497K 1 etf8_497k.htm SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

Rule 497(k)
File No. 333-210186

 

 
First Trust
Exchange-Traded Fund VIII
 
 
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
FT Cboe Vest Fund of Buffer ETFs
 
Ticker Symbol:
BUFR
Exchange:
Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s statutory prospectus and other information about the Fund, including the statement of additional information and most recent reports to shareholders, online at www.ftportfolios.com/retail/ETF/ETFfundnews.aspx?Ticker=BUFR .   You can also get this information at no cost by calling (800) 621-1675 or by sending an e-mail request to info@ftportfolios.com.   The Fund’s  prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated June 2, 2021, are all incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.
June 2, 2021
Investment Objective
The investment objective of the FT Cboe Vest Fund of Buffer ETFs (the “Fund”) is to seek to provide investors with capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. Investors may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and example below. 
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 
Management Fees
0.20%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees
0.00%
Other Expenses
0.00%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses
0.85%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
1.05%
Example
The example below is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account customary brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling shares of the Fund in the secondary market.
The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain at current levels. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: 
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
$107
$334
$579
$1,283
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the fiscal period August 10, 2020 (inception) through August 31, 2020, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by providing investors with US large-cap equity market exposure while attempting to limit downside risk through a laddered portfolio of twelve FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETFs (the "Underlying ETFs"). The term "laddered portfolio" refers to the Fund's investment in multiple Underlying ETFs that have target outcome period expiration dates which occur on a rolling, or periodic, basis. See below for a discussion of "target outcome periods" and their meaning within the strategies of the Underlying ETFs. The Fund's "laddered" approach means that, at any given time, the Fund will generally hold one Underlying ETF that will reset its cap and refresh its buffer (see discussion below) within one month, a second Underlying ETF that will reset its cap and refresh its buffer within two months, a third Underlying ETF that will reset its cap and refresh its buffer within three months, etc., up to and including twelve months. The rolling or “laddered” nature of the investments in the Underlying ETFs creates diversification of investment time period compared to the risk of buying or selling any one Underlying ETF at any one time. This diversification of investment time period is intended to mitigate the risk of failing to benefit from the buffer of a single Underlying ETF due to the timing of investment in such Underlying ETF and the relative price of the reference asset. The Fund's laddered approach is intended to allow the Fund to continue to benefit from increases in the value of SPY and to provide a level of downside protection for at least a portion of the Fund's portfolio at any given time. Depending on when the Fund purchases shares of an Underlying ETF, even with a laddered approach, the cap and/or buffer of an Underlying ETF may be exhausted unless the Fund buys shares at the beginning of a Target Outcome Period (as defined below). The Fund does not typically buy shares at the beginning of the Target Outcome Period. The Fund intends only to purchase shares of Underlying ETFs in the secondary market and will not engage in any principal transactions with the Underlying ETFs.
Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest substantially all of its assets in the Underlying ETFs, which seek to provide investors with returns (before fees, expenses and taxes) that match the price return of the SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust (“SPY”), up to a predetermined upside cap, while providing a buffer against the first 10% (before fees, expenses and taxes) of SPY losses, over a defined one-year period. The Fund and each Underlying ETF are advised by First Trust Advisors L.P. (“First Trust” or the “Advisor”) and sub-advised by Cboe Vest Financial LLC (“Cboe Vest” or the “Sub-Advisor”). PDR Services, LLC (“PDR”) serves as SPY’s sponsor. The investment objective of SPY is to seek to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P 500® Index. See "SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust" below for more information.
The Underlying ETFs invest substantially all of their assets in FLexible EXchange® Options (“FLEX Options”) on SPY. FLEX Options are customizable exchange-traded option contracts guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation. Each Underlying ETF uses FLEX Options to employ a “target outcome strategy.” Target outcome strategies seek to produce pre-determined investment outcomes based upon the performance of an underlying security or index (in this case, SPY). The pre-determined outcomes sought by the Underlying ETFs, which include a buffer against the first 10% of SPY losses and a cap on upside potential, are based on the price return of SPY over an approximate one-year period beginning on the third Friday in the month for which each Underlying ETF is named and ending on the third Friday of the same month in the following year (the “Target Outcome Period”). Each Underlying ETF establishes a new cap annually at the beginning of each Target Outcome Period. See “Buffer and Cap” below under “Additional Information on the Fund’s Investment Objectives and Strategies.”
