financial institutions, and cash equivalents are valued at their daily

 

 

 

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account value. Debt obligations and securities not listed on an exchange normally are valued on the basis of prices provided by independent pricing services. Pricing services generally value debt securities assuming orderly transactions of institutional round lot size, but a Fund may hold or transact in the same securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots often trade at lower prices than institutional round lots.

If a security’s market price is not readily available, the security will be valued using pricing provided from independent pricing services or by another method that the Adviser, in its judgment, believes will better reflect the security’s fair value in accordance with the Trust’s valuation procedures approved by the Board.

Even when market quotations are available for portfolio securities, they may be stale or unreliable because the security is not traded frequently, trading on the security ceased before the close of the trading market or issuer-specific events occurred after the security ceased trading or because of the passage of time between the close of the market on which the security trades and the close of the NYSE and when a Fund calculates its NAV. Events that may cause the last market quotation to be unreliable include a merger or insolvency, events which affect a geographical area or an industry segment, such as political events or natural disasters, or market events, such as a significant movement in the U.S. market. Where market quotations are not readily available, including where the Adviser determines that the closing price of the security is unreliable, the Adviser will value the security at fair value in good faith using procedures approved by the Board. Fair value pricing involves subjective judgments and it is possible that a fair value determination for a security is materially different than the value that could be realized upon the sale of the security. In addition, fair value pricing could result in a difference between the prices used to calculate a Fund’s NAV and the prices used by the Fund’s Underlying Index. This may adversely affect a Fund’s ability to track its Underlying Index. With respect to securities that are primarily listed on foreign exchanges, the value of a Fund’s portfolio securities may change on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell your Shares.

 

 

Fund Service Providers

BNYM, 101 Barclay Street, New York, New York 10286, is the administrator, custodian, and fund accounting and transfer agent for each Fund.

Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP, 191 North Wacker Drive, Suite 1601, Chicago, Illinois 60606, and 1250 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20036, serves as legal counsel to the Trust.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”), One North Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606, serves as the Funds’ independent registered public accounting firm. PwC is responsible for auditing the annual financial statements of each Fund and performs other related audit services.

 

Financial Highlights

The Funds are new and have no performance history as of the date of this Prospectus. Financial information for the Funds therefore is not available.

 

 

Index Provider

Invesco Indexing LLC is the Index Provider for each Underlying Index. The Adviser has entered into a license agreement with Invesco Indexing LLC to use each Underlying Index. The Adviser pays licensing fees to Invesco Indexing LLC from the Adviser’s management fees or other resources for the use of the Underlying Indexes and related trademarks and trade names. The Adviser, in turn, has entered into a sub-licensing arrangement with each Fund to permit each Fund to use its respective Underlying Index. Each Fund does not pay a fee for the use of its respective Underlying Index.

Set forth below is a list of each Fund and its Underlying Index:

 

Fund    Underlying Index
Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF    Nasdaq BulletShares® USD Corporate Bond 2028 Index
Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF    Nasdaq BulletShares® USD High Yield Corporate Bond 2026 Index

Invesco Indexing LLC is affiliated with the Adviser and the Distributor. The Adviser has in place a code of ethics designed to prevent misuse of non-public index information, and the Adviser and the Index Provider have each implemented significant informational barriers to prevent impermissible sharing of non-public index information.

 

 

Disclaimers

“Nasdaq” is a trademark of The Nasdaq OMX Group, Inc. and has been licensed for use in the name of each Underlying Index by Invesco Indexing LLC. “BulletShares®” and the name of each Underlying Index are trademarks of Invesco Indexing LLC and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by the Adviser. The Funds and their Shares are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Invesco Indexing LLC and Invesco Indexing LLC makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in Shares of the Funds. Invesco Indexing LLC makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the shareholders of the Funds or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Funds particularly or the ability of any data supplied by Invesco Indexing LLC to track general market performance. Invesco Indexing LLC is an affiliate of the Adviser and its relationship to the Adviser includes the licensing of certain trademarks and trade names of Invesco Indexing LLC and of the data supplied by Invesco Indexing LLC, which is determined and composed by Invesco Indexing LLC. Invesco Indexing LLC has no obligation to take the needs of the Adviser or the shareholders of the Funds into consideration in determining, or composing the data supplied by Invesco Indexing LLC. Invesco Indexing LLC is not responsible for and has not

 

 

 

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participated in the determination of the prices of the Shares of the Funds or the timing of the issuance or sale of such Shares. Invesco Indexing LLC has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the Funds or their Shares.

The Adviser does not guarantee the accuracy and/or the completeness of each Underlying Index or any data included therein and the Adviser shall have no liability for any errors, omissions, restatements, re-calculations, or interruptions therein. The Adviser makes no warranty, express or implied, as to results to be obtained by the Funds, owners of the Shares of the Funds or any other person or entity from the use of the Underlying Indexes or any data included therein. The Adviser makes no express or implied warranties, and expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to the Underlying Indexes or any data included therein. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall the Adviser have any liability for any special, punitive, direct, indirect or consequential damages (including lost profits) arising out of matters relating to the use of the Underlying Indexes even if notified of the possibility of such damages.

 

 

Premium/Discount Information

Information on the daily NAV per Share for each Fund, once available, can be found at www.invesco.com/ETFs. Additionally, information regarding how often the Shares of each Fund traded on the Exchange at a price above (at a premium) or below (at a discount) the NAV of the Fund during the prior calendar year and subsequent quarters, when available, can be found at www.invesco.com/ETFs.

 

 

Other Information

Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act restricts investments by investment companies (and companies relying on Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act) in the securities of other investment companies. However, registered investment companies are permitted to invest in a Fund beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1) subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in an SEC exemptive order issued to the Trust, including that such investment companies enter into a participant agreement with the Trust on behalf of the Fund prior to exceeding the limits imposed by Section 12(d)(1). Additionally, each Fund is permitted to invest in other registered investment companies beyond the limits set forth in Section 12(d)(1) subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in another exemptive order that the SEC has issued to the Trust. If a Fund relies on this exemptive relief, however, other investment companies may not invest in that Fund beyond the statutory provisions of Section 12(d)(1).

Continuous Offering

The method by which Creation Unit Aggregations of Shares are created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Unit Aggregations of Shares are issued and sold by a Fund on an ongoing basis, a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act, may occur at any point. Broker-dealers and other persons are

cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner which could render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus delivery requirement and liability provisions of the Securities Act.

For example, a broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if it takes Creation Unit Aggregations after placing an order with the Distributor, breaks them down into constituent Shares and sells such Shares directly to customers, or if it chooses to couple the creation of a supply of new Shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand for Shares. A determination of whether one is an underwriter for purposes of the Securities Act must take into account all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the activities of the broker-dealer or its client in the particular case, and the examples mentioned above should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could lead to a characterization as an underwriter.

Broker-dealer firms also should note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in Shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of Shares, generally are required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the Securities Act is not available in respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. As a result, broker-dealer firms should note that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are participating in a distribution (as contrasted with engaging in ordinary secondary market transactions), and thus dealing with the Shares that are part of an overallotment 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. For delivery of prospectuses to exchange members, the prospectus delivery mechanism of Rule 153 under the Securities Act only is available with respect to transactions on a national exchange.

Delivery of Shareholder Documents—Householding

Householding is an option available to certain investors of the Funds. 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 Funds is available through certain broker-dealers. If you are interested in enrolling in householding and receiving a single copy of the Prospectus and other shareholder documents, please contact your broker-dealer. If you currently are enrolled in householding and wish to change your householding status, please contact your broker-dealer.

For More Information

For more detailed information on the Trust, the Funds and the Shares, you may request a copy of the Trust’s SAI. The SAI provides detailed information about the Funds and is incorporated by reference into this Prospectus. This means that the SAI legally is a part of this Prospectus. Additional information about the Funds’ investments also will appear in the Funds’ Annual and Semi-Annual Reports to Shareholders, when available. In the

 

 

 

  27  

 


Funds’ Annual Reports, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected each Fund’s performance during its most recent fiscal year. If you have questions about the Funds or Shares or you wish to obtain the SAI, Annual Report and/or Semi-Annual Report, when available, free of charge, or to make shareholder inquiries, please:

 

  Call:

Invesco Distributors, Inc. at 1-800-983-0903 Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Time

 

  Write:

Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust c/o Invesco Distributors, Inc. 11 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1000 Houston, Texas 77046-1173

 

  Visit:

www.invesco.com/ETFs

Information about the Funds (including the SAI) can be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20549, and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-202-551-8090. Reports and other information about the Funds are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at 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, or by writing the SEC’s Public Reference Section, Washington, D.C. 20549-1520.

No person is authorized to give any information or to make any representations about a Fund and its Shares not contained in this Prospectus, and you should not rely on any other information. Read and keep this Prospectus for future reference.

Dealers effecting transactions in the Shares, whether or not participating in this distribution, generally are required to deliver a Prospectus. This is in addition to any obligation of dealers to deliver a Prospectus when acting as underwriters.

The Trust’s registration number under the 1940 Act is 811-23304.

 

 

  28  

 


Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust

3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

  P-BLLT-PRO-1  

www.invesco.com

800.983.0903 LOGO @InvescoUS


 

Investment Company Act File No. 811-23304

 

 

Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust

 

 

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Dated July 31, 2018

This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus. It should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus dated July 31, 2018, for the Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (the “Trust”), relating to the series of the Trust listed below, as it may be revised from time to time (the “Prospectus”).

 

Fund

  

Principal U.S. Listing Exchange

   Ticker

Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF

   NYSE Arca, Inc.    BSCS

Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

   NYSE Arca, Inc.    BSJQ

Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. A copy of the Prospectus may be obtained without charge by writing to the Trust’s Distributor, Invesco Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”), 11 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1000, Houston, Texas 77046-1173, or by calling toll free 1-800-983-0903.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

     Page  

General Description of the Trust and the Funds

     3  

Exchange Listing and Trading

     3  

Investment Restrictions

     4  

Investment Strategies and Risks

     5  

Portfolio Turnover

     11  

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

     11  

Management

     12  

Brokerage Transactions and Commissions on Affiliated Transactions

     28  

Additional Information Concerning the Trust

     29  

Creation and Redemption of Creation Unit Aggregations

     32  

Taxes

     45  

Determination of NAV

     57  

Dividends and Other Distributions

     58  

Miscellaneous Information

     58  

Financial Statements

     59  

Appendix A

     A-1  

 

2


GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE TRUST AND THE FUNDS

The Trust was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on October 30, 2015 and is authorized to have multiple series or portfolios. The Trust is an open-end management investment company, registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). The Trust currently consists of 41 funds. This SAI relates to two series of the Trust: Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF and Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF. Each Fund is “non-diversified,” and as such, the Fund’s investments are not required to meet certain diversification requirements under the 1940 Act. The shares of each of the Funds are referred to in this SAI as “Shares.”

The investment objective of each Fund is to seek to track the investment results (before fees and expenses) of its specific benchmark index (each, an “Underlying Index”).

Invesco Capital Management LLC (the “Adviser”), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Invesco Ltd., manages the Funds. Invesco Indexing LLC (“Invesco Indexing”) is the index provider for each Underlying Index. Invesco Indexing is affiliated with the Adviser. The Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF issues and redeems Shares at net asset value (“NAV”) only in aggregations of 150,000 Shares (each a “Creation Unit” or a “Creation Unit Aggregation”) and the Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF issues and redeems Shares at NAV in aggregations of 100,000 Shares. Each Fund generally issues and redeems Shares at NAV in Creation Unit Aggregations principally for cash, calculated based on the NAV per Share, multiplied by the number of Shares representing a Creation Unit (“Deposit Cash”), plus certain transaction fees. Each Fund also reserves the right to permit or require Creation Units to be issued in exchange for a basket of component securities included in its Underlying Index (the “Deposit Securities”), and/or an amount of cash in lieu of some or all of the Deposit Securities, together with the deposit of a specified cash payment (the “Cash Component”), plus certain transaction fees.

Each Fund is expected to be approved for listing, subject to notice of issuance, on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange”). Shares will trade throughout the day on the Exchange at market prices that may be below, at, or above NAV. In the event of the liquidation of a Fund, the Trust may decrease the number of Shares in a Creation Unit.

Each Fund may issue Shares in advance of receipt of Deposit Securities subject to various conditions, including a requirement to maintain on deposit with the Trust cash at least equal to 105% of the market value of the missing Deposit Securities. See the “Creation and Redemption of Creation Unit Aggregations” section. To offset the added brokerage and other transaction costs a Fund incurs with using cash to purchase the requisite Deposit Securities, during each instance of cash creations or redemptions, the Funds may impose transaction fees that will be higher than the transaction fees associated with in-kind creations or redemptions. For more information, see the section below titled “Creation and Redemption of Creation Unit Aggregations.”

EXCHANGE LISTING AND TRADING

There can be no assurance that a Fund, once listed, will continue to meet the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of its Shares. The Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the Shares from listing if: (i) following the initial 12-month period beginning at the commencement of trading of a Fund, there are fewer than 50 beneficial owners of the Shares; (ii) the value of a Fund’s Underlying Index no longer is calculated or available; (iii) a Fund’s Underlying Index fails to meet certain continued listing standards of the Exchange; (iv) the “intraday indicative value” (“IIV”) of a Fund is no longer calculated or available; or (v) such other event shall occur or condition shall exist that, in the opinion of the Exchange, makes further dealings on such Exchange inadvisable. The Exchange will remove the Shares from listing and trading upon termination of a Fund.

As in the case of other stocks traded on the Exchange, brokers’ commissions on transactions will be based on negotiated commission rates at customary levels.

The Trust reserves the right to adjust the price levels of the 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 a Fund.

 

3


In order to provide additional information regarding the indicative value of Shares of the Funds, the Exchange or a market data vendor will disseminate every 15 seconds through the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association or other widely disseminated means, an updated IIV for a Fund, as calculated by an information provider or market data vendor. The Trust is not involved in, or responsible for any aspect of, the calculation or dissemination of the IIVs and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the IIVs.

Shares of the Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, or promoted by the Exchange. The Exchange makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of Shares of the Funds or any member of the public regarding the ability of a Fund to track the total return performance of an Underlying Index or the ability of an Underlying Index to track stock market performance. The Exchange is not responsible for, nor has it participated in, the determination of the compilation or the calculation of an Underlying Index, nor in the determination of the timing of, prices of, or quantities of Shares of the Funds to be issued, nor in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the shares are redeemable. The Exchange has no obligation or liability to owners of the Shares of the Funds in connection with the administration, marketing, or trading of the Shares of the Funds.

The Exchange does not guarantee the accuracy and/or the completeness of an Underlying Index or the data included therein. The Exchange makes no warranty, express or implied, as to results to be obtained by the Trust on behalf of the Funds, owners of the Shares, or any other person or entity from the use of an Underlying Index or the data included therein. The Exchange makes no express or implied warranties, and hereby expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to an Underlying Index or the data included therein. 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.

INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS

Each Fund has adopted as fundamental policies the investment restrictions numbered (1) through (7) below. Except as otherwise noted below, each Fund, as a fundamental policy, may not:

(1) Invest more than 25% of the value of its net assets in securities of issuers in any one industry or group of industries, except to the extent that the underlying index that the Fund replicates concentrates in an industry or group of industries. This restriction does not apply to obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities.

(2) Borrow money, except the Fund may borrow money to the extent permitted by (i) the 1940 Act, (ii) the rules and regulations promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under the 1940 Act, or (iii) an exemption or other relief applicable to the Fund from the provisions of the 1940 Act.

(3) Act as an underwriter of another issuer’s securities, except to the extent that the Fund may be deemed to be an underwriter within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) in connection with the purchase and sale of portfolio securities.

(4) Make loans to other persons, except through (i) the purchase of debt securities permissible under the Fund’s investment policies, (ii) repurchase agreements or (iii) the lending of portfolio securities, provided that no such loan of portfolio securities may be made by the Fund if, as a result, the aggregate of such loans would exceed 33 1/3% of the value of the Fund’s total assets.

(5) Purchase or sell physical commodities unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this shall not prevent the Fund (i) from purchasing or selling options, futures contracts or other derivative instruments, or (ii) from investing in securities or other instruments backed by physical commodities).

(6) Purchase or sell real estate unless acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments (but this shall not prohibit the Fund from purchasing or selling securities or other instruments backed by real estate or of issuers engaged in real estate activities).

(7) Issue senior securities, except as permitted under the 1940 Act.

 

4


Except for restrictions (2), (4)(ii) and (iii), and (7), if a Fund adheres to a percentage restriction at the time of investment, a later increase in percentage resulting from a change in market value of the investment or the total assets, or the sale of a security out of its portfolio, will not constitute a violation of that restriction. With respect to restrictions (2), (4)(ii) and (iii), and (7), in the event that a Fund’s borrowings, repurchase agreements and loans of portfolio securities at any time exceed 33 1/3% of the value of the Fund’s total assets (including the amount borrowed and the collateral received) less the Fund’s liabilities (other than borrowings or loans) due to subsequent changes in the value of the Fund’s assets or otherwise, within three days (excluding Sundays and holidays), the Fund will take corrective action to reduce the amount of its borrowings, repurchase agreements and loans of portfolio securities to an extent that such borrowings, repurchase agreements and loans of portfolio securities will not exceed 33 1/3% of the value of the Fund’s total assets (including the amount borrowed and the collateral received) less the Fund’s liabilities (other than borrowings or loans).

The foregoing fundamental investment policies cannot be changed as to a Fund without approval by holders of a “majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities.” As defined in the 1940 Act, this means the vote of (i) 67% or more of the Fund’s Shares present at a meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the Fund’s Shares are present or represented by proxy, or (ii) more than 50% of the Fund’s Shares, whichever is less.

In addition to the foregoing fundamental investment policies, each Fund also is subject to the following non-fundamental investment restrictions and policies, which may be changed by the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”) without shareholder approval. Each Fund may not:

(1) Sell securities short, unless the Fund owns or has the right to obtain securities equivalent in kind and amount to the securities sold short at no added cost, and provided that transactions in options, futures contracts, options on futures contracts or other derivative instruments are not deemed to constitute selling securities short.

(2) Purchase securities on margin, except that the Fund may obtain such short-term credits as are necessary for the clearance of transactions; and provided that margin deposits in connection with futures contracts, options on futures contracts or other derivative instruments shall not constitute purchasing securities on margin.

(3) Purchase securities of open-end or closed-end investment companies except in compliance with the 1940 Act, although the Fund may not acquire any securities of registered open-end investment companies or registered unit investment trusts in reliance on Sections 12(d)(1)(F) and 12(d)(1)(G) of the 1940 Act.

(4) Invest in direct interests in oil, gas or other mineral exploration programs or leases; however, the Fund may invest in the securities of issuers that engage in these activities.

(5) Invest in illiquid securities if, as a result of such investment, more than 15% of the Fund’s net assets would be invested in illiquid securities.

Each Fund’s investment objective is a non-fundamental policy that the Board may change without approval by shareholders upon 60 days’ written notice to shareholders. In accordance with the 1940 Act, each Fund has adopted a non-fundamental policy to invest in securities suggested by such Fund’s name (each, an “80% investment policy”). Each Fund considers securities suggested by its name to be those securities that comprise its Underlying Index. Each Fund will meet its 80% investment policy by investing at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowing for investment purposes) in such securities. Each Fund will provide its shareholders with at least 60 days’ prior written notice of any change to its 80% investment policy.

INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND RISKS

Investment Strategies

Each Fund’s investment objective is to seek to track the investment results, before fees and expenses, of its respective Underlying Index. Each Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in securities that comprise its Underlying Index. Each Fund operates as an index fund and will not be actively managed.

 

5


Each Fund generally uses a “sampling” methodology to seek to achieve its respective investment objective. A Fund using a sampling methodology may not be as well-correlated with the return of its Underlying Index as would be the case if the Fund purchased all of the securities in its Underlying Index in the proportions represented in the Underlying Index.

Investment Risks

A discussion of the risks associated with an investment in the Funds is contained in the Funds’ Prospectus in the “Summary Information—Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund,” “Additional Information About the Funds’ Strategies and Risks—Principal Risks of Investing in the Funds” and “—Additional Risks of Investing in the Funds” sections. The discussion below supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, these sections.

An investment in a Fund should be made with an understanding that the value of the Fund’s portfolio securities may fluctuate in accordance with changes in the financial condition of the issuers of the portfolio securities, the value of securities in general and other factors that affect the market.

An investment in a Fund also should be made with an understanding of the risks inherent in an investment in securities, including the risk that the financial condition of issuers may become impaired or that the general condition of the securities market may deteriorate (either of which may cause a decrease in the value of the portfolio securities and thus in the value of Shares). Securities are susceptible to general securities market fluctuations and to volatile increases and decreases in value as market confidence and perceptions of the companies issuing the securities change. These investor perceptions are based on various and unpredictable factors, including expectations regarding government, economic, monetary and fiscal policies, inflation and interest rates, economic expansion or contraction, and global or regional political, economic or banking crises.

The Funds are not actively managed, and therefore the adverse financial condition of any one issuer will not result in the elimination of its securities from a Fund’s portfolio unless the index provider removes the securities of such issuer from the Underlying Index.

Correlation and Tracking Error. Correlation measures the degree of association between the returns of a Fund and its Underlying Index. Each Fund seeks a correlation over time of 0.95 or better between the Fund’s performance and the performance of the Underlying Index; a figure of 1.00 would indicate perfect correlation. Correlation is calculated at each Fund’s fiscal year-end by comparing the Fund’s average monthly total returns, before fees and expenses, to its Underlying Index’s average monthly total returns over the prior one-year period or since inception if the Fund has been in existence for less than one year. Another means of evaluating the degree of correlation between the returns of a Fund and its Underlying Index is to assess the “tracking error” between the two. Tracking error means the variation between each Fund’s annual return and the return of its Underlying Index, expressed in terms of standard deviation. Each Fund seeks to have a tracking error of less than 5%, measured on a monthly basis over a one-year period by taking the standard deviation of the difference in the Fund’s returns versus the Underlying Index’s returns.

An investment in each Fund should be made with an understanding that the Fund will not be able to replicate exactly the performance of its Underlying Index, because the total return that the securities generate will be reduced by transaction costs incurred in adjusting the actual balance of the securities and other Fund expenses, whereas such transaction costs and expenses are not included in the calculation of its Underlying Index. Because the Funds issue and redeem Creation Units principally for cash, they will incur higher costs in buying and selling securities than if they issued and redeemed Creation Units principally in-kind.

In addition, the use of a representative sampling approach (which may arise for a number of reasons, including a large number of securities within an Underlying Index, or the limited assets of a Fund) may cause a Fund not to be as well correlated with the return of its Underlying Index as would be the case if the Fund purchased all of the securities in its Underlying Index in the proportions represented in such Underlying Index. It also is possible that, for short periods of time, a Fund may not replicate fully the performance of its Underlying Index due to the temporary unavailability of certain Underlying Index securities in the secondary market or due to other extraordinary circumstances. Such events are unlikely to continue for an extended period of time because each Fund is required to correct such imbalances by means of adjusting the composition of its portfolio holdings. It also is possible that the composition of a Fund may not replicate exactly the composition of its respective Underlying Index if the Fund has to adjust its portfolio holdings to continue to qualify as a “regulated investment company” (a “RIC”) under Subchapter M of Chapter 1 of Subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”), as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”).

 

6


Bonds. Each Fund invests in bonds. A bond is an interest-bearing security issued by a company, governmental unit or, in some cases, a non-U.S. entity. The issuer of a bond has a contractual obligation to pay interest at a stated rate on specific dates and to repay principal (the bond’s face value) periodically or on a specified maturity date. Bonds generally are used by corporations and governments to borrow money from investors.

An issuer may have the right to redeem or “call” a bond before maturity, in which case the investor may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower market rates. Most bonds bear interest income at a “coupon” rate that is fixed for the life of the bond. The value of a fixed rate bond usually rises when market interest rates fall, and falls when market interest rates rise. Accordingly, a fixed rate bond’s yield (income as a percent of the bond’s current value) may differ from its coupon rate as its value rises or falls. Other types of bonds bear income at an interest rate that is adjusted periodically. Because of their adjustable interest rates, the value of “floating-rate” or “variable-rate” bonds fluctuates much less in response to market interest rate movements than the value of fixed rate bonds. Generally, prices of higher quality issues tend to fluctuate less with changes in market interest rates than prices of lower quality issues and prices of longer maturity issues tend to fluctuate more than prices of shorter maturity issues. Bonds may be senior or subordinated obligations. Senior obligations generally have the first claim on a corporation’s earnings and assets and, in the event of liquidation, are paid before subordinated obligations. Bonds may be unsecured (backed only by the issuer’s general creditworthiness) or secured (backed by specified collateral).

The investment return of corporate bonds reflects interest on the security and changes in the market value of the security. The market value of a corporate bond may be affected by the credit rating of the corporation, the corporation’s performance and perceptions of the corporation in the market place. There is a risk that the issuers of the bonds may not be able to meet their obligations on interest or principal payments at the time called for by the bond.

High Yield Debt Securities. The Funds may invest in high yield debt securities, which are rated below investment grade and commonly are known as “junk bonds.” Investment in high yield debt securities generally provides greater income and increased opportunity for capital appreciation than investments in higher quality securities, but they also typically entail greater price volatility and credit risk. These high yield debt securities are regarded as predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to meet principal and interest payments. Analysis of the creditworthiness of issuers of debt securities that are high yield may be more complex than for issuers of higher quality debt securities. In addition, high yield debt securities often are issued by smaller, less creditworthy companies or by highly leveraged (indebted) firms, which generally are less able than more financially stable firms to make scheduled payments of interest and principal. The risks posed by securities issued under such circumstances are substantial.

Investing in high yield debt securities involves risks that are greater than the risks of investing in higher quality debt securities. These risks include: (i) changes in credit status, including weaker overall credit conditions of issuers and risks of default; (ii) industry, market and economic risk; and (iii) greater price variability and credit risks of certain high yield debt securities such as zero coupon and payment-in-kind securities. While these risks provide the opportunity for maximizing return over time, they may result in greater volatility of the value of a Fund than a fund that invests in higher-rated securities.

Furthermore, the value of high yield securities may be more susceptible to real or perceived adverse economic, company or industry conditions than is the case for higher quality securities. The market values of certain of these lower-rated debt securities tend to reflect individual corporate developments to a greater extent than do higher-rated securities, which react primarily to fluctuations in the general level of interest rates, and tend to be more sensitive to economic conditions than are higher-rated securities. Adverse market, credit or economic conditions could make it difficult at certain times to sell certain high yield debt securities.

The secondary market on which high yield debt securities are traded may be less liquid than the market for higher grade securities. Less liquidity in the secondary trading market could adversely affect the price at which a Fund could sell a high yield debt security, and could adversely affect the daily NAV per share of the Fund. When secondary markets for high yield debt securities are less liquid than the market for higher grade securities, it may be more difficult to value the securities because there is less reliable, objective data available.

 

7


The use of credit ratings as a principal method of selecting high yield debt securities can involve certain risks. For example, credit ratings evaluate the safety of principal and interest payments, not the market value risk of high yield debt securities. Also, credit rating agencies may fail to change credit ratings in a timely fashion to reflect events since the security was last rated.

Privately Issued Securities. The Funds may invest in privately issued securities, including those which may be resold only in accordance with Rule 144A (“Rule 144A Securities”) or Regulation S (“Regulation S Securities”) under the Securities Act. Rule 144A Securities are restricted securities that are not publicly traded, and Regulation S Securities are securities of the U.S. and non-U.S. issuers initially offered and sold outside the United States without registration with the SEC. Accordingly, the liquidity of the market for specific Rule 144A or Regulation S Securities may vary. Delay or difficulty in selling such securities may result in a loss to a Fund.