Each Underlying ETF’s strategy has been specifically designed to produce the outcomes based upon SPY’s returns over the duration of a Target Outcome Period. At the end of each Target Outcome Period, an Underlying ETF’s FLEX Options are generally sold at or near their expiration, and the proceeds are used to purchase (or roll into) a new set of FLEX Options expiring in approximately one year. This means that approximately every 30 days, one of the Underlying ETFs will undergo a “reset” of its cap and a refresh of its buffer. At any given time, the Fund will generally hold one Underlying ETF with FLEX Options expiring within one month, a second Underlying ETF with FLEX Options expiring within two months, a third Underlying ETF with FLEX Options expiring within three months, etc., up to and including twelve months. The rolling or “laddered” nature of the investments in the Underlying ETFs creates diversification of investment time period and market level (meaning the price of SPY at any given time) compared to the risk of buying or selling any one Underlying ETF at any one time. Because the Fund typically will not purchase shares of the Underlying ETFs on the first day of a Target Outcome Period and may sell shares of the Underlying ETFs before the end of the Target Outcome Period, the Fund may experience investment returns that are very different from those that the Underlying ETFs seek to provide.
When an investor purchases shares of a single Underlying ETF, his or her potential outcomes are limited by the Underlying ETF's stated cap and buffer over a defined time period (depending on when the shares were purchased). Alternatively, the Fund’s laddered approach provides a diversified exposure to all of the Underlying ETFs in a single investment. By owning a laddered portfolio of Underlying ETFs, the Fund has the ability to continue to benefit from increases in the value of SPY and to provide a level of downside protection as one of the Underlying ETFs will reset its cap and refresh its buffer every month based on the price of SPY at the time of the reset. In other words, the continual and periodic "refreshing" of the Underlying ETF caps and buffers at current SPY prices is intended to allow the Fund to continue to benefit from increases in the value of SPY and to provide a level of downside protection for at least a portion of the Fund's portfolio at any given time. This approach reduces the risk inherent in the Underlying ETFs of having the upside potential for an entire Target Outcome Period capped out in cases of rapid appreciation of SPY. It also reduces the risk of failing to benefit from an individual Underlying ETF buffer in cases where SPY has depreciated below that specific buffer level. Approximately every 30 days, one of the Underlying ETFs will undergo a reset of its cap and a refresh of its buffer, meaning that investors will have the ability to benefit from any appreciation in SPY for future periods up to the respective caps of the Underlying ETFs and will have the benefit of the buffer for future periods. A laddered buffer portfolio can diversify timing risk, similar to how laddered bond portfolios seek to manage timing risks for fixed-income investors. Unlike the Underlying ETFs, the Fund itself does not pursue a defined outcome strategy.The buffer is only provided by the Underlying ETFs and the Fund itself does not provide any stated buffer against losses.
The Fund intends to generally rebalance its portfolio to equal weight (i.e., 8⅓% per Underlying ETF) quarterly. The Fund also will purchase and sell Underlying ETFs in connection with the creation and redemption of Creation Units between quarterly rebalances. In between such rebalances, market movements in the prices of the Underlying ETFs may result in the Fund having temporary larger exposures to certain Underlying ETFs compared to others. Under such circumstances, the Fund’s returns would be more greatly influenced by the returns of the Underlying ETFs with the larger exposures. If an over-weighted Underlying ETF underperforms the other Underlying ETFs, the Fund will experience returns that are inferior to those that would have been achieved if the Underlying ETFs were equally weighted. See Significant Exposure Risk below.
In order to understand the Fund’s strategy and risks, it is important to understand the strategies and risks of the Underlying ETFs. See “Additional Information on the Fund's Investment Objectives and Strategies” for a discussion of the principal investment strategies of the Underlying ETFs.