Ratings. An investment grade rating means the security or issuer is rated investment-grade by S&P Global Ratings, a division of S&P Global Inc. (“S&P”), Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), Fitch Ratings, Inc. (“Fitch”) or another nationally recognized statistical rating organization, or is unrated but considered to be of equivalent quality by the Adviser. Bonds rated Baa3 by Moody’s or BBB- by S&P or above are considered “investment grade” securities; bonds rated Baa3 are considered medium grade obligations which lack outstanding investment characteristics and have speculative characteristics; and bonds rated BBB- are regarded as having adequate capacity to pay principal and interest.

U.S. Registered Securities of Foreign Issuers. The Funds may invest in U.S. registered, dollar-denominated bonds of foreign corporations, governments, agencies and supra-national entities, preferred securities of foreign issuers, or preferred securities otherwise exempt from registration. Investing in U.S. registered, dollar-denominated, investment grade bonds or preferred securities issued by non-U.S. issuers involves some risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in U.S. companies. These include differences in accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, the possibility of expropriation or confiscatory taxation, adverse changes in investment or exchange control regulations, political instability that could affect U.S. investments in foreign countries, and potential restrictions of the flow of international capital. Foreign companies may be subject to less governmental regulation than U.S. issuers. Moreover, individual foreign economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross domestic product, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payment positions.

U.S. Government Obligations. The Funds may invest in short-term U.S. Government obligations. U.S. Government obligations are a type of bond and include securities issued or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities. These include bills, notes and bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury, as well as “stripped” or “zero coupon” U.S. Treasury obligations representing future interest or principal payments on U.S. Treasury notes or bonds.

Stripped securities are created when the issuer separates the interest and principal components of an instrument and sells them as separate securities. In general, one security is entitled to receive the interest payments on the underlying assets (the interest only or “IO” security) and the other to receive the principal payments (the principal only or “PO” security). Some stripped securities may receive a combination of interest and principal payments. The yields to maturity on IOs and POs are sensitive to the expected or anticipated rate of principal payments (including prepayments) on the related underlying assets, and principal payments may have a material effect on yield to maturity. If the underlying assets experience greater than anticipated prepayments of principal, the Fund may not fully recoup its initial investment in IOs. Conversely, if the underlying assets experience less than anticipated prepayments of principal, the yield on POs could be adversely affected. Stripped securities may be highly sensitive to changes in interest rates and rates of prepayment.

Short-term obligations of certain agencies and instrumentalities of the U.S. Government, such as the Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), are supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury; others, such as those of the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury; others, such as those of the former Student Loan Marketing Association (“SLMA”), are supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. Government to purchase the agency’s obligations; still others, although issued by an instrumentality chartered by the U.S. Government, like the Federal Farm Credit Bureau (“FFCB”), are support only by the credit of the instrumentality.

 

8


In 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) placed the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”) into conservatorship. Since that time, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have received significant capital support through U.S. Treasury preferred stock purchases as well as U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve purchases of their mortgage-backed securities. While the purchase programs for mortgage-backed securities ended in 2010, the U.S. Treasury continued its support for the entities’ capital as necessary to prevent a negative net worth. However, no assurance can be given that the Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury, or FHFA initiatives discussed above will ensure that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will remain successful in meeting their obligations with respect to the debt and mortgage-backed securities they issue. In addition, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are also the subject of several continuing class action lawsuits and investigations by federal regulators, which (along with any resulting financial restatements) may adversely affect the guaranteeing entities. Importantly, the future of the entities is in serious question as the U.S. Government is considering multiple options, ranging from significant reform, nationalization, privatization, consolidation, or abolishment of the entities.

The FHFA and the U.S. Treasury (through its agreements to purchase preferred stock of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) also have imposed strict limits on the size of the mortgage portfolios of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In August 2012, the U.S. Treasury amended its preferred stock purchase agreements to provide that the portfolios of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be wound down at an annual rate of 15 percent (up from the previously agreed annual rate of 10 percent), requiring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reach the $250 billion target four years earlier than previously planned. Further, when a ratings agency downgraded long-term U.S. Government debt in August 2011, the agency also downgraded the bond ratings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, from AAA to AA+, based on their direct reliance on the U.S. Government (although that rating did not directly relate to their mortgage-backed securities). The U.S. Government’s commitment to ensure that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have sufficient capital to meet their obligations was, however, unaffected by the downgrade.

The U.S. Treasury has put in place a set of financing agreements to help ensure that these entities continue to meet their obligations to holders of bonds they have issued or guaranteed. The U.S. Government may choose not to provide financial support to U.S. Government-sponsored agencies or instrumentalities if it is not legally obligated to do so, in which case, if the issuer were to default, the Fund holding securities of such issuer might not be able to recover their investment from the U.S. Government.

Repurchase Agreements. Each Fund may enter into repurchase agreements, which are agreements pursuant to which a Fund acquires securities from a third party with the understanding that the seller will repurchase them at a fixed price on an agreed date. These agreements may be made with respect to any of the portfolio securities in which the Fund is authorized to invest. Repurchase agreements may be characterized as loans secured by the underlying securities. Each Fund may enter into repurchase agreements with (i) member banks of the Federal Reserve System having total assets in excess of $500 million and (ii) securities dealers (“Qualified Institutions”). The Adviser for a Fund will monitor the continued creditworthiness of Qualified Institutions.

The use of repurchase agreements involves certain risks. For example, if the seller of securities under a repurchase agreement defaults on its obligation to repurchase the underlying securities, as a result of its bankruptcy or otherwise, the Fund will seek to dispose of such securities, which action could involve costs or delays. If the seller becomes insolvent and subject to liquidation or reorganization under applicable bankruptcy or other laws, the Fund’s ability to dispose of the underlying securities may be restricted. Finally, it is possible that the Fund may not be able to substantiate its interest in the underlying securities. To minimize this risk, the custodian will hold the securities underlying the repurchase agreement at all times in an amount at least equal to the repurchase price, including accrued interest. If the seller fails to repurchase the securities, the Fund may suffer a loss to the extent proceeds from the sale of the underlying securities are less than the repurchase prices.

The resale price reflects the purchase price plus an agreed upon market rate of interest. The collateral is marked-to-market daily.

 

9


Money Market Instruments. Each Fund may invest a portion of its assets in high-quality money market instruments on an ongoing basis to provide liquidity. The instruments in which a Fund may invest include: (i) short-term obligations issued by the U.S. Government; (ii) negotiable certificates of deposit (“CDs”), fixed time deposits and bankers’ acceptances of U.S. and foreign banks and similar institutions; (iii) commercial paper rated at the date of purchase “Prime-1” by Moody’s or “A-1+” or “A-1” by S&P or, if unrated, of comparable quality, as the Adviser determines; (iv) repurchase agreements; and (v) money market mutual funds, including affiliated money market funds. CDs are short-term negotiable obligations of commercial banks. Time deposits are non-negotiable deposits maintained in banking institutions for specified periods of time at stated interest rates. Banker’s acceptances are time drafts drawn on commercial banks by borrowers, usually in connection with international transactions.

Other Investment Companies. Each Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies, including ETFs, non-exchange traded U.S. registered open-end investment companies (mutual funds), closed-end investment companies, or non-U.S. investment companies traded on foreign exchanges beyond the limits permitted under the 1940 Act, subject to certain terms and conditions set forth in an SEC exemptive order issued to an affiliate of the Trust in 2012 pursuant to Section 12(d)(2)(J) of the 1940 Act (the “2012 Order”). Absent such exemptive relief, each Fund’s investments in investment companies would be limited to, subject to certain exceptions, (i) 3% of the total outstanding voting stock of any one investment company, (ii) 5% of the Fund’s total assets with respect to any one investment company and (iii) 10% of the Fund’s total assets of investment companies in the aggregate. However, as a non-fundamental restriction, no Fund may acquire any securities of registered open-end investment companies or registered unit investment trusts in reliance on Sections 12(d)(1)(F) and 12(d)(1)(G) of the 1940 Act.

Under the pertinent terms of the 2012 Order, each Fund may invest in registered investment companies in excess of the 3% limitations imposed by Sections 12(d)(1)(A) and 12(d)(1)(C) of the 1940 Act. The total amount of securities held by a Fund, both individually and when aggregated with all other shares of the acquired fund held by other registered investment companies or private investment pools advised by the Adviser or its affiliates (as well as shares held by the Adviser and its affiliates) cannot exceed 25% of the outstanding voting securities of the acquired investment company, and none of these entities (including the Funds) may individually or collectively exert a controlling influence over the acquired investment company. Each Fund may not rely on the 2012 Order to acquire an investment company that itself has ownership of investment company shares in excess of the limitations contained in Section 12(d)(1)(A) of the 1940 Act. To the extent necessary to comply with the provisions of the 1940 Act or the 2012 Order, on any matter upon which an underlying investment company’s shareholders are solicited to vote, the Adviser will vote the underlying investment company shares in the same general proportion as shares held by other shareholders of the underlying investment company.

In addition, an affiliate of the Trust previously obtained exemptive relief in 2007 (which extends to the Trust) that allows other investment companies to acquire shares of the Funds in excess of the limitations imposed by Section 12(d)(1)(A) (the “2007 Order”). This relief is conditioned on those acquiring funds obtaining a participation agreement signed by both the acquiring fund and the Fund that it wishes to acquire in excess of the 12(d)(1)(A) limitations. If a Fund relies on the 2012 Order, it will not enter into a participation agreement pursuant to the 2007 Order, and if a Fund has a signed participation agreement in effect pursuant to the 2007 Order, it will not rely on the 2012 Order.

Illiquid Securities. Each Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net assets in illiquid securities (calculated at the time of investment). Illiquid securities include securities subject to contractual or other restrictions on resale and other instruments that lack readily available markets, as determined in accordance with SEC staff guidance. Each Fund will monitor its portfolio liquidity on an ongoing basis to determine whether, in light of current circumstances, an adequate level of liquidity is being maintained, and will consider taking appropriate steps in order to maintain adequate liquidity if, through a change in values, net assets, or other circumstances, more than 15% of the Fund’s net assets are held in illiquid securities or other illiquid assets. 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 dealers will make or maintain a market or that any such market will be or remain liquid. The price at which securities may be sold and the value of a Fund’s 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.

 

10


Borrowing. Each Fund may borrow money up to the limits set forth in the section “Investment Restrictions” to meet shareholder redemptions, for temporary or emergency purposes and for other lawful purposes. Borrowed money will cost a Fund interest expense and/or other fees. The costs of borrowing may reduce a Fund’s return. Borrowing also may cause a Fund to liquidate positions when it may not be advantageous to do so to satisfy its obligations to repay borrowed monies. To the extent that a Fund has outstanding borrowings, it will be leveraged. Leveraging generally exaggerates the effect on NAV of any increase or decrease in the market value of a Fund’s portfolio securities.

Cybersecurity Risk. The Funds, like all companies, may be susceptible to operational and information security risks. Cyber security failures or breaches of the Funds or their service providers or the issuers of securities in which the Funds invest, have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, the inability of Fund shareholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, and/or additional compliance costs. The Funds and their shareholders could be negatively impacted as a result.

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

Each Fund calculates its portfolio turnover rate by dividing the value of the lesser of purchases or sales of portfolio securities for the fiscal period by the monthly average of the value of portfolio securities owned by the Fund during the fiscal period. A 100% portfolio turnover rate would occur, for example, if all of the portfolio securities (other than short-term securities) were replaced once during the fiscal period. Portfolio turnover rates will vary from year to year, depending on market conditions. At the date of this SAI, each Fund is new and has no operating history, and therefore portfolio turnover information is not yet available.

DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS

Quarterly Portfolio Schedule. The Trust is required to disclose, after its first and third fiscal quarters, the complete schedule of each Fund’s portfolio holdings with the SEC on Form N-Q. The Trust also discloses a complete schedule of each Fund’s portfolio holdings with the SEC on Form N-CSR after its second and fourth fiscal quarters.

The Trust’s Forms N-Q and Forms N-CSR on behalf of each Fund will be available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. The Trust’s Forms N-Q and Forms N-CSR also may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C., and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1-202-551-8090. The Trust’s Forms N-Q and Forms N-CSR will be available without charge, upon request, by calling 1-630-933-9600 or 1-800-983-0903 or by writing to Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust at 3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515.

Portfolio Holdings Policy. The Trust has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of information about the Trust’s portfolio holdings. The Board must approve all material amendments to this policy.

The Funds’ portfolio holdings are disseminated publicly each day that the Funds are open for business through financial reporting and news services, including publicly accessible Internet websites. In addition, for in-kind creations, a basket composition file, which includes the security names and share quantities to deliver in exchange for Shares, together with estimates and actual cash components, is disseminated publicly each day prior to the opening of the Exchange via www.invesco.com/capitalmarkets and the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”). The basket represents one Creation Unit of each Fund. The Trust, the Adviser and The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM” or the “Administrator”) will not disseminate non-public information concerning the Trust.

Access to information concerning the Funds’ portfolio holdings may be permitted at other times to personnel of third-party service providers, including the Funds’ custodian, transfer agent, auditors and counsel, as may be necessary to conduct business in the ordinary course in a manner consistent with such service providers’ agreements with the Trust on behalf of the Funds.

 

11


MANAGEMENT

The primary responsibility of the Board is to represent the interests of the Funds and to provide oversight of the management of the Funds. The Trust currently has eight Trustees. Six Trustees are not “interested,” as that term is defined under the 1940 Act, and have no affiliation or business connection with the Adviser or any of its affiliated persons and do not own any stock or other securities issued by the Adviser (the “Independent Trustees”). One Trustee (the “Unaffiliated Trustee”) is an officer of a company that has engaged in securities transactions with clients advised by a sub-adviser to one or more funds in the “Fund Family” (as defined below), which clients do not include any of the Funds, but is not an affiliated person of the Adviser. The remaining Trustee (the “Interested Trustee”) is affiliated with the Adviser.

The Independent Trustees of the Trust, their term of office and length of time served, their principal business occupations during at least the past five years, the number of portfolios in the Fund Complex (defined below) that they oversee and other directorships, if any, that they hold are shown below. The “Fund Complex” includes all open and closed-end funds (including all of their portfolios) advised by the Adviser and any affiliated person of the Adviser. As of the date of this SAI, the “Fund Family” consists of the Trust and five other ETF trusts advised by the Adviser.

 

Name, Address and

Year of Birth of

Independent Trustees

 

Position(s) Held

with Trust

 

Term of

Office and

Length of

Time Served*

 

Principal Occupation(s)

During the Past 5 Years

   Number of
Portfolios in
Fund
Complex
Overseen by
Independent
Trustees
  

Other
Directorships
Held by
Independent
Trustee
During the
Past 5 Years

Ronn R. Bagge — 1958

c/o Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road,

Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

  Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and Trustee   Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and Trustee since 2016   Founder and Principal, YQA Capital Management LLC (1998-Present); formerly Owner/CEO of Electronic Dynamic Balancing Co., Inc. (high-speed rotating equipment service provider).    216    Trustee and Investment Oversight Committee member, Mission Aviation Fellowship (2017-Present).

Todd J. Barre — 1957

c/o Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road,

Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

  Trustee   Since 2016   Assistant Professor of Business, Trinity Christian College (2010-2016); formerly Vice President and Senior Investment Strategist (2001-2008), Director of Open Architecture and Trading (2007-2008), Head of Fundamental Research (2004-2007) and Vice President and Senior Fixed Income Strategist (1994-2001), BMO Financial Group/Harris Private Bank.    216    None

 

12


Marc M. Kole — 1960

c/o Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road,

Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

  Chairman of the Audit Committee and Trustee   Chairman of the Audit Committee and Trustee since 2016   Senior Director of Finance, By The Hand Club for Kids (2015-Present); formerly: Chief Financial Officer, Hope Network (social services) (2008-2012); Assistant Vice President and Controller, Priority Health (health insurance) (2005-2008); Senior Vice President of Finance, United Healthcare (2004-2005); Chief Accounting Officer, Senior Vice President of Finance, Oxford Health Plans (2000-2004); Audit Partner, Arthur Andersen LLP (1996-2000).    216    None

Yung Bong Lim — 1964

c/o Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road,

Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

  Chairman of the Investment Oversight Committee and Trustee  

Chairman of the Investment Oversight Committee and Trustee

since 2016

  Managing Partner, RDG Funds LLC (2008-Present); formerly, Managing Director, Citadel LLC (1999-2007).    216    None

Gary R. Wicker — 1961

c/o Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road,

Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

  Trustee   Since 2016  

Senior Vice President of Global Finance and Chief Financial Officer at RBC Ministries (publishing company) (2013-Present); formerly, Executive

Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Zondervan Publishing (a division of Harper Collins/NewsCorp) (2007-2012); Senior Vice President and Group Controller (2005-2006), Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (2003-2004), Chief Financial Officer (2001-2003), Vice President, Finance and Controller (1999-2001) and Assistant Controller (1997-1999), divisions of The Thomson Corporation (information services provider).

   216    None

 

13


Donald H. Wilson — 1959

c/o Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road,

Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

  Chairman of the Board and Trustee   Chairman and Trustee since 2016   Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, McHenry Bancorp Inc. and McHenry Savings Bank (subsidiary) (2018-Present); Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Stone Pillar Advisors, Ltd. (2010- Present); President and Chief Executive Officer, Stone Pillar Investments, Ltd. (2016-Present); formerly, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Community Financial Shares, Inc. and Community Bank—Wheaton/Glen Ellyn (subsidiary) (2013-2015); Chief Operating Officer, AMCORE Financial, Inc. (bank holding company) (2007-2009); Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, AMCORE Financial, Inc. (2006-2007); Senior Vice President and Treasurer, Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (bank holding company) (1995-2006).    216    None

 

* This is the date the Independent Trustee began serving the Trust. Each serves an indefinite term, until his successor is elected.

 

14


The Unaffiliated Trustee, his term of office and length of time served, his principal business occupations during at least the past five years, the number of portfolios in the Fund Complex overseen by the Unaffiliated Trustee and the other directorships, if any, held by the Unaffiliated Trustee, are shown below.

 

Name, Address and Year of Birth

of Unaffiliated Trustee

  

Position(s)
Held
with Trust

  

Term of
Office and
Length of
Time Served*

  

Principal Occupation(s)

During the Past 5 Years

   Number of
Portfolios in
Fund
Complex
Overseen by
Unaffiliated
Trustees
  

Other Directorships
Held by
Unaffiliated Trustee
During the Past 5 Years

Philip M. Nussbaum—1961

c/o Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road,

Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

   Trustee    Since 2016    Chairman, Performance Trust Capital Partners (2004-Present).    216    None

 

* This is the date the Unaffiliated Trustee began serving the Trust. He serves an indefinite term, until his successor is elected.

 

15


The Interested Trustee and the executive officers of the Trust, their term of office and length of time served, their principal business occupations during at least the past five years, the number of portfolios in the Fund Complex overseen by the Interested Trustee and the other directorships, if any, held by the Interested Trustee, are shown below.

 

Name, Address and

Year of Birth of

Interested Trustee

  

Position(s)
Held
with Trust

  

Term of
Office and
Length of
Time Served*

  

Principal Occupation(s)

During the Past 5 Years

   Number of
Portfolios in
Fund
Complex
Overseen by
Interested
Trustees
  

Other
Directorships
Held by
Interested
Trustee
During the
Past 5 Years

Kevin M. Carome — 1956

Invesco Ltd.

Two Peachtree Pointe

1555 Peachtree St., N.E.,

Suite 1800

Atlanta, GA 30309

   Trustee    Since 2015    Senior Managing Director, Secretary and General Counsel, Invesco Ltd. (2007-Present); Director, Invesco Advisers, Inc. (2009-Present); Director (2006-Present) and Executive Vice President (2008 – Present), Invesco Group Services, Inc., Invesco Holding Company (US), Inc. and Invesco North American Holdings, Inc.; Director, Invesco Holding Company Limited (2007-Present); Executive Vice President (2008 – Present), Invesco Investments (Bermuda) Ltd.; Manager, Horizon Flight Works LLC, Director and Executive Vice President, Invesco Finance, Inc. and Director, Invesco Finance PLC (2011- Present); Director and Secretary (2012 – Present), Invesco Services (Bahamas) Private Limited; and Director and Executive Vice President (2014 – Present), INVESCO Asset Management (Bermuda) Ltd.; formerly, Director and Chairman, INVESCO Funds Group, Inc., Senior Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel, Invesco Advisers, Inc. (2003-2006); Director, Invesco Investments (Bermuda) Ltd. (2008-2016); Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Liberty Financial Companies, Inc. (2000-2001); General Counsel of certain investment management subsidiaries of Liberty Financial Companies, Inc. (1998-2000); Associate General Counsel, Liberty Financial Companies, Inc. (1993-1998); Associate, Ropes & Gray LLP.    216    None

 

* This is the date the Interested Trustee began serving the Trust. He serves an indefinite term, until his successor is elected.

 

16


Name, Address and Year of Birth of Executive  Officer

  

Position(s) Held
with Trust

  

Term of
Office and
Length of
Time Served*

  

Principal Occupation(s) During

the Past 5 Years

Daniel E. Draper—1968

Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road,

Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

  

President and Principal

Executive Officer

   Since 2016    President and Principal Executive Officer, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust (2015-Present) and Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (2016-Present); Chief Executive Officer and Principal Executive Officer (2016-Present) and Managing Director (2013-Present), Invesco Capital Management LLC; Senior Vice President, Invesco Distributors, Inc. (2014-Present); formerly, Vice President, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust (2013-2015) and Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust (2014-2015); Managing Director, Credit Suisse Asset Management (2010-2013) and Lyxor Asset Management/Societe Generale (2007-2010).

Steven M. Hill—1964

Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

   Vice President and Treasurer    Since 2016    Vice President and Treasurer, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust (2013-Present), Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust (2014-Present) and Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (2016-Present); Head of Global ETF Administration, Invesco Capital Management LLC (2011-Present); Principal Financial and Accounting Officer – Investment Pools, Invesco Capital Management LLC (2015-Present); formerly, Senior Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer, Destra Capital Management LLC and its subsidiaries (2010-2011); Chief Financial Officer, Destra Investment Trust and Destra Investment Trust II (2010-2011); Senior Managing Director, Claymore Securities, Inc. (2003-2010); and Chief Financial Officer, Claymore sponsored mutual funds (2003-2010).

 

17


Peter Hubbard—1981

Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

   Vice President    Since 2016    Vice President, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust (2009-Present), Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust (2014-Present) and Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (2016-Present); Vice President and Director of Portfolio Management, Invesco Capital Management LLC (2010-Present); formerly, Vice President of Portfolio Management, Invesco Capital Management LLC (2008-2010); Portfolio Manager, Invesco Capital Management LLC (2007-2008); Research Analyst, Invesco Capital Management LLC (2005-2007); Research Analyst and Trader, Ritchie Capital, a hedge fund operator (2003-2005).

Sheri Morris—1964

Invesco Management Group, Inc.

11 Greenway Plaza,

Suite 1000

Houston, TX 77046

   Vice President    Since 2016    President and Principal Executive Officer, The Invesco Funds (2016-Present); Treasurer, The Invesco Funds (2008-Present); Vice President, Invesco Advisers, Inc. (formerly known as Invesco Institutional (N.A.), Inc.) (registered investment adviser) (2009-Present) and Vice President, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust (2012-Present), Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust (2014-Present) and Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (2016-Present); formerly, Vice President and Principal Financial Officer, The Invesco Funds (2008-2016); Treasurer, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust and Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust (2011-2013); Vice President, Invesco Aim Advisers, Inc., Invesco Aim Capital Management, Inc. and Invesco Aim Private Asset Management, Inc.; Assistant Vice President and Assistant Treasurer, The Invesco Funds and Assistant Vice President, Invesco Advisers, Inc., Invesco Aim Capital Management, Inc. and Invesco Aim Private Asset Management, Inc.

 

18


Name, Address and

Year of Birth

of Executive Officer

  

Position(s) Held
with Trust

  

Term of
Office and
Length of
Time Served*

  

Principal Occupation(s) During the Past 5
Years

Anna Paglia—1974

Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

   Secretary    Since 2015    Secretary, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust (2011-Present), Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust (2014-Present) and Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (2015-Present); Head of Legal (2010-Present) and Secretary (2015-Present), Invesco Capital Management LLC; Manager and Assistant Secretary, Invesco Indexing LLC (2017-Present); formerly, Partner, K&L Gates LLP (formerly, Bell Boyd & Lloyd LLP) (2007-2010); Associate Counsel at Barclays Global Investors Ltd. (2004-2006).

Rudolf E. Reitmann—1971

Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

   Vice President    Since 2016    Vice President, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust (2013-Present), Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust (2014-Present) and Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (2016-Present); Head of Global Exchange Traded Funds Services, Invesco Capital Management LLC (2013-Present).

David Warren—1957

Invesco Canada Ltd.

5140 Yonge Street, Suite 800

Toronto, Ontario M2N 6X7

   Vice President    Since 2016    Vice President, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust (2009-Present); Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust (2014-Present) and Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (2016-Present); Managing Director—Chief Administrative Officer, Americas, Invesco Capital Management LLC; Senior Vice President, Invesco Advisers, Inc. (2009-Present); Director, Invesco Inc. (2009-Present); Senior Vice President, Invesco Management Group, Inc. (2007-Present); Director, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Invesco Canada Ltd. (formerly, Invesco Trimark Ltd.) (2011-Present); Chief Administrative

 

19


         Officer, North American Retail, Invesco Ltd. (2007-Present); Director, Invesco Corporate Class Inc. (2014-Present); Director, Invesco Global Direct Real Estate Feeder GP Ltd. (2015-Present); Director, Invesco Canada Holdings Inc. (2002-Present); Director, Invesco Financial Services Ltd. / Services Financiers Invesco Ltée and Trimark Investments Ltd./Placements Trimark Ltée (2014-Present); Director, Invesco IP Holdings (Canada) Ltd. (2016-Present); Director, Invesco Global Direct Real Estate GP Ltd. (2015-Present); formerly, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Invesco Inc. (2009-2015); Director, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Invesco Canada Ltd. (formerly, Invesco Trimark Ltd.) (2000-2011).

Melanie Zimdars—1976

Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700

Downers Grove, IL 60515

   Chief Compliance Officer    Since 2017    Chief Compliance Officer of Invesco Capital Management LLC (2017-Present); Chief Compliance Officer of Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust and Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (2017-Present); formerly, Vice President and Deputy Chief Compliance Officer at ALPS Holding, Inc. (2009-2017); Mutual Fund Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer at Wasatch Advisors, Inc. (2005-2008); Compliance Officer, U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC (2001-2005).

 

*

This is the date the officer began serving the Trust. Each officer serves an indefinite term, until his or her successor is elected.

Each Fund is newly established. As of the date of this SAI, none of the Trustees held equity securities in the Funds. As of December 31, 2017, each Trustee held in the aggregate over $100,000 in equity securities in all of the registered investment companies overseen by the Trustees in the Fund Family. The Share information for Messrs. Lim and Nussbaum includes Shares of certain funds in which both Messrs. Lim and Nussbaum are deemed to be invested pursuant to the Trust’s deferred compensation plan (“DC Plan”), which is described below.

As of the date of this SAI, as to each Independent Trustee and the Unaffiliated Trustee and his immediate family members, no person owned beneficially or of record securities in an investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Funds, or a person (other than a registered investment company) directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by or under common control with an investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Funds.

 

20


Board and Committee Structure. As noted above, the Board is responsible for oversight of the Funds, including oversight of the duties performed by the Adviser for the Funds under the investment advisory agreement (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”). The Board generally meets in regularly scheduled meetings five times a year, and may meet more often as required. During the Trust’s fiscal year ended August 31, 2017, the Board held six meetings.

The Board has three standing committees, the Audit Committee, the Investment Oversight Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee, and has delegated certain responsibilities to those Committees.

Messrs. Kole (Chair), Wicker and Wilson currently serve as members of the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee has the responsibility, among other things, to: (i) approve and recommend to the Board the selection of the Trust’s independent registered public accounting firm, (ii) review the scope of the independent registered public accounting firm’s audit activity, (iii) review the audited financial statements and (iv) review with such independent registered public accounting firm the adequacy and the effectiveness of the Trust’s internal controls over financial reporting. During the Trust’s fiscal year ended August 31, 2017, the Audit Committee held five meetings.

Messrs. Bagge, Barre, Lim (Chair) and Nussbaum currently serve as members of the Investment Oversight Committee. The Investment Oversight Committee has the responsibility, among other things, (i) to review fund investment performance, including tracking error and correlation to its underlying index, (ii) to review any proposed changes to a fund’s investment policies, comparative benchmark indices or underlying index, and (iii) to review a fund’s market trading activities and portfolio transactions. During the Trust’s fiscal year ended August 31, 2017, the Investment Oversight Committee held three meetings.

Messrs. Bagge (Chair), Barre, Kole, Lim, Wicker and Wilson currently serve as members of the Nominating and Governance Committee. The Nominating and Governance Committee has the responsibility, among other things, to identify and recommend individuals for Board membership and evaluate candidates for Board membership. The Board will consider recommendations for trustees from shareholders. Nominations from shareholders should be in writing and sent to the Secretary of the Trust to the attention of the Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee, as described below under the caption “Shareholder Communications.” During the Trust’s fiscal year ended August 31, 2017, the Nominating and Governance Committee held three meetings.

Mr. Wilson, one of the Independent Trustees, serves as the chairman of the Board (the “Independent Chair”). The Independent Chair, among other things, chairs the Board meetings, participates in the preparation of the Board agendas and serves as a liaison between, and facilitates communication among, the other Independent Trustees, the full Board, the Adviser and other service providers with respect to Board matters. The Chairs of each Committee also serve as liaisons between the Adviser and other service providers and the other Independent Trustees for matters pertaining to the respective Committee. The Board believes that its current leadership structure is appropriate taking into account the assets and number of funds overseen by the Trustees, the size of the Board and the nature of the funds’ business, as the Interested Trustee and officers of the Trust provide the Board with insight as to the daily management of the funds while the Independent Chair promotes independent oversight of the funds by the Board.

Risk Oversight. Each Fund is subject to a number of risks, including operational, investment and compliance risks. The Board, directly and through its Committees, as part of its oversight responsibilities, oversees the services provided by the Adviser and the Trust’s other service providers in connection with the management and operations of the Funds, as well as their associated risks. Under the oversight of the Board, the Trust, the Adviser and other service providers have adopted policies, procedures and controls to address these risks. The Board, directly and through its Committees, receives and reviews information from the Adviser, other service providers, the Trust’s independent registered public accounting firm, Trust counsel and counsel to the Independent Trustees to assist it in its oversight responsibilities. This information includes, but is not limited to, reports regarding the Funds’ investments, including Fund performance and investment practices, valuation of Fund portfolio securities, and compliance. The Board also reviews, and must approve any proposed changes to, the Funds’ investment objective, policies and restrictions, and reviews any areas of non-compliance with the Funds’ investment policies and restrictions. The Audit Committee monitors the Trust’s accounting policies, financial reporting and internal control system and reviews any internal audit reports impacting the Trust. As part of its compliance oversight, the Board reviews the annual compliance report issued by the Trust’s Chief Compliance Officer on the policies and procedures of the Trust and its service providers, proposed changes to those policies and procedures and quarterly reports on any material compliance issues that arose during the period.

 

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Experience, Qualifications and Attributes. As noted above, the Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for identifying, evaluating and recommending trustee candidates. The Nominating and Governance Committee reviews the background and the educational, business and professional experience of trustee candidates and the candidates’ expected contributions to the Board. Trustees selected to serve on the Board are expected to possess relevant skills and experience, time availability and the ability to work well with the other Trustees. In addition to these qualities and based on each Trustee’s experience, qualifications and attributes and the Trustees’ combined contributions to the Board, following is a brief summary of the information that led to the conclusion that each Board member should serve as a Trustee.

Mr. Bagge has served as a trustee and Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee with the Fund Family since 2003. He founded YQA Capital Management, LLC in 1998 and has since served as a principal. Previously, Mr. Bagge was the owner and CEO of Electronic Dynamic Balancing Company from 1988 to 2001. Mr. Bagge serves as a Trustee and a member of the Investment Oversight Committee of Mission Aviation Fellowship. He began his career as a securities analyst for institutional investors, including CT&T Asset Management and J.C. Bradford & Co. The Board considered that Mr. Bagge has served as a board member or advisor for several privately held businesses and charitable organizations and the executive, investment and operations experience that Mr. Bagge has gained over the course of his career and through his financial industry experience.

Mr. Barre has served as a trustee with the Fund Family since 2010. He served as Assistant Professor of Business at Trinity Christian College from 2010 to 2016. Previously, he served in various positions with BMO Financial Group/Harris Private Bank, including Vice President and Senior Investment Strategist (2001-2008), Director of Open Architecture and Trading (2007-2008), Head of Fundamental Research (2004-2007) and Vice President and Senior Fixed Income Strategist (1994-2001). From 1983 to 1994, Mr. Barre was with the Office of the Manager of Investments at Commonwealth Edison Co. He also was a staff accountant at Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. from 1981 to 1983. The Board considered the executive, financial and investment experience that Mr. Barre has gained over the course of his career and through his financial industry experience.

Mr. Carome has served as a trustee with the Fund Family since 2010. He has served as the Senior Managing Director and General Counsel of Invesco Ltd. since 2006, and has held various senior executive positions with Invesco Ltd. since 2003. Previously, he served in various positions with Liberty Financial Companies, Inc., including Senior Vice President and General Counsel (2000-2001), General Counsel of certain investment management subsidiaries (1998-2000) and Associate General Counsel (1993-1998). Prior to his employment with Liberty Financial Companies, Inc., Mr. Carome was an associate with Ropes & Gray LLP. The Board considered Mr. Carome’s senior executive position with Invesco Ltd.

Mr. Kole has served as a trustee with the Fund Family since 2006 and Chairman of the Audit Committee since 2008. He has been the Senior Director of Finance of By The Hand Club for Kids since 2015. Previously, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Hope Network from 2008 to 2012. He also was the Assistant Vice President and Controller at Priority Health from 2005 to 2008, Senior Vice President of Finance of United Healthcare from 2004 to 2005, Chief Accounting Officer and Senior Vice President of Finance of Oxford Health Plans from 2000 to 2004 and Audit Partner, Arthur Andersen LLP from 1996-2000. The Board of the Trust has determined that Mr. Kole is an “audit committee financial expert” as defined by the SEC. The Board considered the executive, financial and operations experience that Mr. Kole has gained over the course of his career and through his financial industry experience.

Mr. Lim has served as a trustee with the Fund Family since 2013. He has been a Managing Partner of RDG Funds LLC since 2008. Previously, he was a Managing Director and the Head of the Securitized Products Group of Citadel LLC (1999-2007). Prior to his employment with Citadel LLC, he was a Managing Director with Salomon Brothers Inc. The Board considered the executive, financial and operations experience that Mr. Lim has gained over the course of his career and through his financial industry experience.

 

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Mr. Nussbaum has served as a trustee with the Fund Family since 2003. He has served as the Chairman of Performance Trust Capital Partners since 2004 and was the Executive Vice President of Finance from 1994 to 1999. Mr. Nussbaum also served as Managing Director of the Communication Institute from 2002 to 2003. Prior to joining Performance Trust Capital Partners in 1994, he was a Vice President at Clayton Brown & Associates. Before that, he was a senior examiner with the Financial Markets Unit of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The Board considered the executive, financial, investment and operations experience that Mr. Nussbaum has gained over the course of his career and through his financial industry experience.

Mr. Wicker has served as a trustee with the Fund Family since 2013. He has served as Senior Vice President of Global Finance and Chief Financial Officer at RBC Ministries since 2013. Previously, , he was the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Zondervan Publishing from 2007 to 2012. Prior to his employment with Zondervan Publishing, he held various positions with divisions of The Thomson Corporation, including Senior Vice President and Group Controller (2005-2006), Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (2003-2004), Chief Financial Officer (2001-2003), Vice President, Finance and Controller (1999-2001) and Assistant Controller (1997-1999). Prior to that, Mr. Wicker was Senior Manager in the Audit and Business Advisory Services Group of Price Waterhouse (1985-1996). The Board of the Trust has determined that Mr. Wicker is an “audit committee financial expert” as defined by the SEC. The Board considered the executive, financial and operations experience that Mr. Wicker has gained over the course of his career and through his financial industry experience.

Mr. Wilson has served as a trustee with the Fund Family since 2006 and as the Independent Chair since 2012. He also served as lead Independent Trustee in 2011. He has served as the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of McHenry Bancorp Inc. and McHenry Savings Bank since 2018. He has served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Stone Pillar Advisors, Ltd. since 2010 and as President and Chief Executive Officer of Stone Pillar Investments, Ltd. since 2016. Previously, he was the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Financial Shares, Inc. and its subsidiary, Community Bank—Wheaton/Glen Ellyn (2013-2015). He also was the Chief Operating Officer (2007-2009) and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (2006-2007) of AMCORE Financial, Inc. Mr. Wilson also served as Senior Vice President and Treasurer of Marshall & Ilsley Corp. from 1995 to 2006. He started his career with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, serving in several roles in the bank examination division and the economic research division. The Board has determined that Mr. Wilson is an “audit committee financial expert” as defined by the SEC. The Board considered the executive, financial and operations experience that Mr. Wilson has gained over the course of his career and through his financial industry experience.

This disclosure is not intended to hold out any Trustee as having any special expertise and shall not impose greater duties, obligations or liabilities on the Trustees. The Trustees’ principal occupations during the past five years or more are shown in the above tables.

For his services as a Trustee of the Trust and other trusts in the Fund Family, each Independent Trustee and Unaffiliated Trustee receives an annual retainer of $290,000 (the “Retainer”). The Retainer for the Independent Trustees is allocated half pro rata among all the funds in the Fund Family and the other half is allocated among all of the funds in the Fund Family based on average net assets. Mr. Wilson receives an additional $100,000 per year for his service as the Independent Chair, allocated in the same manner as the Retainer. The chair of the Audit Committee receives an additional fee of $28,000 per year and the chairs of the Investment Oversight Committee, and the Nominating and Governance Committee each receive an additional fee of $17,000 per year, all allocated in the same manner as the Retainer. Prior to January 1, 2017, the Retainer was $250,000, and the additional fee for the Independent Chair was $78,000. Each Trustee also is reimbursed for travel and other out-of-pocket expenses incurred in attending Board and committee meetings. The Adviser, on behalf of the Funds, compensates the Unaffiliated Trustee and reimburses the Unaffiliated Trustee’s travel and other out-of-pocket expenses.

The Trust’s DC Plan allows each Independent Trustee and Unaffiliated Trustee to defer payment of all or a portion of the fees that the Trustee receives for serving on the Board throughout the year. Each eligible Trustee generally may elect to have deferred amounts credited with a return equal to the total return on one or more registered investment companies within the Fund Family that are offered as investment options under the DC Plan. At the Trustee’s election, distributions are either in one lump sum payment, or in the form of equal annual installments over a period of years designated by the Trustee. The rights of an eligible Trustee and the beneficiaries to the amounts held under the DC Plan are unsecured, and such amounts are subject to the claims of the creditors of the Funds. The Independent Trustees and the Unaffiliated Trustee are not eligible for any pension or profit sharing plan in their capacity as Trustees.

 

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The following sets forth the fees paid to each Trustee for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

 

Name of Trustee

  Aggregate
Compensation From
Trust (1)
    Pension or Retirement
Benefits accrued as part of
Fund Expenses
    Total Compensation Paid
From Fund Complex (2)
 

Independent Trustees

     

Ronn R. Bagge

    N/A       N/A     $ 293,667

Todd J. Barre

    N/A       N/A     $ 276,667

Marc M. Kole

    N/A       N/A     $ 304,667

Yung Bong Lim

    N/A       N/A     $ 293,667

Gary R. Wicker

    N/A       N/A     $ 276,667

Donald H. Wilson

    N/A       N/A     $ 369,333

Unaffiliated Trustee

     

Philip M. Nussbaum (3) 

    N/A       N/A     $ 276,667  

Interested Trustee

     

Kevin M. Carome

    N/A       N/A       N/A  

 

(1)

Because the Funds had not commenced operations as of August 31, 2017, the Funds did not pay any portion of the amounts shown in this table. Prior toApril 6, 2018, the Trust did not offer any funds, therefore the Trust did not pay any compensation to the Trustees prior to such date.

 

(2)

The amounts shown in this column represent the aggregate compensation paid by all funds of the trusts in the Fund Family (except as noted in the prior footnote) for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017 before deferral by the Trustees under the DC Plan. During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017, Mr. Lim and Mr. Nussbaum deferred 100% of their compensation, which amounts are reflected in the above table.

 

(3)

The Adviser paid Mr. Nussbaum $276,667 on behalf of the Fund Complex for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2017.

Portfolio Holdings. As of the date of this SAI, the Trustees and officers, as a group, owned none of each Fund’s outstanding Shares.

Principal Holders and Control Persons. Each Fund is new and, as of the date of this SAI, no person owned of record more than 5% of the outstanding Shares.

Shareholder Communications. Shareholders may send communications to the Trust’s Board by addressing the communications directly to the Board (or individual Board members) and/or otherwise clearly indicating in the salutation that the communication is for the Board (or individual Board members). Shareholders may send the communication to either the Trust’s office or directly to such Board members at the address specified for each Trustee. Management will review and generally respond to other shareholder communications the Trust receives that are not directly addressed and sent to the Board. Such communications will be forwarded to the Board at management’s discretion based on the matters contained therein.

Investment Adviser. The Adviser provides investment tools and portfolios for advisers and investors. The Adviser is committed to theoretically sound portfolio construction and empirically verifiable investment management approaches. Its asset management philosophy and investment discipline is rooted deeply in the application of intuitive factor analysis and model implementation to enhance investment decisions.

The Adviser acts as investment adviser for, and manages the investment and reinvestment of, the assets of the Funds. The Adviser also administers the Trust’s business affairs, provides office facilities and equipment and certain clerical, bookkeeping and administrative services, and permits any of its officers or employees to serve without compensation as Trustees or officers of the Trust if elected to such positions.

Invesco Capital Management LLC, organized February 7, 2003, is located at 3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515. Invesco Ltd. is the parent company of Invesco Capital Management LLC and is located at Two Peachtree Pointe, 1555 Peachtree Street, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30309. Invesco Ltd. and its subsidiaries are an independent global investment management group.

 

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Portfolio Managers. The Adviser uses a team of portfolio managers (the “Portfolio Managers”), investment strategists and other investment specialists. This team approach brings together many disciplines and leverages the Adviser’s extensive resources. Peter Hubbard oversees all research, portfolio management and trading operations of the Adviser. In this capacity, he oversees a team of the Portfolio Managers responsible for the day-to-day management of the Funds. Mr. Hubbard receives management assistance from Jeffrey W. Kernagis, Philip Fang, Greg Meisenger and Jeremy Neisewander.

As of June 30, 2018, Mr. Hubbard managed 207 registered investment companies with a total of approximately $113.3 billion in assets, 91 other pooled investment vehicles with approximately $97.5 billion in assets and no other accounts.

As of June 30, 2018, Mr. Kernagis managed 41 registered investment companies with a total of approximately $35.7 billion in assets, 51 other pooled investment vehicles with approximately $3.4 billion in assets and no other accounts.

As of June 30, 2018, Mr. Fang managed 37 registered investment companies with a total of approximately $34.7 billion in assets, 9 other pooled investment vehicles with approximately $543.5 million in assets and no other accounts.

As of June 30, 2018, Mr. Meisenger managed 37 registered investment companies with a total of approximately $34.7 billion in assets, and, no other pooled investment vehicles and no other accounts.

As of June 30, 2018, Mr. Neisewander managed 18 registered investment companies with a total of approximately $9.1 billion in assets, and no other pooled investment vehicles and no other accounts.

Although the other funds that the Portfolio Managers manage may have different investment strategies, the Adviser does not believe that management of these different funds presents a material conflict of interest for the Portfolio Managers or the Adviser.

Description of Compensation Structure. The Portfolio Managers are compensated with a fixed salary amount by the Adviser. The Portfolio Managers are eligible, along with other senior employees of the Adviser, to participate in a year-end discretionary bonus pool. The Compensation Committee of the Adviser will review management bonuses and, depending upon the size, the Compensation Committee may approve the bonus in advance. There is no policy regarding, or agreement with, the Portfolio Managers or any other senior executive of the Adviser to receive bonuses or any other compensation in connection with the performance of any of the accounts managed by the Portfolio Managers.

Portfolio Holdings. As of the date of this SAI, each Fund is new, and none of the Portfolio Managers beneficially own any Shares.

Investment Advisory Agreement. Pursuant to an Investment Advisory Agreement between the Adviser and the Trust, the Adviser is responsible for all expenses of the Funds, including the costs of transfer agency, custody, fund administration, legal, audit and other services, except for advisory fees, distribution fees, if any, brokerage expenses, taxes, interest, Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses, if any, litigation expenses and other extraordinary expenses (as set forth under the Investment Advisory Agreement). For the Adviser’s services, each Fund has agreed to pay an annual unitary management fee equal to a percentage of its average daily net assets set forth in the chart below (the “Advisory Fee”).

 

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Fund

   Advisory Fee  

Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF

     0.10

Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

     0.42

Each Fund may invest in money market funds that are managed by affiliates of the Adviser. The indirect portion of the management fee that a Fund incurs through such investments is in addition to the Adviser’s unitary management fee. Therefore, the Adviser has agreed to waive the management fees that it receives in an amount equal to the indirect management fees that a Fund incurs through its investments in affiliated money market funds through August 31, 2020. There is no guarantee that the Adviser will extend the waiver of these fees past that date.

Under the Investment Advisory Agreement, the Adviser will not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by a Fund in connection with the performance of the Investment Advisory Agreement, except a loss resulting from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of the Adviser in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard of its duties and obligations thereunder. For each Fund, the Investment Advisory Agreement continues in effect only if approved annually by the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees. The Investment Advisory Agreement terminates automatically upon assignment and is terminable at any time without penalty as to a Fund by the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, or by vote of the holders of a majority of that Fund’s outstanding voting securities on 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser, or by the Adviser on 60 days’ written notice to the Fund.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries. The Adviser, the Distributor and/or their affiliates may enter into contractual arrangements with certain broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries that the Adviser, the Distributor and/or their affiliates believe may benefit the Funds. Pursuant to such arrangements, the Adviser, the Distributor and/or their affiliates may provide cash payments or non-cash compensation to intermediaries for certain activities related to the Funds. Such payments are designed to make registered representatives and other professionals more knowledgeable about exchange-traded products, including each Fund, or for other activities, such as participating in marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, data collection and provision, technology support, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems. The Adviser, the Distributor and/or their affiliates also may pay intermediaries for certain printing, publishing and mailing costs associated with the Funds or materials relating to exchange-traded funds in general. As of the date of this SAI, the Adviser had such arrangements in place with Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (“Schwab”).

In addition, the Adviser, the Distributor and/or their affiliates may make payments to intermediaries that make Shares available to their clients or for otherwise promoting the Funds. Payments of this type are sometimes referred to as revenue-sharing payments. Any payments made pursuant to such arrangements may vary in any year and may be different for different intermediaries. In certain cases, the payments described in the preceding sentence may be subject to certain minimum payment levels. As of the date of this SAI, as amended or supplemented from time to time, the intermediaries receiving such payments include Pershing LLC. Any additions, modifications, or deletions to this list of financial intermediaries that have occurred since the date noted above are not included in the list.

Any payments described above by the Adviser, the Distributor and/or their affiliates will be made from their own assets and not from the assets of the Funds. Although a portion of the Adviser’s revenue comes directly or indirectly in part from fees paid by the Funds, payments to financial intermediaries are not financed by the Funds and therefore do not increase the price paid by investors for the purchase of shares of, or the cost of owning, a Fund or reduce the amount received by a shareholder as proceeds from the redemption of Fund Shares. As a result, such payments are not reflected in the fees and expenses listed in the fees and expenses sections of the Funds’ Prospectuses.

The Adviser periodically assesses the advisability of continuing to make these payments. Payments to a financial intermediary may be significant to that intermediary, and amounts that intermediaries pay to your adviser, broker or other investment professional, if any, may also be significant to such adviser, broker or investment professional. Because an intermediary may make decisions about what investment options it will make available or recommend, and what services to provide in connection with various products, based on payments it receives or is

 

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eligible to receive, such payments create conflicts of interest between the intermediary and its clients. For example, these financial incentives may cause the intermediary to recommend the Funds over other investments. The same conflict of interest exists with respect to your financial adviser, broker or investment professionals if he or she receives similar payments from his or her intermediary firm.

Please contact your salesperson, adviser, broker or other investment professional for more information regarding any such payments or financial incentives his or her intermediary firm may receive. Any payments made, or financial incentives offered, by the Adviser, Distributor and/or their affiliates made to an intermediary may create the incentive for the intermediary to encourage customers to buy Shares of the Funds.

Administrator. BNYM serves as administrator for the Funds. Its principal address is 101 Barclay Street, New York, New York 10286.

BNYM serves as Administrator for the Funds pursuant to a fund administration and accounting agreement (the “Administrative Services Agreement”) with the Trust. Under the Administrative Services Agreement, BNYM is obligated, on a continuous basis, to provide such administrative services as the Board reasonably deems necessary for the proper administration of the Trust and the Funds. BNYM generally will assist in many aspects of the Trust’s and the Funds’ operations, including accounting, bookkeeping and record keeping services (including, without limitation, the maintenance of such books and records as are required under the 1940 Act and the rules thereunder, except as maintained by other service providers), assisting in preparing reports to shareholders or investors; assist in the preparation and filing of tax returns; supply financial information and supporting data for reports to and filings with the SEC; and supply supporting documentation for meetings of the Board.

Pursuant to the Administrative Services Agreement, the Trust has agreed to indemnify the Administrator for certain liabilities, including certain liabilities arising under the federal securities laws, unless such loss or liability results from negligence or willful misconduct in the performance of its duties.

Custodian, Transfer Agent and Fund Accounting Agent. BNYM, (the “Custodian” or “Transfer Agent”), located at 101 Barclay Street, New York, New York 10286, also serves as custodian for the Funds pursuant to a custodian agreement (the “Custodian Agreement”). As Custodian, BNYM holds the Funds’ assets, calculates the NAV of Shares and calculates net income and realized capital gains or losses. BNYM also serves as transfer agent for the Funds pursuant to a transfer agency agreement (the “Transfer Agency Agreement”). Further, BNYM serves as Fund accounting agent pursuant to the fund accounting agreement (the “Fund Accounting Agreement”). As compensation for the foregoing services, BNYM may be reimbursed for its out-of-pocket costs, and receive transaction fees and asset-based fees, which are accrued daily and paid monthly by the Adviser from the Advisory Fee.

Distributor. Invesco Distributors, Inc. (previously defined as the “Distributor”) is the distributor of the Funds’ Shares. The Distributor’s principal address is 11 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1000, Houston, Texas 77046-1173. The Distributor has entered into a distribution agreement (the “Distribution Agreement”) with the Trust pursuant to which it distributes the Funds’ Shares. Each Fund continuously offers Shares for sale through the Distributor only in Creation Unit Aggregations, as described in the Prospectus and below under the heading “Creation and Redemption of Creation Unit Aggregations.”

The Distribution Agreement for the Funds provides that it may be terminated as to a Fund at any time, without the payment of any penalty, on at least 60 days’ written notice by the Trust to the Distributor (i) by vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees or (ii) by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund. The Distribution Agreement will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act).

Aggregations. The Distributor does not distribute Shares in less than Creation Unit Aggregations. The Distributor will deliver a Prospectus (or a Summary Prospectus) and, upon request, this SAI to persons purchasing Creation Unit Aggregations and will maintain records of both orders placed with it and confirmations of acceptance furnished by it. The Distributor is a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”).

 

27


The Distributor also may enter into agreements with securities dealers (“Soliciting Dealers”) who will solicit purchases of Creation Unit Aggregations of the Shares. Such Soliciting Dealers also may be Participating Parties (as defined in “Procedures for Creation of Creation Unit Aggregations” below) and DTC Participants (as defined in “DTC Acts as Securities Depository for Shares” below).

Index Provider. Invesco Indexing is the index provider for each Underlying Index. The Adviser has entered into a license agreement with Invesco Indexing to use each Underlying Index. The Adviser pays licensing fees to Invesco Indexing from the Adviser’s management fees or other resources for the use of the Underlying Indexes and related trademarks and trade names. The Adviser, in turn, has entered into a sub-licensing arrangement with each Fund to permit each Fund to use its respective Underlying Index. Each Fund does not pay a fee for the use of its respective Underlying Index.

Set forth below is a list of each Fund and the Underlying Index upon which it is based.

 

FUND

  

UNDERLYING INDEX

Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF    Nasdaq BulletShares® USD Corporate Bond 2028 Index
Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF   

Nasdaq BulletShares® USD High Yield Corporate Bond 2026 Index

Invesco Indexing is affiliated with the Adviser and the Distributor. The Adviser has in place a code of ethics designed to prevent misuse of non-public index information.

BROKERAGE TRANSACTIONS AND COMMISSIONS ON AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS

The policy of the Adviser regarding purchases and sales of securities is to give primary consideration to obtaining the most favorable prices and efficient executions of transactions under the circumstances. Consistent with this policy, when securities transactions are effected on a stock exchange, the Adviser’s policy is to pay commissions that are considered fair and reasonable without necessarily determining that the lowest possible commissions are paid in all circumstances. In seeking to determine the reasonableness of brokerage commissions paid in any transaction, the Adviser relies upon its experience and knowledge regarding commissions various brokers generally charge. The sale of Shares by a broker-dealer is not a factor in the selection of broker-dealers.

In seeking to implement its policies, the Adviser effects transactions with those brokers and dealers that the Adviser believes provide the most favorable prices and are capable of providing efficient executions. The Adviser and its affiliates currently do not participate in soft dollar transactions.

The Adviser assumes general supervision over placing orders on behalf of the Funds for the purchase or sale of portfolio securities. If purchases or sales of portfolio securities by the Funds and one or more other investment companies or clients supervised by the Adviser are considered at or about the same time, the Adviser allocates transactions in such securities among the Funds, the several investment companies and clients in a manner deemed equitable to all. In some cases, this procedure could have a detrimental effect on the price or volume of the security as far as the Funds are concerned. However, in other cases, it is possible that the ability to participate in volume transactions and to negotiate lower brokerage commissions will be beneficial to the Funds. The primary consideration is prompt execution of orders at the most favorable net price under the circumstances.

Purchases and sales of fixed-income securities for a Fund usually are principal transactions and ordinarily are purchased directly from the issuer or from an underwriter or broker-dealer. The Fund does not usually pay brokerage commissions in connection with such purchases and sales, although purchases of new issues from underwriters of securities typically include a commission or concession paid by the issuer to the underwriter, and purchases from dealers serving as market-makers typically include a dealer’s mark-up (i.e., a spread between the bid and the ask prices).