The Fund’s portfolio consists of the following twelve Underlying ETFS:
•
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - January (FJAN) –
www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FJAN
•
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - February (FFEB) –
www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FFEB
•
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF – March (FMAR) –
www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FMAR
•
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - April (FAPR) –
www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FAPR
•
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF – May (FMAY) –
www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FMAY
•
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - June (FJUN) –
www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FJUN
•
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - July (FJUL) –
www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FJUL
•
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - August (FAUG) –
www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FAUG
•
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - September (FSEP) –
www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FSEP
•
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - October (FOCT) –
www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FOCT
•
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - November (FNOV) –
www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FNOV
•
FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - December (FDEC) –
www.ftportfolios.com/retail/etf/EtfSummary.aspx?Ticker=FDEC
The Fund's website will provide, on a daily basis, the proportion of the Fund's assets invested in each Underlying ETF at any given time. Each Underlying ETF’s website provides important information (including Target Outcome Period start and end dates and the cap (both gross and net of fees) and buffer).
Although this website information may be useful in understanding the investment strategies of the Underlying ETFs, it does not necessarily provide a direct example of your potential investment return in the Fund based on the Fund’s exposure to the Underlying ETFs.
As stated above and explained in greater detail within the prospectus, if an Underlying ETF has experienced certain levels of either gains or losses since the beginning of its current Target Outcome Period, there may be little to no ability for the Fund to achieve gains or benefit from the buffer for the remainder of the Target Outcome Period.
The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). The Fund may not invest 25% or more of the value of its total assets in securities of issuers in any one industry or group of industries except to the extent that the underlying referenced index of the Underlying ETFs invests more than 25% of its assets 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, or securities of other investment companies. As of May 21, 2021, SPY had significant investments in information technology companies.
Principal Risks
You could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. There can be no assurance that the Fund’s investment objective will be achieved. The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance of any particular risk factor.
ABSENCE OF AN ACTIVE MARKET RISK. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares due to a limited number of market markers or authorized participants. The Fund may rely on a small number of third-party market makers to provide a market for the purchase and sale of shares and market makers are under no obligation to make a market in the Fund’s shares. Additionally, only a limited number of institutions act as authorized participants for the Fund and only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund and are not obligated to submit purchase or redemption orders for Creation Units. Decisions by market makers or authorized participants to reduce their role or step away from these activities in times of market stress could inhibit the effectiveness of the arbitrage process in maintaining the relationship between the underlying values of the Fund’s portfolio securities and the Fund’s market price. Any trading halt or other problem relating to the trading activity of these market makers or any issues disrupting the authorized participants’ ability to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders could result in a dramatic change in the spread between the Fund’s net asset value and the price at which the Fund’s shares are trading on the Exchange, which could result in a decrease in value of the Fund’s shares. This reduced effectiveness could result in Fund shares trading at a premium or discount to net asset value and also in greater than normal intraday bid-ask spreads for Fund shares.
BUFFERED LOSS RISK. There can be no guarantee that the Underlying ETFs will be successful in their strategy to buffer against SPY losses if SPY decreases over a Target Outcome Period by 10% or less. The Fund may lose its entire investment in an Underlying ETF. Each Underlying ETF’s strategy seeks to deliver returns that match the price return of SPY (up to the cap), while limiting downside losses, if shares are bought on the day on which the Underlying ETF enters into the FLEX Options and held until those FLEX Options expire at the end of each Target Outcome Period. Because the Fund will purchase shares of the Underlying ETFs in connection with creations of new shares of the Fund and during each quarterly rebalance, the Fund typically will not purchase Underlying ETF shares on the first day of a Target Outcome Period. Likewise, the Fund will sell shares of the Underlying ETFs in connection with redemptions of shares of the Fund and during each quarterly rebalance, and such sales typically will not occur on the last day of a Target Outcome Period. In the event that the Fund purchases shares after the first day of a Target Outcome Period or sells shares prior to the last day of a Target Outcome Period, the buffer that the Underlying ETF seeks to provide may not be available.
CAP CHANGE RISK. A new Underlying ETF cap is established at the beginning of each Target Outcome Period and is dependent on prevailing market conditions. As a result, a cap may rise or fall from one Target Outcome Period to the next and is unlikely to remain the same for consecutive Target Outcome Periods.