 

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When a Fund purchases a newly issued security at a fixed price, the Adviser may designate certain members of the underwriting syndicate to receive compensation associated with that transaction. Certain dealers have agreed to rebate a portion of such compensation directly to the Fund to offset the Fund’s management expenses.

Affiliated Transactions. The Adviser may place trades with Invesco Capital Markets, Inc. (“ICMI”) a broker-dealer with whom it is affiliated, provided the Adviser determines that ICMI’s trade execution abilities and costs are at least comparable to those of non-affiliated brokerage firms with which the Adviser could otherwise place similar trades. ICMI receives brokerage commissions in connection with effecting trades for the Funds and, therefore, use of ICMI presents a conflict of interest for the Adviser. Trades placed through ICMI, including the brokerage commissions paid to ICMI, are subject to procedures adopted by the Board.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THE TRUST

The Trust is an open-end management investment company registered under the 1940 Act. The Trust was organized as a Delaware Statutory trust on October 30, 2015 pursuant to a Declaration of Trust (the “Declaration”).

The Trust is authorized to issue an unlimited number of shares in one or more series or “funds.” The Trust currently offers shares of 41 funds. The Board has the right to establish additional series in the future, to determine the preferences, voting powers, rights and privileges thereof and to modify such preferences, voting powers, rights and privileges, without shareholder approval. The Declaration provides that the assets associates solely with any series shall be held and accounted for separately from the assets of the Trust generally or of any other series, and that liabilities belonging to a particular series shall be enforceable only against the assets belonging to that series and not against the assets of the Trust generally or against the assets belonging to any other series.

Each Share issued by a Fund has a pro rata interest in the assets of the Fund. Shares have no preemptive, exchange, subscription or conversion rights and are freely transferable. Each Share is entitled to participate equally in dividends and other distributions declared by the Board with respect to the Fund and in the net distributable assets of the Fund on liquidation.

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 of the Trust vote together as a single class except as otherwise required by the 1940 Act, or if the matter being voted on affects only a particular fund, and, if a matter affects a particular fund differently from other funds, the shares of that fund will vote separately on such matter.

The Declaration provides that by becoming a shareholder of a Fund, each shareholder shall be held expressly to have agreed to be bound by the provisions of the Declaration. The Trustees may, except in limited circumstances, amend or supplement the Declaration of Trust without shareholder vote. The holders of Shares are required to disclose information on direct or indirect ownership of Shares as may be required to comply with various laws applicable to the Funds, and ownership of Shares may be disclosed by the Funds if so required by law or regulation.

The Trust is not required and does not intend to hold annual meetings of shareholders. Shareholders owning more than 33% of the outstanding Shares of the Trust have the right to call a special meeting to remove one or more Trustees or for any other purpose by written request provided that (1) such request shall state the purposes of such meeting and the matters proposed to be acted on, and (2) the shareholders requesting such meeting shall have paid to the Trust the reasonably estimated cost of preparing and mailing the notice thereof, which the Secretary shall determine and specify to such shareholders.

The Trust’s bylaws require that to the fullest extent permitted by law, including Section 3804(e) of the Delaware Statutory Trust Act, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, any other court in the State of Delaware with subject matter jurisdiction, shall be the sole and exclusive forum for any shareholder (including a beneficial owner of shares) to bring derivatively or directly (i) any claim, suit, action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Trust, (ii) any claim, suit, action or proceeding asserting a claim for breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any Trustee, officer or employee, if any, of the Trust to the

 

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Trust or the Trust’s shareholders, (iii) any claim, suit, action or proceeding asserting a claim against the Trust, its Trustees, officers or employees, if any, arising pursuant to any provision of Delaware statutory or common law, or any federal or state securities law, in each case as amended from time to time, or the Trust’s Declaration of Trust or bylaws; or (iv) any claim, suit, action or proceeding asserting a claim against the Trust, its Trustees, officers or employees, if any, governed by the internal affairs doctrine.

The Trust does not have information concerning the beneficial ownership of Shares held by DTC Participants (as defined below).

Shareholders may make inquiries by writing to the Trust, c/o the Distributor, Invesco Distributors, Inc., 11 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1000, Houston, Texas 77046-1173.

Book Entry Only System. The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled “Book Entry.”

DTC Acts as Securities Depository for Shares. Shares are represented by securities registered in the name of DTC or its nominee and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC.

DTC, a limited purpose trust company, 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 also is 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 herein as “Beneficial Owners”) is shown on, and the transfer of ownership is effected only through, records DTC maintains (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 and sale of Shares.

Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows. Pursuant to the Depositary Agreement between the Trust and DTC, DTC is required to make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee to be charged to the Trust a listing of the Shares held by each DTC Participant. The Trust shall inquire of each such DTC Participant as to 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 DTC Participant may transmit such notice, statement or communication, 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.

Fund 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 immediately credit DTC Participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in Shares 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 such 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.

 

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DTC may decide to discontinue providing its service with respect to Shares at any time by giving reasonable notice to the Trust and discharging its responsibilities with respect thereto under applicable law. Under such circumstances, the Trust shall take action to find a replacement for DTC to perform its functions at a comparable cost.

Proxy Voting. The Board has delegated responsibility for decisions regarding proxy voting for securities each Fund holds to the Adviser. The Adviser will vote such proxies in accordance with its proxy policies and procedures, which are summarized in Appendix A to this SAI. The Board periodically will review each Fund’s proxy voting record.

The Trust is required to disclose annually the Funds’ complete proxy voting record on Form N-PX covering the period July 1 through June 30 and file it with the SEC no later than August 31. Form N-PX for the Funds also will be available at no charge upon request by calling 1-800-983-0903 or by writing to Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust at 3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515. The Trust’s Form N-PX will also be available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Codes of Ethics. Pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act, the Board has adopted a Code of Ethics for the Trust and approved Codes of Ethics adopted by the Adviser and the Distributor (collectively the “Ethics Codes”). The Ethics Codes are intended to ensure that the interests of shareholders and other clients are placed ahead of any personal interest, that no undue personal benefit is obtained from the person’s employment activities and that actual and potential conflicts of interest are avoided.

The Ethics Codes apply to the personal investing activities of Trustees and officers of the Trust, the Adviser and the Distributor (“Access Persons”). Rule 17j-1 and the Ethics Codes are designed to prevent unlawful practices in connection with the purchase or sale of securities by Access Persons. Under the Ethics Codes, Access Persons may engage in personal securities transactions, but must report their personal securities transactions for monitoring purposes. The Ethics Codes permit personnel subject to the Ethics Codes to invest in securities subject to certain limitations, including securities that a Fund may purchase or sell. In addition, certain Access Persons must obtain approval before investing in initial public offerings or private placements. The Ethics Codes are on file with the SEC and are available to the public at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at (202) 942-8090. The Ethics Codes are also available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at www.sec.gov. The Ethics Codes may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by e-mail at publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the SEC’s Public Reference Section, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549-0102.

Additional Information Concerning the Index Provider. Invesco Indexing, the Index Provider of the Underlying Indexes, is an affiliated person of the Adviser. As is the case with any use of an affiliated index provider by any ETF, this relationship poses potential conflicts. For example, a conflict exists that an affiliated person of the Index Provider or the Adviser could attempt to use information regarding changes and composition of an Underlying Index to the benefit or detriment of a Fund. Additionally, potential conflicts could arise with respect to the personal trading activity of personnel of the affiliated person who may have access to or knowledge of changes to an Underlying Index’s composition methodology or the constituent securities in an Underlying Index prior to the time that information is publicly disseminated.

The Adviser and the Index Provider have taken steps to ensure that these potential conflicts are mitigated. First, the Adviser has adopted written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violations of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) and the rules thereunder, pursuant to Rule 206(4)-7 under the Advisers Act. These include policies and procedures that are designed to minimize potential conflicts of interest among the Funds and any other client accounts, and include cross trading policies, as well as policies designed to ensure the equitable allocation of portfolio transactions and brokerage commissions. In addition, the Adviser has adopted policies and procedures as required under Section 204A of the Advisers Act, which are reasonably designed in light of the nature of its business to prevent the misuse, in violation of the Advisers Act or the Exchange Act or the rules thereunder, of material non-public information by the Adviser or associated persons (“Inside Information Policy”). Furthermore, the Adviser and the Index Provider have also adopted informational barrier policies designed to restrict the flow of information in a manner that minimizes the potential for the misuse of information regarding changes to an Underlying Index’s composition, methodology, or the constituent securities in an Underlying Index prior to the time that information is publicly disseminated.

 

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The portfolio managers responsible for day-to-day portfolio management of the Funds are employees of the Adviser. As noted above, the Adviser has also adopted a Code of Ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act and Rule 204A-1 under the Advisers Act, which contains provisions reasonably necessary to prevent “Access Persons” (as such term is defined in Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act) from engaging in any conduct prohibited in Rule 17j-1. In accordance with the Adviser’s Code of Ethics and Inside Information Policy, personnel with knowledge about the composition of a Fund’s holdings will be prohibited from disclosing such information to any other person, except as authorized in the course of their employment, until such information is made public.

Finally, each Fund will be fully “transparent,” meaning that each Fund will post on the Funds’ website on each day the Fund is open for business (before commencement of trading of Shares on the Exchange), the identities and quantities of the portfolio holdings that will form the basis for the Fund’s calculation of NAV at the end of the business day. This practice is intended, among other reasons, to reduce the likelihood of any attempts at “front-running” (where other persons would trade ahead of a Fund and the investors assembling the Deposit Securities for purchases of Creation Units), which is a risk of any pooled investment vehicle, including the Funds.

CREATION AND REDEMPTION OF CREATION UNIT AGGREGATIONS

Creation. The Trust issues Shares of each Fund only in Creation Unit Aggregations on a continuous basis through the Distributor, without a sales load, at their NAVs next determined after receipt, on any Business Day (as defined below), of an order in proper form. 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, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Deposit of Securities and Delivery of Cash Component. The consideration for purchase of Creation Unit Aggregations of a Fund consists of the in-kind deposit of the Deposit Securities and/or an amount of cash in lieu of some or all of the Deposit Securities per each Creation Unit Aggregation constituting a substantial replication of the securities included in the relevant Underlying Index, or if the Fund is sampled, a pro-rata representation of the portfolio subject to any permitted adjustments described below (“Fund Securities”) and the Cash Component computed as described below, plus any applicable administrative or other transaction fees, as discussed below. Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit,” which represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit Aggregation of a Fund. However, each Fund also reserves the right to permit or require Creation Units to be issued in exchange for cash (see “Cash Purchase Method” below).

The Cash Component also is sometimes called the “Balancing Amount.” The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences between the NAV per Creation Unit Aggregation and the Deposit Amount (as defined below). The Cash Component is an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of the Shares (per Creation Unit Aggregation) and the “Deposit Amount”—an amount equal to the market value of the Deposit Securities. If the Cash Component is a positive number (i.e., the NAV per Creation Unit Aggregation exceeds the Deposit Amount), the creator will deliver the Cash Component. If the Cash Component is a negative number (i.e., the NAV per Creation Unit Aggregation is less than the Deposit Amount), the creator will receive the Cash Component.

The Custodian, through the 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 to be included in the current Fund Deposit (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for each Fund. Such Fund Deposit is applicable, subject to any adjustments as described below, to effect creations of Creation Unit Aggregations of the Fund until such time as the next-announced composition of the Deposit Securities is made available. Information on the specific names and holdings in a Fund Deposit will be available at www.invesco.com/capitalmarkets. Each Fund will utilize a standardized basket of Deposit Securities that will generally be identical to Fund Securities that are received upon redemptions of Creation Unit Aggregations, except in instances in which the portfolio is rebalancing. Further, the Adviser expects that the Deposit

 

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Securities will generally correspond pro rata to the securities held by the Fund at the time, except for: (a) for minor differences when it is impossible to break up bonds beyond certain minimum sizes needed for transfer and settlement; (b) for minor differences when rounding is necessary to eliminate fractional shares or lots that are not tradeable round lots; (c) TBA Transactions, short positions, derivatives and other positions that cannot be transferred in kind will be excluded from the Deposit Securities; (d) instances in which the Fund uses a representative sampling of the Fund’s portfolio; or (e) for temporary periods, to effect changes in the Fund’s portfolio as a result of the rebalancing of its Underlying Index. In addition, cash may permitted to substitute in whole or in part for Deposit Securities as discussed below.

During times in which the Fund utilizes in-kind creations, the identity and number of shares of the Deposit Securities required for the Fund Deposit for a Fund changes as rebalancing adjustments and corporate action events are reflected within the Fund from time to time by the Adviser, with a view to the investment objective of the Fund. The composition of the Deposit Securities also may change in response to adjustments to the weighting or composition of the securities of a Fund’s Underlying Index. In addition, the Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash—i.e., a “cash in lieu” amount—to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security that is: (i) an instrument that is not eligible for transfer either through the NSCC or DTC; (ii) a non-U.S. investment that is not eligible for trading due to local trading restrictions, local restrictions on securities transfers or other similar circumstances; (iii) an instrument that is not available in sufficient quantity to APs (as defined below); (iv) an instrument that is not eligible for trading by an AP (as defined below) or the investor for which it is acting; or (iv) a non-U.S. investment that would be subject to unfavorable income tax treatment if the holder receives redemption proceeds in kind. Brokerage commissions incurred in connection with the acquisition of Deposit Securities not eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC, and hence not eligible for transfer through the Clearing Process (discussed below), will be at the expense of a Fund and will affect the value of all Shares, but the Adviser may adjust the transaction fee within the parameters described below to protect ongoing shareholders. These adjustments will reflect changes known to the Adviser on the date of announcement to be in effect by the time of delivery of the Fund Deposit, in the composition of the Underlying Index or resulting from certain corporate actions.

In addition to the list of names and numbers of securities constituting the current Deposit Securities of a Fund Deposit, the Custodian, through the NSCC, also makes available on each Business Day, the estimated Cash Component, effective through and including the previous Business Day, per outstanding Creation Unit Aggregation of the Funds.

Creations and redemptions of Shares for Fund Securities are subject to compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws, and each Fund reserves the right to redeem Creation Aggregations for cash to the extent that an investor could not lawfully purchase or the Fund could not lawfully deliver specific Fund Securities under such laws. An AP (as defined below) 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 a Creation Unit Aggregation may be paid an equivalent amount of cash. An AP (as defined below) that is not a qualified institutional buyer (“QIB”) as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act will not be able to receive, as part of a redemption, restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A.

Cash Purchase Method. A Fund may require purchases of Creation Units to be made in whole on a cash basis, rather than in kind if, on a given Business Day, the Fund announces before the open of trading that all purchases or all purchases and redemptions on that day will be made entirely in cash; or if, upon receiving a purchase order from an AP (as defined below), the Fund determines to require the purchase to be made entirely in cash. During periods when full cash purchases of Creation Units are permitted or required, such purchases will be effected in essentially the same manner as in-kind purchases. In the case of a full cash purchase, an AP (as defined below) 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. Such cash equivalent is referred to as the “Deposit Cash.”

Procedures for Creation of Creation Unit Aggregations. To be eligible to place orders with the Transfer Agent and to create a Creation Unit Aggregation of a 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 the “Book Entry Only System” section), and, in each case, must have executed an agreement with the Distributor, with

 

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respect to creations and redemptions of Creation Unit Aggregations (“Participant Agreement”) (discussed below). A Participating Party and DTC Participant are collectively referred to as an “Authorized Participant” or “AP.” All Shares, however created, will be entered on the records of DTC in the name of Cede & Co. for the account of a DTC Participant.

Procedures for Creation of Creation Unit Aggregations—Fixed Income Funds. Except as described below, the Transfer Agent must receive all orders to create Creation Unit Aggregations, whether through the Clearing Process (through a Participating Party) or outside the Clearing Process (through a DTC Participant), not later than the closing time of the regular trading session on the NYSE (“Closing Time”) (ordinarily 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) in each case on the date such order is placed in order for creation of Creation Unit Aggregations to be effected based on the NAV of Shares of a Fund as next determined on such date after receipt of the order in proper form. In the case of Cash in Lieu Orders, such orders generally must be received by the Transfer Agent no later than 3:00 p.m., Eastern time, on the Transmittal Date (as defined below), or as such time may be adjusted by the Trust from time to time. With respect to in-kind creations, a Cash in Lieu Order may be placed by an AP in instances where cash replaces any Deposit Security which may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or which may not be eligible for trading by such AP or the investor for which it is acting. On days when a listing exchange or the bond markets close earlier than normal, the Funds may require orders to create Creation Unit Aggregations to be placed earlier in the day. For example, on days when the generally accepted close of the bond market occurs earlier than normal (such as the day before a holiday), orders requesting substitution of a “cash-in-lieu” amount must be received by the Transfer Agent no later than 11:00 a.m., Eastern time. The date on which an order to create Creation Unit Aggregations (or an order to redeem Creation Unit Aggregations, as discussed below) is placed is referred to as the “Transmittal Date.” Orders must be transmitted by an AP by telephone or other transmission method acceptable to the Transfer Agent or Distributor pursuant to procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement, as described below (see “Placement of Creation Orders Using Clearing Process” and the “Placement of Creation Orders Outside Clearing Process—Fixed Income Funds” sections). Creation and redemption orders submitted after 4:00 p.m., Eastern time are subject to special procedures set forth in a supplement to the Participant Agreement. Severe economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure may impede the ability to reach the Transfer Agent or an AP.

With respect to creation orders for Funds that invest in foreign securities, the Custodian shall cause the subcustodian for each Fund to maintain an account into which the AP shall deliver, on behalf of itself or the party on whose behalf it is acting, the securities included in the Fund Deposit (or the cash value of all or part of such of such securities, in the case of a permitted or required cash purchase or “cash-in-lieu” amount), with any appropriate adjustments as advised by the Trust. Deposit Securities must be delivered to an account maintained at the applicable local sub-custodian(s). Orders to purchase Creation Unit Aggregations must be received by the Transfer Agent from an AP on its behalf or another investor’s behalf by the Closing Time on the relevant Business Day. However, when a relevant local market is closed due to local market holidays, the local market settlement process will not commence until the end of the local holiday period. Settlement must occur by 2:00 p.m., Eastern time, on the contractual settlement date.

All orders to create Creation Unit Aggregations from investors who are not APs must be placed with an AP in the form required by such AP. In addition, the AP may request the 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 create Creation Unit Aggregations of a Fund have to be placed by the investor’s broker through an AP 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. Those placing orders for Creation Unit Aggregations through the Clearing Process should afford sufficient time to permit proper submission of the order to the Transfer Agent prior to the Closing Time on the Transmittal Date. Orders for Creation Unit Aggregations that are effected outside the Clearing Process are likely to require transmittal by the DTC Participant earlier on the Transmittal Date than orders effected using the Clearing Process. Those persons placing orders outside the Clearing Process should ascertain the deadlines applicable to DTC and the Federal Reserve Bank wire system by contacting the operations department of the broker or depository institution effectuating such transfer of Deposit Securities and Cash Component.

For domestic securities, orders to create Creation Units of the Funds may be placed through the Clearing Process utilizing procedures applicable to fixed income funds or outside the Clearing Process.

 

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Placement of Creation Orders Using Clearing Process. The Clearing Process is the process of creating or redeeming Creation Unit Aggregations through the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC. Fund Deposits made through the Clearing Process must be delivered through a Participating Party that has executed a Participant Agreement. The Participant Agreement authorizes the Distributor to transmit through the Custodian to NSCC, on behalf of the Participating Party, such trade instructions as are necessary to effect the Participating Party’s creation order. Pursuant to such trade instructions to NSCC, the Participating Party agrees to deliver the requisite Deposit Securities and the Cash Component to the Trust, together with such additional information as may be required by the Distributor. An order to create Creation Unit Aggregations through the Clearing Process is deemed received by the Distributor on the Transmittal Date if (i) such order is received by the Distributor not later than the Closing Time on the Transmittal Date and (ii) all other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement are properly followed. The delivery of Creation Unit Aggregations so created will occur no later than the second Business Day following the day on which the purchase order is deemed received by the Distributor (“T+2”).

Placement of Creation Orders Outside the Clearing Process—Fixed Income Funds. Fund Deposits made outside the Clearing Process must be delivered through the Federal Reserve System (for cash and government securities) and through a DTC Participant (for corporate securities) that has executed a Participant Agreement pre-approved by the Adviser and the Distributor. A DTC Participant who wishes to place an order creating Creation Units of a Fund does not need to be a Participating Party, but such orders must state that the DTC Participant is not using the Clearing Process and that the creation of Creation Unit Aggregations will instead be effected through a transfer of cash and/or securities and cash directly through DTC. The Fund Deposit transfer must be ordered by the DTC Participant on the Transmittal Date in a timely fashion so as to ensure the delivery of the requisite number of Deposit Securities through DTC to the account of the Fund by no later than 11:00 a.m., Eastern time, on the next Business Day immediately following the Transmittal Date (“T+1”).

All questions as to the number of Deposit Securities to be delivered, and the validity, form and eligibility (including time of receipt) for the deposit of any tendered securities, will be determined by the Trust, whose determination shall be final and binding. The amount of cash equal to the Cash Component must be transferred directly to the Distributor through the Federal Reserve Bank wire transfer system in a timely manner so as to be received by the Transfer Agent no later than 11:00 a.m., Eastern time, on the contractual settlement date. An order to create Creation Unit Aggregations outside the Clearing Process is deemed received by the Transfer Agent on the Transmittal Date if (i) such order is received by the Transfer Agent not later than the Closing Time on such Transmittal Date; and (ii) all other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement are properly followed. However, if the Transfer Agent does not receive both the required Deposit Securities and the Cash Component by the deadlines described above, such order will be canceled. Upon written notice to the Transfer Agent, such cancelled order may be resubmitted the following Business Day using a Fund Deposit as newly constituted to reflect the current NAV of the Funds. The delivery of Creation Units so created will occur no later than T+2.

With respect to Funds that issue and redeem Creation Units in-kind, Creation Unit Aggregations may be created 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 the 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) 105% of the market value of the undelivered Deposit Securities (the “Additional Cash Deposit”). 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 4:00 p.m., Eastern time, on such date, and federal funds in the appropriate amount are deposited with the Transfer Agent by 2:00 p.m., Eastern time, on the contractual settlement date. If the order is not placed in proper form by 4:00 p.m., Eastern time, or federal funds in the appropriate amount are not received by 2:00 p.m., Eastern time, on the contractual settlement date, then the order may be deemed to be canceled, and the AP shall be liable to the Funds 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 105% of the daily marked-to-market value of the missing Deposit Securities.

Additional transaction fees may be imposed with respect to transactions effected outside the Clearing Process (through a DTC Participant) and in the limited circumstances in which any cash can be used in lieu of Deposit Securities to create Creation Units. See “Creation and Redemption Transaction Fees” below.

 

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Acceptance of Orders for Creation Unit Aggregations. The Trust reserves the absolute right to reject a creation order transmitted to it by the Distributor in respect of a Fund if: (i) the order is not in proper form; (ii) the investor(s), upon obtaining the Shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding Shares; (iii) the Deposit Securities, Deposit Cash or Fund Deposit delivered are not as designated for that date by the Custodian, as described above; (iv) acceptance of the Deposit Securities, Deposit Cash or Fund Deposit would have certain adverse tax consequences to the Fund; (v) acceptance of the Deposit Securities, Deposit Cash or Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; (vi) acceptance of the Fund Deposit would otherwise, in the discretion of the Trust or the Adviser, have an adverse effect on the Trust or the Adviser, or on the rights of Beneficial Owners; or (vii) in the event that circumstances outside the control of the Trust, the Custodian, the Distributor or the Adviser make it for all practical purposes impossible to process creation orders. Examples of such circumstances include acts of God; 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 Adviser, the Distributor, DTC, NSCC, the Federal Reserve, the transfer agent, the Custodian or sub-custodian or any other participant in the creation process, and similar extraordinary events. The Distributor shall notify a prospective creator of a Creation Unit Aggregation and/or the AP acting on behalf of such prospective creator of its rejection of the order of such person. The Trust, the Transfer Agent, the Custodian, any sub-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 any of them incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification.

A confirmation of acceptance of an order to create Creation Unit Aggregations will be delivered to the AP within 15 minutes of the receipt of a submission received in good form. A creation order is deemed to be irrevocable upon the delivery of the confirmation of acceptance.

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 and Redemption Transaction Fees. APs may be required to pay an administrative fee and a variable transaction fee for purchasing or redeeming Creation Units. Creation and redemption transactions for each Fund are subject to an administrative fee, payable to BNYM, in the amount listed in the table below, irrespective of the size of the order. The administrative fee has a fixed base amount for each Fund (as shown in the table below); however, BNYM may increase the administrative fee to up to four times the base amount for administration and settlement of non-standard orders requiring additional administrative processing by BNYM. Additionally, for creations or redemptions effected principally or partially for cash, the Adviser may charge additional variable fees. To the extent that a Fund permits or requires APs to substitute cash in lieu of Deposit Securities, the Adviser may also set additional variable fees. The variable fees will be negotiated between the Adviser and the AP and they may be different for any given transaction, Business Day or AP. Such fees are charged to offset the transaction cost to a Fund of buying (or selling) Deposit Securities, to cover spreads and slippage costs and to protect existing shareholders. The variable fees are payable to the Fund and will not exceed 2% of the value of the Creation Unit. From time to time, the Adviser, in its sole discretion, may adjust a Fund’s variable transaction fees.

 

Fund

   Base
Administrative Fee
(Payable to BNYM)
     Maximum
Administrative Fee
(Payable to BNYM)
 

Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF

   $ 250       $ 1,000   

Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

   $ 250       $ 1,000   

Redemption of Shares in Creation Unit Aggregations. Shares may be redeemed only in Creation Unit Aggregations at their NAV next determined after receipt of a redemption request in proper form by a Fund through the Transfer Agent and only on a Business Day. A Fund will not redeem Shares in amounts less than Creation Unit Aggregations. Beneficial Owners must accumulate enough Shares in the secondary market to constitute a Creation Unit Aggregation 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 Aggregation. Investors should expect to incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of Shares to constitute a redeemable Creation Unit Aggregation.

 

36


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 identity of the Fund Securities that will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to redemption requests received in proper form (as described below) on that day. Information on the specific names and holdings of Fund Securities also are available at www.invesco.com/capitalmarkets. Fund Securities received on redemption will generally be identical to Deposit Securities that are applicable to creations of Creation Unit Aggregations, except in instances when the Fund is rebalancing. Unless cash redemptions are permitted or required for a Fund, the redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit Aggregation generally consist of Fund Securities—as announced on the Business Day of the request for redemption received in proper form—plus or minus cash in an amount equal to the difference between the NAV of the Shares being redeemed, as next determined after a receipt of a request in proper form, and the value of the Fund Securities (the “Redemption Cash Component”), less a redemption transaction fee as noted above (see “Creation and Redemption Transaction Fees”). In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the NAV of the Shares, a compensation payment equal to the difference is required to be made by or through an AP by the redeeming shareholder. The Fund Securities received upon redemption will generally correspond pro rata to the securities held by the Fund at that time, except for: (a) for minor differences when it is impossible to break up bonds beyond certain minimum sizes needed for transfer and settlement; (b) for minor differences when rounding is necessary to eliminate fractional shares or lots that are not tradeable round lots; (c) TBA Transactions, short positions, derivatives and other positions that cannot be transferred in kind will be excluded from the Deposit Securities; (d) instances in which the Fund uses a representative sampling of the Fund’s portfolio; or (e) for temporary periods, to effect changes in the Fund’s portfolio as a result of the rebalancing of its Underlying Index.

The Fund may elect to accept redemption orders entirely on a cash basis, rather than in kind if, on a given Business Day, the Fund announces before the open of trading that all redemptions or all purchases and redemptions on that day will be made entirely in cash; or if, upon receiving a redemption order from an Authorized Participant, the Fund determines to require the redemption to be made entirely in cash. When cash redemptions are permitted or required, Creation Units of a Fund will be redeemed for cash in an amount equal to the NAV of its Shares next determined after a redemption request is received (minus any redemption transaction fees imposed, as specified above) (the “Cash Redemption Amount”).

Redemptions of Shares for Fund Securities will be subject to compliance with applicable U.S. federal and state securities laws, and the Funds reserve the right to redeem Creation Unit Aggregations for cash to the extent that the Trust could not lawfully deliver specific Fund Securities upon redemption or could not do so without first registering the Fund Securities under such laws.

An AP 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 a Creation Unit Aggregation may be paid an equivalent amount of cash. This would specifically prohibit delivery of Fund Securities that are not registered in reliance upon Rule 144A under the Securities Act to a redeeming investor that is not a QIB, as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the Securities Act. The AP may request the redeeming Beneficial Owner of the Shares to complete an order form or to enter into agreements with respect to such matters as compensating cash payment, beneficial ownership of Shares or delivery instructions.

The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed (i) for any period during which the NYSE is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (ii) for any period during which trading on the NYSE is suspended or restricted; (iii) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the Shares of a Fund or determination of a Fund’s NAV is not reasonably practicable; or (iv) in such other circumstances as is permitted by the SEC.

Placement of Redemption Orders Using Clearing Process. Orders to redeem Creation Unit Aggregations must be delivered through an AP that has executed a Participant Agreement. Investors other than APs are responsible for making arrangements for an order to redeem to be made through an AP. An order to redeem Creation Unit Aggregations is deemed received by the Trust on the Transmittal Date if: (i) such order is received by the Transfer Agent not later than the Closing Time on the Transmittal Date; and (ii) all other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement are properly followed.

An order to redeem Creation Unit Aggregations using the Clearing Process made in proper form but received by the Trust after the Closing Time on the Transmittal Date will be deemed received on T+1 and will be effected at the NAV next determined on T+1. The requisite Fund Securities and any Cash Redemption Amount (or, if cash redemptions are permitted, the Cash Redemption Amount) will be transferred by T+2.

 

37


Placement of Redemption Orders Outside Clearing Process. Orders to redeem Creation Unit Aggregations outside the Clearing Process must be delivered through a DTC Participant with the ability to transact through the Federal Reserve System that has executed the Participant Agreement. A DTC Participant who wishes to place an order for redemption of Creation Unit Aggregations to be effected outside the Clearing Process does not need to be a Participating Party, but such orders must state that the DTC Participant is not using the Clearing Process and that redemption of Creation Unit Aggregations will instead be effected through transfer of Shares directly through DTC. An order to redeem Creation Unit Aggregations outside the Clearing Process is deemed received by the Trust on the Transmittal Date if (i) such order is received by the Transfer Agent not later than the Closing Time on such Transmittal Date; (ii) such order is accompanied or followed by the requisite number of Shares of a Fund, which delivery must be made through DTC and the Redemption Cash Component, if any owed, to the Transfer Agent no later than 11:00 a.m., Eastern time, on the contractual settlement date; ; and (iii) all other procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement are properly followed. After the Trust has deemed an order for redemption outside the Clearing Process received, the Trust will initiate procedures to transfer the requisite Fund Securities and the Redemption Cash Component, if any (or for cash redemptions, the Cash Redemption Amount) owed to the redeeming Beneficial Owner to the AP on behalf of the redeeming Beneficial Owner by T+2.

The calculation of the value of the Fund Securities and the Redemption Cash Component to be delivered/received upon redemption will be made by the Custodian according to the procedures set forth under “Determination of NAV” computed on the Business Day on which a redemption order is deemed received by the Trust. Therefore, if a redemption order in proper form is submitted to the Transfer Agent by a DTC Participant not later than the Closing Time on the Transmittal Date, and the requisite number of Shares of a Fund are delivered to the Custodian prior to the DTC Cut-Off-Time, then the value of the Fund Securities and the Redemption Cash Component to be delivered/received will be determined by the Custodian on such Transmittal Date. If, however, either (i) the requisite number of Shares of the relevant Fund are not delivered by the DTC Cut-Off-Time, as described above, or (ii) the redemption order is not submitted in proper form, then the redemption order will not be deemed received as of the Transmittal Date. In such case, the value of the Fund Securities and the Redemption Cash Component to be delivered/received will be computed on the Business Day following the Transmittal Date provided that the Shares of the relevant Fund are delivered through DTC to the Custodian by the DTC Cut-Off-Time pursuant to a properly submitted redemption order.

Upon receipt of a redemption order in good form, the Transfer Agent delivers acknowledgement of receipt within 15 minutes. A redemption order is deemed to be irrevocable upon the delivery of the acknowledgement of receipt of an order.

If it is not possible to effect deliveries of the Fund Securities, the Trust may in its discretion exercise its option to redeem such Shares in cash, and the redeeming Beneficial Owner will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash. Redemptions of Creation Units may be made in whole or in part on a cash basis, rather than in kind, solely under the following circumstances: (a) to the extent there is a Cash Component, as described above; (b) if, on a given business day, the Fund announces before the open of trading that all redemptions or all purchases and redemptions on that day will be made entirely in cash; (c) if, upon receiving a redemption order from an Authorized Participant, the Fund determines to require the redemption to be made entirely in cash; (d) if, on a given business day, the Fund requires all Authorized Participants redeeming Shares on that day to receive cash in lieu of some or all of the Fund Securities, solely because: (i) such instruments are not eligible for transfer either through the NSCC or DTC; or (ii) a Fund holding non-U.S. investments, such instruments are not eligible for trading due to local trading restrictions, local restrictions on securities transfers or other similar circumstances; or (e) if the Fund permits an Authorized Participant to receive cash in lieu of some or all of the Fund Securities solely because (i) such instruments are not eligible for trading by an Authorized Participant or the investor on whose behalf the Authorized Participant is acting; or (ii) a holder of Shares of a Fund holding non-U.S. investments would be subject to unfavorable income tax treatment if the holder receives redemption proceeds in kind. The investor will receive the Cash Redemption Amount (minus a redemption transaction fee and additional charge for requested cash redemptions specified above, to offset the Fund’s brokerage and other transaction costs associated with the disposition of Fund Securities).

 

38


On days when the Exchange or the bond market closes earlier than normal, the Funds may require orders to redeem Creation Unit Aggregations to be placed earlier in the day. For example, on days when the generally accepted close of the bond market occurs earlier than normal (such as the day before a holiday) orders requesting substitution of a “cash-in-lieu” amount must be received by the Distributor no later than 11:00 a.m., Eastern time. After the Transfer Agent has deemed an order for redemption outside the Clearing Process received, the Transfer Agent will initiate procedures to transfer the requisite Fund Securities and the Redemption Cash Component, if any owed to the redeeming Beneficial Owner to the AP on behalf of the redeeming Beneficial Owner by T+2.

Regular Holidays. Each Fund generally intends to effect deliveries of Creation Units and Fund Securities on a basis of “T” plus two Business Days (a Business Day is any day the NYSE is open). Each Fund may effect deliveries of Creation Units and Portfolio Securities on a basis other than T+2 in order to accommodate local holiday schedules, to account for different treatment among foreign and U.S. markets of dividend record dates and ex-dividend dates or under certain other circumstances. The ability of the Trust to effect in-kind creations and redemptions within two Business Days of receipt of an order in good form is subject, among other things, to the condition that, within the time period from the date of the order to the date of delivery of the securities, there are no days that are holidays in the applicable foreign market. For every occurrence of one or more intervening holidays in the applicable foreign market that are not holidays observed in the U.S. equity market, the redemption settlement cycle will be extended by the number of such intervening holidays. In addition to holidays, other unforeseeable closings in a foreign market due to emergencies also may prevent the Trust from delivering securities within the normal settlement period.

The securities delivery cycles currently practicable for transferring portfolio securities to redeeming investors, coupled with foreign market holiday schedules, will require a delivery process longer than seven calendar days for some Funds in certain circumstances. The holidays applicable to each Fund during such periods are listed below, as are instances where more than seven days will be needed to deliver redemption proceeds. Although certain holidays may occur on different dates in subsequent years, the number of days required to deliver redemption proceeds in any given year is not expected to exceed the maximum number of days listed below for each Fund. The proclamation of new holidays, the treatment by market participants of certain days as “informal holidays” (e.g., days on which no or limited securities transactions occur, as a result of substantially shortened trading hours), the elimination of existing holidays or changes in local securities delivery practices could affect the information set forth herein at some time in the future.

The dates in calendar year 2018 (the only year for which holidays are known at the time of this SAI filing) in which the regular holidays affecting the relevant securities markets of the below listed countries are as follows*:

 

Austria

        

January 1

   May 10    October 26      December 26  

March 30

   May 21    November 1      December 31  

April 2

   May 31    December 24   

May 1

   August 15    December 25   

Belgium

  

January 1

   May 10    December 25   

March 30

   May 21    December 26   

April 2

   August 15

 

May 1

   November 1

 

Canada

     

January 1

   May 21    September 3      December 26  

January 2

   June 25    October 8

 

February 19

   July 2    November 12

 

March 30

   August 6    December 25

 

 

39


Denmark

     

January 1

   April 27    May 21      December 26  

March 29

   May 1    June 5      December 31  

March 30

   May 10    December 24

 

April 2

   May 11    December 25

 

Finland

        

January 1

   May 1    December 6      December 26  

March 30

   May 10    December 24      December 31  

April 2

   June 22    December 25   

France

        

January 1

   May 8    November 1   

March 30

   May 10    December 25   

April 2

   May 21    December 26   

May 1

   August 15      

Germany

        

January 1

   May 10    December 24   

March 30

   May 21    December 25   

April 2

   May 31    December 26   

May 1

   October 3    December 31   

Greece

        

January 1

   April 2    May 1      December 24  

February 19

   April 6    May 28      December 25  

March 30

   April 9    August 15      December 26  

Ireland

        

January 1

   May 1    August 6      November 12  

January 15

   May 7    August 27      November 22  

February 19

   May 28    September 3      December 24  

March 19

   June 4    October 8      December 25    December 31  

March 30

   July 4    October 29   

April 2

        

Italy

        

January 1

   May 1    December 25   

March 30

   August 15    December 226   

April 2

   December 24    December 31   

Japan

        

January 1

   March 21    September 17   

January 2

   April 30    September 24   

January 3

   May 3    October 8   

January 8

   May 4    November 23   

February 12

   July 16    December 24     December 31   

Luxembourg

        

January 1

   April 2    December 24      December 26  

March 30

   May 1    December 25      December 31  

Netherlands

     

January 1

   May 1    November 1      December 26  

March 30

   May 10    December 25   

April 2

   May 21   

 

40


Norway

        

January 1

   April 2    May 21      December 31  

March 28

   May 1    December 24   

March 29

   May 10    December 25   

March 30

   May 17    December 26   

Portugal

        

January 1

   May 1    October 5   

March 30

   May 31    November 1   

April 2

   June 13    December 25   

April 25

   August 15    December 26   

Spain

        

January 1

   March 30    August 15      December 6  

March 19

   April 2    October 12      December 25  

March 29

   May 1    November 1      December 26  

Sweden

        

January 1

   April 2    May 10      December 24  

January 5

   April 30    June 6      December 25  

March 29

   May 1    June 22      December 26  

March 30

   May 9    November 2      December 31  

Switzerland

        

January 1

   April 2    May 21      December 25  

January 2

   May 1    August 1      December 26  

March 30

   May 10    December 24      December 31  

U.S.A.

        

January 1

   March 30    September 3      November 22  

January 15

   May 28    October 8      December 25  

February 19

   July 4    November 12   

United Kingdom

     

January 1

   May 1    September 3      December 25  

January 15

   May 7    October 8      December 26  

February 19

   May 28    November 12      December 31  

March 30

   July 4    November 22

 

April 2

   August 27    December 24

 

 

*

Holidays are subject to change without further notice.

Redemption. The longest redemption cycle for a Fund is a function of the longest redemption cycles among the countries whose stocks comprise the Fund. In the calendar year 2018 (the only year for which holidays are known at the time of this SAI filing), the dates of the regular holidays affecting the following securities markets present the worst-case redemption cycle for a Fund are as follows*:

 

41


SETTLEMENT PERIODS GREATER THAN SEVEN DAYS FOR YEAR 2018*

 

                   Number of Days  

Country

   Trade Date      Settlement Date      to Settle  

Japan

     04/27/18        05/07/18        10  

Norway

     03/26/18        04/03/18        8  
     03/27/18        04/04/18        8  

 

*

These worst-case redemption cycles are based on information regarding regular holidays, which may be out of date. Based on changes in holidays, longer (worse) redemption cycles are possible.

*                             *                            *                         *

The chart below describes in further detail the placement of creation and redemption orders through and outside the Clearing Process, presuming a creation or redemption settling no later than T+2.

 

    

Transmittal Date (T)

  

Next Business Day (T+1)

   Second Business Day (T+2)  

Creation through NSCC (using the Clearing Process)

        

Standard Orders

  

4:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Order in proper form must be received by the Distributor.

 

Orders received after 4:00 p.m. (ET) will be deemed received on the next business day (T+1).

   No action.     

Creation Unit
Aggregations will be
delivered.
 
 
 

Cash in Lieu Orders
(for in-kind creations)

  

3:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Order in proper form must be received by the Distributor.

 

Orders received after 3:00 p.m. (ET) require portfolio manager approvals before acceptance. Orders may be subject to additional fees.

   No action.     

Creation Unit
Aggregations will be
delivered.
 
 
 

 

42


Creation Outside NSCC (Outside the Clearing Process)

        
Standard Orders   

4:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Order in proper form must be received by the Distributor.

  

2:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Deposit Cash must be received by the Custodian.

 

For in-kind creations:

11:00 a.m. (ET)

 

Deposit Securities must be received by the Fund’s account through DTC.

 

2:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Cash Component must be received by the Custodian.

    

Creation Unit
Aggregations will be
delivered.
 
 
 

Standard Orders created in advance of receipt by the Trust of all or a portion of the Deposit Securities (for in-kind creations)

  

4:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Order in proper form must be received by the Distributor.

  

11:00 a.m. (ET)

 

Available Deposit Securities must be received.

 

Cash in an amount equal to the sum of (i) the Cash Component, plus (ii) 105% of the market value of the undelivered Deposit Securities must be received.

    

 







 



1:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Missing Deposit
Securities are due to
the Trust or the
Trust may use cash
on deposit to
purchase missing
Deposit Securities.

 

Creation Unit
Aggregations will be
delivered.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

Cash in Lieu Orders
(for in-kind creations)

  

3:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Order in proper form must be received by the Distributor.

 

Orders received after 3:00 p.m. (ET) require portfolio manager approvals before acceptance. Orders may be subject to additional fees.

  

11:00 a.m. (ET)

 

Deposit Securities must be received by the Fund’s account through DTC.

 

2:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Cash Component must be received by the Custodian.

    

Creation Unit
Aggregations will be
delivered.
 
 
 

Redemption Through NSCC (Using the Clearing Process)

        
Standard Orders   

4:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Order must be received by the Transfer Agent.

 

Orders received after 4:00 p.m. (ET) will be deemed received on the next business day (T+1).

   No action.     








Fund Securities and
Redemption Cash
Component will be
transferred to
beneficial owner
(for cash
redemptions, Cash
Redemption
Amount will be
transferred).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

43


Cash in Lieu Orders
(for in-kind redemptions)

  

3:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Order in proper form must be received by the Transfer Agent.

 

Orders received after 3:00 p.m. (ET) require portfolio manager approval before acceptance. Orders may be subject to additional fees.

   No action.     



Fund Securities and
Redemption Cash
Component are delivered
to redeeming
beneficial owner.
 
 
 
 
 

Redemption Outside of NSCC (Outside the Clearing Process)

        
Standard Orders   

4:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Order in proper form must be received by the Transfer Agent.

 

Orders received after 4:00 p.m. (ET) will be deemed received on the next business day (T+1)

  

11:00 a.m. (ET)

 

Shares must be delivered through DTC to the Custodian.

 

For in-kind redemptions:

 

2:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Redemption Cash Component, if any, is due.

 

*If the order is not in proper form or the Shares are not delivered, then order will not be deemed received as of T.

    








Fund Securities and
Redemption Cash
Component will be
transferred to
beneficial owner
(for cash
redemptions, Cash
Redemption
Amount will be
transferred).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cash in Lieu Orders
(for in-kind redemptions)

  

3:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Order in proper form must be received by the Transfer Agent.

 

Orders received after 3:00 p.m. (ET) require portfolio manager approvals before acceptance. Orders may be subject to additional fees.

  

11:00 a.m. (ET)

 

Shares must be delivered through DTC to the Custodian.

 

2:00 p.m. (ET)

 

Redemption Cash Component, if any, is due.

 

*If the order is not in proper form or the Shares are not delivered, then the order will not be deemed received as of T.

    




Fund Securities
and Redemption
Cash Component are
delivered to the
redeeming
beneficial owner.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

44


TAXES

The following is a summary of certain additional tax considerations generally affecting the Funds and their shareholders that are not described in the Prospectus. No attempt is made to present a detailed explanation of the tax treatment of a Fund or its shareholders, and the discussion here and in the Prospectus is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning.

This section is based on the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) and applicable regulations in effect on the date of this SAI. Future legislative, regulatory or administrative changes including provisions of current law that sunset and thereafter no longer apply, or court decisions may significantly change the tax rules applicable to a Fund and its shareholders. Any of these changes or court decisions may have a retroactive effect.

The following is provided as general information only and is not tax advice. All investors should consult their own tax advisors as to the federal, state, local and foreign tax provisions applicable to them.

Taxation of the Funds

Each Fund has elected and intends to qualify each year as a “regulated investment company” (sometimes referred to as a “RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Code. If a Fund qualifies, the Fund will not be subject to federal income tax on the portion of its investment company taxable income (i.e., generally, taxable interest, dividends, net short-term capital gains and other taxable ordinary income net of expenses without regard to the deduction for dividends paid) and net capital gain (i.e., the excess of net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses) that it distributes.

Qualification as a RIC. In order to qualify for treatment as a RIC, a Fund must satisfy the following requirements:

 

   

Distribution Requirement – the Fund must distribute an amount equal to the sum of at least 90% of its investment company taxable income and 90% of its net tax-exempt income, if any, for the 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).

 

   

Income Requirement – the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income from dividends, interest, certain payments with respect to securities loans, and gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies, or other income (including, but not limited to, gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived from its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies and net income derived from qualified publicly traded partnerships (“QPTPs”).

 

   

Asset Diversification Test – 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 and 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 or securities of other regulated investment companies) or of two or more issuers which the Fund controls and which are engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses, or, collectively, in the securities of QPTPs.

In some circumstances, the character and timing of income realized by a Fund for purposes of the Income Requirement or the identification of the issuer for purposes of the Asset Diversification Test is uncertain under current law with respect to a particular investment, and an adverse determination or future guidance by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) with respect to such type of investment may adversely affect a Fund’s ability to satisfy these requirements. See “Tax Treatment of Portfolio Transactions” below with respect to the application of these requirements to certain types of investments. In other circumstances, a Fund may be required to sell portfolio holdings in order to meet the Income Requirement, Distribution Requirement, or Asset Diversification Test, which may have a negative impact on the Fund’s income and performance. In lieu of potential disqualification, a Fund is permitted to pay a tax for certain failures to satisfy the Asset Diversification Test or Income Requirement, which, in general, are limited to those due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect.

 

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Each Fund may use “equalization accounting” (in lieu of making some cash distributions) in determining the portion of its income and gains that has been distributed. If a Fund uses equalization accounting, it will allocate a portion of its undistributed investment company taxable income and net capital gain to redemptions of Shares and will correspondingly reduce the amount of such income and gains that it distributes in cash. However, each Fund intends to make cash distributions for each taxable year in an aggregate amount that is sufficient to satisfy the Distribution Requirement without taking into account its use of equalization accounting. If the IRS determines that a Fund’s allocation is improper and/or that such Fund has under-distributed its income and gain for any taxable year, the Fund may be liable for federal income and/or excise tax.

If for any taxable year a Fund does not qualify as a RIC, all of its taxable income (including its net capital gain) would be subject to tax at the applicable corporate income tax rate without any deduction for dividends paid to shareholders, and the dividends would be taxable to the shareholders as ordinary income (or possibly as qualified dividend income) to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. Failure to qualify as a RIC thus would have a negative impact on a Fund’s income and performance. Subject to savings provisions for certain inadvertent failures to satisfy the Income Requirement or Asset Diversification Test which, in general, are limited to those due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect, it is possible that a Fund will not qualify as a RIC in any given tax year. Even if such savings provisions apply, a Fund may be subject to a monetary sanction of $50,000 or more. Moreover, the Board reserves the right not to maintain the qualification of a Fund as a RIC if it determines such a course of action to be beneficial to shareholders.

Portfolio turnover. For investors that hold Shares of a Fund in a taxable account, a high portfolio turnover rate may result in higher taxes. This is because a fund with a high turnover rate may accelerate the recognition of capital gains and more of such gains are likely to be taxable as short-term rather than long-term capital gains in contrast to a comparable fund with a low turnover rate. Any such higher taxes would reduce a Fund’s after-tax performance. See “Taxation of Fund Distributions — Capital gain dividends” below. For non-U.S. investors, any such acceleration of the recognition of capital gains that results in more short-term and less long-term capital gains being recognized by a Fund may cause such investors to be subject to increased U.S. withholding taxes. See “Foreign Shareholders — U.S. withholding tax at the source” below. For most ETFs, in-kind redemptions are the primary redemption mechanism and, therefore, a Fund may be less likely to sell securities in order to generate cash for redeeming shareholders, which a mutual fund might do. This provides a greater opportunity for ETFs to defer the recognition of gain on appreciated securities which it may hold thereby reducing the distribution of capital gains to its shareholders.

Capital loss carryovers. The capital losses of a Fund, if any, do not flow through to shareholders. Rather, a Fund may use its capital losses, subject to applicable limitations, to offset its capital gains without being required to pay taxes on or distribute to shareholders such gains that are offset by the losses. If a Fund has a “net capital loss” (that is, capital losses in excess of capital gains), the excess (if any) of the Fund’s net short-term capital losses over its net long-term capital gains is treated as a short-term capital loss arising on the first day of the Fund’s next taxable year, and the excess (if any) of the Fund’s net long-term capital losses over its net short-term capital gains is treated as a long-term capital loss arising on the first day of the Fund’s next taxable year. Any such net capital losses of the Fund that are not used to offset capital gains may be carried forward indefinitely to reduce any future capital gains realized by the Fund in succeeding taxable years. The amount of capital losses that can be carried forward and used in any single year is subject to an annual limitation if there is a more than 50% “change in ownership” of the Fund. An ownership change generally results when shareholders owning 5% or more of the Fund increase their aggregate holdings by more than 50% over a three-year look-back period. An ownership change could result in capital loss carryovers being used at a slower rate, thereby reducing the Fund’s ability to offset capital gains with those losses. An increase in the amount of taxable gains distributed to a Fund’s shareholders could result from an ownership change. Each Fund undertakes no obligation to avoid or prevent an ownership change, which can occur in the normal course of shareholder purchases and redemptions or as a result of engaging in a tax-free reorganization with another fund. Moreover, because of circumstances beyond the Funds’ control, there can be no assurance that a Fund will not experience, or has not already experienced, an ownership change.

Deferral of late year losses. Each Fund may elect to treat part or all of any “qualified late year loss” as if it had been incurred in the succeeding taxable year in determining the Fund’s taxable income, net capital gain, net short-term capital gain, and earnings and profits. The effect of this election is to treat any such “qualified late year loss” as if it had been incurred in the succeeding taxable year, which may change the timing, amount, or characterization of Fund distributions (see “Taxation of Fund Distributions — Capital gain dividends” below). A “qualified late year loss” includes:

 

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  (i)

any net capital loss incurred after October 31 of the current taxable year, or, if there is no such loss, any net long-term capital loss or any net short-term capital loss incurred after October 31 of the current taxable year (post-October capital losses), and

 

  (ii)

the sum of (1) the excess, if any, of (a) specified losses incurred after October 31 of the current taxable year, over (b) specified gains incurred after October 31 of the current taxable year and (2) the excess, if any, of (a) ordinary losses incurred after December 31 of the current taxable year, over (b) the ordinary income incurred after December 31 of the current taxable year.

The terms “specified losses” and “specified gains” mean ordinary losses and gains from the sale, exchange, or other disposition of property (including the termination of a position with respect to such property), foreign currency losses and gains, and losses and gains resulting from holding stock in a passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) for which a mark-to-market election is in effect. The terms “ordinary losses” and “ordinary income” mean other ordinary losses and income that are not described in the preceding sentence.

Undistributed capital gains. A Fund may retain or distribute to shareholders its net capital gain for each taxable year. Each Fund currently intends to distribute net capital gains. If a Fund elects to retain its net capital gain, the Fund will be taxed thereon (except to the extent of any available capital loss carryovers) at the applicable corporate income tax rate. If a Fund elects to retain its net capital gain, it is expected that the Fund also will elect to have shareholders treated as if each received a distribution of its pro rata share of such gain, with the result that each shareholder will be required to report its pro rata share of such gain on its tax return as long-term capital gain, will receive a refundable tax credit for its pro rata share of tax paid by the Fund on the gain and will increase the tax basis for its Shares by an amount equal to the deemed distribution less the tax credit.

Federal excise tax. To avoid a 4% non-deductible excise tax, a Fund must distribute by December 31 of each year an amount equal to at least: (1) 98% of its ordinary income for the calendar year, (2) 98.2% of capital gain net income (the excess of the gains from sales or exchanges of capital assets over the losses from such sales or exchanges) for the one-year period ended on October 31 of such calendar year, and (3) any prior year undistributed ordinary income and capital gain net income. A Fund may elect to defer to the following year any net ordinary loss incurred for the portion of the calendar year which is after the beginning of the Fund’s taxable year. Also, a Fund will defer any “specified gain” or “specified loss” which would be properly taken into account for the portion of the calendar after October 31. Any net ordinary loss, specified gain, or specified loss deferred shall be treated as arising on January 1 of the following calendar year. Generally, a Fund may make sufficient distributions to avoid liability for federal income and excise tax, but can give no assurances that all or a portion of such liability will be avoided. In addition, under certain circumstances temporary timing or permanent differences in the realization of income and expense for book and tax purposes can result in a Fund having to pay an excise tax.

Purchase of Shares. As a result of tax requirements, the Trust, on behalf of a Fund, has the right to reject an order to purchase Shares if the purchaser (or group of purchasers acting in concert with each other) would, upon obtaining the Shares so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding Shares of the Fund and if, pursuant to Sections 351 and 362 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.