CAPPED UPSIDE RISK. Each Underlying ETF’s strategy seeks to provide returns that match those of SPY for shares purchased on the first day of a Target Outcome Period and held for the entire Target Outcome Period, subject to a pre-determined upside cap. Because the Fund will purchase shares of the Underlying ETFs in connection with creations of new shares of the Fund and during each quarterly rebalance, the Fund typically will not purchase Underlying ETF shares on the first day of a Target Outcome Period. Likewise, the Fund will sell shares of the Underlying ETFs in connection with redemptions of shares of the Fund and during each quarterly rebalance, and such sales typically will not occur on the last day of a Target Outcome Period. In the event that the Fund purchases Underlying ETF shares after the first day of a Target Outcome Period and the Underlying ETF has risen in value to a level near to the cap, there may be little or no ability for the Fund to experience an investment gain on its shares, however, the Fund will remain vulnerable to downside risks. If SPY experiences gains during a Target Outcome Period, an Underlying ETF will not participate in those gains beyond the cap.
COUNTERPARTY RISK. Underlying ETF transactions involving a counterparty are subject to the risk that the counterparty will not fulfill its obligation to the Underlying ETF. Counterparty risk may arise because of the counterparty’s financial condition (i.e., financial difficulties, bankruptcy, or insolvency), market activities and developments, or other reasons, whether foreseen or not. A counterparty’s inability to fulfill its obligation may result in significant financial loss to an Underlying ETF and, in turn, the Fund. An Underlying ETF may be unable to recover its investment from the counterparty or may obtain a limited recovery, and/or recovery may be delayed. The OCC acts as guarantor and central counterparty with respect to the FLEX Options. As a result, the ability of an Underlying ETF to meet its objective depends on the OCC being able to meet its obligations. In the unlikely event that the OCC becomes insolvent or is otherwise unable to meet its settlement obligations, an Underlying ETF and, in turn, the Fund could suffer significant losses.
CYBER SECURITY RISK. The Fund is susceptible to operational risks through breaches in cyber security. A breach in cyber security refers to both intentional and unintentional events that may cause the Fund to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption or lose operational capacity. Such events could cause the Fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial loss. Cyber security breaches may involve unauthorized access to the Fund’s digital information systems through “hacking” or malicious software coding but may also result from outside attacks such as denial-of-service attacks through efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users. In addition, cyber security breaches of the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests or the Fund’s third-party service providers, such as its administrator, transfer agent, custodian, or sub-advisor, as applicable, can also subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct cyber security breaches. Although the Fund has established risk management systems designed to reduce the risks associated with cyber security, there is no guarantee that such efforts will succeed, especially because the Fund does not directly control the cyber security systems of issuers or third-party service providers.
ETF RISK. The Fund's investment in shares of ETFs subjects it to the risks of owning the securities underlying the ETF, as well as the same structural risks faced by an investor purchasing shares of the Fund, including absence of an active market risk, premium/discount risk and trading issues risk. As a shareholder in another ETF, the Fund bears its proportionate share of the ETF’s expenses, subjecting Fund shareholders to duplicative expenses.
FLEX OPTIONS RISK. The Underlying ETFs invest in FLEX Options. Trading FLEX Options involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities. The Underlying ETFs may experience substantial downside from specific FLEX Option positions and certain FLEX Option positions may expire worthless. The FLEX Options are listed on an exchange; however, no one can guarantee that a liquid secondary trading market will exist for the FLEX Options. In the event that trading in the FLEX Options is limited or absent, the value of the Underlying ETFs' FLEX Options may decrease. In a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, liquidating the FLEX Options may require the payment of a premium (for written FLEX Options) or acceptance of a discounted price (for purchased FLEX Options) and may take longer to complete. A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX Options and Underlying ETFs’ shares and result in the Underlying ETFs and, in turn, the Fund being unable to achieve their investment objective. Less liquidity in the trading of the Fund’s FLEX Options could have an impact on the prices paid or received by the Fund for the FLEX Options in connection with creations and redemptions of the Fund’s shares. Depending on the nature of this impact to pricing, the Fund may be forced to pay more for redemptions (or receive less for creations) than the price at which it currently values the FLEX Options. Such overpayment or under collection may impact the value of the Fund and whether the Fund can satisfy its investment objective. Additionally, in a less liquid market for the FLEX Options, the liquidation of a large number of options may more significantly impact the price. A less liquid trading market may adversely impact the value of the FLEX Options and the value of your investment. The trading in FLEX Options may be less deep and liquid than the market for certain other exchange-traded options, non-customized options or other securities.