Foreign income tax. Investment income received by a Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign income tax withheld at the source, and the amount of tax withheld generally will be treated as an expense of the Fund. The United States has entered into tax treaties with many foreign countries that entitle the Funds to a reduced rate of, or exemption from, tax on such income. Some countries require the filing of a tax reclaim or other forms to receive the benefit of the reduced tax rate; whether or when a Fund will receive the tax reclaim is within the control of the individual country. Information required on these forms may not be available such as shareholder information; therefore, a Fund may not receive the reduced treaty rates or potential reclaims. Other countries have conflicting and changing instructions and restrictive timing requirements which may cause the Fund not to receive the reduced treaty rates or potential reclaims. Other countries may subject capital gains realized by a Fund on sale or disposition of securities of that country to taxation. It is impossible to determine the effective rate of foreign tax in advance since the amount of a Fund’s assets to be invested in various countries is not known. Under certain circumstances, a Fund may elect to pass-through foreign taxes paid by the Fund to shareholders,

 

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although it reserves the right not to do so. If a Fund makes such an election and obtains a refund of foreign taxes paid by the Fund in a prior year, the Fund may be eligible to reduce the amount of foreign taxes reported to its shareholders, generally by the amount of the foreign taxes refunded, for the year in which the refund is received.

Taxation of Fund Distributions

Each Fund anticipates distributing substantially all of its investment company taxable income and net capital gain for each taxable year. Distributions by a Fund will be treated in the manner described below regardless of whether such distributions are paid in cash or reinvested in additional Shares of the Fund (or of another Fund). You will receive information annually as to the federal income tax consequences of distributions made (or deemed made) during the year.

Distributions of ordinary income. Each Fund receives income generally in the form of dividends and/or interest on its investments. Each Fund may also recognize ordinary income from other sources, including, but not limited to, certain gains on foreign currency-related transactions. This income, less expenses incurred in the operation of a Fund, constitutes the Fund’s net investment income from which dividends may be paid to you. If you are a taxable investor, distributions of net investment income generally are taxable as ordinary income to the extent of the Fund’s earnings and profits. In the case of a Fund whose strategy includes investing in stocks of corporations, a portion of the income dividends paid to you may be qualified dividends eligible to be taxed at reduced rates.

Capital gain dividends. Taxes on distributions of capital gains are determined by how long a Fund owned the investments that generated them, rather than how long a shareholder has owned his or her Shares. In general, a Fund will recognize long-term capital gain or loss on the sale or other disposition of assets it has owned for more than one year, and short-term capital gain or loss on investments it has owned for one year or less. Distributions of net capital gain (the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss) that are properly reported to Fund shareholders as capital gain dividends generally will be taxable to a shareholder receiving such distributions as long-term capital gain. Long-term capital gain rates applicable to individuals are 0%, 15%, 20% or 25% depending on the nature of the capital gain and the individual’s taxable income. Distributions of net short-term capital gains for a taxable year in excess of net long-term capital losses for such taxable year generally will be taxable to a shareholder receiving such distributions as ordinary income.

Qualified dividend income for individuals. Ordinary income dividends reported as derived from qualified dividend income will be taxed in the hands of individuals and other noncorporate shareholders at the rates applicable to long-term capital gain. Qualified dividend income means dividends paid to a Fund (a) by domestic corporations, (b) by foreign corporations that are either (i) incorporated in a possession of the United States, or (ii) are eligible for benefits under certain income tax treaties with the United States that include an exchange of information program, or (c) with respect to stock of a foreign corporation that is readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States. Both the Fund and the investor must meet certain holding period requirements to qualify Fund dividends for this treatment. Income derived from investments in derivatives, fixed-income securities, U.S. REITs, PFICs, and income received “in lieu of” dividends in a securities lending transaction generally is not eligible for treatment as qualified dividend income. If the qualifying dividend income received by a Fund is equal to 95% (or a greater percentage) of the Fund’s gross income (exclusive of net capital gain) in any taxable year, all of the ordinary income dividends paid by the Fund will be qualifying dividend income.

Qualified REIT dividends. Under 2017 legislation commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act “qualified REIT dividends” (i.e., ordinary REIT dividends other than capital gain dividends and portions of REIT dividends designated as qualified dividend income) are treated as eligible for a 20% deduction by noncorporate taxpayers. This deduction, if allowed in full, equates to a maximum effective tax rate of 29.6% (37% top rate applied to income after 20% deduction). The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act does not contain a provision permitting RICs, such as the Funds, to pass the special character of this income through to its shareholders. Currently, direct investors in REITs will enjoy the deduction and thus the lower federal income tax rate, but investors in a RIC, such as a Fund, that invest in such REITs will not. It is uncertain whether a future technical corrections bill or regulations issued by the IRS will address this issue to enable a Fund to pass through the special character of “qualified REIT dividends” to its shareholders.

 

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Corporate dividends-received deduction. Ordinary income dividends reported to Fund shareholders as derived from qualified dividends from domestic corporations will qualify for the 50% dividends-received deduction generally available to corporations. The availability of the dividends-received deduction is subject to certain holding period and debt financing restrictions imposed under the Code on the corporation claiming the deduction. Income derived by the Fund from investments in derivatives, fixed-income and foreign securities generally is not eligible for this treatment.

Return of capital distributions. Distributions by a Fund that are not paid from earnings and profits will be treated as a return of capital to the extent of (and in reduction of) the shareholder’s tax basis in his Shares; any excess will be treated as gain from the sale of his Shares. Thus, the portion of a distribution that constitutes a return of capital will decrease the shareholder’s tax basis in his Shares (but not below zero), and will result in an increase in the amount of gain (or decrease in the amount of loss) that will be recognized by the shareholder for tax purposes on the later sale of such Shares. Return of capital distributions can occur for a number of reasons including, among others, a Fund overestimates the income to be received from certain investments such as those classified as partnerships or equity REITs. See “Tax Treatment of Portfolio Transactions — Investments in U.S. REITs.”

Impact of realized but undistributed income and gains, and net unrealized appreciation of portfolio securities. At the time of your purchase of Shares, the price of the Shares may reflect undistributed income, undistributed capital gains, or net unrealized appreciation of portfolio securities held by the Fund. A subsequent distribution to you of such amounts, although constituting a return of your investment, would be taxable and would be taxed as either ordinary income (some portion of which may be taxed as qualified dividend income) or capital gain unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. The Fund may be able to reduce the amount of such distributions by utilizing its capital loss carryovers, if any.

Pass-through of foreign tax credits. If more than 50% of the value of a Fund’s total assets at the end of a fiscal year is invested in foreign securities, or if a Fund is a qualified fund of funds (i.e., a fund at least 50 percent of the value of the total assets of which, at the close of each quarter of the taxable year, is represented by interests in other RICs), the Fund may elect to “pass-through” the amount of foreign income tax paid by the Fund (the Foreign Tax Election) in lieu of deducting such amount in determining its investment company taxable income. Pursuant to the Foreign Tax Election, shareholders will be required: (i) to include in gross income, even though not actually received, their respective pro-rata shares of the foreign income tax paid by the Fund that are attributable to any distributions they receive; and (ii) either to deduct their pro-rata share of foreign tax in computing their taxable income or to use it (subject to various Code limitations) as a foreign tax credit against federal income tax (but not both). No deduction for foreign tax may be claimed by a noncorporate shareholder who does not itemize deductions or who is subject to the alternative minimum tax. Shareholders may be unable to claim a credit for the full amount of their proportionate shares of the foreign income tax paid by a Fund due to certain limitations that may apply. Each Fund reserves the right not to pass-through the amount of foreign income taxes paid by the Fund. Additionally, any foreign tax withheld on payments made “in lieu of” dividends or interest will not qualify for the pass-through of foreign tax credits.

Tax credit bonds. If a Fund holds, directly or indirectly, one or more “tax credit bonds” (including build America bonds, clean renewable energy bonds and qualified tax credit bonds) on one or more applicable dates during a taxable year, the Fund may elect to permit its shareholders to claim a tax credit on their income tax returns equal to each shareholder’s proportionate share of tax credits from the applicable bonds that otherwise would be allowed to the Fund. In such a case, shareholders must include in gross income (as interest) their proportionate share of the income attributable to their proportionate share of those offsetting tax credits. A shareholder’s ability to claim a tax credit associated with one or more tax credit bonds may be subject to certain limitations imposed by the Code. (Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the build America bonds, clean renewable energy bonds and certain other qualified bonds may no longer be issued after December 31, 2017.) Even if the Fund is eligible to pass-through tax credits, the Fund may choose not to do so.

U.S. Government interest. Income earned on certain U.S. Government obligations is exempt from state and local personal income taxes if earned directly by you. States also grant tax-free status to dividends paid to you from interest earned on direct obligations of the U.S. Government, subject in some states to minimum investment or reporting requirements that must be met by the Fund. Income on investments by a Fund in certain other obligations, such as repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. Government obligations, commercial paper and federal agency-backed obligations (e.g., GNMA or FNMA obligations), generally does not qualify for tax-free treatment. The rules on exclusion of this income are different for corporations.

 

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Dividends declared in December and paid in January. Ordinarily, shareholders are required to take distributions by a Fund into account in the year in which the distributions are made. However, dividends declared in October, November or December of any year and payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month will be deemed to have been received by the shareholders (and made by a Fund) on December 31 of such calendar year if such dividends are actually paid in January of the following year. Shareholders will be advised annually as to the U.S. federal income tax consequences of distributions made (or deemed made) during the year in accordance with the guidance that has been provided by the IRS.

Medicare tax. A 3.8% Medicare tax is imposed on net investment income earned by certain individuals, estates and trusts. “Net investment income,” for these purposes, means investment income, including ordinary dividends and capital gain distributions received from a Fund and net gains from taxable dispositions of Fund Shares, reduced by the deductions properly allocable to such income. In the case of an individual, the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (1) the shareholder’s net investment income or (2) the amount by which the shareholder’s modified adjusted gross income exceeds $250,000 (if the shareholder is married and filing jointly or a surviving spouse), $125,000 (if the shareholder is married and filing separately) or $200,000 (in any other case). This Medicare tax, if applicable, is reported by you on, and paid with, your federal income tax return. Net investment income does not include exempt-interest dividends.

Sale of Fund Shares

A sale of Shares is a taxable transaction for federal and state income tax purposes. If you sell your Shares, the IRS requires you to report any gain or loss on your sale. If you held your Shares as a capital asset, the gain or loss that you realize will be a capital gain or loss and will be long-term or short-term, generally depending on how long you have held your Shares. Capital losses in any year are deductible only to the extent of capital gains plus, in the case of a noncorporate taxpayer, $3,000 of ordinary income.

Taxes on Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units. An AP that exchanges equity securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or a loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time of purchase (plus any cash received by the AP as part of the issue) and the AP’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered (plus any cash paid by the AP as part of the issue). An AP that exchanges Creation Units for equity securities generally will recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the AP’s basis in the Creation Units (plus any cash paid by the AP as part of the redemption) and the aggregate market value of the securities received (plus any cash received by the AP as part of the redemption). The IRS, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing “wash sales,” or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position. Persons exchanging securities should consult their own tax advisor with respect to whether wash sale rules apply and when a loss might be deductible.

Under current federal tax laws, any capital gain or loss realized upon redemption of Creation Units is generally treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for more than one year and as a short-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for one year or less.

If a Fund redeems Creation Units in cash, it may recognize more capital gains than it will if it redeems Creation Units in-kind.

Tax Basis Information. A shareholder’s cost basis information will be provided on the sale of any of the shareholder’s Shares, subject to certain exceptions for exempt recipients. Please contact the broker (or other nominee) that holds your Shares with respect to reporting of cost basis and available elections for your account.

Wash Sales. All or a portion of any loss that you realize on a sale of your Shares in a Fund will be disallowed to the extent that you buy other Shares in such Fund (through reinvestment of dividends or otherwise) within 30 days before or after your Share sale. Any loss disallowed under these rules will be added to your tax basis in the new Shares.

 

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Sales at a Loss Within Six Months of Purchase. Any loss incurred on a sale of Shares held for six months or less will be treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of any long-term capital gain distributed to you by the Fund on those Shares.

Reportable transactions. Under Treasury regulations, if a shareholder recognizes a loss with respect to Shares of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder (or certain greater amounts over a combination of years), the shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on Form 8886. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

Tax Treatment of Portfolio Transactions

Set forth below is a general description of the tax treatment of certain types of securities, investment techniques and transactions that may apply to a Fund. This section should be read in conjunction with the discussion above under “Investment Strategies and Restrictions” and “Investment Policies and Risks” for a detailed description of the various types of securities and investment techniques that apply to the Funds.

In general. In general, gain or loss recognized by a Fund on the sale or other disposition of portfolio investments will be a capital gain or loss. Such capital gain and loss may be long-term or short-term depending, in general, upon the length of time a particular investment position is maintained and, in some cases, upon the nature of the transaction. Property held for more than one year generally will be eligible for long-term capital gain or loss treatment. The application of certain rules described below may serve to alter the manner in which the holding period for a security is determined or may otherwise affect the characterization as long-term or short-term, and also the timing of the realization and/or character, of certain gains or losses.

Certain fixed-income investments. Gain recognized on the disposition of a debt obligation purchased by a Fund at a market discount (generally, at a price less than its principal amount) will be treated as ordinary income to the extent of the portion of the market discount that accrued during the period of time the fund held the debt obligation unless the Fund made a current inclusion election to accrue market discount into income as it accrues. (The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act requires certain taxpayers to recognize items of gross income for tax purposes in the year in which the taxpayer recognizes the income for financial accounting purposes. For financial accounting purposes, market discount must be accrued currently on a constant yield to maturity basis regardless of whether a current inclusion election is made. While the exact scope of this provision is not known at this time, it could cause a fund to recognize income earlier for tax purposes than would otherwise have been the case prior to the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.) If a Fund purchases a debt obligation (such as a zero coupon security or pay-in-kind security) that was originally issued at a discount, the Fund generally is required to include in gross income each year the portion of the original issue discount that accrues during such year. Therefore, a Fund’s investment in such securities may cause the Fund to recognize income and make distributions to shareholders before it receives any cash payments on the securities. To generate cash to satisfy those distribution requirements, a Fund may have to sell portfolio securities that it otherwise might have continued to hold or to use cash flows from other sources such as the sale of Shares.

Investments in debt obligations that are at risk of or in default present tax issues for a Fund. Tax rules are not entirely clear about issues such as whether and to what extent a Fund should recognize market discount on a debt obligation, when a Fund may cease to accrue interest, original issue discount or market discount, when and to what extent a Fund may take deductions for bad debts or worthless securities and how a Fund should allocate payments received on obligations in default between principal and income. These and other related issues will be addressed by a Fund in order to ensure that it distributes sufficient income to preserve its status as a RIC.

Options, futures, forward contracts, swap agreements and hedging transactions. In general, option premiums received by a Fund are not immediately included in the income of the Fund. Instead, the premiums are recognized when the option contract expires, the option is exercised by the holder, or the Fund transfers or otherwise terminates the option (e.g., through a closing transaction). If an option written by a Fund is exercised and the Fund sells or delivers the underlying stock, the Fund generally will recognize capital gain or loss equal to (a) the sum of the strike price and the option premium received by the Fund minus (b) the Fund’s basis in the stock. Such gain or loss

 

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generally will be short-term or long-term depending upon the holding period of the underlying stock. If securities are purchased by a Fund pursuant to the exercise of a put option written by it, the Fund generally will subtract the premium received from its cost basis in the securities purchased. The gain or loss with respect to any termination of a Fund’s obligation under an option other than through the exercise of the option and related sale or delivery of the underlying stock generally will be short-term gain or loss depending on whether the premium income received by the Fund is greater or less than the amount paid by the Fund (if any) in terminating the transaction. Thus, for example, if an option written by a Fund expires unexercised, the Fund generally will recognize short-term gain equal to the premium received.

The tax treatment of certain futures contracts entered into by a Fund, as well as listed non-equity options written or purchased by the Fund on U.S. exchanges (including options on futures contracts, broad-based equity indices and debt securities), may be governed by section 1256 of the Code (section 1256 contracts). Gains or losses on section 1256 contracts generally are considered 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gains or losses (60/40), although certain foreign currency gains and losses from such contracts may be treated as ordinary in character. Also, any section 1256 contracts held by a Fund at the end of each taxable year (and, for purposes of the 4% excise tax, on certain other dates as prescribed under the Code) are “marked-to-market” with the result that unrealized gains or losses are treated as though they were realized and the resulting gain or loss is treated as ordinary or 60/40 gain or loss, as applicable. Section 1256 contracts do not include any interest rate swap, currency swap, basis swap, interest rate cap, interest rate floor, commodity swap, equity swap, equity index swap, credit default swap, or similar agreement.

In addition to the special rules described above in respect of options and futures transactions, a Fund’s transactions in other derivative instruments (including options, forward contracts and swap agreements) as well as its other hedging, short sale, or similar transactions, may be subject to one or more special tax rules (including the constructive sale, notional principal contract, straddle, wash sale and short sale rules). These rules may affect whether gains and losses recognized by a Fund are treated as ordinary or capital or as short-term or long-term, accelerate the recognition of income or gains to the Fund, defer losses to the Fund, and cause adjustments in the holding periods of the Fund’s securities. These rules, therefore, could affect the amount, timing and/or character of distributions to shareholders. Moreover, because the tax rules applicable to derivative financial instruments are in some cases uncertain under current law, an adverse determination or future guidance by the IRS with respect to these rules (which determination or guidance could be retroactive) may affect whether a Fund has made sufficient distributions and otherwise satisfied the relevant requirements to maintain its qualification as a RIC and avoid a fund-level tax.

Certain of a Fund’s investments in derivatives and foreign currency-denominated instruments, and the Fund’s transactions in foreign currencies and hedging activities, may produce a difference between its book income and its taxable income. If a Fund’s book income is less than the sum of its taxable income and net tax-exempt income (if any), the Fund could be required to make distributions exceeding book income to qualify as a RIC. If a Fund’s book income exceeds the sum of its taxable income and net tax-exempt income (if any), the distribution of any such excess will be treated as (i) a dividend to the extent of the Fund’s remaining earnings and profits (including current earnings and profits arising from tax-exempt income, reduced by related deductions), (ii) thereafter, as a return of capital to the extent of the recipient’s basis in the shares, and (iii) thereafter, as gain from the sale or exchange of a capital asset.

Foreign currency transactions. A Fund’s transactions in foreign currencies, foreign currency-denominated debt obligations and certain foreign currency options, futures contracts and forward contracts (and similar instruments) may give rise to ordinary income or loss to the extent such income or loss results from fluctuations in the value of the foreign currency concerned. This treatment could increase or decrease a Fund’s ordinary income distributions to you, and may cause some or all of the Fund’s previously distributed income to be classified as a return of capital. In certain cases, a fund may make an election to treat such gain or loss as capital.

PFIC investments. A Fund may invest in securities of foreign companies that may be classified under the Code as PFICs. In general, a foreign company is classified 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. When investing in PFIC securities, a Fund intends to mark-to-market these securities under certain provisions of the Code and recognize any unrealized gains as ordinary income at the end of the Fund’s fiscal and excise tax years. Deductions for losses are

 

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allowable only to the extent of any current or previously recognized gains. These gains (reduced by allowable losses) are treated as ordinary income that a Fund is required to distribute, even though it has not sold or received dividends from these securities. You should also be aware that the designation of a foreign security as a PFIC security will cause its income dividends to fall outside of the definition of qualified foreign corporation dividends. These dividends generally will not qualify for the reduced rate of taxation on qualified dividends when distributed to you by a Fund. Foreign companies are not required to identify themselves as PFICs. Due to various complexities in identifying PFICs, a Fund can give no assurances that it will be able to identify portfolio securities in foreign corporations that are PFICs in time for the Fund to make a mark-to-market election. If a Fund is unable to identify an investment as a PFIC and thus does not make a mark-to-market election, the Fund may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a portion of any “excess distribution” or gain from the disposition of such shares even if such income is distributed as a taxable dividend by the Fund to its shareholders. Additional charges in the nature of interest may be imposed on a Fund in respect of deferred taxes arising from such distributions or gains.

Investments in non-U.S. REITs. While non-U.S. REITs often use complex acquisition structures that seek to minimize taxation in the source country, an investment by a Fund in a non-U.S. REIT may subject the Fund, directly or indirectly, to corporate taxes, withholding taxes, transfer taxes and other indirect taxes in the country in which the real estate acquired by the non-U.S. REIT is located. The fund’s pro rata share of any such taxes will reduce the Fund’s return on its investment. A fund’s investment in a non-U.S. REIT may be considered an investment in a PFIC, as discussed above in “Tax Treatment of Portfolio Transactions—PFIC investments.” Additionally, foreign withholding taxes on distributions from the non-U.S. REIT may be reduced or eliminated under certain tax treaties, as discussed above in “Taxation of the Funds—Foreign income tax.” Also, a Fund in certain limited circumstances may be required to file an income tax return in the source country and pay tax on any gain realized from its investment in the non-U.S. REIT under rules similar to those in the United States which tax foreign persons on gain realized from dispositions of interests in U.S. real estate.

Investments in U.S. REITs. A U.S. REIT is not subject to federal income tax on the income and gains it distributes to shareholders. Dividends paid by a U.S. REIT, other than capital gain distributions, will be taxable as ordinary income up to the amount of the U.S. REIT’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. Capital gain dividends paid by a U.S. REIT to a Fund will be treated as long-term capital gains by the Fund and, in turn, may be distributed by the Fund to its shareholders as a capital gain distribution. Because of certain noncash expenses, such as property depreciation, an equity U.S. REIT’s cash flow may exceed its taxable income. The equity U.S. REIT, and in turn a Fund, may distribute this excess cash to shareholders in the form of a return of capital distribution. However, if a U.S. REIT is operated in a manner that fails to qualify as a REIT, an investment in the U.S. REIT would become subject to double taxation, meaning the taxable income of the U.S. REIT would be subject to federal income tax at the applicable corporate income tax rate without any deduction for dividends paid to shareholders and the dividends would be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income (or possibly as qualified dividend income) to the extent of the U.S. REIT’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. Also, see “Tax Treatment of Portfolio Transactions—Investment in taxable mortgage pools (excess inclusion income)” and “Foreign Shareholders—U.S. withholding tax at the source” with respect to certain other tax aspects of investing in U.S. REITs.

Investment in taxable mortgage pools (excess inclusion income). Under a Notice issued by the IRS, the Code and Treasury regulations to be issued, a portion of a Fund’s income from a U.S. REIT that is attributable to the REIT’s residual interest in a real estate mortgage investment conduit (“REMIC”) or equity interests in a “taxable mortgage pool” (referred to in the Code as an excess inclusion) will be subject to federal income tax in all events. The excess inclusion income of a RIC will be allocated to shareholders of the RIC in proportion to the dividends received by such shareholders, with the same consequences as if the shareholders held the related REMIC residual interest or, if applicable, taxable mortgage pool 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), (ii) will constitute unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) to entities (including qualified pension plans, individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans, Keogh plans or other tax-exempt entities) 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, and (iii) in the case of a foreign stockholder, will not qualify for any reduction in U.S. federal withholding tax. In addition, if at any time during any taxable year a “disqualified organization” (which generally includes certain cooperatives, governmental entities, and tax-exempt organizations not subject to UBTI) is a record holder of a share in a RIC, then the RIC will be subject to a tax equal to that portion of its excess inclusion income for the taxable year that is allocable to the disqualified organization, multiplied by the applicable corporate income tax rate. The Notice imposes certain reporting requirements upon regulated investment companies that have excess inclusion income. There can be no assurance that a Fund will not allocate to shareholders excess inclusion income.

 

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These rules are potentially applicable to each Fund with respect to any income it receives from the equity interests of certain mortgage pooling vehicles, either directly or, as is more likely, through an investment in a U.S. REIT. It is unlikely that these rules will apply to a Fund that has a non-REIT strategy.

Investments in partnerships and QPTPs. For purposes of the Income Requirement, income derived by a Fund from a partnership that is not a QPTP will be treated as qualifying income only to the extent such income is attributable to items of income of the partnership that would be qualifying income if realized directly by the Fund. While the rules are not entirely clear with respect to a fund investing in a partnership outside a master-feeder structure, for purposes of testing whether a Fund satisfies the Asset Diversification Test, the Fund generally is treated as owning a pro rata share of the underlying assets of a partnership. See “Taxation of the Fund — Qualification as a RIC.” In contrast, different rules apply to a partnership that is a QPTP. A QPTP is a partnership (a) the interests in which are traded on an established securities market, (b) that is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, and (c) that derives less than 90% of its income from sources that satisfy the Income Requirement (e.g., because it invests in commodities). All of the net income derived by a Fund from an interest in a QPTP will be treated as qualifying income, but the Fund may not invest more than 25% of its total assets in one or more QPTPs. However, there can be no assurance that a partnership classified as a QPTP in one year will qualify as a QPTP in the next year. Any such failure to annually qualify as a QPTP might, in turn, cause a Fund to fail to qualify as a RIC. Although, in general, the passive loss rules of the Code do not apply to RICs, such rules do apply to a Fund with respect to items attributable to an interest in a QPTP. Fund investments in partnerships, including in QPTPs, may result in the Fund being subject to state, local or foreign income, franchise or withholding tax liabilities.

Investments in convertible securities. Convertible debt is ordinarily treated as a “single property” consisting of a pure debt interest until conversion, after which the investment becomes an equity interest. If the security is issued at a premium (i.e., for cash in excess of the face amount payable on retirement), the creditor-holder may amortize the premium over the life of the bond. If the security is issued for cash at a price below its face amount, the creditor-holder must accrue original issue discount in income over the life of the debt. The creditor-holder’s exercise of the conversion privilege is treated as a nontaxable event. Mandatorily convertible debt (e.g., an exchange-traded note or ETN issued in the form of an unsecured obligation that pays a return based on the performance of a specified market index, exchange currency, or commodity) is often, but not always, treated as a contract to buy or sell the reference property rather than debt. Similarly, convertible preferred stock with a mandatory conversion feature is ordinarily, but not always, treated as equity rather than debt. Dividends received generally are qualified dividend income and eligible for the corporate dividends-received deduction. In general, conversion of preferred stock for common stock of the same corporation is tax-free. Conversion of preferred stock for cash is a taxable redemption. Any redemption premium for preferred stock that is redeemable by the issuing company might be required to be amortized under original issue discount principles. A change in the conversion ratio or conversion price of a convertible security on account of a dividend paid to the issuer’s other shareholders may result in a deemed distribution of stock to the holders of the convertible security equal to the value of their increased interest in the equity of the issuer. Thus, an increase in the conversion ratio of a convertible security can be treated as a taxable distribution of stock to a holder of the convertible security (without a corresponding receipt of cash by the holder) before the holder has converted the security.

Tax Certification and Backup Withholding

Tax certification and backup withholding tax laws may require that you certify your tax information when you become an investor in a Fund. For U.S. citizens and resident aliens, this certification is made on IRS Form W-9. Under these laws, a Fund must withhold a portion of your taxable distributions and sales proceeds unless you:

 

    provide your correct Social Security or taxpayer identification number;

 

    certify that this number is correct;

 

    certify that you are not subject to backup withholding; and

 

    certify that you are a U.S. person (including a U.S. resident alien).

 

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Withholding also is imposed if the IRS requires it. When withholding is required, the amount will be 24% of any distributions or proceeds paid. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld may be credited against the shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, provided the appropriate information is furnished to the IRS. Certain payees and payments are exempt from backup withholding and information reporting.

Non-U.S. investors have special U.S. tax certification requirements. See “Foreign Shareholders — Tax certification and backup withholding.”

Foreign Shareholders

Shareholders who, as to the United States, are nonresident alien individuals, foreign trusts or estates, foreign corporations, or foreign partnerships (foreign shareholder), may be subject to U.S. withholding and estate tax and are subject to special U.S. tax certification requirements. Taxation of a foreign shareholder depends on whether the income from a Fund is “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business carried on by such shareholder.

U.S. withholding tax at the source. If the income from a Fund is not effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business carried on by a foreign shareholder, distributions to such shareholder will be subject to U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate) upon the gross amount of the distribution, subject to certain exemptions including those for dividends reported as:

 

   

exempt-interest dividends paid by the Fund from its net interest income earned on municipal securities;

 

   

capital gain dividends paid by the Fund from its net long-term capital gains (other than those from dis- position of a U.S. real property interest), unless you are a nonresident alien present in the United States for a period or periods aggregating 183 days or more during the calendar year; and

 

   

interest-related dividends paid by the Fund from its qualified net interest income from U.S. sources and short-term capital gain dividends.

A Fund may report interest-related dividends or short-term capital gain dividends, but reserves the right not to do so. Additionally, a Fund’s reporting of interest-related dividends or short-term capital gain dividends may not be passed through to shareholders by intermediaries who have assumed tax reporting responsibilities for this income in managed or omnibus accounts due to systems limitations or operational constraints. Moreover, notwithstanding such exemptions from U.S. withholding at the source, any dividends and distributions of income and capital gains, including the proceeds from the sale of your Shares, will be subject to backup withholding at a rate of 24% if you fail to properly certify that you are not a U.S. person.

Foreign shareholders may be subject to U.S. withholding tax at a rate of 30% on the income resulting from an election to pass-through foreign tax credits to shareholders, but may not be able to claim a credit or deduction with respect to the withholding tax for the foreign tax treated as having been paid by them.

Amounts reported as capital gain dividends (a) that are attributable to certain capital gain dividends received from a qualified investment entity (“QIE”) (generally defined as either (i) a U.S. REIT or (ii) a RIC classified as a “U.S. real property holding corporation” or which would be if the exceptions for holding 5% or less of a class of publicly traded shares or an interest in a domestically controlled QIE did not apply), or (b) that are realized by a Fund on the sale of a “U.S. real property interest” (including gain realized on the sale of shares in a QIE other than one that is domestically controlled), will not be exempt from U.S. federal income tax and may be subject to U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate) if the Fund by reason of having a REIT strategy is classified as a QIE. If a Fund is so classified, foreign shareholders owning more than 5% of the Fund’s shares may be treated as realizing gain from the disposition of a U.S. real property interest, causing Fund distributions to be subject to U.S. withholding tax at the applicable corporate income tax rate, and requiring the filing of a nonresident U.S. income tax return. In addition, if a Fund is classified as a QIE, anti-avoidance rules apply to certain wash sale transactions. Namely, if a Fund is a domestically-controlled QIE and a foreign shareholder disposes of the Fund’s shares prior to the Fund paying a distribution attributable to the disposition of a U.S. real property interest and the foreign shareholder later acquires an identical stock interest in a wash sale transaction, the foreign shareholder may still be

 

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required to pay U.S. tax on the Fund’s distribution. Also, the sale of shares of a Fund, if classified as a “U.S. real property holding corporation,” could also be considered a sale of a U.S. real property interest with any resulting gain from such sale being subject to U.S. tax as income “effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business.”

Income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. If the income from a Fund is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business carried on by a foreign shareholder, then ordinary income dividends, capital gain dividends and any gains realized upon the sale of Shares of the Fund will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the rates applicable to U.S. citizens or domestic corporations and require the filing of a nonresident U.S. income tax return.

Tax certification and backup withholding. Foreign shareholders may have special U.S. tax certification requirements to avoid backup withholding (at a rate of 24%) and, if applicable, to obtain the benefit of any income tax treaty between the foreign shareholder’s country of residence and the United States. To claim these tax benefits, the foreign shareholder must provide a properly completed Form W-8BEN (or other Form W-8, where applicable, or their substitute forms) to establish his or her status as a non-U.S. investor, to claim beneficial ownership over the assets in the account, and to claim, if applicable, a reduced rate of or exemption from withholding tax under the applicable treaty. A Form W-8BEN provided without a U.S. taxpayer identification number remains in effect for a period of three years beginning on the date that it is signed and ending on the last day of the third succeeding calendar year unless an earlier change of circumstances makes the information given on the form incorrect, and the shareholder must then provide a new W-8BEN to avoid the prospective application of backup withholding. Forms W-8BEN with U.S. taxpayer identification numbers remain valid indefinitely, or until the investor has a change of circumstances that renders the form incorrect and necessitates a new form and tax certification. Certain payees and payments are exempt from backup withholding.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”). Under FATCA, a 30% withholding tax is imposed on payments or distributions made by a Fund to certain foreign entities, referred to as foreign financial institutions (“FFI”) or non-financial foreign entities (“NFFE”): (a) income dividends, and (b) after December 31, 2018, certain capital gain distributions, return of capital distributions and the proceeds arising from the sale of Fund Shares. The FATCA withholding tax generally can be avoided: (a) by an FFI, if it reports certain direct and indirect ownership of foreign financial accounts held by U.S. persons with the FFI and (b) by an NFFE, if it: (i) certifies that it has no substantial U.S. persons as owners or (ii) if it does have such owners, reporting information relating to them. The U.S. Treasury has negotiated intergovernmental agreements (“IGAs”) with certain countries and is in various stages of negotiations with a number of other foreign countries with respect to one or more alternative approaches to implement FATCA.

An FFI can avoid FATCA withholding if it is deemed compliant or by becoming a “participating FFI,” which requires the FFI to enter into a U.S. tax compliance agreement with the IRS under section 1471(b) of the Code (FFI agreement) under which it agrees to verify, report and disclose certain of its U.S. accountholders and meet certain other specified requirements. The FFI will either report the specified information about the U.S. accounts to the IRS, or, to the government of the FFI’s country of residence (pursuant to the terms and conditions of applicable law and an applicable IGA entered into between the U.S. and the FFI’s country of residence), which will, in turn, report the specified information to the IRS. An FFI that is resident in a country that has entered into an IGA with the U.S. to implement FATCA will be exempt from FATCA withholding provided that the FFI shareholder and the applicable foreign government comply with the terms of such agreement.

An NFFE that is the beneficial owner of a payment from the Fund can avoid the FATCA withholding tax generally by certifying that it does not have any substantial U.S. owners or by providing the name, address and taxpayer identification number of each substantial U.S. owner. The NFFE will report the information to the applicable withholding agent, which will, in turn, report the information to the IRS.

Such foreign shareholders also may fall into certain exempt, excepted or deemed compliant categories as established by U.S. Treasury regulations, IGAs, and other guidance regarding FATCA. An FFI or NFFE that invests in a Fund will need to provide documentation properly certifying the entity’s status under FATCA in order to avoid FATCA withholding. Non-U.S. investors should consult their own tax advisors regarding the impact of these requirements on their investment in the Fund. The requirements imposed by FATCA are different from, and in addition to, the U.S. tax certification rules to avoid backup withholding described above. Shareholders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the application of these requirements to their own situation.

 

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U.S. estate tax. Transfers by gift of Shares of a Fund by a foreign shareholder who is a nonresident alien individual will not be subject to U.S. federal gift tax. An individual who, at the time of death, is a foreign shareholder will nevertheless be subject to U.S. federal estate tax with respect to Shares at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens and residents, unless a treaty exemption applies. If a treaty exemption is available, a decedent’s estate may nonetheless need to file a U.S. estate tax return to claim the exemption in order to obtain a U.S. federal transfer certificate. The transfer certificate will identify the property (i.e., Shares) as to which the U.S. federal estate tax lien has been released. In the absence of a treaty, there is a $13,000 statutory estate tax credit (equivalent to an estate with assets of $60,000).

Local Tax Considerations

Rules of state and local taxation of ordinary income, qualified dividend income and capital gain dividends may differ from the rules for U.S. federal income taxation described above. Distributions may also be subject to additional state, local and foreign taxes depending on each shareholder’s particular situation.

* * * * *

The foregoing discussion is a summary only and is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Purchasers of Shares should consult their own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of investing in such Shares, including under federal, state, local and other tax laws. Finally, the foregoing discussion is based on applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, regulations, judicial authority and administrative interpretations in effect on the date hereof, all of which are subject to change, which change may be retroactive. Changes in applicable authority could materially affect the conclusions discussed above, and such changes often occur.

DETERMINATION OF NAV

The following information should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled “Net Asset Value.” Additional information regarding the current NAV per share of each Fund can be found at www.invesco.com/ETFs.

The Custodian calculates and determines the NAV per Share as of the close of the regular trading session of the NYSE (normally 4:00 p.m., Eastern time) on each day that such exchange is open. NAV is calculated by deducting all of a Fund’s liabilities from the total value of its assets and dividing the result by the number of Shares outstanding, rounding to the nearest cent. All valuations are subject to review by the Board or its delegate.

In determining NAV, expenses are accrued and applied daily, and securities and other assets for which market quotations are available are valued at market value. Securities listed or traded on an exchange generally are valued at the last sales price or official closing price of the exchange where the security primarily is traded. Investment companies are valued using such company’s NAV per share, unless the shares are exchange-traded, in which case they will be valued at the last sale or official closing price on the exchanges on which they primarily trade. Debt and securities not listed on an exchange normally are valued on the basis of prices provided by independent pricing services. Pricing services generally value debt securities assuming orderly transactions of institutional round lot size, but a Fund may hold or transact in the same securities in smaller, odd lot sizes. Odd lots often trade at lower prices than institutional round lots. The Adviser may use various pricing services or discontinue the use of any pricing service at any time. If a security’s market price is not readily available, the security will be valued in accordance with the Trust’s valuation policies and procedures approved by the Board.

Even when market quotations are available for portfolio securities, they may be stale or unreliable because the security is not traded frequently, trading on the security ceased before the close of the trading market or issuer specific events occurred after the security ceased trading or because of the passage of time between the close of the market on which the security trades and the close of the NYSE and when a Fund calculates its NAV. Events that may cause the last market quotation to be unreliable include a merger or insolvency, events which affect a geographical area or an industry segment, such as political events or natural disasters, or market events, such as a significant movement in the U.S. market. Where market quotations are not readily available, including where the

 

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Adviser determines that the closing price of the security is unreliable, the security will be valued at fair value as determined in good faith following procedures approved by the Board. Fair value pricing involves subjective judgments, and it is possible that a fair value determination for a security is materially different than the value that could be realized upon the sale of that security. With respect to securities that primarily are listed on foreign exchanges, the value of a Fund’s portfolio securities may change on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell your Shares.

Intraday Indicative Value. The trading prices of the Shares in the secondary market generally differ from a Fund’s daily NAV and are affected by market forces such as the supply of and demand for Shares and underlying securities held by the Fund, economic conditions and other factors. Information regarding the IIV of the Shares is disseminated every 15 seconds throughout each trading day by the Exchange or by market data vendors or other information providers. However, the IIV should not be viewed as a “real-time” update of a Fund’s NAV. The IIV is based on the current market value of the published basket of portfolio securities and/or cash required to be deposited in exchange for a Creation Unit and does not necessarily reflect the precise composition of a Fund’s actual portfolio at a particular point in time. Moreover, the IIV is generally determined by using current market quotations and/or price quotations obtained from broker-dealers and other market intermediaries and valuations based on current market rates. The IIV may not be calculated in the same manner as the NAV, which (i) is computed only once a day, (ii) unlike the calculation of the IIV, takes into account Funds’ expenses, and (iii) may be subject, in accordance with the requirements of the 1940 Act, to fair valuation at different prices than those used in the calculations of the IIV. Therefore, the IIV may not reflect the best possible valuation of a Fund’s current portfolio. Additionally, the quotations and/or valuations of certain of the Funds’ holdings may not be updated during U.S. trading hours if such holdings do not trade in the United States, which could affect premiums and discounts between the IIV and the market price of the Shares. The Funds, the Adviser and their affiliates are not involved in, or responsible for, any aspect of the calculation or dissemination of the IIV, and the Funds, the Adviser and their affiliates do not make any warranty as to the accuracy of these calculations.

DIVIDENDS AND OTHER DISTRIBUTIONS

The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled “Dividends, Distributions and Taxes.”

General Policies. Ordinarily, dividends from net investment income, if any, are declared and paid monthly by each Fund.

Distributions of net realized securities gains, if any, generally are declared and paid once a year, but the Trust may make distributions on a more frequent basis. The Trust reserves the right to declare special distributions if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to preserve the status of each Fund as a RIC or to avoid imposition of income or excise taxes on undistributed income.

Dividends and other distributions on Shares are distributed, as described below, on a pro rata basis to Beneficial Owners of the Shares. Dividend payments are made through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants to Beneficial Owners then of record with proceeds received from each Fund.

Dividend Reinvestment Service. No reinvestment service is provided by the Trust. Broker-dealers may make available the DTC book-entry Dividend Reinvestment Service for use by Beneficial Owners of Shares for reinvestment of their dividend distributions. Beneficial Owners should contact their broker to determine the availability and costs of the service and the details of participation therein. Brokers may require Beneficial Owners to adhere to specific procedures and timetables.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Counsel. Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP, 191 North Wacker Drive, Suite 1601, Chicago, Illinois 60606, and 1250 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20036, serves as legal counsel to the Trust.

 

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Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”), located at One North Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606, serves as the Funds’ independent registered public accounting firm.PwC has been retained to audit the Funds’ annual financial statements and performs other related audit services. The Funds have entered into an engagement letter with PwC. The terms of the engagement letter required by PwC, and agreed to by the Audit Committee, include a provision mandating the use of mediation and arbitration to resolve any controversy or claim between the parties arising out of or relating to the engagement letter or the services provided thereunder.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Each Fund is new and has no performance history as of the date of this SAI. Financial information therefore is not yet available. The audited financial statements for the Funds will appear in the Trust’s Annual Report to shareholders when available. When available, you may request a copy of the Trust’s Annual Report at no charge by calling 1-800-983-0903 during normal business hours.

PwC informed the Audit Committee that it has identified an issue related to its independence under Rule 2-01(c)(1)(ii)(A) of Regulation S-X (referred to as the “Loan Rule”). The Loan Rule prohibits accounting firms, such as PwC, from being deemed independent if they have certain financial relationships with their audit clients or certain affiliates of those clients. The Trust is required under various securities laws to have its financial statements audited by an independent accounting firm.

The Loan Rule specifically provides that an accounting firm would not be independent if it receives, or certain of its affiliates or covered persons receive, a loan from a lender that is a record or beneficial owner of more than ten percent of an audit client’s equity securities (referred to as a “more than ten percent owner”). For purposes of the Loan Rule, audit clients include the Funds as well as all registered investment companies advised by the Adviser and its affiliates, including other subsidiaries of the Adviser’s parent company, Invesco Ltd. (collectively, the Invesco Fund Complex). PwC informed the Audit Committee that it has, and that certain of its affiliates or covered persons have, relationships with lenders who hold, as record owner, more than ten percent of the shares of certain funds within the Invesco Fund Complex. These relationships call into question PwC’s independence under the Loan Rule with respect to those funds, as well as all other funds in the Invesco Fund Complex, which may implicate the Loan Rule.

On June 20, 2016, the SEC Staff issued a “no-action” letter to another mutual fund complex (see Fidelity Management & Research Company et al., No-Action Letter) related to the audit independence issue described above. In that letter, the SEC confirmed that it would not recommend enforcement action against a fund that relied on audit services performed by an audit firm that was not in compliance with the Loan Rule in certain specified circumstances.

In an August 18, 2016 letter to the audit committees of the other trusts in the Fund Family, composed of the same individuals that make up the Audit Committee (which was not established until December 14, 2016), and in subsequent communications with the Audit Committee, PwC affirmed to the Audit Committee that, as of the date of the letter and the subsequent communications, respectively, PwC is an independent accountant with respect to the Trust, within the meaning of PCAOB Rule 3520. In its letter and in its subsequent communications, PwC also informed the Audit Committee that, after evaluating the facts and circumstances and the applicable independence rules, PwC has concluded that with regard to its compliance with the independence criteria set forth in the rules and regulations of the SEC related to the Loan Rule, it believes that it remains objective and impartial despite matters that may ultimately be determined to be inconsistent with these criteria and therefore it can continue to serve as the Trust’s registered public accounting firm. PwC has advised the Audit Committee that this conclusion is based in part on the following considerations: (1) the lenders to PwC have no influence over any Fund, or other entity within the Invesco Fund Complex, or its investment adviser; (2) none of the officers or trustees of the Invesco Fund Complex whose shares are owned by PwC lenders are associated with those lenders; (3) PwC understands that the shares held by PwC lenders are held for the benefit of and on behalf of its policy owners/end investors; (4) investments in funds

 

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such as the Invesco Fund Complex funds are passive; (5) the PwC lenders are part of various syndicates of unrelated lenders; (6) there have been no changes to the loans in question since the origination of each respective note; (7) the debts are in good standing and no lender has the right to take action against PwC, as borrower, in connection with the financings; (8) the debt balances with each lender are immaterial to PwC and to each lender; and (9) the PwC audit engagement team has no involvement in PwC’s treasury function and PwC’s treasury function has no oversight of or ability to influence the PwC audit engagement team. In addition, PwC has communicated that the lending relationships appear to be consistent with the lending relationships described in the no-action letter and that they are not aware of other relationships that would be implicated by the Loan Rule. In addition to relying on PwC’s August 18, 2016 letter and subsequent communications regarding its independence, the Trust intends to rely upon the no-action letter.

If in the future the independence of PwC is called into question under the Loan Rule by circumstances that are not addressed in the SEC’s no-action letter, the Fund may need to take other action in order for the Fund’s filings with the SEC containing financial statements to be deemed compliant with applicable securities laws. Such additional actions could result in additional costs, impair the ability of the Funds to issue new shares or have other material adverse effects on the Funds. The SEC no-action relief was initially set to expire 18 months from issuance, but has been extended by the SEC without an expiration date, except that the no-action letter will be withdrawn upon the effectiveness of any amendments to the Loan Rule designed to address the concerns expressed in the letter.

 

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APPENDIX A

 

LOGO

PROXY VOTING GUIDELINES

 

Applicable to    Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust and Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (collectively, the “Trusts”)
Risk Addressed by Policy    Breach of fiduciary duty to clients under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 by placing Invesco’s interests ahead of clients’ best interests in voting proxies
Relevant Law and Other Sources    Investment Advisers Act of 1940
Approved/Adopted Date    June 24, 2014
Last Amended    June 8, 2018

I. GENERAL POLICY

 

Invesco Capital Management LLC (“ICM” or the “Adviser”) has adopted proxy voting policies with respect to securities owned by series of the Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, the Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II, the Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, the Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, the Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust and the Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust (collectively, the “Funds”) for which it serves as investment adviser and has been delegated the authority to vote proxies. ICM’s proxy voting policies are designed to provide that proxies are voted in the best interests of shareholders.

Invesco Ltd., the parent to the Adviser, has adopted a global policy statement on corporate governance and proxy voting (the “Global Invesco Policy”) (see exhibit A), which details Invesco’s views on governance matters and describes the proxy administration and governance approach. The Adviser votes proxies by utilizing the procedures and mechanisms outlined in the Global Invesco Policy, while maintaining the Fund-specific guidelines described below:

Overlapping Securities

In instances where both a Fund and a fund advised by an Invesco Ltd. entity hold an equity security (“Overlapping Securities”), the Adviser will vote proxies in accordance with the recommendation of an Invesco Ltd. adviser based on the comprehensive proxy review and under the Global Invesco Policy. The Global Invesco Policy is overseen by the Invesco Proxy Advisory Committee (“IPAC”), which also orchestrates the review and analysis of the top twenty-five proxy voting matters, measured by overall size of holdings by funds within the Invesco family.

 

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The Adviser consults with the IPAC on specific proxy votes and general proxy voting matters as it deems necessary. In addition, as part of the Global Invesco Proxy Voting Process, the IPAC oversees instances when possible conflicts of interest arise among funds. (Please see the Global Invesco Policy for the detailed conflicts of interest approach.)

In instances where the global proxy administration team does not receive a recommendation in a timely manner, the proxy administration team will automatically vote such ballots in accordance with Invesco’s custom guidelines established in Invesco’s global proxy voting policy and US guidelines.

Non-Overlapping Securities

In instances where securities are held only by a Fund and not also by an Invesco Ltd. active equity entity fund, the Adviser will instruct the proxy administration team to vote proxies in accordance with said Invesco custom guidelines implemented by ISS, Invesco’s vote execution agent.

Under this Policy, the Adviser retains the power to vote contrary to the recommendation of the Invesco Voting Process (for Overlapping Securities) or Invesco’s custom guidelines (for Non-Overlapping Securities) at its discretion, so long as the reasons for doing so are well documented.

II. PROXY CONSTRAINTS

 

The Adviser will approach proxy constraints according to the Invesco global statement on corporate governance and proxy voting.

III. SPECIAL POLICY

 

Certain Funds pursue their investment objectives by investing in other registered investment companies pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The relief granted by that order is conditioned upon complying with a number of undertakings, some of which require a Fund to vote its shares in an acquired investment company in the same proportion as other holders of the acquired fund’s shares. In instances in which a Fund is required to vote in this manner to rely on the exemptive order, the Adviser will vote shares of these acquired investment companies in compliance with the voting mechanism required by the order.

IV. RESOLVING POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

 

Voting of Proxies Related to Invesco Ltd.

The Adviser will approach conflicts of interest in accordance with Invesco’s global policy statement on corporate governance and proxy voting.

 

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Exhibit A to Appendix A

 

LOGO

Invesco’s Policy Statement on Global Corporate Governance and Proxy Voting

I. Guiding Principles and Philosophy

Public companies hold shareholder meetings, attended by the company’s executives, directors, and shareholders, during which important issues, such as appointments to the company’s board of directors, executive compensation, and auditors, are addressed and where applicable, voted on. Proxy voting gives shareholders the opportunity to vote on issues that impact the company’s operations and policies without being present at the meetings.

Invesco views proxy voting as an integral part of its investment management responsibilities and believes that the right to vote proxies should be managed with the same high standards of care and fiduciary duty to its clients as all other elements of the investment process. Invesco’s proxy voting philosophy, governance structure and process are designed to ensure that proxy votes are cast in accordance with clients’ best interests, which Invesco interprets to mean clients’ best economic interests, this Policy and the operating guidelines and procedures of Invesco’s regional investment centers.

Invesco investment teams vote proxies on behalf of Invesco-sponsored funds and non-fund advisory clients that have explicitly granted Invesco authority in writing to vote proxies on their behalf.

The proxy voting process at Invesco, which is driven by investment professionals, focuses on maximizing long-term value for our clients, protecting clients’ rights and promoting governance structures and practices that reinforce the accountability of corporate management and boards of directors to shareholders. Invesco takes a nuanced approach to voting and, therefore, many matters to be voted upon are reviewed on a case by case basis.

Votes in favor of board or management proposals should not be interpreted as an indication of insufficient consideration by Invesco fund managers. Such votes may reflect the outcome of past or ongoing engagement and active ownership by Invesco with representatives of the companies in which we invest.

II. Applicability of this Policy

This Policy sets forth the framework of Invesco’s corporate governance approach, broad philosophy and guiding principles that inform the proxy voting practices of Invesco’s investment teams around the world. Given the different nature of these teams and their respective investment processes, as well as the significant differences in regulatory regimes and market practices across jurisdictions, not all aspects of this Policy may apply to all Invesco investment teams at all times. In the case of a conflict between this Policy and the operating guidelines and procedures of a regional investment center the latter will control.

III. Proxy Voting for Certain Fixed Income, Money Market Accounts and Index

For proxies held by certain client accounts managed in accordance with fixed income, money market and index strategies (including exchange traded funds), Invesco will typically vote in line with the majority holder of the active-equity shares held by Invesco outside of those strategies (“Majority Voting”). In this manner Invesco seeks to leverage the active-equity expertise and comprehensive proxy voting reviews conducted by teams employing active-equity strategies, which typically incorporate analysis of proxy issues as a core component of the investment process. Portfolio managers for accounts employing Majority Voting still retain full discretion to override Majority Voting and to vote the shares as they determine to be in the best interest of those accounts, absent certain types of conflicts of interest, which are discussed elsewhere in this Policy.

 

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IV. Conflicts of Interest

There may be occasions where voting proxies may present a real or perceived conflict of interest between Invesco, as investment manager, and one or more of Invesco’s clients or vendors. Under Invesco’s Code of Conduct, Invesco entities and individuals are strictly prohibited from putting personal benefit, whether tangible or intangible, before the interests of clients. “Personal benefit” includes any intended benefit for Invesco, oneself or any other individual, company, group or organization of any kind whatsoever, except a benefit for the relevant Invesco client.

Firm-level Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest may exist if Invesco has a material business relationship with, or is actively soliciting business from, either the company soliciting a proxy or a third party that has a material interest in the outcome of a proxy vote or that is actively lobbying for a particular outcome of a proxy vote (e.g., issuers that are distributors of Invesco’s products, or issuers that employ Invesco to manage portions of their retirement plans or treasury accounts). Invesco’s proxy governance team maintains a list of all such issuers for which a conflict of interest exists.

If the proposal that gives rise to the potential conflict is specifically addressed by this Policy or the operating guidelines and procedures of the relevant regional investment center, Invesco generally will vote the proxy in accordance therewith. Otherwise, based on a majority vote of its members, the Global IPAC (as described below) will vote the proxy.

Because this Policy and the operating guidelines and procedures of each regional investment center are pre-determined and crafted to be in the best economic interest of clients, applying them to vote client proxies should, in most instances, adequately resolve any potential conflict of interest. As an additional safeguard, persons from Invesco’s marketing, distribution and other customer-facing functions may not serve on the Global IPAC. For the avoidance of doubt, Invesco may not consider Invesco Ltd.’s pecuniary interest when voting proxies on behalf of clients.

Personal Conflicts of Interest

A conflict also may exist where an Invesco employee has a known personal relationship with other proponents of proxy proposals, participants in proxy contests, corporate directors, or candidates for directorships.

All Invesco personnel with proxy voting responsibilities are required to report any known personal conflicts of interest regarding proxy issues with which they are involved. In such instances, the individual(s) with the conflict will be excluded from the decision-making process relating to such issues.

Other Conflicts of Interest

In order to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, Invesco will not vote proxies issued by, or related to matters involving, Invesco Ltd. that may be held in client accounts from time to time.11 Shares of an Invesco-sponsored fund held by other Invesco funds will be voted in the same proportion as the votes of external shareholders of the underlying fund.

V. Use of Third-Party Proxy Advisory Services

Invesco may supplement its internal research with information from third-parties, such as proxy advisory firms. However, Invesco generally retains full and independent discretion with respect to proxy voting decisions.

As part of its fiduciary obligation to clients, Invesco performs extensive initial and ongoing due diligence on the proxy advisory firms it engages. This includes reviews of information regarding the capabilities of their research staffs and internal controls, policies and procedures, including those relating to possible conflicts of interest. In addition, Invesco regularly monitors and communicates with these firms and monitors their compliance with Invesco’s performance and policy standards.

 

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Generally speaking, Invesco does not invest for its clients in the shares of Invesco Ltd., however, limited exceptions apply in the case of funds or accounts designed to track an index that includes Invesco Ltd. as a component.