FLEX OPTIONS VALUATION RISK. The FLEX Options held by the Underlying ETFs will be exercisable at the strike price only on their expiration date. Prior to the expiration date, the value of the FLEX Options will be determined based upon market quotations or using other recognized pricing methods. The FLEX Options are also subject to correlation risk, meaning the value of the FLEX Options does not increase or decrease at the same rate as SPY (although they generally move in the same direction) or its underlying securities. The value of the FLEX Options prior to the expiration date may vary because of factors other than the value of SPY, such as interest rate changes, changing supply and demand, decreased liquidity of the FLEX Options, a change in the actual and perceived volatility of the
stock market and SPY and the remaining time to expiration. FLEX Option prices may also be highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially during a short period of time. During periods of reduced market liquidity or in the absence of readily available market quotations for the holdings of the Underlying ETFs, the ability of the Underlying ETFs to value the FLEX Options becomes more difficult and the judgment of the Underlying ETFs' investment adviser (employing the fair value procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Trust) may play a greater role in the valuation of the Underlying ETFs' holdings due to reduced availability of reliable objective pricing data. Consequently, while such determinations may be made in good faith, it may nevertheless be more difficult for the Underlying ETFs to accurately assign a daily value. Under those circumstances, the value of the FLEX Options will require more reliance on the investment adviser’s judgment than that required for securities for which there is an active trading market. This creates a risk of mispricing or improper valuation of the FLEX Options which could impact the value paid for shares of the Underlying ETFs.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES RISK. SPY invests significantly in information technology companies. Information technology companies produce and provide hardware, software and information technology systems and services. These companies may be adversely affected by rapidly changing technologies, short product life cycles, fierce competition, aggressive pricing and reduced profit margins, the loss of patent, copyright and trademark protections, cyclical market patterns, evolving industry standards and frequent new product introductions. In addition, information technology companies are particularly vulnerable to federal, state and local government regulation, and competition and consolidation, both domestically and internationally, including competition from foreign competitors with lower production costs. Information technology companies also heavily rely on intellectual property rights and may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of those rights.
MANAGEMENT RISK. The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed portfolio. In managing the Fund’s investment portfolio, the portfolio managers will apply investment techniques and risk analyses that may not produce the desired result. There can be no guarantee that the Fund will meet its investment objective.
MARKET RISK. Market risk is the risk that a particular security, or shares of the Fund in general, may fall in value. Securities are subject to market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic, political, regulatory or market developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. Shares of the Fund could decline in value or underperform other investments. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, spread of infectious diseases or other public health issues, recessions, or other events could have a significant negative impact on a Fund and its investments. For example, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic and the aggressive responses taken by many governments, including closing borders, restricting international and domestic travel, and the imposition of prolonged quarantines or similar restrictions, has had negative impacts, and in many cases severe impacts, on markets worldwide. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused prolonged disruptions to the normal business operations of companies around the world and the impact of such disruptions is hard to predict. Such events may affect certain geographic regions, countries, sectors and industries more significantly than others. Such events could adversely affect the prices and liquidity of a Fund’s portfolio securities or other instruments and could result in disruptions in the trading markets. Any of such circumstances could have a materially negative impact on the value of a Fund’s shares and result in increased market volatility. During any such events, a Fund’s shares may trade at increased premiums or discounts to their net asset value.
NON-DIVERSIFICATION RISK. The Fund is classified as “non-diversified” under the 1940 Act. As a result, the Fund is only limited as to the percentage of its assets which may be invested in the securities of any one issuer by the diversification requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to a single adverse economic or regulatory occurrence affecting one or more of these issuers, experience increased volatility and be highly invested in certain issuers.