 

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VI. Global Proxy Voting Platform and Administration

Guided by its philosophy that investment teams should manage proxy voting, Invesco has created the Global Invesco Proxy Advisory Committee (“Global IPAC”). The Global IPAC is a global investments-driven committee comprised of representatives from various investment management teams and Invesco’s Global Head of Proxy Governance and Responsible Investment (“Head of Proxy Governance”). The Global IPAC provides a forum for investment teams to monitor, understand and discuss key proxy issues and voting trends within the Invesco complex. Absent a conflict of interest, the Global IPAC representatives, in consultation with the respective investment team, are responsible for voting proxies for the securities the team manages (unless such responsibility is explicitly delegated to the portfolio managers of the securities in question) In addition to the Global IPAC, for some clients, third parties (e.g., U.S. mutual fund boards) provide oversight of the proxy process. The Global IPAC and Invesco’s proxy administration and governance team, compliance and legal teams regularly communicate and review this Policy and the operating guidelines and procedures of each regional investment center to ensure that they remain consistent with clients’ best interests, regulatory requirements, governance trends and industry best practices.

Invesco maintains a proprietary global proxy administration platform, known as the “fund manager portal” and supported by the Head of Proxy Governance and a dedicated team of internal proxy specialists. The platform streamlines the proxy voting and ballot reconciliation processes, as well as related functions, such as share blocking and managing conflicts of interest issuers. Managing these processes internally, as opposed to relying on third parties, gives Invesco greater quality control, oversight and independence in the proxy administration process.

The platform also includes advanced global reporting and record-keeping capabilities regarding proxy matters that enable Invesco to satisfy client, regulatory and management requirements. Historical proxy voting information, including commentary by investment professionals regarding the votes they cast, where applicable, is stored to build institutional knowledge across the Invesco complex with respect to individual companies and proxy issues. Certain investment teams also use the platform to access third-party proxy research.

VII. Non-Votes

In the great majority of instances, Invesco is able to vote proxies successfully. However, in certain circumstances Invesco may refrain from voting where the economic or other opportunity costs of voting exceeds any anticipated benefits of that proxy proposal. In addition, there may be instances in which Invesco is unable to vote all of its clients’ proxies despite using commercially reasonable efforts to do so. For example:

 

   

Invesco may not receive proxy materials from the relevant fund or client custodian with sufficient time and information to make an informed independent voting decision. In such cases, Invesco may choose not to vote, to abstain from voting, to vote in line with management or to vote in accordance with proxy advisor recommendations. These matters are left to the discretion of the fund manager.

 

   

If the security in question is on loan as part of a securities lending program, Invesco may determine that the benefit to the client of voting a particular proxy is outweighed by the revenue that would be lost by terminating the loan and recalling the securities.

 

   

In some countries the exercise of voting rights imposes temporary transfer restrictions on the related securities (“share blocking”). Invesco generally refrains from voting proxies in share-blocking countries unless Invesco determines that the benefit to the client(s) of voting a specific proxy outweighs the client’s temporary inability to sell the security.

 

   

Some companies require a representative to attend meetings in person in order to vote a proxy. In such cases, Invesco may determine that the costs of sending a representative or signing a power-of-attorney outweigh the benefit of voting a particular proxy.

 

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VIII. Proxy Voting Guidelines

The following guidelines describe Invesco’s general positions on various common proxy voting issues. This list is not intended to be exhaustive or prescriptive. As noted above, Invesco’s proxy process is investor-driven, and each fund manager retains ultimate discretion to vote proxies in the manner they deem most appropriate, consistent with Invesco’s proxy voting principles and philosophy discussed in Sections I through IV. Individual proxy votes therefore will differ from these guidelines from time to time.

A. Shareholder Access and Treatment of Shareholder Proposals

Invesco reviews on a case by case basis but generally votes in favor of proposals that would increase shareholders’ opportunities to express their views to boards of directors, proposals that would lower barriers to shareholder action, and proposals to promote the adoption of generally accepted best practices in corporate governance, provided that such proposals would not require a disproportionate amount of management attention or corporate resources or otherwise that may inappropriately disrupt the company’s business and main purpose, usually set out in their reporting disclosures and business model. Likewise, Invesco reviews on a case by case basis but generally votes for shareholder proposals that are designed to protect shareholder rights if a company’s corporate governance standards indicate that such additional protections are warranted (for example, where minority shareholders’ rights are not adequately protected).

B. Environmental, Social and Corporate Responsibility Issues

Invesco believes that a company’s long-term response to environmental, social and corporate responsibility issues can significantly affect its long-term shareholder value. We recognize that to manage a corporation effectively, directors and management may consider not only the interests of shareholders, but also the interests of employees, customers, suppliers, creditors and the local community, among others. While Invesco generally affords management discretion with respect to the operation of a company’s business, Invesco will evaluate such proposals on a case by case basis and will vote proposals relating to these issues in a manner intended to maximize long-term shareholder value.

C. Capitalization Structure Issues

i. Stock Issuances

Invesco generally supports a board’s decisions about the need for additional capital stock to meet ongoing corporate needs, except where the request could adversely affect Invesco clients’ ownership stakes or voting rights. Some capitalization proposals, such as those to authorize common or preferred stock with special voting rights or to issue additional stock in connection with an acquisition, may require additional analysis. Invesco generally opposes proposals to authorize classes of preferred stock with unspecified voting, conversion, dividend or other rights (“blank check” stock) when they appear to be intended as an anti-takeover mechanism; such issuances may be supported when used for general financing purposes.

ii. Stock Splits

Invesco generally supports a board’s proposal to increase common share authorization for a stock split, provided that the increase in authorized shares would not result in excessive dilution given the company’s industry and performance in terms of shareholder returns.

iii. Share Repurchases

Invesco generally supports a board’s proposal to institute open-market share repurchase plans only if all shareholders participate on an equal basis.

 

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D. Corporate Governance Issues

i. Board of Directors

1. Director Nominees in Uncontested Elections

Subject to the other considerations described below, in an uncontested director election for a company without a controlling shareholder, Invesco generally votes in favor of the director slate if it is comprised of at least a majority of independent directors and if the board’s key committees are fully independent, effective and balanced. Key committees include the audit, compensation/remuneration and governance/nominating committees. Invesco’s standard of independence excludes directors who, in addition to the directorship, have any material business or family relationships with the companies they serve.

2. Director Nominees in Contested Elections

Invesco recognizes that short-term investment sentiments influence the corporate governance landscape and may influence companies in Invesco clients’ portfolios and more broadly across the market. Invesco recognizes that short-term investment sentiment may conflict with long-term value creation and as such looks at each proxy contest matter on a case by case basis, considering factors such as:

 

   

Long-term financial performance of the company relative to its industry,

 

   

Management’s track record,

 

   

Background to the proxy contest,

 

   

Qualifications of director nominees (both slates),

 

   

Evaluation of what each side is offering shareholders as well as the likelihood that the proposed objectives and goals can be met, and

 

   

Stock ownership positions in the company.

3. Director Accountability

Invesco generally withholds votes from directors who exhibit a lack of accountability to shareholders. Examples include, without limitation, poor attendance (less than 75%, absent extenuating circumstances) at meetings, failing to implement shareholder proposals that have received a majority of votes and/or by adopting or approving egregious corporate-governance or other policies. In cases of material financial restatements, accounting fraud, habitually late filings, adopting shareholder rights plan (“poison pills”) without shareholder approval, or other areas of poor performance, Invesco may withhold votes from some or all of a company’s directors. In situations where directors’ performance is a concern, Invesco may also support shareholder proposals to take corrective actions such as so-called “clawback” provisions.

4. Director Independence

Invesco generally supports proposals to require a majority of directors to be independent unless particular circumstances make this not feasible or in the best interests of shareholders. We generally vote for proposals that would require the board’s audit, compensation/remuneration, and/or governance/nominating committees to be composed exclusively of independent directors since this minimizes the potential for conflicts of interest.

5. Director Indemnification

Invesco recognizes that individuals may be reluctant to serve as corporate directors if they are personally liable for all related lawsuits and legal costs. As a result, reasonable limitations on directors’ liability can benefit a company and its shareholders by helping to attract and retain qualified directors while preserving recourse for shareholders in the event of misconduct by directors. Invesco, therefore, generally supports proposals to limit directors’ liability and provide indemnification and/or exculpation, provided that the arrangements are limited to the director acting honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the company and, in criminal matters, are limited to the director having reasonable grounds for believing the conduct was lawful.

6. Separate Chairperson and CEO

Invesco evaluates these proposals on a case by case basis, recognizing that good governance requires either an independent chair or a qualified, proactive, and lead independent director.

 

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Voting decisions may take into account, among other factors, the presence or absence of:

 

   

a designated lead director, appointed from the ranks of the independent board members, with an established term of office and clearly delineated powers and duties;

 

   

a majority of independent directors;

 

   

completely independent key committees;

 

   

committee chairpersons nominated by the independent directors;

 

   

CEO performance reviewed annually by a committee of independent directors; and

 

   

established governance guidelines.

7. Majority/Supermajority/Cumulative Voting for Directors

The right to elect directors is the single most important mechanism shareholders have to promote accountability. Invesco generally votes in favor of proposals to elect directors by a majority vote. Except in cases where required by law in the jurisdiction of incorporation or when a company has adopted formal governance principles that present a meaningful alternative to the majority voting standard, Invesco generally votes against actions that would impose any supermajority voting requirement, and generally supports actions to dismantle existing supermajority requirements.

The practice of cumulative voting can enable minority shareholders to have representation on a company’s board. Invesco generally opposes such proposals as unnecessary where the company has adopted a majority voting standard. However, Invesco generally supports proposals to institute the practice of cumulative voting at companies whose overall corporate-governance standards indicate a particular need to protect the interests of minority shareholders.

8. Staggered Boards/Annual Election of Directors

Invesco generally supports proposals to elect each director annually rather than electing directors to staggered multi-year terms because annual elections increase a board’s level of accountability to its shareholders.

9. Board Size

Invesco believes that the number of directors is an important factor to consider when evaluating the board’s ability to maximize long-term shareholder value. Invesco approaches proxies relating to board size on a case by case basis but generally will defer to the board with respect to determining the optimal number of board members, provided that the proposed board size is sufficiently large to represent shareholder interests and sufficiently limited to remain effective.

10. Term Limits for Directors

Invesco believes it is important for a board of directors to examine its membership regularly with a view to ensuring that the company continues to benefit from a diversity of director viewpoints and experience. We generally believe that an individual board’s nominating committee is best positioned to determine whether director term limits would be an appropriate measure to help achieve these goals and, if so, the nature of such limits.

ii. Audit Committees and Auditors

1. Qualifications of Audit Committee and Auditors

Invesco believes a company’s Audit Committee has a high degree of responsibility to shareholders in matters of financial disclosure, integrity of the financial statements and effectiveness of a company’s internal controls. Independence, experience and financial expertise are critical elements of a well-functioning Audit Committee. When electing directors who are members of a company’s Audit Committee, or when ratifying a company’s auditors, Invesco considers the past performance of the Audit Committee and holds its members accountable for the quality of the company’s financial statements and reports.

 

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2. Auditor Indemnifications

A company’s independent auditors play a critical role in ensuring and attesting to the integrity of the company’s financial statements. It is therefore essential that they perform their work in accordance with the highest standards. Invesco generally opposes proposals that would limit the liability of or indemnify auditors because doing so could serve to undermine this obligation.

3. Adequate Disclosure of Auditor Fees

Understanding the fees earned by the auditors is important for assessing auditor independence. Invesco’s support for the re-appointment of the auditors will take into consideration the availability of adequate disclosure concerning the amount and nature of audit versus non-audit fees. Invesco generally will support proposals that call for this disclosure if it is not already being made.

E. Remuneration and Incentives

Invesco believes properly constructed compensation plans that include equity ownership are effective in creating incentives that induce management and employees of portfolio companies to create greater shareholder wealth. Invesco generally supports equity compensation plans that promote the proper alignment of incentives with shareholders’ long-term interests, and generally votes against plans that are overly dilutive to existing shareholders, plans that contain objectionable structural features, and plans that appear likely to reduce the value of the client’s investment.

i. Independent Compensation/Remuneration Committee

Invesco believes that an independent, experienced and well-informed compensation/remuneration committee is critical to ensuring that a company’s remuneration practices align with shareholders’ interests and, therefore, generally supports proposals calling for a compensation/remuneration committee to be comprised solely of independent directors.

ii. Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation

Invesco believes that an independent compensation/remuneration committee of the board, with input from management, is generally best positioned to determine the appropriate components and levels of executive compensation, as well as the appropriate frequency of related shareholder advisory votes. This is particularly the case where shareholders have the ability to express their views on remuneration matters through annual votes for or against the election of the individual directors who comprise the compensation/remuneration committee. Invesco, therefore, generally will support management’s recommendations with regard to the components and levels of executive compensation and the frequency of shareholder advisory votes on executive compensation. However, Invesco will vote against such recommendations where Invesco determines that a company’s executive remuneration policies are not properly aligned with shareholder interests or may create inappropriate incentives for management.

iii. Equity Based Compensation Plans

Invesco generally votes against plans that contain structural features that would impair the alignment of incentives between shareholders and management. Such features include, without limitation, the ability to reprice or reload options without shareholder approval, the ability to issue options below the stock’s current market price, or the ability to replenish shares automatically without shareholder approval.

iv. Severance Arrangements

Invesco considers proposed severance arrangements (sometimes known as “golden parachute” arrangements) on a case-by-case basis due to the wide variety among their terms. Invesco acknowledges that in some cases such arrangements, if reasonable, may be in shareholders’ best interests as a method of attracting and retaining high quality executive talent. Invesco generally votes in favor of proposals requiring advisory shareholder ratification of senior executives’ severance agreements while generally opposing proposals that require such agreements to be ratified by shareholders in advance of their adoption.

 

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v. “Claw Back” Provisions

Invesco generally supports so called “claw back” policies intended to recoup remuneration paid to senior executives based upon materially inaccurate financial reporting (as evidenced by later restatements) or fraudulent accounting or business practices.

vi. Employee Stock Purchase Plans

Invesco generally supports employee stock purchase plans that are reasonably designed to provide proper incentives to a broad base of employees, provided that the price at which employees may acquire stock represents a reasonable discount from the market price.

F. Anti-Takeover Defenses; Reincorporation

Measures designed to protect a company from unsolicited bids can adversely affect shareholder value and voting rights, and they have the potential to create conflicts of interests among directors, management and shareholders. Such measures include adopting or renewing shareholder rights plans (“poison pills”), requiring supermajority voting on certain corporate actions, classifying the election of directors instead of electing each director to an annual term, or creating separate classes of common or preferred stock with special voting rights. In determining whether to support a proposal to add, eliminate or restrict anti-takeover measures, Invesco will examine the particular elements of the proposal to assess the degree to which it would adversely affect shareholder rights of adopted. Invesco generally supports shareholder proposals directing companies to subject their anti-takeover provisions to a shareholder vote. Invesco generally opposes payments by companies to minority shareholders intended to dissuade such shareholders from pursuing a takeover or other changes (sometimes known as “greenmail”) because these payments result in preferential treatment of some shareholders over others.

Reincorporation involves re-establishing the company in a different legal jurisdiction. Invesco generally will vote for proposals to reincorporate a company provided that the board and management have demonstrated sound financial or business reasons for the move. Invesco generally will oppose proposals to reincorporate if they are solely part of an anti-takeover defense or intended to limit directors’ liability.

 

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Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust

PART C. OTHER INFORMATION

Item 28. Exhibits

 

(a)     
  (1)    Agreement and Declaration of Trust of the Registrant dated as of October 30, 2015. (1)
  (2)    Certificate of Trust executed October 29, 2015. (1)
(b)  

Amended and Restated By-laws of the Registrant adopted December 14, 2016 and amended March 7, 2017. (1)

(c)  

Not applicable.

(d)   (1)    Investment Advisory Agreement dated December 19, 2017 between Registrant and Invesco Capital Management LLC, for unitary fee Funds. (2)
     (a) Schedule A dated June 14, 2018 to the Investment Advisory Agreement.(7)
  (2)    Investment Advisory Agreement dated December 19, 2017 between Registrant and Invesco Capital Management LLC, for non-unitary fee Funds. (2)
  (3)    Excess Expense Agreement dated June 16, 2011, as amended April 19, 2018, between the Registrant and Invesco Capital Management LLC. (5)
     (a) Schedule A dated June 4, 2018 to the Excess Expense Agreement.(7)
  (4)    Management Services Agreement dated December 19, 2017 between the Registrant and Invesco Capital Management LLC.(6)
  (5)    Memorandum of Agreement dated December 19, 2017 between the Registrant and Invesco Capital Management LLC.(4)
     (a) Exhibit A dated June 14, 2018 to the Memorandum of Agreement.(7)
(e)   (1)    Master Distribution Agreement dated December 19, 2017 between the Registrant and Invesco Distributors, Inc.(6)
     (a) Schedule A dated June 14, 2018 to the Master Distribution Agreement. (7)
(f)      Not applicable.
(g)      Amended and Restated Custody Agreement dated June 17, 2013 between the Registrant and The Bank of New York
Mellon.(3)
     (1) Schedule 1 dated June 14, 2018 – Amended and Restated Schedule of Series to the Custody Agreement. (7)
(h)   (1)    Fund Administration and Accounting Agreement dated December 19, 2017 between the Registrant and The Bank of New York Mellon.(6)
     (a) Schedule 1 dated June 14, 2018 to the Fund Administration and Accounting Agreement.(7)
  (2)    Amended and Restated Transfer Agency and Service Agreement between the Registrant and The Bank of New York.(3)
    

(a) Exhibit D dated June 14, 2018 to the Amended and Restated Transfer Agency and Service Agreement (7)

  (3)    Form of Participant Agreement between Invesco Distributors, Inc., the Bank of New York Mellon and Participant.(7)
  (4)    Form of Sublicensing Agreement between the Registrant and Invesco Capital Management LLC.(6)
(i)      Opinion and Consent of Counsel.*
(j)      Not applicable.
(k)      Not applicable.
(l)      Not applicable.
(m)      Not applicable.
(n)      Not applicable.
(o)      Not applicable.
(p)   (1)    Code of Ethics of the Registrant.(3)
  (2)    Code of Ethics of Invesco Capital Management LLC.(3)
  (3)    Code of Ethics of Invesco Advisers, Inc. and Invesco Distributors, Inc.(3)
(q)      Powers of Attorney. (1)


 

(1) Incorporated by reference to the Trust’s initial Registration Statement on Form N-1A, filed on October 20, 2017.
(2) Incorporated by reference to the Trust’s Registration Statement on Form N-14, filed on November 21, 2017.
(3) Incorporated by reference to Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1, filed on March 30, 2018
(4) Incorporated by reference to Post-Effective Amendment No. 670 to the PowerShares Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, filed on April 5, 2018.
(5) Incorporated by reference to Post-Effective Amendment No. 680 to the PowerShares Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II’s Registration Statement on Form N-1A, filed on May 2, 2018.
(6) Incorporated by reference to the Trust’s Post-Effective Amendment No. 3, filed on May 17, 2018.
(7) Incorporated by reference to the Trust’s Post-Effective Amendment No. 8, filed on July 5, 2018.
(*) Filed herewith.

Item 29. Persons Controlled by or Under Common Control with the Fund.

None.

Item 30. Indemnification.

The Registrant (also, the “Trust”) is organized as a Delaware statutory trust and is operated pursuant to an Agreement and Declaration of Trust, dated October 30, 2015 (the “Declaration of Trust”).

Reference is made to Article IX of the Registrant’s Declaration of Trust, which is filed herewith:

Subject to the exceptions and limitations contained in this Section 9.5, every person who is, or has been, a Trustee, officer, or employee of the Trust, including persons who serve at the request of the Trust as directors, trustees, officers, employees or agents of another organization in which the Trust has an interest as a shareholder, creditor or otherwise (hereinafter referred to as a “Covered Person”), shall be indemnified by the Trust or the applicable Series to the fullest extent permitted by law against liability and against all expenses reasonably incurred or paid by him in connection with any claim, action, suit or proceeding in which he becomes involved as a party or otherwise by virtue of his being or having been such a Trustee, director, officer, employee or agent and against amounts paid or incurred by him in settlement thereof.

No indemnification shall be provided hereunder to a Covered Person to the extent such indemnification is prohibited by applicable federal law.

The rights of indemnification herein provided may be insured against by policies maintained by the Trust, shall be severable, shall not affect any other rights to which any Covered Person may now or hereafter be entitled, shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be such a Covered Person and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.

Subject to applicable federal law, expenses of preparation and presentation of a defense to any claim, action, suit or proceeding subject to a claim for indemnification under this Section 9.5 shall be advanced by the Trust or the applicable Series prior to final disposition thereof upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the recipient to repay such amount if it is ultimately determined that he is not entitled to indemnification under this Section 9.5.

To the extent that any determination is required to be made as to whether a Covered Person engaged in conduct for which indemnification is not provided as described herein, or as to whether there is reason to believe that a Covered Person ultimately will be found entitled to indemnification, the Person or Persons making the determination shall afford the Covered Person a rebuttable presumption that the Covered Person has not engaged in such conduct and that there is reason to believe that the Covered Person ultimately will be found entitled to indemnification.

As used in this Section 9.5, the words “claim,” “action,” “suit” or “proceeding” shall apply to all claims, demands, actions, suits, investigations, regulatory inquiries, proceedings or any other occurrence of a similar nature, whether actual or threatened and whether civil, criminal, administrative or other, including appeals, and the words “liability” and “expenses” shall include without limitation, attorneys’ fees, costs, judgments, amounts paid in settlement, fines, penalties and other liabilities.

Further Indemnification.

Nothing contained herein shall affect any rights to indemnification to which any Covered Person or other Person may be entitled by contract or otherwise under law or prevent the Trust from entering into any contract to provide indemnification to any Covered Person or other Person. Without limiting the foregoing, the Trust may, in connection with the acquisition of assets subject to liabilities pursuant to Section 4.2 hereof or a merger or consolidation pursuant to Section 10.2 hereof, assume the obligation to indemnify any Person including a Covered Person or otherwise contract to provide such indemnification, and such indemnification shall not be subject to the terms of this Article IX.


Amendments and Modifications.

Without limiting the provisions of Section 11.1(b) hereof, in no event will any amendment, modification or change to the provisions of this Declaration or the Bylaws adversely affect in any manner the rights of any Covered Person to (a) indemnification under Section 9.5 hereof in connection with any proceeding in which such Covered Person becomes involved as a party or otherwise by virtue of being or having been a Trustee, officer or employee of the Trust or (b) any insurance payments under policies maintained by the Trust, in either case with respect to any act or omission of such Covered Person that occurred or is alleged to have occurred prior to the time such amendment, modification or change to this Declaration or the Bylaws.

Pursuant to Rule 484 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “1933 Act”) the Registrant furnishes the following undertaking: “Insofar as indemnification for liability arising under the 1933 Act 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 SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the 1933 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 1933 Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.”

Item 31. Business and Other Connections of the Investment Adviser.

Reference is made to the caption “Management of the Funds” in the Prospectus constituting Part A, which is included in this Registration Statement, and “Management” in the Statement of Additional Information constituting Part B, which is included in this Registration Statement.

The information as to the directors and executive officers of Invesco Capital Management LLC is set forth in Invesco Capital Management LLC’s Form ADV filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 29, 2018 (and as amended through the date hereof) is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 32. Principal Underwriters.

 

(a)

Invesco Distributors, Inc. is the Registrant’s sole principal underwriter, as well as serves as the principal underwriter for the following other investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended:

AIM Counselor Series Trust (Invesco Counselor Series Trust)

AIM Equity Funds (Invesco Equity Funds)

AIM Funds Group (Invesco Funds Group)

AIM Growth Series (Invesco Growth Series)

AIM International Mutual Funds (Invesco International Mutual Funds)

AIM Investment Funds (Invesco Investment Funds)

AIM Investment Securities Funds (Invesco Investment Securities Funds)

AIM Sector Funds (Invesco Sector Funds)

AIM Tax-Exempt Funds (Invesco Tax-Exempt Funds)

AIM Treasurer’s Series Trust (Invesco Treasurer’s Series Trust)

AIM Variable Insurance Funds (Invesco Variable Insurance Funds)

Invesco Senior Loan Fund

Invesco Management Trust

Short-Term Investments Trust

Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust

Invesco Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Commodity Fund Trust

Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust

Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II

Invesco India Exchange-Traded Fund Trust

Please note that Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust is also distributed by Invesco Distributors, Inc., but it is not included in this list because it is the registrant filing the N-1A.


(b)

The following are the Officers and Managers of Invesco Distributors, Inc., the Registrant’s underwriter.

 

NAME AND PRINCIPAL

BUSINESS ADDRESS*

  

POSITIONS AND OFFICES

WITH REGISTRANT

  

POSITIONS AND OFFICES

WITH UNDERWRITER

Peter Gallagher    None    Director & President
Eric P. Johnson    None    Executive Vice President
Ben Utt    None    Executive Vice President
Daniel E. Draper    President and Principal Executive Officer    Senior Vice President
Eliot Honaker    None    Senior Vice President
Miranda O’Keefe    None    Senior Vice President & Chief Compliance Officer
Gary K. Wendler    None    Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing Research & Analysis
Jeffrey H. Kupor    Chief Legal Officer    Senior Vice President & Secretary
John M. Zerr    None    Senior Vice President
Annette Lege    None    Treasurer
Mark Gregson    None    Chief Financial Officer
Crissie Wisdom    Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer   

Anti-Money Laundering

Compliance Officer

 

*

The principal business address for all directors and executive officers is Invesco Distributors, Inc., 11 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1000, Houston, Texas 77046-1173.

 

(c)

Not applicable.

Item 33. Location of Accounts and Records.

All accounts, books and other documents required to be maintained by Section 31(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules promulgated thereunder, are held in physical possession at the offices, as applicable, of: (1) the Registrant, (2) the Registrant’s investment adviser and (3) the Registrant’s custodian and administrator.

 

1.

Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust

3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700

Downers Grove, Illinois 60515

 

2.

Invesco Capital Management LLC

3500 Lacey Road, Suite 700

Downers Grove, Illinois 60515

 

3.

The Bank of New York

101 Barclay Street

New York, New York 10286

Item 34. Management Services.

Not applicable.

Item 35. Undertakings.

None


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the Registrant certifies that it meets all of the requirements for effectiveness of this Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 485(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, duly authorized, in the City of Downers Grove and State of Illinois, on the 31th day of July, 2018.

 

Invesco Exchange-Traded Self-Indexed Fund Trust
By:  

/s/ Daniel E. Draper

  Daniel E. Draper
Title:   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 on the dates indicated.

 

SIGNATURE

  

TITLE

  

DATE

/s/ Daniel E. Draper

Daniel E. Draper

   President    July 31, 2018

/s/ Steven M. Hill

Steven M. Hill

   Treasurer    July 31, 2018

/s/ Anna Paglia

Anna Paglia

   Secretary    July 31, 2018

*/s/ Ronn R. Bagge

Ronn R. Bagge

   Trustee    July 31, 2018

*/s/ Todd J. Barre

Todd J. Barre

   Trustee    July 31, 2018

*/s/ Kevin M. Carome

Kevin M. Carome

   Trustee    July 31, 2018

*/s/ Marc M. Kole

Marc M. Kole

   Trustee    July 31, 2018

*/s/ Yung Bong Lim

Yung Bong Lim

   Trustee    July 31, 2018

*/s/ Philip M. Nussbaum

Philip M. Nussbaum

   Trustee    July 31, 2018

*/s/ Gary R. Wicker

Gary R. Wicker

   Trustee    July 31, 2018

*/s/ Donald H. Wilson

Donald H. Wilson

   Chairman and Trustee    July 31, 2018
*By:   

/s/ Anna Paglia

     
   Anna Paglia                           July 31, 2018
   Attorney-In-Fact      

 

* Anna Paglia signs on behalf of the powers of attorney filed with the initial N-1A to the Trust’s Registration Statement and incorporated by reference herein.


EXHIBIT LIST

 

(i)    Opinion and Consent of Counsel.