OPTIONS RISK. The use of options involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions and depends on the ability of the Underlying ETFs' portfolio managers to forecast market movements correctly. The prices of options are volatile and are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying instrument, or in interest or currency exchange rates, including the anticipated volatility, which in turn are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political and economic events. The effective use of options also depends on the Underlying ETFs' ability to terminate option positions at times deemed desirable to do so. There is no assurance that the Underlying ETFs will be able to effect closing transactions at any particular time or at an acceptable price. In addition, there may at times be an imperfect correlation between the movement in values of options and their underlying securities and there may at times not be a liquid secondary market for certain options.
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER RISK. High portfolio turnover may result in the Fund paying higher levels of transaction costs and may generate greater tax liabilities for shareholders. Portfolio turnover risk may cause the Fund’s performance to be less than expected.
PREMIUM/DISCOUNT RISK. The market price of the Fund’s shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in the Fund’s net asset value as well as the relative supply of and demand for shares on the Exchange. The Fund’s investment advisor cannot predict whether shares will trade below, at or above their net asset value because the shares trade on the Exchange at market prices and not at net asset value. Price differences may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for shares will be closely related, but not identical, to the same forces influencing the prices of the holdings of the Fund trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. However, given that shares can only be purchased and redeemed in Creation Units, and only to and from broker-dealers and large institutional investors that have entered into participation agreements (unlike
shares of closed-end funds, which frequently trade at appreciable discounts from, and sometimes at premiums to, their net asset value), the Fund’s investment advisor believes that large discounts or premiums to the net asset value of shares should not be sustained. During stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the market for the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which could in turn lead to differences between the market price of the Fund’s shares and their net asset value.
SIGNIFICANT EXPOSURE RISK. The Fund intends to generally rebalance its portfolio to equal weight (i.e., 8⅓% per Underlying ETF) quarterly, in connection with the reset of each Underlying ETF. In between such rebalances, market movements in the prices of the Underlying ETFs may result in the Fund having temporary larger exposures to certain Underlying ETFs compared to others. Under such circumstances, the Fund’s returns would be more greatly influenced by the returns of the Underlying ETFs with the larger exposures.
SPY EQUITY RISK. Because each Underlying ETF holds FLEX Options that reference SPY, each Underlying ETF has exposure to the equity securities markets. Equity securities prices fluctuate for several reasons, including changes in investors’ perceptions of the financial condition of an issuer or the general condition of the relevant equity market, such as market volatility, or when political or economic events affecting an issuer occur. Common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase. Equity securities may decline significantly in price over short or extended periods of time, and such declines may occur in the equity market as a whole, or they may occur in only a particular country, company, industry or sector of the market.
SPY RISK. Each Underlying ETF invests in FLEX Options that reference an ETF, which subjects the Underlying ETFs to certain of the risks of owning shares of an ETF as well as the types of instruments in which SPY invests. The value of an ETF will fluctuate over time based on fluctuations in the values of the securities held by the ETF, which may be affected by changes in general economic conditions, expectations for future growth and profits, interest rates and the supply and demand for those securities. In addition, ETFs are subject to absence of an active market risk, premium/discount risk and trading issues risk. Brokerage, tax and other expenses may negatively impact the performance of the Underlying ETF and, in turn, the value of the Fund’s shares. An ETF that tracks an index may not exactly match the performance of the index due to cash drag, differences between the portfolio of the ETF and the components of the index, expenses and other factors.
TARGET OUTCOME PERIOD RISK. Each Underlying ETF’s investment strategy is designed to deliver returns that match the price return of SPY if shares are bought on the day on which the Underlying ETF enters into the FLEX Options (i.e., the first day of a Target Outcome Period) and held until those FLEX Options expire at the end of the Target Outcome Period. Because the Fund will purchase shares of the Underlying ETFs in connection with creations of new shares of the Fund and during each quarterly rebalance, the Fund typically will not purchase Underlying ETF shares on the first day of a Target Outcome Period. Likewise, the Fund will sell shares of the Underlying ETFs in connection with redemptions of shares of the Fund and during each quarterly rebalance, and such sales typically will not occur on the last day of a Target Outcome Period. In the event the Fund purchases shares after the first day of a Target Outcome Period or sells shares prior to the expiration of the Target Outcome Period, the value of the Fund’s investment in Underlying ETF shares may not be buffered against a decline in the value of SPY and may not participate in a gain in the value of SPY up to the cap for the Fund’s investment period.
TAX RISK FROM INVESTMENT IN OTHER INVESTMENT COMPANIES. The Fund has based its analysis of its qualification as a “regulated investment company” (“RIC”) on the belief that its portfolio funds are themselves RICs. If a portfolio fund were to lose its status as a RIC, the Fund may fail its requirement to have a diversified portfolio, and, thus, lose its own RIC status.
If the Fund did not qualify as a RIC for any taxable year and certain relief provisions were not available, the Fund’s taxable income would be subject to tax at the Fund level and to a further tax at the shareholder level when such income is distributed. In such event, in order to re‑qualify for taxation as a RIC, the Fund might be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest and make certain distributions. This would cause investors to incur higher tax liabilities than they otherwise would have incurred and would have a negative impact on Fund returns. In such event, the Fund’s Board of Trustees may determine to reorganize or close the Fund or materially change the Fund’s investment objective and strategies. In the event that the Fund fails to qualify as a RIC, the Fund will promptly notify shareholders of the implications of that failure.
TRADING ISSUES RISK. Trading in Fund shares on 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 Fund 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 the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. The Fund may have difficulty maintaining its listing on the Exchange in the event the Fund’s assets are small, the Fund does not have enough shareholders, or if the Fund is unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders.
UNDERLYING ETF EXPOSURE RISK. An investment in the Fund may provide returns that are lower than the returns that an investor could achieve by investing in one or more of the Underlying ETFs alone. Additionally, if one or more of the Underlying ETFs has exceeded its cap at the time that you invest in the Fund, you may derive no benefit from the Fund’s investment in that Underlying ETF until the next reset of the Underlying ETF. Likewise, if one or more of the Underlying ETFs has decreased in value below its buffer at the time that you invest in the Fund, you may derive no buffered protection from the Fund’s investment in that Underlying ETF. See Buffered Loss Risk and Capped Upside Risk above. As a shareholder in other ETFs, the Fund bears its proportionate share of each ETF’s expenses,
subjecting Fund shareholders to duplicative expenses. The Fund does not itself pursue a defined outcome strategy and does not provide any buffer against Underlying ETF losses.
Performance
The Fund has not yet operated for a full calendar year and, therefore, performance information is not included in this section of the prospectus. See "Total Return Information" for performance information regarding the Fund.
Management
Investment Advisor
First Trust Advisors L.P. (“First Trust” or the “Advisor”)
Investment Sub-Advisor
Cboe VestSM Financial LLC (“Cboe Vest” or the “Sub-Advisor”)
Portfolio Managers
The following persons serve as the portfolio managers of the Fund:
•
Karan Sood, Managing Director of Cboe Vest
•
Howard Rubin, Managing Director of Cboe Vest
The portfolio managers are primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. Each portfolio manager has served as a part of the portfolio management team of the Fund since July 2020.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Fund issues and redeems shares on a continuous basis, at net asset value, only in large blocks of shares called “Creation Units.” Individual shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold on the secondary market through a broker-dealer. Since shares of the Fund trade on securities exchanges in the secondary market at their market price rather than their net asset value, the Fund’s shares may trade at a price greater than (premium) or less than (discount) the Fund’s net asset value. An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Recent information, including the Fund’s net asset value, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is available online at https://www.ftportfolios.com/Retail/etf/home.aspx.
Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions are taxable and will generally be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains. Distributions on shares held in a tax-deferred account, while not immediately taxable, will be subject to tax when the shares are no longer held in a tax-deferred account.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), First Trust and First Trust Portfolios L.P., the Fund’s distributor, may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
You can find the Fund’s statutory prospectus and other information about the Fund, including the statement of additional information and most recent reports to shareholders, online at www.ftportfolios.com/retail/ETF/ETFfundnews.aspx?Ticker=BUFR .
BUFRSP060221